Now with Mario and Bowser out of the way, Lucas teleports to Porky's planet in search for him.
I take a deep breath. With a hand over my chest I try to calm my heart rate; after travelling through Master Hand's portal my senses have to adapt again to the reality.
The wind combs the land as far as I can see in never ending gray dunes. The air is thick and the sight empty of life. Out of context, I'm sure I would think I'm in the middle of a desert. I look up to see no more than the darkness of the space and the blinking stars. There's enough natural light to see, but no more than in a normal dusk. The temperature is starting to get cold, I notice, as I am embraced by a blizzard which causes me to shiver. It all makes me feel lost.
While I wait the wind makes of my hair a mess, my clothing is definitely not appropriated for this place, either. I wish I had more time to prepare; surely, the Smashers would have had a solution for this.
"Ready, Lucas?" With a hand on my shoulder, Link asks from behind me.
"Has Lucario found the city yet?" I ask him.
"Is not far from here. He saw several auras nearby."
"Must be chimeras."
"Surely."
I join the others. After analyzing the area one last time, Lucario opens his eyes. "We just have to follow the road. Once we sight the first houses there'll a couple of chimeras waiting."
We follow the road. It's long and the time passes. I want to press on but if this is really the home of the chimeras appearing in the Smashers' world I will need my strength. I glance to see my companions. Ness seems a bit nervous, but once I observe him with attention, I find determination in his eyes. He is angry; probably because of the events that took place earlier.
Then there's Link; he looks determined as well; although is difficult to read him, to understand what he is feeling right now. He's probably in the same situation as Ness is.
I can't look Lucario in the eyes–since he's the one leading us–but since I pulled the Needles earlier, I've been able to sense his aura. He is having a struggle between his usual calm mindset versus a pressing anger. There's not a bit of fear in him.
"Wait," Lucario says firmly. He raises a paw signaling us to halt. He crouches.
The wait makes me anxious. What is Lucario looking for that requires so much time? I can only see a few houses in the distance. I guess we are about to enter the boundaries of the city. A sudden gale makes me lose my footing and I trip, barely putting my hands between the solid pavement and my face. I shake off the dizziness that the dust caused when it slapped me in the face. On my knees, I raise my sight to see Ness and Link–who were in front of me–suddenly running to the side of the road with their heads low. What is going on?
Lucario is running back and looks surprised when he finds me on my knees. "Get up, get up!"
"Wha–"
The chimeras, Lucario answers my interrupted question.
Indeed, once Lucario and I get out of the road, the chimeras run in our direction and stop in the middle of the road. Lucario and I hide behind a dying tree at the right of the road. Ness and Link are in the opposite side, under the shadow of a rock.
Two chimeras, a rhinocerocket and a kangashark, sniff the air; they pace back and forthon the road, waiting for looks at me and says, Ness and you will hold the chimeras down with PSI, and Link and I will take care. We can't afford to be seen and alert more chimeras.
Something suddenly connects with my mind. Luke, when I finish, count to three and you take care of the kangaroo thing. I have never been able to practice my telepathy, so I can only obey Ness.
One, two, three! I leap out of my hiding spot and aim at the kangashark with both hands. Once I feel I have my PSI field surrounding the chimera, I whip my arms downwards. The creatures twitches and is brought down, crashing violently on the road–which cracks with the impact. At the same time, the rhinocerocket freezes mid-air. Ness walks out of the shadows holding both arms steady like me.
The same mental struggle I once had begins when I see Lucario and Link ready to end the chimeras' lives. I look at their lost eyes. They are deadly, they are killing tons of people back in the Smashers' world; they are the same ones who… killed my mother and my brother, but they were once peaceful animals. They are as guilty as Claus for pulling the Needles under Porky's control. I want to speak up when Link unsheathes his sword. I don't want the chimeras to be killed so cold-heartedly. They are restrained; they can't do much like that. I have killed so many before than I can't understand why this happens every time–
I snap out of my thoughts when I feel the weight of the chimera released. "We put it to sleep," he says. "Literally."
The rhinocerockethits the ground asleep as well.
Only this time, Lucas. We can't spare their lives if they are not going to spare ours. Lucario glances at me.
"Were you reading my mind?" I whisper with a hint of disapproval. I don't like that.
"I could've. Your aura was enough to know what was bugging you."
Ness used his PSI to lift the chimeras and place them as far as possible.
