ApartmentBound

           “What about this Ninten? Would this be nice for Lucas?” Ness said smiling. He was usually jolly about buying gifts for everyone. In his hand however, was a guide to dating.

           Ninten gave himself a sigh, and grabbed the book from Ness’ hand and explained, “When have you ever seen Lucas go out of his way to date someone?”

           Ninten and Ness were at a book store, Ninten knew that Lucas had been wanting a book for awhile through his telepathy. I just really want a good read. Lucas would often ponder. It was kind of hard not to as Lucas would only read Overcoming Shyness often.

           “Look, how about something that Lucas would enjoy? Like maybe a mystery novel or…” Ninten said when suddenly he got interrupted.

           “A ROMANCE NOVEL!” Ness exclaimed happily. “Dang Ninten you’re so smart.” He then ran off to the romance section of the store.

           Ninten had the face of flabbergast, and just gave himself a big old facepalm. Ness, you really know how to pick em don’t cha?

           Ninten found his way back to Ness in the romance section, where he found a book and tossed it aside. “I know Lucas wouldn’t want that Ninten.”

           The book was about 250 ways to make an omelet.

           “Here’s this one Ninten. I like this one!” Ness said with his eyes wide. Ninten grabbed the book, blushed rather hard and put it right back.

           “I know Lucas would never ever look at that Ness.” Ninten said pushing Ness away from the romance section of the store to the fantasy one.

           “This here, this is something Lucas would enjoy.” Ninten said waving his hand. “Lucas likes adventure and interesting stories. I’m almost positive that he’ll like this genre.”

           Ness scratched his head, looked around, and looked blankly at Ninten. “I really liked the book from earlier.”

           Ninten grabbed Ness by the shoulder and calmly explained to him. “Forget that book ever happened.”

           The boys looked around the Fantasy section until he found a book about a gang of misfits that take down huge beasts for cash.

“I’m almost positive Lucas would love this.” Ninten said. He was rather happy that Ness had actually found a good book for Lucas. Next was obviously Claus.

The boys moved their way to the closest video game store in the mall. Claus was a huge geek and enjoyed most things that were anime or game related.

Ness looked around, and found a t-shirt that read, “Brother from another Mother.” Ness scratched his head and looked at Ninten.

“No.” Ninten said. “Maybe like a video game or an action figure from his favorite game.”

“Oh! Okay!” Ness said looking around the store. Ness ended up bringing back a dating simulator video game and handed it to Ninten smiling brightly.

Ninten sighed and said politely, “Ness, why would Claus play this?”

Ness smiled brightly and laughed, “Cause he’s a big nerd. I was just playing around. What I meant to give you was this.”

Ness placed a gift card to Claus’ home console in Ninten’s hand. It was for fifty dollars to the online store. “I really don’t know much about video games these days. However, I feel maybe Claus could get himself something he would really enjoy.”

Ninten looked at Ness and smiled, “That would actually be great! Claus would love this.”

Ness gave a big smile and the next gift was down. Last but not least was Ninten. Although Ninten wanted to help Ness, it would ruin the surprise, so he stayed outside one of the stores and awaited Ness’ return.

“I’m back!” Ness said grinning. “I got you the PERFECT gift.”

Ninten wanted to ask, but Ness stopped him before he could.

“Look!” Ness said giving Ninten a glimpse of his own gift. Ness wasn’t always good at keeping surprises.

Ninten looked into the bag and stared blankly into it.

“Are you sure this stuff works?” Biting his lip, Lucas looked at his brother.

“Of course it does! I’ve already tried it on a few people at work.”

PSI-infused Hair Gel Dye Gye. Lucas stared at the plain container covered in Claus’s scribble.

“YES, it comes off! Staring at it won’t do anything. Now turn around...” After getting a glob of paste on his hands, Claus massaged it through Lucas’s hair.

What was blond quickly turned to bright orange.

“My turn.”

And orange brightened into blond.

Shoes were untied, shorts exchanged, and shirts tossed. The transformation was complete.

“Hey! We’re ready to go!” The redhead called out to Ness and Ninten.

