"Brother?" I ask, no emotions in my words as a moment of confusion washes over me.
"Indeed, Lucas. It's me, Claus."
"The hell?" Ness mutters behind me.
I glare at him. How dare he say that? I'm about to respond back when a familiar sensation tingles my skin. It's the man's aura that's knocking the doors of my senses telling me he's Claus. This is Claus' aura; the same one that I felt before in Porky's lab. It can't be, though. My brother is somewhere else, am I right? "How?" My doubt is replaced by a hidden relief shadowed by my own skepticism.
"Well, dear brother. It happens to be that Porky was in a hurry to use my powers." He makes a pause and gets on one knee. He places a palm in the grass and the earth instantly reacts with the white glow that represents our unique powers of love. "If there was any doubt you can see I also have PK Love."
"Anyway as I was saying," he continues, "Since my body disappeared from existence thanks to him, he decided to place my soul he stole from Andonuts' machine into a new body. That's when I took my chance and ran away. I teleported here and stumbled into Porky once more, who told me you were coming here; that it was just a matter of time. He was very excited. I managed to get away once again and pulled two Needles with which I gained the power to predict the PSI from your teleportation and bring you here, away from the freak. You only have to pull the last Needle and release the Dragon."
Claus' explanation convinces me to take action. We talk very briefly about what happened to me while he was escaping from Porky.
"Let's go, then," I finish.
Strange and loud noises catch our attention as we make our way to the final goal. It was Tazmily.
The town that once was free from all technology was under attack. Villagers fought an uphill battle against the terrifying chimeras. There were all kinds of them around the town.
In the distance I spot my friend, PSI partner, Kumatora trying to handle two chimeras by herself while behind her a boy and a girl sought refuge in her strength.
Not far from there three villagers armed with hunting tools wage a battle against an Ostrelephant that was reminiscent of a group of cavemen facing a huge prehistoric animal.
We decide to separate to fight the several chimeras better. This may be nothing compared to the chimeras' world but seeing this amount of the mechanical animals in a small town like Tazmily is terrifying.
Lucario goes to one side, Link and Ness to another and Claus and I stay where we are near the store where people are hiding inside.
And after another we repel the ceaseless attacks. Even though we are twins, our battling style is messy. We don't know each other's strengths and having him alongside me feels weird–as if the spirit of the masked man would awake suddenly. All of this considering we lived with each other quite a long time after the release of the Dark Dragon. I just never imagined having him covering my back. It's going to take some time to get used to but it feels good.
Surprisingly enough, my range of view isn't so full of chimeras anymore. The appearance of the Smashers and I marked a difference.
I wonder where my friends are. Where my father is?
Claus and I get the chance to move from our position to another in order to help with the remaining chimeras whose number have drastically fallen.
Down the street, in a second of calm, I spot Kumatora. The psychic girl defends relentlessly the people who seek refugee behind her against a couple of chimeras. She sports an exhausted expression. She will be so relieved when we arrive and–
A cacophony of noises and roars breaks the sound of battle and redirects the attention of most persons to the town's entrance.
A stampede of several kinds of chimeras come down the rather stretch street. Probably as hungry as to consider cannibalism, these chimeras run over each other in order to be the first to satiate their hungry.
The street under me rumbles with the force of dozens of unnatural feet entering my home town.
A scream brings my attention back to Kumatora just in time to see a metal behemoth appear from over a house.
Claus and I instantly, break into a run.
Porky lands on the ground, leaving a big cloud of smoke around his bed mecha.
The other Smashers are nowhere to be found. We are the only ones that can hop into the battle.
Porky launches a barrage of missiles and I leap in front of Kumatora with a shield ready to deflect his attack.
She welcomes me with a gasp. "What the hell, Lucas!"
"Hey."
Porky focused in the two of us, all of a sudden receives a blast of PSI to the side. His bed mecha threatens to tumble down but he shakes off the attack.
"Well, well, look who's back. My lil' robot. I thought you had taken your chance and ran far faaaar away," Porky said.
Porky smirks and with a stomp of his mecha, a strange wave of energy strikes my brother who is sent to the floor.
"Claus!" I yell.
"Claus?" Kumatora asks.
We back up as she warns the people hiding to get away quickly.
"It's Claus, Kuma. It's just that he's in another body thanks to Porky."
I communicate my message through her mind.
Her mouth drops as I say this.
We run behind a house, losing Porky for a few precious seconds.
Kumatora looks at me in the eyes, mouth opened and her face wrinkled as if she wants to say something. She sighs and says, "This idiot is too powerful. Did you pull the Needles? Because the one in Osohe isn't there. Please tell me you did it."
