You'll Forgive Your Hasty Brother, Won't You?

by SmashBro37

Claus lived because Lucas forgave his every hasty mistake and brought both him and the world back with the Dark Dragon's power. But how is he supposed to forgive himself?

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Just Some Utopian Hippie Nonsense

For once, Lucas woke up before him.

It turned out Lucas had gone around healing as many people in the hospital as he could with his PSI, even Sheep. There were some injuries healing PSI could fix that an Instant Revitalizing Device couldn't, mostly internal ones its healing fluids couldn't reach, and it did a better job telekinetically setting and then mending broken bones. But it had limits. It could only accelerate the natural healing process and give it more energy, not fix things that normally could never heal, so Lucas couldn't regenerate Claus's arm or fix a broken spine, and the healed wounds would still be sore since all that rapidly regrown flesh and skin was still new and raw. People called Lucas a hero, even a saint. The fact he brushed off all their praise only made them call him humble too. Of course, not everyone's opinions were the same, not all the Pigmasks he and his friends had put in the hospital were happy about it, even if they knew overthrowing Porky had been a good thing. But even so, no one dared try to hurt him, especially whenever Kumatora was there watching his back and shooting glares at anyone who gave Lucas a weird look. He had come so far.

Claus, on the other hand, was busy finding out his impulsive decision to live with only one arm had consequences. It was harder to eat or change his clothes out of the hospital gown into the spare clothes they loaned him, and he couldn't even tie his shoes. Apparently he couldn't be trusted to take care of himself either, since Duster told him Lucas had only been willing to leave his bedside once Duster stayed behind to watch over him, and later that morning, when Duster's bass-ackwards circadian rhythm and insomnia finally caught up to him, Kumatora took his place. Dr. Andonuts was still pulling an all-nighter, which he'd used to finish setting up his broadcast that informed the public of the rest of the necessary details about the Commander and how he hadn't done what he did of his own free will, all before Claus had woken up.

That was why when after breakfast he finally got a chance to take a look around, over half the people he ran into radiated enough pity he'd be able to tell even if he wasn't psychic, and not just for his arm and eye, but however many horrors they'd heard from Dr. Andonuts about how he was reforged into this killing machine. The ones who asked what it was like were bad enough, but even worse was the constant reflexive saluting. Even people mistaking him for Lucas like Sheep was preferable to that. Better to be mistaken for his twin than treated like he still was that shell of a human being, still had their respect, or even their fear or disdain.

Then again, he deserved that last part, didn't he?

But how did anyone still mistake him for Lucas, anyhow? They'd been confused with each other as little kids, sure, but then he'd started dyeing his hair orange and making an effort to distinguish himself ever since he was four. Always the strong one, always one step ahead, blazing his trail chasing after Dad's image while Lucas meekly followed behind, led by the hand by Mom one careful step at a time. He should've paid more attention to that tortoise and hare fable, but Lucas was the bookish one. Just like the hare he'd taken all his blessings for granted. Whatever natural strength and courage he had was no match for Lucas's tenacity earned one painful step at a time.

He'd taken Mom for granted too, hadn't he?

...Anyway. The Commander was unable to recognize itself or Lucas in its reflection, so how could others see Lucas in him? There was the fact he'd usually worn long sleeves and gloves, covering up the prosthetic arm. The helmet's visor was opaque only to those looking in, so that concealed his red eye. So fine, maybe the average Pigmask soldier might not know the extent of his modifications. But it wasn't just their appearances, he sounded different from Lucas too. Even though they were identical twins with all the same vocal cords, they had a different tone. Lucas managed to be more softspoken and quiet compared to him being boisterous and loud, except when he was the Commander and talked in that monotone but steely voice distinct from Lucas's in another way. So how had those incompetent Pigmasks mistaken Lucas for him multiple times in the conflict?

Did the soldiers really know him that little? Maybe that wasn't as strange as he thought...how often did he even talk to people outside of giving and receiving orders back then, and how many soldiers were around him consistently? Sometimes, Porky would rotate out the Commander's shift of bodyguards whenever some of them asked too many questions about his youthful appearance and the ethics of him serving at such a young age...and those who did know him better weren't the ones who mistook his identity, with most soldiers having little contact with him except maybe hearing his voice a few times and seeing him from afar or over a screen...it was nothing like Tazmily where everyone knew everyone...

"Do take care to mind the dosage. It would normally be higher, but his brain only has half the usual gray matter, you see." Dr. Andonuts had been rattling off Claus's list of medications to Dad and Claus had missed at least half of it.

"Y'sure he really needs all this?" Dad said in a much less hoarse voice than yesterday. "Listen, I know ya mean well, but I can't help bein' suspicious of anything messin' with my son's head."

"Me too, I thought you said I was done having stuff in my head tellin' me how to feel." Claus said.

"And you are done, I promise! But you have to understand, you show so many symptoms of clinical depression...it's not that I'm doing anything to control you, it's that your brain quite simply does not produce enough of the chemicals that make you happy, and this medication will compensate for that."

"I still don't like it...aren't I more than just a bunch of chemicals?" Claus said.

"Yes, of course, but this is still important for your health. I must insist you at least keep taking the medications you already are: sudden changes in dosage can be dangerous, and without the cyclosporine, for example, your body could reject the very implants that keep you alive! I suppose Adderall is less essential, but you had major challenges with your attention deficit hyperactive disorder before you began taking it..." The fact he'd tuned out so much was proof already. He remembered those hazy early days as the Commander, too. How time could slow to a crawl or go by in a blur while he paced the lab's halls or kept himself always active going from one task to the next. Torn between half of his brain always being so bored and tired and the other half's mechanical precision. Thinking back, the meds had brought him the clarity he wanted back then, but he also had that machine-like focus that pushed away any thoughts of using his newfound executive function to do what he wanted or have any fun. So, now that he didn't have all that brainwashing, they should help, right?

