With these hands

by lluviathewolf

Summary:

The journey to pull the Needles gets off course when the group is separated.
Lucas is captured by the Masked Man and while chasing after them, Duster and Kumatora stumble across a strange abandoned structure in the woods- and discover that Duster's memory isn't completely back after all.
Meanwhile, Lucas focuses on helping someone else get their memories back...

Decided to move this over from Fanfiction.net since it decides not to work every time I try to work on it.

Chapter 1

The Dragon was dreaming. Deep in a dream, deep in darkness.

But then a voice called- no, two voices- calling the Dragon to come up to where they were, back into the sunlight.

The Dragon wanted to go to where they were. Dreams replayed vague memories of the time before. Back when the Dragon had lived happily in the sunlight and been friends with everybody. Before the fear, before the Dragon had been pushed down into this dark place.

But the Dragon also remembered the fear and how it had hurt to be forced down here.

And even the ones calling were hurting. There was pain and sadness and uncertainty in their voices, and those emotions made the Dragon remember the fear and how it had felt to become trapped in the dark even more.

The Dragon stirred restlessly before being swallowed by dark dreams again.

OoOo

Flint strode through the forest, ducking branches as he did so.

A part of Flint's mind knew that he wasn't going to find Claus like this, that if he'd had any chance of finding Claus like this, he would have found him years ago. He didn't even call out anymore. He couldn't keep calling out for a voice that never called back. Not when his throat felt like it was ripping itself apart every time he did. But he couldn't just stop searching either.

Claus was not dead.

Flint knew the others thought he was crazy for believing it, but he knew it in a part of himself that was so deep and sure he didn't question it. Couldn't question it. He hadn't talked about it with Lucas, but he knew that his youngest child felt the same way, he must feel the same way.

His sons were all he had left. He couldn't fail them again.

Something pale- something that might've once been white- glinted through the trees.

Flint stopped in his tracks, mesmerized by the sight. Something inside of him- something he didn't recognize, but he could tell that it came from the same part of him that assured him that Claus wasn't dead- pulled him towards the faintly gleaming structure.

OoOo

Kumatora snarled as the Masked Man countered her PK Thunder with one of his own.

Stupid Pigmask jerk. Pulling the Needles without caring about what it was doing to everyone else- without caring that it was making the Magypsies disappear- without caring about what it was doing to the Dragon and would do to the world-

She lashed out with a PK Ground, and he stumbled, caught off guard. He was knocked down, but started struggling to his feet again-

OoOo

Something was bugging Boney.

He couldn't put his paw on it, but it had started when he'd tried to smell the guy in the helmet who was attacking them. Boney hadn't been able to smell anything but too strong cleaning chemicals and the sweat of the Pigmasks crowding around them.

At least, that's when Boney thought the nagging sensation had started. Had it started before that?

Boney wasn't sure, but now wasn't the time to be thinking about that anyway.

He darted at the boy in the helmet, determined to stop him from hurting his friends.

OoOo

If Hinawa still had physical lips, she would have bit them.

He couldn't hear her. She'd been calling to him and calling to him, but he couldn't hear her. Or was it that he didn't understand her?

He'd been able to hear her in the beginning. Not all the time, but most of the time at least. Back then, sometimes she hadn't been able to find words to give him, was only able to scream and weep with sympathy and helplessness.

But now, more than ever, she needed him to listen. They all needed him to listen! But he-

Suddenly an idea occurred to her. She didn't like it. She wanted to forget it.

But nothing else was working-

Desperate times called for desperate measures and she was desperate as a mother could be.

It would place a great deal of pressure on Lucas. She looked across the field at him. His face was pale, but he was standing tall, keeping the shields over his friends strong, keeping them healthy with his healing PSI.

A small, proud smile quivered on Hinawa's face before -reluctantly, but not allowing herself to hesitate- she leaned over and began whispering something new into her eldest's ear.

OoOo

Duster cast a quick look over his shoulder and scanned Lucas for injuries.

The blond was a little paler than usual- but that was all Duster saw and even that- he turned and grabbed his wall staples, preparing to use them as he did so- the paleness could just be the thief's imagination.

But something wasn't right.

It hit Duster just as he flung his wall staples, pinning the Masked Man long enough for Kumatora to dash forward and punch him twice.

Lucas was being too quiet. He was never the loudest of boys, but he didn't hesitate to caution the others and to encourage them. And though he was healing them and keeping their shields strong, he hadn't said a single word ever since they'd reached the Temple.

OoOo

Lucas knew Kumatora was shouting something at him, but he couldn't focus on the words.

Part of his brain was focused on his PSI- throwing shields over his friends, reinforcing them as much as he could, then healing them when they got hurt, sometimes healing himself too- but another part of him was focused on the one standing in front of them.

He was shooting at them and sometimes dashing at them and swinging that sword at them. Sometimes he even tried PK Thunder again, but unless he was using it to counter one of Kumatora's PK Thunders, the bolts were always drawn to the Franklin Badge, always thrown back at him and hurting him worse.

Lucas winced every time that happened.

The helmet on the other's head hid his face, and he darted around so fast- but it didn't make any difference- not to Lucas.

He called out to his healing PSI and watched it heal the most recent marks on his friends' bodies. He even felt it banish bruises from his own body- but it refused to jump over to the boy dashing at Lucas- to the one who was finally so close, yet still so far away-

OoOo

The voice was stronger when the boy was near.

Perhaps that was why the voice was insisting that he needed to take the boy with him.

He had tried to ignore it. He always tried to ignore it, sometimes more successfully than others. But the voice had a good point now.

If he took the boy with him, the boy wouldn't be able to interfere in the Master's plans anymore. That would be good, right? Maybe - probably - killing the boy would keep him from interfering too, but...

The voice wailed at the thought- his ears rung with the wailing- anyway, it wasn't necessary to kill the boy. He wasn't really a threat, right?

The subject of his thoughts strengthened the shield surrounding his opponents.

He was just a boy. Both the man and the older girl- they must be the ringleaders. They must be the ones telling the boy what to do. The boy hadn't even attacked him once. That was proof, wasn't it?

He tossed another PK Thunder at the boy, mostly to keep him and the others at a distance as he tried to think.

The boy and the others were winning.

That should be impossible. All his equipment was supposed to be first class, as advanced as it could be. And he himself- he was the strong one- the scientists had told him that they had made him out of the strongest parts they had. Because he was the strong one-

"*****, you're the strong one and ***** is the sweet one- so you have to protect him-"

He flinched.

The voice was so clear for a moment- he clenched the sword, trying to focus-

These others were winning. These others- these people opposing the Master- these people telling the boy what to do- keeping the boy with them-

The lightening reflected back at him.

Struck by a thought as well as the lightening, he let himself fall to the ground.

The soldiers squealed and ran away. Silly men. But that was why there was a commander- why he was there- for the things the men couldn't do.

While the boy and the others stared after them, he activated the wings- they turned to look, but not fast enough.

He was much faster than the boy- than any of them- he grabbed the boy in his arms and took off into the sky.

The others shouted after him, but there was nothing they could do.

He flew too fast, too high and he lost them easily.

The boy struggled at first, but froze when he saw how high they were. He stared at the ground rushing past, then turned wide eyes to his captor.

He wasn't terrified.

Somehow, he'd been expecting the boy to be terrified.

The boy was worried- nervous- but he met his eyes without trembling.

The voice whispered something- he thought he heard the word "stronger" in a pleased tone.

Something touched him- he didn't know what- he didn't want to know what-

With these hands, he had stopped the boy from pulling the Needles. The boy must not be allowed to escape so he'd keep the boy with him. That way, the boy wouldn't interfere anymore, wouldn't cause trouble anymore.

The Army's mission would continue without any more problems, and the boy would be unable to stop them, because the boy would stay safe at the base.

Safe with him.

OoOoOoOo

Okay, I know there are at least two stories out there already with the same basic premise, but I do feel pretty confident that this fic is sufficiently different from both of them. For starters, Duster and Kumatora do have a fairly big part of the plot to themselves. Despite the fact that Flint, Hinawa, Boney and the Dragon all got POVs in this chapter, they're not main characters to the same degree as the others, even though they are important. In some cases (like the Dragon), they become a bigger part of the plot later on.

This story is going to be rather huge(by my standards at least), with 40 chapters in Book One and I don't even know about Book Two. (bangs head against wall). For the most part, this book is already written and just needs to be revised... I just wish I could revise faster.

For the most part, the story is going to have one POV per chapter, with that POV belonging to either Claus, Lucas, Duster, or Kumatora.

Remember, reviews are always welcome!

Chapter 2

Lucas woke up with a headache. And he didn't know where he was.

That was happening a lot lately, the calm part of his brain commented as he squeezed his eyes shut (the lights overhead were way too bright) and tried to remember where he was.

He wasn't in his bed. Actually, he wasn't sure he was in a bed at all. There were no covers over him, and it didn't feel like a bed. More like a table that had a little bit of padding.

It'd been one thing after another. Bronson and Jackie had seen someone who looked like Duster at a place called Club Titboo, and Mr. Wess had asked Lucas to go see if it really was him. It was, and Kumatora had been there too. But Duster had lost his memory and didn't know who he was or how to get home. And when he'd lost his memory, he'd hidden something important called the Egg of Light. No one seemed to know much about it, not even Mr. Wess, other than the fact it was important.

Because it was important, they'd set off to go get it. While looking for it, they'd needed to enter a Pigmask base but the Pigmasks had mistaken Lucas for someone else.

Lucas felt his heart twist at the memory and started to push himself up.

The light above him was artificial. He could see that now. It was harsh and unfriendly, but now that that his eyes had adjusted, he saw pale white walls around him.

Where was he anyway? Inside the Pigmask base still? No- after the Pigmasks mistaking him for "the Commander" and making him change into a pair of "the Commander's" clothes (which had fit perfectly- Lucas's fists clenched convulsively at the memory), he and the others had left to find the Egg. And after some fighting and a few more misadventures, they had found it and Duster had gotten his memory back.

But right after that happened, more Pigmasks had come and they'd thought he was "the Commander" too. They'd dragged him and Kumatora and Duster and Boney to Thunder Tower. Thunder Tower was what they'd been using to make lightening strike everybody's houses.

Lucas didn't understand why. Why did the Pigmasks want everybody to have Happy Boxes? What was the point of making everyone have silly boxes that glowed?

And then Fassad, the jerk who had brought the Happy Boxes to Tazmily in the first place, had come. He'd kept chasing them all over Thunder Tower. And then, when they'd reached the top, he'd set off a bunch of bombs and blown the tower up.

There had been a flying ship nearby.

Fassad had been planning to escape on it, but he'd slipped and fallen on one of his own banana peels. Duster had used Rope Snake to grab onto the flying ship's ladder but the person controlling it had begun shaking the ship about, trying to shake them off.

And then someone had come out. With the shaking and the yelling, it had been hard to get a good look. The helmet hadn't helped. But in spite of all that… in spite of everything...

Lucas breathed out slowly and turned around.

He was standing there. The other, the one who-

Lucas's throat closed in on itself at the sight of his one visible eye focused unmovingly on Lucas.

Lucas stared right back, frozen except for both hands gripping the edge of the table-bed.

He'd been captured.

He remembered now. Being separated from the others, seeing his mom's ghost in the field of sunflowers, the Needles, learning about the Dragon, being reunited with the others, and seeing the other boy again and again, only for him to always, always leave Lucas behind again-

Lucas had been with Duster and Kumatora and Boney. They'd been at the temple where Ionia's Needle was- the other and the Pigmasks had gotten there first, but they hadn't been able to get past the vines-

Lucas and his friends had been able to beat the Pigmasks pretty easily- and then they'd fought the other. He'd been strong.

Still, Lucas had thought they were winning- and then he'd collapsed and the Pigmasks had run away, he and the others had turned to watch to make sure they were really gone-

And then the other had grabbed him. Taken him here- knocked him out almost right after they had gotten here.

Why was the other still wearing that helmet? Was it because of Lucas? They'd been fighting before- but he had been the one to attack them-

Lucas hadn't wanted to fight him. He hadn't been able to attack him once, but he didn't know if the other understood that or even if he'd noticed that at all.

Lucas needed to ask him that- to ask him so many things- but the words scratching at his throat refused to come out-

The door opened.

"Ah, you're awake."

Lucas turned to see a man in a lab coat approaching. The creepy grin on his face and the way his eyes gleamed under his glasses made Lucas's skin crawl and he tried not to shudder. He wasn't sure, but he thought the other boy's (Kumatora had called him "the Masked Man", refusing to call him the same thing as the Pigmasks) the other boy's face might have tightened, just a bit more than it had before.

"You slept longer than anticipated," the scientist continued, as if unaware of their feelings or not caring. "But it really doesn't matter. The installation went as expected, but the Commander refused to let me wake you or test it when you were asleep."

"…huh?" Test what? The bad feeling got worse-

The scientist pushed his glasses higher up on his nose. "Try to use one of your PSI abilities, but do not use any of your attacks."

Lucas stared at the scientist, still not understanding, and then turned to look back at the other. Even just in his mind, calling him the "Masked Man" felt wrong.

The scientist sighed and mumbled something, but Lucas didn't look away from the other. For one thing, he was probably the one in charge since they called him "The Commander" …for another…

Slowly, the other lifted one arm and pointed at Lucas's neck.

Startled, Lucas put one hand on his neck- froze at the feeling of cold metal underneath his fingers.

Lucas yelped, startled. He looked down at himself for the first time since waking up. He couldn't see what was around his neck but it was too close to him, hidden under his chin. Lucas tugged at it, but it wouldn't budge. It went all the way around his neck and refused to let go.

He wasn't even wearing his clothes anymore, Lucas realized as he tugged again. His striped shirt and his shorts were both gone, replaced with a plain grey shirt and pants combo. The cloth was rough, almost feeling unfinished. Nothing like their mom's carefully made clothes, or even the painstakingly but still sometimes uneven clothes that Lucas had started making himself.

Lucas tugged once more, before realizing he couldn't get the metal circle off himself. He raised his head and stared at the other, silently begging.

"Nice, isn't it?" the scientist gave a happy sigh from behind them. "Shock collars have been around of course, but I've refined this one to the point where it has different settings- not to mention the fact that if this works as anticipated you will be unable to use your PSI abilities. If you would… a shield, a healing… something along those lines."

Lucas switched his gaze from the other to the scientist and then back again, as quickly as he could move his head-

The scientist mumbled something that sounded like "uncooperative subject" and held up a small device- Lucas couldn't see it all that well- and pressed a button.

It felt like being struck by lightening- like having all his nerves set on fire-

Lucas only realized he'd collapsed once he was on the floor.

That was okay though. The floor was nice and cool. He lay there a moment, trying to get his bearings- and realized there was an argument going on above his head.

"It won't kill him. This is the main setting, designed to be completely non-lethal-" the scientist's voice, speaking in a dismissive tone.

"I want him awake."

Lucas began listening more intently. He wanted to hear more of this voice. But there was only the scientist sighing once again- a rustle of movement- and then footsteps, coming closer. Then stopping, right in front of him.

Lucas slowly peeked open his eyes.

Stiff, shiny boots filled his vision.

"Stand up."

Automatically, Lucas scrambled to his feet. Something about the other- and now that Lucas saw him closer up, it was so obvious that he wasn't any older than Lucas- something about the way he stood, the way he moved… it made him seem older than he was. It reminded Lucas of his dad. Flint had the same way of just looking at you-

"Are you going to do what I say?"

"I-I don't… what are you going to say?"

He was silent a moment, studying Lucas and that was like Flint too. Finally, he spoke. "Try to use one of your PSI abilities."

Lucas hesitated. He really didn't want to, but he'd spotted the shocker remote in the hand of the other, so he must have taken it away from the scientist. And Lucas wanted to know if he could use his abilities too. Lucas didn't want to stay in this place, and he'd need his PSI to escape. But this boy…he needed to talk to him- needed to ask him…and he'd probably be more willing to listen to Lucas if Lucas listened to him.

Lucas gave both the other and the scientist one last quick glance before reluctantly stretching out his finger. "PK Shield," he intoned, figuring that was a safe one.

Nothing happened.

Lucas stared in disbelief, and then tried again. "PK Shield!"

Still nothing.

Why- why were his powers failing him?

Maybe a different one-

"PK Defense Up!"

Still nothing. Normally his body rolled, tingled, flowed with the power. But right now, it was still, cold. The temperature of the room wasn't exactly warm, but something more than the cold still air chilled Lucas's body.

Lucas shivered.

The scientist was rubbing his hands together. "It works just as I predicted- combine those elements together, and PSI abilities are rendered useless." he chuckled. "The King will be quite pleased with this discovery- I must-"

The other cut him off with a gesture. "His Highness has already been informed of the boy's capture. I will report the collar's success tomorrow."

The scientist didn't seem so pleased anymore but the other turned away from him, ignoring the face he made, and then pointed at Lucas. "When was the last time you ate?"

Lucas had to think about that. His confusion about everything else didn't help. But to judge by his empty stomach, it had been a while…

Apparently, his silence had been answer enough.

"Come." The other turned and left the room abruptly.

Lucas stared after him briefly, then turned to glance at the scientist, then hurried to follow the other boy.

He was waiting for him outside the room. "Too slow. You're mine now. You'll do as I say." The voice was soft- not taunting, not cruel.

Lucas stepped forward- wanting to hear more, confused and wanting to understand.

A flash of metal caught his eye, and he glanced down at the shocker remote in the other's hand.

"Glad to see you understand." He spun on his heel and began walking away again.

"But I don't understand!" Lucas called, jogging after him. They were the same height, so their legs should be the same length, but the other was faster, had more muscles or something. "Why- what are you-" the other- why did Kumatora and Duster call him "the Masked Man" when he was so obviously a boy and not yet a man?- turned to face him, and Lucas gestured helplessly, losing all his words.

"…what are you asking?"

"…why did you bring me here? What do you want with me? Do you treat all your enemies-?"

"You're not an enemy. Not anymore." Was it Lucas's imagination, or had a hint of satisfaction crept in his voice? It was true that every time the two of them had met, they'd both been drawn to each other. Lucas had seen it in the way the masked boy stared at him, even at their encounter at Thunder Tower, before Lucas had even heard of the Needles… "You can't interfere anymore. You're not a threat anymore. Now- you're mine. It's late. I'll feed you now. Come."

Not knowing what else to do, not willing to be separated from this person, Lucas followed.

Standing in front of the temple that hid the sixth Needle, Lucas had felt the sun on his face and body and been warm. Even a little hot.

Here, inside this strange place, it was freezing. Lucas wrapped his arms around himself as they walked past a vent that spat cold air at them.

The walls were grayish white, a pale sort of nothing color. The ceiling and floor were the same. There were no windows anywhere. No hint of the world outside of this place.

Everyone was staring at him. The fact that they were pretending not to made it even worse.

The food wasn't very good either. It was all very greasy, the new type of food that Lucas had heard called 'junk food'. He tried not to think about that name too much. Junk food was okay, but he didn't really like it. He liked the food in Tazmily a lot better, that was all.

Except, of course, Tazmily had junk food too now.

Lucas swallowed the food in his mouth and tried to swallow the lump in his throat with it. The sick feeling in the pit of his stomach didn't help though.

Lucas glanced at the masked boy out of the corner of his eye.

He still hadn't heard anyone call him by name- any sort of name. In fact, he'd barely been involved in any sort of conversation at all. He'd just walked in, gotten his food, and then walked to a table.

The most interaction he'd had with anyone had been the way he'd occasionally turned around and looked at Lucas to make sure he was following.

He was almost done eating too. Lucas hurriedly turned away from his study of the other and returned to eating his own food. He'd gotten too distracted by the looking around and the thinking.

The other boy finished eating, and turned and pointedly stared at him as Lucas ate his food as quickly as he possibly could without choking. As Lucas was swallowing the last bite, the other stood up and began walking away.

Startled, Lucas just watched him, until he spun around to stare at him and Lucas realized he expected him to follow him still. He jumped to his feet and rushed after him.

Lucas couldn't help but notice the way the Pigmasks began to chatter once the two of them left the room.

"Slow again," the other said, not looking at him, not slowing down.

"Sorry," Lucas said softly. He wasn't really sure why he was apologizing. It wasn't as if Lucas had really kept him waiting and besides, he'd captured him!

Lucas wanted to stop and demand answers but he wasn't sure how to ask the questions and the halls were full of Pigmasks, and there was no way Lucas was going to ask questions in front of them!

Finally, they came to a room. The other opened it and stepped inside.

Slightly hesitantly, Lucas followed, hoping it wasn't another lab or something similar.

It looked like a bedroom. There was a bed, and there was another door that seemed to lead to a bathroom, and a dresser for storing clothes. But other than that, it was empty. Glaringly empty.

The walls were painted a dreary grey that made Lucas think of rain clouds that refused to rain, that just hung in the sky, heavy and motionless as tombstones.

"Bathroom's over there," the other said, pointing. "You'll sleep there." He pointed again, and Lucas saw the cot he'd missed in his survey of the room- it had been hidden behind the bed. "I've given orders and some things should arrive for you tomorrow. You'll wear my things tonight."

"What about my things? The clothes I was wearing, the stuff I was carrying?" The Franklin Badge jumped to Lucas's mind first of all. It had been a gift from Flint, and it had been something that had belonged to their dad when he had been a kid after all. That was quickly followed by that vial Ionia had given them for getting into the Temple, and his nice comfy clothes that were his and all the other things he'd been carrying-

At least Duster had been the one carrying the Hummingbird Egg, so that was still safe.

"Those are your clothes," the other said, pointed to what Lucas was wearing. Again, that slight hint of satisfaction in the voice. "All that you have- all that you need- you'll get it from me. Your old things have been destroyed. You won't need them anymore. I'll give you what you need." Doing one of those swift turns of his, he turned to the dresser and pulled out what was probably pajamas. They were stiff and grey, like the imprisoning walls of this place.

He pushed the clothes into the still stunned Lucas's arms and pointed towards the bathroom.

Lucas hesitated. Still confused, still unsure and more than anything else, not wanting to leave the other alone-

"Go."

Lucas stopped hesitating. That voice sounded just like his father's whenever he'd done something wrong. Sometimes he'd felt like that was everything he did.

The clothes fit perfectly. Like the change of clothes the Pigmasks kept for the other at that one base.

Looking in the mirror, Lucas scowled at himself halfheartedly.

Okay... there was no way he could get out of this place without his powers. He still needed to get answers from the other, but now was as good a time as any to figure out the collar.

He traced the collar, then slowly stuck his fingers on the inside, trying to fit them between his skin and the collar.

It shocked him.

Not nearly as bad as the one the scientist had given him, but bad enough that it stung and made Lucas yelp.

"…are you trying to remove your collar?" The other's voice sounded surprisingly close. Almost like he was waiting outside the door.

"No!" Lucas called back, then winced at how guilty he sounded. It was sorta the truth, after all. He hadn't really been trying to remove it, only to find out more about it.

His mom had always called it the "whoops" look. Everyone had always known when he'd done something wrong- and sometimes, like now, when he hadn't even really done anything wrong, when he felt guilty even though he really shouldn't feel guilty. When one of Claus's plans went wrong, that was generally what happened. Claus's plans…they backfired on him sometimes.

And Lucas had always been with him, his constant partner in crime. Exploring, getting lost, and then finding their way home again, they'd always done everything together. Until the night everything went wrong, when it all fell apart- the night of the funeral. And Claus had disappeared the next morning.

Lucas suddenly realized two things- one, the door was opening- and two, he was crying.

Not sobbing, thankfully- but there were tears on his cheeks and in his eyes and no matter how he rubbed at them, he wasn't able to get rid of them before the door opened and the other came in.

He froze as he saw Lucas's tears.

Lucas flushed as he got his cheeks clear of tears, only for two more to escape from his eyes. "You know, there's this thing called privacy." He'd been spending too much time with Kumatora, he reflected absentmindedly as he faced the other. He was embarrassed and he was a little mad at the other for walking in on him, but he wasn't ashamed. He wasn't ashamed of the fact that he loved his family and he missed them.

Finally, the other found his voice again. "…you're crying." It was said in an odd tone. Lucas couldn't quite figure out what it was that this masked boy was feeling- he thought he heard confusion- maybe the other didn't know how he was feeling either.

"Yeah, I am," Lucas said softly.

The other continued to stare at him, like he was some sort of strange never before seen chimera.

Lucas just stared back at him, wondering what was going through his head, trying to figure it out-

"Why?"

"Because I miss my friends and I don't know what's going on, because I miss my family-"

The other was silent still- but he dropped his head- almost as if he was trying to think.

Lucas took the opportunity to study him. The other had to be a boy. He was the same height as Lucas, who was still barely half his father's height, and what little he could see of the face (why was he still wearing his helmet? Why wouldn't he take it off?) seemed to suggest he was Lucas's own age. But the way he moved and the way he looked at people, that made him seem older.

Lucas felt something tugging painfully at his heart. He always felt this way with this person, every since they'd met in the skies above Thunder Tower.

The other took a step back- he had to be feeling it too, he had to be! -and turned his face so Lucas could see only the masked part. "Family?"

"Yes, my family," Lucas said quietly, taking a step forward, not willing to let him get any further away from him than he already was. "My mom's dead. She's been dead for three years now, but I still love her and I still miss her. She was the smartest and kindest person I know. I don't know where my dad is right now…he spends most of his time searching for my brother."

"…brother?" The something in the other's voice was growing, becoming stronger.

Lucas took another step forward. Hoping he was getting through, hoping he was getting him to understand, he continued talking. "Yes- my brother, my twin brother Claus… he disappeared three years ago, right after our mom died… I believe he's still alive, but everyone keeps telling me to give up on him, that he has to be dead-" Lucas shook his head, then faced the other again, looking him in the eyes as much as he could. "I believe- no, I know- that my brother is still alive."

The other didn't move. He barely seemed to breathe.

Lucas reached for him, suddenly needing to make sure that he was still alive, still real- but the other jerked away and spun on his heel, leaving the bathroom and Lucas stared after him, stung and wrung by a sudden feeling of loss and emptiness.

When Lucas entered the room, the other was already in bed, unmoving, with the blanket over his head.

Hesitantly, Lucas moved closer-

"Go to bed." The sudden harsh command made him jump a bit. "Go to sleep."

"…I have questions."

"…I'll answer them tomorrow. Go to sleep."

"Promise?"

"…yes. I promise. Go to sleep. Now."

Lucas was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to sleep- sleep in this strange place with this strange boy-man, with all the questions running in circles in his head, screaming- but he didn't argue.

He walked over to the cot and climbed in. The blankets were awful, scratchy and thin- but there were two of them, and that should keep him warm enough.

Lucas turned to face the other- only to realize that his bed only had one blanket.

"Aren't you cold?"

"No. Go to sleep."

"…goodnight," Lucas whispered.

No response.

Lucas shut his eyes and tried to think.

Surprisingly, once his eyes shut, he remembered walking hand in hand with Claus through a warm field of sunflowers. Their mom stood at the end of the row, smiling at them… smiling at them like she was getting ready to welcome them home… he saw it so clearly for a moment that he smelled the sunflowers, smelled his mother's scent as they ran to her-

Lucas shuddered slightly. He opened his eyes again and looked at the other. With the blanket over his head, Lucas wasn't quite sure which way he was facing. Still, he reached out. The cot was just close enough that he could reach the bed- felt the edge of the other's hand through the cloth and gripped it tight.

The other tensed, but didn't pull away.

Lucas smiled. Lucas kept smiling as the other still didn't pull away, kept smiling until he finally fell asleep.

Chapter 3

"What do you think you're doing?" Duster asked, arms crossed.

Kumatora scowled at him from her perch in the tree. "I'm looking for any sort of sign, any sort of clue that that stupid jerk went this way with Lucas!" Her voice had gotten louder with each word.

"Do you see anything?" Duster asked calmly, knowing that he wasn't the one she was really mad at.

Her face flushed, both at his calmness and her failure. "Not yet."

"We'll still find him."

Startled, she met his eyes and then smiled. Just slightly, but enough to show that she was reassured. She turned back to scan once more, just to be sure- and then frowned.

"Do you see something?"

"Yeah, I think so!" She dropped from the tree in a shower of leaves and twigs and grinned at him. "This way, come on!"

Before he could respond, she was darting away into the forest.

Duster groaned and followed, ignoring his leg. He was grateful for all of his father's thief training. If it hadn't been for that, there was no way he could've caught up to her.

Boney darted around him. Normally content to heel, worry for Lucas was affecting him the same way as Kumatora.

They'd been searching the woods for hours, trying to catch up to the Masked Man and Lucas. They'd lost sight of them soon after he'd grabbed Lucas. He'd taken off into the sky with such speed that the two of them were high in the sky and already far away before Duster and Kumatora had a chance to take more than a few steps in pursuit.

Duster mentally cursed himself, following up that cursing with a list of his father's favorite insults.

Lucas might be the hero of this journey, but he still was only thirteen, just barely a teenager.

Duster was the adult, and it was his job to be the responsible one and look after the other two. And he'd failed.

What were the Pigmasks doing to Lucas right now? Duster devoutly hoped nothing. He might have thrown wrenches into their plans a few times, but he was just a kid. The Pigmasks might be a bad group, but that didn't mean that they were totally evil, right? And only the truly evil would hurt a kid-

They finally caught up with Kumatora, and found her standing still- staring intently up at something…

Duster came to a stop and stared up, following her line of sight-

A large wall of dirty white rose up in front of them. It curved, almost as if someone had cleanly cut the bottom half off an egg. It was huge…

"Look," Kumatora said, unusually quiet, and pointed. "There's a door."

She was right.

Duster stared at it a minute. He realized the creeping feeling inside of him was fear. He didn't know why, but at the sight of that structure, whatever it was- something, something weird and strong rose up in him like a swimmer striking towards the surface-

He realized that Kumatora was calling his name- he started and turned to her.

"You okay?"

"I think so. It's just, when I look at that thing…" he trailed off. He wanted to look back at it, but he was afraid too, afraid that the same thing would happen again, and he'd get sucked into the whirlpool inside of him.

Boney whined.

"What?" Kumatora pressed- and at the worry in her voice and in those green eyes, Duster decided to try to explain to her.

"I felt something- something strong- inside of me. Actually, it felt a little… familiar."

"Like what?"

"Like… like when we finally found the Clayman that had the Hummingbird Egg… when my memories came back." Duster spun around and stared at the strange structure again. The whirlpool rose, but only lapped at his feet, not threatening to overwhelm him the way it had before.

"Do you think you've been here before?"

"I don't know," Duster said quietly, stepping closer, not taking his eyes off it. "I don't recognize it. I don't think it's one of the places my dad used for thief training, or as one of his hidey holes. But it's important. It must be."

"…let's go in then."

He turned to look at her again, and she gestured, a little helplessly.

"That stupid Masked Man may have taken Lucas inside. He was headed in this direction after all. And if this place is important, we should check it out anyway, right?"

Boney barked in agreement.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go."

This thing had to have been abandoned for a while, judging by the vines growing on it, but the door swished open for them easily, with an unearthly sound that chilled him. The inside was dark, and smelled of dust. There were no windows, but artificial lights flickered weakly along the tops of the walls. At least, some of them did. Others remained dark and dead, and even the ones that worked flickered like candles in the wind.

But there was enough light for Duster to look down and see the footprints on the ground, clearly outlined in the dust. "Someone's been here recently."

"Alright, we've found where that masked jerk is-"

"No," Duster said shortly, bending down and examining them. Two sets, but it looked like they belonged to the same person. Whoever it was, they'd come in, and then they'd left.

"No? What do you mean, no?"

"Look at the size of these prints. Whoever left them is my height or taller, but the Masked Man is closer to Lucas's height than mine." Duster stood up and dusted his hands off. "I don't know who was here, but it wasn't him. I don't think it was one of the Pigmasks either. For one thing, the only Pigmasks we've seen wandering around by themselves were the Fierce Pork Trooper and the one who stayed at Lydia's to take care for the bunnies. They really don't seem to like being alone. For another, the boot prints look different. All of the Pigmasks' boots look the same, although there are some size differences. These though… these might actually be handmade, the way the villagers used to…" Duster trailed off and frowned at the prints.

"Duster?"

Before Duster had a chance to respond, Boney trotted up beside him and sniffed at the prints, before barking in surprise.

"(Flint was here!)."

"Are you sure Boney?" Duster asked, and Boney turned and gave him a look.

"(Of course I'm sure! The nose knows! Flint was here!)"

"Who's Flint?" Kumatora asked.

"Lucas's dad."

"What was Lucas's dad doing in a place like this?" Kumatora gestured to the walls surrounding them. "With all this technology, it must be one of the Pigmask labs, right? I mean, look at those automatic doors, the lack of windows and artificial lights in here- what else could it be? It looks like they've forgotten about it, but still-"

It's not a Pigmask base. Duster wanted to say, It's the furthest thing from a Pigmask base. But he didn't know why he wanted to say that, and Boney interrupted before he could begin to start sorting through the strange impulse.

"...(he must have been looking for Claus)," the Lab whined softly.

"Looking for Claus?" Duster repeated, a sick feeling creeping around his insides. When he'd gotten his memory back and mentally reviewed the most recent events, he had noticed that Claus wasn't there with them when Lucas and Boney arrived at the Club, and he knew that Claus would never have stayed behind. He'd also noticed that Lucas didn't talk about him.

He'd assumed that Claus had been killed by the same creature that had killed their mother, and that Lucas just didn't want to talk about something that undoubtedly hurt him deeply.

Duster had planned to wait and find a good moment, and talk to him about it then. He knew some of the villagers gave Lucas grief about being a "crybaby", and sometimes Lucas was a little too sensitive, but there was nothing wrong about caring for people and missing the ones you loved when they died. And from everything Duster had seen, Lucas had grown up quite a bit in the last three years. He'd channeled his sensitivity to make him stronger, not weaker.

Duster had planned to talk to Lucas alone, and ask about what had happened then but with everything going on and the fate of the world at stake, he hadn't had a chance. But Flint wouldn't spend time looking for a dead person, would he?

"...that's Lucas's brother, right?" Kumatora asked. She and Duster traded looks as he nodded slowly.

Duster suspected they were both remembering Tanetane Island. All three of them had seen things- things that tried to mess with their heads- but Lucas had been the most affected. Maybe the fact that he was the youngest had something to do with it-

Kumatora sighed softly and turned away slightly. "...I remember when I first met Lucas, his brother was missing and Lucas was worried about him." She folded her arms and snorted softly. "He showed up out of nowhere with a couple of Dragos, saved our lives, and then the old geezer told him what was going and then ordered him to stay in Tazmily. Told him that he was certain that Claus would come back sooner or later." She chuckled bitterly and folded her arms tighter. "He told Lucas to work with his dad and the others to 'work together to protect our village'. Geezer didn't seem to realize that some people love their blindfolds, and there's only so much one person can do by themselves." Kumatora sighed, then turned to him and gave a small smile. "Well, at least one part of his plan worked."

"Which part was that?"

"The one where I found you, of course! It was more complicated than I expected, but worth it in the end." She smiled, but then it faded, and she sighed again. "I wish he'd been right about Lucas's brother too."

Duster remembered Claus. Bright and vivid, rushing around like a small fireball- he threw himself into whatever he did, Lucas always at his side- how he was independent, never letting people do things for him, but also how he loved to do things for other people. How he'd constantly driven his mother crazy with "gifts" of flowers he'd picked from her garden and from the flower boxes in the village- even when he'd gotten older and realized why she wasn't very enthusiastic about those gifts, he started bringing her wildflowers he and Lucas had picked instead. "Claus never would've stayed away unless something kept him coming home," Duster said out loud, and Boney barked in agreement.

"I kinda figured that," Kumatora said. "If he was anything at all like Lucas, leaving his family behind to worry about him would be something he could never do..." For a moment, green eyes stared into space before she chuckled. A sound that wasn't quite bitter but was close. "The very first time I met Lucas, something in me knew we were going to be friends. I couldn't stop myself from looking over my shoulder as we walked away- he'd followed a couple of steps after us- he was still staring after me and Salsa. I could see it on his face, how much he wanted to come with us, but he smiled at me anyway." She shook her head, then raised it and looked Duster in his eyes. "Come on, let's get going. The sooner we catch up to the masked jerk, the sooner we can rescue Lucas and punch that jerk in the face."

She started moving before Duster could respond, walking further down the hallway with Boney quickly following behind her.

Duster took a step forward and stumbled.

The whirlpool in his head- he'd forgotten about it until now, but it surged back, looming in front of him before receding. But it was still closer than it had been before.

Duster breathed out, trying to steady himself, before continuing on down the hallway.

There was a poster on the wall- part of him was vaguely surprised that they hadn't seen it, but it was faded- the same color as the wall now.

Duster was aware that he was trembling. He turned his head away from the poster and kept walking- but with every step he took, the whirlpool got closer- thinking about Lucas and all the other problems had kept it away for a while, but now-

Kumatora was saying something, something about searching for clues- but there was a roaring in his ears, like the sea coming in- he found himself walking further in, going so fast he walked past the others. He was aware of Kumatora and Boney following after him, but he just couldn't focus-

"Hey kid! What are you doing?"

His dad's voice. His dad had said that. Had they come here as a part of his thief training after all? But then why didn't he remember this place?

His feet led him down the hallway and then out into a room-

And then there was bright light- sunlight, he vaguely realized, holding up one hand in front of his face and squinting- they weren't back outside, not yet, but other than the one wall behind them and the floor beneath them, the room was made of windows. He stared, realizing that that at some points, vines had grown over the windows.

He keep walking forward, not able to make himself stop- pressed one hand against the glass-

"This looks like some kinda place for people to enjoy the view," Kumatora's voice swung back into focus, just for a moment- he didn't know what she saw-

Duster suddenly found himself ten years old, standing by the windows, holding a green eyed baby in his arms, staring at the island in front of him and the ocean surrounding it.

"We're going to be living here from now on- this is home now." he told the baby seriously, as she tried to grab his nose. "Hey, stop that!" he said, giggling just a little bit, "I'm trying to explain to you-"

"Hey kid! What are you doing?"

Dusty yelped and spun to face the man in the doorway. "Oh, it's you sir- I'm sorry. I just- I just wanted to show the baby our new home."

The man snorted and moved closer, standing next to him. "You do realize that babies can barely tell the difference between people, let alone places?" It was spoken softly, without contempt, and his hand landed softly on Dusty's head.

"Oh," Dusty said softly, not knowing what else to say- he held the baby a bit tighter, then yelped as she succeeded in grabbing his nose and giggled at him triumphantly.

The man chuckled as he reached down and claimed the baby, freeing Dusty's nose in the process.

Dusty let the man take her- began rubbing his nose-

"Are you scared?" he froze at the sound of the man's voice- didn't look up. "It'll be okay, kid. You'll see. It'll feel like home in no time."

"…I guess. I just wish the rest of my family was here too."

"I understand kid."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I've got some friends who didn't make it either." He sighed and turned away. "Come on, back inside. Babies are fragile, you know. Even though we're not technically outside, evening's coming on and these windows aren't great at keeping in heat- the little princess might catch cold."

"Okay sir." Dusty said, turning to follow him- and walking right into Kumatora's fist. "Ow."

"Duster! Hey Duster!" she yelled, shaking him, "Look at me! I'm right here!"

"…Kumatora?" he still felt like the world was spinning around him, but he could focus on her face now.

"Yeah, it's me!"

"Oh." Duster looked at her, then looked around. His eyes flickered around the windowed room, then at the woods outside that surrounded the vine covered and ruined ship.

Kumatora was staring at him, one hand on each of his shoulders.

Boney was by his side, whining softly.

"What was that?" Duster asked finally.

"You tell me," Kumatora answered, worry loud and clear in her voice.

Notes:

So, who knows what they've just found? Is it too vague? Blatantly obvious? Somewhere in between? Because this plot point is one of the one reasons why I feel safe in posting this story. I have seen nobody use this idea, and if I'm wrong and someone's already done this, please tell me so that I can go read it.

Also, if you catch me making a mistake(spelling error, logic fail, continuity flaw, whatever), please tell me so that I can fix it. I try to catch everything, but sometimes I fail. On the other hand, if you don't see any flaws and just think I'm doing an okay job, please feel free to tell me that too! ^^

Chapter 4

His eyes snapped open as he jerked awake- shot up as if he'd been fired from the cannon- quickly scanned the room and found it empty of enemies.

But not empty of life.

He flung the blanket aside, quickly crossed over to the other's cot and stood over him. He watched him breathe for a moment before slowly reaching out, putting his hand on the other's forehead.

The blond boy sighed deeply- mumbled something that he didn't catch- and smiled. The other appeared to be sleeping peacefully. He was smiling, lying still, not restless at all.

No injuries or worries that the Commander could detect.

The Commander gave a sigh of his own.

This was the first plan he had come up with on his own. He was still following orders, of course, but this was the first time he'd seen a good way to accomplish his orders so neatly.

At least, it had seemed nice and neat when he'd taken the boy. When he'd been bringing him here, and he had sped up and gone even higher, the boy had actually clung to him- still not scared, but worried- cautious-

But then...

He'd begun approaching the base, began going lower- among the trees, not over them-

Suddenly, the other had begun to struggle.

At first, he thought the other boy was trying to escape from him- but the other gripped him even tighter with one hand and latched himself onto a strong nearby tree branch with his free hand-

They struggled for a moment- the other refused to let go of him, but also refused to let go of the tree- finally, the Commander got into position and shot the branch off the tree- it took a minute for him to stabilize their flight- and for that moment, the other boy had returned to hugging him with both arms again.

So the Commander had relaxed. And then, as they passed another tree, the other did it again- reached out and latched onto another tree branch while still clinging to him with his other hand. They struggled again, and again he shot the tree branch off, and again the boy returned to clinging to him- but this time the Commander made sure to stay away from the trees and their branches- and this time he thought he knew what the other was trying to do. He wasn't trying to escape, exactly- he was trying to avoid going to the base, but he was also trying to stay with him.

They had to go to the base, of course. Mountain Base was where the Commander had been stationed, so it would be where he would keep the boy.

But he had to stop the boy from struggling. The scientists and the soldiers would take it as more than struggling, would take as fighting- would think that it meant that the other boy was an enemy still- and the scientists might use that against them- might claim that since the Commander couldn't control the boy, he couldn't keep him-

They were approaching the landing site now.

The boy wasn't struggling, but he was tense- so very tense- in his arms- and then he twisted, making him tense too- but he seemed to be just looking around- probably trying to find another way to try to prevent them from reaching the base- but the change in position was just enough for the light to glint off of a badge pinned to the boy's striped shirt.

The commander analyzed it quickly. The boy hadn't been wearing it at their last meeting- when they were on the other island- and at that time, he'd used the lightening and knocked out the boy and the ones with him- the ones who had been controlling him.

The badge was what kept the lightening from affecting the boy.

With one quick, sharp gesture, he ripped the badge off of the boy's shirt, tearing it in the process- and then, before the boy could do anything more than give a sharp cry in protest, he hit him with the lightening- knocking him out and making him go limp.

The Commander quickly stuffed the badge away in one of the uniform pockets and then wrapped his other arm around the boy as well- cradled him carefully as he began to land.

The voice was- was not wailing exactly- not complaining exactly- but the voice was not happy. A high worried sound-

Something in him resonated with the voice. He'd been about to congratulate himself on an excellent tactical move, but couldn't, even though this meant the boy was safe-

It was only as his feet hit the floor that he realized that he hadn't really thought this through. The voice would no doubt go into the category of things that he would be sent to the scientists for "a checkup" for if he mentioned it- and the boy needed to be shown that the ones controlling him before would not be able to reach him here, and that he needed to listen to him and behave- and he would have to convince everyone that it was best to let him keep the boy. What would be the best way to do all of that-

"Commander?"

He looked up to find a woman- one of the assistant scientists- looking from him to the boy he was carrying in his arms.

"What's going on?" she asked, tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear nervously, "who is that?"

"This is the other- the other who was pulling the Needles," he responded, looking away from her- looking at the other, wondering how to care for him- that was when he saw the injuries. Just bruises and small cuts- the other's healing PSI had kept him from serious injury- but he still frowned when he saw them- the blond boy was his responsibility now- and looked at the assistant scientist. "Fix him."

And they had. The boy's wounds were all cured now.

He took his hand off the boy's head- was about to take a step away, when the boy frowned- stirred slightly in his sleep.

The boy was like him. But not like him too.

He was having problems pinning it down. Parts of the boy were obvious, and parts of him weren't.

He and the boy had similar powers. One of their attacks- the strongest one- was exactly the same.

And the boy was strong- he had to be, otherwise he would have died by now, even with those others helping him. The boy was strong, but he kept thinking of him as weak. Well, now he was weak. The collar placed the boy entirely under his power.

He watched the boy toss in his sleep. The boy was his now- he'd have to take care of him- protect him, keep him safe…

Like he had earlier- when the scientists had found out what had happened, they'd crowded into the room where the other boy's injuries were being taken care of-

The medics were giving the boy something as they were fixing his injuries- something in a needle that they injected into him as the Commander watched- they said it would keep him asleep.

The Commander had watched as long as he could, but then the scientists showed up- so many of them that they couldn't stay in the room. So he had taken them to the hallway outside and listened to them there.

The scientists had wanted to keep the boy, but he'd said no.

Even after he'd said that, they had kept insisting that they should be the ones to keep the boy- kept talking about all the things they could do to him (he vaguely realized that his fists were clenching themselves tight as the scientists kept talking)- all the things they could test on him- and then they'd started arguing over who got to do what with him.

Even the head scientist got annoyed at them- the third time Dr. Reasoner had told his workers to listen and they failed to do so, the Commander had turned the mechanical arm into its cannon mode and shot it into the air.

Everybody glared at him, but they did become quiet- then the head scientist spoke up again.

"Thank you, Commander." The head scientist didn't sound thankful. He sounded mad.

He nodded his head in acknowledgment anyway, then stated his case again. "The boy belongs in my custody because the Army had to deal with him, and I am the one who captured him. He is no true threat. He never attacked me. Even during the battle at the Temple, he only healed himself and the others who were controlling him- sometimes he would use shields and a few other assist PSI, but that was all. He is also the other one who was pulling the Needles-"

"How do you know that?" challenged a voice.

He couldn't see which of the scientists said that, so he gave the whole room a look. "Because he is."

"At this precise minute, it doesn't matter if he is or is not," the head scientist said, glaring at all of them. "All of you get back to work- except for you, Betz." He waited for all of them to stop yelling, then continued. "The Commander and I are going to call King P. In the meantime, Betz has an experiment he's been wanting to try for some time, an experiment that won't harm the subject even if it doesn't work as anticipated."

One of the scientists stepped forward, glasses glinting in the artificial light. "It's a project I've been working on for some time. How exactly does PSI travel through the body? I believe I've come up with a way to block it. No matter who gets to keep the subject, it will be a good idea to make sure he can't use his PSI. We all know how annoying escape attempts can be, don't we?"

All of the scientists laughed.

The Commander didn't.

"Not to mention," the scientist went on, "my latest design is a collar that also works the same as a shock collar. You click a button and zap! Instant punishment. Quite handy for training purposes. Don't you agree, Commander?"

He looked at the scientist for a moment- then nodded slowly. He agreed with anything that kept the boy in his care- kept him safe and away from the scientists. And it would be good to have something to show to the other boy to prove that he- the Commander, the strong one- was the one in charge, and the other boy needed to listen to him and be good. Shock collars had remotes, didn't they? He would make sure to take it away from the scientist as soon as possible.

Luckily, when Master Porky came on and the Commander explained his plan, Master Porky approved of it- at least, he thought he did. The Pig King had laughed when he heard it, and he'd said that the Commander could keep the other- and that was the most important thing.

The boy was his to keep now.

In the present, the other rocked restlessly, and he moved slightly towards him- he didn't know why-

With something almost like surprise, he realized he was feeling emotions towards the boy. He wasn't supposed to feel emotions. Emotions messed with your head- altered your thinking- emotions were dangerous, keeping you from doing what you needed to do- made you do stupid things…

Awkwardly, he tried to shove them away, but they just bubbled back in under the mental door he tried to shove them behind. He regarded them- he didn't know what to do with them. Unused to feelings, he didn't really know which ones they were, or what to do with them. All he knew was that the boy was- the boy was-

The boy moaned in his sleep, as if something had hurt him, and the Commander found his hand reaching towards him. Surprised, he just watched, making no attempt to stop it- his hand gently stroked the boy's head- it seemed to comfort him- sooth him.

The boy murmured. He sounded sad, but no longer in pain.

The Commander just continued stroking the boy's head. He found himself humming too. Why?

It soothed the boy- comforted him. It helped him sleep.

Sleep was good. Sleep was important. Soldiers needed sleep to be able to perform their duties with maximum efficiency. The boy wasn't a soldier, but the body still worked the same, right?

The Commander should be sleeping himself- but he wasn't. He had been- but he'd woken up. Something had woken him up… it happened sometimes… he'd wake up, and he wouldn't know why… sometimes he'd find his cheeks wet… he didn't know why. Maybe if he asked, somebody would be able to tell him why…but he never asked.

He didn't know why he didn't ask-but it didn't matter, right? He still did his job, and as long as he did his job, everything was good, right?

The boy shifted, moving himself closer- closer to him.

The Commander heard a soft sigh- realized it came from his own throat.

The head scientist had been unhappy- tried to argue- but Master Porky wouldn't let him. After telling them to report in tomorrow with whatever happened next, he dismissed them.

When he and the head scientist returned to the room where the boy was being kept until he woke up, he discovered that the other scientist had completed the installation of the collar around the boy's neck.

The boy's wounds were all attended to. His clothes had also been taken away and they had put the infirmary patient outfit on him.

He noticed the boy's clothes folded and sitting on a nearby cart- there was a bin next to it.

The two scientists started talking- arguing- over the Pig King's decision.

He ignored them- walked over to the cart and looked in the bin.

As he'd suspected, the boy's equipment was inside- some food, one of the zodiac bracelets- a vial filled with something that looked like water...except the color wasn't quite right...maybe because it was in the vial? Maybe the vial was made out of something that distorted the color of the water to his eyes- but it didn't matter.

He didn't care about any of these things. The boy wouldn't need them anymore. He picked up the clothes, put them in the box with the other things and picked up the box and walked over to the scientists, who had finally stopped arguing. "Do whatever you want with these."

The one that was not the head scientist- Dr. Betz- snorted. "What would we want with those-"

The Commander held up the vial, and the scientists looked at it.

"It's just water," Dr. Betz said. His tone said he wasn't quite convinced of that, but it wasn't any happier either.

"You wouldn't be able to do more than wet your mouth with that amount of water- there's no reason for carrying that little container with just water in it," Head Scientist Dr. Reasoner said, and took the box and shoved it into Dr. Betz's arms. "Here, run some tests on it."

"I'm not done yet here! I still have to test the collar-"

"The boy is sleeping." the Commander pointed out. It was an obvious statement, but since the scientist wasn't taking that into account...

"That will change with the touch of a button-" the scientist said, holding up a remote, finger inching towards the red button. The Commander snatched it away. "Hey!"

"The boy is mine."

"Maybe so, but the collar is my project! I have the right to test it."

The Commander wavered slightly at that. He wasn't supposed to interfere in the scientists' projects- that was on the list of things he would get in trouble for- but then things went click in his mind. "You can test it- when the boy wakes up, then you can test it. After you test it-" he held up the remote- reluctantly let the scientist snatch it back. "After you test it, the remote becomes mine."

They had argued then- they had gone back and forth for a while- in the end, Head Scientist Dr. Reasoner intervened. First, he asked the Commander what he was trying to do, and he answered, "Trust".

The scientists didn't understand, even though it made sense. He wanted the boy to trust him, and if you wanted someone to trust you, you treated them kindly. If they misbehaved, then you punished them, but you never ever hurt them for no reason.

The head scientist had stared at him silently for a few more minutes. He didn't look convinced, but he didn't argue either. The scientists had left shortly afterwards. The head scientist to return to his duties and the other scientist to drop the box off at his lab , before coming back here.

He knew the scientists were angry that they didn't get to keep the boy- that they were glaring at his back as they left the room- but he didn't care.

The boy was his. The boy would stay safe with him.

In the present, he suddenly realized that the badge that reflected lightening was still in his pocket. No doubt the scientists would be interested in that- but... instinctively, his hand shot into the pocket- wrapped itself around the badge tightly.

...perhaps he could use it as an example- to gain the boy's trust. If the boy continued to behave, he would tell him that he still had the badge- and tell him he would return it to him if he was good in the future as well.

When the boy had woken up, he'd been good, just like the Commander had known he would be-

Things had gone well. The collar had worked- it both blocked the boy's PSI and when the button was pressed, it zapped the boy and hurt him-

When the boy had fallen to the ground, he had ripped the remote out of the scientist's hand.

The scientist had glared at him briefly before smiling- a not very nice smile.

The Commander had ignored it and gone over to the boy.

When he'd spoken to the boy, he'd gotten up- didn't even seem to be bruised. After confirming that the boy's PSI was indeed blocked, he'd taken the boy away, taken him to the mess hall- fed him there, and then taken him to the room.

He'd given the boy his nighttime clothes, and the boy had gone into the bathroom to change.

