The Last Needle
Aug. 18th, 2013 07:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pullsneedlesThe elevator finally slows to a startling but somewhat safe stop low underground. Everyone falls out of the door, though not without some missing.
"Where're your friends from the other place?" Kumatora asks while rubbing a spot above her thighs that got hit during their landing.
Lucas shakes his head a little before going, "Prolly back there. Sometimes I get there by fallin'. It's kinda weird." He dusts his knees off. "I hope they're safe."
Flint clears his throat. "Lucas, there's something that has me concerned. Could you let me go on ahead first?"
The boy nods once to his father, hanging back with his friends.
"Thanks. Don't ask why. But if it seems like I've been gone a long time, then go ahead and keep going."
"You okay?" Duster checks once Flint is out of sight, repeating Autor's earlier question.
"Yeah... Yeah, I'm okay," the boy confirms before pressing on.
****************************
The descent down, down, down is done mostly in silence, the darkness smothering sound. They reach a spot of strange, crackling electricity before they finally catch up to Flint.
His hat flies away before the party actually sees him. Lucas can feel his heart contract in fear when he sees his father on the ground. Boney runs up first, Lucas close behind his dog on pure instinct and adrenaline.
But before Lucas can say a thing, Flint goes, "That...that masked man.... He's Claus."
"What-what're y'talkin' about, Dad?" Lucas gets out.
"Lucas... He's your brother, Claus. I don't know why he's obeying this Porky guy, but as a father, I've finally found the son I lost. Lucas. Be happy. I've finally, finally found your brother."
Lucas stands up, unable to find the will to speak to Flint anymore. He walks onward, Boney, Duster, and Kumatora eventually following him and leaving Flint alone.
****************************
"Stop! Stop! Stop right there~!" Porky's ancient voice creaks and coughs as he approaches in his spider bed mech. "This really is no time for games anymore. I don't feel like letting you go any further. If you're after the Needle, don't worry. My adorable little monster is on its way to it as we speak."
"He's not a monster," Lucas protests as Porky wheezes and gasps.
"...Huh?"
"His name's Claus," the boy continues, just a little louder.
"That monster's name is Claus? Its name was Claus?!" Porky nearly chortles. "That almost sounds like a person's name! But now it's my robot. Not even a fragment of life remains inside it. It's Master Porky's slave robot! It does whatever I say! It acts on my will alone. It's my double. It doesn't know anything about who you are!"
"Claus wouldn't forget that easy!" Lucas says during another of Porky's coughing fits. "Even if he is a robot or a chimera or whatever awful thing that's happened t'him, Claus'd never forget me 'nd Mom 'nd Dad 'nd Boney 'nd all the people we love!"
But Porky's had enough, his spider bed mech gearing up to attack.
****************************
"Let me fill you in on something," Porky says after his mech sprays something at the group. "No matter how much you attack me, I'll never die. Even if I somehow wind up beaten, I'll never die. Bet you didn't know that, did you?"
Lucas concentrates on attacking one of the mech's legs. "Maybe I'm tired a' people dyin' anyway."
"Maybe we're just trying to stay alive!" Kumatora shouts in addition.
Porky laughs and coughs before letting loose with an electrifying attack. Fortunately, Lucas's Courage Badge reflects it.
"He's not going to listen," Duster says. "Let's just stop him."
"I've gone through time and space so many times that I haven't aged like a normal person," the old man goes on, ignoring everything Lucas and his friends said. "Who knows, I might be 1,000 years old, or even 10,000 years old. But, despite that, I'm still the same kid at heart! Is that funny? It is, isn't it?
"Does it make you laugh?
"....Are you laughing at me?!"
Porky attacks much more brutally after that, his strange actions even harder to read as they dodge spider legs and the peculiar sucking sounds.
"If the Dragon wakes up, it might end up destroying everything and extinguishing all life. Even so...." Porky nearly collapses inside his mech from the coughing fit following his long, loud laugh. "Even so, I'll be alive. Me and the Dragon will be the only things left alive in the whole wide world! I'm more than ready for that possibility."
Despite the coughing fits getting worse and worse, Porky laughs more and more gleefully.
"With my eternal life, I will see the world through to its end. Until everyone who won't like me is gone."
