After several weeks I bring you "No Help is Coming." I took more time to revise and correct this chapter, which just made the chapter delay more, but it was definitely worth it.

Enjoy!

Roseal: Haha, that's good to hear!

"Lucas, is everything OK?"

I click the headset and respond, "I will have to fight Wario."

As I talk, Wario stares at me, a cocky smile crossing his face.

"Lucas, don't fight him. You don't even know what he can do. We will try to help you soon. Where are you?"

"In a building the teleporter took me to." With my response, Lucario cuts the communication.

"So? Is someone helping coming to rescue the princess?" Wario quips.

I stay silent.

"What? Your friends forbade you talking to me? Anything's good for me. If you drop that nice sword, I promise killing you as painless as possible," he tells me.

I stay silent again. He gives a step forward, so I respond with a fighting stance and raise my sword. "I would prefer if you shut that mouth and let me kill you without doing a mess."

"Very nice…" His hooking thumbs like beast-horns tug the straps on his overall. "In that case you make the first move."

"I wi–" Before I finish he leans forward and pounces in my direction. What was I expecting?

I jump backwards, evading his fist, and then slash the sword horizontally, but he easily dodges. I expected that. "PK Fire!" I throw my right hand forward and a stream of fire flies through the air. He rolls in the ground barely saving himself of the attack.

"Don't try surprising me, kid. I have seen you fight Samus. Not bad, but not amazing."

He rushes towards me, the floor rumbling with each step. I aim at him with an opened hand and cast a PSI wave.

He seems to know what is coming and forces his way through my attack. He follows throwing a punch that screams past my face as I lean to one side. I slash downwards trying to catch him off guard. Wario overpowers me, though, and grabs my wrist halting the sword. Once my momentum stops, he yanks my arm and hurls me to the other end.

Crashing with a wall, I fall to the floor helplessly. Small rocks from the wall litter the floor around me.

He tries kicking me but I dive away from him. I rise to my feet and say, "PK Thunder!" Twin thunders are shot from the sword and one lands on Wario.

I charge with my sword and try stabbing him, but he ducks under my sword and kick my hand disarming me. The sword flies to the other side of the room.

A quick jab connects with my face, then another and Wario hoists me from the floor. He runs and collides with the wall using me as a shield. The wall collapses behind Wario.

My back feels like it is going to break after that.

I get to my feet again and cast a small ray at Wario. It connects paralyzing him for a brief moment. Quickly, with my fist coated in ice, I throw a punch at his face. He stumbles backwards. "PK Freeze!" The ice is casted from my hand. It hits Wario and nearly knocks him to the floor. I push him using a PSI wave to create space between us.

I plant my hand into the floor and wait until I feel power energizing me. PK Love. Before I finish preparing myself, however, Wario takes out a bomb from somewhere in his back and is ready to hurl it.

I lose focus of PK Love and swiftly shift my attention to put up a PSI Shield in front of me. I do it barely in time as Wario throws the bomb an instant later. The time seems to go slower as the bomb flies across the hall. I cover my face, not knowing how much damage the bomb will do. An explosion roars in my ears without mercy. The PSI Shield explodes in thousands of pieces and still the leftover power of the explosion reaches me. I get thrown to the floor, my body sliding several feet.

I lay in the floor for a moment, still dazed by the powerful explosion. My ears keep ringing creating a momentary deafness. I get up with difficulties… only to meet another of Wario punches, this time in my stomach. It makes me bend over and he embraces me tightly. I'm too sore to react. He jumps high on the air and spins around.

Wario crashes me headfirst on the floor.

He squats beside me and yells with ecstasy, "Piledriver, baby!"

I take advantage of this moment of smugness coming from Wario and smash him in the stomach with a PSI-charged fist.

The sword must in the room; I need it. I notice Wario is dazed by the last attack, and my body sill hurts, so I mutter a couple of words and my hand is coated by a green, healing light. I let the light travel across my body for a few seconds to regain some energy.

When Wario seems to recover, he rummages into his overall and takes out a pot of some kind. He glances at me and then back at the pot. The pot is shattered in his hand and after a few seconds, horns emerge from each side of his cap.

"What is that…?"

A belly laugh comes out of him and is followed by a powerful punch into the floor. A shockwave lifts me into the air, making me lose control.

He charges, horns in front like a bull, ready to impale me.

I create small force fields as Wario rushes at full speed. I push my hands outwards to divert his horns. Wario's sheer strength throws me into the floor. I shake off the daze and recover myself only to find out Wario impaled the wall instead. I take advantage of this and knee him in the stomach.