"We did it. Yes," I respond.
"Then, go away from here and pull whatever Needles still remain. Do your thing, Lucas, please." Kumatora's pleading tone is one I had never heard before. The fear in his voice blends with her darting eyes.
"Good idea," Claus steps in. "I can take you there and finish this."
The house shielding us booms in the inside and the walls throbs threatening to fall upon us.
We go the other way but Porky blocks our path.
With Porky far enough from us, Claus grabs our shoulders and PSI energy pulsates across my body. He is going to teleport. Go, brother!
"Not so fast," Porky voice is accompanied by an electric shock that runs through my body. It was targeted to Claus though, I noticed when he tumbles to the ground with a hand grasping his chest.
"Little slave, don't you forget I own you," Porky says lowering his voice with each word.
Porky steps forward and confirms his statement as Claus is thrown by a punch of air. My brother gets up, his skin sporting several bruises as well as his clothes. A couple of tiny rocks fall from his hair that had been scrubbed against the ground.
Kumatora jumps in front of Claus, slamming her fists on the ground which summons PK Ground just below Porky. Imitating a spider, the robotic legs that hold me start dancing around the erupting earth until a pillar hit him clean in the belly of his mecha which shoves him back.
I kneel and touch the ground with the intention of charging PK Love. The white light quickly grows to coat my whole hand. I get back up and as fast as I can throw the attack. My movements seem to be improving. I felt quite faster but Porky outsped me. He weaves through my attack and the remains of PK Ground and retaliates with a pulse of energy.
I think the aura helps me predict the route of his attack since Kumatora was hit with almost no chance of reaction.
Porky laughs which goes with a few coughs and charges toward her.
I pull Kumatora using PSI being careful of not tugging with too much strength. She yelps and lands on my side almost tumbling.
"Nice one," she says.
Kumatora and I face Porky while Claus slowly walks around him. Porky now has to face us from two different angles.
"Really, guys?" he asks and leaps into the sky several stories high. His maximum height succeeds several Tazmily buildings. A giant shadow is casted upon our improvised battlefield and aims to land near the center.
A huge explosion sound booms as he descends near the center closer to us. The shockwave makes the ground come alive and open with the force of an earthquake. Balance is impossible for us.
Rocks hit me in the face and my legs scramble. I fall to the uneven ground where I roll away from an opening crack and a small spike threatens to impale me.
I cover myself with a shield when I see another spike coming toward me. An explosion of dirt blocks my vision for a brief moment that seems eternal.
I lose sight of Kumatora, Claus and Porky.
I struggle to get up and move away from the dirt cloud evading any chunk of missing earth.
I rejoin the fight only to see Claus about to be held by Porky who closes the space between them rather fast.
At the same time, a shadow moves through the soft smoke in the battlefield. A shadow I recognize.
From the ground, Claus can only witness my friend Duster appearing all of a sudden, landing with a kick on one of the spider-mech legs and immediately pinning it down with his wall staples.
We enjoy a moment of victory as Porky seems overwhelmed by our sheer numbers. But a smirk in his face proves us wrong.
The earth rumbles as he frees himself and slaps Duster away. Claus, who had backed up, launches a PSI attack which Porky easily blocks.
I am about to attack him from behind when I sense something behind us.
A group of three chimeras leap from above aiming to land on Kumatora and I.
I yelp and Kumatora reacts quickly but there is not time for us to move out of the way. I muster my energy and send a wave of PSI in the direction of the incoming monsters with the hope of pushing them away.
In midair the chimeras barely move, but it's just enough to evade them falling upon us.
Duster and Claus go back to fighting Porky on an uphill battle where he–as if using magic–is able to predict every single move of them. Duster is hit, as well as Claus, and then both are blasted with PSI. I notice how Porky seems to be going easy on my brother, after all he needs him.
We are pushed further away by the chimeras' relentless attacks.
Kumatora and I get rid of another chimera, then an explosion happens near us. The smoke lifted up by the explosion conceals a massive shadow that, just as it is going to leave the smoke, it topples to the ground defeated. The smoke clears and Ness reveals himself as the killer of the chimera.
"There are too many of these," he says between breaths.
"I don't see how are we going to fight them all and then Porky," Kumatora says.
"What if…" A plan came up in my head. "We don't fight him and instead,"–I turn to Kumatora–"Go and pull the last Needle."
She ponders for what seems several minutes, but it's only a few seconds. "That's what I said before..."
"We go to the cave, I pull the Needle and everything is gone. Porky is distracted with Claus and Duster and everyone else so there's a chance it could work. After all, my brother is out of this since Porky still has a certain extent of control over him."
