Ness makes it to the gazebo at the park. There, he sees Lucas, by himself. Lucas seems to be deep in thought, and this kind of frightens Ness. Ness slowly sits on the opposite side of Lucas. Ness tilts his head, noticing that Lucas had still not noticed Ness. "Lucas?" Ness asks. Lucas looks up. He looks slightly guilty for not noticing Ness. He sits upright and looks at Ness with a determined look. "I haven't seen this side of you in a long while." Lucas smirks.
"That's because I've got an idea," Lucas says. But then the idea gets passed around in his head, and he realizes it's not something to be happy about. "We need to look into it."
"Should I get the others?" Lucas shakes his head.
"Nana is out of commission since Popo's funeral, and the others are doing something else." Lucas stands up. Ness nods as he stands up. Ness follows Lucas and realizes he's being led to Lucas's house. He doesn't bother to ask about why they're going there since he can't exactly be seen there. Lucas knocks on the door. His parents answer the door and silently let him in. Ness follows. They eventually get up to Lucas's room. Ness sits on Lucas's bed as Lucas opens the closet. Lucas finds the items he was looking for and gives a sad sigh. Lucas turns to show Ness that he's holding a small pile of envelopes. Lucas drops it and spreads them across the floor, making sure each shows the poorly written names on the back. Ness realizes where Lucas's sadness was coming from. Each of their friends has an envelope. Ness eyeballs his own envelope. He even sees one envelope for Lucas.
"My God," Ness says as he kneels next to Lucas. He looks down at the envelopes.
"TL and Popo's are obviously missing." Ness nods. "But, one other envelope is missing." Ness gives Lucas a confused look. Ness looks back down at the envelopes. He does see one of their friends' envelope is missing. Ana.
"Why does this mean?" Lucas stays silent. He reaches to grab the envelope with his name on it. He looks down, wanting to open it, but not being able to for some reason. Lucas gives a defeated sigh and hands it toward Ness. Lucas doesn't need to say anything for Ness to know what Lucas wanted. Ness takes it and rips the envelope open. Inside is a letter. Ness takes it out and sees the poor words written on the note.
"Come on, Ness, you're not supposed to be helping Lucas open his letter preemptively…" Ness stops reading and looks at Lucas, who's equally surprised. Ness looks back to the letter. "This isn't to be read until all of you are dead, and only he and I are left. You all just take advantage of him. He's weak-minded and manipulated easily. The love you show him is as fake as can be, and I will not have it. So Ness, read your note, you might find it useful." Ness drops the note. Lucas isn't willing to believe that Ness is faking his love, and a single kiss from Ness confirms that. Ness stands up, ready to leave.
"Please, read your note." Ness looks down at his note.
"It's a trap," Ness says.
"I know, but maybe if you get trapped, we can find out who's been doing all of this." Ness crosses his hands. He's mostly scared about finding out who did this. That's why he's hesitant. With a sigh, Ness kneels and grabs his envelope. He forces it open once and sees his note.
"Good job on listening, now please tell me, why have you been using Lucas. You've been using him...no. You've been using us for your own selfish desires. I will not have it. You will no longer get me down. You will no longer feel our love. And you will no longer live. Who do you make it up to us, break up with him? Stop using him for his desires, if not, we'll use you for our desires. It's your choice. Oh yea, you better have an answer before Ana breaks our pact." Ness sees the small singing in the bottom right corner, it's just an a. Ness looks back at the other note and sees a C as the signing. Ness looks up at Lucas, who seems to have the same idea.
"Are you still sure it's not me?" Ness stands up. He holds out his hand for Lucas to grab. Lucas hesitates, but when he does, Ness brings him up.
"Even if you are, we'll stay together." Lucas doesn't believe him. But he forces himself to nod. "Now, we gotta know what Ana's pact is." The two of them quickly run out of the room. It takes a fair amount of time to make it to Ana's house. When they knock on the door, Ana opens the door rather quickly. She tilts her head, confused. Ness brings up his note and shows it to Ana. She reads it and sees the part about her, and just gulps. She looks around her house, noting that her parents aren't home, and motions for the two boys to follow her.
After entering the house, Ana leads them up to her room. When she sits on her bed, she shows her guilt-ridden face. "I...I talked to Joker and Snake," she says.
"About what?" Ness orders.
"I made a deal with them. If they can protect me...I'll…" Ana looks toward the ground. "I'll tell them everything about you, Lucas." Lucas's eyes widen.