Ness squinted. “Where’s your costumes?” He looked down at his baseball uniform, and then at Ninten’s lab coat, as if to show them what he was talking about.

The redhead’s nervous twitching caught Ninten’s eye. Something was up, and telepathy would probably tell him what it was...

...“They’re already dressed up.” Ninten pointed at the redhead. “That’s Lucas,” he shifted his finger, “and that’s Claus.”

“Nonono... What do ya even mean?” As Ness stared, he noticed the twins weren’t denying it. He looked at the redhead. “...Lucas?”

Lucas shook his head rapidly. “Thaaaaaaaat’s me.”

Claus nudged his brother. “Stop worrying, it’ll be fine. Let’s go~”

>>>>>

The auditorium was full of people and spooky decorations.

“Here we are.” Ninten nodded. “We can walk around together, or--”

As soon as Ness spotted the food, he was gone.

“--well... maybe we’ll meet up later.”

The twins nodded, and the group split.

What would Claus do? The question reverberated through Lucas’s mind as he wandered around the room. He would talk... to people. He scanned the groups in front of him and saw one made up of mostly girls, smiling and laughing. Like those ones over there?

Ugh. Having to act shy like Lucas was draining all the fun out of talking to people. He probably wasn’t having any fun either... Maybe he’d have to help him learn how to talk to people someday.

>>>>>

Hey sweetie 💕

Claus looked down at his phone. Who was this girl?

Lucas looked over Claus’s shoulder. “That’s the girl I met at the party~”

“Y-You gave her my number??”

“Yeah....

...

...we even kissed.”

“WHAT??!!!”

“That’s what you would do, right?”

“NO!!”

Lucas’s face flushed. Maybe, maybe he acted a little too much.

               “Are you sure you haven’t seen where he went?” Ninten said. His eyes were watering since he began to miss his illegitimate brother. The whole house was a mess, the boys obviously tore up the place trying to find Lucas, who had gone missing without some sort of letter or any notice. It was very unlike him.

               “N-no! He usually tells me everything, and I can’t even sense him around here.” Claus said stunned. He began to sit down and tear up a bit. “He never does this with me. What if I had done something wrong?”

               Ness came out of his bedroom and gave a good look at Claus, he then proceeded to sit next to Claus and give him a hug. “I doubt that’s what happened, you know he’s very open about how he feels towards these sorts of situations.”

               Ninten gave some thought to the current situation, what would be the cause of why Lucas left? Did he actually leave nothing? Or…..?

               “EUREKA!” Ninten cried. “Claus, what if you tried using Lucas’ Future Vision?”

“Future Vision? I’m pretty sure only Lucas can do that, besides…how special am I to have a power like that?” Claus said rolling his eyes. “That would be the day.”

“Hey, just try.” Ness said sympathetically. “Maybe you can actually do that? It’s a possibility.” Ness then shrugged.

Claus closed his eyes, minutes passed before him until eventually…

“Nothing.” Claus said sighing, “Just as I thought it would be.”

“I’m proud of you for at least trying Claus.” Ninten said giving a small smile. “If we can’t use that we’ll just have to use something else. Do you know if Lucas had a place where he kept mementos or some secrets we could use to find him?”

Claus pondered a bit, and then lifted his finger in the air. “Maybe Tazmily? He has a little keepsake box there for his adventures and such. Nothing major, but it might be useful?”

               “Let’s go then, there’s no time to waste!” Ninten said opening a 4th dimensional portal to Tazmily.

               The boys then jumped into the portal one by one until they eventually made their way to Tazmily.

***

               “Claus! Yer brother was here not too long ago, what brings y’all here?” Flint said fixing his hat.

               “Dad! Have you seen Lucas? He’s been gone awhile.” Claus said trying to keep it together.

               Flint gave it some thought, “Well, I reckon I saw him go through his little ol’ box he keeps here. He told me not to tell you where he went. But I’m sure he can’t be mad at me if y’all found out yerselves.” Flint then fixed his hat again. “There’s a teeny little slip of paper where he went. Said he wanted to meet an old friend after times have been tough. I reckon that might get you on the right track to findin’ where he is.”