"Ugh, fine...I'll keep taking those ones, but I don't need anything to make me less sad, I don't wanna run away from my feelings like a coward."

"It's not cowardice to make your brain function the way it should, but I can see I won't get anywhere like this, and I'm not going to force you to do anything anymore. You can take the anti-depressants home with you along with the other meds in case you change your mind, but make sure you let me know when if you start taking them, and don't forget your regular checkups!"

"Okay, I get it, I get it, I'm not gonna be stupid. But what about Dad, is he gonna be okay?" He didn't have the tube in him anymore at least, only some bandages under his clothes.

"Didn't I already mention that? Yes, he should be fine, his lung has healed. Just take it easy for the next few weeks, Flint, your wounds will still be sore for some time." He said now looking at Dad.

"I thought I was listening..." Claus said.

"Ah...now that I think back on it, I forgot your morning dose of Adderall, it must have slipped my mind when I was putting your other pills at the table...perhaps I'm getting too old for these all-nighters."

Once their talk was over and he took it, just like he thought it worked like a charm. Now that he was awake and focused and Dad was okay, all they had to do was head back home.

"Wait, how are we supposed to go back home now? Isn't Tazmily a ghost town now?" Claus said.

"Hmm...good question. You at least won't have to hike all the way across the islands, there's enough Porkships, boats, and other airborne vehicles like the pods and those odd flying limousines to transport all of the villagers and then some."

"But does everyone even want to go back after they all got tricked into coming here?" Claus said.

"We'll just have to ask them, then, won't we?" Dad said.

So they tried to get in touch with the other villagers scattered throughout New Pork City. Dad wasn't the most savvy with the phones or internet, but Claus remembered enough from his time as the Commander and naturally Dr. Andonuts knew what he was doing.

First things first, they regrouped with Lucas. After he'd exhausted himself healing just about everyone in the hospital, he got in one of those Instant Revitalizing Devices, then headed out to visit someone else.

"Boney?" Claus said when he saw the goodest cleverest boy in the world again.

"Woof!" ("I missed you so much, Claus!")

Boney ran across the veterinary clinic carpet and would have soon been slobbering all over Claus if he didn't put his one hand out to warn him away instead of petting him. "Wait! Aren't you mad I hurt you?" The weight of it hit him now more than ever. He'd hurt his puppy.

Boney whined sadly. ("You didn't want to, did you?") Claus tried to avert his gaze from those puppy dog eyes.

"No, but I still did it...I can't trust myself, I don't deserve this, just stay with Lucas!"

Boney whined again. ("I just want you back...I just want a belly rub...") For once the dog was the one giving commands.

"Just listen to him, Claus." Lucas said with a frown. "Punishin' yourself like this is just gonna make him sad."

"Yeah, kiddo, you're just being dumb." Kumatora said. "I've been around Boney for a while now and he loves you to death, he never judged you for a second even when we knew you were the commander."

"But I...ok, fine..." Claus crouched down and pet Boney like he wanted. Clever as his boy was, he never got his head in the clouds agonizing over complicated human things like Lucas and now Claus too, he was just full of love. And saliva. "Haha, stop it..!" Claus said when Boney licked his face. Must have been the first time he'd genuinely laughed since...god, how long had it been? "I missed you too, Boney..." Everyone else looked happy to see them reunited too.

Claus remembered Boney's smell. Other than his usual odor he smelled like he'd recently been thoroughly washed with some kind of disinfectant and shampoo, and that still wasn't quite enough to get out all the sewer smell that had stuck to him through over three hot springs before this. "Wait, the sewers! Are you sure Boney didn't get sick down there?"

"The vet said he's fine, he just needs to take it easy since he's gotten hurt and exhausted himself a lot in the last few days. I 'spose that goes for all of us, too, 'specially me..." Duster said. All that fighting Pigmask armies and saving the world couldn't be good for his limp, even with PSI healing and hot springs. "But that's only physically speaking. I know I don't have it the worst mentally, that would go to you and Lucas and Kumatora, so y'all should take it easy too. Especially you, Claus...it can't be easy coming back from all that and havin' to live without an arm too...not that it's a competition or nothin'."

"That's different. You never wanted to have a limp, but I chose to get rid of that arm, and I could always put it back on, so it's my fault it's hard without it. It's not that bad."

There was this haunted look in Duster's eyes.

"...You shouldn't take about yerself like that. Dismissing your hardship just ain't right. Besides, it's not like you wanted to lose your real arm in the first place, and that's why you got rid of this one, since it isn't natural."

"I could've not gone after the Drago, so it's my fault I lost it!"

---

"Duster...it was my fault you lost full use of your left leg. I'm sorry...don't leave me again." The hallucination of Wess on Tanetane Island said.

Another hallucination appeared of a teenage Duster who tried climbing a cliff wall with his Wall Staples, but the two he held gave way, making him fall to the ground with a sickening crack. He screamed.

"You told me it was safe, Dad!" He said once he could stop screaming. "B-but it was too unstable! I said I w-agh! W-wasn't ready and you made me do it anyways!"

"Stop blaming me already, what's done is done!" A slightly less old hallucination of Wess said trying to hide the guilt on his face. "Just calm down and let me set your leg!" Another sickening crack followed by a scream. "There...I know it hurts like hell, but it should get better in a few months..."

It didn't. Not quite. Wess apologized eventually once he realized it wouldn't, but only for the disability. Not how he raised him overall.

"I could've not listened when Dad told me to climb that cliff, I knew in my gut it wasn't safe..." A slightly older teenage Duster muttered to himself bitterly. "I could've avoided being stuck with this limp." But he'd wanted too badly to prove he was finally good enough.