The Commander had begun to take off the boots- and then, just after he'd finished that and taken them to their place by the side of the door, he'd heard the sound of the collar activating, and the boy yelped.

When questioned, the boy said he wasn't trying to remove the collar- but he'd also sounded guilty-

The boy had been good before. He'd been quiet and stuck close to the Commander- but the Commander had opened the door anyway- he couldn't take any chances with the boy's safety-

The boy had been crying- but he'd also faced the Commander straight on- no shame, no fear-

The Commander was brought back to the present by the boy mumbling something in his sleep- something he couldn't make out- but there was a high, lonely sound to his voice- as if he was calling out to someone-

Finding the boy like that- the Commander had felt almost like he'd been injured and something was digging into the wound- and then the boy had started talking about his family, and the feeling had gotten even worse- as if the girl who had been controlling the boy before had hit him on the head repeatedly- hit him without the helmet protecting him.

He'd retreated from the bathroom- gone into his bed. He needed to stop this feeling, needed to regain perspective so he could fulfill his duties-

The boy had followed him out- had talked about having questions- the Commander had gotten him to be quiet and go to sleep- but he'd had to promise to answer the boy's questions later.

And then the boy had reached out- had taken a hold of the Commander's hand and held onto it as he went to sleep- had continued holding onto it even in his sleep. The Commander hadn't moved away- it would make it easier to keep track of the boy anyway, right?

But the boy wanted to ask questions. Well, questions weren't necessarily bad. A good soldier would ask questions to make sure they fulfilled their duty correctly- but the statements the boy made... the effect they had on him... would the questions the boy asked be even worse?

But he couldn't get angry at him. He wasn't supposed to get angry anyway, and just as importantly, the boy was obviously sincere- wasn't trying to hurt him-

"Yes- my brother, my twin brother Claus…he disappeared three years ago, right after our mom died…I believe he's still alive, but everyone keeps telling me to give up on him, that he has to be dead-" The boy shook his head, then faced the Commander again, looking him in the eyes as much as he could. "I believe- no, I know- that my brother is still alive."

The voice was back in his head again. He still couldn't make out the words, but he could tell that the voice was happy because of the tone…the voice was humming the same tune he was…that was strange…strange, but...familiar.

The Commander should be trying to get to sleep- he didn't know why he wasn't. Somehow, the commands wouldn't form in his brain, wouldn't reach his limbs.

"…good boy…"

The voice was happy…was that a good thing?

The voice was happy- the boy was happy- the Commander was…

His train of thought crashed and abruptly restarted.

The soft sound of the boy's breathing filled the otherwise empty and silent room.

The Commander was tired. And night was for sleeping, right?

He should try to get to sleep- he shifted and the boy mumbled in his sleep and grabbed his wrist.

"Dun' go…" he begged.

Startled, he didn't pull away- just watched as the boy clung to his hand like a swimmer to a lifeline.

The voice seemed pleased by this too. "…good boys…proud…"

Proud?

He patted the boy's head and watched him relax and listened to the voice hum softly and happily.

"*****, you're the strong one and ***** is the sweet one- so you have to protect him. He isn't as strong as you, so you have to be careful, okay?"

He nodded solemnly, eyes fixed on the figure above him-

It was dark, and there was some sort of mist surrounding him- he couldn't see, but there were people around- he was aware of a flash of yellow, and realized that the blonde boy was behind the one in front of him, being gently lifted and carried by a tall figure-

But even as he realized that, he focused on the gentle hands on his shoulders and the sweet scent of flowers coming from the figure in front of him-

This time, the pounding on the door woke him up.

"Commander! Commander! We've received an urgent report from the Chimera Research Facility!"

He jerked awake, confused and disoriented, but only for a moment.

He'd been asleep? He'd actually fallen back asleep after waking up? He was on the boy's bed now. The blankets had been tucked around both of them.

Next to him, the boy yawned as he sat up. He turned to face him- the boy was sleepy and discombobulated, but their eyes met-

"Commander!"

The Commander of the Pigmask Army jumped to his feet. He turned away from the boy and walked to the door but didn't open it. "What?"

"Oh, Commander! Thank goodness you're awake! The Chimera Research Facility sent an urgent report! Apparently, the chimeras escaped! they managed to recapture most of them, but they still haven't been able to round up the Ultimate Chimera!"

…of course the Ultimate Chimera was the one still loose.

"I'll be there shortly."

"Yes sir!"

Even through the door he could hear the sound of the salute.

He sighed and turned to face the boy- and flinched slightly to find him right behind him, staring at him intently.

Sleeping in his helmet and uniform had been uncomfortable, but he was rather glad he had…the boy's gaze…it was piercing. The helmet shielded him somewhat from the boy's stare.

After a moment of silence, the Commander turned away. "What do you want?"

"What do you want?" the boy countered.

The Commander blinked. "I don't want anything."

"Then why am I here?"

"So you're safe. You can't interfere anymore."

"If all you wanted was to make sure I didn't interfere, then why didn't you kill me?"

The Commander looked away again, and the boy moved, keeping it so that they were eye to eye still.

"You could've killed me and my friends easily back on Tanetane Island- but you didn't."

"Get out of my way. I need to get ready for the briefing," the Commander said, pushing past him- the boy surrendered ground, but his hands closed around the Commander's wrist and wouldn't let go.

The Commander turned- looked at the boy's hand, then looked at the boy's bright blue eyes, before dropping his head again. "…do you need something?" He must need something with the way he was looking at him, right? "I'll bring you some clothes today, like I promised yesterday. You'll stay here for now. I'll take you to the mess hall after the briefing is over. Do you need anything else?"

The boy paused a moment- things ran across his face so fast, before he focused. "My friends- what are you going to do with them?"

"…that depends on what they do next. Now-" he pulled away, moved to the dresser, removed another uniform set, and strode into the bathroom before the boy could ask any more questions.

What did the Commander plan? He didn't really have any plans…he had been ordered to pull the Needles, and the troublemakers had been interfering- but now the boy, the only other one who could pull the Needles, was his. And now they couldn't interfere anymore, right?

And the boy wouldn't escape from him- couldn't escape from him.

So that was all taken care of. Unless the others- the ones who had been keeping the boy with them before- tried to interfere again-in which case he'd have to stop them- that was all.

Suddenly, a thought struck him. What if they tried to take the boy away? Steal him?

He'd stop them. He wouldn't let anyone take the boy away.

The Commander nodded to the him in the mirror and began changing clothes. When he was finished, he removed the badge from his pocket- studied it for a moment.

There was a dark bolt of lightening in the middle of it. Behind that, there was a vague shape he couldn't make out. It looked almost like a map, but not of any place he recognized.

The words "Franklin Badge" ran around the edge of it. So that was what it was called.

The Commander put it into one of the pockets of the pants he was currently wearing, gathered up the dirty clothes and put them in the hamper, then left the room.

The boy was sitting on the cot, a thoughtful expression on his face.

When the Commander walked back into the room and began heading to the door, the boy jumped to his feet and headed him off before he could reach it.

"What's your name?" The question shot out of the boy's mouth before the Commander could even think of responding. "I'm Lucas. What's your name?"

...name? He- he didn't have a name, right? They told him he didn't have a name-

"I'm-the Commander of the Army."

"That's not a name," the boy said softly. "That's a title."

For a second, their eyes met through the mask- for just a second, the blonde boy's eyes met and held his one uncovered eye- and then the Commander could move again- pushed past him and out the door.

The Commander shut the door behind him. He stared at the door for a moment, then remembered to lock it. He couldn't risk something happening to the boy-

Lucas. The boy's name was Lucas.

For a moment, the Commander's hand gripped the Franklin Badge in his pocket. Then he forced himself to let go and started off down the hallway.

Chapter 5

Lucas dropped into the cot and sighed, staring at the door that separated him from the other boy- hoping he came out of the bathroom soon.

This would be the type of situation his grandpa would call "a fine kettle of fish".

He needed to find a way out of this place, but he couldn't escape without his powers, and besides…he still hadn't seen the masked boy's face.

If all he wanted was to stop Lucas and his friends from interfering, then why hadn't he killed them? Back at Thunder Tower, after they'd fallen from the flying machine, he'd probably assumed they were dead- but before they'd fallen, he'd had the option of using PK Thunder and knocking them off the ladder, but he hadn't. He hadn't attacked them.

At Snowcap Mountain, the Mecha-gorilla had been left to deal with them, and that had been a difficult battle- but at Tanetane Island, he hadn't even hit them hard enough to knock them out, only hard enough to stun them for a moment…if all he wanted was for them to stop interfering, it would have made more sense for him to kill all of them then and there.

But he hadn't.

How good were the Magypsies at sensing hearts? The question had occurred to Lucas before, but he hadn't allowed himself to wonder about it much. Was it- was it possible that the masked boy had a heart, and Ionia and Mixolydia had simply not noticed it?

That might explain it- that had to explain it- Lucas hadn't seen them really do much of anything using their powers- Ionia had used PSI powers of some sort to drift on the wind to get somewhere, but that was it.

Lucas was still thinking about this when the other walked back into the room, wearing a different set of the same uniform from before, and headed to the door.

Lucas jumped to his feet and headed him off before he could reach it.

"What's your name?" The question was blurted from Lucas's mouth- he hadn't meant to ask it just yet- not now, not like this…but he needed to know the answer- had to ask it before something else happened. "I'm Lucas- what's your name?"

The other blinked slowly, as if confused by the question. "I'm- I'm the Commander of the Army."

"That's not a name," Lucas said softly. "That's a title."

For a second, their eyes met through the mask- for just a second, Lucas's eyes met and held his one uncovered eye- and then the other was gone, pushing past Lucas and out the door, before Lucas could speak or move or do anything.

The door clicked shut as Lucas stared at it- and then came the sound of the lock being turned and of footsteps- of the other boy moving away and leaving Lucas alone again.

Lucas groaned- briefly covered his face with his hands, before shaking his head and straightening up.

That hadn't gone so well- he hadn't learned anything at all.

But now that he was alone in the room, maybe he could investigate and find some clues?

It wasn't much a room, really, Lucas realized again as he looked around. More of a grey box than anything else.

Lucas couldn't imagine living in a room like this- with no windows, no color, no fresh air. The thought of being left alone in there for who knew how long, with no way out, was bad enough- Lucas shuddered and decided to think of something else.

…clues.

Other than the dresser and the bed and the cot, there wasn't anything in the room- not even a rug.

The dresser was worth a look though. He and Claus had hidden all types of things in their dresser drawers when they were kids- and sometimes their mom hadn't been too happy with them for that- like the frog they'd tried to keep as a pet. Maybe-just maybe- he'd find something there. And when he was done with the dresser, he could investigate the bathroom.

Lucas nodded to himself, pleased with this start of a plan and stepped forward.

There was nothing- not trace of any clues whatsoever- unless the lack of clues itself was a clue.

There was only the same set of clothing, over and over again, in the dresser, and there wasn't even much of that.

In the top drawer, there were three sets of the rough pajamas that Lucas was wearing.

In the second drawer was underwear and socks.

In the third drawer were three white t-shirts.

In the fourth drawer were three pairs of orange pants.

They were all folded neatly- even more neatly than Lucas folded his things. He handled them carefully, to avoid messing them up. It made him feel kinda bad, snooping around like this, but Lucas didn't really have a choice. He needed- he needed to know what was going on.

But there was nothing in the drawers but the rather lonely sets of clothes.

Lucas sighed and turned away- and his eyes landed on the cot and the bed- and Lucas frowned.

They were some pretty sad blankets. Even the nursing home that Grandpa and Mr. Wess were stuck in had better blankets than these things, and most of their stuff was pretty worn out.

…why would the boy who was the Commander of the Pigmask Army have such tacky things?

When the Pigmasks had mixed the two of them up, they'd been really respectful and polite- they'd even seemed to like him.

Things weren't adding up.

…this morning, hadn't the other asked him if he needed anything? Maybe he should take him up on that offer- see what happened. Maybe he could convince him to get another blanket for himself, too. Despite what he'd said last night, this place was cold- he had to be cold, just like Lucas.

Lucas pushed himself to his feet and headed towards the bathroom.

He'd noticed last night that it was like one of the ones at Club Titboo- it had a sink and a toilet and even a shower. Lucas was a little overwhelmed by all this. He'd never had a bathroom at all in his house- like everyone else in the village until three years ago, his family had used an outhouse.

Underneath the sink there was a drawer and a cabinet- there wasn't anything in there except for some toilet paper and a couple bars of soap.

That was it.

Lucas sighed and stood up- back in the other room, the door clicked as it was unlocked.

Lucas slowly walked out of the bathroom at the same time that the other walked in the bedroom.

Without any sort of greeting, he held out a set of clothes to Lucas.

"Um, thanks," Lucas said automatically as he took them- his mom had always taught him to be polite after all.

The other didn't say anything- Lucas caught his eyes flickering to meet his before skittering away again.

With one last look at the still silent Commander, Lucas returned to the bathroom and shut the door.

The t-shirt was first- like the Commander's, it was plain and white. Lucas was glad that it wasn't rough and scratchy like the weird clothes from yesterday and the pajamas he was currently changing out of.

The pants and jacket matched and were made out of the same type of material- it was a little stiff, but seemed like it would be durable- and it wasn't scratchy either.

With only slight hesitation, Lucas put them on. He wondered if the other had ordered them made to his own measurements. Just the uniform that the Pigmasks had made him wear when they had mixed the two of them up, the clothes fit perfectly.

Lucas moved for the door, then remembered his hair. He grabbed the comb he'd seen earlier and combed his hair so it didn't stick up the haystack of a lazy farmer, then smiled, tentatively, at himself in the mirror.

"Lookin' handsome," he said softly. These clothes- they weren't that bad. A nice shade of blue, at least.

A commanding knock at the door caused Lucas to jump slightly.

"Coming!" he rushed for the door and opened it as the other was in mid-knock. "Sorry for taking so long."

The other boy looked at him- Lucas moved closer, trying to catch a glimpse of what was in those eyes, but the other turned his head. "Are you hungry?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess I am."

Saying nothing at all, the other headed for the door and Lucas followed.

The hallways were the same as yesterday- Lucas tried to map them out his head, but didn't get very far- they all looked the same, and so many questions were screaming for attention in his head- well, the other had promised that he would answer Lucas's questions, right? And there weren't any Pigmasks around at the moment. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but one question jumped apart from the others in his head, and he had to ask it.

"So why are you pulling the Needles anyway?" he asked as they walked through practically empty halls, "Do you want the Dragon's power? Do you want it to make you stronger or something?"

The other boy didn't stop, but he did give Lucas a quick, slightly puzzled look over one shoulder. "The Dragon?"

"The one that's sleeping underneath the Islands- pulling the Needles will wake it up…" Lucas trailed off at the blank look on the other's face. "You don't know about the Dragon?" he asked, coming to a stop without realizing it.

The other boy shook his head and kept walking, and Lucas had to run to catch up to him.

"Then why are you pulling the Needles?"

"Because I was ordered to."

"By who?"

"Master Porky."

Lucas felt cold- he couldn't have said why. "Who's he?"

The other blinked slightly, as if expecting Lucas to already know. "The King- King of New Pork City, of the Army, of all these Islands."

"So this… 'Master Porky' is the guy who- he's the one behind everything? The one behind the chimeras? The one behind the Happy Boxes and the town changing? The one behind everything- he's it? He's the reason?"

"Yes." the other said, not turning to look at Lucas, just keeping on walking.

Maybe that was just as well- Lucas felt his head spinning. One person was behind it all- behind everything.

Faces flashed before his mind's eye. His grandpa, standing alone in the streets of Tazmily- Mr. Wess's face as they began to rip up his house to make the 'Old Men's Home'- Dad's face as he learned about Mom- Claus, turning to face him one last time before he left to fight the Mecha-Drago-

Lucas realized that his fists were clenching themselves tight at the thought of all the people that had been hurt because of the things that the Pigmask Army had done.

They reached the mess hall then.

It didn't have as many Pigmasks as it had last night, but there were still a large number of them there.

"Hey guys!" called a Pigmask from the food line, "We actually got something besides toast this morning!"

"Really? What do we got?" asked a Pigmask who had entered right in front of them.

"Omelets!"

"Omelets?" Lucas asked, perking up. He loved omelets! Apparently, the other noticed that in his voice, because he turned to face him.

"…you like omelets?"

"I love omelets," Lucas said happily, "Mom would always make them for us- her omelets were the best in the whole world." He sighed a bit, then remembered where he was and looked up- the other had his head ducked down and he began to push and maneuver Lucas into line.

"Oh Commander- hi!" The Pigmask in blue said as they approached. "You want your usual, right? And what about this person here?"

The other boy had started to nod when the Pigmask had started speaking, but paused when he'd mentioned Lucas- paused long enough that the other Pigmask- the one wearing pink- turned to Lucas himself.

"Hi there! I see you're checking out the omelets-" he lifted one up with his spatula and put it on a plate, then offered it to Lucas. "You want to try it, right?"

Lucas gave him a startled look for a minute, before smiling and accepting it. Once the plate was in his hands, he stared down at it briefly- breathed out deeply, before turning and handing the plate to the other boy. "I- I really like omelets- they're my favorite food- I think they're the best- so let's both have them, okay?"

For a moment, the other boy stared at him- Lucas didn't know if it was just him, but he thought the mess hall got really quiet- and then the other boy boy spun away from him sharply, turning back to the Pigmask cooks.

"…the usual for both of us. But also- an omelet too."

Lucas thought he might have grinned as they walked away. They both got omelets.

The other boy walked to a table, quickly and without looking around at all, Lucas followed just a little bit behind.

"You've been staring at me." The other placed his tray on the table- he didn't sit down, but he didn't turn around and face Lucas either.

Lucas didn't know what to say- he ducked his head shyly and slid his tray onto the table next to the other boy's.

"Why do you keep staring at me?"

"…because I'm trying to figure you out."

The other cocked his head to the side a little at that- like he was trying to figure out Lucas too.

Lucas looked at him- he didn't have anything else to say, or at least, anything else that he knew how to say- until the other boy turned away from him.

"You're hungry, right? Sit down and eat."

Lucas sat down, gave the other one last look and picked up his fork- poked at his omelet and sighed.

The other boy paused and gave him a curious look.

"It's all greasy," Lucas answered the unasked question sadly, and he flipped the omelet over, "And they burned it too." He sighed again. "It's not like it's real bad or anything, but I can make better omelets than this."

"…you can cook?" It might have just been Lucas's imagination, but he thought he heard disbelief in his voice.

"I can," Lucas said, just a little bit indignantly. Why did no one think he could do anything? "I'm not very good yet, but I'm not bad. Lots of people say so- Duster, Kumatora, even Mr. Wess says I'm pretty good- and he's kinda picky and he doesn't give complements easily." Lucas looked down at the omelet sitting in front of him. He poked at it again.

"…you should eat your food. Food gives you energy- makes you strong." The other was bent over his food- hunched over a bit, but Lucas could see his eyes focusing on him, before they moved back to the food on his plate and he took another bite.

"…why do you care?"

"You're mine now. I'm going to take care of you."

"…and what are you going to do with me?"

"Keep you safe." His tone said this was obvious. "Keep you out of trouble- keep you from causing trouble."

"I'm not the one causing trouble- the Pigmasks are the ones causing trouble." Lucas spoke softly, but firmly- he didn't look away from the other boy at all.

The other was staring at him- how Lucas hated that stupid helmet, hiding the other boy's face from him like that!- he couldn't tell what he was thinking. Lucas kept talking, trying to explain- he needed him to understand- "The Pigmasks are the ones behind the chimeras- they're always running loose and attacking people, and if that wasn't bad enough, the chimeras are victims too. They didn't choose to be what they are. I feel so bad for them- but I can't let them hurt people, so I have to stop them."

The other boy flinched slightly, but didn't respond other than that. Part of Lucas wished he would, so that they could actually talk- the other part was glad he wasn't saying anything, because there were so many things Lucas wanted to say-

"And the Pigmasks are also the ones behind the "Old Man's Paradise"- that's what they call it, but it's really an awful place. It's where they lock up all the older people- including my grandpa. They don't let them out, and it's an awful place, all broken down and sad-" Lucas released a breath- there were so many things he needed to talk about, he didn't know what to say next- the other shifted as if he was going to say something, and Lucas barreled on.

"Me and Duster and Kumatora and Boney- all we want is to be able to live with the people we care about. We don't want Happy Boxes or any of that new stuff- we don't need it and we don't want it. But if other people do- I won't stand in their way. I'm only pulling the Needles because the Magypsies- they're supposed to be the guardians of the Needles- asked me to- because they were afraid of what would happen if the wrong person pulled them- we just don't want the world to be destroyed- that's all."

"...What are you talking about?" the other boy asked, definite confusion in his voice. "We don't want the world to be destroyed either."

"Well, the Magypsies were worried, because some of them couldn't feel your heart when you pulled the Needles. They were worried that meant that you had no heart to pass onto the Dragon, which meant that the world would be destroyed, because the Dragon is supposed to inherit the heart of whoever pulls the Needles." Lucas stopped talking, briefly, and studied the other for a moment. "I think they were wrong…I think you do have a heart. You must have a heart- if you didn't, the Pigmasks wouldn't worship you the way they do- who can worship a machine that doesn't care if you live or die?- and you would have killed me and my friends before. I don't know why they couldn't feel your heart- maybe they were just out of practice- but I'm sure you have a heart."

The other was staring at him now- Lucas didn't know what or why, but something he said must have shocked him.

Before either of them could say anything else, there was a sound- footsteps behind them, and they turned to see a Pigmask- one of the ranking ones, his uniform a color other than the usual pink- he snapped to attention as they looked at him.

"Commander! King P is on the communicator and waiting to speak to you!"

The other studied the Pigmask briefly, then stood up.

"…should I just wait here?" Lucas asked him uncertainly.

He turned to Lucas - but before he could respond, the Pigmask spoke up again.

"Actually sir, he said that you're supposed to take him with you." He sounded rather apologetic- he was also sneaking curious peeks at Lucas. At least, the position of his head seemed to point to that. It was kinda hard to tell, without being able to see his face.

Lucas was beginning to get really sick of masks.

The other boy stood still a moment- turned to look at Lucas again, briefly, before turning back to the Pigmask. "Tell him we're coming- I'm coming, and I'm bringing him."

The Pigmask saluted and oinked and hurried away.

Lucas stood up and stepped close to the other. He wasn't sure what to think…this Porky was the one behind everything- so he was probably a bad person, like Fassad- but this was also a chance to learn more about what was going on…

"Are you scared?" the other asked without looking at him.

Lucas was silent a moment- considering what to say. "I'm worried," he admitted finally, "but I'm not really scared. You'll be with me, right?"

The other- he moved- like he'd touched something and gotten shocked by it. And then he turned to look at Lucas.

Lucas simply, steadily, returned his gaze, not looking away.

The other swallowed and turned away. "Don't talk unless he asks you a question. Just do as I say- follow me."

"Okay," Lucas said, following him as he began to walk again, "I'll trust you." He said it quietly, but loud enough that the other could hear. All Lucas could see was his back- he thought he might've twitched again, but he was moving, so it was hard to tell- but it seemed to Lucas that he was walking slower- that it wasn't as hard to keep up with him now.

If Kumatora or Duster had been here, they probably would have gotten mad at him for telling the other boy the truth about how he was feeling, Lucas thought as they turned another corner. But Lucas knew that he had a heart, and he knew that he wasn't evil- and he needed to gain the other's trust and show him that.

They walked through several hallways- some with more Pigmasks than others- and whenever they ran into some, they stopped and saluted the boy in the helmet- and he always acknowledged them- lifted his hand in a fist as they walked past.

Lucas was doing his best to look around and trying to remember where things were, but they all kept mixing together in his head- he wasn't used to navigating in a place without stars or landmarks. He wondered if they had any maps of this place…

Finally, they arrived- the other stopped in front of a door with the word "Communications" printed on it- he opened it and went inside.

Reluctantly, but not hesitantly, Lucas followed him inside.

The Pigmask from before- at least, Lucas thought he was the same one- saluted as they entered, then bowed towards the back of the room, and then left.

In the back of the room was a huge screen- it almost covered the wall. The screen blurred and crackled a bit- but it showed a close-up of a face- Lucas couldn't tell if it was a young person's face or an old person's face- it was closely zoomed in, making it even harder to tell.

Upon seeing them, the face laughed. "Hello Commander- or should I say, slave?" he giggled, and Lucas's skin crawled.

The other boy dropped to one knee in a bow and discreetly gestured for Lucas to do the same.

Lucas did the same- he didn't hesitate, but his knees itched with the urge to jump to his feet again. He ducked his head, so he wouldn't have to look at the face on the screen and so the face on the screen couldn't see his expression.

"And I see my slave has a slave of his own now. Aw, how adorable." Again came the creepy giggle. "Oh slave, the 'Nice Person Hot Springs' are almost completed- do you want to send him to take a dip in them?"

"No," the other answered quickly. "It's not necessary."

"Not necessary?" The voice seemed amused. Lucas almost looked, before remembering just in time not to.

"He's a good boy- obedient. He does what I tell him."

"Like you and me, huh? Ha ha ha!"

Lucas's fists clenched- he had to fight to relax them and keep them relaxed.

"Yes sir," the other said tonelessly.

"Well, make sure you keep control of him- don't forget to use that collar! And send some of my toy soldiers to go check out that temple- there must be some way inside! Make sure you send some scientists along too."

"Yes sir. I'll see to it."

"Good. And oh, slave…if your little slave gets out of control, I'll know who to blame, got it?"

"Yes Master Porky."

"Hey you! Slave of a slave!"

Lucas jumped and looked up without thinking about it.

"You understand too, right?" The face grinned at him- way too wide, way too many teeth- it looked like one of the Eerie Smiles from Tanetane Island.

Lucas nodded- he felt like he was going to be sick- maybe it was a good thing he hadn't actually eaten anything- not that so-called omelet or that weird porridge.

"Hey slave! You need to teach your slave better manners. It's always 'yes, Master Porky'!"

"Yes Master Porky," Lucas said quickly. Worry for the other drove out nausea induced by the Pig King.

"Much better. Slave, don't forget that the Needles are your priority!"

"Yes, Master Porky… sir? About the Needles- what is your purpose for-"

The face laughed, not even letting the other boy finish his question. "Haven't you learned by now not to ask questions like that, slave? You are just to do my bidding. That is all. Your only purpose is to do as I say, right?"

"Yes, Master Porky."

For the first time in his life, Lucas knew hate.

He'd known anger, knew it well, though it rarely stayed long- but this was the first time he knew hate, pure hate, unmixed by any other emotions- for a minute, it flooded him, filled him- he was shocked to find so much hate inside him.

Once the feeling faded enough that Lucas could think again, he realized that the face was gone from the screen and the other had turned back to look at him.

"You're even more trapped than I am." The words came out of his mouth before he was even aware of them forming in his head.

"…what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just trapped like this." Lucas tapped the collar around his neck. "You're trapped up here." And he tapped his head.

The other tilted his head, still staring at Lucas.

"I'm Lucas. What's your name?"

"…we already went over this." He turned away and started for the door.

"Yeah, but I'm not going to give up until you tell me your real name," Lucas said softly as he followed.

Whatever the truth of the "Commander's" real name and identity, he was a person, a real person, with a heart and a soul.

It wasn't fair that that face on the screen, that Porky- it wasn't fair that he didn't treat him like a person. And he even rubbed his face in it- took evil glee in it!

Lucas made a vow to himself right then and there.

Lucas was definitely going to help him, this person who wasn't aware he was a person.

Lucas was going to save him, and together they'd find a way out of this trap and back to Duster and Kumatora and Boney. And together, they'd find a way to keep the world safe and they'd fix everything- and the world would be safe and everyone would be happy.

Lucas nodded to himself and sped up so that he was by the other boy's side instead of just following him. The other's head twitched in his direction before he looked straight ahead again.

Lucas smiled at him anyway.

Yes, he'd definitely do it. He'd save this person, and together they'd save the world, and everything would be okay again.

They would escape together.

Chapter 6

"Where's little Lucas?" Ionia asked as soon as they walked through the door.

Boney whimpered.

"I wish I knew." Kumatora hurled herself into the nearest chair, not looking at anyone.

After Duster had fallen into that weird trance like state and she'd punched him out of it, she and Boney had dragged him out of the place, ignoring his claims that he was okay. After camping out briefly- just long enough to make sure that Duster really was okay and just long enough for the rest of them to regain some energy, they'd gone back to searching for Lucas, keeping an eye out for Flint as they did so. But they hadn't found anything. Boney couldn't even follow Flint's scent past a certain point.

Eventually, Duster had called the whole thing to a stop- had pointed out that they needed something else to go on, otherwise they'd never find Lucas.

So they'd come back here, to Ionia's place.

"He was captured by the Masked Man," Duster was trying to explain in the present, "He's the other guy who's pulling the Needles, the one who's with the Pigmasks."

"Oh dear," Ionia said, one hand hovering over the lipstick covered mouth. "That isn't good."

"No duh," Kumatora snapped, and then tucked into herself, pulled up her knees and wrapping her arms around them as Ionia turned towards her with a gently scolding look.

Ionia had always been able to do that to her-

"Don't worry about Lucas."

Kumatora jerked her head up in amazement- Ionia was smiling!

"Darling, you don't think that Lucas is a weakling, do you?"

"No! Of course not-"

"Then trust him. Believe that he's strong enough to survive on his own until you and Mr. Whiskers find him. Besides-" Ionia winked. "The one who awakens the Dragon needs to be strong, don't you think?"

Kumatora didn't answer other than sighing and lowered her head again. What she really wanted to do was smash something, but that wouldn't be fair to Ionia.

She kept seeing Lucas's face in her mind. The face he'd made when they'd reached the temple to find the Masked Man and the Pigmasks already there- the face he always made when a Needle was pulled and a Magyspy disappeared- the face he'd made when he'd come through the door of Doria's pink shell to find her there-

Ionia walked over and patted her head gently. "Well, I suppose it is only human to worry. And these boys are your first real friends aren't they?"

"…yeah," Kumatora admitted, still not looking up. She didn't want to look up and see Boney still worrying about Lucas-didn't want to see Duster's face, confused by this whole conversation- and she really didn't want to look up and see Ionia's way too understanding face!

Because that was the whole problem. Ionia did understand.

Kumatora had never and probably would never say it out loud, but you could draw a line through the Magyspsies and divide them into two groups. They didn't see it like that, but it was pretty clear to her. There were the ones who thought that humans were dumb and pointless, and then there were ones who thought humans could be pretty dumb at times but could be cool the rest of the time.

Ionia would sometimes have Wess come over. Even though the old geezer was grumpy, and complained a lot, he was also the only one that didn't smell overwhelmingly like perfume and scold her for not trying to be something she wasn't. Sometimes the Magyspy and the older thief rubbed each other the wrong way- like when Wess would show up without any warning, and accidentally pick a time when Ionia was walking around without makeup. But even though they argued, they got along- sometimes they would talk about Duster, if they thought she wasn't around- she didn't know why the old geezer insulted him to his face and then boasted about him when he wasn't around- but Ionia always listened real patiently, only adding in a "How cute!" now and then.

Ionia- and sometimes Doria and Lydia too- even told stories once in a while about other humans they'd known. The stories weren't always flattering to the humans, but they were fond stories, and even if the Magyspies were all too aware of the humans' flaws, they were aware of their good points too.

Ionia patted Kumatora on the shoulder gently, before turning to Duster.

"So, tell me about this mysterious Masked Man who's even stronger than adorable little Lucas."

"He's not stronger," Kumatora said defensively. "He used a dirty trick- that's all."

"He wears a helmet," Duster said. "So we've never seen his face- and he's never spoken to us or even spoken in front of us at all- we really don't know anything about him, not even his name."

"He's the Commander of the Pigmask Army, he wears black and he has PSI powers. That's pretty much all we know about him. That, and I'm going to bash his face in the next time I see him," Kumatora said pleasantly.

Ionia sighed. "So unladylike."

Kumatora bristled. "Lucas is my friend! I don't let anyone hurt my friends!"

"Your devotion is one of your cute qualities," Ionia said with a smile. "But tell me darling, how did this mysterious Masked Man know that Lucas was the only other one capable of pulling the needles? Did he witness him in the act or something?"

Duster and Kumatora looked at each other.

"No…"

"That's a good question. How did he know?"

"Lucky guess?" Kumatora suggested with a shrug. "Does it really matter? The important thing is rescuing Lucas! We've got to find out where that stupid Masked Man took him and rescue him!"

"But if we can get into the Masked Man's head, figure out why, then maybe we can figure where he took him," Duster pointed out.

"…okay, that's true. But I don't think we know enough about this guy to try to figure anything out- that's why we came here." Kumatora turned quickly to Ionia. "That one time when I was a kid and set out to find my parents and I got lost in the woods, you came and found me-"

"And you're hoping I used some special power or magical item to find you? Sorry, sweetie, I just kept looking until I found you. But I do have something that may help…" Ionia walked over to a corner of the room- to a set of drawers and pulled out something and returned to the table with it. It looked like a huge marble.

"What is it?"

"Please put one hand on the crystal ball- both of you, and you too cute doggy. Now- please think of Lucas."

I hope he's okay- sprang into her mind, and she tried not to think of all the horrible things that the Masked Man and the stupid Pigmasks could be doing to him. She made herself think instead of Lucas, one of the first friends she'd ever had. His embarrassed face, his strong face, his confused face, his friendly face, his weak face, his happy face-

Something shifted in the ball- Kumatora blinked and focused on it.

The ball was showing a picture of Lucas.

Kumatora gasped.

Boney barked and sniffed at it.

"Wow," Duster breathed.

The ball showed Lucas wearing different clothes- a jacket, blue and maybe a little stiff looking, and pants of the same material- the jacket had a fluffy collar, Kumatora noticed as Lucas turned his head. It looked almost like that stupid Commander's.

He seemed a little uncertain- a little nervous- but he didn't look hurt.

Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

"At least we know he's alive and okay," Duster said softly, then turned to Ionia. "You can't get it to show us where he's at?"

Ionia shook her head regretfully. "Sorry darlings, there's only so much I can do."

Kumatora sprang to her feet. "Alright then! We know he's alive, time to go back to searching so that we can keep it that way!"

"Hold up darling." Ionia said, leaving the ball- the image vanishing as the ball was abandoned- and standing up. "When was the last time you ate or slept?"

Kumatora looked at the Magyspy, then at Duster.

Duster stood up and sighed. "I know how you feel, Kumatora, but we can't rescue Lucas if we fall apart on the journey instead."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Kumatora admitted reluctantly, "I just..." she trailed off, and Duster stepped closer and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Lucas used to be a bit of a crybaby, did you know that?"

"The geezer did say something about that… it's hard to believe though."

"He's gotten stronger," Duster agreed, "He had to. But the point is, I think we can trust him to be strong until we can rescue him."

Kumatora nodded reluctantly.

"I'll prepare supper for you three," Ionia said with a wink. "And I'll make sure to make something that you can take with you to feed to Lucas when you rescue him."

"Thanks."

Ionia walked over to the other side of the room, and then into the hallway where the kitchen was.

"Prepare yourself," Kumatora muttered.

"Why?"

"You know how I'm a lousy cook?"

"Yeah…"

"Ionia's the one who taught me. And I learned well."

"…oh."

Boney whined at their feet.

Kumatora leaned over and petted him. "Don't worry, we'll get him back."

"(I wish I could track him.)" Boney whined, "(if that guy had walked away instead of flown, I might have been able to follow Lucas's scent.)"

"You couldn't smell anything about the Masked Man earlier, right?" Duster asked, crouching next to them.

Boney nodded. "(He'd used something funny to clean with. It was way too stinky.)"

Duster nodded reluctantly, looking thoughtful, before looking up again. "Boney. Do you have any idea where Flint is at all?"

Boney looked at the floor and whined softly.

"I need you to go find him. Things have been happening so fast-" Duster dropped his hand and groaned, before digging through his pockets and coming up with pen and paper. "I'm going to give you a message to give to Alec and my dad, and I'm giving you another message to give to Flint, alright? The fact that Pigmasks can't get into the Temple buys us some time, but not much. I just hope that they don't figure out what the vial of water is for." He finished the messages and tucked them inside Boney's collar. "At least with everyone else gone from Tazmily, they're able to move freely, but we've got to find Lucas fast. Who knows what they're going to do to him in revenge for messing up their plans? Sorry to ask this of you, but can you go give these to them now? You should take a break afterwards- rest and eat something at Flint's house- if he doesn't show up by tomorrow, go search for him. We'll take a short rest here and then keep searching, alright?"

Boney barked, eager to do something to help.

"Alright boy, go get 'em!" Kumatora cheered, and Boney barked once more before dashing off.

"Where's the cute doggy off to?" Ionia asked, coming up behind them.

"To tell my father and Lucas's father and grandfather what's going on. Things have been happening so fast. My dad and Lucas's grandfather knew we were headed here, but we didn't have enough time to explain about the Needles and I haven't seen Lucas's dad in three years, so…"

"Not a yummy pickle, is it?" Ionia sighed. "The food is almost done, at least, and the beds are ready. I prepared your old room for you, Kumatora darling."

"Thanks," Kumatora said quietly, still worried about Lucas. And then she remembered a conversation she and Lucas had on Tanetane Island. They'd been talking about the hallucinations while trying not to talk about the hallucinations- and he'd asked her what her parents had been like- and then he'd stammered and apologized and said that she didn't have to say anything if she didn't want to. She'd told him the truth. That she didn't mind him asking, but she didn't really have anything to tell him because she didn't remember anything about them.

"Ionia?" she heard Duster ask.

"Yes, darling?"

"While we were searching for Lucas, we found this old building in the woods- it was was covered with vines-"

"Oh, you did find the temple-"

"No, Ionia. This place- I don't know what it was. But it wasn't the temple- we'd found that before- that was where we were when Lucas got captured. But this place... it was different."

"It looked more like one of the Pigmasks' bases than the temple," Kumatora said, pulling herself back to the present, but not letting go of her previous train of thought either.

"But it wasn't one of those either," Duster insisted.

"I don't know why you keep saying that Duster. I mean, you could be right, but they're the only group on the island who have technology, and that place was full of technology. If it's not one of the Pigmask bases I don't know what it is."

Duster sighed. "I don't either," he admitted, then turned to Ionia. "Do you have any idea what that place is?" Ionia started to shrug even as Duster kept talking, "It's white- well, it was white- and it still mostly is. It's also a funny sort of shape. Actually, it's shaped a lot like those Pigmask flying ships..."

Ionia had remained still, only watching him with vague curiosity- and then something crossed the Magypsy's face so fast- then Ionia spun- faced the window that faced in the direction of the Temple. "I see- that's the sort of place it is then? Well darlings, I'm afraid I can't help you. But if the little piggies aren't there, then there's probably no point in searching it, right?"

"...I guess you've got a point. Still..." Duster folded his arms and trailed off.

Kumatora looked from him to Ionia and then back again. Since neither of them was saying anything else, she decided that now was as good a time as any to ask that question she'd been meaning to ask.

"Hey, Ionia…what were my parents like?" It wasn't that she'd never asked about her parents before- she had. It was just that the responses she got tended to be either irritation, "I'll tell you when you're older", or just plain vague. After a while, she'd given up. Now seemed like it would be a good time to try again though. If nothing else, because she wouldn't have another chance seemed like a good enough reason.

"Hm…" Ionia said, somewhat distractedly, probably also worrying about Lucas. "I'm sure I don't know darling."

"But I thought you knew them? Doria said you guys raised my mom too- that the girls in my family were always given to the Magypsies to raise- she said it was a tradition or something …" Kumatora trailed off at the look Ionia was giving her- part puzzlement, like not a single word coming out of Kumatora's mouth was making any sense- and then she gave a sharp little jump, as if suddenly remembering something.

"Oh! Silly me! Yes, of course- but we didn't take turns taking care of her the way we did with you. Doria pretty much raised her all by herself, so I never really got to know her." Ionia gave a half hearted little giggle- and Kumatora noticed Duster giving Ionia a funny look.

He noticed her looking at him and shook his head, telling her not to ask yet- and then gave a cheerful smile to Ionia when she turned to look at him, following Kumatora's line of sight.

Ionia switched her gaze from Duster to Kumatora and back again before seeming to dismiss it. "The food should be ready in just a minute. I'm going to go check it, okay darlings?"

Duster and Kumatora nodded- and once she was sure Ionia was out of earshot, Kumatora turned to Duster.

"Okay, what was that about?"

Duster turned away- for a moment, Kumatora tensed up, thinking he was avoiding her question, but then he turned back and she recognized his thoughtful look, and realized he'd just been gathering his thoughts. "Well, it's hard for me to say. You've known Ionia your whole life and I just met her today. But it seemed to me that she was acting…off."

"…off?" Kumatora repeated, partially to poke fun at him, partially to get him to explain.

"You remember back at Club Titboo, how you never wanted to talk about your past or where you came from? At first, you weren't that used to lying, so you stumbled and mumbled and laughed suspiciously. Just like Ionia did now."

"…you think Ionia is lying about my mom?"

"I don't know." Duster sighed. "I'm pretty sure there's something Ionia's not telling you, but I could be wrong. Like I said, I don't know her like you do."

Kumatora turned away from Duster to stare in the direction Ionia had gone. "Ionia…wasn't like the others. Doria and Lydia were nice and Aeolia was okay most of the time. You met Phrygia and Mixolydia."

Duster nodded, frowning as he remembered them.

"Of course, those two were on their best behavior when they met you." Kumatora folded her arms and chuckled bitterly. "One year, it was Phrygia's turn to have me. One night, I'd had enough of her harassing me, calling me out on every little thing I did. I left in the middle of the night and walked all the way back to Doria's place. It took her a week to come around asking for me- anyway, that's not important anymore. I only met Locria once, a long time ago… she refused to have anything to do with me. But Ionia was the only one who ever treated my questions like they were something important. Even stupid kid questions like "why is the sky blue?" and "where do babies come from?" -even stuff like that, she always answered real patiently… and she never lied to me. She never lied to make the answer easier, but she did think over answers to make sure she explained the best she could…" Kumatora trailed off, no longer sure what she was trying to say. She began to pace, hoping movement would make the words come.

Behind her, she heard Duster shift. The sound alone told her how uncomfortable he was feeling.

She turned to look at him but she didn't have any more words…

"Darlings, the food's ready!" Ionia's voice trilled from the kitchen, hearts practically dripped from her voice.

"…Duster," Kumatora said softly. "I can only worry about one thing at a time- but once we rescue Lucas, remind me to ask Ionia some more questions, okay?"

"Okay, I'll remind you."

She turned to smile at him, briefly, a bit embarrassed by all the emotional stuff- all the weak faces she'd been showing him. "Thanks Duster."

He shook his head slightly, also smiling. "No problem."

They entered the kitchen.

Notes:

Honestly, I really don't like the Magyspsies. I hate Phrygia and Mixolydia (mostly because of their attitudes when Flint's searching for Claus, but considering that Mixolydia just leaves the Barrier Trio there to pummel Lucas and party which leads to another win for the Pigmasks…yeah), I'm okay with the others for the most part. Well, more than okay with Doria and Lydia, the bunnies and the Pigmask deciding to take care of them in Lydia's stead was great. And Ionia will get some nice moments before the end of this...
Still, the most heart breaking moments of Mother 3 could have been avoided if they had any common sense. So yep, not a fan of them as a group, just of some of them personally.

Chapter 7

After finishing the report to Master Porky, the Commander had returned to the mess hall, the boy- "Lucas!" - Lucas staying close by his side.

It had been foolish of him to attempt to ask a question of Master Porky. He was lucky that the Pig King hadn't made him go through the whole list of things he liked to have him repeat from time to time.

Still, the Needles were mysterious. Not that he should be asking questions, but knowledge was a good thing. For example, if he knew he was going to have to fight a chimera, and he was able to find out about its strengths and weaknesses beforehand, he would do a better job of fighting it.

They reentered the hall. The plates that had contained their food were gone, and there was a group of the soldiers sitting at the table where they'd been before. This had happened before- happened when anything urgent had come up that required his attention and he couldn't finish eating. He simply kept walking to the counter. The two soldiers in charge of the food saw them coming and began preparing two more trays of food.

The Commander kept thinking about the Needles as he walked towards them- even as he accepted the tray and waited for the other to accept his-even as they began to walk towards one of the tables.

He shouldn't be thinking about this still. He had other things he needed to see to today.

Not only was the Ultimate Chimera still running free, it had escaped from the Chimera Lab so that they no longer had any idea where it was.

But it felt almost like he was being forced to think about the situation with the Needles, as if one of the scientists had taken a giant mental magnet and was pulling his attention irresistibly in that direction.

Well, Master Porky had said that the Needles were the priority, hadn't he? And if the Commander had more information, he could take care of the Needles quicker, and return his focus to his regular duties- he hadn't been able to fulfill them with his normal care because of all the trips he'd had to make to get to where the Needles were- so the quicker he could take care of the Needles, the quicker he could return to the base and the boy- but how could he find out more about the Needles?

He couldn't ask Master Porky- and he'd already heard the scientists making guesses about them and realized that they didn't know much either- and he'd had the men asking him about them from the beginning. He couldn't ask any of them- who did that leave?

"Ask Lucas." whispered the voice- he twitched- was aware of the food sliding slightly across the tray as his hands trembled.

They reached an empty table and sat down again.

The boy- "Lucas!" - Lucas was being quiet right now.

The Commander tilted his head slightly, studying him- he had a thoughtful look on his face- then the other boy noticed him looking at him and turned to look back at him- the Commander turned to his food and began eating it.

Come to think of it, the voice was being very insistent about calling the boy by his name. Actually, he was the only one without a rank or title- everyone else affiliated with the Army had a rank or a title. Master Porky was the King, all of the scientists were either doctors or assistants, everyone in the Army had a rank, and he himself was the Commander- but the boy- Lucas was only Lucas.

The name was rolling around in his head. It had done that before too, when the boy had first told him his name- or had that been the first time? It sounded...familiar?

Lucas. Lucas Lucas Lucas-

The Commander shook his head.

"The ones you mentioned before- the ones who are supposed to be the guardians of the Needles-" the words came out of his mouth abruptly, as the other boy finished his omelet- surprising them both- and then the Commander shut his mouth, not sure what he'd been about to say.

"...the Magyspsies?" The boy- Lucas- his voice was quiet, but not hesitant. "Yep, that's what they are."

"...they're not very good at it. Except for the one at the Temple. How do we get in?"

"I can't tell you that. It's not my secret- I'm sorry." The boy was quiet for a moment- before the Commander could come up with a good response, a good incentive to make the boy talk, he turned back to him- blue eyes meeting his seriously, without fear. "They disappear when their Needle is pulled, you know."

"...disappear?"

"It's like dying. It's slightly different, because they're not human, so they don't die like humans. It's just as permanent though. Once they're gone, they don't come back." The boy looked... sad? Was that it? He sighed and picked up his spoon- stirred the porridge in front of him. "Aeolia, Lydia, and Mixolydia... those are the names of the Magyspsies whose Needles you pulled." Before the Commander could say anything about how he had been following orders, the boy- Lucas- dropped the spoon in the bowl as if something had just occurred to him, and spun to face him. "Oh, I'm not trying to make you feel guilty or anything," he said quickly, blue eyes totally focused on him, "I know that you didn't know, and it's not your fault- I just wanted you to know their names- so that they wouldn't be forgotten. After all, just because someone's dead, that doesn't mean that people should forget about them as if they'd never existed. Because they did exist, and people should remember them."

The Commander couldn't say anything to that. It felt like something was in his throat trying to choke him.

The voice was murmuring something, but he couldn't make out the words, refused to listen to the words- he started to move, to turn away from the boy, but he reached out- grabbed his hand.

"I just wanted you to know their names." Large blue eyes swallowed him like the sky as he smiled-

"And you?"

The boy blinked, and the Commander began searching for words- his question was too short, he'd have to try again and rephrase it, no one ever understood what he was asking when his questions were that short-

"Doria and Phrygia," the boy- Lucas- said, smiling again. "I was the one who pulled their Needles. Ionia and Locria are the ones who are left- and no one knows where Locria is. So Ionia is all alone right now." The boy's smile was slipping now- and then it went away. "I- I know how it feels to be all alone."

The boy- Lucas- his voice was so quiet, the Commander wasn't sure he had really heard it- the choking thing was back in his throat- and then Lucas lifted his head and faced him again.

"What about you?" his voice was still quiet- but he was focused on him again- waiting patiently as the choking thing went in for the kill and the voice tried to tell him what to say-

"Commander!"

He spun to face the soldier- he was wearing the Major uniform, he noted- who saluted quickly.

"Sir, we received that report you asked for- the one about the Ultimate Chimera!"

"Good. Take it to the meeting room."

The Major saluted and scurried off, and he turned back to face the boy- and stood up.

The boy- Lucas- stood up too, and then the Commander noticed that the boy's porridge was untouched.

"It's okay," the other boy said before he could say anything. "I'm not that hungry anyway."

For a moment, words tried to crawl out through his throat- then he succeeded in shoving them down and started moving. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard footsteps and knew that the boy- Lucas- was following him.

They both remained silent as they passed through the halls- stayed side by side- thoughts scurried through his mind- refusing to stay still long enough to be focused on-

The boy's name was Lucas- there was a group called the Magyspsies- the boy's name was Lucas, and he felt all alone- the Magyspsies were supposed to be the guardians of the Needles- the boy's name was Lucas and the two of them were the only ones who could pull the Needles-

The Needles. They were the priority- the boy refused to tell him how to get into the temple- but then, maybe he didn't know- he said that it wasn't his secret-

They reached the room. The Commander strode forward and opened the door- stood there, holding it, looking at the other boy and waiting for him to enter the room.

The boy stood there and looked at him. "Are you going to lock me up in there again?" he wasn't afraid- his shoulders straight, facing him without hesitation- but he was unhappy.

The Commander nodded. The choking feeling was back in his throat temporally before he shoved it away.

The boy- Lucas- glanced inside of the room before looking back at him again. "How about I promise to be quiet and I stay with you instead? I won't run away from you- I promise. I just really don't want to stay in there all by myself."

For a moment, he almost said yes- but then he remembered the Ultimate Chimera that he might have to go fight today- he couldn't let the boy get anywhere near the Ultimate Chimera, it wouldn't be safe- and what if the scientists discovered how to get into the Temple today? What if he went to go pull the Needle, and the troublemakers were still around there? What if they tried to retake the boy?

The Commander shook his head.

The boy- Lucas- looked upset- like maybe he wanted to argue- but he didn't.

He just gave a deep, sad sigh and he walked inside the room.

The Commander started to close the door-

"Are you at least going to come back soon?"

He froze- feeling like the strongest possible PK Freeze had been cast on him.

The other boy just stood there, waiting patiently- his big blue eyes focused on him like searchlights- was the collar really blocking his PSI, or was this a new type of PK ability?

"Unknown," he finally managed to force out- then shut the door and locked it as fast as he could, before the boy could say anything else.

OoOoOo

The meetings accomplished nothing. The report said that the chimera was very strong and that a Dr. Andonuts had been in charge of the project- and he was now missing.

The scientists hadn't gotten anywhere with their investigation of the Temple, and there had been no sign of the Ultimate Chimera or the troublemakers.

The Commander left the meeting room behind and looked up and down the hallway for a moment.

Should he patrol the base one more time or should he head back to the room now?

The boy- Lucas- had requested that he come back quickly, and he had already patrolled the base- and if an emergency occurred, they could always use the communicator- that's what they always did anyway-

The Commander found that he was already walking in the direction of the room- then slowed for a moment- realized that this was the first time he'd ever had to decide something like that. Until he'd taken the other boy and brought him here, there had been no reason to return to the room except to sleep and recharge.

Thoughts pounded away in his head as the Commander walked. The boy was his responsibility now - he had to take care of him- how was he going to do that? What things did he need to get for the boy still? What things could he do with him-

He turned a corner and there was a group of soldiers there, all carrying things- two of them were working together to carry one big box-

"Come on, together now- oh no!" one of the soldiers tripped, and the box hit the floor and spilled, and the contents went flying everywhere.

One object slid right to the Commander's feet.

He reached down and picked it up. Stared at it.

"Oh, Commander!"

He looked up and watched the soldiers salute- nodded in response- went back to studying what he was holding- shifted it so that he was holding it with both hands. It was surprisingly large-

"Sorry for making a mess Commander. It's just that this stuff is so heavy-" One of the soldiers said- and the Commander heard sounds- realized that they were beginning to pick up the items that had been scattered.

He tucked the item- it was soft and fuzzy- under his arm as best he could, considering its size- continued to hold onto it even as he helped the soldiers pick up the things that had fallen and replace them in the box. Even though the gloves prevented him from actually feeling the item, he could tell it was soft and fuzzy by the way it looked- by the way it gave under his hands. It was also brown- almost like the dog the boy- Lucas- had been with before...

"Thank you Commander!"

He nodded as he placed the last item in the box- still keeping the item that had landed at his feet before in its position under his arm. "Where did these come from?"

"Supposedly, this is all stuff that was supposed to go to one of his Highness's playrooms in NPC, but apparently when he saw them, he didn't want them after all."

"Um... you know Commander- we're just supposed to throw this stuff away. If you want to keep that teddy bear, no one would care."