               They boys stormed into the house. They searched for the box until Claus finally found it. They proceeded to open the box and rummage through it until they found the address they were looking for.

               “The heck is Lucas doing there? Why didn’t he tell me?” Claus said. “Ninten! We need another portal to this location.”

               “I’m on it.” Ninten said holding two fingers to his forehead. Another portal opened and the boys jumped through it, except it took Claus a bit longer as he wanted to say goodbye to his father before he left again.

***

               “We’re here!” Claus said.

               The boys looked around, a huge building and plaza was before them. Ninten looked around to find any sort of clues as to what this place was.

               “Seems like it’s a school, guys.” Ninten said. “Ahhhh education and people learning at a comfortable setting. I love it.”

               “Don’t nerd out on me Ninten, we’re here for Lucas.” Claus said. “We need to find out why he’s here.”

               “Hmm, did he go to school without us knowing?” Ness said shrugging. “Maybe it wasn’t supposed to be a big deal for us. Surprise certification for something maybe.”

               “No no, he’s usually pretty exciting about sharing the things he does.” Claus said thinking. “He is here though, I can sense his presence.”

               “Me too.” Ninten said. “Let’s follow that energy.”

               The boys wondered through the school campus until they found a dorm like setting. Did Lucas move out?

               “He’s behind this door!” Claus said. He began to beat on the door rapidly. “Dang it Lucas open this door.”

               The door opened slowly, and it was Lucas, but…he was crying?

“Uh….bro, I didn’t mean to upset you by doing that. Was I too harsh on you?” Claus said embracing his brother.

               “No, I just…” Lucas said quietly. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. I felt something was wrong and needed to check up on someone.”

               The boys looked at each other and asked the same question towards Lucas, “WHO?”

               Lucas smiled a bit and answered calmly. “Peanut. I just wanted to make sure they were okay. Just wanted to let them know that I’m always looking out for them.”

               Ninten came forth towards Lucas and praised him. “That’s a noble thing to do Lucas. I’m glad you’re looking out for them.” He then opened another portal back home. “We’ll be going, We’re just glad you’re okay.”

               Claus embraced his brother as he knew Lucas would be home soon. Ness messed up Lucas’ hair like usual and they both jumped into the portal.

               “Next time though Lucas, please leave us a note.” Ninten said smiling.

               “Will do!” Lucas said giving a big grin.

               “Also…the house is a mess.” Ninten said nervously. He then jumped into the portal and the portal closed.

               Lucas sighed. “I swear, I can’t leave them alone for a second.”

               “Magicant.” Ness said with a stern voice. The boys were gathered in the living room while Claus was on the reclining chair. He still was a bit dazed after the whole situation of what happened. He still thought he was in that same place. The words echoed in his head. “I forgive you.” He went through a tragedy from whatever happened in that place to forgiving himself. What exactly happened?

               “What’s……a Magicant?” Lucas said tilting his head. He had no idea what the heck that place was, or what his brother went through.

               “Magicant is basically a place that exists inside your head.” Ness explained. “It’s supposed to guide you through some sort of situation or tragedy you have went through growing up. For me, it was about questioning who I was and why I was brought into the whole situation that happened with me. I was constantly scared despite the ego I show sometimes.”

               “Well uh? How does one go to Magicant?” Lucas asked.

               “Usually you’re brought there when you have a surge of power put into you. Or an item as Ninten explained earlier. Maybe Claus had such a huge surge of emotions put into him after the whole situation with him and Ninten that it caused him to be brought into Magicant.” Ness said.

               Lucas scratched his chin, he didn’t really quite understand what was going on, but his brother seemed….stronger.

               “It’s odd that it took this long for Claus to get his Magicant, although Magicant can only happen to those who have psychic abilities. Maybe because of Claus’ past being so harsh to him he didn’t really have time to live a childhood..?” Ninten questioned.

               “That’s one way to explain it, although it wouldn’t make so much sense since I kinda was forced not to have a childhood either.” Lucas explained.