"Everything?" Lucas asks. Ana nods. She stands up and walks away from the boys to look out of the window.
"Truth is...I believe you're the killer." Ana flinches, scared for either boy to yell or even attack, but to her surprise, neither do.
"So do I," both boys say at the same time. Ana shoots around.
"Now I'm going to die."
"WHAT, why?" Ness asks.
"I wasn't supposed to tell either of you...just know, it was great being friends." Ana looks back to the window and sadly sighs. She looks down at the ground through the window. She's thinking about how she's going to die, whether it'll be painless, or not.
"I got an idea," Lucas suddenly says. Ana and Ness turn to look at him. "Joker and I also made a pact...He'll lock me up if I'm the killer."
"What're you getting at?" Ness asks.
"They can put me in a cell, or even that interview room, and send cops here, where both of you will be. We could find out if I am the killer."
"What if you are?" Ana asks. Lucas looks down, tears falling to the ground. These tears seem to have just suddenly appeared. No build-up, not welling, just appeared. Lucas doesn't bother wiping them away.
"Then I'm a filthy criminal…...who deserves to die." Ness rubs the back of his neck.
"No one else is dying, Lucas?" Ness asks. Lucas looks up, showing Ness his cold tears. Ness chuckles as he wipes them away. He doesn't let go of Lucas's face though. "We're ready when you are." Lucas grins.
"Promise me no one else is going to die."
"No one else." Lucas nods. He takes a deep breath before walking toward the door. Ness grabs Lucas's hand before he exits the room though. Lucas turns and instantly gets brought into a passionate kiss with Ness. They stay like this for around two minutes. They separate and look into each other's eyes. "Love you." Lucas places his head on Ness's chest and closes his eyes.
"Love you too." They stay like this for only a minute before Lucas has to leave. Ness turns to Ana. She can see the pain already building up in Ness's face. She runs forward and pulls him into a hug.
Lucas makes it to the front of the police station. He takes a deep breath before walking in. He sees all the cops and detectives busy doing their own work. He sees Joker and Snake are at the far back. Lucas walks quickly over there. Joker is the first to notice him, but he doesn't say anything until Lucas makes it to their station. Snake just looks at him with a donut in his mouth. He bites down, giving the boy a confused look. "Um, hi?" Snake questions. Joker stands up, knowing what this is about.
"Are you sure?" Joker asks.
"Send cops over to Ana's house, and keep me locked up tonight," Lucas simply says. Snake looks between the two boys. He swallows the piece of donut and stands up.
"What's going on here?" he asks. Joker looks at him.
"Just trust us, lock him up," Joker says. Snake looks at Lucas and gives a simple nod. He leads Lucas away from the station. Joker watches as they walk away, he then brings out his walkie talkie and tells a lot of cops to station out at Ana's house.
That night, the test begins. Snake and Joker are in Ana's room with Ness and Ana. Both of them know that they're in danger. Ness, however, isn't all that worried about him. Snake notices this worry in Ness. He walks away from his station, which is by the window, and sits next to Ness. "You'll be able to visit him if he's the murderer," Snake simply says. Ness nods, knowing that.
"I'm just worried, why would he do this," Ness says.
Over at the police station, Lucas is being wanted by five police officers and the chief herself. Lucas feels odd being watched by so many officers. Samus is keeping her keen eye on the boy, not even feeling a hint of drowsiness. Lucas, on the other hand, is suddenly struck with a wave of drowsiness. He sways around a bit, trying to keep himself awake. "What's wrong boy?" Samus asks, noticing the odd behavior.
"G-get your guns….r-ready," Lucas says as he collapses. The officers and the chief all do what he said, training their guns on the seemingly asleep boy. About an hour of waiting later, the officers have started to lower their guard, but the chief hasn't. She's just as determined as ever. She squints her eyes at the boy, noticing small movements coming from him. That's when his upper body jolts up. Samus sees Lucas's eyes, they're different. Instead of them being blue, they're green. Lucas stands up, causing all the officers to train the guns back on him.
"Boy?" Lucas giggles, but the giggle is infused with darkness.
"They think this is enough?" Lucas's voice is also deeper. Instead of Lucas's rather high-pitched voice, it's dark. Everything about Lucas has changed. Lucas walks toward the bars preventing his escape and tilts his head at the chief. "Hello, Mrs. Aran, may I leave?"
"Like hell." Lucas chuckles.
