Ah, hello dear readers! Oh what am I doing here? Why am I working on a Mother fanfiction? To be honest I'm quite new to the Mother series and I had only finished playing EarthBound and Mother 3- fan translation- last month. However, the story and sadness of Mother 3 had been so enticing to me that I had to write a fanfiction on it. Now this is a question I had in my mind during the pulling of the Seven Needles; is it really right to risk destroying the world just for a chance for it to be reborn or would it have been better if the people of the current world actually tried to rebuild it? I mean with the- *spoiler alert if you haven't finished Mother 3* ambiguous ending after the cataclysm I was left hanging, wondering what happened. Sure at the End? screen the people will tell you they're okay and all, but that's not good enough. And I wanted Claus to have a bigger role and thought what if Porky is actually a good guy? And thus this fanfiction is born. Now I will say that I'm not good with a slow set up, so montages and exposition will be in Claus or Lucas's thoughts. And I wrote this with people already familiar with Mother 3 in mind, so if you're not familiar with it already I suggest you play it or watch a let's play of it. But if you're like me and can't wait to read the story then I guess you could still read it but it's not recommended especially with a lot of potential spoilers. ^_^' I do plan to have a possible spin off series that goes into a lot more detail on what the twins did during these montages, but for now I'm gonna focus on the main plot itself. I did have some help from DonFyre- an online friend of mine- sometimes, so give him some credit too. Anyways, since this is a new story I hope it'll be refreshing and exciting to the readers. It IS AU (alternate universe) so don't expect everyone to be the same as they are in the games.

Disclaimer: I do not own EarthBound or Mother 3 or any of its characters. I just play the game and write fanfictions.

To Rebuild or to be Reborn?

Chapter 1: PSI Fever

Ever since I can remember, Lucas and I were different. We are twin brothers and I'm two minutes older, yet he acted first. Lucas was kind and gentle by nature. My brother started helping Mom around the house when we were 4 years old, and as I was watching him, and seeing how happy this made Mother I decided to try it too. But of course, because Lucas did it first everyone said how I was influenced by Lucas. It didn't take long before I realized that people compared me to Lucas and he kept doing a better job than I did. He enjoyed helping people more than I did. I was shy, as hard to believe as that is if you knew me now, and I didn't want to approach people I didn't know too well. Lucas had no such issues, yes he's shy too, but he was more than happy to help someone if they needed it. I rather play than help, because after a while I get tired and bored, but this only made people disapprove of me and wonder why I couldn't be more thoughtful like my brother. Eventually I grew tired of the comparison and decided to try and be more opposite of my brother. I tried to be more hyperactive and more outgoing and it seemed to have worked. People saw me as a hyperactive troublemaker, but at least they finally recognize me as Claus, not just Lucas's twin brother.

The two of us grew up with our parents. Mom, her name is Hinawa. And Dad, his name is Flint. They're both very nice people and raised us with love and care. Mom was like Lucas, she's very kind and gentle, always knows what to say when one or both of us are upset. Dad is more of the strong and caring guy, he can lift a lot of heavy wood and is good at taking care of the sheep along with our dog Boney. Dad's also more of a strong silent type, he doesn't like to talk much or show a lot of emotion, but he cares for all of us. We live in a small, humble village called Tazmily. I guess one would say it's primitive, but people worked together and were happy with their lives.

Despite my apparent jealousy towards my twin brother Lucas I actually love him very much. We do just about everything together and I wouldn't have it any other way. We play with the animals in the forest, they were always so friendly to us, especially the Dragos. They're big, strong and scary looking, but they're actually really nice. Dragos are these big green dinosaurs with a big jaw, small arms and big feet, they're really good jumpers even if they don't look it. Things were going well with our lives… until that night…

Lucas and I were only ten years old at the time. We were coming back home with Mom after a visit with grandpa, but on our way back we were attacked by a Drago. This wasn't an ordinary Drago either, it had machine parts on its body, including its eye. It was scary and it kept looking at us as if it wanted to eat us. Mom pushed me and Lucas back and told us to get away while she hold it off. Lucas and I shouted for her, but she yelled back at us to go. I saw the Drago lunging at her with its teeth and I grabbed Lucas without realizing it and both of us jumped down a cliff and into the river, where we were both swept away and found by the other villagers. And someone found Mom's body, saying that there was a Drago's tooth in her chest. This devastated Dad… and both me and Lucas. Thomas wanted to give Dad the Drago's tooth so he could use as a weapon, but Dad threw it into the river, not wanting anything to do with the Drago that killed Mom.

Lucas and I stayed by Mom's grave for a long time. I could do nothing but try to comfort my brother as he cried his little heart out. I wanted to cry so badly along with him, but I forced myself not to… I had to be strong for Lucas. Revenge came across my mind a few times, but so did logic. What could a little boy like me do to a Drago? I would only get myself killed and that would make it worse for Lucas and Dad… and Mom wouldn't want that, she sacrificed herself to save both of us after all.