               The boys then sighed and pondered as to why Claus had such a place built up for him, he didn’t really understand much either, but Claus felt he had a strong feeling as to why he had it.

               “We didn’t really ask Claus anything. Claus, what did you see or feel?” Ninten asked.

               Claus stood up and grabbed a drink out of the fridge and explained his story. “I felt, scared. I also felt like I put so much pressure on Lucas and ruined things for everyone. Now, I feel like I can leave that all behind because I realize that I’m making more and more people happy just by being me now.”

               Lucas nodded in agreement and started to tear up.

               “In simpler terms, I’m the Masked Man from a long time ago that ripped families apart and ruined the lives of thousands. But I’m also Claus, I’m different, and I can erase the things that the Masked Man caused little by little just by doing the things I normally do.” Claus explained.

               “And what would that be?” Ninten asked.

               “Loving you guys.” Claus smiled.

A dark figure stood in Claus’s path.

Black jacket, wings, and a helmet. Claus knew this figure too well. He shuddered when the pale face turned, eyes glinting at him. They weren’t just blue eyes, they were his eyes!

This heartless figure was everything that he hated about himself - everything that had gone wrong in his life. It was... the Masked Man.

“Ninten! What’s going on with him?!” Lucas rustled the bed sheets. Claus had been “asleep” too long for this to be anything normal.

“I... I don’t know. I can’t get into his head.” Ninten sweated.

Ness’s voice startled Ninten and Lucas.

“Magicant.”

Gasping, Ninten turned. “You sure?”

Ness nodded. “Same thing happened to me.”

The masked man spread his wings and charged forward.

Claus unleashed all his hatred and ran full speed, yelling.

As they collided, the Masked Man jumped out of the way of Claus’s blast and shot his laser cannon.

Wincing in pain, Claus stood his ground. The blast had clipped his shoulder. Would he survive this?

Yes! A direct hit!

The Masked Man was knocked away by Claus’s PK Love blast.

He’s getting back up? Claus’s short-lived smile quickly faded. Just how strong was he?

Before he knew it, Claus was pinned to the ground... A boot firmly planted on his stomach and a lightning sword pointed at his chest.

Ninten shook his head. “We can’t help him.”

“No...”

Suddenly Lucas’s pulse quickened and his breathing intensified. He inexplicably felt that his brother was in danger. He rushed over and started to cry as he held Claus’s limp hand.

Claus... Claus! Can you hear me?

Hearing the sound of his brother’s voice, Claus started to tear up where he lay. He shouted into the darkness. “Lucas! I’m sorry! I’m not strong enough... I never was...”

Lucas suddenly had a vision of Claus and choked up.

Y-You don’t have to be! Just come back to me before you kill yourself!

But that’s not me!! He doesn’t even have a heart.

We all have our bad days... Claus, please...

Claus stared into the eyes of his foe.

Maybe Lucas was right. That’s me. That’s me who nearly threw his life away, but that’s... still... me...

Gathering his remaining strength, Claus reached for the hand holding the sword that pinned him down.

“I... forgive you.”

With Claus’s words, the Masked Man vanished in a cloud of mist.

…at least that’s what I heard happened.

“Claus! You gotta wake up! You can’t sleep in all day!”

           “Huh? What?” Claus was sleeping, he began to rub his eyes. He was still in his pajamas while laying in a bed that felt, home-y. Claus opened his eyes to be greeted by a young boy. “Claus! The Dragos are here! Let’s go play with them! Come on!” Claus got out of bed. He looked in the mirror that was in the room. Same Bedhead as always. He thought. He walked down stairs to the scent of some sweet nut bread in the kitchen. The aroma caught him in a trance, and he ended up finding that everything seemed so big to him now. Maybe this is just a dream?

           “Oh! Claus honey, you’re up!” a woman greeted to him, “Lucas already ran outside to go play with the Dragos, are you going to go out too?” She then looked back towards the table and handed Claus a piece of nut bread. “Here Claus, I hope you aren’t planning on going out in your pajama’s. Scoot upstairs and go change.” Don’t really have a choice. Claus thought. He headed upstairs to change into his daily attire.