He switched his gaze from the stuffed animal to the soldier, then back again- pulled the toy out and studied it- then lowered the bear and tucked it under one arm as best he could and nodded to the soldier. "Thank you."

"No problem sir!" they saluted, and he thrust his fist in the air in acknowledgement, and then they all went their separate ways.

He could use this for the boy.

He quickly strode to the room, then opened and opened the door- switched the bear's position so that it was behind his back as he walked into the room.

There was no one there.

But then there was a thud from the bathroom, and the boy- Lucas- walked out.

"Oh, you're back finally! Hi!" he said it with a smile- but he was also wet. Why?

The boy- Lucas- blinked- the Commander realized that the other boy was surprised at the way he was looking at him- and then he looked down at himself- looked back at the Commander and smiled. "I was just washing our clothes. I'm not sure how to dry them though, since there's no sun in here..."

"...washing ...our clothes?"

The other boy shrugged, still smiling, though it was a bit rueful now. "Well, there's not much else to do in here, you know. Besides, it's always nice to have clean clothes, right?"

"But it's not your job."

"It's someone else's job?" He sounded surprised.

"The cleaners come in every other day and pick up the dirty clothes, and bring them back when they're clean." he straightened up as he explained that. It felt ... good, to be the one explaining things to the other boy, instead of the other way around. Since he was the Commander, and the boy- Lucas- was not, this was the the way things should be, right?

But as he shifted, he felt the teddy bear move against him- for a moment, he hesitated- which would be better? Which would produce better results for the boy? Should he try to use it as a reward, or give it as a gift?

The boy- Lucas- was studying- was studying the bear- and he suddenly realized that even though he was hiding the bear behind his back, parts of it were sticking out-

"Did one of the Pigmasks give that to you as a gift?"

He shook his head, then tilted his head to the side, slightly puzzled.

"Because they like you and look up to you," the boy-Lucas- explained, apparently reading his puzzlement. "When they mixed the two of us up, one of them gave me a gift."

"...of course they respect me. I'm the strong one. The Commander."

The boy sighed and folded his arms. "I don't think that's the only reason. I'm know it's part of it, but not-"

Before the boy could say anything else, the Commander stepped forward and shoved the bear into his arms. He realized again how large it was, so big it filled the boy's arms and covered his face.

"Did the troublemakers ever do anything like this for you?"

The boy- Lucas- shifted the bear, moved it so that part of it was resting against the top of his head, but it was out of the way so that they could look at each other again. "Who?" he asked, his voice plainly puzzled.

The Commander remembered that the boy- Lucas- had claimed that the Army were the ones who caused trouble. Which was silly- although he had a point about the chimeras. But everything else he'd brought up- the Commander didn't know anything about it, which meant the Army wasn't involved, right?

The Commander turned away and moved to the other side of the room as he tried to think.

Someone must have been lying to the boy before. Those people- the ones at the Temple, the ones who had been controlling the boy before- they must have been filling his head with lies- confusing him. Yes, that explained everything-

He heard movement behind him- turned to see the other boy placing the bear on the cot- no, half way on the cot, half way on the bed- he'd moved them, the Commander realized suddenly. He'd pushed their sleeping places together so that they were side by side, right next to each other.

Well, that was okay, right? There were no rules against moving the furniture. And this way, the boy- Lucas- would be closer, so he'd be easier to keep track of-

Even as he was thinking this, the boy was coming closer to him- only stopped once he was close enough to reach out and touch him- even though he didn't. "Are you okay?"

He nodded. The boy- Lucas- didn't look convinced, but before he could say anything, the Commander reached out- took his shoulder and began to maneuver him towards the door.

"Where are we going now?" the boy- Lucas- asked- not resisting but not moving toward on his own either.

"It's time to eat again."

"Okay, but shouldn't I finish taking care of the clothes first-"

"It's not your job."

"Maybe, but I don't want to make it harder for anyone to do their job either. You said they come every other day, right?"

"Yes, they'll pick up the clothes while we're eating."

"Okay then." Quicker than the Commander thought he'd be able to move, the other boy ducked away and disappeared into the bathroom. After a moment of getting over the surprise, the Commander followed.

He found the boy- Lucas- wringing out the clothes into the bathtub and then hanging them over the bar where the shower curtain hung. Then, when he ran out of space there, he draped them over the edge of the tub.

The Commander watched silently and listened as the other boy began to hum under his breath.

"...you're happy?" The question shot out of the Commander's mouth before he'd even realized that it was lurking around on his tongue.

The boy- Lucas- turned back to face him, one of the Commander's white t-shirts wet and dripping in his hands. His smile flickered ruefully. "Well...yes and no, I guess. I'm happy that I'm not alone here- that you're with me- and I'm happy that you're not trying to fight me anymore. But I don't like being separated from my friends, and I don't like this base at all...and like I said before, I really don't like the Pigmasks because of the bad things they've done. Still, I'm trying to look at the bright side-" he turned and draped the shirt next to the other clothes- it had been the last one that needed to be taken care of- and then walked over to him. "I mean, you're here. I don't even want to think about what it would be like all by myself. How..." the boy- Lucas- trailed off- and then he reached out. He gently touched the Commander on the shoulder. "How did you stand it here?"

The Commander stared at him. What? What did he mean?

...it didn't matter. It didn't matter-

He had turned away- was headed for the door- the boy's footsteps sounded behind him- he didn't turn and look, would not allow himself to turn and look- but he couldn't stop himself from relaxing when the boy- Lucas- caught up.

"I wish you'd talk to me," the other boy said wistfully.

The Commander didn't know how to tell him there were things he wanted to tell him, but he didn't what they were, and he didn't have any words to say them...

OoOoOo

They were lost in a sea of flames.

Fire surrounded them- tried to swallow them whole-

They ran hand in hand- tightly grasping each other, throwing their free hands over their faces, trying to gain whatever small protection they could from the burning heat-

They ran into a dead end- fallen trees that were now just mounds of flames- as they spun, hand in hand still, trying to find a way out, he suddenly realized what was burning all around them-

Flowers- tall ones. He thought- he thought they might have been yellow, before the fire-

The other yanked him forward- they dashed down another path, the fire chasing their heels-

There, ahead of them! The fire was ending- there was a dark space ahead of them- that had to be the end of the fire, right?

Wait- there was something ahead of them- something red- but it wasn't the fire- it was- it was-

Red dress- brown hair spilling everywhere- red blood-

A strangled cry- from the other? From him? No- from both-

And then a cry came from further in the darkness- and a form came flying out at them- landed at their feet-

There was a sound coming from the darkness- huge lumbering footsteps- but they couldn't look up from the body lying on the ground in front of them- a brown cowboy hat, covered with blood rolled out of the darkness like a tumbleweed- it landed on top of the unmoving body in front of them- and then-

A shadow detached itself from the darkness- loomed above them- its roar was so powerful that they were flung backwards, breaking their grip on each others' hands-

He flung himself upright- his eyes darted around the room- greyish white walls, no fire, no monsters.

And then he turned-

The other was sleeping. His head on top of the bear as if it was a pillow- mouth slightly open as he breathed- one hand, extended towards him, twitched slightly.

His sigh of relief was so loud it startled him. He was almost surprised it didn't wake up the sleeping boy.

But even as he was thinking that, the boy reached out and grabbed his hand. He clung to it tightly, just like he'd been doing in the dream. He tensed and watched the sleeper as he mumbled something that he couldn't make out, but the sleeper was also smiling affectionately- happy to be holding his hand...

Slowly, his free arm stretched out and his hand landed gently on top of the sleeper's head.

"Lucas."

Chapter 8

Lucas collapsed onto his bed with a frustrated sigh.

At least he actually had a bed now. Apparently, the other had ordered someone to bring him a bed as soon as he'd been captured and brought to the base, but it had taken them until now to get it here.

Lucas shifted in his new bed. It wasn't nice and springy, the way his and Claus's bed at home was, but it was a lot nicer than the cot he'd been sleeping in before. The room was still pretty cold, but along with the bed had come two new blankets, so that did help. Lucas had promptly put one on the other boy's bed, right after he had finished pushing the two beds together.

Lucas's restless shifting had caused the mattress to move beneath him- enough that the teddy bear's balance was thrown off- fell on top of his head, temporally blocking off his vision. Lucas left a startled breath escape, then chuckled as he sat up and lifted the bear off of him.

"I think you need a name," he said softly- and then his smile slipped away.

It had been three days since Lucas had been bought here. At least, he thought it had been. It was hard for him to keep track without the sun and the sky.

He still had no idea where Duster, Kumatora, and Boney were or how they were doing. He really hoped they were doing okay. At least he knew the other boy wasn't evil, so they were probably okay. But there were still chimeras wandering around and things could happen, so Lucas couldn't help worrying about them.

But the most immediate worry he had was the other boy.

Lucas still didn't understand him. He was still claiming that he had no name, that he was just "the Commander" and he didn't seem to want anything at all from Lucas other than his presence, and sometimes he didn't even want that. And he was keeping on his helmet on all the time. Even to sleep, even though it was making his neck stiff and he kept rubbing it when he woke up, he still wouldn't take it off while Lucas was there. Why?

Lucas sighed- lowered the teddy bear and set it down against the head of the bed- lay down on his stomach and looked at it.

He was thirteen now, which was too old to be playing with stuffed animals, but he was happy that the other boy was trying to think about things that might make Lucas happy. And it was nice to have something that made this room a little less like a gray box. The teddy bear's smile might be stitched, but it was friendly...

…come to think of it, the other almost seemed to look at Lucas the way some of the villagers had looked at Boney when he was a puppy. Cute, but useless. Some of them looked at Lucas the same way, even now.

They didn't seem to realize that with everyone else gone, Lucas was the one who took care of everything. He cooked for himself and for his dad (when he was home), mended the clothes, and took care of the sheep. Sure, at first he hadn't done it very well, but he'd learned.

Lucas wasn't the strongest person around, or the smartest or the most capable, but he wasn't stupid and he wasn't a weakling either. He could take care of himself.

Except for when it came to the other. But the other… he was… Lucas just couldn't figure him out.

The other had never asked him any questions. What they'd been doing at Thunder Tower- how they'd discovered the Needles- never asked him what Duster and Kumatora were likely to do next and where he could find them- he'd never asked Lucas about anything like that. The only thing he had asked that related to their journey was how to get into the Temple, and when Lucas had told him that he couldn't tell him, he had accepted that and hadn't asked again.

Lucas was glad he wasn't asking about that or any of the other things, but at the same time…

Lucas didn't know what to do.

Lucas buried his face in his arms and groaned.

"Lucas, let's switch places."

The thing that had looked like Claus had said that, back on Tanetane Island.

Lucas knew that the things that they'd seen there had been just because of the mushrooms they'd eaten- just tricks played on their minds… but still…

In his mind, Lucas replayed it again.

"Oh Lucas, what are you doing here? Let's go together! I'll follow behind, okay? Lucas… Lucas… let's switch places… you're more… you're more… Lucas… Lucas… Lucas..."

Lucas slipped into sleep- a dream where Claus was running- always, always just out of Lucas's reach…

OoOoOo

The knock at the door made Lucas start, almost causing him to fall off the bed.

"Hey you! Open up in there!"

"…I fell asleep?" Lucas asked the empty room, still half-asleep, then shook his head.

"Hey you!" the demanding voice came again. "The Commander wants to see you! We're here to take you to him!"

…he wanted to see him?

Lucas jumped out of bed, then jammed his feet into his sneakers and rushed to the door.

There was a group of five Pigmasks there. They seemed angry.

He hadn't taken that long to answer the door, had he?

"You, captive! The Commander told us to take you to him."

"Okay-" Lucas started to say, but one of the Pigmasks got behind him and shoved him forward.

"Start walking, captive!"

Lucas looked over his shoulder at him- he didn't say anything as he started walking forward- but he didn't like this.

He understood that the other boy was busy, that he didn't have time to do everything he wanted to, but he couldn't think of any reason that he would suddenly send for him. Other than having Lucas follow him around like a puppy, the other didn't seem to have a "use" for him- he seemed to like having Lucas around, but he didn't seem like the type of guy who pulled people away from their jobs just to fetch someone to follow him around like a lost puppy.

The Pigmasks crowded around him, surrounding him and ignoring him except to shove him in the direction they wanted him to go.

Lucas wished that he knew what was going on- wished he could see the faces of these guys- wished he knew where they were going. He hadn't been this way before, when he was following the other around…

They shoved Lucas into a hallway that didn't seem to lead anywhere. There were two doors, one marked "Supply". It was a lonely seeming hallway… it didn't seem like other people came there much- it didn't seem as well-traveled as the rest of the base.

They stopped there and Lucas looked around nervously.

"Why are we-"

One of the Pigmasks- it might have been a different one, but they all looked the same in those uniforms- shoved him, sending him into one of the other Pigmasks. "Listen, you! Don't go thinking you're special just because you're the only one the Commander eats with and spends time with!"

"Really? I'm the only one he does that stuff with?" Lucas asked hopefully, pointing at himself.

One of the other Pigmasks- the tallest one- slapped the previous speaker on the back of the head, then turned to Lucas and glared at him. "None of your business, captive! The Commander only brought you here to learn about you and your resistance friends, got it?"

"You know, I wondered about that at first too," Lucas said thoughtfully, "but he hasn't asked me about that at all- like he doesn't care about them. I mean, it's true that he and me are the only two who can pull the Needles, but still-"

If anything, the Pigmasks got even madder. "Shut up, captive! It doesn't matter why he's keeping you here- you're still nothing more than a prisoner! And it's about time you understood your place!"

On either side of Lucas, a Pigmask grabbed one of his arms.

Lucas tried to pull away, but they had tight grips, and before he could really get started, the leader Pigmask, the tall one, punched him.

It hurt- it really hurt. It knocked the wind out of him- for a couple of minutes, Lucas just struggled to breathe.

"Get it now? You're powerless, helpless- there's nothing you can do, and sooner or later, you won't be of any more use to the Commander, and then he'll discard you like a broken toy!"

The words stung, but Lucas just breathed, trying to find a way out of this situation. He didn't like the way the Pigmask was talking about the other, like he was some kind of heartless jerk, when Lucas knew he wasn't like that, but he didn't want to make the Pigmasks even angrier than they already were. And the one they called the King- he'd said that he'd blame the other boy for any trouble that Lucas got into-

"The Commander won't be interested in you much longer anyway," another Pigmask added. "The Commander doesn't care about anything other than his job."

"That's right!" another chimed in, "The Commander is only focused on following orders!"

"He isn't some robot called Commander!" Lucas yelled, forgetting about the danger, thinking only of the suddenly small figure of the other boy after the Pig King had hung up on him, "he's a human being, just like you or me!"

As the words left his mouth, he winced internally, watching the Pigmasks fly into rages that made the anger from before look like minor irritation- but he didn't take his words back- couldn't take his words back- only straightened his shoulders and glared at them. "Even though he's a very strong person, a very calm and cool person- even though he can be cold, he's just a human too!"

"How dare you talk like that!"

"You think you understand the Commander better than we do?!"

One of them slapped Lucas- he tried to twist away, but they held him tight- it was a wimpy slap anyway- Claus had hit him harder than that before they could walk.

More of them coming at him now- Lucas leaned forward, intending to kick back and try to escape that way- but then he froze. That feeling, that fist-clenching-his-heart feeling- it was back- why?

The fist hit his face then, halting all thought temporally.

Vaguely, he heard a mechanical roar- but he didn't quite understand it until the Pigmasks squealed and let go- he fell, briefly, until arms- strong and firm- wrapped around him and ripped him away.

Something echoed in his ears-

When the ringing stopped and the world stopped spinning, Lucas looked up.

"Commander," whimpered one of the Pigmasks.

The one holding Lucas didn't say anything, just continued to glare.

The smooth black jacket with the fuzzy collar was the same-the orange pants and the boots were the same- but the helmet was gone.

The whimpering Pigmask was holding a gun- he must have shot it, shattering the helmet, which was lying on the floor in pieces a few feet away.

Claus was the one under the helmet- Claus had been the one under the helmet all along. That's why he hadn't killed them when he had the chance on Tanetane Island- why he had kept Lucas alive and protected him.

His big brother's hair was the same shade as red as it had always been, the one eye that Lucas could see was the same shade of green- but he was pale now, more pale than Lucas had ever seen his brother- and his expression-

He wasn't looking at Lucas- he was glaring coldly at the Pigmasks- but he was still holding onto Lucas, even though he'd gotten his balance back and was in no danger of falling anymore. Claus's mouth was moving, but Lucas couldn't make out the words. His face was so stiff- so cold- he'd never seen that type of expression on Claus's face before- but still-

"You're alive." The words came out as quiet and soft as a breath, but they were strong enough that Claus finally turned and looked at him. There had been other words- questions and statements and more questions- beginning to form in Lucas's throat only for him to almost choke on them as his brother finished turning and he saw the other side of his brother's face.

Claus's hair was as red as always, his right eye was the same as always, but now Lucas could see that his other eye was wrong- changed. It was supposed to be as green as his other eye, but instead it was blood red and there wasn't even any skin surrounding it, only hard and cold metal.

Lucas reached for it without thinking about it. He traced gentle circles around his brother's eyes, first the familiar green, then the angry red.

But that fake eye was nothing compared to the fact that Claus was alive. His brother was alive and right in front of him!

Lucas's breath shuddered out before he gave his brother a smile that only trembled a little. "You're alive," he said, louder and stronger this time. That was the most important thing. It didn't matter how much they had hurt Claus, it didn't matter what they had done to him.

Lucas had finally finally found his brother, and he was alive, just as he and dad had always known he was!

Claus had been studying him. Now he blinked, confusion in both the familiar and unfamiliar eye.

Lucas realized he'd scolded the Pigmasks and sent them away while he'd been lost in thought and memories.

Claus's face was so still. Before, Claus had always been energetic, always moving, always in motion. He blinked suddenly, and concern surfaced and began to show in his eyes like a sunrise. "You're injured?"

Lucas shook his head- and that's when he realized that he was crying. "You're alive."

Claus blinked again. "Of course I'm alive."

"Everyone said that you had to be dead- that you'd gone and gotten yourself killed- but Dad and I- we believed that you were still alive- he's still looking for you, even now!"

Claus didn't say anything- just watched him, confused, but listening.

"Why didn't you come home? We were waiting for you- I made omelets every day for a year, hoping you'd smell them and come back…why didn't you come home?"

"…home?" Claus got to his feet, carefully pulled Lucas to his feet and then tugged him down the hallway back to the room- opening the door and pulling him inside, Claus swung his arm around. "Home."

"No! No, this isn't home! Home is Boney and Dad and Mom and you and me!"

Claus jerked, almost as if he'd been hit.

Lucas pressed on. "Don't you remember? Don't you know who I am? Don't you know who you are?"

Claus twitched. "Stop it- stop talking."

"No, I won't!" Lucas shook his head. "Did you hit your head? Is that why you can't remember anything?" A sudden horrible suspicion gripped Lucas and he reached for his brother but Claus stepped back. "Did- did they do things to you? Is that why you can't remember?"

"Stop talking!" There was something like fear in the raised voice- why? He reached into a pocket and pulled out the control for the shock collar.

Lucas barely glanced at it long enough to realize what it was before looking back at Claus.

"If you don't stop talking, I'll punish you."

Lucas took a step forward.

Claus shifted back.

"You're my brother. How can I not try to get you to remember?" Lucas asked softly. "You're my brother- my best friend- we used to do everything together…hey, let's get out of here- leave the base and-"

This shock was almost as bad as the first- he'd been so focused on Claus's face, he hadn't seen his finger press the button.

He might've cried out- might've screamed- he didn't know.

He collapsed, but he didn't hit the ground- he was caught- held…

"Claus." It came out weak, almost like a cough.

"Lucas?"

He didn't move- didn't say anything. What could he do? Claus didn't want to hear the truth, but he couldn't just-

Wait.

He'd used his name- he'd actually called his name!

"Hey Lucas, wake up! I'm sorry- I didn't mean it!"

"You remember me!" Lucas shouted happily, jumping to his feet- stumbling because he was still a little dizzy- he hugged his brother.

Claus actually hugged him back. "I didn't kill you- I didn't kill you- I'm so glad I didn't kill you!"

The two of them clung to each other for a moment- Lucas crying softly with relief- feeling his brother's heartbeat and feeling his body tremble as he breathed-

Eventually, Lucas shifted, moving his head so they could see each other. Claus's mismatched eyes blinked- looked down almost shyly, almost guiltily, before looking back up and meeting Lucas's.

"You remember me now?" Lucas asked softly, just to be sure.

Mismatched eyes flicked over his face. "…Lucas?"

"Yeah, that's right, that's my name."

"We're…we're brothers," he stumbled over the words, but when he finished, the ghost of one of Claus's old smiles flashed over his face before disappearing again. "I hurt you."

"I forgive you," Lucas said quickly, hugging him again. "I'm just glad you're okay!"

"…you were worried about me?"

"Yeah, of course I was. We all were."

"…why?"

"Why?" Lucas's head snapped up so fast it hurt. "Why? Claus, you're my brother and I love you- of course I was worried about you!"

Claus blinked- seeming to think about that.

"Claus?"

He lifted his head then, looked at Lucas. "… Claus… that's my name?"

"Yeah… you didn't even remember your name?"

Claus shook his head. "He said… he said I didn't have a name."

"Who did?" Lucas asked softly. He didn't really want to know- but at the same time, he had to know. Who would tell his brother such a horrible lie?

Claus dropped his head, and spoke in a voice even softer than Lucas's. "Master Porky."

Somehow, Lucas wasn't surprised. "Well, he was wrong," Lucas said firmly, pushing further questions aside for later- Claus came first. "You have a name- your name is Claus. And you have a family-"

Claus nodded slowly, the ghost-smile coming back again. "You're my brother." No hesitation this time.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm your brother- we're twins."

"Twins?" Claus questioned, then nodded as he remembered. "We were born together- but I'm older than you."

"Only by five minutes," Lucas protested, automatically and halfheartedly. "But Claus, we're not the only ones in our family- remember Boney?"

"Boney?" Claus repeated, "Boney…he's-he's our dog? He…he was following you around before… wasn't he?"

Lucas nodded happily and hugged him again. "That's right! That was Boney- he's our dog! He lives in his dog house, right in front of our house, and he's brave and smart and he'll be so happy to see you again!"

Claus shifted slightly, and Lucas went on. "Remember Dad?"

"… Dad… he's- he's bigger than us… strong… but not that strong."

Lucas wanted to protest- but then he remembered Flint grabbing that piece of burning wood and striking out. "…He's not that bad Claus- he missed you too, you know. He spends all his time searching for you."

"… but he was always busy… with the house… and the sheep."

"Claus, you're more important than the house and the sheep," Lucas said softly. "We were all scared for you- we were all worried about you. When you disappeared…after Mom's funeral-"

Claus shuddered.

Lucas tightened the hug. "I miss her too," he said when Claus stayed quiet for a few minutes.

"She's-she's… she's g-gone?"

"Uh huh. She died just before you disappeared… do you remember?"

Claus shook his head.

Lucas hesitated. He wanted to bring Claus's memories back all the way. But some of the memories- like that last walk home with Mom- were painful…

When Duster had gotten his memories back, they'd all come back at once…

"Claus…"

"Commander!" the call rang out from the communicator at full volume making both twins jump. "Commander! The Ultimate Chimera has been spotted near the base!"

Lucas looked up at Claus- the change passed over his face like a freak storm cloud.

Claus grabbed the communicator and spoke into it, speaking as the Commander, his voice strong and firm. "Get out three of the Pork Tanks- even if they don't hurt it, they should keep you safe. I'm coming." He flipped the switch to shut it off, returned it to his pocket and pulled away from Lucas- turned towards the door.

"Claus wait!" Lucas grabbed his sleeve. "What about going home?"

Claus cocked his head. "This is home," he gestured to the four walls surrounding them, and then paused- thinking and then stepping forward- slowly- hesitantly- patted him on top of his head. "…this is home," he repeated. "Since I'm the older brother, I'm supposed to take care of you, right? Are you cold at night still? I can get you another blanket. Those guys that picked on you earlier? I'll take care of them. You probably don't want to eat in the mess hall after what happened earlier, right? I'll bring you your supper after I've dealt with the Ultimate Chimera… families eat together, right?"

"Right- but Claus-"

"Shh." Claus very, very gently patted his head again. "I'm going to take very good care of you. Be good- wait here- I'll be back soon." One last pat- and then he was gone, out the door- it clicked as it locked behind him.

Lucas fell to his knees. "He doesn't get it. He doesn't get it. Mom- what am I going to do?"

Chapter 9

Days had passed and still nothing. Still no sign of Lucas or the Masked Man.

Duster sighed as he came into view of Tazmily. At least he still knew where to find this place- although all the changes- the missing flowers and the emptiness and the lack of people made him wonder sometimes.

Maybe some of that came out into his sigh- or maybe Kumatora could read minds. She turned to him.

The look she gave him was a lot different from her usual ones- a lot softer- like she understood. Actually, she probably did understand. Even though she hadn't lived in the village with him and Lucas, she'd been losing people, the Magypsies, the only family she'd ever known, ever since the whole thing with the Needles had started.

But there was a difference between loosing something and something being twisted almost beyond recognition…

Duster pushed the pain and the thoughts away- focused on the now.

He pasted on a smile for Kumatora- she didn't fall for it, but she nodded- and the two of them entered the town.

The town square was empty- not even Mapson was there anymore.

Each of their footsteps seemed to echo- a hollow sound, like a rock thrown against a tomb.

They paused in the middle of the square.

"Where to now, Duster? Should we look for your dad first, or Lucas's grandpa?"

Before Duster could decide, they heard barking.

He and Kumatora turned to see Boney dashing towards them from the direction of Lucas's house.

The dog dashed around them- sniffing- seeming to be looking for Lucas- before stopping in front of them. He gave a soft little whine before picking himself up and dashing off in the direction he'd come from, and then turned around and barked at them until they followed.

Alec and Wess were waiting in front of the house- they must've figured that someone was coming by the way Boney was acting, because they were waiting for them.

Duster could see equal amounts of worry and relief in his father's eyes and large amounts of worry mixed with a bit of relief in Alec's eyes.

"No sign of Lucas?" Wess asked.

Duster shook his head.

"He's a tough kid- he'll be fine. Unfortunately, we haven't seen any sign of him either."

"What I don't understand." Alec said, his eyes boring into them, "is why Lucas was captured in the first place. What have you guys been up to?"

Duster and Kumatora exchanged looks.

"Uh…"

"It's complicated." Duster said apologetically to Alec, then turned back to Kumatora. "You're the one who spent the most time with the Magypsies, so you should be able to explain it best."

Kumatora sighed even as she nodded, then stepped forward and faced the two older men. "Okay, it's like this-"

OoOoOo

"So, other than this mysterious Masked Man, Lucas is the only one with the ability to pull these Needles, eh?" Wess asked with a smile. "Well, the kid wouldn't be my pick for hero, but at the same time, I can't think of anyone better. If it weren't for the fact that he's captured, I could rest easy."

"We just gotta find him." Kumatora insisted.

"Easier said than done Princess." Wess said, turning grave again. "The training facility, the factory, even that chimera research place- they've all been shut down. Nobody there at all. Where do you suggest we look now?"

"Well, these pig jerks have been here for three years- they must have a secret base somewhere! If we search for it, we should be able to find it!"

Duster turned to look at Alec, who still hadn't said anything- he found him turned away from the others, staring into the distance, in the direction of the Temple…the place where they'd fought the Masked Man- the last place they'd seen Lucas-

He'd looked so small then- high above the ground-

"This "Masked Man" -" Alec spoke, then turned to face them- looking first at Duster, then at Kumatora, then back again. "You haven't seen his face?"

They both shook their heads.

"Haven't seen his face, haven't heard his voice, don't even know his name. Guy's a real mystery."

Duster nodded in agreement.

"I see…Boney, I know that sometimes you can use your strong sense of smell to discover things…did you find out anything about him?"

Boney whined.

"He says he couldn't smell anything but some super strong cleaning chemicals and the Pigmasks around us sweating like crazy." Kumatora translated. "They smelled pretty funky to us too, right Duster?"

"Right." Duster agreed, wondering why the older man was so fixated on that, asking so many questions about the Masked Man-

"About how old would you say he is?" Alec pressed.

Duster shrugged. "With that helmet, it's hard to tell- he wasn't very tall though-"

"Shorter than me." Kumatora added.

"-so actually, he might not be that old." Duster finished. Something about that thought seemed worrisome… but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Before he could figure it out, Alec sighed.

"That so, huh?" he turned away again. "You're probably wondering where Flint is- I wish I knew. He spends all of his time searching for Claus in the mountains- only coming back to visit Hinawa's grave. Occasionally, he'll check in on Lucas…but once Lucas told me the only sure way he had of making sure he got to see his father was to camp out at Hinawa's grave…" Alec sighed and turned back to look at the others. "Boney and I searched all over the mountains with no sign of him. Maybe he decided to search somewhere else- I don't know. But we couldn't find him."

Boney whined.

Kumatora growled softly- a tone more sad than angry. Duster thought he might've heard her mumble something under her breath, but he wasn't sure- and if she wasn't going to say it loud enough for everybody to hear, he wasn't sure it would be a good idea to ask her to repeat it.

"…Claus was reckless, but he wasn't cruel." Alec said, looking straight at her. "He never would've stayed away for long- something must've happened- something must have kept him from coming home."

Duster nodded. "We know Alec." Something like death, was the thought that came to mind, but Duster wasn't going to say that out loud. Thinking it was bad enough- for a moment, Duster shut his eyes- tried not to remember how things had used to be-

Coming back from a training trip, his dad leading the way- everyone in the square turning and smiling at them- cheerful welcomes that echoed off the walls- Flint tipping his hat with one hand as he carried a bucket full of dirt with the other- walking over to Hinawa, who was standing up next to the new flowerbed, one bloom that still wasn't planted in her hand- Claus and Lucas turning at the same time, lifting their heads from the butterfly currently perched on Lucas's open hands-

The sound of his dad sighing made him open his eyes again.

The older man was folding his arms and turning away from the rest of the group. Duster knew that- if asked- his dad would claim to just be trying to think of a way out of the mess that they were in. But he also knew his dad was more softhearted than he wanted people to know- not that he was really softhearted- he could be harsh, sometimes extremely harsh (Duster tried not to wince at the memory of some of his bigger mistakes)- but that didn't mean that Wess didn't care.

"He's right Alec, we all know that. Even the Princess can figure that out, just by having traveled with Lucas. The two of them may have been different, but they weren't that different."

Alec muttered something- Duster couldn't make it out.

Then there was silence for a moment- everyone lost in their own thoughts- until Kumatora stomped her foot. "Guys, we need to stop talking and do something!"

"And what do you propose that we do, Princess?" Sarcasm coated the question like honey, but it was a question.

Kumatora glared half-heartedly. "We're just going to have to keep looking until we find Lucas, that's all!" she spun to face Duster. "Hey, remember that weird place we found?"

Duster nodded.

"Let's head back there and search it some more. With that weird reaction you had to it, it must be something important! If we go back and check it out again, search it more thoroughly, we might find something- who knows, maybe it's an old Pigmask base, and they'll have left some maps lying around that will tell us where to find their other bases!"

"It's worth a try." Duster agreed. "With no other leads, we might as well go check it out." He ignored the voice inside of him that was insisting that it wasn't a Pigmask base, it wasn't. At this point, it didn't matter. Kumatora was right- standing around and talking wouldn't help Lucas- or the rest of his family- at all.

On the other hand, retracing their steps had a chance of accomplishing something.

"Okay!" Kumatora spun to face Alec and Wess again. "We're off again- Boney, you come and get us if you guys find anything out, okay?"

Boney barked.

"Be careful." Alec said soberly.

Duster nodded, then turned to face Wess.

He was frowning- almost like he wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how to say it. But that couldn't be it, could it? Wess never let hesitation interfere with anything he wanted to say...

"Dad?" Duster asked tentatively.

Wess, still frowning, looked up at him. "Duster- have you ever- well…had a dream…where you were…argh! Forget it. Take care of the Princess, you hear? And - take care of yourself too."

"I will, Dad- on both accounts." Duster promised fondly- if a bit confused and wondering what his dad had been about to say.

"We're off!" Kumatora announced, fist pumping the air.

"Come back safely."

They nodded- and they turned and left.

Silent in their leaving, they returned to the path that led to the village… past where the well had been...stepping past it, thinking of his father, the man he'd been missing without remembering for three years- wondering what it was that he had wanted to tell him but hadn't said- maybe he'd just wanted to tell him that he loved him?- he'd always had problems saying it- always-

Duster felt a ringing in his ears- shook his head, trying to get rid of it- from far away, he thought he heard Kumatora calling his name-

"You guys are going to dig the well here? How far down are you going to dig it?"

"As deep as we need to." the dark haired man said, hefting his shovel- the cowboy hat was tilted forward, in an attempt to keep the sun from his eyes.

"Hey kid." the hand descended on his head gently, causing him to look up. "Watch the princess for me- make sure she doesn't get into any trouble, alright?"

"Yes sir."

The man ruffled his hair before leaving to join the man with the cowboy hat in digging the well.

He smiled down at the baby in his arms. "This village is going to be really cool- it'll be even better than the place we lived before! Just wait and see!"

Green eyes blinked up at him, giggling- not recognizing his words but recognizing the fact that he was speaking to her- she reached up and tried to grab his nose again.

"Hey quit it." he said fondly, moving his head just to be safe. "You're stubborn, aren't you? But that's good- that means you'll keep going, even when things get hard- that's a good thing. And for you and me- orphans, both of us- things'll be hard for a while…do you miss your parents, baby? I miss mine…but we're in a place like this, with nice people like this, so we'll be okay… yeah, we'll be okay."

Once again, a punch to the face brought him out of it- landing in the dust on his rear end, Duster blinked dazedly up at Kumatora.

The naked fear on her face scared him more than three Pigmask tanks coming at him at the same time. "What is it?" he asked, scrambling to his feet.

"What is it?" she repeated in disbelief. "You tell me! You blacked out again- and then you started talking to yourself and to people who weren't there-what's wrong with you?"

Duster stared at her, then at where the well had been, then back at her. He shook his head- trying to clear it- placed one hand on his head, trying to think.

"…was it a memory?" he asked himself.

"…what?"

"I was a child- and Flint and my dad were digging the well that used to be there." he gestured to its former position, then turned back to her. "And I was holding a green-eyed baby…that my dad called "princess" …"

Kumatora stared at him.

Duster shrugged.

"…Doria told me that my mom went to them to give birth to me- to make sure that I was born healthy and strong- and then she left me with them and I never left them until three years ago-"

"How'd you know my dad then?"

"He visited me a couple times when I was living with Ionia. Are you sure you weren't dreaming?"

Duster shook his head. "I don't know what that was, but I've never had a dream that vivid- that intense. Whatever it was, it wasn't a dream."

"…was it the same as what happened back in that abandoned place?"

Duster nodded. "It sure felt the same…"

"Then we need to get back there as fast as we can! What if it happens again? What if it happens while we're in a fight?"

"Good point." Duster agreed uneasily. He hadn't thought about that. That would most likely not end well.

"Come on then, let's go!" Still obviously worried, Kumatora grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the ghost town.

Chapter 10

The puppy was really cute. He followed him everywhere he went- not that there was many places to go in the room. The room was small and cramped, and kinda empty.

He remembered another room- a room where there was more room, more things- and best of all, he wasn't alone in that room.

He didn't ever talk about that room, even though he thought about it as much as he could. He didn't talk about anything from before. When he'd tried before…they'd laughed at him- said cruel things, mean things- and then they'd beat him.

But this room wasn't as empty now- he had Kato. Kato, with his cute puppy eyes and floppy ears. Kato made the room less empty- but he also made him sad, because Kato made him think of before- made him think of the other room- made him think of the others also would have loved Kato and found him cute…

Kato didn't like the men who came to give them food, or the men who gave him lessons. Kato had even bitten one of them yesterday. He'd scolded Kato and apologized to the man politely, just the way Mom had taught him. The teacher had cursed at him and Kato and kicked at them and stomped out. Nobody had come since then, not even the men who bought them food.

"I'm hungry." he whispered aloud to the puppy, who yipped and scampered closer, maybe hoping for some food of his own, or maybe some playtime.

He chuckled softly, softly, so no one would hear. He didn't feel up to playing, but he rubbed Kato's ears the way he loved.

The puppy looked up at him adoringly and pushed his head into his hands.

Kato was so cute. And Kato loved him and trusted him- he loved his puppy.

Suddenly, loud music burst over the loudspeakers, like a crackle of thunder- it was the King's theme!

He jumped to his feet and looked around.

Mom and Dad had always taught him to pick up after himself, and there wasn't much else to do in the room anyway, so everything was clean- he double-checked everything, then scooped up Kato(he'd been barking at the speakers) tucked him under his arm and hurried and stood by the bed- and he saluted as the door opened and Master Porky came in, followed by two of the guys in white-the ones that had capes- colonels, that's what they were called.

"Hello toy."

He didn't respond- the King got angry whenever he said anything, unless it was a response to a question.

Kato barked.

"Oh, that's right. I let you have a puppy. Did you name him?"

"Uh huh, Master Porky."

"Good. What's his name?"

"Kato- his name's Kato, Master Porky."

"I see. Let me hold him."

He hesitated- clutched Kato to his chest, just a little bit.

The guard on the left smashed into him, knocking him against the bed and knocking Kato from his arms. He recovered but was simply knocked down again- to the floor this time- as the other guard handed the barking puppy to the King.

"Kato- what a dumb name. Sounds almost like cat-o." the King giggled, then coughed.

He waited until the King was done- the guards just stood there silently- the one closest to him flexed slightly, as if daring him to try to get back up, to try to get Kato back.

"Do you love this puppy?" the King asked, once he was done coughing. He didn't even look at him- just smiled, somewhat dreamily, as he dangled Kato above the floor.

"Yes." he said it softly, oh so softly-

"That's good." the King said, voice full of satisfaction- and he dropped Kato to the floor- Kato yelped- and the King flapped his hand lazily- and the two colonels drew their guns and fired.

He couldn't breathe- couldn't think-

Kato was- Kato was-

"I will do this to everyone you love." the King said, still in that satisfied voice. "Everyone you love, I will kill- and I won't let them die as quickly as this weak thing. I will make sure that they suffer before they die. And I will make sure that they know it's your fault. Do you understand, toy?"

"…yes, Master Porky." he said it softly, without taking his eyes off Kato's too still body.

The king reached out and grabbed his collar, pulling him closer and yanking his head so he was looking into his eyes.

He wanted to move away- wanted to run away- it would be easy to break the King's grip- but the guards would only bring him back, the way they always did- and Kato-

"Do you understand, my adorable little monster? Tell me what you understand."

"I can't love anyone- if I do…you'll kill them."

"Exactly. And I won't ask you if you love them- I'll watch you and see how you act. If you love someone, I'll know- and I will make them suffer- I'll make them suffer so much, they'll curse you and hate you. Understand this, slave- you exist only to do as I say. All emotions are distractions- and distractions are punished- and then removed. Do you understand?"

"Yes Master Porky."

The King giggled, then coughed again.

The door banged open and one of the teachers came in. he glanced at Kato, then shrugged and turned to the king. "What are you doing here, your highness?"

"Just an object lesson. I'm going now- I'll let you clean up that broken toy of a toy."

The teacher saluted. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

"Oh, I know." the King finally let go of him- then left, taking the guards with him, one last giggle hanging in the air.

He stared after them- his brain didn't want to work.

"Hey, listen to me!"

He turned to face the irritated teacher.

"I'm not carrying that trash through the hallways- it's your mess, you can clean it up. Besides, it's your fault- you shouldn't have gotten attached. You should've known that there was no way Porky was going to let you keep that stupid thing. I'm going to go get some cleaning stuff and a box- you stay here."

The teacher left.

Alone. Again.

For a moment, he stared at the door- for two moments, he stared at the door.

And then he turned- knelt- looked at Kato.

After a moment, he reached out- slowly brushed against one of Kato's ears.

Kato didn't move. Kato was warm- but he wasn't moving. Wasn't moving at all. He was too still…and there was blood…

Slowly, he lowered his head- pressed against the puppy's chest.

No heartbeat. Nothing.

The teacher yelled at him when he came back and found him like that- still listening for a heartbeat that just wasn't there.

Claus's eyes shot open but he didn't move.

Where- where was-

Grey ceiling. Grey walls.

The Commander's room.

Not putting it into words, he flipped over, onto his side, searching-

Lucas was in his bed, sleeping peacefully. Flat on his back, arms and legs spread out, mouth open and snoring softly-

He was real- he was alive- he was there.

Claus sank back into bed, but didn't take his eyes away from his brother.

His brother. He had a brother- he had a family.

And he had a name too. Claus.

"Claus." he said the name out loud, testing it- yes- that was his name.

Claus.

Lucas mumbled in his sleep and reached in his direction- reached for him? -Claus left his bed and took his hand. Lucas relaxed again.

Why had he forgotten? Why had he believed that he had no name or family?

Master Porky's face rose up in his mind and he shuddered involuntarily, before shaking his head.

"No- no- no-"

Even now, he could barely remember anything. He remembered being with Lucas- always being with Lucas- and they'd had a mom and a dad and a dog too.

A dog like Kato.

Claus started to shudder, but repressed it.

That dream- it couldn't be a memory, right?

Claus didn't remember how he'd gotten here- how he'd become the Commander.

He just remembered being the Commander- and some of that, the parts closer to the distant past, he didn't remember so well either.

Why was that?

"The past isn't important toy- just do as I say. That's all you exist for anyway, got it?"

"Yes Master Porky."

Claus shook his head. He hadn't meant to say that out loud- Lucas hadn't woken up though- that was good.

"Everyone you love, I will kill- it's good that you don't have a family- if you did…well, I'd have to punish them- severely- painfully- I'll kill everyone you love, but I'll pay special attention to your family…"

Claus realized he was shuddering- he managed, with a great effort, to stop himself- but he noticed that he was gripping his brother's hand so tightly that the knuckles were white.

Lucas was his brother. Brothers were family.

Master Porky had said that- had said that he would-

He wouldn't- he couldn't-

Lucas was- Lucas was all Claus had left.

Mom wasn't here now- Dad wasn't here now- Grandpa and Boney weren't here now either. It was just the two of them.

If anything happened to Lucas-

Claus shuddered again, trying to force his mind away from the image of Lucas ending up like Kato- of Lucas being lifted into the air and then thrown carelessly to the ground- and the guards lifting their guns-

Claus found himself shaking his head. "No- no- no-"

Lucas was sweet- he never wanted to hurt anyone- he wasn't a threat at all- those people he'd been traveling with- they must've lied to him- made him pull the Needles. Lucas was a good boy- he never would've caused trouble unless someone else had pushed him into it.

Claus was the older brother- older brothers were supposed to protect their younger brothers. That's why they came into the world first. Claus would keep Lucas in the base where he'd be safe- those liars would never be able to find him here.

But what about Master Porky? Claus couldn't hide Lucas from him- besides, he already knew he was here-

Claus had to protect him- had to think of a way to protect him- there had to be a way-

Maybe he could prepare a special report- list of all of Lucas's good qualities, show how he wasn't a threat…but Master Porky had said that emotions were a distraction…okay, Claus wouldn't get distracted, and he'd include in his report how his work performance was unchanged.

Yes, that should do it. If Claus proved to Master Porky that Lucas wasn't a threat, and wasn't a distraction, Master Porky wouldn't hurt him, right? If Master Porky got what he wanted, he'd leave them alone, right?

And then they could stay together. They wouldn't be alone anymore.

This position was getting uncomfortable. Claus shifted, kneeling on the floor, and then resting on the bed.

Lucas was the only one who knew his name. It wasn't like that really changed anything- Claus was still the Commander, and he was still going to do his job…but it was a good thing to have a name…a wonderful thing to have a family, even if it was a bit broken.

Claus would definitely protect Lucas. And Lucas- he would love Claus, right? Because they were brothers- and brothers stuck together, no matter what, right?

"Claus…"

Yes, that was his name. Relaxing, his eyes had shut-

"Lucas…"

Oh. The voice was back. The voice that had suggested taking Lucas with him- the voice knew their names…the voice was- actually, now that he thought about it, the voice sounded familiar- sounded like-

"Mom!" Lucas called, tugging Claus behind him as he rushed down the path of sunflowers.

Claus stumbled but didn't lose his balance- sped up so he could keep up.

There was a woman- standing at the end of the sunflower path- she had brown hair and a long red dress- she was smiling, waiting for them, her arms flung open for them-

"Claus! Lucas!" she called again.

"Mom!" both twins cried together as they flung themselves into her arms, sobbing.

Every tear that been bottled up for the last three years was released- and then wiped away by her gentle hands.

"I know, I know-" she assured them softly, kissing first Lucas's head, then Claus's. "I missed you too- I missed you both so much-"

Claus sobbed- forgetting about controlling emotions and discipline, forgetting about everything but the fact that he and Lucas were back where they belonged, back in their beloved mother's arms.

"That's right Claus, this is where you belong. You belong with your family."

Yes- he belonged here- he belonged with them- with his mom and his brother- and he never wanted to leave.

His mom tilted his face up, gently- she smiled, her expression slightly sad, as she gently wiped his tears away. "I will always be with you, even when you can't see me or hear me. Do you understand?"

Claus shook his head- no longer sobbing, but still crying.

"…I think I do." Lucas said softly, and both mother and brother turned to look at him. "You're always in our hearts, right? Even though you're dead, you're still watching over us and looking out for us, right?"

"That's right." she kissed and hugged first Lucas and then Claus. "I love you and I am always with you. Boys, I want you to promise me something."

"Anything Mom."

"First, you two need to stick together and take care of each other- and second…when you see your father, tell him that I love him."

"Okay." Lucas promised happily.

"Okay." Claus promised soberly.

Hinawa smiled at them- "Good boys." -and kissed them one last time. And with that kiss, they woke up.

Claus had gone to sleep next to Lucas's bed- he woke up in it, all tucked in and everything.

He looked around the room, even more disorientated then he'd been after his last awakening. There was the door, there was his empty bed- he sat up- turned to find Lucas sitting up next to him, looking at him.

"You still remember me, right?"

For a moment, Claus couldn't breathe- couldn't speak- Lucas's eyes, wide and blue, held him like a magnet.

Slowly, Claus nodded.

Lucas sighed in relief. "I'm so glad- so glad-" he flung his arms around the startled Claus- taken by surprise, he let him. His thin shirt quickly became soaked.

"…Lucas? What are you doing?"

His brother sat back and rubbed at his eyes. "Sorry- didn't mean to cry on you. Just- I missed you so much. And then, I was afraid you'd forgotten everything again when you didn't come back last night."

Ouch. Claus automatically looked around for the attacker before recognizing the pain as guilt. "…sorry." the word came out reluctantly. He couldn't remember the last time he'd used it- but Lucas was crying because of him, and when you made somebody cry, you were supposed to apologize, weren't you?

"It's okay. Did the meeting take a long time or something?"

…it hadn't, not really. It hadn't been short, but it hadn't taken that long. And after it had ended-

"I don't know what to do."

Claus twitched, for a moment not recognizing the words as coming out of his own mouth.

"Claus?"

When he didn't respond, Lucas reached out and gently touched him, turning him so they faced each other. "Look at me- I'm here…I don't know what happened to you while we were separated, but we're together again and this time, we'll stick together, alright?"

Claus didn't say anything- couldn't say anything- invisible fat fingers were squeezing at his throat.

Lucas didn't move. He waited patiently- his hands warm and steady on Claus's shoulders.

Still, Claus couldn't speak- but he couldn't look away either. Slowly, he lifted one hand- touched Lucas, lightly- poked him on the cheek.

Something like a smile trembled on Lucas's lips. "Are you trying to make sure I'm real?"

Was he? Claus dropped his head, trying to think- Lucas wrapped his arms around him again.

"Three years is a long time…so I- I got a lot of hugs stored up to give you. But don't worry, I won't hug you in front of the Pigmasks or anyone like that."

Hugs? Claus vaguely remembered hugs…hugs were like this…hugs were something you gave a person when you loved them…Dad gave them hugs sometimes- Mom gave them lots of hugs- Lucas liked hugs a lot too…

Claus found his arms around his brother- no no no!

He couldn't love anyone- couldn't love anyone! If he loved anyone, Master Porky would-

"Dad and me always believed you were alive." Lucas said softly. "Grandpa and Boney did too. Dad still spends all of his time searching for you…hey Claus, don't you want to see them again? Why don't we leave this place and go find them? You want to see them again too, right?"

"…I can't leave. I'm the Commander. My orders are to stay here unless I'm needed elsewhere."

Lucas drew back and stared at him- he looked sad- a little upset. "But you're not the Commander! You're my brother!"

"Aren't I both?"

"Well…it's true that the Pigmasks look up to you as their Commander and obey you- but you were my brother long before you were the Commander."

"…was I?"

Lucas looked even more worried. "Yeah…Claus, what do you remember?"

What did he remember? Starting from now- going back-

"Yesterday, I was coming to get you... then I heard noises coming from a hallway…I found a group of five soldiers being mean to you. I used my wings to speed down the hallway, surprising them- a particularly stupid one tried to shoot me before realizing it was me, shattering my helmet. I scolded them and sent them to the Colonel in charge of the base… and then you started talking crazy."

"It wasn't crazy." Lucas protested.

"Now I know that- but it seemed crazy. Master Porky told me I had no name or family, so it seemed crazy. I took you back here, and you were still talking about stuff I didn't understand…" the hands were back clutching at his throat-

"And you shocked me." Lucas finished for him. He was smiling a little bit, a little wryly. "It's okay. I already forgave you, remember? And anyway, it was right after that that your memory came back, right?"

For a moment, Claus was silent. "…for a few seconds…I thought I'd killed you. You were so quiet…so still. And then I called your name- and you called mine..." A flood of memories surged around him, all shouting for attentiom-

"Claus?" a soft touch on his shoulders- Claus jumped.

Lucas's blue eyes met his- he didn't look away, meeting Claus's eyes straight on, without fear, without anger- just waiting…

Claus had to look away. No one ever met his eyes- looked into them the way Lucas did, like he was seeing down deep inside of him…no…no, that wasn't quite right. True, the Pigmasks all lowered their eyes respectfully or looked away guiltily- and Master Porky was always having him bow.

But Mom had met his eyes- she had looked at him, really looked at him too…and so had Dad…

Lucas sighed softly and hugged him again. "I'm sorry Claus- it must've been tough. I'm sorry you had to go through that alone. It was hard for me, but it must've been worse for you- I'm sorry. Me and Dad- we would have come for you, but we didn't know where to find you- if we'd known where to find you, we would have come for you."

It was said without fear- without hesitation-

"You would have? You would have come for me?"

Lucas tightened the hug. "Yes." a simple answer- but there was no doubt in his voice- in his hands.

Claus let himself relax, just a little bit. Only Master Porky barged into his room without knocking anymore, and he hadn't left New Pork City for a long time.

He rested his head on Lucas's shoulder.

"I wish we'd known where to find you-" Lucas whispered.

"I'm the Commander- I belong here. But I- I'm glad I found you."

No more empty room-no more lonely room.

"I think I'm the one who found you actually." Lucas protested- Claus couldn't see his face because of the hug, but he sounded like he was smiling.

He was the Commander- people weren't supposed to argue with him- but this was Lucas. He wasn't one of his men, he was his brother- and before Claus could finish sorting that out, Lucas hugged him again.

"I'm just glad we're together again."

…yes. Together. Just staying like this- being hugged, being loved- was nice…Claus didn't even mind when his arms snuck around Lucas to return the hug.

Claus was ... happy? Was that right? Claus knew one thing- he wanted to stay like this.

Eventually, Lucas pulled back and looked at him. "Claus, what happened?" his wide eyes were full of empathy, painful empathy that caused Claus to look away again, but that only made Lucas reach for his arm and grasp it, gently, "how'd you wind up in this place?"

"…I don't really know." Claus admitted softly. "I…only really remember being here. Being the Commander…leading the soldiers…serving Master Porky."

Lucas frowned- not with anger, but with worry. "But you remember home, right?"

"Yeah- this is home." Claus said- and now he was a little confused. Wasn't this the only place he'd ever lived? But in the dream- hadn't it been just a dream?

Lucas shook his head violently. "No Claus! This isn't home! Home is the house by the village- home is the sheep, and Boney, and Dad, and-" water was leaking from Lucas's eyes- Claus slowly raised his free hand- the one that Lucas wasn't squeezing- and touched his cheek. Lucas shut his eyes as the water kept coming.

"Tears." Claus said out loud, remembering what this type of water was called- it still happened to him, sometimes, even though it wasn't supposed to- and then, remembering the dream he'd had and what Lucas had been talking about… "Mom?"

"Yeah…Mom was a big part of home too- but she's dead now." Lucas shook his head softly- just hard enough to shake off some of the tears- and then he smiled- still sad, but a real smile- he smiled at Claus- "she's dead, but she still loves us- and she's still watching out for us." Lucas even grinned then. "You know, I bet she's really happy right now, because we're together again."

Somehow, he got the feeling that Lucas right. In the dream…and the voice…for the first time, Claus questioned whether he'd heard their mother's voice or just imagined it. But regardless of whether he'd imagined it or not, Claus was sure that Lucas was right- she would be happy that they were together again. Because they were family, and families stuck together.