We make a circle to discuss the next step. "The first buildings are very close. We have to sneak past one chimera before the first house, and then two chimeras to get to the next building."
Ness manages to use hypnosis to put the first chimera to sleep. We move silently to the back to the first house. There are two chimeras blocking our next objective. This time we can't put them down, so Link tells me an idea. I aim my energy at the door of a house parallelto us. I put little energy on the task, and the door slowly opens with a perfect, noisy creak.
The door attracted the attentions of the chimeras while we took advantage of this and continued.
By now I can see the city is actually very small. A mere town compared to the city of the Smashers. We have just entered the city, which Porky apparently worked hard to build perfectly. The place is a ghost town with air bringing and carrying huge amounts of dust; the windows, doors and some walls of the various buildings are ruined. The only noise around me is the whisper of the wind on my ears. We haven't bumped into any chimeras for the last five minutes (we easily evaded the last chimera sighted) since we are trying to travel through the darkest and quietest alleyways and buildings.
I look at my surroundings carefully for the thousandth time. I can't yet believe this is the home of the many chimeras I saw in the Smashers' city. There is not a single source of food for them. I shudder when I imagine how horrible is to have to resortto cannibalism or give up and starve–that's if you're not eaten before.
"Through here," Link says. In the darkness of the alley, he places his hand on the handle of a backdoor. He unsheathes his sword and silently counts to three. He pushes the door slightly. There's nothing inside, only dust and thrash greets us. Behind Lucario, I'm the last one to enter and make sure the door is locked, something that causes me a silence chuckle when I remember chimeras don't knock on the door.
There's no light, but I can see this is one of the few establishments in good condition in comparison to the others. I bump into something metallic, causing a series of clanks.
"Wow, Luke, don't you want to personally tell the chimeras we're here?" I disregard Ness' comment and continue looking around during this break.
"Where are we?" he asks.
A light source comes out of the center of the building. Somehow Link was placing a bottle with a burning flame inside. The fire was bright enough to dimly light the whole place. It was not a house, that's for sure. Where I was standing looked more like a kitchen–a big kitchen that could only work with several persons. And what I had bumped into was apan. In the center were several tools for cooking as well as enough space for chefs to work on. Next to the wall were several ovens and whatever tools used to cook and countertops where non-existent silverware and ingredients for a variety of dishes should be. Where Link placed the bottled flame is the countertop that separates the kitchen with the other room where Ness is.
I enter the next room that has several tables and chairs, pictures on the wall and the menu above the counter. This is a restaurant.
"What in the hell…?" Ness whispers to himself.
I walk out of the kitchen to join him. He looks around with widened eyes, pointing at every object in the room. "This is–this…"
The way he stammers tells me something is wrong. He keeps pointing at the tables and chairs. He suddenly darts up to the opposite side of the room and stands in front of a wall. He mumbles something as he stares, mouth agape, at a frame with a glass protecting the object in the inside: a striped white and black shirt signed at the bottom-right corner.
He spins around, almost bumping with me, and whispers, "The soda machine…"
"This is the pizzeria in Onett…" he says.
"Onett?" I ask him.
"Onett! The town I come from! Porky recreated it! That damn psycho…" He runs over to the front windows.
At the same time, Lucario vaults over the center countertop and tells us with a worried tone, "Chimeras have surrounded the building…" he pauses and shouts in consternation, "Ness, what are you doing!"
Ness is looking through the big front windows of the establishment. His face was up against the glass and his hands supported on it.
Lucario says something and snapped his head back –his eyes closed and the protuberances in the back of his head hovering–at Ness. A chimera pounces on the reinforced window. The assault leaves a huge crack like the roots of a tree and extends across the window. Then a roar comes from the depthsof the chimera's snout; its long, bare teeth are tainted with blood–probably not its 's furious because the glass will keep it away from us. Its only source of food.
A normal and a green, enhanced and artificial, eye are locked on Ness with an expression that shows the desperation for food of the hungry chimera. A mane of sharp, little blades circle its head; and its body and tail, pure metal, are the result of a wicked experiment that maddens its victim. A mecha-lion.
Ness screams in terror and as he tries to back up, he trips. He scrambles away. "Holy..."
Link is about to help Ness, when the chimera rams into the glass again. Time slows down. The bewildering sound of glass breaking fills the room. Bits of glass fly about the restaurant. The chimera begins to go through the windowless frame but in the blink of an eye the window repairs midair and smacks the chimera's head. The mecha-lion is thrown out of the restaurant just in time, its body slides on the sandy street.
