UPDATE 2/13/19: Re-edited sections of the chapter such as cutting up sentences and the like to better match later chapters. Working on a major overhaul.

I: A Masked Man and His Girl

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Even in slumber, she refused to look less than presentable.

Not that he was observing all her movements of course; that would be rather inappropriate. However, the fact that she moved with an air of elegance and grace did not escape the gaze of the Pigmasks that worked directly under him. Some of the higher-ranking ones confessed that they were unable to tear their gazes away from the way she seemed to glide to and fro, supposedly skittish, but looking more like a lost phantasm drifting all around restlessly, each step airy and light.

Those Pigmasks were immediately sent to the mines to work as punishment, obviously. Despite their incessant squealing, the Masked Man paid them no heed. They, after all, had no right to look at her that way.

… Where had that come from?

Shaking his head, he trained his gaze back on her pink clad form, curled up into a ball on the cot provided for her. Her blonde hair was splayed out almost artistically all around her head, her trademark red bow now just a very long ribbon discarded and thrown to the side haphazardly. Her body was curled up in a fetal position with her arms wrapped around her torso in a feeble attempt to keep warm, the silver bracelet blinking red on her wrist indicating that it was still working. Lips like red roses twitched into a frown every so often, eyebrows creasing; a nightmare, or twenty. He could feel the darkness plaguing her mind even if he had been all the way over on the other side of the room; psionic powers did have its own benefits sometimes.

Idly, he wondered what it would be like to hold her hand.

Moments later, he almost shot himself in the stomach for even thinking of such an outlandish thought.

She was a prisoner; a PSI user that snuck onto one of the ships retrieving items for King Porky's collection, trying to get to King Porky. For what reason he hadn't really pried out of her yet, nor was he depraved enough to pry it out of her brain with PSI.

Today marked the end of the first month since he had been sent to apprehend Paula Polestar at the Docking Station P4-U4.

"Commander, Commander! Oink!"

Heterochromic eyes opened up disinterestedly at the call. The Pigmask Major standing in front of him looked incredibly worried, oinking rather noisily as they waved their arms up and down, stammering, "C-Commander, t-t-there's a- t-there's an- g-g-g-"

"Spit it out, Major." His voice was gruff, but not gruff enough that one would have mistaken him for a fully grown man. He was but a boy, sixteen at least and eighteen at best, but none dared ask him for his true age. Not that he knew personally anyway; for him, his life started the moment he opened mismatched eyes under the cold glare of the light beaming down on the metal table, Doctor Andonuts's face staring down at him in a proud but sad fashion.

That had been about five years ago. His body had matured since then, and with maturation came upgrades.

The Pigmask Major oinked one more time, startled, before clearing their throat, straightening out and saluting him. "Commander, sir, there's a foreign entity attacking the Pigmasks at docking station P4-U4. We have reason to suspect that they are not alone in their endeavor, but we may have… erm…" At this, they sounded abashed. "We may have accidentally thrown them out while discarding trash on the way here and left the one in the ship."

Figures; these Pigmasks were so inept sometimes. Still, if there were more, and they were literally disposed of mid-flight, then they were most likely dead.

That left only the one rabble-rouser at the docking station…

The Masked Man nodded curtly. "Give me a moment. I'll be right there."

At this, the Pigmask saluted again before scurrying off, presumably to report their findings to the rest of the Pigmasks in the vicinity. Left to his own devices once more, the Masked Man stood up from his relaxed position on his cot, stretching. Picking up the helmet that had given him his title and placing it over his head, the cold metal slipped down and secured itself around his head, casting a shadow over his eyes. He then picked up his sword, sheathing it, before turning to the window.

Large cloth wings with metal framework soon burst from his back, spreading out menacingly as he ran towards the open window.

No no no no no no no no he didn't practice this he shouldn't have opened his wings inside this was a bad idea oh Pork no not this AGAIN-

The Commander's boot left the windowsill, and he soared effortlessly, startling most of the Pigmasks below him into a symphony of oinking. Once he was certain he was flying smoothly, he sighed in relief, affixing the coordinates for docking station P4-U4 into his mind. This allowed his body to mechanically focus on getting to the place while allowing him to think about other things.

Despite being the Commander of the Pigmask Army, he WAS still technically a teenage boy if he thought about it. A teenage boy still going through the final stages of puberty no less, which meant he was still in the stage where he was still rather awkward with his body. Horrendously lanky and tall, but well-built with squared shoulders due to the training he underwent. The wings he currently had were a recent upgrade, meant to take into account his new body mass - which meant he still wasn't quite used to them.

Suddenly, something exploded at docking bay P4-U4.

Ah. There it was.