"But Claus, what do you remember? You remember me- and you remember Mom…" Lucas stopped and looked at him, until Claus nodded, telling him that he was right- that yes, he did remember them. "What about Dad and Boney and Grandpa? Do you remember them?"

Claus hesitated slightly. "I don't remember much- sensations…disconnected images." he paused for a moment- temporally lost in memory- a scrap on his knee and it hurt so bad- Lucas next to him, sniffling slightly over his own wounds- Mom was hugging both of them, calling them brave- Dad was coming towards them with the box of bandages- and somehow, despite the pain, he knew they were going to be okay-

"Claus?"

Hands landed softly on his shoulders, and he looked up to meet Lucas's concerned eyes.

"We used to be together- always together." at first, he almost thought Lucas had spoken those words- but then he realized it had been him- he'd said it.

Lucas nodded happily. "That's right. We all used to live together."

"We used to live here?"

"No! No, we used to live in the village."

"In the village?" Claus repeated, puzzled. Why would they have lived there? Maybe Lucas was remembering wrong?

"Well, just outside of the village. You don't remember? There was only one room in our house, but it was a big room, so it wasn't cramped or anything- there were two beds, one for you and me, and one for Mom and Dad- and there was Mom's stuff for taking care of the wool from the sheep and at the other end of the room, there was the table where we ate, and Mom's cooking stuff and the fireplace where we'd all gather in front of on cold nights- tell stories and sing songs- you don't remember any of that?"

Claus started to shake his head- then stopped. "…I think…I think I remember the fireplace- us gathering around it…"

Lucas's stomach growled- Claus looked down at it, then gently detached himself from Lucas and slid off the bed- and stood up before turning back to his confused brother. "Come- time to get ready."

Lucas looked down at his complaining stomach before nodding reluctantly and joining his brother on the floor. "Okay…we're not going home, are we?"

"…this is home… besides… there's no one there anymore, right?"

"Well, it's true that most of the villagers left- but Mr. Wess and Grandpa are still there- and I'm sure that once everything's over, Duster and Kumatora will come back and live in the village too- and once we find him, Dad will be so happy to see that you're alive and well- and then me and you and Dad and Boney can all go back home- and we'll be together again."

"…but what about Mom?"

"We'll still miss her. But if we sit around and do nothing because we miss her so much, she'd get mad at us. Giving up because the person you love dies- letting the grief overwhelm you- that's not love. That's selfishness." Lucas was silent a moment- eyes kind of far away- then he smiled softly and looked up again. "All we can do now is live. Mom would get mad at us if we do anything else. Hey Claus, let's go home."

"I can't leave. I'm the Commander." Hadn't he explained this? Why didn't Lucas get it?

"But you're my brother too." Lucas said softly-

Claus spun away- those large, soul-swallowing eyes!- "I'll make sure we're fed- then I'll take you back here- the Ultimate Chimera is still loose, and I have a meeting about how we're going to deal with it." he'd been walking as he talked, and he was standing in front of the dresser now. New pairs of underwear and socks and white t-shirts had joined his own, making the drawers a little less empty- Lucas also had some jeans that had joined Claus's orange pants at the bottom drawer- Claus had gotten him 3 pairs, so he could switch off. The jean jacket and the short boots waited for Lucas next to Claus's black jacket and boots that reached to his knees.

Looking around at all this, Claus felt- satisfaction? Was that what he felt? He was the one who had provided all these things for Lucas- he, not anybody else. Looking around at all the things he'd gotten for Lucas-

Footsteps behind him, and he knew Lucas was behind him.

"After the meeting." he said out loud, trying to focus, beginning to gather Lucas's clothes, "I'll come back for you and we'll eat lunch together. After that, troops will be sent out to start hunting the Ultimate Chimera. After all that's taken care of, it'll be suppertime- I'll return for you, and we'll eat. And then I'll return you to this room, and then I'll have to report again to Master Porky."

Lucas made a soft thoughtful noise behind him as he finished and straightened up. He turned, slowly, to face his brother. Lucas looked sad…why? This was where they were supposed to be …

"I guess you're not ready yet." Lucas said softly. And then he lifted his head and smiled at Claus. "That's okay. We've already made progress, right? You remember a little bit now…I waited three years for you to come home- I can wait until you remember everything." still smiling, he gently gathered his clothes from his stunned brother's arms and then looked him in the eyes again. "Just don't take too long, okay? Dad's waiting for us- and we gotta fix up Mr. Wess's house and the sheep shed before winter comes." before Claus could make enough sense of his words to respond, Lucas was already in the bathroom, softly humming to himself as he changed.

Claus just stood there. What…what…what was he supposed to do?

He could hear Lucas humming to himself softly inside the bathroom…automatically, he turned back to the dresser and began putting together his uniform.

A long time ago, he and Lucas had been together- with a mom and a dad and a dog…Lucas said they used to live in that village- Tazmily. But why would they live there? Master Porky always had him at places where he could reach him whenever he wanted him…if nothing else, he always had to have his communicator with him…

But he and Lucas- and their mom and dad- and their dog too- they really had all lived together- he knew they had. Knew it on a level so deep, he didn't question it- knew it the way he knew morning followed night.

But now they didn't.

Why?

Lucas wanted to go back to the village- because he thought that they'd used to live there.

Master Porky wouldn't like that…he'd see that as a distraction- and distractions were punished- and removed.

Claus forced himself not to shudder. He didn't want Lucas to be punished or removed- so they couldn't go to the village. Lucas really wanted to go- but they couldn't go. Lucas thought they'd lived there- and thought that people were waiting for him there…that was why he wanted to go there. Had those people- the troublemakers that had him with them before- had they told him that they'd lived in the village? Was that how they'd gotten Lucas to help them? By lying to him and pretending to be his friends?

Claus didn't know where they'd lived before or how they'd become separated- but Master Porky had said that Claus's only purpose was to do as he said…so maybe he'd been made, like the chimeras at the research facility- and then there'd been some sort of accident. Accidents happened there a lot- happened anywhere the scientists were a lot- so it was possible. Maybe the accident had been how their mom died- how Lucas and Claus were separated. And if Lucas was like Claus-which he was, because they were brothers- then they were made at the same time and the same place, by the same people- and those people were probably their mom and dad. But if that was so…if Lucas was like Claus…then why hadn't Master Porky said anything? Done anything?

"I'm done Claus." Lucas announced cheerfully, walking out of the room. "You can take your turn now."

Claus nodded- still confused, still trying to think-

"Hey Claus." Lucas said. He looked- slightly hesitant, maybe a little bit embarrassed. "So, you're going to leave me alone in here all day long?"

Claus didn't know what to say to that- "I'll make sure you're fed- I can't take you with me…"

"It's boring in here Claus- and besides, with Dad gone all the time, I'm used to doing all the work myself." Lucas paused for a moment and looked worried. "I hope the sheep are doing okay without me- I was busy trying to help Duster- and then we had to go find the Egg- and then those Pigmasks thought I was you and dragged me to Thunder Tower…" Lucas trailed off as both twins remembered what had happened there.

After a moment of remembering- the startled soldier running in, squealing, telling him that there were intruders on the ladder- going to the ladder, counting and studying the intruders- and then seeing the boy in the striped shirt- and he'd looked up- and their eyes had met. It had felt like a punch to the stomach…

"I told him to stop, you know." Claus said out loud, surprising himself.

Lucas looked up. "Who?"

"The pilot."

"Oh." Understanding flooded Lucas's eyes- flooded Lucas's eyes and threatened to swallow Claus.

He pushed on- trying to explain- "I told him to stop- told him that I had questions I needed to ask you, that I wanted you alive - but by the time I got my point across…you'd already fallen."

"I saw you there." Lucas said. "I saw you standing there…I think in my heart, I knew it was you…I couldn't say it, not even to myself, but I knew it was you."

"…was that why, at the temple…why you were mostly using assist PSI?"

Lucas nodded. "I didn't want to fight you, but I couldn't let you hurt my friends…" he paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Hey Claus, the guy- the one older than us, with all the whiskers- he didn't seem familiar to you at all?"

Claus shook his head.

"Really? He's from Tazmily, just like us. His name's Duster…He used to live with his dad at their house on the edge of town- but he disappeared right after you did. He lost his memory and didn't know who he was or how to find his way home- while he was lost, some mean people took the house away from Mr. Wess- he's Duster's dad you know- and they turned it into a place they called "the old man's paradise"- it's a really run-down old place with lots of holes and leaks- it's really a very sad place and the people who live there weren't given a choice whether they wanted to live there or not. They made Mr. Wess live there- and Grandpa too. I wanted him to come live with me after the guys at Thunder Tower destroyed his cabin- and he wanted to come live with me too- but they wouldn't let him- they just dragged him away and stuck him in that place." Lucas was sad- his head dropped and his eyes looked far away.

Thunder Tower was meant for punishing bad guys. But Claus remembered Grandpa- just a little. He teased, sometimes- and sometimes his teasing weren't that funny. But he wasn't mean- and he wasn't a bad guy.

Why had the guys at Thunder Tower destroyed his house?

…maybe the answer had something to do with the building Lucas was talking about. Claus didn't know anything about it- didn't know much of anything about the village. That was Fassad's territory- he was the one in charge of it, just as Claus was in charge of the Army.

The man was annoying- always yelling at the men assigned to him, always complaining…and for some reason, he seemed to dislike Claus. He liked to laugh at Claus too- and wait, come to think of it- when reports had come in from thunder tower that someone dressed as the Commander- as him- was already there…Fassad had turned to him and laughed.

"It must be that fool." he'd said. "Well, if he's expecting a joyful reunion, he'll be disappointed."

Fassad had known. He'd known that Lucas and Claus were brothers! And he hadn't told him- not even when he'd figured out that Lucas was the one at Thunder Tower. He'd just planned to eliminate Lucas along with the troublemakers and Thunder Tower!

Claus realized that he was gritting his teeth- found that his fists had clenched themselves tight.

"Claus?"

"Fassad- he showed up at the village a lot, right?"

"Yeah, he was a big jerk- he was always causing trouble- and he really didn't like me."

"Why?" Claus asked. He should be getting ready- he should be getting dressed- but this answer could be important.

Lucas looked a little embarrassed. "Well, after you disappeared and didn't come back, Dad and Grandpa came back from searching for you to get more supplies...since they still hadn't found you yet…I decided to search for you myself. But I didn't want to wait for Dad and Grandpa…I went off by myself."

"But you hate being by yourself."

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, but- I had to find you. I searched and searched, but I couldn't find any trace of you…finally, night came and I just kept stumbling along in the dark…and I still couldn't find you. But then I found someone- I found the baby drago and its daddy."

Drago? For a moment Claus couldn't breath- something was pulling at him- trying to pull him in- trying to drown him-

Claus desperately shoved it away- focused on Lucas.

"- I just stared at them, not knowing what to do…and then the baby came towards me- and I started crying." he shuffled as he said this- embarrassed. "Because- that baby- he was just like us."

"Just like us?"

"He'd lost his mom too…I guess he understood what I was feeling- because he made this soft whimpering noise- and then he came over and licked me- and I hugged him- and then the daddy drago came over and nuzzled us both. We stayed like that, for a while- and then we heard an explosion."

"An explosion?"

Lucas nodded. "We all looked towards it- and then the daddy drago bent over and the baby climbed on its back- and then they looked at me- like they expected me to climb on too- so I did." a slight smile came onto his face at the memory of the nighttime ride. "It was kinda fun- he ran really really fast…it made me miss you even more, because I knew you would've loved it. But when we got to where the explosion was, we found a smoking pork tank- of course, this was my first time seeing one, so I didn't know what it was called-"

"Wait- something took out a pork tank?" Claus asked, intrigued. The pork tanks were their strongest weapons- other than him, of course.

"Uh huh. Next to the pork tank, we found Kumatora- she's my friend, the girl with the pink hair- and Mr. Wess, and a monkey named Salsa."

"…they took out a pork tank by themselves?"

"Kumatora's strong. And Mr. Wess and Salsa aren't weak either. But Fassad was after them, so me and the drago worked together to stop him and the Pigmasks with him. I told the dragos they were bad guys and the daddy drago busted up a couple tanks and then he tossed Fassad away." Lucas winced. "He got hurt kinda bad, but he was doing bad things, so he did have to be stopped…"

"Why was he trying to capture them?" Claus asked. Maybe if he knew Fassad's reason he could find proof that those people who had kept Lucas with them were bad people…

"Partially because he was using Salsa to appear as a nice peddler- he was acting all nice when there were people around, but he was being mean to him and using him as a slave and partially because Kumatora and Mr. Wess interfered in his plan and partially because Kumatora is a princess."

"…a princess?" Claus asked skeptically. That girl? Who talked and stomped like a boy?

Lucas shrugged. "Mr. Wess always calls her princess- and you know Oshe castle?"

Claus had to think for a moment, before remembering the place where he'd been sent to pull the first Needle and nodding.

"Mr. Wess said that her parents used to live there."

"So where are they now?" that could be important. If there was another king, perhaps he would try to take control of the islands from Master Porky. If that was the case, he should find out as much as he could and report it.

"Nobody knows." Lucas said sadly. "Kumatora- she doesn't like to talk about them, because she's kinda mad at them. They left her with the Maygypises when she was a baby, and she feels they abandoned her…"

Hm…well, it didn't seem like they were an immediate threat…still, he should include this in his next report.

"…maybe that's why she doesn't like being called princess." Lucas said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Kumatora- everybody calls her parents "the king" or "the queen", like they don't even have names…and Kumatora doesn't like being called "princess." Duster called her that a couple times, and she threatened to punch him."

"…so, what is it that she wants? To take over from her parents?"

Lucas shook his head. "No, she's not after that at all. She's like me. All she wants is to protect the people she cares about- all we wanted to do was recover an item that Duster had hidden away…and then people mistook me for you- and then Fassad started chasing us-" Lucas shook his head, looking sad. "I didn't want to fight- I didn't want to fight anyone, but…"

Slowly, somewhat hesitatingly, Claus tucked his clothes under his arm and gently patted Lucas's head. "I know you're not a bad guy- don't worry, I'll protect you."

Lucas smiled, then softly, fondly sighed and surrounded Claus with a hug. "I know you're not a bad guy either, Claus."

For a moment- too long a moment, Claus couldn't let Lucas be a distraction- Claus stayed safe in the hug, before forcing himself to pull away. "I need to get ready." he said, looking away and reaching for the bathroom door.

"Okay." Lucas said cheerfully. "I'll be here when you're ready!"

Claus nodded and entered the bathroom.

In the mirror, his own reflection met him. Sleep-ruffled red hair stuck up like a crazy pile of fall leaves. Irritated, he tried to smooth it down, but it resisted him. Memories tugged at him, but he shook them away. He was the Commander, and it was his job to take care of everyone- especially Lucas.

Claus got dressed as quickly as he could, then left the bathroom behind and walked right to the door, where their jackets hung and their boots waited for them.

"We're leaving now?" Lucas asked, coming up behind him.

"Yes." Claus answered shortly, pulling on his boots. He didn't turn to look at Lucas- didn't dare to. The memories- the emotions- they were so strong. Too strong. Claus was the Commander, and he needed to focus on his job-

"Okay." Lucas said, reaching for his own boots. He didn't sound very happy, but he didn't complain and he didn't sigh. He just put on his boots and jumped to his feet. "Okay." he repeated, sounding more determined this time.

Claus snuck a glance as he pulled on his jacket. Lucas was acting determined- determined to do what? Not to be scared of the soldiers from yesterday? He didn't need to be scared of them- Claus would protect him. Besides, they'd been punished- they should've learned their lesson now…

Claus reached for the door handle, then paused. "Lucas…don't tell anyone we're brothers. Anyone. Understand?"

"Okay…" Lucas agreed, but he sounded a little …sad? Uncertain? "But why? Is it because you don't want Porky to find out?"

"Master Porky." Claus corrected automatically. Master Porky took good care of everyone- it was wrong to keep things from him. But Claus wasn't keeping anything from him- he was waiting so that he could present everything together, all at the same time- so that Master Porky could understand better, so he could see the whole picture all at once. That wasn't wrong- that wasn't disobeying, right?

Lucas was still waiting, looking at him, waiting for an answer to his question.

"…do you trust me?"

Lucas looked startled- then thoughtful- and then he smiled. "I'm a little worried about you- it seems like you got hurt bad while we were separated, and you're confused because of that- but I trust you. That's why, even though I worry for them, I'm not scared for Duster and Kumatora- because I trust you." Lucas's smile was stuffed full of love and trust- open like a book- happy and trusting.

Claus swallowed, trying to move invisible fingers away from his throat. "If you trust me, then don't tell anyone we're brothers. Understand?"

"I won't." Lucas promised. "I'd like a reason, but even if I don't get one, I promise I won't tell anyone."

"…I don't want…people to misunderstand."

"Misunderstand what?"

"…you're not a threat. You don't want to cause trouble. The fact that we're brothers doesn't change anything- well- doesn't change anything for anyone else. Some people might think that I'm just saying you're not a threat to protect you because we're brothers. That's not true. I'm saying you're not a threat because you're not. Come on, let's go to breakfast." he opened the door and stepped out, Lucas following right behind him.

The rest of the walk to the mess hall was quiet, giving Claus some time to think.

For a long time now, things had been the same- he'd gone different places and served Master Porky in slightly different ways, sometimes, but nothing had changed- he had thought that things had always been like that and things would always be like that…get up, have meetings, eat porridge, direct the soldiers, clean up after the scientists, watch the soldiers train, eat more porridge, get more orders from Master Porky, go to sleep- wake up and do the same thing all over again. He'd thought things were always going to be that way.

But now things were different- he had Lucas. And at some point in the past, things had been different too…he and Lucas had been together- and they'd had a mom and a dad and a dog- and they'd had a grandpa too.

Things used to be like that…

Claus felt pain when he thought about that barely half-remembered time- felt it in both his head and his heart-

Like he'd told Lucas before, he didn't remember much- images and impressions and emotions…

Their mom was dead. He knew that- with the cold certainty that night follows day, but he couldn't remember how or why- but possibly that was why or part of why things were different now.

They reached the mess hall.

It was early, so it was mostly empty- there wasn't even a line, so he and Lucas got walked right up to the counter.

"Oh Commander, you're here early today. You want the usual, right?"

"Yes." Claus said simply.

"Okay- the same for your …friend here?" one of the servers asked as the other began preparing it. "And do you want any toast or sausages with that?"

Claus opened his mouth to say "no" automatically, but then Lucas tapped his shoulder gently. Confused, he turned to face him.

"Can we Cla- Commander? I'm hungry, and I don't think that just a bowl of porridge will fill me up."

…Hm. He was really supposed to eat the porridge- but it was for Lucas, and the reason Lucas was so hungry was because Claus hadn't fed him last night- so it was okay.

He nodded to Lucas, giving his approval.

Lucas smiled.

"So what do you want with your porridge?"

"Um…both toast and sausages please. For both of us."

Wait- what?

Lucas smiled serenely at them.

"Right away." the first one responded cheerfully. "Got all that, Junior?"

"Got it Senior!" the other responded just as cheerfully and a minute later, a tray appeared with the usual bowl of porridge, with a plate with two pieces of toast and two sausages next to it. "There's yours Commander, and hereee's your friend's!" another tray was placed next to the first.

Claus reached for his, and Lucas did the same.

"Thanks." Lucas smiled at the cooks.

"You're welcome…" the one in blue trailed off, inviting Lucas to tell his name, and maybe his rank and position too.

"Oh- my name's Lucas. What's yours?"

"Senior."

"And I'm Junior." the other soldier said quickly. "Pleased to meet you, Lucas!"

"Pleased to meet you too." Lucas said, smiling back.

Was Lucas... trying to make friends with them?

"We're leaving."

Lucas looked back at him, nodded and then turned back to the soldiers. "Bye." he said with a smile.

"See you later Lucas!" the two chorused as the twins walked away.

As soon as they reached an empty table, Claus quickly put his tray down and sat down.

Lucas put his tray down- but he put it down slowly, and then he paused. Just standing there, like he was waiting for something.

"…what is it?" Claus asked, slowly turning to look at him.

"…are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?" he wasn't happy, but he wasn't mad- he wasn't supposed to get mad. He wasn't supposed to get happy either, but so long as he didn't get happy while he was supposed to be working, it didn't matter, right?

Lucas was looking thoughtful. "How did you feel when I was talking to those two Pigmasks at the counter?"

"I didn't feel anything- but I don't know why you were trying to make friends with them." Claus answered quickly. A part of his mind was whispering about how Lucas was still referring to the soldiers as "Pigmasks"- that wasn't good, was it? You had to use the proper names for things- but Lucas wasn't trying to be rude, and they were talking about more important things right now-

"I wasn't trying to make friends with them, exactly." Lucas said thoughtfully as he sat down. "I was just- you know- trying to be friendly."

"…why?"

Lucas looked up from his tray, slightly surprised. "Because it's a nice thing to do. Mom and Dad always-" and here the sadness came back again, flickering like a bulb that needed to be changed. "Oh. I guess you don't remember- but Mom and Dad always taught us to be polite and friendly and kind to everyone. Besides- even though I don't really like the Army because they've done lots of bad things, I don't know if those guys are some of the ones who've done bad things or not- and if they haven't done bad things, then it wouldn't be fair to get mad at them for things that they didn't do, right? So while we're here, I'm going to try to be friendly to everyone." Lucas said it like it was simple- obvious. "Besides, some of the Pigmasks aren't that bad. Like that one Pigmask me and the others met at Snowcap Mountain- apparently he'd gotten lost and Lydia, the Magypsy who watched over the Needle there, saved his life. After the Needle was pulled and Lydia disappeared, the Pigmask decided to take care of Lydia's bunnies, because Lydia had saved his life and everything. And a lot of the Pigmasks who mixed the two of us up were pretty nice too. And besides, they're guys you work with, so I should be nice to them anyway, right?" Lucas smiled- like it made perfect sense.

Claus looked away- not so much as to avoid Lucas's eyes as to try to think. It was good that Lucas wanted to get along with the soldiers and not cause trouble, but…Mom and Dad had taught them to be friendly and polite? Polite was good…but friendly…friendly was things like having conversations with people, and those took time- that wasn't very efficient.

And he was supposed to do all his tasks quickly and efficiently- and if he talked to everyone, that'd slow him down, right?

"Claus, are you okay?"

"Fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Lucas didn't look really convinced- but he said "Okay, if you say so." and gave him a fond smile before turning back to his breakfast.

For a moment, Claus watched him.

Lucas examined the floppy toast, slightly dissatisfied as he poked at it, but then he smiled as he turned to look at the sausages. Humming again, he wrapped the sausage in the bread and started eating.

Claus turned back to his own food- started with the porridge- watching Lucas out of the corner of his eyes.

Lucas was…he wasn't like anyone else. He was quiet, but he wasn't afraid of him- he was just quiet- observing. And even though he was fairly strong, he didn't use that to his advantage- he just accepted and dealt with whatever came his way…

In a way, Lucas was pretty strong- not as strong as Claus of course- but still…it wasn't that much of a surprise that he'd come as far as he had.

Still, he was far too trusting- believing whatever it was that Master Porky's enemies had told him to get him to help them like that. Still, Lucas wasn't dumb, just- gullible. Trusting. In time, Claus was sure that he'd get him to see the truth- and if Claus could produce evidence- show Lucas that those people he'd been traveling with were bad people- troublemakers and enemies of Master Porky- Claus was sure he'd understand that, even if he wasn't happy.

…come to think of it…if Lucas was like Claus (and he was, because they were brothers) and Claus was correct in his theory about being created in one of the labs belonging to Master Porky… why wouldn't Master Porky have sent people to look for Lucas when they were separated? Well, actually, he might've…but if Lucas had been in the village, he wouldn't have been hard to find…maybe the troublemakers had taken him somewhere else first, and then taken him to the village?

"…Lucas."

"Yeah?" Lucas asked, swallowing a bite.

"How long did you live in the village?"

"Always." Lucas said, a slightly puzzled look on his face- saying it like it was obvious. "Didn't I already say that?"

Claus repressed the urge to sigh. "I know you think that- never mind. What I meant was- how long did you live in the village by yourself?"

"Well, I wasn't all by myself- I had Boney with me, and sometimes Dad would come home from searching for you- just for a little bit. But it's been three years since Mom died and you disappeared. Why?"

"I see…three years." to be honest, Claus himself didn't really remember back that far himself. He really only remember the past two years, and some of that he didn't remember all that clearly either.

"What are you thinking?" Lucas asked curiously- and maybe a bit hopefully too.

"…I'm trying to piece things together... figure the chain of events." Claus admitted, "But we're not going to talk about this here."

Lucas glanced quickly around- briefly scanning the mess hall, and the soldiers eating there, before turning back to Claus and reluctantly nodding. "But we can talk about it later, right?" he asked, sounding hopeful again.

"Yes. But not for a while- I'll be busy today, remember?"

Lucas nodded, still looking hopeful.

"You should eat your food. We need to finish up here." Claus was done with his porridge- he scanned the sausage and toast. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten food other than the porridge. He and Lucas had both gotten omelets the other day, but he hadn't had a chance to actually eat his.

"Smells pretty good, doesn't it?" Lucas asked happily, wrapping up the last of his sausage in the last of his bread. "It tastes pretty good too. They're better at cooking sausages than they are cooking omelets." he started eating it happily.

Taste good? Smell good?

…Claus wasn't supposed to care about things like that. But now that Lucas had brought it up…it did…it did have kinda a nice smell to it.

His hands hesitated- just for a second- in the air above the plate.

Why was he hesitating? It was just food- just energy for the body- it didn't really matter, right? It wasn't like Master Porky had forbidden him from eating other foods- he'd just said that Claus had to eat his porridge. And he had. So it wouldn't be bad of him, right?

His hands trembled once more- then descended. Copying Lucas, he wrapped the sausage in the bread- lifted it to his mouth- took a bite.

It tasted better than the porridge- it disappeared way quicker than the porridge. Soon it was gone and then the second one was gone too. Claus felt slightly guilty about the way they'd disappeared quicker than the porridge- Master Porky took good care of everyone, and he had told Claus to eat the porridge- but the sausages- Claus understood why Lucas had asked for them.

Something stirred in the back of Claus's brain- stepping forward, looking up- his mom turning away from the stove and smiling at him- and the air full of yummy smells-

Claus shook his head- not denying it, but trying to focus on now- he couldn't get distracted, because distractions were punished and removed- and stood up and turned to Lucas. "Done?"

Lucas looked up, slightly wry. "I'm about as done as I'm going to be, I think."

Claus peered into his bowl. Most of it was gone- about a third was left though. "You shouldn't waste food."

"I know, sorry. But it's got- it's got this funky taste to it. Do you know what they use to make it?"

Claus shook his head.

"Darn…maybe I'll ask Senior and Junior tomorrow."

"Why?"

Lucas shrugged as he stood up. "Because now I want to know what's in it."

Claus didn't really understand, but he didn't see anything wrong with it either, so he just gathered up his dishes and Lucas did the same.

"Hey Clau- Commander?" Lucas asked thoughtfully as they walked down the halls.

"Yes?" that was the second time he'd started to call him by his name instead of his title. Claus hoped he started to remember better soon.

"Since I'll be stuck in that room all day, can you bring me some paper and a pen or something? You said you were trying to figure the chain of events and I could try to write them out for you."

…actually, that sounded like a good idea. Lucas had been lied to, but if Claus knew what the lies had been then he could research them and prove them wrong…and besides…Lucas did seem to remember the far past better than Claus did. "…you'll have to wait until after lunch. But I'll bring you some paper and a pen then."

"Thanks!"

Claus gave a small nod, and the two of them continued walking until they reached the room.

Claus opened the door and stood outside it.

Lucas stopped in front of it- pausing- as if he was reluctant to enter it. He turned to look at Claus. "Hey…you're going to come back, right?"

"Yeah- of course."

"Okay…I guess I'm just a little scared."

"Of what? Those troublemakers? I'll protect you-"

"No, it's not that…I' m scared you'll disappear again, the way you did three years ago."

Claus stopped-

Lucas's eyes, wide and open, hiding nothing-

"I-" hands at his throat again, "I-"

"You didn't mean to stay away, right? You were gonna come back once you avenged Mom, right?"

"I-"

Lucas sighed, looking disappointed. "Sorry- you can't remember, right?" he turned and walked into the room.

Claus shoved the hands away- this he knew how to respond to. "I'll be back as soon as the meeting is over- I promise."

Slowly, Lucas turned and smiled at him. "Okay. I'll be here."

Claus nodded- hesitated a minute- he shut and locked the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The rest of the day passed quickly. The Ultimate Chimera seemed to have drifted further away, but it was still a danger to any soldiers in the field…what they needed to do was capture it, or destroy it, but no one seemed to have any idea how to do that, and the creator, Doctor Andonaunts, was still missing.

When informed of the Ultimate Chimera situation, Master Porky shrugged and told him to deal with it. Claus wasn't really surprised. Master Porky often told him things like that. As the king of New Pork City and the island itself, Master Porky was probably busy.

But the Ultimate Chimera was something that needed to be dealt with- it was a danger to even the strongest soldier.

For now, Claus had forbidden them from wandering around and told them to stick in groups of four or more. And if they needed to travel to another base, to go with at least one of the tanks. But these were only temporary measures…he needed to find a way to deal with it permanently…

Claus sighed as he opened the door and stepped inside.

Lucas looked up his spot on the floor, and smiled and jumped up. He dashed over to Claus and hugged him. "You're back!"

Claus didn't say anything. He just dropped his head against Lucas's shoulder, letting it rest.

Lucas, seeming to understand, just hugged him just a bit tighter.

Memories and thoughts fluttered in his mind, too close to ignore, too far away to reach. After a moment, Claus sighed softly and wrapped his arms around his brother's shoulder. "I'm back."

Chapter 11

Lucas really didn't like this room.

He knew it didn't help to keep thinking about it, but everywhere he turned, he saw something about this room that he didn't like. The floor- so cold and hard- froze his feet.

Somewhat reluctantly, Lucas reached for a pair of socks. Even though they kept his feet somewhat warmer, they were also so tight they left marks on his feet when he wore them for too long. He glanced around as he put them on, but there was nothing to distract him. There were only the walls surrounding him, bare and white as sun bleached bones. It was such an empty, lonely room.

And there weren't even any windows! How had Claus lived all alone in this box for three years? Lucas could barely breathe in this place.

Lucas sighed and dropped back onto the bed. His elbow bumped against the teddy bear- who still didn't have a name yet, poor guy- Lucas sat up and rescued him, but his mind was still stuck on everything else he was worrying about.

To be honest, probably one of the reasons he didn't like the room because he was stuck here all the time and there really wasn't much to do. But the biggest reason he didn't like this room was because...

Lucas shuddered slightly. For a second, his hands gripped the bear tight enough that he could feel them through him. He forced them still- steady- and gently placed the bear back at the head of the bed.

He'd gotten started on making a list of everything that had led up to this point. He could link the chain of events together in his head, but when it came time to put it on paper for Claus to read… when it came time to write about Mom's death…

Lucas glanced over to where he'd left the paper lying on the floor. He doubted Claus would be able to read it, with all the tears and smudges. But as bad as the pain was (the pain from missing Mom, the pain from missing Dad, the guilt from not being able to stop Claus) as bad as all that was, that wasn't what really worried him the most.

They were finally, finally together again, but Lucas wasn't sure how to help his brother. He needed to find a way to bring Claus's memory back all the way, of course. But how? Just being told hadn't bought Duster's memories back, so it would probably work for Claus either. Lucas had tried it after Claus had recovered a little of his memories (it was better than doing nothing after all), but it hadn't really worked. The memories had seemed to stir a little, but ended up remaining where they were.

On the other hand, Claus did remember Lucas now, at least. He remembered that they were brothers, and he remembered Mom and Dad, and he remembered Boney and Grandpa.

And he remembered himself.

Lucas kept thinking about the fact that Porky had told Claus he didn't have a name. He didn't want to believe it (it was a horrible thing to tell anyone) but Lucas knew that that was what had happened. Claus wouldn't lie to him, and Lucas had seen the way that Porky treated Claus. That horrible way he talked to him, like he didn't even consider him a human being…

Lucas blinked, almost surprised by the hot tears that slipped through.

He shook his head angrily. He didn't have time for tears! He needed a plan. Except that Claus had always been the one who came up with their plans before.

No, not always, Lucas shook his head as he corrected himself. Claus had always been coming up with plans, but Lucas did come up with his own plans, had his own ideas. And maybe he had them more than he shared them, but if he heard somebody's plan and if he thought there was a chance his plan would work better, he would suggest it. Claus usually liked his own plans the best, but he always listened to Lucas's. And plenty of times, Lucas's plan had been the one they ended up doing.

And it wasn't like Lucas had done too badly so far, right? Except for the part where Claus had captured him, he'd actually done pretty well. And when you considered the fact that it was Claus, the fact that Lucas had lost to him was unsurprising.

Wait, did getting captured by Claus count as a good thing or a bad thing? The fact that they were stuck here was definitely bad, but on the other hand, they were finally together again. Claus wasn't alone in this place anymore. He had someone with him to support him and Lucas had his brother back.

Lucas thought about that a moment before slumping back on the bed. That was what he hated the most about this whole situation- how complicated everything was.

At least Claus wasn't alone anymore.

It had been bad enough for Lucas, and he'd only had to deal with being alone and sometimes running into Fassad. Claus had been hurt so much worse... just dealing with Porky made it more awful, but he'd also been hurt from trying to avenge Mom, and he'd been all alone- but not anymore.

Even though being stuck here was bad, being separated was so much worse. Lucas would put up with anything if it meant the chance to help his brother. When he thought about it like that, Lucas felt a little grateful.

And then he shuddered, thinking about how that confrontation at the Temple could have gone differently. All the times they'd ran into each other before, Claus had just run away. What if he'd done the same back then? They both would have just gone back to searching for the last Needle, and Claus probably would have tried to fight them again-

Lucas shuddered again before forcing himself to focus on the present. It was a horrible thought, but it hadn't happened. Lucas needed to focus on what was actually going on.

Okay… a plan. First, he needed to get Claus to remember everything. When Lucas could get Claus to remember everything, then he'd would realize why the Pigmasks were the bad guys. Once he understand that, then he'd leave the Pigmask army and the two of them could get out of here and find the others. And then they could go find Dad.

Things would be… they might be a little complicated, at first. They'd need to explain about what had happened to Claus, about why he'd never come home, about why he'd been with the Pigmasks. But once everything was explained, everyone would understand. Even after that, things wouldn't be the same as they'd been before- Mom was still gone. And Claus was different. He might never be the same as he had been, but that was okay. He was still Claus, and that was the important thing.

Having his friends and his family, together and happy- briefly, Lucas shut his eyes and allowed himself to dream.

Everybody would finally be home. Claus wouldn't be missing anymore, Dad would finally come home, and Lucas and Boney wouldn't have to take care of the sheep all by themselves anymore. Dad would fix up the sheep shed, and they could help him. After that was done, maybe Lucas could take care of the house, the way Mom used to while Dad and Claus and Boney could take care of the sheep. Although Dad used to do it by himself, with Boney just helping him herd them. Well, maybe Claus could help Lucas then. It didn't matter. They'd be safe, and they'd be together.

And now that things were changing in the village, they should finally be able do something about Mr. Wess's house. Lucas didn't know much about fixing houses (although he'd helped out some when Mr. Lighter and Fuel had come over when his house got struck by lightening) but he was sure that Dad and Grandpa and Mr. Wess did.

They'd be together again, and things wouldn't be the same as they had been, but that was okay. They'd still be good.

Lucas opened his eyes and clenched his fists.

Who did Porky think he was, messing with people's lives the way he did? Who did he think he was, lying to Claus so hurtfully and telling him he didn't have a name or family?

The memory forced itself up again. Seeing the Drago skeleton in the research facility and hearing his dad's words echo through his mind, telling him about the weird soldiers wearing pig masks and their strange technology. How they seemed to be experimenting on the animals of the forest. How it appeared they were the ones who had turned that Drago into a cyborg.

Would Claus be as willing to work for Porky if he knew Porky was responsible for Mom's death?

Even as he asked the question, he could imagine Claus's horrified face...

Lucas shook his head. He couldn't do that to him, couldn't dump that on him like that. Besides, he didn't even have anything to use as evidence to show to Claus to prove that it was true. Claus might not believe him, might even think he was lying.

He needed to get Claus out of this place! He needed to get him home. Home, where they'd both be safe.

Since he couldn't force him (and forcing him would probably only hurt him in the long run anyway) he needed to get him to see why this place was bad, which was why he needed to help him get his memories back. Well, some of them had come back already. Lucas winced a bit as he remembered how they'd come back. He really hoped the other memories came back quicker and easier than that first time. Well, now that the door had been opened, maybe they would.

Come to think of it, Duster had recovered his memories when they'd found the Hummingbird Egg, something from his past.

Lucas sighed and flopped over in the bed. Too bad he didn't have anything from their past to show Claus. Actually, after Claus had brought him here, he said that all of Lucas's stuff had been destroyed. Was that really true?

Lucas would ask. It wasn't as if he'd been carrying anything really important, other than Ionia's vial and the Franklin Badge he'd got from Dad, but the Badge would be something. He could least show that to Claus and tell him about it.

"Hey Claus, Dad gave this to me. Since you're the one going into dangerous situations, you can wear it. Dad said he's had it since he was a kid…" Something like that, maybe? Lucas had never seen the badge before Nippoylete had handed it to him, so the badge would probably be unfamiliar to Claus too, although Claus had been closer to Dad than Lucas.

What would be best of course, would be if Lucas could talk Claus into leaving the base for a bit and they could go home. Just seeing it, just being there for a few minutes would help Claus's memory, Lucas was sure of it! Lucas had already asked about that though, and judging by Claus's reaction it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Still, maybe once Lucas explained more, told him more about the village where they'd been born, maybe Claus would agree then. Of course, that led Lucas back to the papers lying on the floor...

Wait. Was that footsteps in the hall?

Lucas turned around just as the door opened, then beamed and flung himself at his brother. "Claus! You're back!"

"Hi Lucas." The greeting was spoken softly and the expression on his face wasn't quite strong enough to be called a smile, but there was a small slight happiness in his eyes and he returned the hug, just a little bit. It was just a soft squeeze, but it was enough to make Lucas smile even more.

Maybe it was just Lucas's wishful thinking, but he thought the smile in Claus's eyes was growing and the length of time he returned the hug was growing each day. Maybe he was fooling himself, but he didn't think so.

Claus sighed as he stepped back, breaking the hug. He looked a little tired.

Lucas felt anger bubble away beneath the surface at Porky but tried to shove it away, tried not to think about just how often Claus seemed drained. "You seem tired. Are you okay?" he asked as he followed his brother further into the room.

"Fine," Claus replied mechanically. His actions proved his words a lie as he collapsed onto the bed.

Lucas sat on the bed next to him. He was quiet for a moment, trying to pick his words carefully. "You shouldn't work so hard. You shouldn't work for such long periods of time. Not even Dad worked as long and hard as you, and he was the hardest worker in the village."

Claus didn't say anything, just watched Lucas as he lay very still. His eyes had flickered when he mentioned their dad, but they were back to normal now.

"…I know you don't really remember the village, but you know, it's true. People need to take breaks. It's not like anyone else is expected to work the same hours as you, right?"

"I'm different. I'm the Commander."

"So? You're still human."

Claus's eyes flickered again. "…human?"

Lucas was beginning to feel a bit exasperated. He squashed it down, making sure it wouldn't show up in his voice. "Yes, human. You know, strengths and weaknesses… a heart and a soul…" he tapped his brother's chest and Claus looked down at it curiously.

"What does the heart have to do with it?"

"Um… it's like the heart is in charge of love," Lucas tried to explain, although he wasn't sure how to explain something like this. "When we love someone, we keep them in our heart."

For a brief second, their eyes met before Claus pushed himself upright and got off the bed, turning away and scanning the room.

"Cla-"

"You didn't move anything this time."

"Huh?"

"Before, you moved the dresser and the bed. This time, you didn't move anything."

"Oh. Well, there really wasn't anything else to move. I already had the dresser and bed in positions like the ones at home, so there really wasn't anything else to do. But you really don't remember anything about home, huh? We shared a bed there and we shared a bed at Grandpa's cabin too. You used to complain that I'd move in my sleep and lay in weird positions and take up too much of the bed… you used to complain about that."

Claus looked away.

Lucas sighed softly. He started to reach for him, but then Claus moved and pointed at the empty space next to their beds. "If this was home… that's where Mom and Dad would sleep… where their bed would be."

"Yeah! Yeah, you're right Claus. If this was home, that's where they'd sleep."

Claus stared at the empty space for a moment, then turned back to Lucas. "Why did you move them?"

"I miss home."

"…miss it?"

"I want to go back there," Lucas admitted.

"…you want to leave?" The question was asked coldly, and for a brief moment Lucas was confused before figuring it out.

"Yeah, I want to go home, but I can't go back- I won't go back- not until you're ready to go home with me."

The coldness disappeared and Claus's eyes flickered.

"You left me behind once before and then vanished for three years," Lucas said softly. "I won't let that happen again. This time, let's stick together, okay?"

"…okay," Claus said even more softly, smile flickering ghost-like in his eyes before hiding again. "We'll stick together. We'll definitely stick together. But this place is where we have to stay. Soon that village you keep talking about won't be there anymore. They're all moving to New Pork City."

"Dad won't go," Lucas said confidently. "Dad won't leave the place where we all lived together, and he won't leave Mom's grave, and there's no way he'll leave with both of us missing."

Claus got his thoughtful look, the one that said "I'm putting together a plan".

"Claus?"

"We are to wait. That was the order given, that we were to wait a week. After that time, everyone who has remained in the village will be moved to New Pork City."

Lucas stared at him, horrified.

Claus tilted his head down, looking away from Lucas. And the planning look came back.

"Claus? What are you planning?" Lucas really hoped it was a way out of this mess.

"… planning?"

"You've got that planning look on again."

"What planning look? I don't have a planning look."

"Yes, you do. Your forehead gets all furrowed like this," Lucas said, pushing folds of skin together on his forehead. "And then you tilt your head like this and sometimes you smile really big." A wave of sorrow hit Lucas. He wanted to see Claus's mischievous smile so bad, but he pushed the feeling away and smiled at Claus. "You look kinda like that. Mom used to call it cute."

Claus looked away.

"Claus? Are you embarrassed?" Lucas asked, trying to get his brother to meet his eyes.

"No." The answer came too quickly to be honest.

"It's okay Claus. All my emotions show on my face."

Claus looked back at him, slightly irritated. "I'm the Commander."

"…you may have forgotten this, but we're the same age." Lucas said, slightly irritated himself now. "You're stronger than me and everything, but I'm not a weakling. I took care of myself and Boney and the sheep for three years. I might not be as strong as you, but I'm still strong."

Claus seemed to consider that. After a moment, he nodded. "You're stronger than some of the men."

"See? I'm no weakling." Lucas said with a bit of a smile.

Claus nodded. "You're not," he agreed, smiling a bit too. And then a bit of the planning look returned. "…should I have them bring him here?"

"Huh?"

"When they find him, should they bring him here?"

"…are you talking about Dad?"

Claus nodded. "I can give the searchers the badge that reflects lightening. He'll recognize that as yours, right?"

"The Franklin badge?" Lucas said slowly, relieved that Claus hadn't sent it to be destroyed after all, but deciding that it wasn't the time to comment on that. "Yeah, he's the one that gave it to me. But Claus-"

"… he'll… he'll be happy to see us, right?"

"Of course he'll be happy to see us!" Lucas said, flinging his arms around his brother and hugging him as tightly as he could. A part of him hated Porky that much more, that he'd left Claus questioning something so simple, but now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. "And Dad will be so happy that you're alive and okay. But he won't like this place."

"Why not?"

"Dad doesn't like enclosed spaces. He likes wide open spaces. Mom used to tease Dad about having cabin fever, remember? He didn't like staying inside for long periods of time… he said it made his head hurt, remember?"

Claus shook his head, but he looked thoughtful.

"Claus… can't we go there, you and me? We don't have to stay if you're not ready, but we should at least go home for a little bit. We need to go find Dad and show him that you're alive. And we need to let everyone else know we're okay, and go visit Mom's grave, and check on the sheep-" Lucas had to stop and breathe for a moment. There was so much he wanted to do, so much that needed to be done. Even though he'd seen how Claus had been acting, knew how unlikely it was that he'd say yes, for that moment he couldn't stop himself from hoping.

But his brother was just staring at him, mismatched eyes open wide and conflicted.

"Can't we do that Claus?" Lucas asked, softer now.

Claus stared at Lucas for a second longer, then slowly shook his head. "I can't. The Commander can't leave the base unless his mission orders take him away. And even then he has to go straight to the mission, complete it as efficiently as possible, and then come back." His head tilted forward. Was that actually regret in his voice?

Lucas hugged his brother tighter for a moment. "It'll be okay, Claus. We'll find a way." He wanted to protest, but Claus was already hurting. The last thing Lucas wanted to do was make his brother feel worse.

Claus was still for a moment, then dropped his head forward, touching Lucas's shoulder. "It'll be okay," he whispered and then broke away again. "Come on, time to go. We need to eat. And then I need to go organize search parties for the Ultimate Chimera again."

"Alright, if you want to," Lucas said as he followed his brother to the door.

At least he now knew the way to the mess hall. Even if it was the only part in the base that was familiar, at least it was something about the base that he knew. The walk was quiet, but Lucas did notice a slight difference when they passed Pigmasks in the halls. They still seemed curious, but they didn't seem to be staring as much. That was probably a good sign, right?

They reached the mess hall. Senior and Junior were on duty again, and they chatted just a bit as the food was dished up, then waved goodbye when it was ready and the brothers left to go eat.

"I do like them. They're nice," Lucas said as they reached the table where they always sat.

Claus didn't say anything, but he gave him a thoughtful look.

"Commander!"

Claus shut his eyes, sighed and turned to face the colonel Pigmask. "Yes?"

"I need to talk to you about something." He fidgeted a bit, and Lucas wondered if he was nervous.

Claus turned to Lucas. "I'll be back."

Lucas wanted to protest that those guys got Claus all day and Lucas only got him for a little bit, but the guy did seem like he needed help. And Lucas didn't want to argue with Claus over such an unimportant thing, so he nodded, reluctantly.

Claus put the tray down on the table and left, following the colonel as he moved further away. He was probably trying to make sure that Lucas couldn't hear whatever it was that he wanted to talk to Claus about. Still, he couldn't stop Lucas from watching them until they finally reached one of the corners of the room and stopped there.

It was only then that Lucas put down his own tray. He sighed as he sat down. He didn't understand people, no matter how much he wished he did.

"Hey!"

Lucas started slightly at the unfamiliar- but cheerful- voice, then turned to see a Pigmask walking up to him.

"Hello?" he answered, slightly uncertainly. All these guys looked the same, and it certainly didn't help that this guy was wearing the pink uniform which was the most common. Only the aprons and the fact that they were behind the counter made Junior and Senior stand out.

The Pigmask gave a friendly looking wave. "You may not recognize me, but it's me, Sheep! We met at Thunder Tower, remember?"

"Oh!" Lucas said, then smiled. "You were the guy in the room with the Mr. Generator thing. Your outfit's different though."

"Yeah, I got demoted because I didn't try to stop you guys," Sheep answered with a careless shrug. "But you guys took out Mr. Generator himself, so it's not like I'd have gotten very far if I tried, right? But what are you doing here?"

Lucas flushed. "I got captured. By C- by the Commander."

"Oh," Sheep tilted his head slightly (Lucas guessed that he'd noticed the collar). "Well, if anyone could pull it off, it'd be the Commander. But why aren't you locked up in a cell somewhere or something? I mean, I'm glad you're not. You're the type of guy that shows mercy to enemies and doesn't want to fight if you don't have to. That's very admirable. But I can't see the Commander letting you hang around just because you're nice."

Lucas opened his mouth then shut it again. He wanted to try to explain, but he'd promised Claus he wouldn't tell anyone they were brothers. And while Sheep was nice, sometimes bad guys acted nice to fool people. Lucas was pretty sure Sheep was just a nice guy, but he wanted to be careful.

"And come to think of it," Sheep said thoughtfully, "it's been a long time since I've seen the Commander without his helmet-"

"Oh, his helmet got broken," Lucas answered, happy for a question he could answer. "He's going to get another one, unfortunately, but it hasn't come in yet." Hopefully it wouldn't come for a long time, but Lucas doubted they would be that lucky.

"Oh really? How did that-" Sheep broke off suddenly.

"Lucas." He turned to see Claus glaring as he walked up to them. It was directed at Sheep, but it made Lucas hunch his shoulders guiltily too.

"Good afternoon Commander," Sheep said, slightly nervous.

"This is Sheep," Lucas said quickly, "We met at Thunder Tower. He was nice to us." Struck by a thought, he turned back to Sheep quickly. "Are you going to work here now? Since Thunder Tower isn't- well-"

"Isn't working anymore, thanks to you?" Sheep asked cheerfully, "Yep! Starting today, this is my new workplace! Thanks for that, by the way- Fassad came and poked his nose around there too much anyway. It was supposed to be Trooper Hayes's responsibility, but anytime he wasn't there, Fassad came and bugged us."

"Oh." Lucas wasn't quite sure what to say to that. He was kind of glad that Sheep was here though. It was nice to have a friendly face around, even if it was hidden by one of those stupid pig-like helmets.

"So where's your friends?"

"They're still out there. I'm the only one who got captured." Lucas felt more than heard Claus stepping closer. He turned to look at him and try to meet his eyes, vaguely aware of Sheep trying to do the same thing behind him.

Claus folded his arms and looked at them, still not saying anything.

Sheep twitched slightly. "Do you want me to leave now, Sir?"

"… do you need anything?"

"No. I was just- well, I remembered Lucas from before and I wanted to see what was up and talk to him a bit. That's all."

Claus didn't say anything, but he looked thoughtful before turning to look at Lucas.

"Sheep was nice back at Thunder Tower," Lucas repeated. "It was kinda nice to talk to him again."

Not quite happy, but seeming to understand now, Claus nodded, and walked to the table and sat down next to Lucas.

"Hey Cla- Commander. Are you done helping that other guy? If you're not done yet, can Sheep sit here until you are done?"

"Only if you remember to call me Commander," Claus answered, then twitched as if he hadn't meant it to come out quite like that.

"Really? You don't mind?" Sheep asked, surprised and maybe a bit hopeful, but then he shook his head. "Actually, I got to go. I just finished eating anyway, and I'm supposed to be heading to the personnel office right about now. If I don't hurry, I'll be late, and they'll scold me for being late on my first day at my new workplace."

"Go report in then," Claus said quietly.

Sheep saluted and made the oinking noise. "See you later, Commander. Bye Lucas!"

Claus nodded in response (which seemed to make Sheep happy) and Lucas waved.

Sheep left and the brothers were left alone again.

Claus began eating, and so did Lucas. The hamburgers were very greasy and the fries were too, but they weren't too bad. Lucas wondered if at the next meal, he should try to talk with Junior and Senior about that. Maybe they just liked it greasy? Everybody had different tastes, like how he loved cheese and Kumatora didn't really care for it. Still, starting a conversation about food might be a good idea. It would give them something else to talk about, if nothing else.

The chattering Pigmasks gave the mess hall a sound of its own, filling up the silence that should have been filled by Claus talking.

Lucas was growing used to it, but it was still weird for Claus to be so quiet, so stiff.

Sometimes Lucas was tempted to try a tickle attack just to see if it'd work. But he stopped himself. Claus wouldn't understand right now. He'd forgotten about that sort of thing. It was Lucas's job to help him remember. Once Claus was more used to hugs, then they'd start on other things.

They had plenty of time- at least, they should. Lucas wanted to get out of here, but Claus was more important. Claus had been hurt, and healing took time. That was okay, Lucas could put up with this place for as long as he had to, even if it took another three years- for Claus's sake.

As for the Needles, the Pigmasks still didn't know how to get into Ionia's temple and anyway, Lucas had faith in Claus's heart. Even if the Magyspsies couldn't sense it, Lucas knew it was there. Even if had been hurt, it was still there, still real and still good.

Duster and the others were smart. They'd be able to stay safe, right? But they didn't know that the "Masked Man" was Claus, so they were probably worrying about Lucas. Lucas wished he had some sort of way to get a message to them, tell them he was okay and he was with Claus. But they were smart, and Lucas was sure they'd find a way to stay safe.

Which meant the only real worry they had was Porky. So far, he'd been content to ignore them. If things continued like that, they'd be fine… but Porky seemed to be a mean person. What if he wasn't content just to wait and see?

Lucas shook his head. As Grandpa would say, they'd burn that bridge when they came to it. There really wasn't anything Lucas could do right now but worry, and worrying never helped. It just made you feel worse. So he wouldn't worry, he'd just be careful. And he'd be sneaky, and not give Porky an excuse to stick his nose in.

Lucas nodded before sticking the last bit of hamburger in his mouth and chewed defiantly.

He noticed that Claus had turned to look at him.

Lucas turned to return the look.

Claus returned to looking at his food and eating.