On his knees with both arms stretched out, Ness points at the window. I'm taken aback when I find a new ability on me, for I can clearly see Ness' aura extending through his arms and connecting with the now-repaired window.
Following Ness' feat,Lucario says in a hurry, "The chimeras are approaching the backdoor!"
"Hold it, Luke," Ness instructs me.
I run off and fling openthe door to the back of the restaurant. I surround the long countertop in the middle of the kitchen and almost trip with something on the floor.
Hurry, Lucario yells in my mind, they are outside.
I don't have time to prepare or ponder the amount of energy I should put in my next action. I just step forward, planting my foot firmly on the ground, and thrust my hand forward in the direction of the backdoor. As the PSI wraps the door, something slams it from the outside and a clank resonates in the kitchen. I recoil, receiving the whole hit through my PSI, and almost cancel the PSI holding the door.
"It's only a matter of time before these things think and demolish a wall," Link says, his voice rises; nobody cares for the chimeras overhearing us anymore.
Lucario and Link exchange ideas yelling in an attempt to listen to each other over the wreckthe chimeras arecausing.
Without dropping the PSI shield, I twist my neck to look back, at Ness.
He, too, looks back with tired eyes, "Gu–guys, I can't hold it much mo–" Ness is cut mid-sentence by a fireball bursting on the glass. The glass turns a bright red and slowly dissipates. When the vision clears, the attacker stands in front of the glass; a reconstructed lion. It stands over a mass of mechanical tentacles that connect directly to its disembodied head–the only thing that's still normal on it.
The chimera looks at us attentively; it sways its tentaclesback and forth a couple of times before releasing a flurry of attacks, whipping its tentacles repeatedly on the glass, making Ness flinch on every hit.
Lucario yells at me, "Lucas, that wall!" he points at the wall to my right. He doesn't even bother to tell what to do. I know my duty.
I twist my body slightly to the right and point my palm to the instructed wall. The PSI soon reinforces it. However, an overwhelming pain begins in my left hand–which I'm using to hold the door. I stay in the same position ignoring the pain and the sweat dripping from my eyebrows. It feels like my body is being emptied as a burning sensation from the inside makes me tremble.
Link groans, "We will have to get out through the roof. Get ready, you two," he addresses Ness and I. "As soon as you see the roof coming down, follow us; those chimeras will be all over us in an instant."
Ness just groans in acknowledgement. I understand him, there's not enough energy on our bodies to do anything else than focus the PSI–and we're about to fail on that, too.
"Now!" Link shouted.
I drop both shields and run for my life. I jump over the countertop in the center and destroy the kitchen door with PSI since it seemed to be stuck.
Lucario lets out a cry and throws an aura sphere at the roof. "Let's go," he says and exits through the roof with a single leap.
Link waits for me to exit but I notice Ness doing another of his reckless feats. He holds the shield on the front window for a few more precious seconds. I gasp when I see his body refuse to continue the action. Ness drops the shield unleashing hell behind him. He limps for a moment before collapsing to the floor. Lucario observes the scene and instantly comes back down. "I'll cover you here, hurry." At the same time the back door explodes. It ricochets about the kitchen and a flood of chimeras attacking one another come inthrough the kitchen.
I glance over at Link in desperation. He extends his closed fist toward Ness and opens his hand letting free a small ball of light with wings. The winged creature flutters above Ness' body.
I turn my attention back to the incoming chimeras. The two front windows are down, the door is destroyed and the wall I was shielding is about to collapse. I can't do more than release an inferno upon the chimeras closing inand hope we can get out of here soon. "PK Fire!" With both hands a wave of omega fire consumes the monsters into a painful death.
The roars and screeches of the chimeras were deafening. After a few seconds, my ears only registered a long ping. My vision turns blurry but I continue. Subconsciously, my newfound ability awakes, and I can see aura of the world around me. PK Fire dies down and I see several blue shapes at the other side several meters away. Somehow I sense Ness moving again. Lucario puts down last chimera before turning around to leave through the roof.
I "feel" a chimera approaching from my right. I get a glimpse of it and predict it's going to pounce on me. I roll to the left before the chimera has a chance to move. I search for the last drops of energy on me and paralyze the chimera. I use this few seconds to make my way out. Trying to get under the hole on the roof, I stumble and almost trip. I shake my head to clear the dizziness. I try to boost myself upwards but nothing happens. Again my aura awakens and warns me a mob of chimeras are coming in through the main entrance and the back door and that another chimera is about to demolish the wall.