           Lookin’ handsome. Claus checked the mirror one last time. Something seemed to be off, somewhat recognizable to him too. “Why…why do I look so….young?” He stammered. “Wait…why am I here? Was that actually Lucas calling to me?” His reflection reached out for Claus, and grabbed him by his shirt collar, “Do you honestly feel guilty for what you did to Lucas? Disgusting.” The vision disappeared, and Claus rubbed his eyes. “Did…did I just imagine that? I did something horrible to Lucas…?” The woman’s voice called back to him one last time. “Claus! Lucas is waiting for you! Are you ready?” Claus quickly ran down the stairs. Everything seemed so recognizable to him. He was in absolute shock when he went downstairs. “M-M-Mommy!?” Claus exclaimed as he hugged Hinawa tightly. “Feeling more affectionate than usual Claus? You always loved the attention.” She smiled and wrapped her arms around him.

           Claus began to sob violently. Hinawa grabbed Claus by the hand, “Here, I’ll take you to Lucas, you always were a bit afraid of going places alone.” Claus nodded, trying to wipe the tears out of his eyes with his little hands. They began to walk outside the door. The scenery changed, both of the boys were hiding behind Hinawa. “Why are they acting like this!? We’ve been running for so long and we now have no where to go!” In front of Claus was the Mecha Drago, he remembered this scene quite well. The forest was on fire, and the Mecha Drago kept approaching them slowly.

           Claus instantly jumped in front of Hinawa with a stick. “Y-y-you stay away from her you meanie!” He tried to charge at the Drago, but Hinawa grabbed him by the hand and smiled. “There’s nothing you could’ve done Claus.” She grabbed both of the boys and threw them into the river. “Mom! MOM!” Claus screamed. He couldn’t swim, he was beginning to drown. He fell under the water and stayed there. Everything was just, pitch black.

           “Claus, you tried, that’s all you can do.” “Claus, you aren’t what they say you are.” “Claus, you’re worthless.” “Claus, you really messed up this time huh?” “Claus, you’re going to kill them all.” “Claus, this is all your fault.” The comments in the shadows began to grow even bolder and more insulting. “Claus, you’ll always be known as…t..h..e…m..a..s..k..”

           Claus woke up again, this time, not in a bed, but on the floor. The bright lights began to shine onto him. He lifted himself up, only to see he was scratched up. I was…laying on the road….just now? An intercom spoke up, “WELCOME TO NEW CLAUS CITY! WE HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR STAY! ESPECIALLY YOU CLAUS! WE LOVE YOU!” Claus couldn’t believe his eyes, he was in a metropolis that was all about him. A sign stood in front of him that read, “Who is the masked man? Why does he hurt us so? Why did he kill Hinawa?” Claus gasped and began to walk backwards. He bumped into something that was behind him, the sign again, the signs were all over the place! Another sign read, “Welcome to Magicant.” He wondered what the heck Magicant was, is this where he was? Claus began to get super scared of the place he stumbled upon. He began to run, faster and faster, until he ran into a huge skyscraper. The cold air shook him, he didn’t know what to do, he was scared. “Oh, Claus you’re here.” A voice called out. “Come in, I’ve been expecting my little minion to come back.”

           Claus called back to the voice, “Who, who are you?” A snorting laugh came out, and soon the squeals of pigs began to get louder and louder. “You’re worst nightmare. Come into the elevator, you don’t look so cool. In fact, I can make you soooo much better.” Claus began to walk towards the elevator, he couldn’t do anything. He wasn’t moving himself, in fact, it seemed like his body was moving on it’s own.

           The elevator doors closed, and Claus pressed the only button that was available. The elevator began to rise, and the doors opened to reveal nothing but darkness. Claus began to wonder into the darkness until he saw something in front of him. The final needle, all Claus had to do was pull it. He proceeded to put his hands onto it. HMPH, It’s stuck!

           Ninten looked down at his diary, the date on the page sparked a huge gasp from him, and it led into a sigh. It’s been a long time since his journey started, and it’s been awhile since he last heard from his friends. You never really forget the times with your friends, or the stress and things you have overcome. Ninten was young when his journey started, and now he’s a therapist and a young man.