"…what is it Clau-Commander?"

"…nothing."

"Really?"

"Yes. Just thinking."

"About what?"

Claus opened his mouth, then shut it. His eyes darted around the room, and the thoughtful look vanished as the emotionless Commander mask slid back on. "Various things. The best way to keep you out of trouble."

Lucas was curious now and he really wanted to get rid of the stupid Commander mask, but he was pretty sure he understood what Claus was doing.

Whatever he'd been thinking was something he didn't want anyone else to know about. Whatever it was, it must be important, so Lucas was perfectly happy to wait until they were alone to ask about it.

Lucas nodded understandingly, and both twins went back to eating.

Hey, maybe Claus had decided it would be a good idea to go home and visit the village and everyone after all!

…Na, probably not. Lucas wasn't that lucky. And there was such a thing as being too optimistic. He didn't want to get his hopes up too high and then have them crash down on him after all.

Still though, things were looking good. If Lucas did this right (and he had to do this right- couldn't mess up and fail everyone again) if Lucas could just pull this off, everybody could end up happy.

Those people who wanted to move to New Pork City? Let them go! Lucas felt a sting at the thought of some of them going- Miss Caroline and Angie, Miss Tessie, Mr. Ed and Miss Nan and Allie, and he really hoped Mr. Lighter and Fuel didn't go- but it wasn't like the end of the world. Maybe they'd even come back and visit sometimes. That would be nice. And without Mayor Pusher and the other people who thought like him, things could finally change in the village. So they could all be happy.

And surely Porky wouldn't care if Claus left. It wasn't as if Porky actually cared about him- he just wanted someone to boss around. So once Claus was gone, Porky could just promote one of the colonels to the post of Commander, and everybody would be happy, right?

…Lucas wasn't sure. He wanted to think that, but…

It wasn't just that Porky didn't seem to care about Claus- he seemed to delight in tormenting him- to find it fun to be mean to him, the big bully-

If what Porky found fun was being mean (and Lucas certainly didn't know of any time he'd been nice) then when Lucas and Claus finally left, maybe he'd chase after them just to be a jerk?

That, or maybe he'd do to someone else what he'd done to Claus. It was true that Claus might have lost his memory the same way that Duster had, but the fact still remained that he either would have found his way home or Flint would have found him, had it not been for Porky. Lucas didn't want to think of that happening to anyone else- but Porky couldn't be that cruel, could he? Wouldn't he be satisfied just to boss people around?

"You're not eating."

The quiet observation made Lucas jump, then laugh sheepishly as he turned to look at Claus. "Sorry, I was thinking too."

"About what?"

"Lots of things. Mostly about what to do next."

Claus didn't say anything, but understanding appeared in his eyes before he turned back to his food and finished it up.

Lucas turned back to his food too and began hurrying (but not rushing) to finish it.

Claus stayed next to him, waiting silently as he studied. It was almost like the first day, but not quite. The first day they'd been here together, Claus had looked at him like he was a child who was misbehaving by not eating his food. Now, he still watched him, but from time to time his lips would try to twitch up in a smile, and if one of the Pigmasks drifted too close Claus would switch his gaze to them until they drifted away again.

Once Lucas finished, the twins gathered their trash and tossed it, then stacked their trays with the other dirty ones. Lucas waved to Senior and Junior as they left and the Pigmasks waved back.

The hallways were surprisingly empty as they walked out. Lucas guessed that all the Pigmasks must be busy at this time. Busy doing what? part of his mind worried-

"Lucas," Claus said suddenly.

"Uh huh?"

"…it's …good …that you want to get along with the soldiers. But you shouldn't- you can't bother them when they're working. Don't be a distraction."

Lucas only paused for a minute before responding. "I don't want to bother them. I don't want to get them in trouble-" especially not with that fat pig Porky, he added to himself, then felt guilty for the mean thought, even if Porky was pretty mean himself. "It's just nice to talk to people sometimes."

They turned into another hallway and came upon a group of chattering Pigmasks. They stopped as they saw the brothers approaching, then lined up and saluted(complete with the silly oinking sound) as they went past. Claus raised his fist in the air to acknowledge them and they walked on.

Claus waited until they were a good, safe distance away to respond and even then he seemed to hesitate before opening his mouth. "You can't get into trouble." His shoulders twitched, and Lucas couldn't help but wonder if he'd meant to say that.

"I don't want to get into trouble either and I really don't want to get you in trouble."

"…you're a good boy, Lucas."

A good boy? Lucas was both amused and irritated by the compliment. What was he, a baby or something? Claus was only five minutes older than him.

Still, it was nice to get a compliment from Claus.

"Be careful. Don't get in anyone's way."

"I won't," Lucas promised easily, Porky's voice telling Claus he'd punish him for Lucas's actions ringing through his brain.

'Be careful' was an odd way of phrasing it though. Maybe Claus, subconsciously at least, was aware of what was wrong- the danger they were in, the danger Porky was?

Even though he didn't really believe Lucas about their past, about where they'd come from, maybe part of him- the part deep down inside of him that still remembered everything- was aware of the danger they were in.

They reached the hallway where the Commander's room was and Claus sped up. By the time Lucas reached the door, Claus had started to open it.

Lucas took a deep breath, part of his brain reaching for the right words, the words that would help Claus remember-

The door swung open and a screeching noise made both twins spin around.

A brown blur darted past both of them and shot under the beds. They stared after it, startled, and then Claus strode into the room. Lucas followed.

"What was that?" Lucas asked as Claus crouched in front of the beds.

Without answering, Claus reached under the bed- there was an angry hiss and the sound of something hitting something metal. Claus withdrew his arm, looked at the torn sleeve, and sighed.

"Whoa! Are you okay?" Lucas dropped to his knees next to his brother.

"Fine."

"It ripped up your jacket though. What about the skin underneath?"

"Skin?" Claus looked away from the ripped sleeve and blinked at him. "I don't have skin. Not there."

…what?

Lucas stared at him, then reached for his brother's arm. Claus let him, and Lucas held the arm with one hand and pulled the torn cloth away with the other.

Metal hit his eyes, the light reflecting off it with a painful glare.

"Commander!"

Both twins looked up to find a young woman in the doorway. She was dressed like a scientist, with the lab coat and everything, and her brown hair was long- pinned in a bun, with hairs escaping. She also looked worried.

"I'm sorry to bother you- have you seen my monkey? Dr. Misbin was going to borrow him for one of his own experiments and he got scared and escaped and-"

Claus pointed wordlessly to the bed.

"Oh, he hid under there?" The scientist hurried over. She knelt close- not next to them, but close enough that Lucas saw that her name tag read "Skye"- and clapped her hands. "Mr. Bubbles," she called out in a singsong voice. "Come out. We have treats back at the lab."

There was the sound of the monkey moving underneath the bed. Lucas caught a brief glimpse of dark eyes peering at them suspiciously before the monkey pulled back further underneath the bed again.

"Oh, Mr. Bubbles! I'm sorry, he's usually not like this. He's just scared of Dr. Misbin- like everyone else." The woman- Miss Skye- laughed nervously, then looked guilty at Claus. "Um- Commander, I-"

Claus turned from the bed to look at her and she flinched.

"Maybe we should give her some room?" Lucas suggested and they both turned to look at him. "I mean, the monkey doesn't know us, so he'll probably feel safer if only the lady he knows is the one waiting for him to get out."

"That's a good idea actually," the woman mused, looking thoughtful. "Mr. Bubbles is nervous around strangers…"

"We could go stand over there," Lucas suggested, pointing to the other side of the room.

Claus looked at him, then at Miss Skye, then at the monkey still hiding under the bed. He frowned thoughtfully. "No."

"No?"

"By the door," Claus gestured to the door leading back to the hallway.

"Oh, you're right. It wouldn't be good if he escaped out there, huh?"

Claus nodded, and both twins stood up and walked over to the door. Lucas pulled it shut, just to make sure.

"Here Mr. Bubbles," the woman began calling the monkey again, and it took a while, but finally the monkey crawled out and attached itself to the woman, chattering at her. "Good Mr. Bubbles," she cooed, petting it. "Good boy, coming out for Mommy-"

Standing side by side, shoulder to shoulder as they were, Lucas couldn't help feeling it when Claus flinched.

"Are you done?"

The woman turned back to face them. Lucas could see that she was flushed slightly. "Yes, Commander. I'm sorry for bothering you."

She stood up and began walking towards them.

"Just don't let it happen again." Claus said quietly, still tense.

Miss Skye nodded, just as tense. Lucas guessed that she felt bad about Mr. Bubbles running loose and interrupting them. Still, she seemed awfully tense for such a small thing. He was wondering about saying something to try to reassure her, but she walked out, and Claus shut the door behind her.

Lucas breathed out, then focused on the most important thing and turned to face Claus. "Show me your arm."

Claus looked at him, slightly surprised, then nodded. He walked over to the bed, sat down and held out his arms.

Lucas walked over and gently pulled the jacket off - Claus just sat there, docile and motionless. Lucas carefully folded up the jacket and placed it on the bed before turning back to his brother. He'd avoided looking at the arm- half afraid of what he'd see.

He'd seen the cannon Claus used in battle, of course. It was kind of hard to miss it, especially when it was being used to attack his friends. But when he'd first woken up here- well, his brother's whole body had been covered by the uniform, arm included- and at that point, it had been the same shape as his other arm. At the few points where Lucas had allowed himself to think about it, he'd assumed it was some sort of cannon that was small and light enough to be carried. Something that Claus carried and used when he might end up fighting someone, and then took off and put away when he was done with it. That's he'd told himself even after seeing his brother's face and being confronted with the blood red eye-

Gently, gently Lucas picked up his brother's hand. He felt the cold metal before he opened his eyes and allowed himself to see it. The hand rested in his, unresisting. It was also cold and heavy. Lucas ran one hand over it. The knuckles were jointed, but heavy and hard. The whole arm was the same, lines and grooves deeply engraved, like holes so deep no light could reach the bottom… the metal finally ended at the shoulder, where flesh and metal met.

Lucas traced it with one hand- the line that divided his brother's poor scarred skin from this strange heavy metal attached to him. Lucas wanted to rip it off- this heavy thing that Porky had saddled Claus with- but for now, Claus still needed it, and there was nothing that Lucas could do.

"Lucas, are you wounded?"

"No." Only a small word, but it hurt his throat coming out.

"You're crying."

"Your poor arm."

Lucas was bent over, trying not to sob. He felt Claus shift and the flesh and blood arm came around and gently touched him- slightly awkwardly embraced him.

Lucas released the tears and dropped his head, resting it on the poor flesh and metal shoulder, cleaning it with his tears and hugged his brother.

"What hurts?" Worry had definitely entered the voice now, and Claus hugged him even tighter, as if he was afraid that Lucas was going to disappear.

"Just my heart."

"Your heart?"

Lucas turned and looked at the arm once more. It didn't even look like his- it wasn't his- but Claus used it- Claus needed it, until they were free of Porky. "Did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt?"

"When they put that thing on you."

Claus glanced at his arm, puzzled. "I don't know," he said, sounding slightly disconcerted- or was that still worry for Lucas in his voice? "I don't remember." Then he looked back at Lucas. "My arm wasn't always like that?"

"No. We used to match- both your arms used to be flesh and blood." The crying had slowed now. Lucas pulled back, just a little bit, and reached out and traced around Claus's mechanical eye. "This used to be different too. It used to look just like your other one…but they took that away too."

Claus didn't respond. His eyes met Lucas's then moved away- avoiding him or thinking or both.

"You don't remember that either huh?"

"…no." Claus gave his mechanical arm another confused look. "…it used to be different," he repeated. He didn't just sound puzzled now, he sounded disturbed- and then he shook his head. "Doesn't matter. This is how I am now." He started to move, but Lucas hugged him tighter. "…Lucas."

"That's not true," Lucas muttered, then shook his head. "It's true that this is how you are now and as long as you're the one using that arm, I'll accept it, but it does matter, Claus, it does. Why did they do that to your arm and your eye? Had you been hurt? Why did they do that? It does matter, Claus, it does. I mean- it's not like you can't find the future by denying the past, right?"

Claus looked away, uncomfortable.

"Claus-"

"I don't know. I don't remember." There was a trace of irritability in his voice now. "I've had this arm and this eye for as long as I can remember." And then he stopped, blinking.

"Claus?"

"…my memory…it does have gaps in it. But I do remember the past two years pretty well. I definitely was like this for the past two years." The mismatched eyes met his, and Lucas searched them.

"You're sure?"

He nodded.

"Well, that narrows it down I guess. Makes sense…they probably did it shortly after they found you." Lucas's throat threatened to choke up.

"…found me?"

"Yeah…they probably did it when they found you. It's possible that you were hurt, and that's why they did it…that might be it, but…" Lucas realized that hadn't been what Claus was asking about. "Oh, after you left home to go avenge Mom- Dad found your shoes lying on the Drago Plateau, so we knew you made it that far… at some point after you reached that place, the Pigmasks must have found you and that's why you never came home."

"…ah." Claus said softly, very softly. He was staring into space now, thoughtful.

Lucas waited a moment, wondering what he was thinking about. It used to be that he would know exactly what Claus was thinking, but now… he was probably thinking about the past, probing his memories. Lucas waited.

Claus sighed, then looked up at Lucas. "How's your report coming?"

It took Lucas a moment to realize that Claus meant his attempt to come up with a good and easy to understand way to sum up their past. "Uh, could be better," he cast a guilty glance at the failed attempts he'd crumpled up, "but I did get started. Do you want to see?"

Claus nodded and Lucas left the hug. He descended from the bed and gathering up the papers that he'd actually gotten somewhere with, then returned to the bed.

"Okay, I figured the best place to start would be with our birth. We were born at home and Grandpa had come down from his cabin- he lived kinda far away from the village, remember? He'd come down to help Mom and Dad out, because giving birth isn't easy for moms. They didn't know there was going to be two of us at first. When you came out, they thought that that was it, and they focused on you and getting you cleaned off- but then Mom told them that it wasn't over- and after a while, I came out too." Lucas hesitated. He wished he could remember - wished he could remember the looks on Mom's and Dad's faces when he came out into the world for the first time- has they been surprised? Had they been happy? What about Claus? Had he been happy that his companion had followed him into the world?

Lucas looked up to meet his brother's eyes and found Claus focused on him. Waiting for the rest of the story. The hints of longing that floated in his eyes made Lucas feel better and worse all at once. He reached for his big brother and hugged him as he continued.

"Mom liked to tell us this story… she said that, for a while after we were born, she and Dad had two separate cribs for us. They'd borrowed mine since they hadn't known I was coming. We were sleeping next to each other, but not together-and because we'd been born earlier than we'd been supposed to, we weren't doing so well for a while. Me more than you. I was kinda sick- and Mom and Dad and everyone were worrying- and then Mom had a brilliant idea. She put us both in the same crib. And even though we were just little babies, couldn't talk or crawl or anything, we knew each other and cuddled up to each other. You even hugged me. And after that, I started to get better, and you got even stronger. That was one of Mom's favorite stories to tell us. And then she'd always remind us that we were stronger together."

"…ah." Claus said softly, his eyes looking far away. Lucas wished he'd look at him but he knew it had to be difficult. Sometimes Duster had talked about what it was like to not remember anything, so he kinda got it. "So… you've always needed me?"

…oh boy. How to respond to that? Lucas kinda resented the implication that he couldn't do anything by himself, because that wasn't true- but at the same time…

"We're stronger together," Lucas repeated. "And yeah, you're stronger than me- you've always been able to run just a little bit faster, hit a little bit harder, be a little braver than me. But sometimes I notice things that you don't, and I think of things that you don't- so we make a good team. Always have."

"Ah," Claus said thoughtfully, then nodded to himself. "Like how you remember things that I don't."

"Well, I guess- but I think that was more to do with the fact that you got hurt than anything else." Lucas was unable to keep his eyes from the mechanical arm and Claus followed his gaze.

"…you're saying I was wounded- and that's why my arm and my eye were replaced and why I have problems remembering things?"

"… that's probably part of it at least… but…"

"What?" Claus asked when Lucas didn't continue.

Lucas looked up and met his brother's eyes. Mismatched though they were, they were still Claus's eyes- the same soul stared out at Lucas through both of them, the red one as well as the green one. "If it was just you getting hurt… then wouldn't you remember all of these past three years and not just the last two?"

Claus blinked, then frowned, considering. "…maybe it took me a long time to heal?"

"Even if it did, wouldn't your brain have healed well enough to start storing memories again, even if it couldn't remember what it had already stored, before the rest of the body healed completely? I think there's something else going on."

"What?"

Lucas shut his eyes- Porky had told Claus that he didn't have a name or family- why? "I don't know," he admitted softly. "Maybe you're right, and it's just because you got hurt that you have problems remembering… but…"

Claus patted Lucas's head. "It's okay. The past isn't important. We're here - we'll stay here together. If we're good, Master Porky will allow us to stay together."

Lucas shook his head as soon as his brother's hand left, and it wasn't just because he didn't trust Porky as far as he could throw him. "The past is important Claus- not as important as the present or the future, but it's still important. The past is how we learn, and that's how we get stronger. You can't find the future without knowing the past. Otherwise, how will you know if you're going backwards or forwards?"

Claus looked like he wanted to protest. He opened his mouth- shook his head- opened it again-

"Claus-" Lucas hesitated only for a moment. He wanted to do this right, needed to do this right. He had to comfort him, but he was determined not to lie. "It's okay Claus. We can go slow. We don't need to dig up the truth all at once. But we can't forget, we absolutely, definitely can't forget, okay? We can't forget about Mom and Dad and the people we love and the place that we came from, even if it is abandoned. We can't forget about any of that, because that would mean forgetting who we are. Do you understand, Claus? We gotta remember- we can't forget- otherwise we could lose ourselves."

Claus was still staring at him. He hadn't protested, hadn't even moved at all. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Lucas pressed on. "I- I'm definitely going to find the answers- but don't worry. I'll be smart and I'll be careful. I'll be so careful, no one will even notice I'm searching for answers."

"…Lucas…"

Lucas put on a smile for his brother. "It'll be okay Claus. We'll find the answers- and our way- in the end. It'll be okay in the end." Now that the smile was there, it didn't mind staying- not Lucas thought about about what would happen once Claus got all his memories back and they finally got out of here.

Claus was still just staring at him, but his expression had changed a little. He looked confused, but less so than before and more like he was thinking- like he was putting things together, like he was thinking things through. He looked up at Lucas and met his eyes again, briefly. "You'll… be careful?"

"I'll be very careful," Lucas promised, and thrust his fist forward. Claus copied it, sending his fist forward to meet his- then stopped, blinking.

Lucas waited a moment, as Claus stared at their touching fists, then asked "We're making a promise. Do you know what to do next?"

Claus frowned thoughtfully, not taking his eyes off their fists. "…promise?"

"Uh huh, it's a promise. When we promise we're going to do something, we're absolutely going to do it- and every time we make a promise, we do the same thing. Do you remember what it is?"

Still frowning, Claus remained still for a moment before he hesitantly lifted his fist, Lucas following him- and swung it up and down- Lucas matching him each time- then they thrust them into the air and gave a battle cry.

"Brothers forever!" Both twins yelled.

Claus lowered his hand -still fisted- and stared at it like he was searching for answers.

Lucas quickly hugged him again. "You remembered!"

"Yeah… yeah, I did, didn't I?" His hands touched Lucas's back in a sort of half hug. "It was… our secret handshake. Mom and Dad knew, but no one else- not even Grandpa."

"Yep," Lucas said happily, contently. Even if it was a small thing, it was still something that Claus had remembered. Lucas had prompted him, but Claus had remembered on his own. His memories were there and they would come back, with a little help. And Lucas was more than willing to help.

For now, he was content just to sit here, with his brother.

"Lucas," Claus said after a while.

"Yes Claus?"

"We should go to sleep now. I have lots of things to do tomorrow."

"You always have lots of things to do," Lucas sighed. "Are you sure you don't want to stay up and tell ghost stories? I learned some good ones from Fuel and Grandpa."

"No, we need to rest and recharge," Claus insisted, getting off the bed and heading towards the dresser to get his pajamas. Once he had them out though, he turned and gave Lucas a puzzled look. "Ghost stories?"

"Yeah, sometimes we'd tell each other ghost stories to try to scare each other. You more than me, but I could tell some scary ones. We didn't do it much, because Mom and Dad slept close by, but sometimes they'd be off doing something while we were in bed and we could do it then."

"…we'd try to scare each other? Why?"

Lucas shrugged. "It was fun. If you don't wanna do it now, that's okay, but can we do it tomorrow?"

Still looking somewhat puzzled, Claus nodded.

Lucas grinned as he jumped off the bed and joined his brother at the dresser.

Even though he'd been here long enough to get used to the pajamas, they still bugged him. Lucas frowned slightly as he pulled the shirt over his head. If it weren't for the fact that he really didn't want to attract Porky's attention, he'd ask Claus for a new pair. Two new pairs, one for Claus and one for Lucas.

Actually, maybe he could do that. It was a little thing, maybe Porky wouldn't care. Lucas would ask Claus, but not now. One thing at a time.

"Good night Claus," Lucas said, climbing into bed.

"Good night Lucas."

Lucas couldn't help but smile. Only a few days had passed since that first lonely night here, with Claus so close and yet so far, not even able to wish him goodnight, but already things were changing. Claus was still tangled in Porky's strings, but he was beginning to wiggle free.

Hand on hand, next to each other, the brothers drifted into peaceful sleep.

Chapter 12

"You sound like Claus when you say things like that."

Kumatora couldn't remember what she'd said exactly. It was right after the Pork Trooper had recognized them and chased them further into Thunder Tower. Since the stupid disguises weren't working anymore, they had ditched them.

She'd said something about how she was happy to get rid of them- that they were dumb looking and stank of Pigmask sweat- and anyway, she'd rather fight than sneak around.

She'd been startled by Lucas's laugh- a strangely sad sound coming from the kindhearted boy. "What?"

"You sound like Claus when you say things like that." His smile was sad and happy at the same time.

It made her want to grab the missing red head and give him a good punch for leaving his brother behind.

It had taken her a while to admit that part of her anger was jealousy. While most of the anger was because of Lucas's pain (it didn't matter what or who it was, anytime one of her friends was in pain, she got mad), her jealousy added more fuel to her anger. Jealousy of the fact that someone else got to have Lucas as a brother for real and had abandoned him. Even though she knew that in Claus's shoes, if a member of her family was dead and the killer was running loose, she might have done the same thing.

If she saw the redhead, she would do everything and anything she could to protect him and keep him safe. That didn't mean she wasn't angry with him though.

Wait. She shouldn't be thinking about this. There was something more important to be worrying about. What was it?

She pushed herself to her feet, groaning as she did so.

What had happened? Where were her friends?

"Lucas?" she called- her throat feeling rough as if the branches of the surrounding forest were inside her throat ripping it up. "Duster! Boney!"

No response.

She took a step forward, stumbled and almost fell.

Where were the others? Where were her friends?

"Lucas!" she called again- stepped forward and fell, almost smashing her head open on a nearby rock. Where was she? Where were the others?

Thunder Tower. They'd been at Thunder Tower. That jerk Fassad had blown the place up, but they'd managed to escape on the ship Fassad had been planning to use for himself. But the pilot had started shaking them around, and Rope Snake had lost his grip and they'd fallen.

Fallen where? Where were her friends?

Kumatora started to push herself up- almost fell again as she felt something- she wasn't sure what, it felt almost like a soft touch on her shoulder but even as she realized it was there, it was gone. Not like movement, like it had never been there at all.

"It's alright," an unfamiliar voice whispered, soft and warm, and Kumatora couldn't keep herself upright anymore. "They're fine. You'll be fine too," the voice continued and that touch on her shoulder returned, "Everything's going to be okay-"

Even as she fell back into confused dreams- even when Doria found her and got her back to the pink shell, the sense of being comforted remained with her.

If that was what a mom was like, Kumatora could understand even more why Lucas and his brother missed theirs and wished she could have known her own even more-

"Kumatora, it's time to wake up."

Kumatora pried open eyes that felt like they were glued shut. Part of her wanted to give the older man a half hearted glare, but the memory she'd just re-experienced in dreams made her give him a half hearted smile instead. "Duster."

"It's morning," he said with a half smile of his own as he offered her some water and jerky. "How are you feeling?"

"Awake," she said as she began pushing herself up, then stretched out before accepting the food and water.

The sun glinted from behind the trees, just barely bright enough that they could see.

They ate breakfast or at least the closest thing they had to breakfast. Kumatora only swallowed it down because she didn't want her stomach complaining at her later. Once that was done, they set off again.

Kumatora couldn't help thinking as they walked.

After Thunder Tower, the fall that had split them up had left Kumatora confused and dazed, wandering the realm between sleep and dreams, barely aware enough to worry about her friends. It was then that it had happened. That slight touch on her arm, that warm voice and its reassurances-

Kumatora would give a lot of things to have that reassurance right now.

True, they'd stopped at Ionia's again and checked the ball again and Lucas still seemed to be fine, still wearing the same outfit. He also seeming to be looking around cautiously, and it was hard to tell, but it looked like he was working on something. Probably on some sort of escape plan.

Even though he was calm, she could still see the worry on his face.

If they didn't find him soon- or if they didn't find him at-

Kumatora cut that thought off before it could really get going. She really hoped they found Lucas soon. If they didn't-

"Hey, are we almost there yet?" she bellowed up at Duster.

Duster turned to look at her. "Kumatora, you know the way there as well as I do."

Kumatora scrambled up next to him, scowling as she looked over the landscape. "I was hoping I was wrong."

"We'll get there soon enough. If they were going to hurt him they would've done it by now," Duster told her, before clambering down to the ground below.

"And that makes me nervous too," Kumatora muttered as she joined him. "Why? Are they waiting for something?"

The way he looked at her, she could tell that he'd been thinking about it too, but all he said was "What would they be waiting for?"

"Dunno," Kumatora shrugged as they began moving again, trying not to feel helpless. "Maybe after capturing Lucas, that idiot Masked Man took him to some secret base and locked him up. And maybe now he's looking for us, because he wanted to deal with us all at the same time. Hey!" Kumatora said, brightening. "If that's the case, then he'll leave Lucas alone until he captures us, which, of course, won't happen." She cracked her knuckles. "I sure hope I'm right. Getting answers out of the Masked Man should be easier than searching for the place by ourselves."

Duster had a wry expression on his face, but said nothing.

Kumatora looked at him as they walked, surprised that he didn't have anything to say. Despite how long she waited though, he remained silent, so she returned her attention to the path ahead of them again.

Not that there was much to see. The green surrounded them, even blocking out the sky. Most people would've lost their way ten times over by now, but Kumatora had been running around in woods (if not these particular woods) ever since she could remember. Sometimes so much that whichever Magypsy she was staying with that year complained. Actually, pretty much everyone complained about how messy she was when she came back from her wanderings, but still, it was worth it. Being able to run and shout without being yelled at for being too noisy and being unladylike, being able to breathe without smelling that overpowering perfume-

It isn't my fault, Kumatora grumbled in her mind, when I get excited, I get loud. That's all. I really can't help it.

Kumatora didn't care about what they said about her being a princess. After all, she was princess of nothing but a broken castle. A princess without a kingdom- without a people to protect- was a pretty pointless person after all. So she didn't care when they complained about how she shouldn't get messy, about how she didn't talk or act like a lady. The Magypsies had done their best to raise her (well, most of them had done their best), but in the end she'd raised herself just as much as they had.

Depending on which Magypsy she'd been living with, she'd retreated to the outside every chance she got. Which led her back to now, and how she was good at finding her way around.

Apparently Duster was too.

The Magypsies had been the ones she'd grown up with, but Lucas and Duster were her family now.

Family. That reminded her of what she'd been thinking about in the dream she'd just had.

Kumatora had never met Lucas's brother. The only things she knew about him she'd been told. Mostly by Lucas, but some by Duster as well.

"He looks like me," Lucas had explained when they'd first met- when his brother had first gone missing and he was asking her if she'd seen him, "but he's got red hair and green eyes and he's wearing a green and blue striped shirt-"

She tried to picture him sometimes, this stranger who was family to her family. Sometimes she would think that she could almost see him and then she would realize that she was picturing Lucas.

Kumatora couldn't help wishing Claus was here now. Even if she was mad at him, they could use all the help they could get, and she doubted Claus would appreciate some idiot in a helmet kidnapping his brother. She was sure that anyone who had rushed off alone to try to get revenge for a dead family member would be jut as quick to try to rescue a missing one.

That was something they had in common.

"You sound like Claus when you say that."

Kumatora grumbled under her breath and eyed Duster for a moment but he didn't seem to hear, luckily. She had no great desire to explain what was going on in her head.

But Lucas was right, they did have that in common. Heck, if things had happened differently, if she and Lucas had been friends since the beginning and he'd been kidnapped a couple of years ago, she would have run after him all by herself, not waiting for anyone, not even Duster.

Duster, who didn't talk as much as he smiled and who was so talented but didn't act like he was. Those were both things he had in common with Lucas, come to think of it, but there were a number of differences too. Like how sometimes when conversations ended and there was a friendly but long silence between them, Lucas would break it by singing.

Kumatora hissed as a nearby tree branch swung close to her face. She ducked out of the way but even as she moved, Lucas's quiet song echoed in her mind, his voice still the unbroken one of a child, high and sweet as he banished the silence.

Duster, on the other hand, would either hum quietly as he went over the band's songs in his head, or he'd start humming a random tune, then stop and start again, changing it as he went, trying to turn it into a workable song.

Magic was the one who wrote their songs, but Duster had told her that sometimes he could come up with something that Magic could use. Kumatora didn't know why he couldn't understand that the ones he gave to Magic became their best songs. It wasn't like she hadn't told him that several times already.

Kumatora's breath escaped in a huff. Guys. She just didn't get them.

Even as Kumatora turned to looked back at her sandy haired friend, there came a crashing noise from somewhere ahead of them. They exchanged a quick glance before darting up into the trees.

Right after they did so, a pair of pink suited Pigmasks crashed out of the underbrush and one of them nearly tripped and fell right underneath Kumatora's hiding place.

Briefly, she contemplated jumping out of it and landing on his head and forcing answers out of him- but then more of them walked up- not quite as clumsy, but almost.

Kumatora glared at them.

"Nice one, Herd."

"Shut up," muttered the one who'd almost tripped, brushing himself off.

"Both of you be quiet! Remember what we're supposed to be doing here?"

"Yeah, yeah, searching for the troublemakers while the other group searches for the Ultimate Chimera. Wouldn't want to be in their shoes, that's for sure!"

"Considering that monster's still out there, I'm surprised that we're even bothering about the troublemakers," one of them- Herd, she guessed- said with a shudder.

"Don't be a wuss!" another scolded, slapping him on the back of the head. "Besides, the Commander's out here with us."

"Speaking of which, what's been up with the Commander lately? First he brought that captive back to base and has actually been keeping him, and then he started going around without his helmet of all things-"

"That's because the helmet got broken, bonehead! If you'd been paying attention, you would've realized that his new one arrived today anyway."

"Hey, you know what I heard about the captive?"

"What?"

"I heard that he actually talked to King P himself!"

"Who?" asked Herd, and promptly got slapped on the back of the head again.

"Hey, leave the rookie alone!" ordered the Pigmask in blue. "It's not his fault nobody's any good at explaining around here."

"Well, with a name like 'King P' how much do you actually need to explain?" demanded the Pigmask who had done the slapping.

"Okay, you've got a point there. Still, explanations are a good thing." He turned back to the private. "Okay, listen up! I'm only going to say this once and I'm sure you'd like to avoid getting slapped in the future, right?"

Herd nodded quickly and the other Pigmask continued. "Okay, this is how it is. King P is the ruler of the islands and the one the army serves. Got that?"

"Yes sir! But- what does the "P" stand for?"

"I don't know, private. He doesn't exactly come and hang out with the army. Actually, most of us have never even seen him. Too busy ruling, I guess. He mostly sends his orders through others, sometimes the Commander, sometimes others. You'd have to talk to someone who he actually talks to and I wouldn't ask them either. For all I know, it's something embarrassing like Percival or something."

"Alright sir. But if he doesn't talk to people that much, this captive must really be a big deal!"

"Yeah, probably the only reason why the Commander's been keeping him. Probably trying to get information out of him. Come on, let's get going. We've wasted enough time here."

The Pigmasks crashed off just as loudly as they'd crashed in.

Duster and Kumatora stayed in their hiding places a few more minutes, listening cautiously before dropping to the ground.

"What do you make of that?" Duster asked.

"Do you think there's any chance we could-"

"Sneak up on them and take one prisoner and get answers from them? No Kumatora, I don't. There's too many of them and we can't help Lucas if we wind up captured ourselves."

Kumatora blew out an aggravated breath and nodded, looking over her shoulder at the direction the Pigmasks had gone. "Should we keep going or head back?"

"Might as well keep going," Duster said. There was reluctance in his voice, but he straightened up and looked in the direction of the white building they'd found before, when they had first chased after the Masked Man to try to rescue Lucas. "Let's get going."

"What do you think they mean when they talk about the Masked Man 'keeping' Lucas?" Kumatora asked even as she followed him.

"I don't know, but at least it doesn't sound like the scientists are getting a chance to mess with him. That's something."

"What about this 'King P' guy?"

"... all I know is that there is someone who is either in charge of all this mess or someone who wants people to think he's the one in charge," Duster said as he kept pushing forward, not even looking back at her.

Kumatora gave his back a look, resisting the urge to whistle.

Duster was mad. It took a lot to get the older man mad, but when he got mad he got mad.

He was staring into the distance as he walked, a very intent look on his face.

Kumatora wondered what he was thinking about. Was he worrying about Lucas? Worrying about those weird blackouts where he saw weird memory-not memory things?

She didn't know. In a way, she supposed it didn't matter. They'd already talked about both of them. And there really wasn't any more to be said, at least she couldn't think of anything else to say. But she wanted to say something- something comforting, the way he always managed to comfort her.

Even though they'd met three years ago, and she'd been looking for him ever since, they'd really only gotten to know each other this past year.

She'd found him by accident, really. She'd walked into town to get something to eat that actually tasted good- she'd gotten really sick of her own cooking- and there he was.

He'd been walking with the rest of the DMCM- even with the dumb afro and the different clothes, she'd recognized him. She'd been so surprised though, she'd just stopped and stared- and then he and the others had walked out of sight- she'd dashed after them, but they were already gone.

She haunted that town for the next couple of days, until she saw him again and got him alone. And when she did, once she finally got to talk with him- he didn't remember the Egg. Didn't remember her. Didn't remember his dad. Didn't remember anything.

She told him then and there that she wasn't gonna give up- that she'd follow him wherever he went.

Dealing with all the girly junk had almost been worth it to see the look on Duster's face when he saw her all dressed up.

Lucas's had been pretty funny too, come to think of it- his eyes had kinda bugged out and his mouth had dropped open- but then he'd smiled.

A lot of the guys who'd come to watch the band thought she was pretty.

Kumatora might not like that kinda thing- she didn't like it at all- but she wasn't dumb or anything. She knew what it meant when guys gave you that type of grin and said weird things that they thought were compliments and wanted to stare at you, talk to you and talk and talk.

If they did it when the band was playing and Duster saw it, he'd get irritated. Then the band would come out and actually mingle after the show, and Duster would head right over to her and scare the guy off. It was irritating, but nice at the same time. Irritating because she wanted to slug the guy in the face and nice because Duster was paying attention to her and she didn't have to.

Oddly enough, she didn't really mind Lucas or Duster thinking she was pretty. Maybe because their smiles weren't weird and they didn't say things that were supposed to be compliments but weren't. She'd still been really happy to get rid of those dumb girly clothes, but she'd still think back, sometimes- just a little bit, in between when they were fighting for their lives- it'd been weird, but she hadn't minded too much the way Lucas and Duster had looked at her in the dumb girly outfit. She still wouldn't wear it ever again if she had the choice, but it hadn't been as bad as she'd thought it was going to be either.

"Kumatora."

She blinked and turned to look at Duster. "Yeah?"

"…back in the village…what I saw…I'm not that good with kids' ages, but that baby was young. So young she could only babble instead of talk, so young she could barely crawl. And I know that more kids grow up, the harder it is for them to remember the stuff that happened in their past."

"But my parents gave me to them right after I was born! And I only left three years ago when I ran into you and the geezer!"

Duster switched his gaze to the distance. He was frowning, an expression Kumatora had rarely seen on his face.

"...What are you thinking about?"

"…you said that Ionia's and Doria's stories don't match. Did any of the other Magypsies ever tell you anything about your parents?"

"Not unless I asked about them. And even then, they tended to be…kinda vague." She was quiet for a moment, remembering. "Lydia said that they were both kind people. That they loved me very much." Traitor voice, going all weird on her like that. Duster was looking at her, but she kept her eyes on the ground. Tripping would be a bad idea, right?

"Did they ever tell you why your parents left? Where they'd gone?"

"…Doria told me that they'd had to go somewhere. That they hadn't wanted to leave me behind, but they hadn't had a choice…I think I knew then, even if I didn't quite understand. Later, when I was older, I talked to Ionia…I asked if my parents were dead." She stopped. It was all she could do to breathe.

Duster came to a stop beside her. She didn't turn to look at him- she didn't say anything. He didn't say anything either.

They just stood there as the dying afternoon sun peeked slyly through the leaves overhead. It was cold. Her arms went up around herself, searching for warmth-

A crunch of leaves as Duster stepped closer- Kumatora tensed, and he stopped.

"Sorry," he said softly.

She hugged herself tighter. "Ionia- Ionia always told me the truth. Ionia's always been dependable like that. But that doesn't change the fact that no one will tell what happened to them, because no one knows what happened to them after they left me here."

"I'm sure they were trying to protect you."

Kumatora lifted her head and glared at him half-heatedly. "How can you know that?"

"They're your parents," he said it as if it was obvious. "Parents are always trying to protect their kids. My dad may not be the best dad ever, but- well, you know him. When he used to send me off by myself on training trips, he tried to hide it, but he worried. Even now, even though I'm an adult and can take care of myself, he worries. It's that he doesn't trust me- it's just that he cares about me, so he worries. Every time he sent me on a training trip by myself, I'd come home to find him awake and waiting for me, no matter how long I took. That's what parents are like."

"But you don't know that my parents were like that."

"Maybe, but I believe that."

"Why are you so sure anyway?" Kumatora paused, then asked a question that had just occurred to her. "You never met them, did you?"

Duster looked surprised. "I- I don't think so. I don't- I don't remember ever meeting them. In fact, as far back as I can remember, the castle's been deserted and empty. I know the other villagers ignored like it wasn't even there. They never talked about anyone living there. Like it had always been empty."

"…but that can't be right. I mean, you're older than me and if my parents didn't live in the castle when you were a kid, where did they live?"

"I don't know," Duster admitted. "But my dad knew how to find you when you were growing up, right? Maybe he'll know. We can go ask him when we get back, if you want." Duster sighed. "There's too many pieces to this puzzle and we don't even have all of them yet." He turned to look ahead, towards where they'd found that old ruin and then turned back and gave Kumatora a wry smile. "Well, we can't figure out the answers yet. Might as well go forward and see if we can pick up that Masked Man's trail and find Lucas."

"Yeah, finding and rescuing Lucas is the important thing right now. Of course-" Kumatora smashed one fist in her other hand and smirked. "I wouldn't object to punching that stupid Masked Man in the face either, but the important thing is to rescue Lucas and get that jerk away from him. Once we've got that done, we can worry about getting other stuff done. But first we need to rescue Lucas."

Duster had that wry look on his face that he got sometimes when she talked tough- and then all of a sudden the look dropped from his face and he was moving towards her- before she could ask what he was doing he knocked her over. They both tumbled to the ground and he rolled them over and over.

Something exploded where she'd just been.

The two of them came to a stop and scrambled to their feet.

At the edge of the clearing, a figure slowly emerged from the trees. The Masked Man. He stepped out and snapped his sword on but didn't move to point it at them. "Surrender."

"Dream on jerk!" Kumatora shouted, clenching her fists tight. "What'd you do with him? Where's Lucas?"

Chapter 13

Summary:

Everybody's doing their best. It's hard to do your best when you don't have a complete view of what's going on.

"You!" the girl snapped, clenching her fists. "What'd you do with him? Where's Lucas?"

Lucas hadn't wanted him to come on this mission. Lucas had wanted him to stay in the room with him- or least on the base where he was close by- but catching the Ultimate Chimera was important. Lucas had agreed that the Ultimate Chimera would hurt people if it was allowed to run loose and that it needed to be stopped.

The girl- one of the ones that had kept Lucas with them- stepped closer. "Hey, answer me! Where's Lucas?"

Claus didn't know what they were doing in these woods, didn't know what they wanted in the woods, but he wasn't going to let them get away with it.

"I took him to a safe place. You'll never get to him there." The sword pulsed in his hand.

Before, they'd almost beaten him. If he hadn't faked his defeat and then rescued Lucas from them, he might've lost. But before, Lucas had been defending them and now Lucas was safe at the base.

Also the dog- Boney, their dog- had been with them too, helping them. He wasn't here now. Where was he?

"And what are you planning to do with him?" the man- Lucas had called him Duster- asked. He was calmer than the girl but his body was tense and ready for action.

"I'll keep him safe," Claus said, surprising himself by telling the truth. "You didn't keep him safe. It was so easy to take him away from you. He's safe with me now. He'll stay safe with me for forever."

The man seemed confused- one eyebrow raised as he stared at Claus- but the girl was enraged. She began striding forward, PSI dancing around her fists and Claus quickly pulled the sword up in front of him. Before he could do anything else she stopped.

At first Claus thought she had realized that they couldn't win and was about to do the smart thing and surrender. But then she spoke.

"That badge. You stole it." She looked up and meet his eyes then, and the anger transformed into pure rage. "You thief!"

"I'm not a thief," Claus growled, the fingers of his free hand automatically reaching up to wrap around the Franklin Badge. "Lucas gave it to me." Lucas had pinned it on his jacket himself and asked him to be careful. Lucas had also tried to convince him to leave the troublemakers alone. But Lucas was sweet and naive like that.

The only response the girl gave was a scoffing sound before she called out "PK Ground!"

The ground rippled underneath him. Claus stumbled and lost his balance, but activated his wings before he hit the ground and recovered it.

Claus knew he wasn't supposed to feel emotions- that he was supposed to suppress them and not allow them to control him. The technicians told him that at every checkup. But at this moment, anger was welling up inside him like an unstoppable spring.

"It doesn't matter where you took him, you stupid jerk!" the girl cried, pointing at him. "We'll definitely find him and rescue him. Just you wait!"

"You won't. I won't let you." Claus dropped to the ground and transformed his arm into the cannon mode. He would not let these people- these people, who didn't protect Lucas and who were interfering in Master Porky's plans- take Lucas away from him.

"…you're a real piece of work, you know that?" the girl asked, voice low as she glared at him. She and the man both braced themselves for battle.

Claus dashed forward.

The man tossed the wall staples at him and Claus dodged, barely avoiding them. Right on the heels of that came a PK Freeze- luckily, it wasn't at full strength. Claus covered his face with one wing, letting it take the brunt of the attack then whipping it away, shaking the ice off it, and lifted his cannon arm.

Now it was their turn to dodge, avoiding his shots as best they could. They all missed, but one shot hit close enough that the impact knocked the girl off balance and to the ground.

"Kumatora!" yelled the man then grunted as he flung himself out of the way of another shot from the cannon arm.

The girl was getting to her feet, glaring at him. "Hey, leave him alone! PK Fire!"

Claus barely ducked in time and the fireball soared over his head, blindly him briefly.

Before the light was done fading, she was dashing towards him, "I won't let you hurt my friends anymore!"

He swung his sword but she dodged it nimbly and shot under his sword arm, driving her fists into his stomach, one after the other.

He choked and fell back but recovered in time to stop her from landing another blow by shooting her point blank with the cannon.

She screamed and flew backwards.

"I won't let you take him! I'll protect him from you!"

Something flew into his foot- wrapped around it and made him grunt in pain. Claus yanked at it-

He'd forgotten about the man and his wall staples! He yanked at his foot but it remained pinned.

"We're not the ones Lucas needs to be protected from," the man said coldly, holding up more wall staples. "You are!" He threw the staples.

Claus shot them out of the air. "I'm not the one lying to him and putting him in dangerous situations!" he yelled back, briefly forgetting about the staple still locked around his foot. Something he regretted when another PK Ground crashed into him and knocked him over. His foot was finally free but his breath was knocked out of him and he lay there, stunned.

Footsteps came closer and mingled with the echoes of Lucas asking him to be careful- he jumped to his feet. "PK Thunder! PK Thunder!" One at the girl, one at the man. He activated his wings as they tried to dodge and failed.

Claus would not lose, he would not lose Lucas to them!

Still flying, he fired at the girl then dove at the man. He swung his sword, but the man blocked with one of his wall staples.

"In case you're forgetting," the man grunted out, "you're the one who shot lightening at him repeatedly and you're the one who kidnapped him."

They struggled for a moment, the man pressing against the wall staple and Claus pushing against his sword. Finally, Claus managed to shift, bringing his cannon arm up into range and blasting the man backwards.

Claus was panting heavily. And not just from the struggle.

He had shot lightening at Lucas- he'd done it more than once- but that had been before. Before he'd remembered-

But he should've known without Lucas needing to tell him! The man's words brought guilt up from inside of him, threatening to strangle him. Claus fed the guilt to the anger- the past wasn't important, the past wasn't important- besides, it was their fault! If they hadn't lied to Lucas and made him stay with them, then Lucas would have gone to him and he wouldn't have needed to capture him.

He opened his mouth to say this and let them know it was their fault- but then rustling noises started all around them-

"Commander!"

"Commander, we finally caught up to you!"

At the call of the title, Claus breathed deep and straightened up.

He was the Commander. He needed to set an example for his men.

And he had to protect his brother! If people heard the troublemakers talking about Lucas, they might get the wrong idea. Lucas wasn't a threat but if Master Porky thought he was-

Claus couldn't let that happen!

The Colonel popped out of the woods and hurried to his side. "Commander, aren't these people-"

"They're working against Master Porky. Make sure you take them alive. I need to know who else is working with them- how big their organization is and what their plans are."

"Yes sir! Okay, hear that, men? We're going to take these jokers alive so the Commander can get answers!"

"That's a joke if I've ever heard one!" the girl yelled back.

The man placed one hand on her shoulder, keeping her close, looking around at all the soldiers surrounding them.

Claus was unable to resist feeling a small surge of satisfaction. Strong as they were, even they couldn't defeat this many, especially with him there.

The troublemakers had to know their own limits yet they didn't look afraid. They only quickly exchanged glances before the girl growled and turned back to Claus and stabbed her finger at him.

"Don't you dare think this is over, jerk! We're definitely going to get our friend back, just you wait and see!"

Claus tensed and pulled forward to respond, but the man was moving too-

"Secret thief technique- smoke screen!"

He drew some objects out of his pockets and began tossing them here- there- everywhere. They burst and exploded- as smoke rushed in and filled everywhere, everyone, even Claus, started coughing and their eyes started watering-

Through the din of coughing and jumbled voices and the soldiers running into each other, Claus heard the footsteps of people (people who knew exactly where they were going) rushing away from the clearing.

The troublemakers were escaping! If they got away, they would be free to search for Lucas! And if they found him and took him away, they would tell him to start pulling the Needles again and then Master Porky would consider Lucas a threat again!

"You-" he coughed, "you get back here!"

No response.

Claus almost howled with rage but managed to suppress it as he set about calming and organizing the soldiers. He was the Commander and the Commander was supposed to take care of his men.

Forget the Ultimate Chimera. This latest turn of events had to be reported to Master Porky. Claus needed to get back to the base. Needed to get back to Lucas.

OoOoOo

"…and then we headed back here," Claus finished the report for the second time.

The face on the screen laughed. "Well, I hadn't expected them to put up that much of a fight without their little blond friend. Maybe waiting for those idiot scientists to find a way into that stupid temple won't be so boring after all."

Claus waited patiently. He didn't really understand what Master Porky was talking about. Why was it a good thing that those troublemakers were still running loose?

But Claus was having problems being coherent and his eyelids kept falling and he kept having to fight to pull them up again. It'd taken him until now to figure out what the problem was: he was tired.

"How close are the scientists to getting in?"

It took Claus a moment to realize he was talking about the Temple that held the second to last Needle. "Still no progress, Master Porky."

"Still? Tell them to hurry! At least the wannabe princess and the thief will provide me with some amusement while I'm waiting. Tell the scientists to hurry up and tell all my toy soldiers to be on the lookout for those idiots who think they can stand up to me. If they get killed, no big deal, but tell them to try to take them alive. With how slow those stupid scientists are going, I want to squeeze as much fun out of this as I can. And if they're taken alive, I can play with them for as long as I want." The king giggled. "Feed them whatever I want, dress them however I want. Maybe I'll dump them in the 'Nice Person Hot Springs'- no, not at first. It'll be no fun if they want to do what I say. Maybe I'll dump one in and make the other watch. That might be fun." He giggled again.

Claus sat there and waited. He was doing his best to please Master Porky and wait patiently while he talked to himself but Claus had been searching for the Ultimate Chimera since early that morning. He hadn't even taken a break for lunch and it was past suppertime now. He was running out of energy. As the Commander he could keep going if Master Porky ordered him to, but Claus was looking forward to stopping for the day.

Besides, he needed to take care of Lucas. Lucas wasn't the Commander, so he was probably even hungrier. That, and…

Something about the way Master Porky was talking about the troublemakers made Claus's skin itch. They were obviously troublemakers, that much was for certain. They'd caused problems and they'd kept Lucas with them so they deserved to be punished. But the way that Master Porky was talking about them, like they only had significance for his amusement… if Master Porky was so bored, why didn't he talk with Claus about situations that came up and help him figure them out? Sometimes it was hard to figure out good solutions that helped everybody.

Why not discuss them with Lucas?

Claus twitched. Mom?

Porky noticed. "Oh, that's right, slave. If I take your slave and do things to him I could increase their pain even more. What do you think of that, hm?"

Claus almost flinched, but stopped himself in time.

"Well? Do you think anything about it at all, my adorable little monster?"

Should he say something? Should he not say something? He needed to point out why it would be bad to hurt Lucas- but he didn't want to make Master Porky angry by arguing with him either-

"Master Porky, I believe the troublemakers were manipulating the boy for their own ends, because of his abilities to pull the Needles. In the time I've had him with me, he's never caused any problems and he's assisted in daily life on the base."

"…are you saying you don't want me to play with him?" There was a warning tone in that voice. Luckily, Claus already knew what to say next.

"Master Porky, since you asked what I thought, a course of action occurred to me. Do you want to hear it, sir?"

"…go on." The warning was still there, but curiosity began to overshadow it.

"If you want, Master Porky, whenever I have time, I could show the boy around. Show him how you take good care of everyone. Once I convince him of that, he'll see the troublemakers as the fools they are. And once he understands that-"

The king giggled again and interrupted. "And by doing that, we turn him against his friends, causing them to fight against one another and hate each other! Ooh, the tortured expressions on their faces- I can't wait to see them!" He giggled again. "Hurry up and see to it, slave."

"Yes, Master Porky," Claus said, bowing his head once more and then getting up.

"Oh, and slave…" The tone had changed again. Claus had to force himself to look at the screen. Master Porky was smiling and looking off-screen, at something Claus couldn't see. "That slave of yours… he isn't becoming a distraction, is he?"

Claus's throat threatened to stop working on him. "No- of course not, Master Porky."

"Oh good. But you spoke up for him awfully quickly."

"He isn't a threat. Punishing him wouldn't accomplish anything."

"Oh, I don't know. Anything that amuses me accomplishes something, but your idea of turning him against his friends is amusing, so I'll let it go for now. Go and set things up now, slave." The screen shut off.

Claus breathed a sigh of relief.

He had been so busy with his regular duties and with the search for the Ultimate Chimera he hadn't been able to get anything done on the report on Lucas. The one he intended to give Master Porky to explain everything. Once he had the report finished he could give it to Master Porky and that way he would understand that Lucas was a good boy and needed to be protected.

Claus left the communications room and headed to his office where he relayed the series of orders. After that he began the walk to the Commander's room. All the while, he kept thinking.

He thought he understood now. He and Lucas had been created in one of Master Porky's labs, which was one of the reasons why Master Porky said he belonged to him. Obviously, their parents had been the best scientists and one of the reasons things didn't run so well now was because they'd lost their best scientists. Or maybe their mom had been a scientist and their dad had been the former Commander. Maybe that was it. After all, someone had to have been the Commander before Claus.

Things had been great- things had been wonderful- until around three years ago.

Three years ago, something bad had happened, and their mom had died.

Most likely, what had happened was that another scientist hadn't taken care of their experiment properly and it hadn't been locked up the way it should have been. And after it had gotten out it had killed Mom.

Claus and Lucas had probably tried to interfere- Claus attacking the thing and Lucas trying to tend to their mom- and they'd been separated.

Claus turned a corner and resisted the urge to touch his head. He'd forgotten so much. Even now, thinking over what must have happened, most of his memories floated just out of reach. And if Lucas was right about his arm and his eye being different he must have been badly injured.

But what had happened to Lucas? How had he wound up in the hands of those troublemakers?