An odd pang of pity attacks Lucas's heart at those words. He can't help remembering his discussion with Dinah when the gardens had been wrecked.
Whatever caused this must've been in a lotta pain.
"Thank you for playing along with me all the way to the end like this. I'm actually a pretty nice guy, wouldn't you say?"
Lucas hates Porky. Or he should anyway.
Right?
So why does he feel so sad for him?
"I'll never die," Porky says as his spider legs collapse underneath the bed. "I'll never die, nor will I ever be beaten... But it appears my machine has run out of energy for the moment. Ahaha. Lucas... You haven't won, just so you know."
A strange round capsule descends from somewhere above, landing near the mech.
"I'm going to duck inside this Absolutely Safe Capsule for the time being. When I'm inside, no attack will have any effect on me whatsoever. I'm sure you're thinking to yourself, 'Yeah, right. There's no such thing as absolutely'... But there is such a thing.... And it's this! The Absolutely Safe Capsule I tricked Dr. Andonuts and the Mr. Saturns into making for me! Me! ME! All for me!"
With some difficulty, Porky pulls himself into the Absolutely Safe Capsule and seals it shut. The boy hesitates while Kumatora tries to strike the capsule. It has no visible effect and Porky sticks his tongue out at her.
"What do we do now?" Duster asks.
"I guess we can't really do anything but Porky can't do anything back," Kumatora says. "So I guess it's over?"
"Oh, my!"
Everyone turns around to find Dr. Andonuts behind them.
"As evil as old Porky here is, I feel bad for him," the doctor says, approaching the Absolutely Safe Capsule. "It's true that the Absolutely Safe Capsule that the Mr. Saturns and I developed together can protect one from every manner of danger. It IS an absolutely safe capsule, but once you enter it, you can never exit it. Even what's outside of the Absolutely Safe Capsule is absolutely safe. I did tell Porky in a hushed voice that he shouldn't use it yet... But all he can do now is live for eternity inside the capsule, in absolute safety. Who knows, in a way, he may've gotten exactly what he wanted. What do you think? Is it wrong for me to think this way?"
Lucas doesn't know how to answer Dr. Andonuts. Duster and Kumatora are likewise silent.
Dr. Andonuts clears his throat and goes, "Want to roll him around for a bit? It's absolutely safe."
The group leaves Porky and Dr. Andonuts, the latter rolling around the former's Absolutely Safe Capsule.
"Wheee! Rolly rolly!"
****************************
It's down to this.
The seventh Needle was in sight. Porky no longer stood in their way. There was hope yet for this end-of-the-world world that they had unknowingly been living in.
All that was left was Claus.
Lucas almost didn't want to believe this was his brother's fate, a body reconstructed as a chimera, obvious metal wings and parts that were so unnatural he just wanted to brush them all away and have Claus back as he was.
With a single lightning strike, the masked Claus knocks out Boney, Duster, and Kumatora. Only Lucas could stand against him, the Courage Badge reflecting the attack back to him. Lucas winces when Claus takes a knee.
But even knowing the danger he would face, Lucas lowers his weapon.
“I can't hurt you, Claus...”
Claus, however, doesn't hesitate to attack Lucas. The younger twin is forced to grapple with his brother in order to protect himself.
Is he about to die?
Lucas...
From somewhere, Lucas hears someone call his name. He hesitates briefly, accidentally allowing Claus to knock him down as he worries if his madness is to return now. The voice doesn't sound like the ones that haunt his sick mind, however.
Claus...
It was Hinawa's voice.
Lucas can feel himself fading until he felt a strange warmth. As strength returns to him, he digs in his pocket in search of the source to find one of the pairs of razor and lipstick left to him by the Magypsies fading away.
Claus... Stop this... You aren't Porky's robot. You're our son!
Claus looks around, possibly confused, before resuming his attack on Lucas. His twin remains on the defensive.
"Lucas! Look out!"
Lucas isn't sure when Flint caught up with them but now he's jumping in front of him, taking the attack.
"Claus, please remember..." Flint weakly begs from his spot curled on the ground. "I've been looking for you for so long..."
Claus responds with a PK Love Ω attack to Flint. Lucas tries to stop his brother again, reaching to grab him. Claus pulls his hand away and strikes again.
Claus... You and Lucas are brothers!