I step back and focus. Sparks leap off my hand and I say, "PK Thunder!" I pull my hand back, ready to deliver the attack. My slow execution, though, gives Wario another opportunity. He frees himself and kicks me, barely reaching my leg, but enough to make me lose balance and release 3 thunders on the ceiling instead.

Wario lets out a screech as a piece of debris breaks on his skull.

I lean forward and deliver a punch. I didn't think of charging my fist with PSI unfortunately. Even dazed, Wario easily spars the punch and hits me with a backhand in retaliation.

I get knocked down and slide in the floor. Wario slowly restores his balance. I look back and spot Claus' sword. This may be my only chance. I race inside the destroyed room and pick up the sword. It spits sparks furiously, as if begging me to use it.

When I turn back to Wario, I see another pot in his hands. Once again he shatters the pot. The horns on his hat fall off and are replaced by a dragon's head. "Better start praying kid," he tells me power walking in my direction.

He halts outside of the room, several feet from me. He pulls his head back... I whip the thunder sword above my head and bring it down at the same time he jerks his head forward. Twin streams of fire blast off the dragon's nostrils confronting a roaring thunder from the sword.

The fire breaks through the thunder –and vice versa – without problems. The fire wall increases in size enough to overwhelm me. "PK Freeze!" Not thinking straight, I create a wall of ice to shield me. It's not PSI Shield but it does the job and endures the fire barrage.

When the fire dispels, I find out my attack's result. Wario stumbles out of the room almost falling over. He grasps his right forearm using his left hand, his face showing an incredible amount of pain. He let go his forearm and bites his lower lip in frustration.

And then I find out the source of his pain. The thunder opened a gaping hole in his forearm–in which I can see through the other side. A wide smirk appears on my face… but then it fades when I realize I'm happy over another man's pain. That's something… Porky would do.

I glare at the panicking man. The thunderbolt almost tore away his arm.

"Wario!" I call him. I give a dominant step forward, aiming at him menacingly with my sword. "There's something I want more than your death right now. If you tell me what I want I will forget this and let you go."

He walks closer to me, "Tell me…" Just as I think I have won this fight, Wario launches a frontal kick. I fall in my rear and Wario lets out a cry. He pulls his left fist back giving me a warning of his next action. I foretell this and slash his arm with the sword. The electric blade slides across his arm as if it was butter, scorching his skin instantly. His momentum makes him continue his assault, however. Still in the floor I spar his attack easily. He cries in pain and I bring him down viciously.

Sprawled on the floor, Wario lays almost unconscious.

"I will take that as an accident," I say harshly, the thunder sword menacing Wario inches away from his face. "Now tell me…" I make a short pause to see his expression. "I'm sure you've heard of Doctor Andonuts… He's missing and I know he wouldn't leave the mansion without telling me or Ness. And I have figured one of you, Smashers, must be related to his disappearance. Furthermore, if someone wanted him gone or away from me, the first name that would pop up is Mario, right? And since you are the one who takes out the thrash for him, it's safe to say that you know what happened to him. Start speaking."

With my reasons of accusing Wario of Andonuts' disappearance explained, he won't be able to stall this talk. If I don't get my answers, however, I do not know what I will do.

"I see…" Wario says and grimaces at the pain. "I do know about the doctor… Listen…" He makes a gargling sound and spits blood in my shoes.

"You got some nerve considering I am the one with the sword… and two good arms."

I don't have time for this crap. After casting a glare at Wario as if warning him I bend down and punch him in the stomach. Blood shoots out from his mouth. Before I do my next move a voice interrupts me.

"Lucas, are you there?"

"Ness? Yes."

"It… is your girl?" Wario says between breaths. My patience drains with each of his words. "Tell her she… forgot her wallet last night… It's empty now, though." He tries laughing but almost chokes with his own blood instead.

I kick him twice in the gut. "Shut up! Your next words better be about Andonuts!"

"How is everything going? I hope you didn't fight Wario," Ness says in a hurry.

"I did fight him. And he's done."

"What?" Ness raises his voice. "Lucario told you not to!"

I exit the room, keeping an eye on Wario from the outside. "And you expected me to run or what? He started the–" A red drop trickles down my cheek and another one follows. Suddenly, several drops of blood spot the floor. I take a hand to my forehead and see my palm stained in red. My peripheral vision is not clear anymore due to a blur in the corner of my eyes expanding into my eyesight.

"Lucas?"

"As I said, he started the fight. I could only follow."

"Hmm… Still, I will try to go as soon as possible. For now, have you asked him about Dr. Andonuts?"

"I have. The bastard said he knows but he won't tell me. I don't know what to do."

"I doubt you can force him to tell you."

"I told you before. He's now in the floor, bleeding out. He lost an arm and the other is all burned up. And yet he doesn't talk."