"So we get there on foot?"
I am about to answer Kumatora when Ness' smug laugh interrupts. "Please, I can teleport us there."
"You two go then," Kumatora says. "We'll stay and make sure you Porky does as well."
I don't even get the chance to tell Claus as he is in the middle of the skirmish. I look past Kumatora's shoulder and see him and Duster fighting with all their strength. I only wish I can achieve this.
Ness and I run away from the battlefield which proves to be difficult once we stumble upon people and chimeras fighting everywhere. Finally a small path opens up for us and without any word or mental message Ness begins charging up his teleportation and I follow him, grabbing his hand.
The uncomfortable sensation of the teleport washes over me and finishes faster than I expected. We arrive in the outside of the cave housing the Needle.
"Go…" Ness says between breaths. "Do it, Luke."
I break into a run, desperate to get there, but my legs only respond with a trot. The path is long and my stamina short. Ness lags behind me.
The dim lighting of the cave surrounds me in a strange way as my hurried steps echo through the cave. A few stones slip away as I stomp on them, I almost stumble after that, but I keep running.
"Lucas!" Ness screams behind me; far behind. I don't dare to stop but only look over my shoulder to see him. Porky's spider mech follows me at full speed, its legs expertly running across the difficult terrain.
My heart hammers even stronger than before. If I felt tired before, I can't describe my exhaustion when I see my enemy hasn't slowed down a bit.
"PK Rockin'!" Ness' signature PSI flies closing the gap between him and Porky. He didn't aim at him though, but as low as he could. The attack impacted on the unstable ground that worked as a bridge towards the needle.
As the path breaks underneath Porky, the legs on his spider mech struggle to hang on to the edge closer to me.
His shape suddenly disappears leaving only the mystery of his whereabouts. Did he fall into the abyss?
I ignored my curiosity and kept on running despite his possible death. I staggered every other step and even my head appeared to be heavy for my body for my vision swayed a bit in unison with every gasp wishful of air which was so scarce in my lungs.
Just when the sight–the glorious sight–of the needle appears before me a strange sound comes from behind. I turn a moment to inhale the horror of witnessing a spider leg–then two, three and more–climbing up the edge from the destroyed natural bridge.
My legs give up and I can't carry my own weight anymore. The needle is close. Porky is as well.
Ness is still out of range for any kind of help. He is finding it hard to keep on going.
I muster PSI and before I stumble to the ground due to the exhaustion I leap forward releasing all the PSI I am able to. I fly across the air unable to control my landing. I almost overshoot and have to cling to the precious earth. I try to stop myself with my legs before they flail helplessly beyond the edge and in the air that separates me from the abyss below.
I halt at last.
Porky is about to get me.
But I am at the needle. I graze its body with my fingers. I help myself up clinging to the needle. Porky is a few meters away.
I hold the needle by its sides and as Porky jumps on me screaming his lungs. I pull the needle.
Porky disappears from my sight... That must be because everything vanished though. My world goes black and I feel my body–no, my being–filled with so much power that I feel as if I am about to burst.
I realize I am not blind as I thought. For I can feel everything and everyone.
The darkness doesn't last after that. My body starts shaking out of control and something bursts in front of me. Suddenly I see the red sky unfolding before me. Lighting and thunder is called upon to the earth. And I rise up. Meteors rain all around me, none close enough to me.
I continue rising.
All the energy I absorbed seems to be gathering up around my chest? My heart? And I feel this energy fueling my ascension.
Suddenly I hear distant voices that turn out to be thoughts.
What is that in the sky?
There's something flying above the island.
Thunder and meteors filled the sky at the same time that thing appeared.
The Dark Dragon.
I am the Dark Dragon. My heart has ignited his soul.
And as fast as I rise, I descend. In the blink of an eye I cover the distance I travelled. And I find myself inside the cave where the needle once was.
Porky stands before me. I don't know how I am able to notice such a small detail but I see myself reflected in his eyes. Red and yellow giant eyes with sharp pupils look down at him. A massive snout in which several Porkys fit with no problem threatens to eat him (that's what he thinks at least).
"N-N-No… P-P…" He chokes in his own words. I am immortal, but this is terrifying, he thinks.
Two huge nostrils exhale a cloud of smoke just before I communicate my thoughts to him.
You have proven to be humanity's biggest enemy. And for that, I must get rid of you. Not as a vengeance but as a way to be safe. Even though you are drowning in your own fear you are thinking that your immortality will save you. But the power of the Dark Dragon is beyond that. You can't grasp it.