Lucas pulls himself up from the attack just in time to guard when Claus strikes again.
Can you hear me? You're Claus. Your name is Claus! You're our son!
Claus moves in but Lucas manages to dodge.
Please... Remember! Lucas... Claus...
Lucas isn't sure what to do anymore.
Claus attacks again but it's less certain, like he's feeling the same thing. He gazes at Lucas. The younger twin raises a hand at another attack, but this one is even less certain. Claus covers his ears.
"Claus...?" Lucas tries.
He makes another feeble strike, shutting his eyes. Despite the hits not hurting as much as they did before, Lucas feels like he's about to cry.
Claus... Claus... Claus... Come to your mother. You must be so exhausted. Come here, Claus.
Claus looks around, as if searching for something. Then he takes his mask off. For the first time in years, Lucas really saw his brother and a small wave of relief washed over him.
But then he saw Claus prepare an attack.
"Claus?"
He fires an intense bolt of lightning. Before Lucas can try to dodge it, his Courage Badge reflects it right back to Claus. The mortally wounded twin staggers towards Lucas, embracing him.
"I'm sorry it turned out like this," Claus weakly says as Lucas holds him tightly. "I'm really happy you could be with me just before the end... Thanks. Dad. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. I'm going to where Mom is now. Lucas. I hope we meet again someday.
"Bye.
"Thank you.
"I'm sorry."
Claus clutches his hand in Lucas's shirt. Lucas nods against him, unable to speak.
"I'm sure we'll meet again."
Claus's grip goes slack and Lucas gives a gasping cry. He holds his brother's limp body as tightly to him as he can. He's not sure how long he stays like this or when everybody else manages to get up. Eventually he finds there's nothing left to do but let Claus go.
Flint says something when Lucas steps away but the boy can't understand it. He can't understand anything. He presses forward to the final Needle.
And he pulls it.
****************************
There's a tremendous, frightening shaking.
And then all Lucas knows is white nothingness.
Somehow it's more comforting than the nothingness he had seen before. There is no one with him and yet he somehow knows he's not alone.
"Lucas..." a great, unfamiliar voice addresses his mind.
"What? Who...who're you?"
"I am the one whose awakening you've sought. I am the Destroyer and the Creator.
"I am the Dark Dragon."
"Where're your friends from the other place?" Kumatora asks while rubbing a spot above her thighs that got hit during their landing.
Lucas shakes his head a little before going, "Prolly back there. Sometimes I get there by fallin'. It's kinda weird." He dusts his knees off. "I hope they're safe."
Flint clears his throat. "Lucas, there's something that has me concerned. Could you let me go on ahead first?"
The boy nods once to his father, hanging back with his friends.
"Thanks. Don't ask why. But if it seems like I've been gone a long time, then go ahead and keep going."
"You okay?" Duster checks once Flint is out of sight, repeating Autor's earlier question.
"Yeah... Yeah, I'm okay," the boy confirms before pressing on.
****************************
The descent down, down, down is done mostly in silence, the darkness smothering sound. They reach a spot of strange, crackling electricity before they finally catch up to Flint.
His hat flies away before the party actually sees him. Lucas can feel his heart contract in fear when he sees his father on the ground. Boney runs up first, Lucas close behind his dog on pure instinct and adrenaline.
But before Lucas can say a thing, Flint goes, "That...that masked man.... He's Claus."
"What-what're y'talkin' about, Dad?" Lucas gets out.
"Lucas... He's your brother, Claus. I don't know why he's obeying this Porky guy, but as a father, I've finally found the son I lost. Lucas. Be happy. I've finally, finally found your brother."
Lucas stands up, unable to find the will to speak to Flint anymore. He walks onward, Boney, Duster, and Kumatora eventually following him and leaving Flint alone.
****************************
"Stop! Stop! Stop right there~!" Porky's ancient voice creaks and coughs as he approaches in his spider bed mech. "This really is no time for games anymore. I don't feel like letting you go any further. If you're after the Needle, don't worry. My adorable little monster is on its way to it as we speak."
"He's not a monster," Lucas protests as Porky wheezes and gasps.
"...Huh?"
"His name's Claus," the boy continues, just a little louder.