Perhaps the monster had stunned Claus and dragged him away and Lucas had followed. Lucas wasn't strong like Claus but he wasn't weak. Even though he didn't like to fight, if he saw someone in trouble, he wanted to help. Maybe Lucas had attacked the monster, trying to save Claus. Maybe he'd attacked it in a desert area with lots of sand and lots of cliffs (Claus could almost see it now)- and Lucas had made it drop Claus, but the momentum had taken Lucas and the monster over the edge (and Claus was surprised how clearly he could see it) - and the searchers who had come after them had only found Claus and not Lucas.

So far, so good. That all made sense and added up.

Those troublemakers must have found Lucas as he was lying there and taken him with them. He'd probably hit his head hard enough that his memories were confused but not hard enough that he'd lost them like Claus.

Claus had seen it happen to the soldiers, sometimes. They'd get hit on the head and get knocked out, and then get really confused when they woke up. Normally they got better on their own but no doubt the troublemakers didn't give Lucas a chance.

Maybe, with the fall, Master Porky had assumed that Lucas was dead and that was why he never sent anyone to look for him. Maybe that was how the troublemakers had managed to keep him in the village for the past three years.

That all made sense, but there were still two things Claus needed to figure out. Fassad and their dad.

If Fassad had known, why hadn't he done anything?

And even more importantly, what had happened to their dad?

Lucas believed he was still alive and he talked about going out to find him. But Lucas also talked about going back to the village like they belonged there.

Maybe their dad had died at the same time as their mom and him being alive was a trick that the troublemakers were playing on Lucas. He'd even admitted he didn't see him a lot. That would explain why Claus was in charge of the soldiers now.

On the other hand, maybe their dad was alive. Maybe he'd believed that Lucas was alive and gone after him. Maybe he'd found him but the troublemakers and their cohorts had somehow managed to overpower him and then done things to him so he couldn't remember and couldn't tell Lucas the truth.

And maybe that was why Master Porky had told Claus he didn't have a family, because he thought they were all dead.

Or maybe he was mad at them all for putting each other before doing their duty. Maybe he wanted to make sure that Claus paid attention to his duties and took them seriously.

Claus would definitely fulfill his duties. If he didn't, Master Porky would blame Lucas. If he blamed Lucas…

Claus couldn't let that happen.

But he also needed to find out whether their dad was dead or alive. If there was the chance that he was alive… well, they needed to find out. If they'd known where to find each other three years ago, things would be different today. Claus didn't know if their dad was alive or dead. Lucas thought so and Lucas wasn't stupid but sometimes he was too trusting.

Claus entered the hallway where the room was.

The only way to know for sure would be to go out and look, but that would count as getting distracted and that would make Master Porky mad. But he and the soldiers were going to be going out anyway, searching for the troublemakers and for the Ultimate Chimera. Maybe he could tell the soldiers to keep an eye out for his dad- or would that be considered a distraction too? Maybe he could just tell them to keep their eyes open for all civilians and tell them to send the civilians to him so he could question them. He could ask them lots of questions. About whether they'd seen or heard the Ultimate Chimera, if they knew anything about the troublemakers and their plot- and whether or not they'd seen anyone else in the area.

Yes, that should work. That should be a good way to find answers without getting distracted.

Claus entered the room.

"Claus! You're back!" Lucas greeted him with a hug. He did that a lot. Lucas liked to give hugs and he also liked it when Claus hugged him back. It might be because Lucas was the smaller one- younger one, really- they were the same height. "You were gone a long time. Did something happen?"

"They'll fight against one another and hate each other!" Master Porky's voice echoed in his ears. "Ooh, the tormented looks on their faces!"

"…something happened," Claus admitted.

Lucas shifted back so they were eye to eye.

Claus looked away.

"Claus? What happened?" He sounded worried. "Are you okay?"

"Fine."

"Really?"

"Really."

"What happened? Claus, why won't you look at me?"

"…those people…the ones that kept you with them…the thief and the princess."

"Duster and Kumatora?" Lucas asked excitedly. He liked them. It showed up in his voice. It was because they'd lied to him that he liked them but he still liked them. Claus didn't want Lucas to be tormented. He wanted to keep him safe, safe from everything.

"They're alive."

"And they're okay? They're doing fine?"

"I saw no injuries. Boney wasn't with them though."

"Really? Weird. Maybe he went to go find Dad."

"Find Dad?"

"Yeah, Boney's got a really strong sense of smell, so he can track people and animals. Although sometimes things get in the way and he can't smell things well. Like at the Temple, he probably couldn't make out your scent through that goo you use to clean your boots because it's so strong. Remember how I had to leave the room when you used it the other day? Boney's nose is way more sensitive than mine, so after smelling your boots he wouldn't be able to smell anything else for a while. That's why he didn't recognize you."

"Oh." Claus filed that away in his head. That was good to know.

"So what happened? Did they see you? Did they recognize the Franklin Badge and realize what it meant?"

Claus looked down at the floor.

"Claus? You guys didn't fight, did you?" Lucas was suddenly sounding worried again. "That's why I gave you the Franklin Badge, so you could show it to them and explain what's going on-" even as he was talking he lowered his head so it was in Claus's field of vision and their eyes could meet. Claus looked away again. "Claus!"

"They escaped uninjured," Claus said quickly, glad for something he could say without reservation. "We all escaped uninjured. Aside from bruises," he added to be completely truthful.

Lucas sighed. "That's good. I'm glad they're okay and I'm glad you're okay too, Claus," he added and hugged him again.

Claus was silent a moment- wrestling with himself- and then he spoke softly. "They're troublemakers. They're working against Master Porky."

"I'm sorry if they're making more work for you, but they're doing what they believe is right. Like I told you before, they're good people, Claus. They just don't know that it's you under that helmet. They might not believe you at first but when you show them your face and explain everything-"

"Master Porky has ordered them captured," Claus said softly.

Lucas snapped his head back, his face horrified.

"He wants them…" Claus closed his mouth on the phrase 'dead or alive' at the last minute. Lucas was already worried enough.

Lucas was staring at him, a different and strange look on his face. Like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Like he didn't want to believe what he was hearing.

Why? They were troublemakers. They were opposing Master Porky-

They're his friends.

"Claus, you can't! They're my friends, they haven't done anything bad!"

"They're working against Master Porky-" Claus started- his voice didn't sound impressive, the way it should be, for some reason-

Lucas shook his head violently. "They don't know and they don't care about that guy!" He moved closer again and put his hands on Claus's helmet. "It's because of this stupid thing! Because of this, they don't know it's you. They can't see your face, so they can't recognize you."

"You knew it was me."

"That's different. We're brothers. Twins. Even though you didn't remember me, you still recognized me, right?"

Claus nodded slowly.

"Because we're brothers, we don't need anything- any clues or anything like that- we'll always recognize each other. But even though Duster's our friend, he can't put the puzzle together if you don't give him any pieces. And I only met Kumatora after you disappeared, so she's never even met you before. It's not their fault they haven't recognized you, Claus."

Claus was silent a moment as he struggled with things- struggled with too many things that he didn't understand.

He pulled away from Lucas and started towards the door.

"Claus-"

"I'll be back. I'll go get food." Without waiting for a response, without giving Lucas a chance to respond, he walked out of the room.

Those people were bad people. They were troublemakers who were opposing Master Porky. They were. But-

Several images rapid fire flashed through Claus's head.

Lucas defending the troublemakers at the Temple. Lucas asking about them with worry all over his face.

The girl demanding to know where Lucas was. The way she'd stood firmly as she'd declared that they were going to "rescue" Lucas.

For the first time, Claus allowed himself to realize that he'd seen worry as well as anger on those people's faces.

The man's voice echoed in his ears. "We're not the ones Lucas needs to be protected from- you are!"

Claus shook his head. That wasn't true! Claus was taking very good care of Lucas!

Other than leaving him alone all the time and shocking him with the collar- a voice that was not his mother's whispered inside of him.

Claus stopped in front of mess hall doors. His fists clenched.

You're not a bad boy. A feather light touch, so light he might've imagined it, on top of his head. The helmet didn't seem to stop it all. You've made mistakes but you're not a bad boy.

His fists relaxed. He breathed.

Was he really hearing their mom's voice? Was he imagining it?

Claus entered the mess hall. He didn't know and he didn't know how to find out. But whether he'd heard it or imagined it, his mother's voice was right. He'd made mistakes in taking care of Lucas in the past but he would do better in the future.

"Oh, hello Commander," one of the servers said, as the other began dishing it up. "Lucas isn't with you today?"

Lucas liked talking with them. Apparently they liked talking with Lucas too.

Claus shook his head.

"Where's he at?" the one dishing it up- Claus thought he was Junior- asked.

"In the room. We'll eat there tonight."

"Oh, okay. French fries or onion rings?"

"…fries."

"…is Lucas not feeling well?" the other one- Senior- asked hesitantly as Junior served the food.

"You'll see him tomorrow."

Junior put the plates up and Claus took his before realizing that he couldn't carry both trays at once.

"Do you need any-?"

"No," Claus said as an idea occurred to him. He put his tray down before rearranging his food and then added Lucas's food to his tray, leaving the other tray empty.

"Oh, good thinking."

Claus picked the full tray. They were twins. They'd shared lots and lots of things before, sharing a tray was nothing. It wasn't really good thinking, just obvious. He turned.

"Uh, Commander…" Junior began hesitantly, "can you tell Lucas 'hi' for us?"

Claus turned and looked at him, surprised. He wanted him to give Lucas a message? Why?

Because they liked talking together. They wanted him to know they missed him.

Claus nodded, somewhat jerkily, nodded again when Junior thanked him enthusiastically, and walked out of the cafeteria and back to the room.

"Good thinking". No, obvious thinking. But he couldn't stop thinking.

Those looks on the troublemakers' faces. The way they talked. The way Lucas talked about them.

Maybe those people weren't evil after all.

Claus shook his head, but the idea remained.

Lucas wasn't stupid. He liked people and he was trusting, but he wasn't stupid. And even when they hadn't known Claus was there the troublemakers had talked about Lucas like he was important. Like they cared about him not just because of his ability to use PSI and pull the Needles, but also because he was Lucas.

Another feather light touch on his head, transmitting so much warm approval that Claus had to shut his eyes.

Are you real?

Too many questions.

The troublemakers were definitely troublemakers. But if Lucas was right and they were trying to do the right thing, then maybe they were being like Claus when he'd shocked Lucas. Maybe they weren't meaning to be bad.

But they still needed to be stopped. Claus had to stop them from interfering in Master Porky's plans. Claus would stop them and capture them. And then he'd question them and find out if they were bad guys or not. He could stop them without killing them. He'd stopped Lucas without killing him. They wouldn't get to stay in the Commander's room though. That was just for him and Lucas. He'd have to find somewhere else to put them.

Master Porky talked about being amused, but the search would amuse him and if they were bad guys, it wouldn't matter what he did to them. And if they weren't bad guys, then Claus would find a way to show him that. And then they could find a way to teach them not to be troublemakers anymore and everyone would be happy.

Claus came to stop in front of the door. He looked at it before he opened it and went in.

Lucas didn't greet him with a hug this time. He slid off the bed and slowly walked over to Claus. Despite how hungry he had to be he didn't give the tray of food a single glance. He acted like it didn't even exist. His eyes met Claus's as he faced him- calmly, sadly.

"Claus, Duster and Kumatora are my friends and they're good people. They might be making more work for you, but they're trying to do the right thing and they don't know it's you. The Pigmasks have done bad things that we wanna fix…I'll always be your brother. I just want all the people I love to stop fighting each other!" He was on the verge of tears now, but his eyes were steady and his fists were clenched. His eyes drilled into Claus.

There was a rattling sound. Claus looked down at the dishes on the tray to see that they were vibrating slightly as his hands shook.

Lucas took the tray away and put it on the floor before straightening up and putting his hands on Claus's shoulders. "Claus, Duster and Kumatora are not your enemies."

Claus looked away. "I have to stop them. Master Porky ordered me to."

Lucas huffed softly. An irritated, sad sound. "Are those orders the only thing you care about?"

"Yes. No. Lucas-" Something was wrong. Claus was shaking again and as he looked back at Lucas it only got worse as he saw the tears that were beginning to gather in his little brother's eyes.

"It'll be okay Claus-" and now Claus was being hugged again, now Lucas really was crying. Both boys on their knees now, Claus not sobbing but shaking- "I'm here Claus, it'll be okay, we'll find a way-" Lucas went on like this, his voice soft and his arms cradling Claus. No matter how badly Claus shook, Lucas kept holding on to him, refusing to give up.

Claus just let go.

OoOoOo

Some time later he woke up. He blinked up at the ceiling. Ceiling? Why was he on the floor?

Beside him, Lucas murmured softly in his sleep. Claus turned to look at him and remembered.

He must've gone to sleep while Lucas was holding him. That was weak of Claus, losing to sleep and emotions like that.

But Lucas had again demonstrated why he was the sweet one. Even though he must be just as hungry as Claus and stayed awake longer, he hadn't even touched the food. Claus could tell that Lucas had stayed awake longer because there was a blanket below them and another above them. Lucas had also removed the helmet and hung up it up by the door and his boots were sitting by the door.

The food was still where they'd left it. It'd gotten all cold by now but it would still be okay and Claus was really hungry. Now that he'd slept a bit the hunger was back, demanding. The hunger had probably been what woke him up in the first place.

Claus shifted, glancing at the clock. Midnight. That wasn't too bad. He could eat, then go back to bed, get more sleep and then be able to perform his duties.

But for some reason, he really didn't want to move. While sleeping, he and Lucas had curled up against one another and with the warmth from both his brother and the blankets Lucas had brought over, Claus was warmer than he'd ever been in this room before.

Considering the mechanical arm was heavy just by itself, Claus knew that he was heavier than his brother so it wasn't surprising that Lucas hadn't been able to lift Claus. But even though it was warm like this, the floor was still hard beneath them and just because Claus was on the floor didn't mean that Lucas had to stay here too. Lucas could have just covered Claus with his blanket and left him and gone to sleep in his own bed. But he hadn't. He'd stayed with Claus.

"We're always going to be brothers."

He didn't realize he'd spoken aloud until Lucas woke up and blinked at him sleepily.

"Claus? Did you say something?"

"…we're always going to be brothers?"

"Always," Lucas promised with a sleepy smile. Claus smiled back before Lucas's stomach growled.

Still somewhat reluctant, but not as much for some reason, Claus stood up. "We should eat now."

"Yeah," Lucas agreed, sounding more awake now. He got up as Claus reached for the tray and pulled it closer. Claus watched as his younger brother shook out the blankets and returned them to the pushed-together beds before sitting on the floor in front of him. Lucas studied him as he took the food Claus offered him and they started eating. His thoughtful blue eyes didn't leave him at all.

"Junior and Senior say hi." The words left Claus's mouth suddenly. He hadn't meant to say that but it wasn't bad. He'd kept that promise now.

Lucas blinked, then smiled slightly. "That's nice."

"…I'll tell them to take the troublemakers alive." Claus didn't like the way that came out. He didn't regret saying it, because he'd been thinking about it and anyway, it was the best way to get answers, but he wanted to say it impressively. "I'll tell the soldiers to take them alive and be careful with them."

Lucas didn't seem to care that he'd said it bad but he wasn't happy either, like Claus thought he would be. He was smiling, but it was a weird kind of smile. Sad. "I trust you, Claus. But I don't trust everyone on this base."

"Why?"

"They may not have meant to, but the Pigmasks brought some bad things to Tazmily," Lucas said and Claus's fists clenched at the sadness on his face. "I don't like the money system very much but it's not so bad. What's really bad are things like all the animals they're hurting to make the chimeras and then letting the chimeras run loose so they can hurt people. And that place where they keep the older people, like Grandpa and Mr. Wess, locked up against their will. And then there's Thunder Tower which they used to shoot lightening at people who didn't want Happy Boxes. I trust you, Claus, but the Pigmask army has done some bad things."

"…making mistakes doesn't mean you're bad," Claus said softly. He hated that Lucas was sad, but this wasn't a chimera he could fight and destroy and Claus didn't know what to do to make Lucas's sadness go away.

Lucas nodded. "You're right. But when people make lots of mistakes and don't take responsibility for them, it doesn't look good."

"We're taking responsibility," Claus protested. "We're going to stop the Ultimate Chimera."

"That's good and you're right, that is taking responsibility. But Claus, it was you taking that responsibility, right? Whose idea was it to go after the Ultimate Chimera?"

"Mine. But Lucas-"

"See? That proves my point that it's a good idea to trust you, but it doesn't do anything to prove that everybody in the Army is trustworthy."

Claus shook his head, but couldn't come up with anything to say.

"It's true, Claus," Lucas said, his voice both gentle and calm. "The only reason that we got involved with the Pigmasks at all is because we wanted to stop the bad things they were up to. And now Duster and Kumatora must be worried about me, because they don't know it's you and they don't know of any reasons why I'd be safe here. They think they have to rescue me or bad things will happen to me. You have to talk to them Claus. They're our friends, they're not bad guys."

"…Master Porky ordered me. They're causing trouble. They're interfering in Master Porky's plans and they have to be stopped."

Lucas sighed, frustrated.

"Lucas, I have to!" Why didn't Lucas understand? Claus was the Commander. He had to do his job. He had to follow his orders!

"Why?" Lucas asked calmly, looking at him. "Why is this so important to you?"

Claus dropped his head. "It's my job. I have to follow Master Porky's orders-"

"Claus, what if he's wrong?"

Claus snapped his head up and stared at him.

"Everybody's wrong sometimes, Claus. Everybody makes mistakes, remember?"

"Everybody?"

"Everybody. I make mistakes, you make mistakes, Dad makes mistakes." Lucas shrugged. "Everybody makes mistakes, Claus."

"…even Mom?"

Lucas blinked. "Well, yeah. I can't really think of any right now, but she made them. But that's not the point. Claus, just because Porky tells you to do something doesn't mean it's the right thing to do."

Claus dropped his head. Lucas said the words like it was a simple obvious statement, like saying the sky was blue or the sun gave light. "…if I don't obey my orders…" The words choked his throat as he remembered the things that Master Porky had said. The way he'd promised to punish Lucas if Claus failed to fulfill his duties. Claus couldn't let anything happen to Lucas.

"You'll get in trouble?" Lucas asked when he didn't say anything else. "Well, that wouldn't be good either-"

"We're just going to stop them," Claus said quickly. "Like how I stopped you. We'll stop them and they'll be brought here. I'll tell the soldiers to be careful, but I have to stop them from causing any more trouble."

This didn't seem to reassure Lucas the way it should either. Claus didn't know what to do. He had to do as he was told but he hated seeing that look on Lucas's face and he didn't know how to make it go away.

"Claus, we're not even supposed to be here!" Lucas exclaimed, sounding exasperated as he flung his arms in the air. Before Claus could figure out how to respond, the anger drained away and Lucas just looked exhausted. Giving a sigh that sounded as heavy as the fate of the world, he reached over and hugged Claus. "What did he do to you?" It came out softer than a whisper. "What did he do to you? Mom, how do I fix it?"

Claus stayed still- didn't move as his little brother held him. Fix what? Was something broken? "Lucas?"

Lucas just hugged him tighter as he buried his face in his brother's shoulder.

Slowly, Claus reached up and hugged him back. Lucas liked hugs and since he was upset, maybe Lucas needed this hug?

What was broken?

A soft touch on his back came with a sigh that didn't come from his or Lucas's mouth-

They were broken. Their family was missing people. Convulsively, Claus tightened his arms around his twin. Grandpa was gone, Boney was gone, Dad was gone, and Mom was-

"Mom." Her name escaped from him with a whimper.

"I know, Claus. I miss her too," Lucas said softly. "I wish she was here. I don't know what to do. Duster and Kumatora are my friends and I won't forget or abandon them, but you're my brother and I don't want you to be in danger either… Claus, why don't we sneak out? Go back home, just for a little bit. Walk through the town and see Grandpa and Mr. Wess and everyone? Wouldn't it be nice to sleep in our own bed? Wouldn't be nice to visit Mom's grave? We could take her some flowers. She loved flowers, remember?"

Somehow he did. Claus could almost see her there, kneeling over a flower bed- raising her head to smile at him-

He shook his head. "We can't. Master Porky will find out. He'll be angry."

Lucas sat back and opened his mouth, looking determined and almost angry- and then shut it, looking sad, looking so sad. He reached for Claus again and hugged him.

"I have to obey my orders," Claus said quickly, before Lucas could say anything else. His little brother's arms tightened around him and Claus went on before he could argue with him again. "I'm the Commander and obeying my orders is the right thing to do."

Lucas didn't move, but he gave another one of those heavy sighs into his brother's shoulder. "He's wrong, Claus."

"Master Porky takes good care of everyone. He won't tell me to do the wrong thing." But even as the words left Claus's mouth, he remembered Master Porky giggling at the thought of the troublemakers being tormented and him talking about using Lucas in his plan to punish the troublemakers. Claus shook his head but the thought remained.

They were all just mistakes, they only happened because Master Porky was confused-

"He's not perfect, Claus. No one is. Remember how he was wrong before? About you having a name and a family?"

And if Porky was really that good Claus, then you wouldn't need to worry about him misunderstanding Lucas would you? And you wouldn't need to worry about making that report if you really trusted him with Lucas would you?

"I have to stop them, Lucas." Claus felt his grip tightening but he couldn't focus on that, just like he couldn't sort through those thoughts right now. They were too big- if he thought about them he'd get sucked in and never get out again. Anyway, as long as he kept Lucas safe it would be all right, wouldn't it? "But I'll take care of them too! I'll tell the soldiers to be careful when we capture them and when we transport them here too. I'll be very careful with them, Lucas."

Lucas didn't respond. For a long moment, he just stayed silent and still.

"Lucas-" Claus started, but before he could say anything else Lucas pulled away and began gathering up the trash and throwing it away.

Claus stared after him before quickly pushing himself up and following him. "Lucas-"

Lucas ignored him at first, but when Claus put his hand on his shoulder Lucas stayed still for a moment before sighing and dropping the trash in the bin and then turning and facing his brother. "I just want the people I love to stop fighting with each other."

"I don't want to fight them," Claus said. Which was, for the most part, true. He was still mad at the troublemakers for keeping Lucas with them, but if Lucas was right and they weren't meaning to cause trouble then Claus didn't want to hurt them.

Lucas was silent a moment, then sighed deeply. "Well in the end I can't exactly stop you, can I? No matter how much I don't like it. After all-" Lucas's hand strayed to the metal collar surrounding his neck and Claus felt happy and sad all at once.

Claus hated Lucas feeling sad, but Claus had to protect his little brother. Even if it was a dream, he'd promised their mom that he would and anyway, it was what big brothers were supposed to do. "I promise that I'll take care of them. I promise, Lucas." He held out his fist and Lucas stared down at it for a moment before sighing again. But he also smiled slightly as they solemnly did the fist dance.

Claus relaxed a little at his little brother's smile. Even though he'd made the promise mainly to reassure Lucas, he really meant it. The troublemakers would probably resist and so there'd probably be a fight, but other than the bruises that would come from that Claus would watch out for them. After they were safely captured, he'd take them to the doctors and get them patched up and then they'd be fine.

And after that, he'd find out if they were good or bad. If they were bad- if they'd just been using Lucas- he'd punish them. But if they were good, and they were trying to do the right thing, like Lucas thought, then… well, Claus wasn't quite sure. He'd have to make sure they wouldn't interfere anymore, of course.

Maybe he could have Lucas explain things to them. True, Lucas really didn't understand everything yet but he understood enough to not cause trouble, so that would help at least. Whatever the truth was, Claus would find a way to take care of everyone.

Claus smiled as the brothers let their fists drop.

Lucas's faint smile was still there but then it vanished as he frowned in thought. "I guess that will have to work for now. But Claus, we really have to focus on getting your memory back."

"Weren't we doing that already?" Claus asked even as he perked up. He didn't understand why Lucas was bringing that up now, but more memories of Mom and Dad and the time before everything had gone wrong could only be a good thing.

"Well, yeah, but we got to work faster now. The faster we figure everything out, the quicker we know where we stand, and then we'll know what to do next."

Oh. That made sense. Claus nodded and Lucas's smile came back before he returned to cleaning the room.

Claus watched him briefly before helping. There might be many things he didn't understand, but the one thing he was sure of was that he was going to keep his little brother safe.

Chapter 14

The scream dragged Lucas out of dreams and into the room's darkness.

He flung himself upright in bed to find Claus sitting straight up, his eyes still shut as he screamed without stopping.

"Claus!" Lucas flung his arms around his brother.

Claus jerked and his scream cut off, but otherwise didn't respond.

"Claus, Claus it's me! Open your eyes!"

Claus stayed still a moment- just long enough for Lucas to wonder if his brother had been able to find his way back to peaceful sleep- when Claus flinched before moaning and trying to pull away. Lucas held on, hugged him closer and began to hum, trying to sooth his twin back to happy dreams. But Claus kept moving-

And then Claus's eyes snapped open.

"Claus?" Lucas leaned over but his twin's eyes didn't seem to see him at all, looking through him like he wasn't even there- staring at something that wasn't there.

And then he began to thrash as if trying to escape.

Lucas began rocking him back and forth, humming again, louder this time.

Mom had done this for them when they'd had nightmares. Lucas hoped it would work now, but he couldn't get rid of the fear either. The fear that came from the way Claus's eyes were focused on something Lucas couldn't see and the way Claus kept trying to get away as if he thought some monster was attacking him-

Claus lashed out with a punch then, but they were too close together for it to build up any real momentum. Lucas just absorbed it with a grunt, then gathered his brother even closer and began to sing instead of just humming.

"I see the moon

The moon sees me

The moon sees somebody

I want to see-"

Except that wasn't true. Mom was gone and the moon couldn't see her anymore. Nobody could see her anymore.

People had told Lucas that she was watching over them, but the only time Lucas really seen anything like that had been in that field of sunflowers after he'd gotten knocked on the head-

Lucas's breath escaped in a hiss as he forced himself to focus on the present.

Claus was still thrashing, but Lucas thought he seemed less frantic now.

Lucas kept rocking, kept singing. Feelings of helplessness scratched at his voice and tried to steal it as Claus's grunts and cries kept drowning out the song, but Lucas kept singing. There was so little he could do right now, he was at least going to help his brother get a decent night's sleep.

Claus suddenly slumped over, his head bumping against Lucas's as it fell-

"Claus?"

Claus mumbled something Lucas couldn't make out. Lucas leaned closer and managed to make out "No- it's not true. I do have a family. They are real, they are! No- don't hurt them! Don't hurt them! Don't make them not real!"

"Claus?" Lucas repeated, fear raising his voice higher.

"Lucas?" Claus whispered, so quietly Lucas wondered if he'd imagined it. And then he was shoved, sent flying onto the cold hard floor. "Run, Lucas! Don't let him get you!"

Head spinning, Lucas was still trying to understand when Claus retreated from the top of the bed. Lucas discovered he'd hidden underneath the beds when his head peeked out slightly from underneath the bed. His mismatched eyes darted from one side to the other, before grabbing Lucas and dragging him underneath.

Even after that, Claus didn't let go of Lucas. Lucas didn't try to get away, trying to comfort Claus by allowing him to hold him. He could feel him shaking violently, almost as if he was going to shake himself apart.

Lucas hugged Claus back and started to stroke his back. Claus buried his face in Lucas's back and kept trembling.

"Claus…" Lucas started to say it was okay, then stopped. "I'm here Claus."

Claus hugged him tighter, but said nothing.

"Do you want me to keep singing?"

"No! They'll hear."

Lucas breathed out, then whispered "Okay" and hoped his voice didn't sound as broken as it felt.

"Lucas, don't let him get you too."

"I won't."

Claus sighed softly, relieved. He didn't loosen his grip on Lucas but did relax the rest of his body, resting on Lucas's shoulder instead of hiding in it.

Lucas, still confused, just sat there and kept stroking his brother's back. Was what had just happened a good sign? A bad sign?

Since even the singing didn't seem to comfort Claus- and since he was worried about them being heard- Lucas didn't go back to singing or even humming. Comforting things to whisper ran through his head but none were good enough to risk worrying Claus by breaking the silence.

So Lucas just stroked his brother's back until Claus finally relaxed fully and slipped back into more peaceful dreams.

Once Lucas was sure Claus was safe in sleep, he carefully pulled one of the blankets off the bed and laid it on the floor, and carefully laid Claus down on it. He stirred, but Lucas laid down next to him, putting one arm over him, reassuring him with his presence. Once his brother settled and remained settled, Lucas cautiously returned to the bed only to grab the other blankets and the pillows. He wished he was strong like Dad, strong enough to lift Claus and return him to the bed, but Claus was too heavy.

It'd be easier if it weren't for the mechanical arm. If Porky hadn't put that stupid weight on him-

Lucas shook his head as he tucked his brother in. It wouldn't do him any good to think about that. He couldn't change it, so it was best not to think about it.

"Don't let him get you too."

Claus had made him promise that, Lucas thought as he slid next to his brother and touched their foreheads together, reassuring himself with that touch that his brother was there and alive.

Claus must've been warning him about Porky. What had Porky done to give him such nightmares? What had Porky done to Claus to make him forget about his family? Lucas unconsciously tightened his arms around his brother.

What was Lucas going to do? He wanted to take Claus and run far far away. Part of him wanted to race home, lock and barricade the door and all the windows and never come out again. But he knew that wouldn't work. Even ignoring the impossibility of actually making it happen, all by himself, once he woke up, Claus would get mad at him.

And Lucas was beginning to suspect that Porky would follow. Whatever his plan was, he needed the Needles pulled and he needed Claus to pull the Needles for him.

Whatever Porky was planning, they needed to face it and fight it, but they were running out of time. Porky had lied to Claus again and told him that Duster and Kumatora were bad people and that they had to be captured. And Claus believed Porky- and he thought that Lucas was naive. He hadn't said so, but Lucas could tell what he was thinking.

Lucas had to bring back Claus's memory as quickly as possible. Maybe that nightmare had been a good thing? Maybe it meant his memory was coming back.

Still, Lucas couldn't help worrying, even though he knew that just made things worse. What if Claus still didn't remember, even after Lucas told him all about their past? It wasn't like there was much to tell, really. Until Mom died, they'd always lived peacefully in the village. Sure, there had been problems, but they'd been small ones, like Lucas and Claus jumping on the bed too much until they broke it.

But this was much worse than a broken bed. This was Claus. Not to mention Duster and Kumatora were in danger too. And Lucas didn't want to disappoint Ionia, because he'd said he'd pull the Needles. Even though Lucas knew Claus waking up the Dragon wouldn't destroy the world, right now he was the only one who knew that, because the others didn't know it was Claus under the helmet.

Lucas briefly considered "losing" the helmet before dismissing the idea. There was nowhere in the room he could hide it without Claus finding it. It would just upset Claus, and that wouldn't accomplish anything.

Maybe Lucas could convince Claus to take off his helmet the next time he saw Duster and Kumatora? Duster would recognize Claus. Because they'd fought before, and because Claus had captured Lucas, they probably wouldn't trust him much, not at first anyway. But it'd be a step closer at least. Duster would understand that Claus had lost his memory, just like he had. Once Duster knew that, he would understand that Claus had been confused and he hadn't joined the Pigmasks because he'd wanted to. And then Claus could tell them that Lucas was fine.

And then what? Lucas wanted to think that they'd all be friends then, but he knew it wouldn't be that easy. For one thing, Claus seemed determined to make sure they didn't interfere anymore. What if they promised to be careful? Kumatora probably wouldn't want to do that. She was very upfront and open about how she felt and she worried about people, even when she tried to hide it. When it came to that, she was a little bit like Claus.

Lucas chuckled softly, briefly at the thought.

He'd talk with Claus about their past as much as he could. Every moment that he could. Even if Claus got uncomfortable, he'd go on- unless Claus started hurting really bad. Lucas needed to push him a little- but he couldn't push him too hard. He was so hurt already-

It didn't help that the Pigmasks always had something they "needed" Claus to do. If only Claus wasn't gone so much-

Lucas hissed out a breath, reminding himself to focus on the things that he could control.

Could he do anything else? He could talk to Claus more about his journey with Duster and Kumatora. That probably wouldn't help his memories come back, but it would help him understand Duster and Kumatora and why they didn't like the Army better.

Maybe that would help. Maybe...

Lucas finally drifted back to sleep, but his worries followed him there, lurking beneath the waves of his dreams.

OoOoOo

"Lucas."

Lucas buried his head in the pillow.

"Lucas." A hand landed lightly on his shoulder.

Lucas curled up into a ball.

"Lucas." The hand shook him slightly.

"Don't wanna get up," Lucas mumbled into the pillow, then groggily wondered if his voice had reached the room at all.

"Lucas." A more forceful shake this time. Lucas would've complained, or maybe even started worrying, except that all this shaking was accompanied by Claus's voice. Claus always wanted to get up early and he always wanted Lucas to join him.

"Five more minutes."

"Lucas!"

Lucas giggled into the pillow. Claus was getting fed up now. How long until he grabbed his pillow?

"Lucas, get up now." Huh, he was imitating Dad now. Still, Claus's 13 year old voice wasn't up to equaling Dad's deep impressive voice yet.

"Nope," Lucas responded, curling up tighter around his pillow, just waiting- and then Claus made a grab for it. Gleefully, Lucas smacked him in the face causing him to sputter, then jumped up on the bed and swung again. This time, Claus ducked out of the way.

"Lucas, what are you doing?"

"Defend yourself!" Lucas cried, tossing Claus his pillow and grabbing Claus's. Claus caught it automatically, still looking confused. Lucas jumped down from the bed and swung the pillow at his brother.

Claus dodged again. "We should be getting ready."

"The mess hall won't be going anywhere without us."

Claus blinked. Apparently that was a new thought to him.

Lucas smacked him with the pillow again and grinned. "Gotcha."

Claus scowled slightly and hit him back. Still grinning, Lucas let the pillow hit him and counter attacked.

After a while of swinging their pillows, Claus knocked Lucas's pillow away.

"Drat, you won. I guess you're still the king of pillow fights Claus," Lucas said with a playful sigh.

Lucas picked up his pillow and tossed it back onto the bed.

"We should be getting ready now," Claus said slowly, still clutching at the pillow as he turned back to Lucas.

"We can get ready now, Claus," Lucas said softly as he took his brother's pillow. Unable to resist, he slapped him on the shoulder with it. "Smile, Claus! It was fun, wasn't it?" Lucas returned the pillow to the bed, hoping Claus didn't see his expression. He hit the pillow, trying (and failing) to fluff it as he tried (and failed) to push away the anger that bubbled up whenever Claus got like this, so far away even though he was close enough to touch. Lucas hit the pillow one last time, then turned to find Claus staring at the floor.

Claus was already ready, mostly. He had on the shirt and the pants, but he also had a serious case of bed head. Lucas supposed it wouldn't really matter, because he was going to put on the helmet anyway and no one would see his face, let alone his hair. Still, Lucas couldn't leave it like that.

Lost in thought- in memories- Lucas dressed in silence, before taking out the comb and beckoning to Claus.

"What?"

"Come here."

Claus did so, and Lucas got behind him and began combing out his hair.

"…what are you doing?" Claus asked, watching him in the mirror.

"Fixing your hair."

"Why? No one's going to see it anyway."

"I know," Lucas said softly, moving the comb over his brother's hair, being sure to use the right mixture of gentleness and strength. "I know. But… I want to do this for you."

Silence briefly, then-

"Okay," Claus said softly. And when Lucas finished, Claus took the comb and gently maneuvered Lucas so they switched places. And then he began to comb Lucas's hair. Lucas winced, a couple times- had to remind Claus to be gentle- but it was nice. No one had bothered to brush his hair or take care of him in any way since Mom had died. Of course, he was thirteen now, and he was getting more and more grown up all the time, so he could take care of himself. But it still was nice.

Claus finished and laid the comb down.

"Now we're both lookin' handsome," Lucas said softly, not taking his eyes off the mirror.

Claus nodded, somewhat jerkily, then asked "Mom… she used to say that to us… after she combed our hair, didn't she?"

"Uh huh. And then she'd give us a kiss on our foreheads."

"Sometimes… sometimes I didn't want to stay still, did I? I'd- I'd run off before she was done. Before she could kiss me."

"Sometimes," Lucas agreed softly. "I didn't always stay still either, Claus."

Claus gave him a look- no words were needed- Lucas answered before he could come up with the words to ask the question.

"Mom knows you love her. She would've liked it if you would've stayed and waited for her more, but she understood. She knew it was hard for you to stay still sometimes. She knew and she loved you anyway. She always loved you Claus. And she knew you loved her. You showed her that when you brought her flowers, when you tried to do her chores for her-"

"Even though I ripped up our shirts by accident?"

Lucas giggled quietly. "Yes, even then. And I spilled all the soap, remember?"

A grin twitched Claus's lips up. It didn't last long, but even as it was disappearing, he relaxed.

Lucas turned away from the mirror and hugged his brother.

Claus touched his hands to his brother's back, and then slowly rested his head on Lucas's shoulder. He breathed deep and then, after a minute, he moved away. "Come on, time to go."

"Okay," Lucas agreed, a little reluctantly. While he didn't like the room, he wasn't fond of the rest of the base either.

At least the Pigmasks had stopped staring. They still looked at him curiously, but they didn't look at him as long or as intently. So that was good.

The fact that the hallways were crammed full of Pigmasks rushing back and forth seemed more likely to be bad though. The hallways were never empty for long in this place, but today it was so full that the Pigmasks (who always stayed a respectful distance from Claus) actually came close enough to be touched a couple times.

"It's busy today," Lucas commented quietly as yet another Pigmask scurried past them.

"Due to the new orders, we need to double the search parties." There was no inflection, in the voice or in the words. But for just a second, his head had started towards Lucas before stopping.

"…because you're searching for Duster and Kumatora too now, right?"

"…yes. I will- I will keep my promise, Lucas."

"I know you will. That's not what I'm worried about." The main thing that worried him was Porky, but now didn't seem to be the time or the place to say that.

"I'll keep my eyes open," Claus promised softly. "The soldiers aren't bad. They need more training, but they're not bad. They do their best to obey orders."

"I'm sure that most of them are, Claus, but all it takes is one who isn't." Lucas resisted the urge to talk about bad orders. It was kinda irrelevant to this conversation anyway, since Claus was talking about giving the orders that- while not good- were certainly trying to be good and were certainly an improvement.

"…even if there is that one, they won't get the chance."

Lucas wasn't really that sure about that, but Claus was promising to be careful of them and to look out for them and that was good. That was a step. Just thinking about the orders at all was a step. Speaking of steps- "Claus, what were you dreaming about last night?"

Claus gave him a puzzled look. "Dream? I didn't dream anything last night."

"Yes, you did. You had some sort of horrible nightmare-" Lucas looked around, making sure no Pigmasks could overhear, before moving closer and whispering. "It was really bad, Claus. You hid under the bed and pulled me under with you."

Claus shook his head.

"Yes, you did," Lucas insisted firmly. "How else do you explain waking up there?"

"…you had a bad dream and pulled me under?"

Lucas shut his eyes and tried not to groan. Even with his brother's face hidden, Lucas knew that Claus didn't believe it at all, but just the fact that he'd even tried it all...

"No, Claus." For a moment, Lucas almost said something about how long it had taken Claus to calm down and the different things Lucas had tried to reassure him, but decided that might be pushing it. "You don't remember your dream at all?"

Claus shook his head, looking thoughtful and slightly worried.

Lucas digested that, then opened his mouth to ask another question, but then more Pigmasks rushed past.

"They need to stop running in the hallways," Claus grumbled.

Somehow, Lucas didn't think that was what was bugging him. Once the Pigmasks were gone, he spoke up again. "Last night- that dream- I've never seen you react like that to any dream before. It was really bad, Claus."

"Shh- don't call me that here," Claus hissed, quickly looking around for anyone who could have heard.

Lucas sighed. How was he supposed to bring Claus's memories back when half the time he couldn't even call Claus by his name?

"Lucas?"

"Sorry Cl-" Lucas cut himself off before he could finish saying the name, but deliberately didn't replace it with 'Commander'. "I just don't feel so great today. Woke up twice, worried about Duster and Kumatora, worried about you-"

"About me?" Claus asked, confused. "I'm the strong one. You don't need to worry about me."

"You're strong," Lucas agreed quietly, "but you're not invincible. You're strong enough that you can beat almost anyone, but there's still people out there who are just as strong. And you got hurt bad while we were separated. I think that's what caused your nightmare last night. You told me to get away so that he didn't get me too. I don't know what happened- I don't know what they did to you while they were keeping us apart- but it must've been bad."

Claus opened his mouth- the little bit of expression that Lucas could see looked dismayed and helpless-

More Pigmasks thronged the hallway again. The brothers remained silent as they passed, despite Lucas's growing urge to scream at the top of his lungs. All he wanted was just him, Claus, their dad and everyone at home, safe and sound. That was all he wanted. Why did everything had to be so complicated?

Lucas couldn't stop his breath from escaping in a hiss. He noticed Claus's head whip towards him in a quick motion- then, seeing he was fine, quickly looked straight ahead again.

A smile poked at Lucas's lips but before it could fully form, they turned the corner and almost ran into a scientist also turning the corner, just from the opposite direction. He glared at them as if they were somehow supposed to know that he was coming and get out of his way.

Claus scowled in return at the scientist even as he grabbed Lucas's hand and started herding Lucas towards the mess hall, always keeping his body between Lucas and the scientist.

Lucas gave Claus a thankful smile then looked over his shoulder to to see the scientist staring after them, glasses glinting in the light and making it appear like he had no eyes.

They entered the mess hall, and Lucas's mood lifted just a little at the thought of seeing Junior and Senior again. It'd been nice that they had missed him yesterday and given Claus that message to give to him.

As soon as he and Claus walked in, Lucas waved.

Junior waved back, then jabbed Senior in the stomach with his elbow so he'd notice too. They both waved, then went back to serving the Pigmasks in line.

"Lucas."

"Yeah?"

"That's distracting."

"It's just a wave, Cl-" Lucas coughed, trying to cover up the fact that he'd started to call Claus by his name again. "It's not really a distraction. It's just another way to say hi."

Claus didn't say anything else, but he didn't look happy either. They moved into the line.

Lucas did understand the whole 'don't be a distraction thing' and he didn't want to get anyone in trouble. Not Junior or Senior, and not anybody else either, but especially not Claus. Still, it was just a wave. It wouldn't hurt anybody, right?

"Lucas, you're back!"

"Hi guys."

"We missed you yesterday, Lucas. Where were you?"

Lucas tried not to look at Claus. "Yesterday was… kinda a weird day. I- I was sick. Yeah. Um, how was your day?"

"Oh, you know. Same old same old," Senior responded as Junior returned with their trays. "We're glad you're feeling better, Lucas!"

"Thanks guys." Lucas took his tray with a smile and tried not to feel bad about the lie.

"No problem Lucas!" Junior chirped cheerfully as he handed Claus his tray. "See you later!"

"Yeah, see you later," Lucas said as he nodded to both of them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Claus give a short quick nod of his own, before he began herding Lucas again, this time to the table that Lucas was almost beginning to think of as their table.

They sat down and Claus immediately started eating, but even though Lucas picked up his spoon and nudged first the porridge, then the rubbery eggs, his throat closed itself in rejection even without tasting it.

Lucas decided not to fight with his stomach and forced out a sigh to be able to speak. "You're going to go out and search again, aren't you?"

Claus paused at the sudden question before swallowing. "Yes," he said, slightly hesitantly before filling up his spoon again.

Lucas really didn't mean to wait until the spoon was almost at his brother's lips but he was having problems getting the words out of his mouth."Are you going to hunt for Duster and Kumatora or for the Ultimate Chimera?"

Claus froze for a moment, his spoon half in, half out of his mouth before he hurriedly choked the food down and putting his spoon back in the bowl. "I haven't figured out all the details yet. The Ultimate Chimera is the biggest threat, because it will kill the soldiers if it gets the chance. However, we can't ignore the troublemakers either…"

"So you aren't really sure what you're going to do yet?"

Claus nodded reluctantly.

"You should go after the Ultimate Chimera first. Even if Duster and Kumatora break stuff, it can be repaired, but you can't bring the dead back to life." Lucas's hand gripped the spoon tightly enough that it hurt.

"You have a point…" Claus admitted quietly. "I think for now, since the last known location we have for the Ultimate Chimera is the last known location for the troublemakers, we'll stay in one group and look for them together. If we find signs of one, but not the other, we'll follow the one we can find signs of and keep our eyes open for the other. If we find signs of both of them, going in different directions… I'll send some soldiers to track the troublemakers, and I'll lead the main force after the Ultimate Chimera. If we have the chance to capture the troublemakers before we track down the Ultimate Chimera, we will take the opportunity, but until the Ultimate Chimera is taken care of, it will be our primary objective."

Lucas turned to look at his cereal unhappily.

"Lucas." A quick, not painful jab in the ribs, and Lucas reluctantly turned back. Claus was staring at the space between them, then lifted his eyes to meet his brother's. "I – I will keep my promise."

"… I can't stop worrying, Claus. There's too many things that could wrong, too many people I don't trust..." Lucas trailed off as he fought with the words. He sighed as his gaze returned to his food- the eggs were beginning to look like they were staring back at him so he looked up- only to pause as he realized that the scientist was sitting at the table next to theirs, his glasses glinting still in the artificial light.

"Lucas?"

Lucas turned back to his brother and tried to smile reassuringly. "I know you mean your promise Claus, and it does make me feel better. But I can't stop worrying, because things go wrong sometimes and some of the Pigmasks… aren't that nice." Lucas really wanted to say something else, but figured now wasn't the time.

"But you're not worried that I'll hurt them?"

"Not really," Lucas said quickly. "I'm worried about a lot of things but I know you won't lie to me." He kind of wanted to say more, but more Pigmasks started to sit down at some of the nearby tables, so Lucas decided now wasn't the time.

Besides, the last part had seemed to reassure Claus a bit. He relaxed, ever so slightly, no longer quite as stiff and straight. A slight twitch that- for only a second- was a smile, before he turned back to his food.

Lucas watched him for a little bit, glad that he was feeling better at least, before turning back to his own food. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the scientist was still sitting there and watching them. Actually, he looked kinda familiar. Still, Lucas was careful not to look up. Mom had always taught them that staring was rude, and besides, that scientist seemed very impatient and the last thing Lucas wanted to do was cause trouble for Claus.

But the food didn't have a lot of appeal today either. Must be because they ate late last night, Lucas told himself as he slowly put away the eggs. He couldn't even bear to look at the porridge.

He began looking around the room. He was glad that the Pigmasks didn't find him as fascinating now. A couple of them glanced away when they saw him looking at them, but most of them were either busy with their food or their friends.

Lucas hadn't thought about it before, but while he'd seen a white coat or two in here before, it was mainly Pigmasks who crowded the mess hall. He'd seen more scientists in the halls than in here-

But even more than that, Lucas couldn't help noticing that this scientist was still staring at Lucas and Claus with an intensity that put all of the previous stares to shame and made the remaining fragment of Lucas's appetite flee.

Lucas pushed the tray with the still full bowl of porridge away and turned to his brother.

Claus had finished his eggs and was starting on his bowl of porridge, but he was going pretty slow himself.

Lucas hesitated a moment, before reaching over and taking Claus's hand- the one that had the spoon in it. "If you're not hungry, you shouldn't eat anymore. You'll make yourself sick if you do."

Claus looked at Lucas and then at the bowl, which was still depressingly full, then back again. "But I'm supposed to eat the porridge."

"Who cares? It's just a bowl of porridge. I mean, it's not good to waste food, but it's even worse to make yourself sick. And we ate really late last night anyway, remember? That's why we're so full today."

Claus looked back at the bowl of porridge, a slightly guilty look on his face. "I'm supposed to eat my porridge."

"Why do you keep saying that? It's just a bowl of porridge. It's not like it's going to make any difference either way, right?"

"… I guess," he said, but he still looked doubtful.

"And if we leave now, maybe we could have some time to talk before you have to go?" Lucas asked hopefully.

Claus shot him a startled look, then gathered everything on his tray and stood up. "I don't think so- I have a lot of work to do today. But maybe- well, let's try."

"Okay." Lucas grabbed his tray and they put them with others and left. They walked quickly through the hallways- only slightly less crowded than before- not talking, focused on getting to the room and privacy as Lucas hurriedly went over the so very many things going on and what to say next-

"Lucas!"

Huh? Who knew his name here other than Claus?

Lucas turned to face the approaching Pigmasks.

"Whew, I'm glad I'm caught up. Hi Lucas, I haven't seen you at all since the first day I got here- oh hi, Commander," the Pigmask added, sounding a bit nervous.

"Hi, Sheep," Lucas answered, finally recognizing the voice.

Claus nodded, his face going all stiff again.

"So Sheep- what's your job here?" Lucas asked, groping slightly for something to say. He liked Sheep, but he didn't feel like talking right now- wanted to talk just a little bit before making excuses.

Sheep sighed, sounding less nervous. "Even though they've demoted me, they're still mad at me. They've assigned me the most grunt work you can get- perimeter guard. Not fun. On the other hand, this is the most requested base when people ask to be reassigned for a good reason. A couple of good reasons, really."

"Really? What reasons?" Both brothers asked at the same time.

"Gee, where to start? One is that- well, working at Thunder Tower tended to cause guilt trips in people. Blowing up people's houses when they're not doing anything to you doesn't make for a good night's sleep. Another one is that one of the scientists working here… well, she's really cute."

"Cute?" both boys echoed again, and then traded looks, Lucas slightly curious and Claus almost confused.

"Yeah. Rumor has it that she's dating one of the colonels, but-"

"That's very interesting, private, but I'm afraid I must interrupt." The cold voice came from behind them and Lucas's hand instinctively twitched in the direction of the stick he wasn't carrying anymore.

"Dr. Betz," Claus said coldly as the scientist from before walked up.

"It seems you and your little captive are adjusting well. Having so much fun you're not even looking where you're going, even. I presume that my invention has been a great asset to you?"

Lucas's hands darted up in the direction of the collar as he suddenly recognized the scientist from when he'd first woken up here, but managed to stop them about halfway up the middle of his chest. Lucas returned his hands to his sides, but couldn't stop them from forming fists.

"I've barely needed to use it. Lucas may have been traveling with the troublemakers, but he's a good boy."

Before Lucas could even begin to figure out how to respond to that, there was a series of loud thuds. All of them turned to look-

The door at the end of the hall shuddered. Claus had just enough time to move in front of Lucas and Lucas had just enough time to grab his brother's arm to keep him from rushing into danger when someone cried out. Both twins tensed.

The door exploded open.

The first thing Lucas noticed was the teeth, sharp and huge. It reminded him of the Almost Mecha Lion- catlike but almost fully mechanical. But this creature was different too. Slimmer, more streamlined, and missing the mane.

It leaped free of the mess that had been the door- landed and roared.

Pigmasks and scientists both shrieked and scattered. Sheep retreated a couple steps, almost hiding in a nearby door, but he stopped and looked at Claus-

Lucas was vaguely aware of the scientist running all the way to the other end of the hallway, but as he did in battles, Lucas narrowed his focus to the monster in front of him and his brother and Sheep behind him.

The monster focused on them, the only ones not running away. It growled softly and started stalking closer.

Even as Claus began to slowly draw his sword, Lucas braced himself and reached for his PSI- first I'll cover us with shields and then- but his PSI remained cold and far away.

The collar!

"Commander?" Sheep asked nervously.

Claus snapped the blade on. "Stay back," he said, then lunged at the chimera.

Even as his brother was throwing himself at the creature, Lucas formed his hands into fists and tried to think of options, searched for something he could use- then he saw the cleaning bucket with the mop still sticking out of it. Better than nothing.

Lucas darted for it- even as his hands grasped it he heard Claus call out "PK Thunder!", then the sound of the beam saber slashing through the air and colliding with something solid.

The creature's roar only made Lucas spin faster- spin in time to see it take a swipe at Claus, but he dodged back a couple of steps, just out of reach.

"PK-"

The chimera swiped at him again and again Claus jumped back- but this time, while the chimera was adjusting itself, Lucas swung the mop at the non-mechanical part of its head.

It staggered back- Lucas drew the mop back-

"Lucas, duck!"

Lucas dropped- obeying his brother's voice and the sound of the wings as Claus shot over his head. "Stay back, Lucas!"

"No!" Lucas called, gripping the mop tighter, holding back just long enough to see his brother's patterns- watched as Claus sped forward, firing off volleys of PK Thunder, then a blast from the transformed cannon arm, then a slash with the energy saber- Lucas jumped in, timing his attacks with his brother's. His PSI was a cold missing ache between his shoulders, but he wouldn't let that stop him!

The thing was forced back- oil and blood dripped from its wounds- but it steadied itself then roared again.

Claus grabbed the back of Lucas's collar and yanked him back- shoved him away from the chimera. Sheep had been creeping closer, trying to find a way to help- the Pigmask kept Lucas from hitting from the floor-

Claus shifted his stance, preparing to attack- the thing charged again and Claus brought the cannon arm up and blasted-

"Claus, watch out!" Lucas rushed forward, Sheep right behind him.

Hit by the blast, the chimera's body had toppled and fallen on top of Claus and pinned him.