Something gets a grasp on my waist. I desperately flail my arms in a failed attempt to free myself of whatever has taken me. I am very weak, however; the only thing that makes me keep going is the mere instinct of survival; the same that has consumed the last drop of energy in me.
Until I look up and see Link with his claw device lifting me out of the restaurant through the hole in the roof. I'm safe for now.
Link looses the grasp and lets me drop on the roof. I lay, totally oblivious of the wreck going on around us. "Bud," Ness' face appears in front of me. "Come on." I put my nearly-limp arm around his neck and, with Link helping as well, Ness helps me stand up.
I look around. I don't know if it's my mind playing me tricks or the dizziness itself, but if not, a horde of chimeras fighting and eating each other and trying to catch us has gathered around the restaurant. Screeches, roars and cries filled the air. The once quiet atmosphere turned into a battlefield in the middle of a ruined city where sand blew in the red-tainted streets. The buildings around us are in ruins as well. Dead chimeras litter said buildings while countless fights are happening.
Far away, in the heart of the city a building towered over the others. The town hall. It was big and though it looked decayed, I can notice it once was wholly white. The portico was supported by four pillars, three of which had been demolished and the roof barely holds in a tilted angle. There are no more than a few chimeras around the town hall. We could hide there.
In the few minutes we have until the chimeras destroy the restaurant, Link and the others discuss where to go, and more important, how.
"We can't get down from here unless we jump on that roof and from there…" Lucario started but Link shook his head.
"Lucas won't be able to jump that far," Link massages his browin stress. "Besides, from there the streets are filled with chimeras. Once we get there, there won't be another way out…"
What if… "Can we teleport out of here? Th–that building, the town hall, looks like a good place to hide…" I speak up and point at said place, fighting off the urge to close my eyes. "Can you do it, Ness?"
Ness, who's keeping me from collapsing, looks at me, thoughtfully. He knows our time is ticking and we don't have more than a few minutes to escape from here. Still, a few minutes ago he had collapsed of fatigue. Probably it's careless of me to have suggested such a thing. And as Ness thinks, Link just stands there, waiting for the answer. Maybe he, too, thinks this was a suggestion over the top, but he hasn't said a thing.
"Yeah, I can do it," he says with determination and nodding his head. Though I see this as no more than a tactic to convince himself he can do it since he's obviously not in the best shape and he's aware of that.
"Then, let's get out of here," Link cries as if to boost the morale.
Lucario approaches us to make a line to teleport. He glances over at Ness giving him a questioning look.
"Are you sure you can do it?" I ask him looking directly at his eyes and not planning to break our gaze until he responds. Yeah… it was ridiculous to ask him to do that. He's a proud person, he would never say no to something.
"To be honest, I don't even know," he pauses and continues when he notices my surprise, "But if I don't, not only mine, but our lives will be endangered." He concludes with a reassuring, but forced, smile.
I had never heard Ness say something like that. Probably because he doesn't need to and, instead, he acts. He's always put his duty above his own life… The images of our fight in the city flash in my eyes. The time when I carelessly struck him with PK Love and, again demonstrating his not so healthy obsession with the protection of others, he took the hit for the people in that building. I think I never said sorry to him for that.
"Lucas, come with me," Lucario calls me. "You're going to take my hand through the teleportation."
We are ready. Link is holding Lucario's paw, and he holds my hand. Ness is the only one left. However, he seems in need to say something beforehand. "Does anyone of you have an open wound? Teleporting with that is highly dangerous… as you may know because of what happened to Lucas' arm."
Link and Lucario stay silent. I know I'm pretty good. We spent some time to heal any wound from the fight with Mario and Bowser before coming here. Besides thefatigue, I'm pretty much fine.
While I wait for Ness to pursue, I look down and spot something–something bad. The arm with which Lucario is holding onto me has an enormous gash and two deep wounds as if something bit him. I gape at this. Isn't he going to say something? Well, I will then.
I'm about to speak up when a voice penetrates my mind. You don't dare say something, Lucas. I am fine, thanks.
"But Lucario–" I try to whisper.
Shut up, Lucas, we need to get out of here.
"Alright," Ness takes Link's hand. "In anyway, the trek is short so hopefully there won't be side effects…" he sighed. "And be ready. I'm not feeling great, don't expect a perfect landing."