---

"You can't blame yourself for being reckless when you were just a little kid going through such a hard time. All the adults around ya should've been the ones to keep you safe, but we didn't, and that's on us...you don't deserve to suffer just because you made a few mistakes." Duster said while thinking back to the mushroom-induced hallucinations he'd gotten on Tanetane Island.

Claus tried to believe him when they were done talking and kept making their way through the city. His latest headache worsened as they made their way through New Pork and encountered more and more strangers with all their thoughts and emotions in the air at once. At this rate, he was just like Lucas used to be, shying away from even the small crowds old Tazmily could manage.

"Let me guess, kiddo, you're having trouble tuning out everyone's thoughts."

"How'd you know?"

"Every newbie psychic gets that problem, and I had to help Lucas figure out how to do it too when he got to the club."

"Yeah, Kuma's a lifesaver..." Lucas said.

"I just thought it wouldn't happen to you since you've had your powers for years now."

"I don't know, everything's felt weird since I came back...I don't know if it's because I got brought back, or 'cause there's a machine in my head, or both. It used to be easier, though, when I was the commander. Fassad-I mean, Locria-he didn't teach me about telepathy, but I could do it anyways...maybe it's 'cause I was numb to everything? Sometimes I heard people's thoughts when I wasn't trying to. Not as much as now, but it happened, I just didn't care as much, so I could focus on something else..."

"Well, whatever it is, just lemme help you block all that noise out." She slowly put her hand on his head gently and he let her. Then, bit by bit, the noise quieted down and the throbbing ache began to numb. "There, that should be better...you'll get the hang of doing it on your own eventually, don't worry."

She spent a little while longer giving him some tips on how exactly to do that. Psychic senses were a bit like hearing in some ways, like how you could choose who to listen to in a crowd if you tried, and you could put on earplugs of sorts with your psychic powers. Of course, even those didn't make things perfectly silent, but it was enough to not spy on people's thoughts by accident or get overwhelmed by a crowd's thoughts or feelings.

It was strange having someone somewhat close to his age show him the ropes like this, almost like he was the younger sibling for once. How could she do that so earnestly even after he'd torn her family apart? He tried not to question it...

They kept heading closer to the devastated central area of the city. Even from this far, they could see the once towering Empire Porky Building was reduced to rubble along with many of the buildings around it, with large cracks and fissures running through the earth. The fact the city was built into a mountain was a recipe for disaster when it was hit by an earthquake like this, it was a miracle it hadn't all been destroyed.

An enormous crowd was gathering in Pork Square, a huge commercial intersection surrounded by tall buildings, some collapsed on their sides and all with billboards on them or fallen from them, most of their neon lights and advertisements faded. There were several crashed cars and Pork Beans the crowd had to weave around in this no longer functional road, but somehow no casualties. The Dragon's power had shielded everyone from the cataclysms including the earthquake. A few dim lights were still on thanks to reserve power generators, and the crowd was gathered around one of the store entrances which had some speakers and a mic dragged there.

It wasn't hard to see it was Leder they were all listening to, his head was far above the rest of the crowd.

The crowd was full of New Porkers and villagers alike, with so many faces Claus hadn't seen in ages.

"Fuel!" Claus ran over to him and Fuel did the same nearly tackling Claus with a hug. How long had it been since he saw his best friend? Well, Lucas was his best friend too, but he was family, and Boney was his pet, so it was different. It could always be a tie. He held him back almost as tightly even with only one arm.

"Claus! Ever since I heard you were back I wanted to visit you so bad, but the doc wouldn't let me!"

"I missed you too, man. I'm sorry I said all that stuff and ran off like that, I wasn't thinking how I'd make people miss me..."

"Hey, you already said sorry for the first part, and I'm sorry too. I should've gotten Dad to watch you and Lucas and keep you from running away, but he was too busy taking care of me since our house burned down..." Fuel said with a frown and let go of the hug and backed off.

"It's not your fault no one knew I was that stupid." Claus said. "Even if he did, I would've snuck out somehow anyways."

"It was a hard night for everyone after Mom died, so no one was thinking that clearly, and you got sick from breathing in all that smoke. Don't be so hard on yourself." Lucas said.

"Yeah, well maybe she wouldn't have died if-!"

"Don't say it." Lucas said. "We've talked about this before, Dad wouldn't have made it to where we were in time even if he didn't have to get you out of your house before it burnt down."

"You really felt like that all this time..?" Claus said with horror. "Why didn't you tell me, man? That's not fair, you shouldn't put that on yourself..."

"I didn't wanna bother you, that's all, and I only had the chance to say it the next morning before you were gone. But if you're gonna say that, then you better stop doing that too."

"Uh..."

"There you are, Claus!" Grandpa said, managing to fit through gaps in the crowd.

"Oh...hi, Grandpa." Claus said awkwardly.

"What's the matter, aren't you happy to see me too?" He was, but..."No, never mind, you've had such a hard day, so no wonder. I'm just so glad you're still alive after all." He complained about others walking on eggshells, and yet it felt wrong to bring it up when Lucas said Grandpa had already said sorry. At least, not right now.

"What happened to your arm?!" Alle said. She'd gotten so much bigger than three years ago, even though she was still three years younger than him. "I missed you so much...you said you would come back, but you didn't, and everyone thought you were d-dead, and I heard about all that awful stuff that happened to you, and it was so sad, and, and, WAAAAA!" She descended into incoherent wailing.

"I'm sorry I lied to you, but don't worry about my arm, I'm okay. I think..." Claus said.

"There, there, easy now..." Alle's mom, Nan, said after following her through the crowd, then held her and wiped her tears. Not far behind her was Alle's sister Nana, whose face lit up at the sight of Claus.