"You're not on my list, I'd suggest not making yourself get there." Samus leans her head forward.
"Bring it," Lucas smirks. He quickly slams his head into the bars, breaking them instantly. Before Samus can react though, Lucas slams his foot into her gut, forcing her to the ground. The officers try to shoot Lucas, but Lucas is able to step back into the cell, causing four of them to get shot by the others. They die instantly, but the fifth one is uninjured. He just looks down at his partners, wide-eyed. Lucas slams his head into the officer's and steals his gun. Samus jumps onto Lucas's back, but Lucas simply shoots Samus's gut, making her fall to the ground. Lucas turns to see her fall limp. "Really, one bullet? Pathetic." Lucas drops the gun on top of her and walks away.
Joker starts to feel tired during the wait. He brings up his walkie talkie. "Chief?" he asks inside it. "How's Lucas?" He doesn't get a response. He looks over at Snake, who's looking out of the window. "Chief?" He still gets nothing. Snake brings out his walkie talkie and tries to do the same, but still no response. Joker joins Snake by the window. They intently lookout, and soon, Lucas can be seen turning the corner. He can be seen laughing at the sight of the officers. "No…" Ness looks over at Joker.
"What is it?" Ness asks. Snake looks over to Ness and Ana, still on Ana's bed.
"He's coming," he says.
"No...God no," Ana cries into her hands. Joker notices the difference in his eyes.
"Wait, Snake, look," Joker says, pointing at Lucas, who's currently getting close to the house. Snake looks and soon sees the same difference in eye color.
"What do you think it is?" Snake asks.
"I think he might've been corrupted, much like you."
"But...my eyes weren't a different color."
"No, but your corruption also wasn't that big. Lucas's might be." Lucas makes it to the front of the house. A few of the officers are hesitant to shoot the boy. But when Lucas takes a step onto the lawn, they open fire. Lucas predicted this and is able to jump high into the air to avoid the bullets. He lands directly in front of the three officers blocking the front door. He slams his knee into the middle officer and slams his back when he hunches over. He quickly takes that officer's gun and shoots the other two officers in the head. Lucas enters the house and sees minimal security in there. He just sees one guard at the top of the staircase. Lucas simply shoots him. He drops the gun as the guard falls down the stairs. Lucas steps over him as he walks toward Ana's bedroom.
Right as he enters the room, Joker tackles him to the ground. Lucas just looks over to Ness and Ana's tearful faces. "You won't get the chance to fuck us over, I'll make sure of that," Lucas growls. Lucas throws a kick into Joker's crotch, causing him to slide off of him. Lucas storms over toward Ana and Ness, but gets tackled again, this time by Snake. Snake isn't as easily thrown off by a crotch shot. Snake, being stronger, is able to force Lucas's arms to the ground.
"What did these two ever do to you?" Snake asks.
"They betrayed us, they made us feel like trash."
"NO, WE HAVEN'T!" Ness yells. Lucas glares at him.
"You're going to, and we won't allow that." Lucas bites down hard on Snake's ear, forcing him off. Joker's finally realized what's going on, he knows what's wrong with Lucas. Lucas walks to Ana and grabs her by the neck, instantly starting to choke her. Ness can't bring himself to attack Lucas. He knows if he doesn't, Ana can die, but he still can't bring himself to hurt Lucas. Snake recovers from the bite and rushes toward Lucas, but Lucas simply bashes Ana into him, knocking Ana out and knocking Snake to the ground. Lucas continues to choke Ana...but then a loud bang comes from the door.
Lucas drops Ana and falls to the ground. Ness looks at the door and sees Samus. She looks sweaty but still has a stern look on her face. There's a hole in her uniform, but the hole doesn't lead to skin, or even blood, but to something that's grey. She's holding a gun. Ness shots his head to Lucas, who now has a bullet in his gut. "NO!" Ness jumps from the bed and kneels next to Lucas.
"Boy?" Samus calls out. Ness turns over to her, showing his wet face. "Don't worry about him, I didn't hit anything vital. I think." Ness looks back to Lucas and places his head on Lucas's chest. He starts to cry out loud, having everyone feel for him. Joker walks over to Ness and kneels next to him.
"You were worried as to why he'd do this?" Joker asks. Ness doesn't answer. "He was corrupted by his own insecurities. He felt so low about himself, that he thought every friend he had was going to betray him. These insecurities built up to grow into...this." Ness cries out more, guilty he couldn't help his friend, his boyfriend.