It was a few days later that this peddler came into Tazmily Village. He called himself Fassad and he had a monkey companion with him. Fassad talked to us about happiness and that we should use a thing called 'money' as currency to get paid for our hard work. He talked about these things called 'technology' to help the village grow and prosper. Two days after that, his monkey companion, Salsa I think he called it, was gone. Nobody knows what happened to Salsa but apparently it ran away.

It's been only a year since then. Why am I reminiscing about this now? I just wanted to think about what happened. It felt like it was much longer, the village had changed a lot in just one year. Dirt is becoming concrete road, buildings are getting bigger, everyone is charging money for their services and people are getting a bit more greedy.

"Claus? Come on wake up. Aren't you usually the morning riser out of the two of us?" Lucas was in his brother's face.

Claus looked at him from his bed. "I was already awake, Lucas. I was just thinking about some stuff."

"Come on Claus, all you ever do is think lately. You used to be more active than that." Lucas whined as he pulled his brother out of bed. "Now come on. We promised Dad we would go walk Boney and pick up some bread at the bakery today."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Claus grumbled. "But I better get cleaned up first. I don't want to go out there in my pajamas and messy hair."

"Okay, but hurry. Dad is tending to the sheep but he'll be expecting us to get the bread soon." Lucas said and Claus sighed.

"It's not like the bakery's going to up and vanish if we don't get there as soon as possible." The orange haired boy said before getting dressed in his usual yellow and teal striped shirt and combing his hair to smooth out the bedhead.

With that done, the two brothers came out of their house. Boney greeted them with a bark and wagged his tail. Claus and Lucas smiled as they patted their favorite dog.

"You want to go for a walk, Boney?" Claus asked.

"Woof! Woof!" Boney barked happily before standing up and began walking to them.

"Alright, let's go get some bread." Lucas said. "Dad gave us enough money to buy a loaf or two."

"Alright, let's get this over with." The orange haired boy said.

The twins walked into town with their brown dog behind them. People waved to them but otherwise didn't say anything. Claus looked over at Lucas and noticed something… he looked tired and a had a red tint on his face. They hadn't walked that long and it wasn't hot out today, this worried Claus.

"Lucas? Are you okay?" Claus asked the blond haired boy in concern.

"I'm fine… just… just have a bit of a headache is all." Lucas said with a small smile.

"A headache?" Claus blinked. "You have a headache?"

"It's fine, it's not that bad, it should go away soon." Lucas reassured him.

This did not ease Claus's worry for his twin, but decided to just keep an eye on him in case it got worse. They walked into the bakery. There used to be two sisters here who would make bread daily for the villagers, now they charge money for their work. On the bright side they can have more than one bread depending on how much they can pay.

"Oh Lucas, Claus, it's good to see you boys again." The woman at the cashier said to them with a smile. "What will it be this time?"

"A nut bread and a bread roll please." Lucas said ever so politely.

"Alright. That'll be 42 DP." She said.

DP stand for Dragon Points, they are the currency. Basically Dragon Points are coins with a dragon head and tail on the other side.

Lucas handed her the money but he held his head with his other hand. Claus took the two bread they ordered and looked at Lucas. "We better take you home."

"Woof!" Boney suddenly barked.

Claus turned to Boney, he seemed to be barking at something outside the bakery. The two boys hurried out and almost crashed into a young woman with pink hair.

"Whoa!" They yelped.

"Hey, watch where you're going! You almost crashed into me!" The young girl snapped.

"S-sorry." Lucas apologized.

Claus frowned a bit at her attitude, but said, "We're sorry, but we're kinda in a hurry. Lucas needs to get to bed."

"Hmm?" The young woman looked at Lucas. "What's wrong with him?"

Claus was about to answer 'none of your business lady', but Lucas beat him to it. "I just have a really bad headache…"

"Hmm…" The lady suddenly put her hand over his forehead. "Feels like you got a pretty bad fever too."

"H-hey, don't touch him!" Claus frowned. "L-Lucas, you have a fever?" The orange haired boy said with worry, putting his hand on his brother's forehead. He hissed before removing his hand. "O-oh no! We've gotta tell Dad!"

"Relax kid, I think I may know what's wrong with him." The woman suddenly said.

"What? How could you know what's wrong with him? Are you some kind of doctor?" Claus asked, hugging his brother protectively.

"You could say that. What's your name, kid?" The young lady asked feverish boy.

"I'm Lucas…" Lucas answered.

"Don't give this strange lady your name." Claus reprimanded, but only halfheartedly.

"I think she can help… and I don't think she means anything bad." Lucas said to Claus, sounding tired and weak.