"That monster's name is Claus? Its name was Claus?!" Porky nearly chortles. "That almost sounds like a person's name! But now it's my robot. Not even a fragment of life remains inside it. It's Master Porky's slave robot! It does whatever I say! It acts on my will alone. It's my double. It doesn't know anything about who you are!"
"Claus wouldn't forget that easy!" Lucas says during another of Porky's coughing fits. "Even if he is a robot or a chimera or whatever awful thing that's happened t'him, Claus'd never forget me 'nd Mom 'nd Dad 'nd Boney 'nd all the people we love!"
But Porky's had enough, his spider bed mech gearing up to attack.
****************************
"Let me fill you in on something," Porky says after his mech sprays something at the group. "No matter how much you attack me, I'll never die. Even if I somehow wind up beaten, I'll never die. Bet you didn't know that, did you?"
Lucas concentrates on attacking one of the mech's legs. "Maybe I'm tired a' people dyin' anyway."
"Maybe we're just trying to stay alive!" Kumatora shouts in addition.
Porky laughs and coughs before letting loose with an electrifying attack. Fortunately, Lucas's Courage Badge reflects it.
"He's not going to listen," Duster says. "Let's just stop him."
"I've gone through time and space so many times that I haven't aged like a normal person," the old man goes on, ignoring everything Lucas and his friends said. "Who knows, I might be 1,000 years old, or even 10,000 years old. But, despite that, I'm still the same kid at heart! Is that funny? It is, isn't it?
"Does it make you laugh?
"....Are you laughing at me?!"
Porky attacks much more brutally after that, his strange actions even harder to read as they dodge spider legs and the peculiar sucking sounds.
"If the Dragon wakes up, it might end up destroying everything and extinguishing all life. Even so...." Porky nearly collapses inside his mech from the coughing fit following his long, loud laugh. "Even so, I'll be alive. Me and the Dragon will be the only things left alive in the whole wide world! I'm more than ready for that possibility."
Despite the coughing fits getting worse and worse, Porky laughs more and more gleefully.
"With my eternal life, I will see the world through to its end. Until everyone who won't like me is gone."
An odd pang of pity attacks Lucas's heart at those words. He can't help remembering his discussion with Dinah when the gardens had been wrecked.
Whatever caused this must've been in a lotta pain.
"Thank you for playing along with me all the way to the end like this. I'm actually a pretty nice guy, wouldn't you say?"
Lucas hates Porky. Or he should anyway.
Right?
So why does he feel so sad for him?
"I'll never die," Porky says as his spider legs collapse underneath the bed. "I'll never die, nor will I ever be beaten... But it appears my machine has run out of energy for the moment. Ahaha. Lucas... You haven't won, just so you know."
A strange round capsule descends from somewhere above, landing near the mech.
"I'm going to duck inside this Absolutely Safe Capsule for the time being. When I'm inside, no attack will have any effect on me whatsoever. I'm sure you're thinking to yourself, 'Yeah, right. There's no such thing as absolutely'... But there is such a thing.... And it's this! The Absolutely Safe Capsule I tricked Dr. Andonuts and the Mr. Saturns into making for me! Me! ME! All for me!"
With some difficulty, Porky pulls himself into the Absolutely Safe Capsule and seals it shut. The boy hesitates while Kumatora tries to strike the capsule. It has no visible effect and Porky sticks his tongue out at her.
"What do we do now?" Duster asks.
"I guess we can't really do anything but Porky can't do anything back," Kumatora says. "So I guess it's over?"
"Oh, my!"
Everyone turns around to find Dr. Andonuts behind them.
"As evil as old Porky here is, I feel bad for him," the doctor says, approaching the Absolutely Safe Capsule. "It's true that the Absolutely Safe Capsule that the Mr. Saturns and I developed together can protect one from every manner of danger. It IS an absolutely safe capsule, but once you enter it, you can never exit it. Even what's outside of the Absolutely Safe Capsule is absolutely safe. I did tell Porky in a hushed voice that he shouldn't use it yet... But all he can do now is live for eternity inside the capsule, in absolute safety. Who knows, in a way, he may've gotten exactly what he wanted. What do you think? Is it wrong for me to think this way?"
Lucas doesn't know how to answer Dr. Andonuts. Duster and Kumatora are likewise silent.
Dr. Andonuts clears his throat and goes, "Want to roll him around for a bit? It's absolutely safe."