"Hi, Claus! Oh my gosh, it's been so long, I thought I'd never see you again! So much happened while you were gone! I learned how to play the yanopi, the Pigmasks industrialized the whole town, wait, I guess you know that already, because you were working for them. I heard they 'brainwashed' you somehow, how does that even work? The old man on TV tried to explain it, but I didn't get any of those science terms he was saying. Are you sure you're okay now?" He and Nana were peas in a pod sometimes when it came to rambling on and on.

"Yeah, I'm okay, and I don't get all the science stuff either, but he says they can't control me anymore."

"Oh thank god, I can't imagine what that's like. Do you think there were cyborgs people could control like that in the old world too? Gosh, no wonder our parents ran away from that! Right, that reminds me, I can't believe all the stuff Leder said, that means Dad was right all along that there's way more land out there beyond the horizon! But it's all destroyed 'cause of global warming, whatever that's 'sposed to be...oh, I should shut up now!"

"No, it's fine, you can keep going." He said.

"No, no, I want you to be able to hear Leder talk, I think he's really onto something. He must've spent a whole lotta time thinking about what to say, because ever since he said he was only pretending to be mute all this time, he's been even more of a chatterbox than me!"

"Alright, I'll listen..."

Conveniently, Claus had stumbled in at a good time so that when he started listening in, he could make at least some sense of what he was talking about.

"I'm sure you all remember how Fassad claimed the Pigmask system would bring happiness to Tazmily. He said that in Pigmask society, anyone could be successful, and we had a right to find happiness. Some of you may be aware that Porky based New Pork City's name and much of its design on Eagleland's New York City, also known as Fourside. That country's classical liberal ideals said that humans have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. So, why is it that society's laws do not say we have universal rights to food, shelter, and medicine? It is never stated outright, but by not granting these rights, our current system implicitly demands we prove to the capitalists that we are good enough to deserve them." Leder said.

Porky had ranted about communism a few times to the Commander. Mostly he said it was just some utopian hippie nonsense that never worked and never could. That on paper, its supporters said they wanted equality for all which would bring an end to poverty, but its leaders abused that to gain power just like the capitalists and ended up starving their own people out of greed. The Commander never talked back or questioned his judgement. But now, Claus had to wonder.

"What is the difference between a homeless person and a criminal? A criminal has the right to food and shelter. What is the difference between a medical bill and a fine? In theory, those receiving fines did something wrong. And if those homeless and sick die from cold, starvation, or disease that could have been prevented with abundantly available resources, what is the difference between those deaths and the execution of a murderer on death row? A murderer in theory must be proven guilty first. Of course, this is not to defend the Pigmasks' obscene justice system, I myself was kidnapped and held prisoner for three years without being charged with a crime or given the right to a trial, and many others have been treated similarly, so naturally I oppose the death penalty. But I digress. The point here is how the system punishes the poor."

Leder took a moment to clear his throat and drink some water.

"I can't believe he was kidnapped all this time..." Nana whispered.

"Yeah, Mr. Stinkbug said they had him stuck in this jail cell next to the sewers. He had to crouch a lot since the ceiling wasn't tall enough, he could only stand up where it had a hole to the second floor. He's probably sore all over..." Claus whispered back.

"At least he's still alive, people thought he was dead after he was missing so long..." Nana said sadly.

Just like Nana's dad who had gone missing at sea, Nana left unsaid. Just like Claus.

"I wish your dad could've come back too...why was it only me?" Claus said with a sniffle. "What did I do to deserve this compared to your dad, or Mom?"

"Hey, don't go there..." Lucas gave his left hand a reassuring squeeze. "They'd be glad you're okay too. I know it's not fair, but Nana's happy at least you made it back."

"Yeah..." She said. "I know Dad has to be gone by now, but I think I can move on, don't worry."

"T-thanks, Luke." He let go and wiped his eyes. Those darn turned tables.

He tried to listen to the speech again.

"Now, one counterargument often made is that ending poverty entirely is impossible due to scarcity, and attempting to do so is futile and only rewards the lazy. First of all, everyone going a little hungry is better than some starving to death, and it is the bourgeoisie who can afford to be idle. Secondly, throughout human history, there have been many eras and societies with true scarcity, but that is not true today thanks to how modern technology has increased productivity. There are more empty homes than there are homeless people. There would be enough food for everyone to eat if not for all the waste. Medicine has advanced by leaps and bounds, yet it is made arbitrarily difficult to access solely to make a profit. The Pigmasks claimed their system would bring prosperity and happiness to you all, but it is nothing but naked exploitation, just as all capitalism before it. They claim that they support meritocracy while people like me would reward those who refuse to work, when in reality the opposite is true. Do those with thousands of times more wealth than the average person truly work thousands of times harder? I think not. And if their profits did not come from the value of their labor being that many times higher, then where did they come from? The answer is quite simple: from the labor of others. All labor produces value, whether in creating goods or performing services, but the capitalists need not pay their workers the full value of the labor they performed. In fact, they must not if they are to make any profit at all, or else they would be giving back to the workers an amount of money equivalent to that of the products they made. To put it simply, the bourgeoisie become wealthy through theft."

"Huh...you might be right, Nana, I think he is onto something. What's 'buo-zhwa-zee' mean, though?"

"It means rich people, sort of, but not just people who have a lot of money, it's the ones who own all the factories and shops and other property."

"Angie's mom owns a shop, does she count?" Fuel said holding his chin in thought. "At least she did before we moved to the city..."

"I think that's a grey area, they call that the petite bourgeoisie, since she's got people working for her, but she still has to work too. Her only employees were you and Angie working part time, though, and she's a nice person, that's why she wasn't making a lot of money and her business went under. Just like with Thomas's bazaar."