There's a pause in Ness' side. "Have you tried reading his mind?"

"'Reading his mind?'"

"Oh, guess you don't know."

"I didn't know it was possible! How I do it?"

"It will be hard to do it perfectly since it's your first time. However, we have no other option. First place your hand in his forehead and close your eyes. Then you will have to put your mind in blank. Imagine you have done this hundreds of times. It's all about self-confidence and imagination really. And… well, it's kind of complex to explain, but hopefully your instinct will kick in."

I double-check word by word Ness' instructions in my head. It sounds complicated. "Thanks, Ness. I will try."

"Anyway, I'm going to go with you once–Marth!" A shiver goes up my spine as the communication is abruptly cut.

With Ness gone the only sound left is Wario's agitated breathing.

I go back inside the room, my steps hammering the floor. Once I stop in front of Wario, he casts me a glare. In response my eyes fix on his. "One last chance," I tell him, adding emphasis on "one". "Are you going to tell me about Andonuts?"

"Not a single word will leave my mouth," he responds. He grits his teeth and his hands struggle to create a fist.

"That leaves me with one option." I step back from him and raise an opened hand. A yellow sphere appears on my palm. Without warning, I pull my arm back and impact the sphere in Wario's chest. Sparks travel across his body and he enters in a paralysis state.

With Wario paralyzed the time has come to read his mind.

I crouch beside him and close my eyes. Just as Ness said, I forget my surroundings, erase my thoughts and ignore the pain in my body. I reach out with my hand and touch his forehead…

"What is he doing?" An inner voice unknown to me echoes inside my head. "I need to get him off me." It's Wario. He's thinking inside my head.

"He killed Luigi and I will make him pay." Apparently, I can also "read" past thoughts. I shall focus in what I want to know and it may reflect on his memories.

"Why, Mario? Why you didn't kill that scientist? It would have been better…" There. Good, Andonuts is still OK. I need more, though. "It was stupid of you simply forcing the scientist to travel back to his home. You don't even know if he did go back." More, more!

"I will have to go to Dimension Central and do this by myself. You will owe me big time, Ma… Mar… Mario." What now?

A moment later Wario's voice fades, leaving no trace.

My eyes open furiously as something burns my face. I blink several times trying to adapt my eyes back to the surroundings. I look down at Wario. A wide smirk crosses his face. My sight shifts to the dragon head glowing red from inside its nostrils.

In a blur, I grab the thunder sword sitting beside me. "No!" I will not let the fire hit me. It will kill me at this distance.

With sword in hand, I raise it just enough to get momentum. I shot one last glare at Wario–with such anger I'm sure I wouldn't recognize myself.

I finally bring the sword down, impaling his heart. Blood splutters from his chest and stains the sword–at the same time electricity runs across his body.

The dragon head still glows red for a moment. I promptly push the head to face the other direction. The dragon releases its fire.

I stare at Wario's body for a moment. More blood drips from my face and blends with the increasing pool of red liquid at my feet.

I let go the sword and instinctively crawl away from the body and then look at the sword. It stands upright embedded on Wario, almost as a sign of victory. But this is not a victory.

"No… I did… not want that."

I raise my right hand to look at it. The fire reached it. I can't even move my fingers with my hand like this.

I can't help but stare at Wario's corpse. "It was self-defense, though. I was not planning to kill him…" My voice cracks with each word. "But… but… with those wounds on his arms he was not going to exit this place alive… I just left him in the cold floor suffering."

Time goes by. Slowly. It reminds me of my brother when he struck himself with lighting. The time froze that day. However, I know the time hasn't stopped now. Each second I lost increases Porky's chances to destroy this world.

"I was supposed to protect, and all I've done is condemn those with whom I have crossed paths. I came here to save my world! Not to assist the destruction of another!"

You have fought for us, Lucas.

"Shut up! Don't you see? Wario was killed by that sword in my hands; Luigi is probably dead just because I wanted revenge! And… and… I don't want to think about that."

Stop lying to yourself. You have done what needed to be done.

Furiously I press my left hand against my ear, "Silence, Claus!" Claus? What am I talking about? He's not here…

Hurried steps echo outside of the room. Must be another poor bastard trying to escape this hell. They will just go into another outside.

"Lucas!" That voice. "Lucas! Are you here?" Ness.

If I could only gather strength to exit the room I could probably find him. Just a few steps and I will be out. "Argh!"

"Lucas!" Ness' head peeks through the hole that serves as entrance to the room. "Oh, gosh…"

He walks into the room with heavy steps. Sorrow seems to take over him after spotting Wario's corpse. Following a brief stare at Wario, Ness tips his hat over his sight.