I open my mouth and Porky gets a glimpse of the end of the world and its beginning. Real immortality lies inside of me.
He can't move, he can't breathe. Not even his machine responds. Everything fails against me; and I'm able to freely devour him. Not to eat him or kill him but to vanish him.
Inside my mouth he doesn't struggle, doesn't think and is not anymore. The Dark Dragon erased him from existence.
I rise and roll up into a swirling, flying ball, wrapping my tail and body around the center of my body. The unnatural action brings reconstruction.
Everything fades.
Breeze runs all across my body. A breeze that brings peace to my heart. My disoriented eyes are overwhelmed by bright colors. A blue sky with no clouds and the sun shining its light upon a green field. A lush green surrounds me with one exception. I find myself kneeling before a flower that towers over me. A sunflower. How ironic.
I look around. Ness is here as well–resting in the grass, though. Behind me, not too far away the Smashers' home erects as a monument of justice.
Ness sits up. "You did it."
Indeed, Lucas. That mental voice. Lucario.
I didn't notice him and Lucario approaching.
"Well done," Link says.
"I…? We did it?" are the only words I'm able to say.
"Mario, Luigi, everyone is fine. The city is okay. We can rest now."
Your home, you should visit it. I am sure you had the same effect there, Lucario tells me.
"Everything's back to normal… But," Ness says. "Not everyone remembers what happened. We do, though. I don't know what you did. You pulled a lot of strings, however."
"I don't either," I respond.
"I guess it's as you said. Your heart and your feelings determined everything."
"Hope to see you soon," Ness says accompanied by a tight hug, which I can't help but respond.
"I will. Definitely. I just want to settle some stuff in my home and see how things are over there. I… I want to enjoy the result of many years of enduring and struggling."
"It's something you deserve," Link says. He shows a warm smile and a hand squeezes my shoulder.
We will be waiting for you and then tell everybody about what happened… Suddenly Lucario was under our nervous expressions. Obviously skipping a few details. He smiles awkwardly.
"Then, see you soon, my friends."
I arrived at the step of my home. I looked around. Everything seemed normal. Quiet. "Peaceful," I sigh in happiness.
Surprisingly, I have butterflies in my stomach as I walk towards my doorstep. My heart picks up the pace until I get a glimpse of someone. Through the window I see a woman stepping out from sight with her beautiful brown hair waving behind her, leaving only the scent of flowers.
I reach out to the door knob (which my dad had to repair not long ago) and forcing myself to stop shaking I turn it, slowly opening the door. Excited, nervous, happy and nostalgic as I put a foot into my old heartwarming home.
"Brother!" Claus gets up from a chair and throws himself into my arms. Instinctively I catch him and embrace him tightly.
"C-Claus." What is this? I could hardly speak out. And my sight is getting slightly blurry. "Oh, Claus."
"Come on, Lucas, tells us how was your lil' journey. He puts his arms around my neck and guides me toward the kitchen. "Guess what's for dinner."
"Oh, y-you are kid-kidding." I laugh.
"He is not kidding, Lucas." My dad shows up. His face brightened by something I almost forgot. His smile. Around his right arm the most beautiful woman.
"Welcome back, Lucas," my mom says. A face I couldn't dare forget and yet feels strange to see again. She smiles and small wrinkles at the side of her eyes appear. Her eyes shine with a special light.
The same light that my brother, my father and my mom share me. Inspired me to continue this journey.
"Thank you." I cock my head a bit and smile. "I missed y–"
And something tackles me from behind. Before I can react I am under a licking attack. "B-B-Boney!" I struggle to say under my dog.
"Here, I help ya, brother," Claus picks up Boney and pets his head.
As I am about to speak up my stomach rumbles. My family laugh.
"I guess we should all go have dinner, I am starving. I have never felt so eager and excited before. Let's all sit down and… and..." I sob over and over. Tears slowly trail down my cheeks. I simply sit down and everyone follows."I love you."
A/N: Actually, time ago I had decided I would do a different ending with open interpretation that would cause any reader to question "did Mario, Luigi, Lucas' family came back?" but I guess I chose the better ending at last.
I also have to say that the reason why this story dragged for so much is because I lost track of time and sometimes I lost inspiration. Inspiration that returned when I came back and write. It was part laziness, too. Since I had only certain parts planned, some stuff changed and some stood the same way. I have to admit I get rather nostalgic and happy to see how far this has come. How I could craft and give shape to a story, it all makes me happy to see the final work. Anyway, after years for such a short fic this is finally the ending and for whoever reads it and has read it so far thank you. I hope you enjoyed it :) see ya later.