"How do you know all this, anyhow?" Claus said.

"Oh, just something I heard listening to people talking on the beach. It was from some guy who really didn't like his job. But let's shut up and listen."

"Private property is not merely ownership of material possessions, it is power over people as mediated through those possessions. Poverty, similarly, is a relationship of powerlessness and subordination to other people. To your landlord. To your boss. To the owners of the stores and companies that sell the groceries you need to survive. To your health insurance company. All of them hold your life in their hands, and are free to charge you as much as they like to squeeze as much profit as they can out of you, even if it costs you your life. Why is it that they have the power to do this? Why is it that you have no power but to sell your own labor and hope it is worth enough to survive? I'd like you all to consider these questions."

Unlike the other Pigmasks, the Commander was never paid a cent. It didn't matter that all his material needs were provided for, he'd never been more powerless. Why was it that things worked this way..? They hadn't been like this in Tazmily until the Pigmasks showed up. But what about New Pork City?

"I know things didn't work like this here until the Pigmasks changed everything, but why did they go along with doing things the way Porky wanted in the first place? Didn't they know it was better for him than them? I know he could brainwash people, but they weren't all like that...and what about the old world all our parents came from? If Porky was just copying how things worked there, why'd those people start doing things like this?" Nana said while in the background Leder went on with his speech.

"I don't know...most of 'em had to know it was only good for the rich people, right? And there's a lot more of everyone else." Lucas said.

"Knowing doesn't mean they could do anything about it. Trust me, you'll know once you work a shitty job." Kumatora said. "Wait, you already did, I forgot the factory for a second."

"I couldn't do anything about it back then, but that's only 'cuz I was on my own. I guess it ain't easy getting everyone to work together to change it..." Lucas said.

"Wait, what do you mean you worked in a factory?" Claus said, his face pale with shock.

"It was the Clayman Factory, but it was only for one shift, I had to make enough money to get to Club Titiboo to go find Kumatora and Duster..."

"I heard bad things about that place when I was the Commander...one shift is bad enough, it's not safe working there." Claus said. Not that the Empire Porky Building was safe, even for adults.

"Well, I made it, okay? It wasn't that bad, and Leder's gonna start talking again..."

Why did Lucas have to keep dismissing everything bad to spare his feelings? Would the walking on eggshells never end?

"Personally, I believe this much power should not be concentrated in the hands of a few to use and abuse against the rest of us, and that we should abolish this system of private property to create an equitable, democratic society where we can collectively decide how to manage our resources. Of course, Pigmask propaganda confuses private property with personal property, to create the illusion that abolishing it would mean the government owning everything, including people's individual possessions, but in reality, private property is already unavailable to nine-tenths of the population. The few possess private property precisely because the many do not, and their control over the means of production gives them vast power over the many to hold their lives in their hands by owning all the resources they need to survive. In other words, when they condemn the idea of abolishing private property, what they condemn is the attempt to take that oppressive power away from them. Indeed, that is the idea. Pigmask propaganda says those like myself only want power, but if all we want is power, then why do we side with the powerless?"

Going by the crowd's reaction that was a pretty good line.

The talking went on for a while after this, but these parts were what stuck with him the most. Villagers and ex-Pigmasks and other people from New Pork City talked about how exactly they might build a better society now that they'd overthrown Porky and his few loyalists. It seemed Leder's job might change from bell ringer to mayor or something like that soon given how many people were likely to vote for him.

But later, there was something for mostly just the villagers to talk about amongst themselves. Should they go back to Tazmily or keep living here? Claus wanted to go back, but there were some arguments against. Some said life might be easier here, but to him it just sounded like the greed of those lured in by all those advertisements. Then they said who knows how much damage the village might have suffered in the disasters? Was there even anything left to return to? Then again, the city was hardly unscathed either.

In this gathering of all the villagers, a few people were curiously absent, like Isaac. Duster's absence was less surprising since he was still asleep.

"Wait a minute, if we're all here, then who's taking care of the sheep? We gotta get back right away!" Claus said.

"But how? All the railways and highways got fractured by the earthquake." Nichol said. He was always the nerdy type among the kids.

"How about boats?" Lighter said.

"No, no, you saw all those tidal waves out there last night, who knows if the weather will kick up again? It just isn't safe." Nan said. "Besides, we'd have to get over to the coast first, we're up on a mountain here."

"Is there anything left of that whole network of underground tunnels? I know there was one of 'em connected to the graveyard, but I don't know if it's collapsed or not." Nippolyte said.

"Even if there is, we shouldn't risk one of them caving in on us after how much the Dragon shook things up." Bronson said.

"If no one's got any better ideas, it shouldn't be impossible to hike our way back there. There's at least some Pigmask outposts for us to rest in on the way there." Jonel said.

"That's easy for you to say, not all of us are still young and fit. Does no one have any good ideas?" Mayor Pusher said. God, three years had only made him more annoying, not less...

"I do, we should use the Porkships!" Claus said raising a hand. "We should all be able to fit in one or two of them and they'll get us home pretty quickly."

"Who asked for a little kid's advice? We can't trust any of the Pigmasks to just turn over a new leaf after everything." He said with a sneer in such a tone he obviously included Claus among said former Pigmasks.

What could he say to that when he couldn't trust himself either? Claus awkwardly lowered his shaky hand-

"If you admit he's still a kid then leave him alone!" Lucas said standing in front of him protectively. He was supposed to be the one who protected Lucas when he got picked on...those tables kept turning along with his gut. "You know he didn't have a choice, didn't you listen to the TV? You've been real good at doin' that the last few years, you bought into all their lies so you could get rich, and now you're the one judging people?!"