Training his gaze on the mess, his scanners identified every single Pigmask running amok, oinking like crazy… while their arms were both encased in ice?

No, that wasn't very accurate at all. He looked closer.

Only a few had body parts encased in ice. Others had their rear ends on fire, while others were blackened by soot as if hit by lightning. One unfortunate Pigmask looked to be on the receiving end of all three, with fire on his mask, rear end black and sooty, and legs encased in solid ice. The poor army man was shivering behind a stack of crates hiding, and it was this Pigmask that the Masked Man chose to talk to, descending behind him as quietly as possible so as not to alert the intruder.

"You. Colonel." The Pigmask oinked loudly in surprise, rolling over. The Masked Man groaned and shushed him. "Shhh, be quiet! You'll alert the intruder's presence, you idiot!"

"Many pardons, Commander, sir!" The Colonel attempted to salute, but sighed upon remembering the situation. "Erm, but, pardon me for asking, sir, but why are you here, talking to me?"

The Masked Man gave the Colonel a look. "Gathering intel. Now tell me; who is this intruder? What are they capable of?"

"A young girl, Commander. Possibly around your age." Impossible. I'm only around five- ah. No.

"My physical age, you mean."

"Y-yes sir!" The Pigmask nodded rapidly. "She looks to be a PSI user, sir. Based on personal experience sir, she knows Fire, Freeze, and Thunder, sir! As you can see…" The Pigmask gestured helplessly to the dying embers on the mask, the melting ice around their legs, and the sooty rear end they possessed.

A gloved hand immediately grabbed his sword. "You've done well, Colonel. Once you've recovered from the ice, go and call for Doctor Andonuts. I require his assistance after this."

"Y-yes sir!" Pause. "W-wait, you're going to-"

"I'm dealing with this intruder myself." The sword glinted in the sunlight. "I can't really trust pigs to do a man's job."

Minutes later, the Masked Man had an unconscious blonde haired girl in his arms – a girl he carried bridal style, his sword tucked away in its sheath once more.

The Pigmasks all clapped as he spread his wings once more to take flight, heading back to the base with little care for the cheering army below him. Inputting the base's coordinates once more into his mind, he let it sort itself after the initial input before turning his focus back to the blonde in his arms.

Her skin was fair, though a lot paler than his in comparison. Her hair was teased into gentle curls which lapped at her collarbone and his cheek every so often as the wind blew by. The red bow she wore was tattered and torn but not too unpresentable, and her pink dress, which only seemed to reach up to above her knees, was simple and plain and collared with white. Her eyelashes fluttered in the wind as she slept soundly in his arms, practically dead to the world.

Emerald and ruby eyes blinked, and then trained themselves back on the route back to base. Doctor Andonuts would know what to do with her; he always knew what to do with intruders.

"Commander, sir, I brought Doctor Andonuts!" The Pigmask he had been talking to previously hollered, making him wince internally at the piercing sound. As his boots touched the ground, said scientist made his way over to him, looking rather stoic.

"An intruder at docking station P4-U4. I trust you'll know what to do with her, Doctor Andonuts."

The Masked Man couldn't help but notice the glimmer of recognition in the old man's eyes behind his spectacles as he took in the PSI user in his arms. Then, shaking his head, he nodded curtly. "I'll see what I can do to make sure she doesn't fight against the Pigmask Army."

"…" The girl stirred a little in his arms, and then buried her face into his chest, mumbling something incoherently.

Doctor Andonuts raised an eyebrow at this. "Er, if you want, I could just-"

"No. Take her now. Get it over with immediately." He practically thrust the girl into the old man's arms before storming back inside the base, scaring off many Pigmasks on his way back to his room.

And the whole time, oddly enough, his cheeks had been warm.

When Paula Polestar resurfaced into the waking world, she was shocked to find herself under the cold, unforgiving light of a laboratory.

She gasped, sitting up immediately, before noting the weight on her wrist. Sapphire eyes turned to gaze on a silver bracelet – though it looked more like a single cuff to her – with a blinking red light, as if indicating something. Paula shook said hand around, trying to see if the bracelet would do anything, but otherwise it didn't do much besides making a rather entertaining jingling sound.

"Like a Mecha-Lion, aren't you?" She froze at the voice. "Always fascinated with jingling metal objects."

"Doctor Andonuts?!" The girl couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of Jeff Andonuts's scientist of a father, staring at her from the side. The old man looked rather stoic for someone who was normally so silly, which should have been her first warning. "Oh, thank goodness I found you; Jeff will be so happy to know you're okay!" She looked around, noting their surroundings. "C'mon, we can get out of this place together, Doctor Andonuts! We'll be able to go back to Winters and-"

"With what, Miss Polestar?" The good doctor's voice was somber. "How will we get home, when we are in an era that is not our own?"