Claus was already trying to wiggle free as Lucas and Sheep reached him. Working together, they managed to roll it off him.

Claus stood up quickly and began brushing himself off. Judging by the way he moved and the way he kept his face turned away, Lucas thought he was probably embarrassed that the chimera fell on top of him. Claus always liked to look cool.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked anxiously.

"Fine." The answer was short, but he did stop brushing himself off and face Lucas, then looked at Sheep and then back at Lucas. He hesitated briefly, and then said, "Thank you."

"It's no problem, sir!" Sheep threw a salute and oinked happily.

Lucas managed to smile a little before his focus dropped away and he remembered what else was going on. "I just wish I could do more to help you," he said out loud and doubted- even as Claus gave him a tiny smile- that he knew all the ways he wished he could help him.

But now that the chimera was down, the scientists and other Pigmasks were coming back, gathering around them, not crowding them but surrounding them all the same. The Pigmasks cheered and even some of the scientists were looking relieved and were clapping politely.

Lucas was glad that at least these guys were appreciating Claus but it was because of things like this (and the Needles) that they didn't want to let him go.

"Mine."

The twins turned- stepping closer to each other even as they moved- to see that the scientist from before- Betz- was back. He wasn't even paying any attention to them as he walked up, examining the remains of the chimera with a scowl on his face. "One of my assistants must have forgotten to lock the cage properly. It won't happen again, I assure you."

"Why were you guys even working on something like that?" Lucas asked, looking at the creature one last time before turning back to the scientist- who was giving him a weird look. "…what?" Lucas asked, resisting the urge to move closer to Claus and shift back into his battle stance.

The scientist's eyes flickered briefly to the collar around Lucas's neck- for a moment, it seemed like everyone else was staring at it too- before smiling. It wasn't a nice smile.

"Why? Why not? This is science. It's the learning, the experimenting that's the thing. If we do this, what happens? If we do that, what happens? It's just an animal. I can always request more specimens."

"But- but it's a living creature! Animals may not be people, but they're still alive and have feelings! They're not toys!"

The scientist snorted. "It's only an animal. Get over it, boy."

Lucas clenched his fists. He wanted to argue more, wanted to do something, anything- why didn't they understand?- but Claus reached out and took Lucas by the shoulder, pulling him behind him.

"Ah, thank you, Commander. That was getting annoying."

Most likely no one else noticed it, but Lucas felt Claus twitch.

"I find it annoying to clean up your messes." The tone was cold enough to rival Snowcap Mountain, but it made Lucas stand just a little bit straighter.

"Commander!" A caped Pigmask stepped up and saluted. "What should we do with the chimera?"

"Carry it back to my lab of course-" the scientist started, very matter of fact-

"No," Claus said firmly.

"No?" echoed the Pigmasks.

"No?" asked Betz in almost a growl.

Claus tilted his head to the side. He studied the scientist before deliberately turning his back, facing the Pigmasks who were standing there, waiting for him to speak. "This creature has proven itself to be a danger to this base and everyone on it. We can't ignore that. We don't need another Ultimate Chimera running around." He paused for a moment, glancing once more at the creature, then looked back at the Pigmasks. "Take it outside and take care of it there."

The Pigmasks saluted and got started.

"You can't do that! You don't have any authority over us!" Dr. Betz hissed.

"Yes, I can. I have authority over the Army, and by your chimera escaping, you involved the soldiers, and by involving them, you involved me."

The scientist took a step back, watching as a group of Pigmasks picked up the chimera and began lugging it away. His fists shook once- twice- at his side before he carefully folded his arms. "Well then, I guess I'll go back to my lab and prepare a report for His Highness." Maybe it was Lucas's imagination, but he thought he heard a trace of sarcasm in the last two words.

"Go ahead, Doctor," Claus said quietly, "I'll be sending him one too." Then he turned to Lucas. "Go back to the room without me. I'll be busy today, so I might be late, but I'll come back as quick as I can, okay?"

Lucas nodded. He wasn't happy, but he understood-

"You can't have him wandering around freely!" Betz proclaimed, sounding smug that he finally had something on them. He strode closer as he spoke, unfolding his arms like he was planning to do something. "I'll take care of him for you- I'll even make sure to return him to you in one piece afterward!"

Even as Lucas shifted his stance to prepare, Claus yanked him back and behind him. "Your invention works, so your job here is done. I'm sure you have something else to work on. As for Lucas walking alone, he isn't the one causing trouble and putting people in danger," Claus retorted. "Lucas is a good boy. But if you're too scared of Lucas wandering around loose to do your job…" he beckoned Sheep over. "Private Sheep, escort him."

"Yes, sir!" Sheep saluted enthusiastically. "Come on Lucas!" He began tugging Lucas away.

Lucas let him, but he couldn't help glancing over his shoulder once or twice to make things were still going okay. Even when he stopped, he could still hear Claus and Betz arguing behind him. He made out Betz saying something like "Once my testing on the collar is complete, I can move onto other projects. After all, tests on the Nice People Hot Springs is progressing nicely-"

Then they turned the corner, and Lucas couldn't make out the words anymore. Nice Person Hot Springs? Lucas thought he'd heard them mentioned before- but before he could think about it, Sheep gave a relieved sigh, before glancing over his shoulder.

Once they were far enough away that they couldn't even hear the voices anymore, Sheep spoke up. "Remember when I said that this was the most requested base? That was a good example of the main reason why."

"Huh? What was?"

"The Commander. If an experiment gets loose, he takes care of it himself. The scientists- well, you saw how they were, high and mighty. They're not all like that, but a lot of them are. This is the only place where they're not allowed to run wild."

"So Cl- the Commander- protects everybody, huh?"

"Yup," Sheep said cheerfully.

Lucas couldn't help smiling a little in return. That was Claus all over. Both of them loved being able to help people, but Claus especially loved being a hero.

"We have the best Commander ever," Sheep added, "I don't even want to think about would be like without him. We'd probably be stuck with General Strang or one of his guys in charge. Yuck."

Lucas nodded, thinking that while he wanted Claus to stop being the Commander, he did do a good job. And then something occurred to him.

"Hey Sheep, what was the Commander before Cl- before this Commander like?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You know, what was the Commander before this one like? The old one?" Lucas didn't understand why Sheep was so confused. It was a pretty logical question, wasn't it? "I mean- there did used to be another Commander, right?"

"…well, I guess the Commander is pretty young. But I don't… I don't remember any Commander other than the one we have now. Huh, that's odd… well, whatever." Sheep began whistling the Pigmask theme in an odd, off key way.

Lucas waited a moment, then asked "Do you remember anyone talking about them?"

"Nope." Oddly cheerfully tone still, straight back to whistling.

"How long have you been with these guys anyway, Sheep?"

"Oh, I've been here for a while now. Let's see… uh, Lucas? Which way is the Commander's room again?"

"It's this way." Lucas took the lead, but glanced back at Sheep. "So, why did you join up?"

"Heh. It wasn't the money, let me tell you that. Honestly, I don't know why I joined up. But I'm here now, so-" he shrugged.

"But how long have you worked for the Army?" Lucas broke in before he could start that whistling again.

"Well… gee, I can't really remember. Let's see, before I was here, I worked at Thunder Tower. I was there when they promoted me and before that, I was at the other base."

"Other base?"

"Yeah. It's closer to the village then this base here, but not as close as Thunder Tower was. I think that's where the main labs are. There's a lot of shipping going to and from that place. I was there for a while before being sent to Thunder Tower."

"And where you before that?"

"…I don't remember. Huh. I guess I must've been sent there as soon as I joined up." There was a little bit of disquiet in his voice, before a beat or two of that discordant humming, before breaking off in the middle of the tune to cheerfully ask "So Lucas, which is the Commander's room?"

"It's not in this hallway, it's in the next one over. I'll tell you when we're there, Sheep."

"Okay. So Lucas, where do you come from?" Sheep asked, sounding eager to change the topic.

"Oh, we come from Tazmily. We've always lived there, our whole family, except for Grandpa."

"That's right, you must have parents. Where are they at now, and what do they think about you being here?"

"My mom's dead," Lucas said and when Sheep almost stumbled in surprise he tried to smile at him reassuringly.

"Oh. Oh, I'm sorry-"

Lucas almost reached out and patted his shoulder. "It's okay Sheep, I know. It's been three years now, so while I still miss her, I've mostly gotten used to it. And it's not like I'll never see her again. There's always Heaven, right?"

Sheep stared at him, then nodded slowly. "… what about your dad? You got a dad too, right?"

"Yeah, and my brother and our dog and our grandpa. That's our family."

"So where are they?"

"My grandpa's still in Tazmily. Boney- he's our dog- he and I got separated so I don't know where he is right now. I don't know where Dad is either. He's been searching for my brother."

"So your brother's missing?"

"No. Well, sorta. He was missing for three years, but I finally found him again. But I can't get him to come home with me. He-" Lucas swallowed the rest of his words as he remembered who he was talking to. Sheep was still looking at him, head tilted curiously as he waited. Lucas struggled for the right words for a moment before giving up and just doing the best he could. "He's confused- he thinks that there's things he needs to do here first, but they're really not that important."

"So…" Sheep sounded really curious now, "your brother's here?"

"… he's … he's close by. But- um- I don't think the Commander would like it if we kept talking about this."

"Oh," Sheep said, sounding even more confused. "Well, whatever the Commander says, I guess… although… " his voice suddenly turned thoughtfully before trailing off.

"Oh, okay," Sheep said, as Lucas reached for the knob. "Well, I guess I'll see you later, Lucas."

Lucas opened the door before turning to give Sheep a small smile. "Uh huh. Nice talking to you Sheep. See you later."

The room was depressingly empty.

Lucas shook his head, trying to get rid of such thoughts. They wouldn't help him help anyone.

Lucas sat at the desk and his hand landed on the history, before moving it. He picked up a blank sheet of paper.

Claus forgot everything when they took him away. And now Sheep had weird gaps in his memory too.

Why?

Even though he'd gotten used to this place and how cold it was, Lucas shivered.

Chapter 15

"He'll stay safe with me for forever."

Duster tossed another stick on the fire and sighed.

It was an odd thing to say about an enemy you intended to lock up just to keep out of your way and then forget about. No, that was the way you talked about someone you actually cared about-

Kumatora grunted in her sleep and flopped over.

Duster smiled fondly down at her.

The first time he'd met her, back in Oshe Castle, he hadn't quite known what to think. Her brash attitude was unlike anyone he'd ever met, other than maybe his dad. But despite her attitude, she did care about other people. She even cared enough about Duster to stick with him, despite his memory refusing to return.

She'd probably yell at him again if she realized he'd let her sleep past when he was supposed to wake her up and let her take her watch. Still though, she'd been pushing herself too hard all day. It wasn't like he was a stupid martyr- he fully intended to let her take a turn- he just wanted to her to get some more rest before she did.

It wasn't that Duster was a hero or anything. It was just that he was the oldest, the adult of the group, which meant his job was to look out for the others.

Which also meant that he'd failed. Lucas had been captured right in front of him. He hadn't been able to do anything.

"You couldn't keep him safe- he'll stay safe with me forever."

Why would the Pigmask Commander say that?

And he'd been wearing Lucas's Franklin badge. It could have been just that he'd figured out what it was by process of elimination and taken it away. But he'd talked about Lucas giving it to him as if they should believe him- and something about his voice-

The fire popped, and Duster glanced at it distractedly.

They should have plenty of fuel- and the abandoned but still sturdy building would keep their fire from being spotted by Pigmasks or wild animals.

After the battle with the Commander, they'd zig zagged all around the forest, to make sure they weren't followed or cornered. They'd returned to Ionia's for a night and slept there before returning to this place. It'd taken them all day to get here, so they'd set up camp and then gone to sleep.

Kumatora murmured and flopped over onto her other side, curling into an even tighter ball.

Duster looked over at her, not smiling.

The fight with the Commander had hit her hard. She never dealt well with frustration, and missing and worrying about Lucas just made it that much worse. Duster had the feeling she was feeling just as guilty as he was. Which was silly of her. It wasn't her fault. She wasn't that much older than Lucas.

There was something about Lucas. Maybe it was his smile. He smiled more with his eyes then with his mouth. It was a trusting smile, even now. The degree of trust had gone down, but it was still there. That smile made you like him, made him want to be your friend. Want to protect him.

Duster rubbed at his face wearily. This wasn't good. His brain kept chasing the same ideas around over and over and the tiredness was beginning to drag his eyelids down.

He didn't want to wake Kumatora, not when she was resting more peaceful then she'd been all night, but she'd been sleeping for hours now and Duster needed some rest of his own.

Reluctantly, he got up and shook her awake. "Kumatora. Hey, Kumatora. Time to wake up."

She grumbled under her breath and looked at him blearily. "Duster?"

"Your turn to stand watch." If she noticed that he'd let her sleep in, he'd admit it, but if she didn't notice, he certainly wouldn't tell her.

Kumatora stretched, almost cat-like. "Right," she said, standing up. "You go ahead and rest now while I take over!"

Duster nodded fondly, and laid down. He shut his eyes as Kumatora started to hum to herself.

Duster was still listening to her as he drifted off to sleep.

He dreamed, vague, out of reach fragments. He dreamed of the sea, watching it go past, of voices that called to him, so familiar. And yet, they didn't know his name.

"Hey Duster, you okay?"

At first he thought one of the voices from his dream had finally learned his name- and then he opened his eyes and realized it was Kumatora.

"You okay?" she asked again, gazing at him worriedly.

"…yeah." Duster cleared his throat (clogged almost as if he was going to cry) and tried again. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a dream." He sat up. "What time is it?"

"Well, I'm not sure of the exact time, but-" Kumatora gestured to the window from before, now uncovered. "As you can see, the sun is beginning to get up."

"Right," Duster sighed and stood up as he stretched. "Guess we might as well get started."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Kumatora said determinedly, lighting an unused branch in the fire and turning it into a torch, before Duster dumped the pile of dirt that they'd gathered last night for this purpose over the fire and putting it out. "Let's go."

Outside the sun was just beginning to come up and the air was still cold from the night, but slowly, slowly becoming warmer. Duster hadn't heard any bird or animal noises as of yet. Maybe they were just sleeping in. Or maybe they didn't like the structure and avoided it.

Duster and Kumatora headed further inside, Duster trying not to look at the place where he'd wandered to in his previous trance.

They walked through silent hallways, lined by silent and empty rooms. They checked every one, occasionally coughing at the dust thrown up by their feet.

At the end of the hallway it led out into a big open room.

It was lined by tables covered with switches and buttons-

"Ah-ha!" cheered Kumatora, rushing over to examine the closest one. "I knew this was a Pigmask base!"

Duster said nothing as he walked further and further and further in, looking around. The dust seemed to be getting thicker and thicker, almost choking off his throat.

It was true that the Pigmasks were the only ones they'd seem with any kind of technology like this, but still, somehow- he was almost sure-

He was standing in front of the center now. There was a depression there, on top of it, like something was meant to fit right there.

Duster reached for it- wanting to see it clearer, meaning to dust it off so he could see it better- his fingers touched it.

The whole room lit up with a white flash- the sound of something charging, so loud it hurt their ears- around them the lights began sputtering back to full power.

And then a figure appeared in front of them.

"Leder?" Duster asked, dumbfounded.

Wait- it was him, but at the same time - why could they see through him?

"Isn't that the guy who used to hang around that bell in your village?" Kumatora asked, "Why can I see through him?"

"I don't-" Duster started to say, when the apparition suddenly opened his mouth.

"This place is forbidden."

"Whoa!"

"No way! He actually talks!"

"For whatever reason you have come here, you must leave. If you stay too long in this place, you will not be able to turn back."

"What are you talking about?" Kumatora asked, then got irritated when he kept talking over her, just as cryptic as before, "Hey, look at me you jerk!"

"He's not really here," Duster said softly.

Kumatora turned back to him. "What are you talking about?"

"It's like a picture- except it moves. He isn't here now- but he was before."

"…how do you know that?"

"…I don't know." Duster reached for the indentation and pressed it again.

The image stopped- froze briefly- then started again. The look on his face was even graver than before.

"Wess- or Duster- or whoever is here- this is the point of no return. If you're here because the crisis we feared has come, then proceed. Place the Hummingbird Egg on the stand. But remember- once you insert the Egg, you have passed the point of no return. You will not be able to go back, no matter how much you want to. Remember." The image flashed and then was gone.

Leder could talk? And he'd said Duster's name. He'd known that he was going to come here, or at least suspected he might.

Duster's head pounded like an overenthusiastic child with a drum.

"What was that? What the heck is going on here?" Kumatora demanded, still staring at where the image had been before spinning to face Duster. "Hey, he's from your village and he knew you were going to come here. What's going on?"

"I don't know!" he shouted, then pressed his hands to his head. "Sorry- I just- have I been here before? Since when can Leder talk? And how did he know I was going to come here?" He lowered his hands and stared at where the image had been.

Kumatora approached, standing in front of him, demanding his attention with how close she stood. "So your memory- it's not all back?" Her voice quieter now.

Duster tried not to shudder as all the disconnected memories surged like a tide trying to pulling out. Instead of answering, he pulled out the egg and stared at it, started studying it for the first time.

For a moment, the voices from his dreams echoed in his ear-

And then Kumatora yanked it out of his hands.

"We can't do anything with this thing yet!" she said, holding it in the air. "Not until we know exactly what this thing does. And if you don't know and I don't know, then we need to find out." She spun and headed for the doors with it still in her arms.

Duster followed after her, telling himself that the twinge is his leg was from pushing himself to run so fast. That it didn't have anything to do with the wistful feelings struggling in his heart.

Chapter 16

Summary:

Porky continues to be the worst.

"And this is where we keep food supplies."

"Wow Claus, this place is so big," Lucas said, looking around at the rows of shelves surrounding them. "Don't you ever get lost? How do you remember it all?"

Claus shrugged. "You'll get used to it."

Claus was showing Lucas around the base, trying to show him how the Army worked. So Lucas would understand that they weren't bad, that the troublemakers were the bad ones.

He needed Lucas to understand, because when Lucas understood, then he'd fit in. Then Master Porky would forget all about him and just focus on the troublemakers.

"Come on," Claus said, causing Lucas to turn and face him, "I'll show you the infirmary next."

"What's an infirmary?" Lucas asked as he followed him out of the room.

"The infirmary is where people go when they're hurt or sick." Turning the corner into a hallway, Claus pointed to the sign on the door. "If there's anyone inside getting help, we'll just look in and then leave. We can't afford to be distractions."

"Okay," Lucas agreed easily. "We don't want to get in the way of someone who needs help."

Claus nodded and opened the door.

Rows of plain white beds stretched along both walls and beyond them, a door led into another room.

There was someone sitting on one of the beds. A soldier in the usual pink uniform. The pig helmet sat on the bed next to him, his dark hair hanging in his face as he stared at the ground.

There was a doctor standing over him, examining him, so Claus quietly shut the door before they noticed.

"Did you get a good look?"

Lucas shrugged. "I got a glimpse of the room, but I did want to see more. Can we come back later, maybe?"

"Well, if we have the time, I guess," Claus said, slightly surprised.

But then, this was Lucas. Lucas didn't like seeing anyone in pain, not even animals, so it did make sense that he'd be interested in a place where people were helped.

Hey, if Lucas assisted in the infirmary, he would be considered helpful. That would be more proof that he was a good boy and not a troublemaker or an obstacle to the mission. And Lucas might like it too. He liked helping people. And maybe that would help the men realize that he was a good boy too.

Claus filed the idea away carefully and beckoned Lucas along.

"So where are we going now?" Lucas asked as he followed him.

"The training room. Then we'll be done for the day. So Lucas, are you beginning to understand now?"

"Well, I think I can find my way around now, if I had to…"

"That's good, but that's not what I meant. You won't have to, because I'll stay with you. Do you understand what we're doing here now?"

When Lucas didn't respond, Claus looked over his shoulder.

Lucas was making faces to himself as they walked. He must be thinking about it, but he didn't look happy.

"Lucas?"

He looked up at his brother and shrugged. "Um… I guess I could tell what the rooms are for, and list some of the things that they do here. But I really don't understand what the point is."

"The point?"

"Yeah, you know. The goal, the thing you work towards-"

"We follow orders," Claus said, confused himself now.

Lucas sighed, sounding a little frustrated. "No, not that Claus. A goal is something you pursue because you want to do it. I mean- is the Army's only purpose to just do what Porky says? Shouldn't they be focused on more important things?"

"What would be more important?"

"Protecting people, for one. Although it's true that the most dangerous things on the island are the chimeras, still, the Pigmasks should clean up their mess and do something about them. And they also need to stop messing around with animals like that and hurting them." Lucas sighed, looking sadder still, before looking up and meeting Claus's eyes. "Did I explain that good? About having a purpose? Back in the village, Mom and Dad took care of the sheep, and the two of us and Boney helped them, and Mr. Lighter and Fuel gathered wood for everybody and Mr. Bronson used wood to make things for everyone. Everyone had a job and everyone worked together and everyone was happy."

"We work together. The scientists make things for the soldiers and the soldiers bring things back for the scientists."

"Really? I haven't seen any of that. I've just seen the scientists cause problems and the soldiers try not to get into trouble."

Claus stood there a moment- he opened his mouth- nothing came.

He turned and quickly moved towards the next destination. He had to show Lucas that this was the good place, that they were the good guys!

Lucas sighed behind him as he hurried to catch up. "Don't be mad, Claus."

"I'm not mad."

"Then why are you stomping?"

"I'm not stomping."

"Yes, you are. Your feet are hitting the ground a lot harder than they normally do."

Claus immediately started trying to quiet his steps.

Lucas was quiet a moment, but Claus could feel his eyes burning into his back. "You know I don't care about the army and stuff like that, right? I just care about you, because you're my brother."

"But I'm the Commander of the Army."

"Yeah, but you're also the one who dropped my favorite story book in the river when we were five," Lucas pointed out in a long suffering voice. "What you do- well, it doesn't make a difference to whether or not I love you."

Either Claus had slowed down or Lucas had sped up. He was walking beside him now.

Claus was aware of him walking there, but he couldn't look at him. His eyes stayed stuck on the floor ahead of him.

Lucas's hand wrapped around his.

Startled, Claus looked up to find his brother's big blue eyes focused on him. He didn't say anything, anything at all. But he smiled at him and squeezed his hand and for some reason, Claus felt better.

"Commander, please report to the communications room. Commander, please report to the communications room."

Abruptly, the good feeling disappeared.

OoOoOo

Claus left Lucas waiting outside the room.

It wasn't Master Porky waiting for him of course. Master Porky didn't wait.

It was Fredrick, his chief servant- he frequently relayed orders from Master Porky when Master Porky was doing other things.

"Hello Commander. Master Porky once again wishes to see you in New Pork City. He expects to see you tomorrow morning at breakfast."

"Understood. I'll be there."

Sometimes Master Porky just wanted to give him orders in person. Sometimes though, Master Porky had a special mission for him that took a while. Sometimes even days.

He'd have to leave the base. He'd have to leave Lucas.

"Do you know what Master Porky has in mind?"

"His Highness does not share his plans with me. But I don't believe it will take more than a day, as he also said that you were to bring that captive with you."

Master Porky wanted to see Lucas? He wanted to see him in New Pork City?

"Understood." Did that mean that he didn't consider Lucas a threat anymore? Did that mean that he did consider him a threat and wanted to do something about it? "Did he say anything else?"

"No. All His Highness said was that you were to come tomorrow and bring the captive with you." Fredrick paused a moment. "I'm rather surprised, Commander. Normally you don't ask questions like this."

"I'm trying to plan ahead," Claus answered quickly.

"I see." The screen went dark.

Claus stood up with a sigh. They'd have to leave early tomorrow.

And he probably wouldn't be able to search further for the Ultimate Chimera or the fugitives today either.

Claus nodded to the soldier on duty as he left the room.

Lucas smiled as he turned to face him.

Claus didn't know when they would be back.

"Claus? Are you okay?"

"Fine."

Lucas looked unconvinced.

"…let's go eat lunch now," Claus said, turning away, towards the mess hall.

Lucas kept pace beside him as they walked.

Claus didn't like the feeling in his stomach. He didn't want to eat anything, even though it was time to eat. He didn't understand-

He shouldn't be feeling like this. Master Porky took good care of everyone. But Master Porky didn't understand about Lucas. Lucas was sweet and never wanted to hurt anyone.

Maybe Master Porky just wanted to question Lucas himself? That wouldn't be bad, right?

The feeling in Claus's stomach wasn't going away though…

"Did he say something mean to you?"

Claus blinked and turned to look at Lucas. "What?"

Lucas shifted hesitantly. "That time when I was in there with you, Porky said some mean things to you. Did he say mean things to you again? Is that why you're acting like this?"

"…tomorrow… I've been ordered to go to New Pork City. I'm supposed to take you with me."

Lucas looked even more worried. "Why?"

"…I don't know. Master Porky gave the order, but Frederick is the one who told me."

"Fredrick?"

"He works for Master Porky. Sometimes he relays Master Porky's orders so Master Porky can go do other things. Master Porky just gave the order, he didn't give the reason why."

Lucas sighed.

"New Pork City is where everyone is supposed to go," Claus said. "It should be a fun place to go-"

Lucas didn't look impressed.

OoOoOo

Lucas didn't look impressed at anything today. He hadn't looked impressed at the limo. He hadn't even examined anything in it. He'd just sat next to Claus through the entire trip. He hadn't moved at all.

He didn't look impressed at the sight of the city either, as they flew towards it.

Fredrick landed the limo and they got out.

"Master Porky is waiting in the fan club," Fredrick said, without looking at them.

"Understood."

Frederick took the limo up into the air again.

Before it was even fully off the ground, Claus was walking off, with Lucas following behind him quickly.

New Pork City was a really good place, right? So that should be something here that Lucas would like. Master Porky was waiting for them, so they couldn't loiter, but if Lucas saw something, they could come back and see it later, just for a little bit. Since it would show Lucas that Master Porky was a good ruler, it was somewhat connected to his job, so it would be okay if they spent a little time here, right? Or would it count as a distraction?

A nasty feeling rose up in Claus. He tried to push it away. He looked over at Lucas to distract himself.

Lucas was looking around with a slight frown on his face.

One of the people hurrying past bumped into him and Lucas stumbled. Claus grabbed at him to keep him from falling.

The person who'd bumped into him disappeared into the crowd without even noticing.

"Lucas, are you okay?" Claus asked, moving to his side.

"I'm fine," Lucas said- wincing a bit- then smiling up at him. "He was in a big hurry though. I wonder where he was going?"

"I don't know," Claus answered, helping Lucas up. "Maybe he works for Master Porky and he's on a mission too."

Despite his words, despite how important the missions for Master Porky were, Claus felt stirrings of anger poking and jabbing away at his insides.

Even if he was in a hurry, that didn't mean he could push Lucas around like that.

Lucas made a face, but didn't say anything.

Claus took a step forward, tugging Lucas after him, and Lucas followed him obediently.

"Do you come here a lot Claus?"

"No. Master Porky mainly relays his orders through the communicators." Claus noticed Lucas looking at the lights. "Do you like the lights?"

"Well, they're interesting. They kinda hurt my eyes though," Lucas admitted it somewhat sheepishly, but there was something in his face, something in his eyes-

"Lucas, is that you?"

Claus suppressed a growl under his breath, and both brothers turned to see a Pigmask. Claus straightened up at the sight of one of the soldiers.

It was one of the privates, their face covered by the helmet, but their voice did sound somewhat familiar. Not familiar enough that he recognized it though.

Lucas didn't seem to recognize them right away either. He looked at them curiously, friendly, but warily too.

"Oh, I suppose you don't recognize me in my new uniform," the private puffed out his chest and continued on. "It's me, Isaac."

"Isaac?" Lucas echoed.

Claus almost repeated it too, but stopped himself. Did he know this person?

Lucas did. Looking at his face told Claus that much, if nothing else.

"So you've joined the Pigmasks, huh…" Lucas said. His voice sounded just a bit sad.

"Yep. And just you watch, I'll become someone important on this island. But I'm surprised Lucas. I thought you would've just stayed back at Tazmily."

"Oh, I'm going to go back home as soon as I can. But there's some things I gotta do first." Lucas turned to Claus and looked at him.

"And who's this guy?" Isaac asked, also looking at him.

"Do you want to introduce yourself?" Lucas asked, not taking his eyes off Claus.

Claus nodded, somewhat reluctantly. He still didn't know who this guy was, his connection to Lucas, anything. But he stepped forward and spoke. "I'm the Commander of the Army."

"You?"

Claus did his best to suppress his irritation at the disbelief in the man's voice. "Yes, I am the Commander of the Army. And now, Lucas and I have to go. The King has summoned us." Claus took his brother's hand and pulled him away from this annoying man. He resolved if he saw him again he would assign him to Fassad. The two of them seemed alike enough to deserve each other.

Lucas called a farewell over his shoulder to the man, who shouted something back.

Claus didn't listen.

How dare that guy think like that? Claus was the Commander, the strongest in the whole army. How dare that guy look at him like he was some powerless little kid?

Just walking and fuming, Claus wasn't really paying attention, and so he didn't notice until they were in front in the building, and then entered the elevator.

"Mr. Isaac didn't seem familiar to you either?" Lucas asked softly, next to him.

"No," Claus answered, pushing the button that opened the elevator.

The doors slid open and Claus entered, followed by Lucas.

"You seem irritated," Lucas observed, as Claus pushed the button to take them up.

Claus didn't answer. He didn't like that guy, but that guy had joined the Army, which meant that he was Claus's responsibility now.

Was this feeling of irritation a distraction? No, because that guy's belief that Claus was a powerless little kid could be a problem. He might question his orders and upset things. Claus was the Commander, the one in charge of the Army-

"Is it because he was surprised at the fact that you're the Commander?"

He hadn't sounded surprised, Claus thought, he'd sounded disbelieving. But he didn't say anything.

"We're only thirteen, you know."

Claus turned and scowled at him.

Lucas smiled. "We're both pretty young still. We haven't even finished growing yet. We're still smaller than Dad, and Grandpa and Duster too. That's why it's surprising that you're the one in charge of the Army. I always knew that you were strong, but it's still surprising." Lucas paused as the elevator went into the air, looking not quite but close to worried. Thoughtful, but more than that. He looked back at Claus. "You don't remember how you became the Commander, right?"

Claus nodded. Something was twisting in his stomach, a nasty feeling he couldn't name.

Lucas did look worried now.

The elevator came a stop and dinged.

Both twins turned to look at it as the doors slid open.

Claus began walking forward, then stopped and turned back as he realized that Lucas wasn't following him.

Lucas was staring out past him at the hallway behind him, still with that worried look on his face.

"Lucas, let's go."

Lucas switched his gaze to Claus but didn't look that reassured.

Claus hesitated, then held out his hand. "We're sticking together, right?"

Lucas looked surprised, then smiled, a little wryly, and took his brother's hand. "Right."

As they left the hallway, Claus let go of his hand. He didn't want Master Porky to see Lucas as a distraction, to misunderstand.

But before he let go, he squeezed his hand, so that Lucas didn't misunderstand either.

They entered Master Porky's fan club room.

"Aw, I don't want any more fried chocolate covered chips. Go get me some hamburgers."

"All right, Master Porky." A woman's voice, one of the fan club. She left just as they entered, not looking at them.

Claus walked to the center of the room, Lucas following closely behind him. He didn't say anything. He just waited for the King to notice that they were there.

One of the fan club members was feeding him right now. It looked like some kind of candy.

The fan club members noticed them and turned to look, most of them staring at Lucas curiously.

Lucas shifted, moving just a bit closer to Claus.

Oh right. Lucas didn't like it when people stared at him like that. He didn't like being the center of attention.

But all of the women staring at them and not at Master Porky attracted the King's attention.

"What are you all looking at- ohh." the large smile popped up on his face again. "And here we have the Commander- and the captive. Anything new to report, Commander?"

"No, Master Porky. There have been no further signs of the Ultimate Chimera or the fugitives. There has been no further progress on unlocking the Temple."

"Aw, how boring. What about you, captive?"

Lucas jumped slightly. Claus could tell without looking, feeling it as he bumped into his shoulder.

"Yes, you captive. What do you think of my city?"

"Uh…I didn't see very much of it yet. We were kinda in a hurry to get here. It's very colorful though- sir."

Claus frowned then tried to wipe the expression off his face. That "sir" sounded awfully added on.

Master Porky laughed. "That's right, my city isn't boring like that nothing village. The only interesting things on this island are due to me, Porky, being here. Ahahahaha."

Lucas tensed but didn't say anything.

"Master Porky, I've returned with your hamburgers."

"Oh good. Feed them to me."

The speaker switched places with the other club member, and Master Porky opened his mouth and began devouring it.

After the second burger, Lucas shifted again. After the third, Master Porky licked his lips noisily. "You can throw the rest away. I'm not hungry anymore."

In the quiet of the room, someone's stomach growled.

"Go on, I said throw it away!"

"Yes Master Porky."

As she walked away, Claus noticed her hands gripping the tray, trembling. He caught a whiff of the hamburgers as she walked past.

"Commander, show that captive around my city. Let him see how awesome it is. You can get out now. I'm done with you. Oh, you with the black hair- come over here and fan me."

Claus bowed and turned, leaving the room, Lucas still sticking close behind him.

"Why are there so many ladies in that room?" Lucas asked as the elevator door shut behind them.

Claus turned and blinked at him, before shrugging and pressing the button. "They're his fan club."

Lucas waited for a moment, then, when Claus didn't say anything else, asked "You don't know either, huh?"

"No," Claus admitted, slightly reluctantly.

"It's weird though."

"…Lucas, we miss Mom, right?"

"Yeah, I really wish she was here. I bet she'd know what to do. Why?"

"I haven't heard of Master Porky having a mom. Of having any type of family. Maybe those ladies are replacement mommies for him."

Lucas didn't look convinced. He looked up at the ceiling, in the direction of the fan club room. "I dunno Claus. They didn't seem very mommy like to me."

"Why? Aren't moms supposed to take care of their kids? Don't they take care of him?"

"They were doing stuff for him," Lucas admitted. "But it was only stuff that he was telling them to do. And he wasn't even doing that nicely."

Claus didn't have a response to that. He wished he did.

The doors slid open and the twins walked out, agreeing without needing to speak about it that it would be a bad idea to talk about it in public.

"See you later Commander," the receptionist said politely as they walked out.

Claus nodded to her and Lucas gave her a small wave as they walked out of the building.

"Is there anything in the city you want to see?" Claus asked quietly as they descended the steps.

Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, Claus turned to see Lucas quickly looking over the city, then looking back at his brother and shaking his head.

"It's not interesting to you?" Claus asked, disappointed.

Lucas shrugged. "Not Really. The lights are so bright and flashy. They hurt my eyes. And it smells funny too. I'd rather go back and work on explaining our past more. Where did we leave off?"

"Our sixth birthday… I didn't really push you in the creek, did I?"

Before Lucas had a chance to respond, footsteps came up from behind them and both twins spun to face the newcomer.

"Lucas! I knew it was you." Blond bangs hid his eyes but there was a smile around the mouth. He straightened up and his panting slowed. "So, you're here too?"

"Hi Mr. Bateau," Lucas said. Claus turned to see a slightly uncertain smile on his face. "Well, we're leaving now, actually…"

"Oh, I see. Who's this?"

Lucas opened his mouth, eagerly, then shut it and turned to Claus. "Do you want to introduce yourself? Or do you want me to do to do it for you?"

Claus shook his head and stepped forward, in front of Lucas. "I am the Commander of the Army."

Bateau blinked at him. Why did no one believe him when he said that? At least this guy didn't smile like he thought it was a joke. "Okay." He looked back at Lucas. "He a friend of yours? How'd you meet?"

Lucas laughed sheepishly. "Well, you could say we're friends. We've known each other for a long, long time."

Lucas didn't like lying. And this was someone that Lucas knew, which probably made it worse. Although-

"Are you from the village?" Claus interrupted. If this guy was from the village, he might know the girl and the man that had been keeping Lucas with them.

"Huh? Oh yeah. We're both from Tazmily, aren't we Lucas?"

Lucas, smiling more comfortably now, nodded. "We've always lived there, haven't we, Mr. Bateau?"

"Yeah…" the look on the man's face had changed. Claus didn't understand it anymore. The man turned away from the brothers and looked over the city.

"Mr. Bateau? Are you okay?"

He man jumped a bit, then turned back to face them. "Ah- yeah. I'm sorry. It's just- this place-"

"It hurts your eyes?"

He chuckled. "No, I've gotten used to it now. It's probably nothing, but-" he glanced over his shoulder then, looking back at the city again. "It's probably nothing. It's just a feeling. A weird feeling." He sighed and turned back to them. "So, you're not staying here huh? Are you heading back to Tazmily?"

"Not yet." Lucas sighed sadly. "Me and Cl-" he broke off and coughed hurriedly. "I can't go home yet. There's still things that need to be done."

"What about your dad and grandpa? Are they still back in Tazmily?"

Lucas looked a little worried now. "I guess so. We got separated though, so I haven't seen them in a while. Last I knew, Grandpa was still in town and Dad was still searching the mountains."

"Ah." The man- Bateau- said, sounding awkward and sympathetic. "You know Lucas, it's been three years. If it were me, I'd want to be with the son I still had. I don't blame him for wanting to find Claus and I don't blame you for missing your brother. But it's been three years now. Don't you think it's time to move on?"

Claus tensed. What- what was this guy talking about? He turned to look at Lucas.

Lucas was smiling, somewhat sad, but smiling.

"Don't worry, Mr. Bateau. I found – I found real proof. Claus is very definitely alive, and I know right where he is."

"…Lucas." The name emerged from Claus's mouth, sounding odd and weak-

"Don't worry, I won't talk about it anymore. I just had to tell him that much." Lucas smiled at him before he turned back to the man, still smiling.

The man looked uncertain now.

Lucas saw the look on his face and responded.

"Claus really is alive. I've seen him and talked with him. He got lost and got hurt, that's why he didn't come home. You don't have to worry about him though. He's feeling better now. But we still have things to do, so we can't go home just yet, but we will."

"Huh- well, I'd guess you'd know," the man said, still looking uncertain, but less so. "I'm glad to be wrong then. Tell him I said hi, would you? I hope whatever you two are up to goes well."

"Thanks Mr. Bateau." Lucas was smiling even more now.

Claus reached for Lucas's hand and pulled at him.

Lucas turned and tried to meet his eyes through the helmet, asking without words what he wanted.

"We should leave now. There are things to be done."

Lucas looked unhappy, but nodded. He turned back to the man, who was watching them curiously. "I guess we have to go now. I hope we see each other again soon."

The man nodded, smiling in a friendly fashion, before turning his attention to Claus, who twitched, surprised.

"Take care of Lucas and Claus, okay? I've known them ever since they were born, and they're both good kids. They do have a tendency to find trouble though, so you might want to watch out for that." The man chuckled at the embarrassed look Lucas threw him. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. I know you've grown and I'm sure Claus has grown as well in the three years since then. I know that your mom would be proud of you."

It felt like all his air had been stolen- sucked out of his lungs- beside him, Lucas froze too.

"Well, goodbye for now."

Lucas nodded, then forced his voice out. "Goodbye for now."

Claus grabbed his hand and pulled him away.

Lucas didn't try to separate himself, although he did wiggle a bit, trying to get his attention, but Claus didn't turn to look at him.

Claus ignored the crowds and the shouting people and the bright flashing lights. He ignored them, tuning them all out, the way he'd always tuned them all out before, until he didn't even notice them at all.

They came to the landing pad.

Claus proceeded to the middle of the empty platform, intending to take off- when he was yanked to a stop. He swung around to find Lucas staring at him.

His little brother looked partly irritated, partially worried. He just looked at him, wide blue eyes like the sky, covering everything-

Claus swallowed.

Lucas tilted his head to the side. "Claus, what's wrong?"

"It hurts."

"I miss Mom too," Lucas let go of his hand. Claus looked at it as it dropped, but then Lucas wrapped his arms around him. "It's okay Claus, it's okay."

Claus remained still. He wanted to leave here, get out. That guy, back there. He'd talked about Mom- he'd talked about Lucas living in the village, or living here-

Claus shut his eyes at the thought of Lucas going away, then realized his arms were wrapped around his brother.

They just stood there for a while. Eventually, Claus remembered that he was needed back at the base. He was always needed back at the base. He didn't let go, but he straightened up, shifting.

"Lucas, we have to return to base. I'll carry you."

"You're going to use those wings again?" Lucas asked, looking at his back.

Claus nodded and activated them.

Lucas watched curiously.

Claus had been ready to take off, but he paused, seeing Lucas's curiosity.

"Can I touch them?"

Slowly, Claus nodded, surprised.

Lucas grinned and slowly, gently, touched one. "Oh, it's soft."

Claus stayed quiet, stayed still, let Lucas investigate.

Some of the soldiers looked impressed with the wings and some of the scientists found them interesting.

But Lucas was the only one who smiled softly and touched them gently. Lucas was-

Suddenly his mind replaced Lucas with someone else. A blurry figure loomed over him. Their fingers dug into them- yanked at them- their smile distorted and false. So close their breath hit his face-

Claus shuddered.

"Claus?"

He shook his head and pulled away. He tried to wipe the image from his mind, tune it out the way he'd been tuning everything out before. But it stayed stuck in his head, still grinning at him, still filling his nostrils.

"Claus!"

Claus twitched a bit. Lucas had both his hands wrapped around Claus's wrist.

"Claus, are you okay?" Wide blue eyes, big enough to eat him alive- "Claus, you're trembling."

Claus shook his head. The motion came out jerky, almost twitchy, the opposite of the smooth and cool looking gesture he'd been trying for.

Lucas gently pulled one of his hands up in front of his face. It was trembling. Why was it doing that?

Claus glared at it, but it just kept trembling.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" Lucas asked softly.

Claus shook his head. It wasn't so jerky this time. That was good. It wasn't Lucas's fault and he wanted Lucas to know that.

"Then what was that?"

Claus looked back down at his hand.

What was it?

"Claus?" The worrying in Lucas's voice went up even more.

"I… I saw something."

"You saw something?"

"Something that wasn't there." Claus briefly raised his eyes to met Lucas's and then ducked down again.

Lucas didn't say anything, just remained still, still holding Claus. He didn't say anything, but Claus could hear the question as clearly as if he had.

"… I thought someone else was touching me… I… I didn't want them to be touching me."

Lucas still didn't say anything, but his eyes were softer. Loving. He hugged Claus again.

Claus rested his head on his brother's shoulder.

"I understand Claus. There's people I don't want touching me either."

"Really? But you like hugs and things."

"From you and Mom and Dad, yeah. From Grandpa and Boney and our friends too. But not from everyone. Mrs. Jill used to pinch our cheeks and laugh in our ears, remember? We always hated that. And that scientist in the room when you first took me to the base? I wouldn't want him to touch me." One of Lucas's hands rose up and touched the collar around his neck.

Something moved inside Claus. It yanked at his insides, causing pain.

"Hey, Claus? I know I'm not as strong as you, but I've gotten stronger, and I'm not a crybaby anymore. You're my brother, and if there's something I can do for you, something I can do to help you, something to protect you, I want to do it. Because you're my brother and I love you," Lucas said, facing him straight on, no hesitation.

"Lucas…"

"I know I'm not as strong as you, even with-" Lucas's fingers darted to the collar again before Lucas breathed out and pulled his hand away, forming it into a fist. "Even though I can't use my PSI right now, I'm not going to let that stop me from doing things!" Both fists were clenched now, his little brother's face serious and determined. "So don't forget, okay? Whatever you need, I'll do it for you, because I love you."

That sensation again. Like fingers squeezing at his throat.

Ignoring the feeling, Claus nodded, and got his reward as Lucas smiled.

"We should go." Before anything else happened. Before someone else claiming to know Lucas showed up.

"Okay. Can we stop at home for a little bit first?"

"No."

Lucas sighed in disappointment, but didn't complain or argue. "Okay. How are you going to do this?"

"I'll carry you." Wasn't that obvious?

"Yeah, but are you going to carry me the same way as last time, or are we going to try something different?" Lucas glanced at the wings. "Would piggyback work? Or would that get in the way of your wings?"

Claus looked over his shoulder, then lifted one arm and looked at the bottom of the wing. "…we'll try it. If it doesn't work, I'll carry you like last time."

"Okay." Lucas came close and went behind him. He wrapped his arms around his neck and upper body and his legs around his stomach.

Claus reached down and held onto his brother's waist as well, and activated the wings.

Lucas's arms tightened his grip as they rose in the air, but didn't respond other that.

They were off, gaining momentum and speeding away, leaving New Pork City behind.

"Look, over there!" Lucas pointed before remembering how high they were and latching onto Claus's neck again.

There were two birds, darting back and forth, chasing each other across the sky.

Claus was much much faster than they were. He could easily fly past them and leave them behind.

But Lucas liked watching them. And they were graceful, darting here and there, moving closer and then further away.

Their wings were different from his. The wings they had, they had to work hard to use, flapping just to get anywhere. His, on the other hand, he only had to think about to use them. But he couldn't move like them either.

The birds darted away into the forest below them and disappeared.

Lucas found birds interesting, but he didn't find New Pork City interesting.

Lucas sighed, sounding happy, and hugged Claus tighter. "I missed the sky and the trees and the wind- I missed the sun. It's really nice to be outside again. I couldn't really appreciate it before, because we were all hemmed in inside that car and I was worrying about what Porky would do. Hey Claus, this way of getting around is a lot more fun than that long car from this morning."

"The limo?"

"Yeah, that. Thanks Claus!"

"You're welcome."

Claus felt… strange. Conflicted. Didn't Lucas like any of Master Porky's things?

But Lucas did like Claus's things. He was impressed with the things that he could do. That was …nice. It made him happy that Lucas was impressed by the things that Claus could do.

Of course, the soldiers were impressed by the things that he could do too. But somehow, it meant more that Lucas was impressed. Probably because they were brothers.

The last time Claus had carried Lucas somewhere, Lucas hadn't wanted to go with him. This time he did.

That was nice. Really nice.

Lucas's arms were wrapped around him. The sun was shining down on both of them. The wind was touching them gently.

Claus smiled as he carried his brother through the air.

Chapter 17

When Claus and Lucas got back to the base, darkness was creeping into the sky. But even though the day was ending, the sun wasn't gone yet.

Lucas wanted to linger, soak up as much sun as he could, but Claus headed for the base door as soon as his boots touched the ground.

Things he could say ran through Lucas's head, but the sight of the guards at either side of the door kept his mouth shut as he chased after his brother.

Claus stopped short just before reaching the door and looked over his shoulder slightly as he waited for him.

The brothers entered the base side by side.

Lucas was familiar enough with the base's layout now that he realized after a couple of hallways that they were headed to the the dining area.

Good, maybe now he could find his way to the exit if he had to.

Not that Lucas was going to leave this place alone. He looked at Claus out of the corner of his eye.

What could he do to convince Claus to leave?

Vague plans and crazy ideas chased themselves in circles around Lucas's head as they traveled down more hallways to finally arrive at the mess hall itself.

Even louder than those though, was another question, one that repeated itself even louder as they entered the room.

Why wouldn't Claus believe him?

He'd always listened before, even when no one else had.

But everything had changed. Even Lucas.

For three years, Lucas had been getting stronger and stronger. Not only taking care of himself, but also taking care of the sheep, and technically taking care of Boney too, although Boney was a smart dog who mostly took care of himself.

But now, here Lucas was again, just like he'd been after Mom's death. Alone, helpless-

No. Lucas corrected himself as he got in line behind Claus. It was a little like back then, but not just like. He had gotten stronger since then, no longer helpless, despite the things out of his control. And even more importantly, he wasn't alone. He had Claus back.

Claus had been alone too and he'd been hurt much worse than Lucas had. But since Lucas was here now, he could help him feel better.

Claus didn't seem afraid of emotions so much anymore, and he remembered that they were a family now. That was a start.

There had to be a way to keep the good changes and to fix the bad changes.

"Hi Lucas!"

"Hi Senior. Hi Junior," Lucas said with a smile.

"What do you want today? A sloppy joe or a skip sandwich?"

"Huh… I think that sloppy joes look pretty good. You're going to have one too, right Claus?"

Claus turned slightly. His head had been tilted in the direction of the food but the look in his one visible eye told Lucas that his brother hadn't been seeing the food at all- and nodded.

"Alright, here you go. There's fries on the side today, see?"

"Alright, thanks," Lucas said, and again, Claus nodded in agreement before they headed towards the tables.

The sloppy joes weren't bad. Still not as good as anything Mom would make. But then Mom was the best cook ever, so maybe that wasn't a fair comparison.

While Lucas was glad that he and Claus were eating together, he didn't like eating in the mess hall too much.

It was so noisy, and since there were so many Pigmasks there, he couldn't talk to Claus about anything important. Or about anything really. Not even the weather, because there was no weather in this grey box that Porky and the Pigmasks had trapped them in.

And even though the Pigmasks didn't stare as much as they had when Claus had first brought him here, they still looked at them a lot. And Lucas couldn't help but feel that some of those looks weren't very friendly.

He wondered if that group of Pigmasks that had tried to pick on him before still didn't like him.

Suddenly, hiding in the room while Claus wasn't around seemed a lot safer.

With the masks the Pigmasks wore, Lucas couldn't even see their faces, couldn't even use their expressions and the way they looked at him as a clue to what they wanted.

But you couldn't fix things by running and hiding.

If he could show the Pigmasks that he didn't really want to fight- and he really didn't- he wanted to stop Porky, but he didn't want to fight people like Sheep and Junior and Senior, and there was no way he could fight Claus. If he could do that, maybe they could get along.

Lucas didn't want to fight anyone. But he also wanted to stop people from doing bad things. Maybe if he could prove they were bad things, they'd stop doing them?

That should help, at least. But some people- like Fassad and Porky- just seemed to like being mean.

But most people weren't like that.

When everyone was together again, they could all work together, and then they could help everyone. They could do something about the chimeras hurting everyone and the old men's home being broken down and everything. If everyone worked together, they could fix things, right?

Lucas couldn't get much done by himself, but he could at least get started- show the Pigmasks that they didn't really want to fight, that they wanted to get along.

And he'd gather information too, so that when the time came, they could figure out the best way to fix things. So they could fight only those who couldn't be stopped any other way.

Lucas realized that Claus had finished his food and quickly crammed the rest of his own food in his mouth.

Claus blinked. "You didn't have to do that."

Lucas chewed quickly and swallowed. "But you're always busy and everything. I just don't want to do anything that'll make it harder for you. I want to help you. I don't want to help them-" and Lucas inclined his head slightly towards the rest of the mess hall, towards the obliviously chattering Pigmasks, "because I don't like what they do- but if one's in trouble, I can help him then. But mostly, I just want to help you."

Claus looked at him a moment- then stood up.

Lucas quickly followed.

In the hallway outside, Claus abruptly asked "If one of the soldiers was injured, you would heal them, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, of course! Unless they were attacking someone- well, someone like Dad or Duster or Kumatora or Boney or Grandpa. But if the Pigmask soldier was being attacked by a chimera or a Pigmask meaner than them, then I'd heal them. And then I'd help them fight."

Claus stopped and stared at him now.

Lucas shrugged, slightly embarrassed. "The way I see it, you might as well help someone all the way if you help them at all. It's not like the collar stops me from doing anything other than PSI, right?"

Claus's eyes flickered from the collar wrapped around Lucas's neck to his face and then nodded. But his eyes were kinda far away.

"Claus?"

"I'm working on a report. It's nowhere near complete, but it's a report I will hand into Master Porky. It's a report about you."

Lucas had tensed at the mention of Porky and at Claus saying the report was about him, his whole body demanded fight-or-flight, and he had to force himself to not grab Claus's hand and drag him away from this place now.

Maybe Claus saw that in his face- or maybe another part of his body- his fists maybe, how they clenched themselves shut, preparing to be swung-

"It's to show that you're not a threat," his older brother said quickly. "You don't want to hurt anyone. You want to help people, right?"

Lucas nodded slowly, then added "Well, it depends what they're doing. I don't want to help people do bad things."

Claus nodded, accepting that as perfectly logical. "In the report- should I mention the fact that the collar only stops your PSI? You've never attacked me or tried to escape even once. Should I mention that the collar only blocks your PSI abilities and you could have tried to physically overpower me? I don't want to make it sound like you could be a threat if you wanted to- like you need more restraints placed on you, because you don't. But I do want to include anything that will help Master Porky understand that you're not bad- that you're not a threat."

Lucas smiled ruefully and hugged his brother quickly, before making himself let go, reminding himself that members of the Pigmasks could come at any time. "I don't think it'll make much of a difference what you tell him, Claus. I doubt that guy really listens to anyone. But if it makes you feel better, you can go ahead and put it together and give it to him. Because you're worrying about whether or not it's a good thing to put in, I know you'll do a good job. Now, come on. Let's go back to the room and finish talking there." He held out his hand, before remembering where they were and the fact that people might come and see them at any minute-

Instead of getting angry, Claus smiled slightly, and reached out his hand towards Lucas's- before his eyes got really wide.

Before Lucas could figure out why, there was a loud roaring noise.

Claus shoved Lucas back and drew his sword.