"I was tricked!" Pusher said. "I never knew the Pigmasks were committing such atrocities, I thought they were just giving me the respect I deserved as a mayor! If I did, I would've said something sooner!"

"Would you really now? Seems to me like you just changed your mind since everyone else did." Dad said. Just like he'd predicted. "If you were really sorry, you wouldn't be the first one throwing stones so someone else can take the blame."

"That's not what I'm-!"

"Alright, break it up!" A familiar voice said.

"Colonel Green?" Claus said. He wasn't used to seeing his face without his helmet, apparently it was some brown-haired guy with a mullet who looked around 30, and he notably had a prosthetic left leg.

"Comman-I mean, er, Claus! You can just call me Clive now." He said awkwardly, almost doing the salute but then putting his arm back around halfway. "The rest of you can stop all the commotion, you've all got plenty of options for heading back home. If you're willing to wait, we're working on fixing the roads, railways, and tunnels, and if not, you don't have to take the Porkships to go by air. There's always the flying limos or the Pork Pods. You can go with whatever vehicle and people you can tolerate, or just stay here. Just don't try heading back there on foot, there's still too many dangerous Chimeras out on the loose, and they might be riled up by all these natural disasters."

"Damn it, I should've thought of that..." Jonel said.

"Hey, I can always kick their asses if they cause us any trouble." Kumatora said.

"Yeah, but it's probably better if we go there the safe way, then make sure there ain't any Chimeras near the village, at least no dangerous ones." Lucas said.

Claus was a dangerous Chimera, wasn't he?

"M'sorry, I didn't mean you, I just meant the ones that are still feral..."

"Thanks, Luke..."

The metaphorical table might as well be a spinning top at this point.

They ended up taking one of those flying limos, which by some ironic twist of fate was the exact same one Lucas's team took to get here. This absurdly long limousine had a grand total of 36 seats, including the pink couch which could fit about three, and not counting the four stools at the blackjack table.

"This thing could damn near fit the whole village, huh?" Bronson said. Their group took up over half the seats. There was him, Lucas, Kumatora, Boney, Dad, Grandpa, Wess, Colonel Green, the chauffeur driving the limo, Fuel, Nana, Lighter, Nan, Alle, Bronson, Tessie, Nippolyte, Mike, Thomas, Lisa, Richie, Nichol, and a few more ex-Pigmasks who came aboard along with the colonel.

There were other odd things about it besides its size, though. There was a billiards table, a blackjack table, and some kind of board game, but none of them were playable. There were cabinets with what looked like wine, but the chaffeur said it was actually poison, and Lucas said there had once been a champagne tower of the same liquid on the leftmost table, but the chaffeur said it fell over last night in the earthquake and a janitor had to clean up all the broken glass. The hot tub was usable, but obviously no one was going to go in there fully clothed, and what was a hot tub doing in a vehicle? There was a small stage with some speakers as if for singing from, but the speakers didn't work. Porky had an odd sense of humor.

Claus ended up sitting in one of the seats near the front of the limo with Lucas to his left and Boney nuzzled up against his legs. Kumatora, Grandpa, Dad, and Lighter sat in the group of four seats to their left, and no one took the pink couch opposite them and to their right since it had no seatbelts, so the only people to Claus's right were the driver and Colonel Green in the passenger's seat next to the driver. This wasn't by coincidence: he didn't want to talk to all these people the whole ride home, it was awkward enough having so many eyes and ears on him. What if people judged him for being the commander? What if he didn't act enough like the Claus they remembered? What if they just asked him too many questions about his life while he was gone? Funny, he used to be the one to embrace the attention.

"Say, Com-I mean, Claus. You, uh...sound different."

"And?"

"Not trying to bother you, I'm just wondering. You don't have to say anything."

Claus sighed. He wanted to take that offer, but if he acted as shy as Lucas or more, it'd make him look less like 'himself' in front of the villagers. Besides, he wasn't a coward. Right?

"I guess you didn't hear from the scientists. This is how I normally sound, actually, they trained me to talk all monotone like that and without my accent. They tried to get me to talk a little deeper, too, so I'd sound less like a kid, but that didn't really work." Well, other than the natural effects of puberty, but he still sounded thirteen with all the voice cracks involved.

"That explains a lot...god, I wish I'd rebelled against Porky sooner."

"I dunno, it might not have worked if people didn't know the truth yet. I'm just glad he's gone. Well. Stuck." He lied. Half of him wished Porky was dead and the other half was horrified at the nature of his imprisonment.

"I think just about everyone is..."

It was weird talking to an adult like this, but probably weirder still that he ended up his commanding officer in the first place.

After that awkward conversation, Claus spent a while petting Boney until eventually listening to all the chatter in the rest of the limo and his own thoughts got boring.

"Do ya think things in the city will be alright? People keep telling me it'll be okay, but I wanna hear from you since Dr. Andonuts said you helped lead this whole revolution, so you have to know how it's going. You don't have to sugarcoat it, I know it has to be pretty bad with how the Dragon tore up so much stuff." Claus said.

"Well, that's true, but I think we'll get by despite all the damage. Sure, a lot of buildings got destroyed, but we can make up for it if we don't waste as much. We could use all those empty apartments that got bought up by the rental companies who jacked the prices up too high for anyone to afford, or all that food that gets thrown out since no one can buy it. You get the idea, right?"

"Yeah, I think so...it'll help if we don't have to waste time on building weird stuff for Porky anymore, like the Chimeras..." Like him. "But what about the ones that already got made?"

"That's a good question, everyone's arguing about what to do with them...some of them are docile, sure, but some are dangerous and hard to control, and they don't exactly mix well with normal animals in the wild. We've done too much damage already letting them loose as much as we have, so we're gonna have to contain 'em somehow."