Pause. "… W-what are you talking about?"

"This is the Nowhere Islands… billions of eras in the future." Doctor Andonuts turned his gaze to the bracelet on Paula's wrist. "… You cannot escape, Miss Polestar."

The feeling of foreboding increased. "I-I don't understand-"

"Try out one of your PSI abilities."

Paula refused to listen, looking around until her gaze finally landed on the Masked Man standing off to the side, staring at her quietly. His wings had already been retracted into his back, which meant all that she saw was a boy around her age with a helmet and a rather impressive looking jacket – which for some reason called into mind the scent of cinnamon.

Commander. He's the Commander those pig idiots were squealing about.

It wasn't too hard to guess, really; his stance and outfit all screamed 'leader of an army'. The army itself was rather incompetent when it came to facing down PSI users, but that was her personal opinion. Still, the way he stared at her made her feel rather strange, but she didn't dare break eye contact until he vaguely gestured to the bracelet on her wrist.

Doctor Andonuts's request entered her mind once more, and with a frown, she attempted PK Fire Alpha-

"SH-"The girl immediately stopped herself from cursing, the jolt of electricity running up her arm and down her spine shocking her enough that she stopped trying the PSI ability. She immediately offered a quick prayer of contrition for her almost curse before glaring at the Masked Man, who only returned her glare with a look of indifference.

"My apologies, Miss Polestar…" Paula's gaze turned back to the doctor, and it was then that she noticed the remote in his hand. A sudden realization overtook her, and she stared in horror at her friend's father, who only looked down at his shoes in shame as he mumbled, "It's nothing personal, mind you; I'm simply doing my job-"

"That will be enough, Doctor Andonuts." The man – the Masked Man – stepped forward. "His Highness will be pleased with your accomplishment. You may proceed back to your usual duties."

"That's what I was afraid of…" Doctor Andonuts mumbled before making his way out of the laboratory, but not before placing the remote in the Masked Man's gloved hands. "… You be gentle with her."

"…" The Masked Man gave no indication of affirmation, but there was no indication of denial either, so the scientist took it as consent. A bit relieved, he finally left, but not before mouthing a final "Sorry" to the still in shock Paula Polestar, the door swinging shut behind him.

Finally, it was just the two of them.

Paula and the Masked Man stared each other down, the former tense, and the other stoic. Silence prevailed for many moments.

Until…

"What are you going to do with me?"

Paula wasn't scared. No, of course not. But it still didn't stop the Masked Man from noticing the tinge of anxiety that shrouded her words, the 'me' quivering unintentionally as if she had already gone through something similar before.

As if she had already been captured before, rendered completely helpless, and she hadn't liked it one bit.

The Commander felt something stab at his heart metaphorically at the thought. He didn't really know what it was, but he supposed it was close enough to pity that he would call it pity.

"… You're no danger to us anymore, PSI user." Paula felt herself shiver at his voice, though whether it was because the voice was stern or because it was rather rough – the kind of voice she subconsciously liked to some degree - , she wasn't sure. "But you ARE mine now."

"I belong to NO ONE-"Suddenly the feeling of electricity running through her veins shocked her into silence once more, and she glared at him again.

He only stared back at her. "Don't fight. I don't want to hurt you anymore than required. With that bracelet, you cannot use any of your PSI abilities, and it doubles as a shock collar of sorts." He placed the remote on a nearby surface. "I won't touch the remote; go on, try one of your abilities."

Was he joking? He must have been joking. But he did put down the remote, which meant Paula was free to try any of her abilities.

"PSI Shield Alpha!"

Both waited for the influx of psionics to erupt, but nothing happened.

"… Offense Up Alpha?"

Nothing; Paula couldn't feel any sort of power surging through her. Panic began to set in.

"PK Fire Alpha! PK Freeze Alpha! PK Thunder Alpha!"

Nope, nada, zip, zilch; none of her PSI abilities were working. She was powerless, she was weak-

The Masked Man sensed the panic rooting itself into her mind and immediately surged forward, only to have the girl scramble away from him and fall flat on her rear on the other side of the table she was on, sapphire eyes wide with anxiety and fear.

"N-no, no, I can't be helpless… no, I have to…" She was babbling; she was losing it. The Masked Man tried to reach her mind, but the barriers she had built up to block him out were strong. Despite that, he could sense the turmoil behind them, and the growing sense of despair. "NESS! JEFF! POO!"

"Quiet!" He shouted, unsheathing his sword and pointing it at her. "You are going to be-"

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Paula shrieked.

