Remember, Leo

Leo's thin figure lay weakly on the whirring bed machine he slept on. All over his face was a mask and different tubes and wires connecting it to a nearby machine that was in turn connected to a super computer on the other side of the room. The atmosphere was otherworldly.

Yes, Leo has woken up finally after 78 years inside a lab designed by the Luxus beings. He stared with lazy eyes at a strange looking man standing at his bed. He tried to speak, but his voice wouldn't come. His mouth has been idle for the past 78 years, so it hurts when he tried to move it. So, without thinking, he asked the question in his mind.

"Who are you?"

"A-ha, I'm Luxus. Remember?"

No, Leo doesn't remember any man called Luxus. He does not even remember who he was or why he was tied to a bed with wires passing out of his body. His brain was practically clogged.

"No, I don't remember you," he thought again.

This mind communication felt comfortable for Leo though. He thought it was a normal way of passing information, and the fact that the man was responding in the same manner.

"I see. You are an old man in a young body. I guess dementia has finally hit you," the man said, laughing. Leo could hear the man's laugh in his head but the man's face betrayed that emotion. He wondered if he can laugh too, or maybe cry.

"What is this place? Why am I here?" Leo questioned.

"It's okay boy. Since you've finally woken, you have to be treated on right away. Rest your mind and let the tranquilizer work. You'll know everything once you wake up. Sweet dreams."

The man pressed a button by the mechanized bed and a fume rose from there. After 5 seconds, Leo was back in his unconscious state.

In his dream, he was walking a lonely path when suddenly he noticed that someone was following him. He looked behind him and saw a huge man with only a big mouth as his head. The large lips moved fast as the strange monster stalked him. Leo started running down the deserted path. Even though he tried very hard to run very fast, he just couldn't. It was like there was a counter-current slowing down his movement from the front. He ran in slow motion. And yet, the big mouth monster was closing in. Leo began to scream.

The nearer the mouth got, the clearer Leo could hear what it was saying.

Leo ran faster, pushing hard against the resistance but it was all for nothing. He couldn't run away from the mouth. In little time, the mouth caught up with him. It grabbed Leo with thick arms and lifted him in the air.

Leo screamed but his shout was muffled. There was nothing he could do against this monster. Just as the mouth opened wide to swallow him, a large ball of fire fell from the sky and engulfed his whole dream realm. Everything burned.

Leo woke up screaming, and sweating profusely.

Instantly, three men rushed to his side and tried to force him back down to sleep but Leo wouldn't budge. They pressed the button by the bed again to activate the tranquilizer but many seconds passed and Leo didn't sleep. He could've even close his eyes. He stared wide eyed at nothing.

His jaw has cracked so noisily when he shouted from his sleep but Leo wasn't bothered about the pain in his mouth. The pain in his heart was the most brutal.

He has finally remembered what happened. He remembered the town and it's beautiful townfolks. Oddly, he remembered Balls n' Hoops. He remembered the orphanage. He remembered Pert and Allan, and the older boys of the orphanage. He remembered the red comet on the sky. No, it wasn't a red comet. It was a... It was a... Leo's mind failed him.

He screamed once again while trying to free himself from the men's grip. Surprisingly, he was a little too strong for them to handle. His bones protested noisily as he made those futile moves to free himself. His body ached badly but he wouldn't stop screaming and crying.

The air is now filled with visible tranquilizer fumes which the men are resistant to, but which was supposed to have knocked Leo down in 10 seconds. But this didn't affect the boy. And it wasn't looking like he'll stop screaming any moment.

Just then, a man ran into the room and boomed with a commanding voice, "leave him now!" It was the man that spoke with Leo earlier before he passed out again. The man he knew as Mr Luxus.

At once, the three men freed the boy and backed away instantly. The man reached into his side pocket and brought out a little blue device that he pointed at Leo. A blue energy flew out of the device towards Leo and engulfed him in a thick perfect blue bubble. The bubble then rose in the air with Leo in it. He couldn't scream anymore. He has been subdued.

But he can still hear what was going on outside the bubble.

"Do you want to hear what really happened, Leo?" the voice was from the man. They have activated the mind communication again.

"I don't want to hear anything. I know what happened. Free me from this bubble. Let me go!" Leo screamed into the man's head. The man appeared unfazed.

"What do you know, Leo? Do you remember that day?"

"Don't make me... Don't make me remember. Arrggghh!!"

"No, you have to remember. You have to literally see what you could have prevented. You have to take the damn blame, Leo. YOU HAVE TO!"

The last words rang deep into Leo's brain. He couldn't control the sound effect like the man, so the noise affected him badly.

"Don't do this to me, Mr Luxus... I do not want to remember!"

"Oh, you remember Mr Luxus. Yes. Now do you remember what Mr Luxus told you to do?! Do you remember his constant warnings?!"

"Mr Luxus, please."

If Leo could cry inside that bubble, he would be shedding buckets of tears at the moment. This man was torturing him mentally. His brain felt like it was going to explode.

"No, Leo. Can you remember you saying that you're just a little boy? You said that Earth's fate is not in your hands. Can you remember now?"

"Arrrrggghhhh...!"

"That's right, scream in my head. Can you remember how you feared they'll call you crazy if you attempted to save Earth? You couldn't travel a few miles to save your friends and families.... To save your planet. CAN YOU REMEMBER?!"

Leo was practically deranged mentally and psychologically. He could take this torture any more. But there was nothing he could do. He was stuck in a bubble that only allowed him to breath. He couldn't even cry to numb the pain. This was worse than death.

"Can you remember Pert and Allan? Remember Ray? Yes, he's annoying but I know you still like him. Can you remember Nana, the housekeeper? Remember the older boys? Leo, you have failed them. You have failed Earth. Do you know that you're the only survivor from the South? You do not deserve this second chance."

Leo was so dead in his mind that he could not even scream or resist this torture anymore. He just whimpered in his head like a sad dog.

"I remember them," he finally said. "I know I have failed them. I know. Please let me go. Please." The pleading was bone melting.

The man, seeing that Leo is now weak in his mind pressed the Blue device once again, and the bubble around Leo unfolded and the blue energy returned to the device. Leo dropped limply to the floor.

The man walked over to Leo's limp figure and bent down close to him. Still using the mind communication, he said.

"Now that you remember, don't you want to avenge them?"

Leo jerked his head up instantly and looked at the man dead in the eyes. Was the man toying with him?

"What?" Leo was shocked.

"Now that you remember, don't you want to avenge them?" The man repeated with a straight gaze. Leo couldn't look away. He was practically hypnotized.

"Yes... yes.. I want to... I want to avenge them. I want to avenge them all."

"Very good. The world has changed, and so must you. You have to be responsible for what you've done. You must avenge your friends. You must avenge Earth."

Right before everybody, Leo rose from his position and steadied himself despite his weak bones. He was exuding a different kind of aura. With his mouth, he said, "What must I do?"