"Contain them? What if some people wanna just...get rid of them?" He said in a quiet, more monotone voice.

"Oh...oh...don't worry, this isn't about you, you're still a human being."

"..." To think he would've welcomed it not long ago. Part of him still did, almost. But ending his own life was different than being hunted down for what he was, and all those poor animals never asked to be reconstructed like they were. Well. More of the newer types had been made in the lab from the start, but those ones hadn't asked to be freaks of nature either.

"Anyway, it won't come to that for the others either. Maybe some individual Chimeras might have to be put down if there's no other way, but I don't want to make any more species extinct."

"What about everyone else, though?" Lucas said. Lucas held his hand again and gave it a reassuring squeeze, and Boney nuzzled up against him..."They better not try to hurt Claus or all those animals."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, but I'll do whatever I can to make sure nothing like that happens. The doc's said it might be easier to tame them and help them fit in ecosystems than we think, and if we can't do that, we can at least keep them alive in captivity. We didn't spend as much time researching any of that before with Porky in charge, but now that we can, things should be better."

"Thanks..." Lucas said.

Another awkward silence.

"So, uh...where are you from? I mean, when are you from?" Claus said.

"The 70s. No, not that 70s, the 1970s. I'm from Eagleland like Porky, he brought a lot of people from there. I'm from Fourside, specifically."

"Oh, that makes sense. He must've been really attached to the place since he had all those keepsakes and made that movie about his life." Claus said. "I think it was biased, though, he tried to make himself look like the good guy, when really it was obviously Ness since he saved the world from Giygas."

"He even left Ness's bat in the caves for me to pick up...it's creepy, it's like he was trying to get me to play out Ness's role so he could relive the old days..." Lucas said.

"Yeah, I know...and he called me his 'double', so it's like he was making me a younger him to go up against 'Ness' and win this time, or something stupid like that...ugh..." Claus shuddered with disgust. Had he just been molded into some action figure for Porky to play out his childhood games and fill in his loneliness at missing people Claus hardly knew a thing about? He remembered those bots in the restaurant in the city that looked like Porky's mom, too.

He'd probably never stop missing Mom, either, but the thought of making something or someone else have to take her place made him feel sick...

"So how'd you get recruited to the army in the first place? Or, uh, kidnapped. It's okay if you don't wanna answer..." Claus said.

"Nah, it's fine, telling the truth is the least I can do to make up for everything. I didn't get abducted like some people. They never put me in that green goo to mess with my head either. The short version is, I was in a bad situation, and Porky offered me a way out if I joined, that's how I got this leg." He said pointing at his prosthetic left leg.

"So you lost your leg, and he made a deal where you'd get it back if you joined?"

"That, and he'd get me out of all the debt I was in because of the medical bills and how hard it was to get a job when I couldn't walk."

"Okay...so how'd you lose your real leg in the first place? Wait, you don't have to answer that either." Claus said.

"Again, don't worry about it. I lost it since unlike a lot of other guys in the army, I was a soldier before I got recruited, too, that's why I got promoted so quickly. A lot of the other men didn't really know what they were doing. I didn't choose to join the army the first time, though, I got drafted in the Vietnam war..."

"What's Vietnam..?" Claus said. He couldn't quite grasp what a war really was either. He'd been in fights, sure, and been sent to deal with the 'terrorist' Lucas and his team, but the scale of violence of a real war was hard to imagine.

"I should've guessed you wouldn't know. Can you believe there used to be almost two hundred countries on Earth? It's true, but even back then, most Eaglelanders couldn't name half of 'em off the top of their head or point to em on a map. Vietnam's this small country down in southeast Asia, and it was real humid and sweaty down there with all those jungles and rainforests."

"So it's like Tanetane Island..." Hopefully it didn't have hallucinogenic mushrooms too.

"Why was Eagleland fighting Vietnam?" Lucas said.

"A whole lot of people were asking the same question back then, there were a bunch of protests about it. Now, to be clear, we weren't at war with all of Vietnam, exactly: they were having a civil war, and we were siding with the south Vietnamese since the north was run by communists. That's the excuse the government had for invading them, they said we had to stop communism from spreading further."

"Would that really be so bad if it did?"

"Well, we sure thought so. If it was like what we're doing now and trying to make things better for everyone, then maybe not, but we didn't know that. All they told us was the worst of the things they'd done, and how the commies were against freedom and the Eagleland way...hah, funny how that works. We're defending freedom, but if they choose communism then we have to protect them from it."

"So that's where Porky got the double standards from, huh..." Claus said.

"Haha, maybe. All this was in the Cold War too, so that's why everyone was scared enough for it to work."

"What was so cold about it?" Claus said.

"If I try explaining all the details, I'll be talking all day. I guess I should say something, though, since this led to how the world ended way later on. The Cold War was between Eagleland and the Soviet Union, and we called it a 'cold' war since it wasn't a real war. We were fighting each other with proxies, since if we fought head on, we'd all nuke each other to death."

"But it happened anyways..." Lucas said grimly.

"Not quite. The Soviet Union fell in the 90s, so it wasn't the Cold War that caused all that, but even though they weren't socialists after that, they still had all those nukes like us. Leder said it was another war between them and Eagleland way later on that ended the world...and I think China was involved too. No one really knows who fired the first shot since it all ended so quickly. But enough about that, the point is, the government sent us all off to go fight the communists and most people didn't like it. That's why there were all those protests back home, and over in Vietnam, some guys even fragged their officers. Uh, before you ask, that means killing them with frag grenades. That's treason, obviously, but they'd try to get away with it by doing it in the chaos of battle so they thought it was the enemy. Maybe I should've tried that too, or dodging the draft instead of waiting until now to become a rebel, but I was too stupid back then..."