Lucas hit the wall. He instinctively reached for his PSI before the freezing cold surrounding his bones reminded him that he no longer could.

Claus shouted something- Lucas didn't quite catch what- and there was a bright light, and as it faded away, an angry voice. A voice that definitely did not belong to Claus.

"Get out of my way! Can't you see that brat over there has infiltrated this base the same way he got into Thunder Tower?"

Lucas swallowed slightly as he saw Fassad standing in in the middle of the hallway, pointing angrily at him. The man's appearance had changed again- still obviously a cyborg, grey metal shining in odd places- but the horns were gone and there was no interpreter robot flying behind him. He was also braced for a fight.

Claus didn't move. Didn't even twitch. "He's my responsibility. He's no threat, no danger to this base or anyone on it."

"Are you joking?"

Claus tilted his head to the side slightly. "See that collar around his neck?"

Fassad looked at Lucas- briefly, and it was more of a glare than a look- it left Lucas cold.

"I see it. So what if he's got worse taste in fashion than you?"

"That collar blocks his PSI skills. Even if he wasn't a good boy, even if he tried to cause trouble, he wouldn't be able to. He is no threat, and he isn't a bad boy. The incident at Thunder Tower was not his fault."

"Nehehehehe! You're naïve, boy!" Fassad stepped forward and Claus snapped the energy sword open and stepped in front of Lucas.

Fassad stopped, staring at him. For a moment, his expression had been amused and confident. Now-

The light from the sword- gleaming almost like the Needles- moved over the hallway, causing light and shadows to shift and move.

Lucas stepped closer to Claus.

He didn't know what he could do without any weapons, without his PSI. All he knew was that him would do everything he could to keep Claus safe.

"This boy is under my protection," Claus said quietly. "If you even think about trying to hurt him, I will punish you."

"You can't tell me what to do, you little brat! You're just another one of Porky's toys!"

Lucas saw Claus flinch- but before he had a chance to say anything, Claus spoke. "Master Porky gave me the role of Commander of the Army. In the course of my duties, I came across him. I am the one who took him from where he was and brought him here. He is my responsibility. And you will not take him away from me."

Fassad was angry. It showed on his face- the way he glared at them- it showed on his body, the way it was all tensed up and how his fists were clenched so tightly.

But Fassad looked away from their faces and studied Claus. The way he gripped the handle of the sword, the way he held it in front of him, in front of Lucas. His face got even angrier, but he stepped back.

"You'll regret this one day. I promise the two of you that," he said, turning away. And then stopped and faced them again. His expression was still unpleasant, but more cheerfully so. "Oh, by the way. Commander, you recently assigned a new man to assist me. He's someone you know, Lucas. Did you know that your friend Isaac from your little podunk town of Tazmily has joined up with us?" His tone was back to being gleeful.

Lucas nodded silently, happy that he did already know that. Learning that from Fassad would not have been a fun way to find out.

The glee slipped a bit from Fassad's face. But it didn't vanish. "I see. Well, don't worry. He certainly won't be the last of your friends to join us. Soon, no one will remember the name of Tazmily, not even the ghosts." He turned and walked down the hall, nehehehehehes trailing behind him.

Claus waited until they couldn't hear him anymore before shutting off the sword and turning to face Lucas. "Are you okay?"

Lucas nodded.

"Don't worry, I won't let that guy hurt you." Claus looked around quickly, before grabbing Lucas's hand and pulling him quickly down the hallway to the Commander's room.

Lucas let Claus push him inside, though he winced slightly when Claus pulled the door shut so hard it slammed.

Claus pushed him further into the room, his eyes focused on the door. He stared at it a moment before turning to face Lucas. "You'll be safe in here." Before Lucas had a chance to respond, Claus suddenly looked worried again.

"…Claus?"

"… he shouldn't come in my room. Master Porky and the teachers he sent never asked before coming in, but no one's done that for a really long time now…" Claus frowned and turned back to study the door again. "Fassad never did that, but Fassad never wanted to see me anyway…maybe I should order Sheep to stand guard, just in case." He turned and looked at Lucas again, looking even more worried. "But would that make you count as a distraction?"

Lucas tried to smile. "Don't worry Claus, I'll be careful. If I hear that guy coming, I'll hide under the bed."

Claus didn't look that reassured. But then looked like he was struck by a thought. "Fassad is the one being a distraction. When the chimeras escape and I have to stop them to protect the soldiers and the scientists, that's a necessary distraction. That's not something I can ignore, right?"

Lucas nodded.

Claus smiled faintly, and patted Lucas's head. "I'll get Sheep to guard the door. It's not your fault Fassad is being a distraction."

"Claus-"

"I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?"

"…okay. But be careful Claus." Lucas hugged his brother tightly.

"Understood." Claus hugged him back briefly- so very briefly- and then he was gone again, and Lucas was left alone.

OoOoOo

At least Lucas's written explanation was growing. He'd also made some drawings to go along with it, so Claus would have something to look at, something to help him picture it in his head-

Lucas had drawn a map of the village even though he knew that it might be pointless since Claus was going there before Lucas could show him this, but Lucas had made notes on his. Which house belonged to who, where their favorite spots to play had been-

He'd also included a description of Mr. Wess's house and how Fassad and the Pigmasks and Mayor Pusher had turned it into the "Old Man's Paradise". Except they kept it in such bad shape it wouldn't have been anyone's idea of a paradise, not even a rat's.

He'd also made a map of their house, and one of what Grandpa's house had looked like before the guys at Thunder Tower destroyed it and they made him move to Mr. Wess's house, even though Lucas and Grandpa both wanted him to stay with Lucas-

And he'd also made one of the graveyard. Most of it was a drawing of Mom's tombstone. He'd drawn it big enough that he'd managed to write everything that was on the tombstone onto the drawing he'd made of the tombstone. Since Claus's memories were all messed up, he probably didn't know where to go visit her. There weren't any flowers they could take her when they visited her either…

Lucas only stopped making the drawings when he realized he was avoiding doing the next part. The part that would explained about what happened to Mom.

That wasn't right. Even though they missed Mom, and the pain of missing her was made even worse by the uncertainty of  being trapped in this situation- he couldn't hide away from that. It was one of the biggest things about to explain about their past. That, and Claus leaving to fight the Mecha-Drago. That was the last time they'd seen each other for a long time.

Lucas had to explain it to Claus so that he would understand where they'd come from, how they'd gotten here, and most importantly, where they belonged. Lucas had to explain it to Claus so that he would understand that they had to get out of here, that they had to go home. So that he would understand that Porky was evil, and couldn't be trusted.

Lucas breathed deeply, and positioned the pen over the paper.

"When we were ten years old, we and Mom went up to visit Grandpa at his cabin and stay with him for a couple of days. On the last day of our visit-"

The door banged open, and Lucas spun to see Claus shutting the door. Even after the door was shut, he stayed there a moment, not facing Lucas.

"Claus?" he asked worriedly, pushing himself off the floor carefully, not taking his eyes off his brother.

Claus was holding something in his hand, Lucas could see now. He couldn't see what it was, but he thought he saw a flash of metal. What was he holding? Why wouldn't he look at him?

"Claus, what happened?"

Claus looked at him- hesitated over his words.

Lucas went to him and hugged him. He didn't know what happened, but he knew by the look on Claus's face that it wasn't good.

Claus sighed, and tossed something onto the bed, before hugging Lucas back.

Curious, Lucas turned to see what it was and he was in time to see it bounce slightly.

Lucas leaned closer, curious then jerked back as he realized what it was. There was once just like it around his neck.

Lucas stared at the PK blocking collar a moment before finding his voice. "Claus… what's that for?"

"…there was no one there, Lucas."

Lucas looked up at his brother, not understanding.

"That place…the village you kept talking about… there was no one there. No one at all."

"What?"

"It was empty. Completely deserted."

Chapter 18

"There could be some logical explanation," Duster suggested half heartedly.

Kumatora didn't stop or even slow as she glared over her shoulder at him. "Your dad has to know what that place is and what that guy was talking about! He's the one who sent you after the Egg in the first place! Ionia barely ever talked about it to me, and she said she didn't know anything about it other than it was supposed to be important!"

"I don't know if you've noticed," Duster panted as he rushed after her, "But my dad's memory isn't exactly the best. At the castle, he kept saying things like "or so I seem to recall"- and he said that while he was talking about things that were important. One of them was the Needle itself! Does that sound like a guy who knows exactly what's going on and is playing chess master?"

"He was probably trying to cover his tracks! He wanted to have an excuse for if we stumbled across something the way we did."

"Come on Kumatora! Why would he send me after the Hummingbird Egg if he didn't want me to use it?"

"To keep those stupid Pigmasks from getting their grubby hands on it, obviously! I don't know what's going on here or why he's lying to us, but I'm going to find out! I'll get him for lying to me, that cheap bas-"

"Hey!" Duster said, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her around to face him. "Don't talk about my dad like that!"

For a moment, her anger was shoved aside by her surprise, and then Duster went on.

"Besides, if we're talking about people lying to us, we never did find out why Ionia was acting suspicious before."

Kumatora yanked away and opened her mouth wide to retort.

But before she had a chance their ears caught the faint sound of something that was definitely not a forest creature coming closer.

Duster gripped her wrist again and pulled her off the road.

They dove behind a big mess of thorn bushes just as a Pork Ship went past. The notes of their theme lingered in the air even after they went past, the same way the foul smell from the vehicles remained.

Once she was sure they were gone and there weren't any more coming, Kumatora braced herself- started to pull herself up, when Duster (who hadn't let go of her hand since he'd pulled her into hiding) tugged her down again.

The knowledge that the Pigmasks were around kept her from yelling again, and when she turned around and actually looked at Duster, her anger began to fade away.

He let go of her- held his hands in the air- his expression looked so hurt that for a moment she wondered if she'd punched him without realizing it.

"I stand by everything I said about my dad," he said quietly, "But I'm sorry about what I said about Ionia. I mean, that behavior was suspicious, but there could be some completely innocent reason."

"…you're right about Ionia's behavior- well, now you are, anyway. Your dad's behavior is way more suspicious, but I guess there could still be some sort of logical reason. And in any case, what I said isn't going to change the truth, whatever the truth is, so all I accomplished was bugging you… sorry. And I promise I'll wait to hear what your dad's explanation is before I punch him."

"And you won't punch him at all if he has a good explanation, right?" Duster asked patiently.

"Yeah," Kumatora agreed. "Come on, let's go see what those pig jerks are up to."

Duster nodded, a trace of his usual smile appeared before being covered by determination. When they reached the path again, he took a step in the direction the ship had taken, before stopping, frowning.

"What is it?"

"They're going in the same direction we were. They're headed towards the village."

Kumatora glanced in the direction of the village, even though all she could see were trees, before looking back at Duster. "Could be a coincidence. Come on, let's go find out."

It wasn't coincidence.

Kumatora mentally cursed herself for even suggesting that it could've been as she and Duster carefully peeked into the village.

It wasn't empty anymore. Instead, it was crawling with Pigmasks. They seemed to be searching for something. Or someone.

Were they looking for them? And where were Boney and the two geezers?

Kumatora crept closer and Duster followed, ducking behind the closest house and listened to the Pigmasks talking to each other.

"This is so boring. I can't believe we have to check this dump again."

"You'd rather stand still for hours doing nothing but staring into space?" another asked with a sardonic chuckle as he tried the door to the house he was standing in front of but succeeded only in rattling the knob. "but I have to admit, I am surprised at being back here. The Commander made us go over everything with a fine tooth comb before."

"I'm surprised the Commander didn't come himself again."

That helmet-headed jerk wasn't here himself? Drat.

Kumatora had been thinking of a ton of different schemes to try to lure him out of the village and then get him alone and then beat Lucas's location out of him. But if he wasn't here-

"I'm not surprised. The Commander's been different since he got the Captive."

"What?"

"I haven't noticed any difference. What makes you say that?"

Kumatora wanted to know that too. She pressed herself closer to the house as if getting that little bit closer would get her the answers she wanted.

"What, you guys can't see it? It's obvious!" the Pigmask said, throwing up his arms irritated.

"If it's so obvious, then it shouldn't be too hard to explain it, right?" challenged another Pigmask. They were all more interested in this conversation than in the search. They were all looking at him, and some were even drifting closer.

"Well- he's always so busy all the time."

That prompted laughter.

"The Commander's always been busy, genius!"

"I think he has been busier lately," another added, thoughtfully, "but there's a lot going on right now, not just that Captive he's got. There's those glowy things- they're called needles, right?- he has to take care of, and then there's this 'move everybody to NPC' thing, and there's the fact that the Ultimate Chimera is still running around loose-"

"Don't forget about the group of troublemakers that the Captive is from."

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about them. They haven't really done much, have they? I mean, they've gotten some of the Needles, and that's about it, right? And I heard someone say that the boy the Commander captured was the one who was pulling the Needles for them, so they can't do that anymore either."

"Especially since no one can get inside that temple place. Those stupid frozen vines keep everybody out."

"Well, with this move over, maybe the Commander will have more time."

"Hey, why are we moving them all to New Pork City anyway?" another one of the Pigmasks- a pink suited one- asked tentatively.

They all turned and stared at him and he waved his hands in the air frantically.

"Uh- it's just a question, you guys! I mean, yeah, it's out in the middle of nowhere here, and there's only a single store and a hotel and a whole bunch of houses, but it's not like it's a dump or anything. They took good care of their town. I wasn't surprised that some people wanted to move, but I don't understand why we had to make sure that everyone moved there…"

One of the other ones slapped him on the back of the head. "Duh! We were told to! That's why we're doing it."

"I was just curious why!" he squeaked, holding onto the back of his head.

"I don't know either, but it doesn't matter. The Commander told us to do it, and so we do it."

"While I agree with that, does anyone have any idea why the Commander wants us to take anyone we find here right to base so he could interrogate them himself?"

"See? That's the type of thing I'm talking about! The Commander would never have given an order like that before!"

"You really think so? The Commander always prefers to do things like that himself. He's not like Mr. Fassad, who always makes other people clean up the messes he makes."

"That's true, but it is unusual that the Commander would insist on doing it himself. I mean, the original orders were just to take anyone we found to New Pork City."

A sudden noise rang out, startling everyone. The noise seemed to startle the Colonel most, perhaps because it was coming from him. He quickly pulled out one of those machines they used to communicate. "Yes sir?"

"This is an order directly from his highness Master Porky." The next thing the man said was drowned out by the Pigmasks' confused squeals. "Quiet down!"

"Sorry sir!" the Pigmask apologized profusely, "it's just- are you sure, sir?"

"Positive," the voice said, practically leaking disdain all over the ground. "Now, should you find any more stragglers, your orders are to bring them directly to New Pork City, straight to the Empire Porky Building, and give them to the scientists to be placed into the "Nice Person Hot Springs". Do you understand?"

"Yes sir! Take them to NPC, Empire Porky Building, scientists and Nice Person Hot Springs!"

"Correct."

The communicator clicked off, and the colonel sighed in relief.

"Nice Person Hot Springs? What are those?"

"No idea, Private. What I do know is we need to finish up here and return to our real work!"

"Real work? Is that what they're calling it now?"

Another slap to the back to the head. "Come on dolts, back to the ship. There's obviously no one here, and just sticking around here isn't going to make anyone show up. Let's go."

The Pigmasks began to drift towards the ship, but they didn't stop talking.

"Wow, King P actually gave us orders? I thought he was just a myth."

The colonel gave a disgusted sigh. "Private, stop talking. It makes you sound stupid. Of course King P isn't a myth! Why do you think the army exists?"

"We sure don't seem to exist to take care of enemies the way most armies do," muttered the major, before wincing as the colonel slapped the back of his head.

"Quiet you! Now, is everyone here?"

They were quiet for a couple of moments as they looked around- and then the colonel face palmed. "We're missing Hiss. Hiss!" he bellowed, leaning over the side of the ship. "We're leaving!"

No response.

"I swear I'll leave you here and then you'll have to walk all the way back to base!"

After a moment, a blue Pigmask came trotting up from the direction of Lucas's house.

"We should've realized we were missing Hiss earlier," one of the Pigmasks commented as he got closer. "Since he's friends with Sheep and all."

"Sheep?"

The latecomer pulled himself up onto the ship. "Sheep's friends with the Captive," he drawled lazily.

"Oh really? What does he say about him?"

"He's a lot like the Commander, but more cheery."

The colonel snorted and went to the front, but the blue Pigmask kept talking.

"Actually, Sheep and I have a bet going. Rainer's getting in on it too. Sheep thinks that the reason the Commander is keeping the Captive with him and not letting the scientists have him is because-"

The door slid shut, cutting off the rest of it.

It startled and irritated Kumatora so much she almost dashed after it as it began to rise into the sky before pulling away.

Chapter 19

Summary:

What's this? An actual new chapter? I still hate it, but if I don't post it now, don't think I ever will.

Claus and Lucas had fought. Their first real fight since Claus had gone missing.

Lucas had argued against the collar and said that Claus didn't need it, that it would just make things worse.

But Claus wouldn't listen-

They'd argued back and forth and back and forth. The argument wasn't going anywhere and they were both tired so they both decided to go to sleep and try again tomorrow.

It left a sick feeling in Lucas's stomach. A gross feeling in his mouth too. The quiet pressing down, crushingly heavy on the room as they finished getting ready for bed just made it worse. Almost as bad as when Claus had first captured him. Almost, but-

"Good night Claus," Lucas whispered as they lay next to each other.

"...good night Lucas," Claus whispered back.

Almost, but not quite.

Lucas manged a small smile before he fell into sleep.

OoOo

Lucas was sleeping when all of a sudden his head fell and he crashed face first into the bed, the mattress muffling his yelp despite its less than impressive state.

Lucas pushed himself up and shook his head, wondering how that had happened, before realizing that Claus wasn't on the bed with him.

Claus was lying on the ground next to the bed, blinking mismatched eyes up at the ceiling, confused, before turning-slowly, very slowly- and looking up at Lucas and meeting his eyes.

"Claus, are you okay?"

"Lucas?" before he could even open his mouth to begin to respond to that, Claus was back on the bed with his arms thrown around Lucas. "Lucas. Lucas."

His big brother's grip was tight, but Lucas didn't squirm, even though it was kinda creepy how- just for a moment- he'd sounded like the Claus that hadn't really been Claus on Tanetane Island. But he didn't say that.

"I'm here Claus," Lucas said quietly, hugging his brother back. "I'm here."

Claus kept his grip on Lucas- but the muscles relaxed as little, as if he wasn't quite so worried that Lucas would somehow be ripped out of his arms.

Lucas began humming the believe song again, and started stroking Claus's back, the way Mom had whenever they'd had a nightmare whenever they were kids.

After a while, Claus relaxed- relaxed so much Lucas almost thought that he'd gone back to sleep- but when Lucas shifted, trying to see his brother's face, Claus pulled back slightly, just enough to see him too, his big brother's mismatched eyes blinking at him blearily, confusion showing.

"Do you feel better now Claus?"

Slowly, the confusion lightening but not going away, he nodded.

"That's good. Did you have a bad dream again? Is that why you were scared?"

"I wasn't scared. I'm the Commander, I don't get scared."

Lucas shut his eyes to resist rolling them. "Worried then. Were you worried because you had a bad dream?"

Claus looked almost like he was getting ready to argue about the accuracy of that word too, but then he shut his mouth. He did look more awake- more focused. He also looked faintly worried. "…I don't know Lucas. I just woke up on the floor- and I was surprised and happy to see you."

"Oh…that's the second time that's happened."

"What's happened?"

"You've woken up from a bad dream and haven't able to remember what it was about," Lucas said, frowning.

"But… they're just dreams, right?"

"I dunno Claus…if they were just dreams, I don't think you'd be reacting like that when you woke up." Lucas could see Claus thinking about that- could see that he was turning it over in his head by the way he frowned and stared into space- then he shook his head and looked up at Lucas again.

"When I'm waking up and reacting to the dreams… I'm not doing anything bad, am I?"

"No Claus, you're not."

Claus gave a little sigh of relief, but then his face tightened again and he pulled away from Lucas. "I have to get ready to work then." he jumped/slid off the bed, moved over to the dresser, and began to gather his uniform out of it.

"But Claus!" Lucas protested as he followed him, "I think this is really important!"

"Fulfilling my duties is important," Claus said- having gathered all his stuff, he turned to face Lucas again- and there was a faint smile hovering around his lips. "Besides… it doesn't matter if I have bad dreams, as long as you're here to wake me up."

There was a huge lump in Lucas's throat. Before he could swallow it down and move past it, Claus had vanished into the bathroom.

Frustrated with himself for being unable to say more, but also happy because he'd succeeded in comforting Claus and Claus's trust in him being able to comfort him in the future, Lucas got out the clothes Claus had gotten him and got dressed.

Could Claus's bad dreams be memories of the time when the Pigmasks first captured him? That might explain why they were obviously bad dreams and why he still managed to recognize Lucas, even though he was surprised to see him too.

That also might explain why Claus couldn't remember his dreams when he woke up.

Lucas was still thinking about that when he finished dressing by pulling his shirt over his head and the bathroom door clicked open.

"Lucas, I'm done. You can use the bathroom now… what are you doing?"

"Hey Claus-" Lucas grunted. Claus had distracted him when he'd come out all of a sudden and he'd pulled the shirt in a direction he hadn't meant to and temporally gotten himself stuck- with a grunt he freed himself and pulled it the rest of the way down and smiling as his brother's face was revealed. "I just decided to save time and not wait for the bathroom- it's not like I've got anything you haven't seen before, right? We're brothers, so we've both seen each other naked tons of times before. We always used to take baths together, remember?"

Claus started to shake his head- then paused and slowly nodded. "Mom used to do it at first… but then she said that we were big enough to do it ourselves."

"Yep. So you seeing me with my shirt off isn't a big deal at all."

Thoughtfully, Claus nodded- and then he moved to the door and Lucas followed. Both brothers began putting on their boots and then pulling on their jackets when they were done with their boots.

"Hey Claus, you're sure it's okay for me to go around the base when you're not with me?"

"Yes. I've spoken to the soldiers and repeated to them that you are not to be treated meanly in any way, and I told them that you have permission to move about the base. The only restriction is that you're not allowed into the scientists' labs, and no one is allowed there except for the scientists."

"Oh, okay." Remembering how the scientists had accidentally let that one chimera loose, and how lightly they viewed that incident, Lucas didn't think it would be a good idea to go near there anyway.

"So you want to become more familiar with the base?" Was that a hopeful tone in Claus's voice?

Lucas decided not to tell him that the reason why he wanted to become more familiar with the base was so that he could figure out hiding places and escape routes for when Claus finally realized they had to leave. He just nodded quietly, and tried not to feel guilty as Claus smiled a little bit.

"That's good Lucas-"

"So after breakfast, you're going to get started on the stuff Porky told you to do, right?" Lucas asked quickly, trying to change the topic.

Claus nodded.

"Well, while you go do that, I'll start looking around the base. And then I'll be in the mess hall at lunch time, so we can eat lunch together, okay?"

Claus nodded, smiling again, and then opened the door, and Lucas followed him out.

OoOoOo

Lucas was lost. He was also trying not to worry about that. But he'd promised Claus that he'd meet him in the mess hall so that they could have lunch together. Right now, Lucas wasn't sure where he was, let alone where the mess hall was.

(He shook his head at himself as he turned the corner- he'd spent too much time wandering around this morning?).

And then he saw the Pigmask standing in the corner, his face almost pressed into it. He was shaking too. Shaking almost like Claus when he woke up from one of his nightmares.

Lucas ran up to him. "Are you okay?"

"Not- not supposed to be here, not supposed to be here-" he was just staring at the wall. He didn't seem to notice Lucas at all, not until Lucas touched him gently on the arm- then he jumped and stumbled backwards, staring at Lucas in alarm.

Lucas held up his hands and smiled. "I just want to help," he said softly.

The man stared at him, but didn't move away. Lucas couldn't see his face beneath the helmet, but his body was still shaking. That wasn't good.

"Hey- I wanna help you, okay? How do you feel? Does your head hurt?"

Slowly, the Pigmask nodded.

"Okay…" Lucas wished he had his PSI. This guy might just have a fever, but Lucas wasn't sure-

Wait. He'd just walked past the infirmary. He'd realized that because it said so on the door, and he couldn't remember where the infirmary was in relation to the rest of the base, but Claus had said that the infirmary was supposed to help people feel better, right?

Lucas smiled and reached out his hand, offering it to the guy.

He stared at him and then, slowly, the Pigmask took it, and Lucas pulled him to his feet. "Don't worry, you're going to be fine. Come on." He gently pulled the Pigmask down the hall towards the infirmary. "My name's Lucas, what's yours?"

"…they call me Rabbit," the man said, following Lucas docilely.

"Rabbit, huh? Do you like it here, Mr. Rabbit?" Lucas quickly glanced over his shoulder as he asked the question, making sure that he was going the right way.

"Yes sir. It's very nice here- Master Porky takes good care of us- it's very nice here-"

Lucas looked back at him, worried about how the tone of his voice had changed, becoming more droning, and then he started repeating himself.

"Master Porky takes good care of us- it's very nice here, I'm not supposed to be here, it's very nice here, I'm not supposed to be here-"

Lucas stopped walking and grasped the Pigmask's shoulders. "Mr. Rabbit, are you okay?" the question felt a little silly, once it left his mouth to hung in the air- there was definitely something wrong here- but at his touch and at his voice, the Pigmask jumped a little before looking up and meeting his eyes.

"Hello Commander. I got sick again, didn't I?"

Lucas suppressed a wince at being mistaken for Claus again, but didn't correct him. This poor guy was confused enough as it was. "I'm taking you to the infirmary," he said gently.

The Pigmask nodded, as docile as before. "Yes sir, Commander sir."

Lucas began leading him forward again- not asking him any questions this time, since the questions seemed to make him feel worse for some reason. Thankfully, the infirmary was right around the corner, and Lucas breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it.

The Pigmask looked up as Lucas slowed. "Oh, the infirmary. I spend a lot of time here." the words came slowly- almost dreamily out of his mouth as Lucas opened the door and maneuvered him inside.

Lucas shot another worried look at him over his shoulder before turning to look around the room. It looked the same as before, when he and Claus had peeked inside, but there was no one there this time. "Hello?" Lucas called out, slightly hesitantly.

After a brief minute of silence, there was the sound of a door opening in the back and footsteps. A lady who looked like one of the scientists walked around the corner and came up to them, her eyes passing over them briefly, frowning. "Commander, what brings you- oh, I suppose you're not the Commander, are you? You must be the other one. What are you doing here? And why-?" she looked at the Pigmask, who raised his hand in the air, almost he was going to do the squeal salute, but he giggled instead.

"I'm not feeling well again, ma'am," he announced.

She sighed. "Very well. Get into one of the beds and I'll see to you in a minute."

"Yes ma'am. Thank you for taking me, Commander," he said, turning to face Lucas again, and Lucas smiled at him.

"I hope you feel better soon, Mr. Rabbit."

"Thank you Commander!" and then he marched off to one of the beds, and Lucas turned back to see the woman glaring at him.

"Why are you allowing him to call you Commander? You are the other one, aren't you?" she asked, peering at him and stepping so close that Lucas instinctively took a step back.

"He was very confused, and the confusion was so bad it seemed to be hurting him, so…" Lucas trailed off, and the woman nodded reluctantly.

"Alright. Sometimes they do get like this." She turned and looked at the man in the bed.

He seemed to be staring up at the ceiling, humming tunelessly.

"…he's going to be okay, right?" Lucas asked, somewhat hesitantly, and the woman turned back to face him.

"Of course he will," she said, like one of the villagers who thought Lucas was a stupid child. "Now, why don't you run along? I'll be busy taking care of him."

"Okay… but can you give me directions to the mess hall from here? I'm supposed to meet up with -the Commander soon, but I got a little lost."

The woman sighed and tucked her clipboard under her arm. "Fine. Listen up, you take the hallway outside and-"

OoOoOo

Lucas dropped into the seat thankfully. He was finally at the place where he'd been trying to get to for an hour already. And he'd beaten Claus here too. That wasn't much of a surprise though.

Claus was really busy all the time.

Sometimes it seemed the Pigmasks couldn't do anything without him.

Lucas was rather hungry. He supposed he could go grab something to eat now. But since he really wanted to eat together with Claus, both of them eating at the same time, he decided to sit there and wait.

Unfortunately, this turned out to be one of the times when stay and wait turned into stay and worry. Lucas had gotten familiar with that while waiting and hoping for Dad to find Claus and bring him home.

Lucas had missed his mom every day for the past three years, but he missed her even more now. He was sure that she'd know what to say, what to do…Mom would surely know how to help Claus, right? And that Mr. Rabbit guy- what had been wrong with him?

Lucas had no clue what to do…everything was so complicated, and there was so much going on…

"Hey Lucas!"

Lucas blinked and looked up. "Oh, hi Sheep."

"What's up?" the man plopped down in the seat across from him and pulled off his helmet with a grunt (Lucas looking on with interest because he'd never seen his face before), before looking back at Lucas. "You look pretty glum."

"I'm worried about Claus," Lucas admitted with a sigh- then twitched as he remembered that he wasn't supposed to tell anyone about that. "Err- I mean-"

"Claus huh? So that's the Commander's real name?"

"Huh?"

"So, I've wanted to ask this question for a while now, but you two are brothers, right?"

"Y-yeah…how'd you know?"

"It's obvious," Sheep said with a shrug. "The base has been talking about it ever since you got here. There are a couple disbelievers, but with the way you look pretty much exactly alike except for hair color, it's pretty obvious."

"Oh," Lucas said softly, worrying. He'd almost been expecting that answer. He and Claus had gotten mixed up a lot even by the villagers, although that had mostly been when they were younger, before Mom had started always dressing Claus in blue and green and him in red and yellow. He'd kinda suspected that they were obviously brothers, but Sheep's answer still worried him.

If they'd figured it out, did Porky know?

"I'm guessing that you're the younger brother?"

"Only by five minutes," Lucas said, somewhat defensively.

"Oh, so you guys are twins? Great, now I can get that 50 DP that Hiss owes me-"

"No no no! You can't tell anyone!"

"Why? Are you taking up being mysterious as a hobby too?"

Lucas shook his head- wondered how to put it into words. "I don't- I don't trust Porky."

Sheep stared at him.

Lucas winced. "Don't be mad, but he kept Claus away from my dad and me- he locked him away in one of his bases and did things him to him- kept him from coming home…he lied to him Sheep- he told him that he didn't have a name or family and that he wasn't allowed to love anyone! And because of all the stuff that Porky did to him, when we finally met again, he didn't remember anything!" Lucas felt the tears pressing against his eyes and tried to ignore them- looked at Sheep, pleading with him to understand. "Sheep, I don't trust that guy- and I really don't want to trust Claus to anyone but me or Dad. It's okay that you know the secret- I know you won't betray us- but please don't tell anyone."

Sheep looked- a little disturbed. "Wait- are you telling me that the Commander- didn't the Commander join up of his own free will?"

Lucas shook his head. "No. He was hurt- and the Pigmasks found him before Dad and the villagers could. Claus never would've abandoned us. If it'd been up to him, he would have come back home- but Porky and his minions wouldn't let him." Tears stung at his eyes as he fought to unclench his fists. "It was- it was three years ago that Claus went missing- Dad still searches the mountains for Claus everyday. Almost everybody told us to give up on him, that he had to be dead, but Dad kept searching- and I kept waiting. Fixed his favorite meals, fixed everything of his that was broken…and everyday, I prayed for him." Lucas nodded to himself- regained a bit of a smile. "Now I finally know he's okay- and we're together again. Claus has been hurt real bad by Porky and I don't really know what to do to help him- but we're alive and we're together and we'll find a way- we always have before. We're not alone anymore- we're together. And we're gonna find a way to fix this mess!" Lucas pulled both fists up to chest height and clenched them.

Sheep was staring at him- his expression was kinda hard to make out- to understand.

"Sheep?"

"…what are you going to do?"

"Right now, I'm focusing on helping Claus regain his memories- right now, he doesn't remember much. He doesn't even really remember how he got here. Once he gets his memories back…" Lucas trailed off and lowered/dropped his fists.

Silence.

"…what I want…more than anything…is to get me and Claus home again." Lucas looked apologetically but met Sheep's eyes.

Suddenly Sheep gasped- his eyes fixed on something behind Lucas- Lucas turned around to see a bunch of Pigmasks file through the door, swaggering as they walked. They were wearing different uniforms, colored black and with capes.

And everyone had stopped talking and was staring at them.

"There you are, soldier," said the closest one looking at- looking at Sheep?- and swaggering closer. "Heard you've been asking questions. Don't you know that good soldiers do what they're told without asking questions?"

"And who's this you're hanging out with?"

"Isn't that the kid who can pull the Needles?" Another one asked.

The doors banged open and everyone turned to see Claus walk in.

The black wearing Pigmasks glanced and then turned away but Lucas watched as his brother recognized him and strode towards him, fists tight.

"Why are you allowed to wander free?" Asked the closest one. "Shouldn't you be a cage somewhere?"

Before Lucas could respond, Claus was in-between him and the Pigmasks in black.

"Oh Commander." and their leader gave a gleeful little chuckle. "Don't you have something else to be doing right now? Something more important than protecting this puny weakling?"

"He's my responsibility," Claus answered evenly.

"What, are you saying no one can have fun with him other than you?"

Claus tilted his head- stared at the Pigmask until he twitched.

"What?"

"Don't you have something else to be doing right now?" Claus repeated his own words right back at him.

The Pigmask squealed indignantly. "Why you- you brat!"

But Claus was already turning away, ignoring the Pigmask completely. He held out his hand to Lucas.

Lucas quickly took it, no hesitation, and quickly jerked his head towards Sheep.

Claus's one visible eye narrowed, but he said "With me" and pointed at Sheep.

Sheep saluted and quickly followed as Claus led Lucas away, leaving the fuming Pigmasks behind.

Claus kept holding Lucas's hand and Sheep followed at a discrete distance.

Once they were far enough away, Lucas dared to ask the question that had been on his mind since the band of Pigmasks in black had entered the room. "Who were those guys? Everyone was staring at them. They seemed almost afraid of them too."

"…they're the Old Guard. They were here before everyone. Well, everyone but Master Porky."

"What do they do?"

"I don't know. Only Master Porky does. They report directly to him. Someone said that they sometimes drop off new soldiers."

Hinawa had always taught her sons that hate was wrong. Lucas really hoped that wherever she was watching over them from, she wasn't too disappointed in him for hating Porky.

"Lucas?"

He looked up to meet his big brother's one revealed eye. It was soft, and focused only on him.

"I won't let them hurt you Lucas. I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise."

Lucas managed to smile back. "I know Claus. And I won't let anyone hurt you either."

Chapter 20

"Still no progress?"

Claus did his best not to wince. The pig king's voice had gotten very high- painfully high- just then. "Yes sire. There have been no further signs of the troublemakers or the Ultimate Chimera and there has been no progress made on entering the Temple. However, the village has been searched and no one is there. That has been confirmed."

"How boring. Why can't you find them?"

"They appear to be in hiding, sire. Without being able to use the boy for their plans, their strength has gone down." Claus hesitated a moment. Should he mention that time when he had overheard the troublemakers talking to each other, they had mostly talked about how they wanted to get Lucas back? Would it be better to remind Master Porky of why Lucas needed to be kept in a safe place, or would it be better to let Master Porky forget that the troublemakers had once had Lucas with them? Well, he had just reminded him a minute ago, but maybe the less he reminded him the better?

"That shouldn't stop you! You're supposed to be the strongest of all my toys!"

"I'm sorry Master Porky, but I don't know where else to look."

Master Porky scoffed, and Claus tensed slightly. He knew Master Porky was disappointed in him, but he was really doing his best to fulfilling his duties-

"Since you can't do your job properly, I'll give the job of searching for the wannabe princess and the lame thief to Fassad. You might as well go put up the posters I'm sending over."

Claus waited a moment as the Pig King paused, then shouted over his shoulder "Well, get started!"

The communicator carried the sound of someone squealing before scurrying off to obey the pig king's orders, while Master Porky turned back and glared at Claus. "If you can't do your job, you're worthless slave!"

"Yes sir."

"And what do we do with worthless toys?" His tone had changed slightly- it sounded more amused than annoyed now.

"We throw them away like the trash they are sir," Claus said without hesitation. It was easy to remember- Master Porky said that and had Claus repeat it a lot. Not as much as he used to though. For a moment, he wondered if he should go ahead and say the next part of it, but decided to wait. If master porky wanted him to say it, he would prompt him to say it, just like always.

The pig king giggled, and the sound was so high pitched again that Claus had to resist the urge to clap his hands over his ears. "See that you don't forget slave. If you do forget, I might have to take that adorable little captive away from you even before his two friends are captured." The screen shut off before Claus could respond.

Master Porky was planning to take Lucas away when the troublemakers were captured?

He couldn't do that!

Claus was being good and Lucas was being good! And Lucas wasn't a distraction and Claus was performing his duties! Why was he talking about splitting them up? There was no reason to do that-

The troublemakers. Before, Master Porky had talked about using Lucas to punish the troublemakers.

Did that mean that once he was done using Lucas to punish the troublemakers, he would let Claus have Lucas back? If that was the case, that wouldn't be so bad. If it was just Master Porky taking Lucas away for just a little bit, just to have Lucas tell the troublemakers that they were troublemakers and that they were dummies and that they would never have him again. If it was just that, and afterwards they would be together again, that wouldn't be too bad.

But some of the other ways Master Porky had been talking about before, when he'd first talked about catching the troublemakers and Lucas's involvement with them… some of the things he'd said he might do to Lucas…they didn't sound so good.

Master Porky was the king of the army, of the whole island- and he took good care of everyone- but he didn't seem to understand that Lucas was a good boy who didn't want to hurt anyone.

Lucas had said that everyone made mistakes…

Claus shook his head and gathered up the posters that had been spat out and left the room.

He had to finish his report on Lucas and turn it in to Master Porky so he would understand that Lucas was a good boy, that Lucas didn't want to hurt anyone, that Lucas wasn't a threat at all. Because if Master Porky understand that, then he would understand that he had to take good care of Lucas too, right?

But in the meantime, he had to continue to fulfill his duties so that Master Porky wouldn't think that Lucas was a distraction and punish them by separating them.

Now… where would be the best place to put up these posters? Claus slowed in his walk as he considered that.

Perhaps he should put them next to some of the posters that Master Porky had already had posted? He'd had someone else do it before.

Briefly, he remembered standing in the sun, the warmth of it almost equaling the warmth of his father's strong hand as it gently descended onto his head and ruffled his hair.

"Good job Claus," his father's voice rumbled, and Claus grinned so wide-

Claus realized that he was grinning too, and shook his head, trying to get rid of that expression. Emotions were things he had to hide. He had to hide them from everyone but Lucas.

Okay, here was one of the old posters. Claus stopped in front of it, looking it over briefly. He had never really looked at any of Master Porky's posters before. He had noticed them out of the corner of his eyes as he marched through the hallways, but he had never really looked at one before.

It seemed to be showing one of the Porky bots- although it didn't look very botlike- pointing at the person looking at the poster, and the words on the poster read "pig brother is watching you".

Pig brother? Oh…it was a pun, right? Pig, as in Pigmask. And pig sounded a little like big. Pig brother. Big brother.

Big brothers were the strong ones, and they were supposed to take care of the little ones. The way Claus looked after Lucas. It was a reminder that the army's job was to protect everyone and watch over the island.

Claus peeled the first poster off the stack he was holding and carefully began applying it to the wall.

"Claus!"

Claus spun around at the sound of Lucas's voice, the poster forgotten and slipping from the wall.

Lucas was coming towards him, happiness and curiosity in equal amounts on his face. "Hey Claus, what are you doing?" He asked as he gave him a quick hug before letting go and backing up a step. Claus knew that he was worried about the soldiers finding them.

"Master porky- he ordered that I put up these posters for him, since I can't catch the troublemakers." remembering that, Claus turned away and found the poster lying on the floor. "Oh, I dropped it." It came rather quiet, a part of Claus feeling vaguely guilty, even though its time on the floor hadn't hurt it any, as he picked the poster up off the floor and then began reapplying it to the wall. He was aware of Lucas watching him intently as did that, but his little brother wasn't saying anything. Claus didn't say anything either.

When Claus finished putting up the poster, he turned around to find Lucas giving the poster a brief once over, frowning- did he not like the poster? Why not? - and then he looked back at Claus. The frown was still there, although it softened when he met Claus's eyes. "Hey Claus, you don't need to worry about this dumb thing/chore- I'll take care of it for you." he reached for the stack of posters, but Claus still held onto it.

"But Master Porky told me to do it."

"So long as it gets done, it doesn't really matter, right? I know that you're always busy, so there must be something more important for you to do than take care of these weird pictures." Lucas hesitated a moment, then asked "Hey Claus, you do trust me, right?"

Claus nodded, and when Lucas's hands reached for the posters again, he didn't fight them- he let Lucas take them, but he watched worriedly as Lucas shifted the stack into his arms.

"You were just going to put one up wherever one of these other posters are, right?" Lucas asked, glancing at the one Claus had already put up.

Again, Claus nodded.

"Okay, I can do that. You can go do whatever else you need to do Claus…or if you want, we can do this together. That would make it go faster…and then, if we finished early, maybe we could go do something that doesn't have anything to do with that that guy/work? Oh, I know! Does the top floor of this place have a door/roof like Thunder Tower did? Can we go up on top and go out on the roof and feel the wind and look over all the land surrounding us and see the sky? Can we go do that Claus?"

Lucas was beaming, beaming like he'd beamed for nothing else except the thought of their family being together again. He looked so happy that Claus found that he'd nodded before he'd even thought it over.

Lucas pumped a fist in the air happily and then chased the papers that escaped from him in his distracted happiness.

Claus felt a smile creep onto his face- both because of Lucas chasing the papers and his happiness still glowed even through the paper chasing- before shaking it away as Lucas caught the last one and turned to face him again. "Only if we finish early though," he said out loud, and Lucas nodded in understanding, before starting to go through the papers so Claus could carry some too- when there came footsteps pounding up, and both brothers turned to see the panting  soldier run up to them.

"Commander! Fassad's men stole the training room, even though it's our turn! Come tell them to give it back to us, please!"

Claus shut his eyes and sighed, briefly, before nodding.

While the soldier was sighing- his sounded more relieved than Claus's had- Claus turned back to Lucas. "You go on ahead. I'll rejoin you as quickly as I can."

Lucas nodded, the disappointment lurking about his face, but he still smiled at his brother as the soldier pulled him away.

OoOoOo

Some time later- right after Claus had straightened out the mess with which group had permission to use the training room when, others had come to him for his help with more problems- Claus stepped inside the room.

It had taken a while, and he hadn't seen Lucas around the base, so he decided to check the commander's room first, just to make sure he wasn't already there.

He was already there. He had the pages of his report and the visuals aids he'd drawn to accompany it all spread out in front of him. He was looking them over and frowning slightly. He must be really deep in thought, Claus realized as he watched him.

Normally Lucas heard the door open and turned to face him right away, smiling-

"Lucas?" his brother's name slipped out of him. The worry in his voice was very loud and he winced as the door slipped out of his grasp and then slammed shut behind him.

Lucas jumped and turned to face him then. He only smiled once their eyes met and he saw that it was really him. "Claus, you're back." he pushed himself to his feet- came over and hugged him, but not for as long as he usually did- before pulling back slightly and looking him in the eyes. "How much time do we have before you have to run off to do anything else?"

"…I'm not sure. We should have time though."

"Oh…okay." Lucas's eyes drifted down towards the floor. Frowning again. Was he worrying?

"Lucas?"

His little brother looked up at him. There was a small smile hovering around- but it didn't look very happy. He did focus on Claus though.

"Lucas, are you okay? Did some of the soldiers try to pick on you again?"

"No, nothing like that Claus. I'm okay. I'm just a little worried about the talk we need to have. That's all."

"Oh…you didn't do anything bad with the troublemakers, did you?"

"No Claus!" Lucas actually looked a little bit angry now, and Claus felt both a little bad and a little relieved. Of course Lucas wouldn't do something like that, because Lucas was a good boy and of course he would do as he was told- "I wouldn't do anything that might get you in trouble!"

…oh. Well, that motivation wasn't bad. It wasn't bad, but-

"I did take down all the old posters and replace them with the new ones, but I brought the old ones back here-" Lucas pointed to a corner of the room, and looking at it, Claus could see that yes, there was a stack of posters sitting there. "In case both the old ones and new ones were supposed to be up. I wanted to throw them away, but I thought it might be a good idea to check and make sure first."

"That's good Lucas," Claus praised. "The orders didn't mention the old posters one way or another. We should probably go replace back where they were, just to be sure." Claus took a step towards the posters, but Lucas stopped him, wrapping both his hands around his big brother's wrist. Claus turned to face him- his eyes were focused on him, wide and desperate. "Lucas?" all the worry was flooding back-

"Claus, before we do anything else, I have to tell you."

"Tell me what?" Had Lucas done something? Was the reason the people hadn't been in the village because they'd somehow found their way here, and Lucas was hiding them and trying to keep them safe?

Claus darted a look at the bed as if they all could be hiding underneath there.

Lucas shut his eyes- took a deep breath- and then opened his eyes again and fixed intently on Claus. "I need to talk to you about how Mom died."

OoOoOo

Anyone here read the Sunflower and Blade comic on Deviantart? I recommend, though sadly it doesn't look like it's going to be updated anymore. Still recommended though.

Chapter 21

Summary:

Thanks so much for all of your comments you guys. You're the best!
Also, Kumatora's hair? That's totally dyed.

“Duster?” Kumatora’s voice came from behind him. Part of him recognized that her voice was possibly quieter than he’d ever heard it, but most of him was much too focused to do much more than listen to the words she was using. “Come on, let’s head back to Ionia’s.”

“There has to be something here,” Duster insisted, moving to search another part of the wall.

“Duster, you’ve combed every inch of this house three times and you’ve searched the rest of the village in between searching through this place and there’s nothing.” The irritation was back in her voice, making her sound more like herself. “There’s nothing here.”

“He wouldn’t have left without leaving something.”

“There wasn’t even a Thunder Bomb in the box behind the house!” Kumatora shouted, losing her temper now. “Duster, come on, there’s nothing more we can do here. Look, he’s a tough old geezer. I’m sure he’s doing okay.” Her hands wrapped around his wrist, and he braced himself, waiting for the inevitable yank or push or blow- but she only gripped him tighter. “Hey, he’s probably in the same place as Lucas, and Lucas is probably stuck listening to him complain about how we’re taking too long to rescue them.”

“Yeah, I suppose Claus is in the same cell with them too.” Duster winced at the smack to his shoulder but didn’t respond other than that. He supposed he had been asking for it with that one.

“Well, you guys were the ones insisting that there was a reason he hadn’t come home yet. Come on Duster-” and her voice softened again and she gripped him and tugged him up. “You can’t help them here. Let’s go.”

Duster let her pull him to his feet, still looking around. “It doesn’t make sense. As a master thief, my dad wouldn’t have left without leaving us some kind of message. Wait-”

“What?” Kumatora asked, turning to look at him, “Did you think of something?”

“Yeah. There’s a spot, real close by, but not in the village itself, where he used to take me all the time to train. It’d be harder for him to get to, but it would also be a better hiding place.”

“Well, I guess we might as well check it. If he did hide something there, we definitely want to find it. Lead the way.”

OoOoOo

The tree was still one of the tallest he had ever seen. It had always towered over him, and even though he had grown, it still towered over him. In a way, it was almost reassuring.

But they’d come here for a reason.

Kumatora was already busy examine the tree. “Ah-ha!”

She pulled out a box from the hollow of the tree, almost waving it through the air in her excitement.

“That’s great- whoa, don’t open it! Remember how he likes to booby trap things things? This isn’t going to be different.” Duster held out his hands and Kumatora- with no hesitation but not without a groan of impatience- handed the box to him and Duster sat on the ground and began to work on it.

Wow, his dad hadn’t been half hearted with these traps. The first one Duster found was designed to send a knife through the brain of the person opening the package. After disarming the traps- all five of them- and then double-checking and then triple checking for any more traps, Duster cautiously opened the box.

It looked like there were only pieces of paper inside. Duster picked up the piece of paper on top. The piece of paper with his name on it.

“Duster- I hope this box stays here and rots. But maybe it’s better if it doesn’t. Whatever. You’ve obviously found it and disarmed all my traps. I found these things while those fools were making me work on our house to turn it into that stupid “old man’s paradise”. I don’t know what they are, which is one of the reasons I didn’t want to show them to you whenever you finally get back. Because I knew you would ask questions I couldn’t answer. But whatever they are, I know they’re important. I didn’t want them to end up in anyone’s hands but yours. Which is why I’m hiding them here in this box and setting the traps and giving this box to Fuel to hide at this spot where we used to train. If I’m still around when you find this- well, good. If not- then I guess it’s up to you. Remember your training- use your head!

Good luck

Dad.”

“… he must’ve written this before I even got back. Before he knew what happened to me,” Duster said numbly, his eyes passing over the piece of paper, hardly able to believe it was real, before turning to the other contents of the box.

They weren’t just pieces of paper, Duster realized, vaguely aware of Kumatora taking them and reading the letter even as she hovered behind him. These pieces of paper showed scenes. Pictures. Photographs, that’s what these were.

Quite a few showed him and his dad- a younger him, and a dad that wasn’t quite as oldT the younger him looked almost shy, but they smiled together at the … camera, that’s what you took pictures with, right?

And there were other photos in there too- photos of the other villagers- including one picture of Flint hugging a very pregnant Hinawa, both their faces glowing with happiness. But after looking over those briefly Duster put them back in the box and just held onto the couple that showed him and his dad- and the couple that showed the two of them and a brown haired baby, all of them smiling happily together-

Duster was aware of Kumatora gasping as she stared at it over his shoulder- but the roaring was flooding back into his ears and in his head, and it swamped him when he saw the last photo. It was more battered than the others, crinkled around the edges- and it showed him, with a girl a little older than him with one arm around him and two adults- a man and a woman, with their arms around one another- they were all smiling at the camera.

It looked so much like a family photo. Was there anything else it could possibly be? But these people- did he know them? When he stared at their faces-

“Everybody else is busy talking about what kind of story they want to have.” he spoke from the door way, and the man didn’t turn around and look at him- only gave a grunt as any sort of sign that he’d heard him at all.

Bringing up his courage, he stepped deeper into the room. “They say that- that in the stories they put together, nobody will be left out.”
At first, he thought the man wasn’t listening to him at all. Then he saw how the man’s hands had stilled on the project he was working on.

“They’re saying that they’re going to make sure I have a family.”

The man gave a frustrated groan.

Before he could start mentally beat himself up for picking the wrong words to use, the man pulled off his jacket and tossed it over his head, covering him with it. He pushed his arms through the sleeves and then wrapped his arms around himself, even as he watched the man sit down in the spot where he’d been sitting before.

They looked at each other for a moment.

“And?” the man asked finally. “What do you think?”

“…I don’t want to forget my family.” It came out quietly, almost like a whimper, but it was met with a gentle pat to the head.

“I don’t blame you, kid. It’s not my idea of fun either, but I voted against it and lost. There’s nothing I can do about that whole Egg of Light thing now.”

“They send that I’ll even have to give up my picture.”

The man snorted. “That, I can do something about.” he made a beckoning gesture, and- only slightly reluctantly- he handed it to him.

“I’ll have to find a better place for it eventually, but for now, this should work-” he carefully slid it inside an envelope and then carefully taped it to the wall before covering it with wallpaper.

“But I won’t be able to get to it either,” he protested quietly, and the man turned to him and smirked.

“It’s just until the others forget you have it, kid. Then we can take it out. Of course we’ll have to do something- set up some kind of sign that will jog our memories so we don’t forget about it too…and I just remembered something that might complicate things.”

“What?”

“…when the stories are put into place, who are you going to go with?” Seeing the look of confusion on his face, he grumbled. “Who are you going to live with? Who will be your new family?”

“Oh… I dunno. It seems like most of them want me to pick someone else. They want their own kids, not someone else’s… but you think that maybe they wouldn't like it if I kept that picture of my family?”

“It's possible.”

“Then maybe… maybe I just better stay with you then. Since you don’t mind.” The man stared at the boy as he silently both marveled at and cursed his bravery.

And the man chuckled- sounding both amused and wry and bittersweet. “Maybe you haven’t noticed, but I’m better with things than people.”
“You’re not that bad,” he said softly, hopeful again.

“Even if I wasn’t, I’m still not good father material.”

“I don’t want someone who will pretend to be my dad, but I do want someone who likes me and wants me around.”

The man gave a soft sigh, then came over, and patted the boy on the head. “Okay, if it’s what you really want, you can stay with me.”

Since his bravery had been rewarded before, he slowly hugged the man- he wasn’t exactly hugged back, but the man gently patted his back-

And then Kumatora punched him.

Once again, Duster found himself sprawled in the dust with Kumatora standing over him, staring down at him with a worried expression on her face.

Notes:

I don't think there's going to be any real pairings. Though the plot bunnies have been bugging me with some minor ship tease moments, so I guess we'll see what happens with that. Romance will definitely not be a huge thing though.
Family/friendship, hurt/comfort, mystery and drama are going to be the main things of this.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of Mother 3 AUs