The group leaves Porky and Dr. Andonuts, the latter rolling around the former's Absolutely Safe Capsule.
"Wheee! Rolly rolly!"
****************************
It's down to this.
The seventh Needle was in sight. Porky no longer stood in their way. There was hope yet for this end-of-the-world world that they had unknowingly been living in.
All that was left was Claus.
Lucas almost didn't want to believe this was his brother's fate, a body reconstructed as a chimera, obvious metal wings and parts that were so unnatural he just wanted to brush them all away and have Claus back as he was.
With a single lightning strike, the masked Claus knocks out Boney, Duster, and Kumatora. Only Lucas could stand against him, the Courage Badge reflecting the attack back to him. Lucas winces when Claus takes a knee.
But even knowing the danger he would face, Lucas lowers his weapon.
“I can't hurt you, Claus...”
Claus, however, doesn't hesitate to attack Lucas. The younger twin is forced to grapple with his brother in order to protect himself.
Is he about to die?
Lucas...
From somewhere, Lucas hears someone call his name. He hesitates briefly, accidentally allowing Claus to knock him down as he worries if his madness is to return now. The voice doesn't sound like the ones that haunt his sick mind, however.
Claus...
It was Hinawa's voice.
Lucas can feel himself fading until he felt a strange warmth. As strength returns to him, he digs in his pocket in search of the source to find one of the pairs of razor and lipstick left to him by the Magypsies fading away.
Claus... Stop this... You aren't Porky's robot. You're our son!
Claus looks around, possibly confused, before resuming his attack on Lucas. His twin remains on the defensive.
"Lucas! Look out!"
Lucas isn't sure when Flint caught up with them but now he's jumping in front of him, taking the attack.
"Claus, please remember..." Flint weakly begs from his spot curled on the ground. "I've been looking for you for so long..."
Claus responds with a PK Love Ω attack to Flint. Lucas tries to stop his brother again, reaching to grab him. Claus pulls his hand away and strikes again.
Claus... You and Lucas are brothers!
Lucas pulls himself up from the attack just in time to guard when Claus strikes again.
Can you hear me? You're Claus. Your name is Claus! You're our son!
Claus moves in but Lucas manages to dodge.
Please... Remember! Lucas... Claus...
Lucas isn't sure what to do anymore.
Claus attacks again but it's less certain, like he's feeling the same thing. He gazes at Lucas. The younger twin raises a hand at another attack, but this one is even less certain. Claus covers his ears.
"Claus...?" Lucas tries.
He makes another feeble strike, shutting his eyes. Despite the hits not hurting as much as they did before, Lucas feels like he's about to cry.
Claus... Claus... Claus... Come to your mother. You must be so exhausted. Come here, Claus.
Claus looks around, as if searching for something. Then he takes his mask off. For the first time in years, Lucas really saw his brother and a small wave of relief washed over him.
But then he saw Claus prepare an attack.
"Claus?"
He fires an intense bolt of lightning. Before Lucas can try to dodge it, his Courage Badge reflects it right back to Claus. The mortally wounded twin staggers towards Lucas, embracing him.
"I'm sorry it turned out like this," Claus weakly says as Lucas holds him tightly. "I'm really happy you could be with me just before the end... Thanks. Dad. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. I'm going to where Mom is now. Lucas. I hope we meet again someday.
"Bye.
"Thank you.
"I'm sorry."
Claus clutches his hand in Lucas's shirt. Lucas nods against him, unable to speak.
"I'm sure we'll meet again."
Claus's grip goes slack and Lucas gives a gasping cry. He holds his brother's limp body as tightly to him as he can. He's not sure how long he stays like this or when everybody else manages to get up. Eventually he finds there's nothing left to do but let Claus go.
Flint says something when Lucas steps away but the boy can't understand it. He can't understand anything. He presses forward to the final Needle.
And he pulls it.
****************************
There's a tremendous, frightening shaking.
And then all Lucas knows is white nothingness.
Somehow it's more comforting than the nothingness he had seen before. There is no one with him and yet he somehow knows he's not alone.
"Lucas..." a great, unfamiliar voice addresses his mind.
"What? Who...who're you?"
"I am the one whose awakening you've sought. I am the Destroyer and the Creator.
"I am the Dark Dragon."