Ness… Why did you accept to teleport us there?
I thank Lucario is the one holding my hand. He is strong and I will have to leave all the work to him. My legs barely respond and I can barely keep the grasp on his paw. I trust him, nonetheless.
Ness starts walking slowly, which then turns into a jog. When we pick up speed, I'm yanked and almost lose Lucario's grasp. We run through the last meters of the roof and suddenly rocket through the remaining part. I yelp when there's not anymore roof below our feet and we take off into the swirling black and blue portal.
Barely a few seconds inside the alternate dimension, I feel Lucario's grip tense on my hand. I see now why teleporting is highly dangerous… and painful, he speaks in my mind with a faint tone of humor. I don't find it funnythough. Do not worry, I will not let go of you.
I'm not worried about me, but about you! I don't want you to end up hurt. Somehow, inside me, I found the ability to respond back to Lucario.
But I don't hear his respond, for a second later we exit the portal.
I touch normal ground again. We are inside the town hall skidding, slowly speeding down.
"Link! Ness!" Lucario suddenly yells. I panic and see why Lucario screamed out of the blue. A cattlesnake is charging toward us. Its massive body is at least three times my height and its long legs will surely crush us with no difficulty. It threatens to strike Link and Lucario. Each time its feet connect with the floor, a loud thump resonates matching an orchestra of drums.
I'm powerless and useless in this situation. I can only witness with wide eyes at what is probably going to be a massacre. I can't do a thing. My hand is trapped between Lucario's fingers and any PSI I could have done, has already been used on the restaurant. The muscles on my back tense and I tremble in terror. I try to stop our momentum with my feet but it's done in vain.
"No!" I scream instinctively. The massive cattlesnake is about to ram into us; Link hasn't done more than look back and attempt to change our trajectory. Nothing works; the velocity we are carrying from the teleportation is too much to be stopped manually… The chimera is the only thing that can stop us.
Lucario groans in effort. He palms Link in the back and his aura sends Link and Ness flying through the hall, away from the chimera's path. Link and Ness can only screech in surprise just as they crash with a wall.
Lucario saved them… And what about us?
I hear a swoosh of air around us. Lucario is doing something! A force field–which I can see with my aura vision–made out of aura appears suddenly. It surrounds us entirely. This won't hold the chimera, Lucario! I scream in my head; I'm too paralyzed to say a word.
The chimera rams into Lucario's force field.
I close my eyes tightly. I can't witness this. The cattlesnake's body almost over us is a nightmare turned real. The force field receives the whole power of the impact. But it's not acting like a shield. The force field is not stopping the chimera from hitting us. Instead, it works like a bubble. As the chimera hits us, I let go of Lucario and bounce inside the bubble. My eyes open only registering a blur of colors. Gray, black, blue, white, red. I bounce up and down, crashing with Lucario several times. It feels ten times worse than the time I was in a train crash. I don't have any control over my actions. My arms and legs are commanded by the momentum we got from the chimera's attack. I bump into Lucario again; this time I decide to hold onto him, embracing him in an uncomfortable position. I have my legs flexed all the way to my chest and I twist my body to put my arms around him; I embrace him with the right side of my torso touching his chest… Something impales me in my ribs. Pain erupts in my body and burns in my ribs. I let out a scream that echoes around the force field.
Lucas! I barely register Lucario's mental message.
Still bouncing around, I manage to get a look at Lucario's chest. His spike…! I bark inside my head. Once shiny metal, the spike on his chest is now tainted with my blood.
Brace yourself! He warns me. Now what?
All momentum stops suddenly. I hit my back with the force field, my breath is stolen. The force field crashes with a wall and bursts into an explosion of aura.
We go through the wall and land rolling uncontrollably on the street. Our momentum carries on and we crash into the wall of a house. At the last moment, I feel Lucario's aura destroying the wall to prevent further harm.
I roll one more time and stop sprawled out on the floor of the house.
Lucas… Lucas, get up! Lucario's voice is weak but clear.
I lift my head from the floor, my arms and legs still not responding. My sight stays blurry and for a moment everything is spinning and has no sense. I hallucinate the chirp of a playful bird.
I recover and blink several times to confirm if what I am looking at is real. A giant pink face with bright yellow eyes glowers down at me.
Oh yeah, that pink face belongs exactly to who you are thinking. That's if you have an idea of who is it... but you will know either way in the next chapter. Thanks for reading!