“You know, I’m not necessarily upset about what happened, but I miss the good ol’ days.” Ninten sighed. He missed his unforgettable journey to collect the eight melodies. He missed the little family he created with his friends. Lucas picked up a book that was on Ninten’s desk. “Why so down Nintey?”

“I’m not really down per say,” Ninten said closing his diary, “Have you ever wanted to go back and relieve the excitement and the journey you once had with those closest to you?

Lucas smirked a bit, then sat down next to Ninten and sighed, “A little of both actually, even though I had a lot of bad things happen to me, I still always think about Kumatora and Duster.” Lucas put his arm around Ninten, “It’s okay to think about the past a bit, It was fun and it was great that the adventure lead to me growing up a bit. I’m not as much of a cry baby I used to be.” Lucas chuckled and opened the book he had in his hand.

“Check this out, it’s an old scrapbook I found while cleaning up your office the other day.” Lucas opened the book and it revealed a picture that read Mount Itoi, 198X. “I wondered if it was Ness for a bit, but I realized it was you. It’s kinda cool to see a picture of you from back then. OH LOOK there’s Ana, Lloyd, and even Teddy!”

           Ninten giggled, but his gaze fell down on his diary again, “Yeah, it has been awhile hasn’t it. Kinda hard to believe that’s what started it all. Even I still miss those times despite it being so tough.”

Lucas gave a small frown to Ninten, but he quickly changed his mood. “Hey, don’t worry. I may have something that could cheer you up. Keep looking in there.”

Ninten flipped through the pages, the many photos of his journey were organized to a tee, but he eventually came across some photos of Ness and his friends. “Whoa, you added more to it?”

Lucas giggled, “It wasn’t exactly my own idea, Ness kinda proposed it.” Ness then walked into the room and saw the scrapbook, “Hey, you found it. I thought we were gonna give that to him later.” Ness said with a little happy sigh.

“Sorry, it seemed like he was a little down,” Lucas said nervously, “Keep flipping Ninten there is more.”

Ninten kept flipping through the pages, there were more pictures of Ness, and then it got to the pictures of Lucas and Claus’ journey. Towards the last page, it got into a lighter note.

“Wasn’t this the first image of the apartment we got from Christmas last year?” Ninten said tearfully, “Wow, I really have come so far.” He kept flipping through the pages to find pictures of the time they were boy scouts, then to the time Ness learned his spirit powers, then when he started his first experiment with Lucas and Claus. The scrapbook kept adding up to the events the boys had ever since they moved in together.

“We love you Ninten, you’re like our big brother. I’m pretty sure my life wouldn’t be the same without you.” Lucas said tearing up a little. “We have come far from our journeys. It’s honestly great that you helped us find you and we ended up living together. Even though we never pay rent on time.”

They all chuckled and started to talk about the good times from when they moved in together, and from when they first got their jobs. They boys really were a family, and it really was a heartfelt moment.

“L…..Lucas?”

“C-CLAUS YOU’RE AWAKE! IT’S BEEN SO LONG WHAT HAPPENED.” Lucas screamed going to hug his brother. Claus wasn’t necessarily fully awake, but he really didn’t know what exactly went on, he still thought he was in that place.

“Ninten, I’m sorry for how I acted the other day, I really should be more open about how I feel.” Claus said while Lucas was hugging him.

“No, honestly Claus, I really shouldn’t try to invade your privacy, I know I’ve been having a problem with that too, I really should work on it.” Ninten said.

Claus then approached Ninten and gave him a hug, “Don’t put yourself down so bad, I love you dude. You’re just doing your job as our big bro.”

The boys then all hugged Ninten, they all started to cry a bit.

“Hey, I almost forgot about the thing I organized for you Ninten,” Lucas said. He opened the door to reveal a huge cake that was in the middle of the livingroom surrounded by Ana, Lloyd, and Teddy.

Ninten gasped and cried. This was something he had been waiting a lot time for.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY NINTEN!” They all shouted. A group hug was given to Ninten, where he sobbed uncontrollably of happiness.