Violence won't get you anywhere. A voice whispered into his ear, melodious and harmonic. He didn't recognize who it was, but it was familiar. *****, you must be kind to everyone you meet. You too, *****. I want my boys to be kind and loving boys.

Who... was that…?

Regardless, the Commander sheathed his sword once more, and almost immediately Paula's frightened stance relaxed somewhat. Slowly and surely, he moved forward, closer to the terrified girl, and when he was certain she wasn't backing away he knelt down and met her gaze.

"You are going to be fine here." He spoke, slowly but surely, despite the half-lies he was trying to feed her. Certainly she would be safe under his wing; no one defied him, being the Commander, but there was no guarantee she would ever feel at ease with him. "With that collar limiting your abilities, you are of no danger to the Pigmask Army… and you are now under my custody."

The girl was quiet. This prompted him to stand up and hold out a hand. "Get up. While the Pigmask Army is well acquainted with your powers, they do not know you without them."

"…" Paula stared up at him. She looked… broken.

He sighed, and then rolled his eyes. "I expected you to be a lot stronger, now that you lost your powers, trying to prove that you were still capable. I suppose I was wrong."

This seemed to spark something in the girl, who pushed away his hand and stood up on her own, dusting herself off haughtily before staring him down challengingly. Strangely enough, this sparked some form of emotion in the Commander's half-dead heart, and he smirked.

"That's the PSI user I want. Come; it's about time we acquainted you properly with the Pigmask Army."

Paula suddenly looked uncertain. "… Why?"

"Why, what?"

"Why do you want to introduce me to those pigheaded weirdos?"

He raised an eyebrow. "… Well, you're mine now, aren't you?"

Oh, Paula realized.

He was just showing off his prisoner, obviously.

He seemed to pick up on this train of thought, because he shook his head. "… No. You're not my prisoner." When she looked up at him, the melancholy fading away a bit, he only looked away.

"… But you are mine. And nobody else's."

After introducing her to the army – he had to admit, the frightened squealing she had elicited from most of them had produced a very tiny smile from him and a snicker from her - , the Commander had taken her down to the room they were now going to share, and showed her where everything was – the bathroom, the drawers where her clothes were going to be, everything.

She asked where he would get her kind of clothes. He only responded with silence.

That day, everything had been rather awkward and tense. A boy and a girl, in the same room, on different beds; certainly, everything would be rather strange. Paula was accustomed to having three boys in one room, certainly, but just one, and a stranger at that?

It took them both a good two hours to even get dressed properly before going to sleep, her mumbling a 'good night' to him while he replied with nothing.

That was a month ago, however.

Now, she was just shivering on her cot as usual, alone and tormented by her dreams. She had told him 'good night' again an hour ago, her voice still has quiet and plaintive as it usually was before she went to sleep.

The barriers she had placed over her mind still prevailed, preventing him from attempting to see what was wrong, so he only watched her from his own bed, only a few inches away from hers. He quietly observed the way she tossed and turned, still uncomfortable with her surroundings.

She had loosened up around him, which was a relief; he practically didn't need to use the remote at all with the way she began to converse with him. Certainly, he'd threaten her with it from time to time, but she wasn't too scared of him anymore. She was certainly a spitfire in her own right.

"Nnh…" Paula mumbled. "Claus…"

That was another thing that linked her to the Commander. Insistent on calling him some form of name ("Everybody has a name!" She insisted. "Commander is a title, not a name."), she had christened him with the name 'Claus', claiming that it suited him. When asked where she pulled that out of, she shrugged, repeating that 'it suited him'.

He didn't argue; he was on the verge of tearing his hair out with her, anyway.

Only she was allowed to call him Claus, obviously. When a Pigmask tried, they got thrown off the ship, much to Paula's chagrin and Fassad's sadistic amusement.

It was one of the many things that allowed the two to be bonded to each other, and only each other.

Claus sighed once more as Paula uttered his name again, sounding like she was on the brink of tears. With a grunt, he stood up and transferred to her cot, sitting by her curled up body and grabbing the blanket she had kicked off. He draped it over her shivering body gently, and almost instantly she ceased shivering, her arms slackening and falling to either side of her body. She still whispered his 'name' every other moment, but she definitely sounded a lot happier.

He sighed again before returning to his own bed, drawing the covers up to his chin and turning his back on her. It was strange how she had come to impact his actions so much, this strange intruder from a time long gone. But, he supposed, it wasn't too bad; he had grown to appreciate her company over the four weeks she had been here.

With that thought in mind, the Commander's eyelids fell shut, a woman's voice, strangely familiar but unfamiliar at the same time, singing him to sleep.