Lalna's Secret

Nano ducked and weaved through the forest, doing her best to make it back to the base.

She had chased Specimen Five from her's and Lalnable's base, leaving Lalna to fight his clone alone.

He can handle it, she had thought, wanting to put down her "corrupt" clone. It wasn't until after she had killed Specimen Five that she realised that Lalnable was more powerful than they had originally thought, and the chances of Lalna surviving a battle with him were in incredibly low.

Having run out of power on her jetpack at least two miles away from the base, Nano had to run, as fast as she could, through the forest and get back to her friend before he was killed.

After an eternity of running through the woods, she finally spotted her noodle bar, and the rest of the base, which was, strangely, intact.

Lalna's fight with his clone had gone to the Flux Buddies' base, so why was it intact? It wasn't until she'd reached the central building that she realised that voices were coming from the dinosaur pens. Listening closely, Nano was able to determine that it was Lalna and Lalnable, talking in some language she didn't recognise, which was saying something, considering how many places she'd visited.

'You can't win, Hector,' Lalna stated from the other side of the dinosaur pens, as Nano approached, 'leave now, and I may just spare your life.' Nano turned the corner and saw Lalna walking away from his clone, who was on the ground, covered in his own blood. Lalnable jumped up and aimed a gun at Lalna, who simply pulled out something Nano had never seen before and shot his clone with a laser, turning him to dust.

'Lalna,' Nano called, prompting the scientist to look over his shoulder, a solemn look in his eye.

As Nano approached her friend, a sharp pain suddenly erupted throughout her body, as the Flux started vibrating violently, prompting Nano to drop to the ground and cry out in pain. Lalna walked up to his apprentice and, by simply waving her sapphire pendant near her, caused the Flux to calm down.

'That should give us more time, and some privacy,' he explained as Nano got to her feet, 'I'm sure you have questions.'

Once she was certain she was no longer in pain, Nano looked at her teacher, 'What we saw back at Lalnable's base, about his intentions to wipe out the Yogscast, he said you were a clone of him.'

'I'm aware Lalnable said he was the original and I was the clone,' Lalna sighed, looking at the ground, 'but that is simply not the case. I'm afraid Lalnable has gotten things the wrong way round.'

Nano stared at her friend in shock, 'You're really Lalnable?'

'I've always been Lalna,' he explained, 'Lalnable Hector was just an add-on. A name that I created to keep my identity a secret.'

Nano's eyes began to well up with tears, 'You lied to me,' she growled, struggling to hold back her tears, 'I loved you. Don't you think you could have tried telling me?'

Lalna was doing a much better job of restraining his sadness, 'I'm truly sorry, Nano,' he muttered.

'I don't care,' Nano spat, walking up to Lalna, 'if you really care, tell me the truth.'

'Ever since I left Yoglabs, and Xephos, behind, I'd sought to ensure that the people of this world wouldn't have to resort to slavery to people with a God Complex,' he explained, walking back to the base, with Nano close behind, 'I broke the chains of those who shared my ideals. When I found out that Xephos had a secondary clone of me, I hacked into one and programmed in the name Lalnable Hector, an identity that I quite liked the sound of.'

Nano stared at her teacher as they stopped by the Chocobos, 'About that clone,' she interrupted, 'why did you make him do what he did?'

'I didn't. The programming in his mind made him go insane,' Lalna explained. 'When he broke free of Yoglabs, it just made it easier for me to continue my work as Lalnable, without any of the Yogscast catching on.'

'That's the past,' Nano noted, 'what now?'

'My goal of freeing the people of the Yogscast's control was put on hold for years, due to them getting too close. I finally reignited the cause not long after you became my apprentice,' the two had continued walking, this time stopping by the portal to Alfheim. 'I will save the people of this world, even if it means I have to kill every last Yog.'

Nano stared at Lalna in horror as he found himself staring at the portal, 'Lalna, I can understand your goal but destroying the Yogscast isn't the answer.'

'Certainly not the best one, no,' he sighed, 'but please Nano, this is my fight. You have your own battles, and they have nothing to do with me.' Lalna turned back to Nano, 'Thanks to your intervention, Sjinterfel survived its encounter with the Flux. With luck, Mother will turn her focus to The End... that should give you a few years of peace.'

Nano's skin started to itch, 'There's still the matter of my taint,' she noted, 'it's getting worse.'

'I know, Nano... and we're almost out of time.' Nano's Flux once again started violently shaking, like a thousand needles penetrating every single point that was covered in Flux, causing her to scream in agony and fall to the ground. 'Without the sapphire, the taint will kill you. Thanks to what I've done with it, I have a chance to save you... for now.'

Nano looked up at her teacher as she writhed in pain, 'Lalna, our love will endure,' she insisted.

'I wish it could, Nano,' Lalna solemnly replied as she screamed in pain, 'my love.' Pendant in hand, Lalna leant in and kissed Nano, pressing the pendant into her hand. Standing up, Lalna watched his apprentice's pain slowly subside as the Flux started draining from her body, leaving her skin slightly scarred, like she had been burned. 'I will never forget you,' he promised before turning away and walking into the woods, leaving Nano to watch him disappear into the darkness, as she finally got a good look at her skin for the first time since the castle.