"Well...you didn't know back then that you were working for bad guys." Lucas said.

"Eh, there were plenty of signs. You know what I said about those protests? In one of them at Kent State University, the mayor called in the National Guard, and they shot some students just for protesting!"

"Seriously?!" Claus said.

"Seriously. And they got away with it, too, no one got convicted or even charged for shooting those kids."

"If those pigs shooting kids wasn't enough to change your mind, then what was?" Lucas said with a glare.

"Well, I'd already lost my leg before the Kent State shooting happened, so I wasn't in the army anymore. The war went on for over a decade."

"Oh...sorry..."

"Nah, I don't need any sympathy. If I wanted to give you a sob story, I'd tell you how I needed the money to pay the rent for me and my sick sister, but I doubt I'd feel bad for the Vietnamese if it was the other way around, and one of them said he was only invading our land to pay his family's bills. I can tell you what changed my mind, though. I still had doubts about everything when Porky recruited me, but then once I got to New Pork, I met more people in the army who knew stuff about the past that I didn't."

"Like what?"

"Did you know Eagleland dropped more bombs on Laos than it dropped in all of World War 2? All that while claiming to be the land of the free and home of the brave!"

"Uhhh...what?" Claus said.

"Right, you wouldn't know...Laos is this place near Vietnam, and they bombed it just because the North Vietnamese were using it for supplies, and the government didn't even tell the public about it. I don't want to get into World War 2, but the point is, they dropped so many bombs it killed a lot of people. There were a lot of them that didn't blow up, but they were still dangerous, since civilians could step on them and set em off without knowing it. Just one wrong step in a field off the beaten path where there's something buried just under the dirt and...well, it wouldn't be pretty. Can you imagine if they did that to Fourside? Even terrorists blowing up just a couple buildings there was enough to get everyone foaming at the mouth for blood, if the guys from the 2000s remember things right. Hah, I guess living in the world's most powerful country made us all thin-skinned."

"That's kinda like how the Pigmasks set Chimeras loose in the wild, it made it dangerous for us to go too far from town too..." Lucas said.

"Yeah...point is, it was nasty, and that's not the only bad thing I heard Eagleland did from people from the future. I mean, the future compared to me. Turns out the feds lied about the incident they used as an excuse to start the war, and they did that kind of thing all the time. They lied about Korea, about Vietnam, about Cuba, Iraq, Afghanistan, and a whole lot more, and then there's all the coups they staged."

"What's a coup?"

"Oh...it's when you overthrow a government, kind of like how we made ourselves in charge of Tazmily. Sorry about that."

"Oh..."

"You know what else drives me nuts about all this? By the 2000s, most people in Eagleland knew the Vietnam war was a bad idea, but they still believed all the bullshit about Iraq. They'd say all the past protests were right, but this time it was different! Every. Single. Time. Well, at least until the government went full fascist later in the 21st century..."

"Is that how the world ended?" Lucas said.

"I don't know all the details, I wasn't there."

"I don't really get it, but all that sounds so fucked up..." Claus said. "Wait, does that mean Mom and Dad and all the villagers knew about all this since they were there when the world ended?"

"Yeah, probably."

"I could ask Leder, but he seems really busy, so probably not right now...is that why you rebelled against Porky, since you found out the place he was copying was so messed up?"

"Not just that, obviously, it's because I found out what we were doing wrong in the Pigmask Army. Just wish I'd figured it all out and done something sooner. Porky said you were all just a bunch of stupid hippies, and back home the media told us the commies only wanted power, but it's just like Leder said, why would they fight for the powerless? Those guys were outnumbered and outgunned, but they still beat us, and I don't think it was just 'cause of the guerilla warfare. They had the people on their side, that's why they could blend in with the locals, 'cause they were helping them and we were just outsiders bombing them..."

"What's gorilla warfare?" Lucas said. "Like the gorilla Chimera you guys sent at us at Snowcap? Did they really have Chimeras that long ago?"

"No, not the animal, it's 'guerilla', with a u and an e instead of an o. It's more like sneaking around and doing hit and run attacks, then retreating and hiding instead of fighting out in the field. It's something you do if you're outmatched and you'd lose if you fought head on. Almost like how you and your team went around the islands beating the army one squad at a time, then getting out before more of us showed up as reinforcements. You know, I'm actually glad you don't understand all these things about wars, it means your parents made a village a lot better than what they came from."

"But it's because we didn't remember that the Pigmasks tricked us..." Lucas said with a frown.

"That should be on us instead of you. Just relax, dude, don't blame yourself." 'Dude'? With that and that mullet, he seemed almost like one of those 'hippies' from the 70s Porky complained about. He must've suppressed those tendencies a lot before now to make it so far up the ranks. "Sir-I mean, Claus-I'm not telling you all this to make you worry about stuff that happened way before you were born, it's all said and done anyways. I'm not trying to make you feel bad for me either. Nah. What I'm hoping for is that hearing all this will remind you that you had an excuse, you're just a kid and you weren't yourself...but there's people like me with real blood on their hands." He said that last bit suddenly deviating from his usual jovial tone. "So if even I can get a second chance, then you're just being silly beating yourself up like this, little dude!" And now it was back. Funny, he would never dare call the commander 'little dude' before. Ten year old Claus would've hated being looked down on like that by grown-ups, the Commander would've felt nothing but corrected the violation of protocol, but now it was actually kind of funny.

"I guess you're right..." Claus said.

He tried to take that advice, but he still couldn't help thinking about how even if he had less of a choice, the potential damage he could've caused was far higher. Then there were the thoughts of what kind of horrors Mom and Dad could have possibly lived through...

He had too much to think about on the way back.