"I was… late…" The words come out sluggishly, as if he couldn't accept them.

Carelessly, he steps in the pool of blood and grasps the thunder sword firmly. "Rest," he says, pulling the sword out of Wario with certain anger in the motion. Exhaling with a sigh, he takes out a small towel and places it on Wario's now forever sleeping face.

Ness turns on his heels and rushes up to me. He crouches, sorrowful eyes fixing on my burned hand, then on my eyes. "Wario d-did it?"

"Yes."

He powers off the thunder sword and put it in his pocket. "Your forehead. You… you look terrible. We have to go back to the mansion."

I reach out with my good hand and grab his wrist. "No way. Remember Andonuts."

"Look at you!"

"I didn't get Andonuts' location for nothing, Ness."

He sighs and sits back, in front of me. "…We lost Marth. You killed Wario, and Master Hand told me Luigi is dead." The last words make me shut my eyes with rage. "I also heard we lost someone else in Lucario's area…" Ness' eyes water as he finishes speaking–I barely notice it with his cap shadowing his eyes.

"That's why we have to continue–"

"But you are not in condition! I can't let yourself risk like this…"

Ness' words cause a brief smile on my face. And then I get a chance get a better look at his face. A deep gash extends just over his brow–it still looks recent. Blood and dust smear his face along with several cuts, and his lower lip looks just as bad as the rest of his face. A piece of skin was torn from there without mercy. It looks painful.

"Hmph, you look as terrible as me."

"It's been a long day." His voice has relaxed. "Alright. We will go."

"Good," I say.

"However, if we bump into more trouble you will not fight."

"Ah?" I hold my head trying to suppress the throbbing. I blink a couple times trying to remember something… Where did Wario say they had Andonuts? "I c–can't remember Dr. Andonuts' location."

Ness' eyes widen and he asks, "But you read his mind?"

"Yes, that is what–"

"No problem, Luke. I will read your mind. What mattered is you got the information."

I frown at his idea.

"OK, first…" A green glows coats Ness' hand. His hand hovers over my forehead. I feel most of the pain going away.

"This will take a second, and may feel odd." He extends his left hand in front of my forehead. Taking his time–and probably fearing to hurt me–he reaches out with two fingers and comb back locks of hair shadowing my forehead. Golden locks seemed to be plastered to my forehead. Probably the sweat.

"Apparently you lost quite some blood from your head." With the back of his hand he wipes my forehead, and I notice a few drops of the red fluid spotting the floor. "Sorry if that hurt, all that blood makes hard for me to focus… and, heh, you looked terrible."

"Now," he lays his right hand over my forehead. He closes his eyes and I can clearly feel the odd sensation of someone reading my mind.

Thoughts and memories pop up from nowhere in my head. What I thought of Ness the first time I saw him. My decision-making in the fight with Samus. The blinding anger I felt when I put Luigi into coma. Dr. Andonuts' location. All those memories are as clear as water in my head but quickly disappear leaving no trace. For an instant I forget who Samus is, what I did to Luigi and how Andonuts looked like. It all disappears and then I remember again. Just like when you're trying to remember something that seems obvious but is blurry in your head. The name of someone or the location of a friend's house.

If I didn't know Ness was reading my mind, I would have probably ignored the sudden–and fading – rush of memories and take it as something unimportant and random.

"Done!" Ness says, excited. "Dimension Central. I know that place. That's how people not related to the Smashers enter this world. A massive array of teleportation gates."

"It is far?"

"Near the center of the city. I can teleport there, though, so no worries."

"Good." Ness looks ready to go, now. I should be too.

I manage to put myself in a crouch position without using my burned hand. I spring up with mustered strength.

"Wait. You haven't teleported once before…"

"I have, Ness. Twice in fact."

"Not like that, you silly. The way I do. You are still pretty weak, but if you want to come you will have to hold onto me and not let go. You may end up crashing with something otherwise."

I nod to Ness–not completely sure what he meant, though. My blurry vision interferes in my attempt to exit the room. I give a step in the wrong direction and crash with the wall! Pain explodes on my head. "Argh!"

"Ouch! That must have hurt," Ness tells me. I hold back a sarcastic response against his meaningless comment since my words would be as meaningless. There's no case in responding. Perhaps, he was trying to be sympathetic.

"Let me help you, Luke," he says, grabbing me by the shoulders and then pointing at the correct direction. "Just follow me closely. We don't want you to wind up worse."

I'm not letting anyone stop me on recovering my world. And even though I can't bear to look back at Wario's body–something that was my doing–, I will have to swallow it and continue on. Just like I've done throughout my whole life.

Hmmm, this chapter got longer than I thought it would be. That's good! Well, till' the next chapter!