Joker helps the EMTs load Lucas onto the ambulance. And, with Ness, go with them to the hospital. The two of them are told to wait outside of the waiting room. They have to wait for a few hours, but once the doctor comes out they rush in. Lucas isn't awake. He's flatlined. The doctor walks in. The doctor, Dr. Mario, looks sympathetically at the two boys. "We tried everything we could, I'm sorry, but Lucas Cross is dead," he says. Ness's tears instantly dry up. He walks over to Lucas's side of the bed. He grabs Lucas's hand and cries in tearless anguish.
"Lucas...I'm sorry I couldn't keep our promise. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Ness cries. Ness rubs his head into Lucas's arm. "But, I'll keep one thing the same…" Ness looks up at Lucas's closed eyes, expecting them to look back with the same blue glow Ness loves. But, he doesn't, Lucas's eyes are eternally closed. "I'll love you no matter what. Please don't forget that we'll see each other soon…..real soon." Joker looks down. He grabs his badge and places it face down on the counter and walks out. He needs to make a decision. The answer is easy for him though. Joke—Ren, bursts into a run. He knows who he needs to talk to, he knows who can help Ness and his friends. He knows who can help Snake, the entire police department. He knows who can help himself.
The next day comes. Ness wakes up, he rubs his drowsy eyes. There's a knock at his closed door. Ness knows who it is, and just sighs. "Hold up, Tracy, I'll be done soon," Ness says. He dresses himself up, ensuring to put on his hat, and opens the door. He crosses his arms. "What do you want?"
"Your weird-ass group is outside, waiting for you." Ness nods as he walks down the stairs. He opens the front door and sees Red.
"Red, do you know what time it is?"
"Yea, do you?" Red asks.
"Huh?" Ness grabs his phone and sees it's noon. "CRAP, NOT AGAIN. LUCAS IS GONNA KILL ME!"
"About that." Red steps aside to show Lucas, tapping his foot, crossing his arms, and showing a look of annoyance. Ness nervously chuckles.
"Oh, hey hun?"
"Don't 'hey hun' me, were you just gonna sleep through our date?" Lucas asks.
"N-no, of course not, I-I just—" Ness gets cut off by Lucas's laugh.
"Don't worry, I woke up late too. I just wanted to twist your buttons." Ness growls to himself. He storms over to Lucas and punches his shoulder.
"ASSHOLE, do you know how worried I was?" Lucas kisses Ness's cheek.
"At least you care."
"Blah, blah, blah, hurry it up you two," a familiar voice calls out. Ness turns to see Toon Link standing next to his brother. He looks very impatient. "We've gotta get going before our seat is taken." Ness looks at all of his friends. Popo and Nana are playing the switch, not caring about what the group is doing. Ness smiles, this is his perfect reality.
"Well, we should get going."
"WAIT UP," a deep voice calls out. Ness turns around to see Ren running toward him. He stops to catch his breath. "I had to take a piss."
"Why didn't you go inside?" Jeff asks.
"I-um, I don't know."
"For the dramatics," Ana says. Toon Link groans loudly.
"Are we going or not?" he asks. Everyone nods, and this causes them all to walk off. They make it past their street when they're confronted by the cop, Snake. He pulls over and walks to the group.
"Excuse me, what are you guys plotting?" Snake asks.
"Snake, we're in a hurry, we'll walk over you if necessary," Toon Link says, absolutely out of any patience.
"Oh, well, I don't want to get crushed."
"You want to join?" Ren asks, knowing that's why Snake is confronting them. Snake blinks a few times quickly before smiling. Claus and Ninten roll their eyes, knowing that they're the ones who set this meet up.
"Fine, but you're paying for yourself," Ninten says.
"Understandable, I'll meet you there." He gets in the police car and drives off, knowing where they're going, since it's their normal place to go. When everyone starts walking, Ness stops. He feels odd. Everyone looks over to him.
"Ness?" Lucas asks, concerned.
"Doesn't this feel a little too perfect?" Ness asks.
"Is that bad?" Young Link asks.
"It feels impossible."
"Life loves making the impossible possible, now, if you're going to stay here, we'll keep going," Lucas says. He turns away, prompting the group to walk away. Ness looks down at his hands and smiles to himself. He runs over to rejoin his group. He grabs Lucas's hand, proud to have everyone and everything he wants in his life. A life with no insecurities, no worries, no sadness. A perfect, too good to be true, so...is it?