"Tell me Lucas, where does it hurt?" The pink haired girl asked, ignoring Claus's comment.

"Everywhere in my head… but I guess… it hurts more around my forehead." Lucas said as he shut his eyes and rubbed his head again.

"I knew it." The lady said. "My name is Kumatora and I know what's wrong with you."

"Y-you do?" Both Lucas and Claus asked.

"Woof!" Boney barked.

"Yes, but you better come with me. This isn't the best place to talk about the… unique fever." Kumatora said as she looked around cautiously.

"Where are you taking him?" Claus demanded.

"To a safe place. You can come too if you're that worried, kid." Kumatora said to him.

"The name's Claus." The ginger boy huffed. "And I'm his twin brother, so heck yeah I'm that worried."

"B-but the bread…" Lucas looked at the bags in his hands.

Claus took the bags and put them on Boney's back. "Boney, can you take these back home? Don't eat them, give them to Dad."

"Woof! Woof!" Boney barked with a nod.

"Good boy." Claus said as he petted him. "Now go."

Boney ran off towards their house.

"Good, now come on." Kumatora said as she began walking ahead.

Claus had to help his brother walk since he was so weak and his headache kept getting worse. Claus worried more the further they walked, they were walking away from the village and into the forest.

"How much further? Lucas isn't looking too good here and you still haven't told us what's wrong with him!" Claus snapped, losing his patience after feeling his brother's temperature rising.

"It's not that much farther kid. And he'll have to endure it a little longer, the fever won't kill him, I promise." Kumatora hissed back before they walked into a clearing.

They soon came up to the mountains and in the clearing, Claus and Lucas were surprised to see a single strange pink seashell with a door. It was apparently someone's house. Kumatora was heading towards it and Claus felt more uneasy.

Kumatora knocked the door, "Hey, I found the PSI aura I've been sensing!"

The door opened and revealed… some weird… man… lady… person. Claus wasn't even sure how to describe it. It looked like a man in a feminine way with pink hair.

"Oh Kumatora, you've returned much sooner than expected." The man lady said with a big smile on its face.

"Well the power was pretty hard to miss, it's energy is vast." Kumatora said.

"Excuse me! What are you two talking about? Why did we bring my brother here? Is he… she… a doctor or what?" Claus demanded, still helping his brother lean on him.

"Oh my, what cute little boys you brought Kumatora~! Seems the blond haired one has the PSI fever." The man lady said with a smile.

"I… I have… what?" Lucas weakly asked.

"PSI fever darling~ Didn't Kumatora tell you?"

"No, she didn't tell us a dang thing." Claus glared.

"Oh dear. Well no wonder you're so worried." The man lady said. "My name is Aeolia, I'm a Magypsy."

Claus and Lucas blinked at that.

"A Magypsy is a PSI master, immortal beings if you will." Aeolia explained and giggled at their surprised expressions.

"That's great and all, but what's 'PSI' and why does my brother have that fever?" Claus demanded.

"PSI is psionics or psychokinesis. Whenever the ability to use PSI is waking up inside a person, it will give them a PSI fever first. Once they endure the fever for a short time they awaken a new PSI power." Aeolia explained.

"Wait, as in psychic powers? … My own brother, Lucas, is PSYCHIC?" Claus looked at his brother, who looked weak but seemed just as surprised. "How?"

"Nobody knows where the PSI comes from really, just that certain people are born with it and it awakens at some point in their life." Kumatora said. "Whether it's through maturity, mentality or through great danger."

"Seems our cute little Lucas here is awakening his. I can sense strong magic energy within you, it's making me tingle~" Aeolia said with a giggle.

Claus frowned a bit, his brother was getting psychic powers? "A-are you sure about this?"

"Don't worry. The awakening is always the hardest, but once it's over he'll be perfectly fine." Aeolia reassured. "But there is a way to awaken his powers faster."

"H-how?" Lucas asked, wanting to be rid of this painful fever.

"Come over here, darling~" Aeolia said as 'she' gestured him to 'her'.

"W-what? No way. We can't just trust a strange man… lady… to not do something suspicious!" Claus rejected.

"C-Claus… it's okay… I'll be fine." Lucas said weakly.

"L-Lucas, how do you even know these people aren't just insane?" Claus frowned worriedly.

"Hey! We're not insane!" Kumatora snapped. "If you want proof PSI is real then look over here!"

Claus looked over to her, mostly because she was yelling. "PK Fire!" She had a small flame over her hand, making the orange haired boy jump back in shock.

"Well, do you believe now?" Kumtatora said with a smug smirk as she easily dissipated the flame.

"P-please… if you can… h-help me…" Lucas began saying before grabbing his head again.

Claus bit his lip before he sighed, reluctantly nodding. "Alright… I trust you'll take care of my brother."

Lucas approached Aeolia and 'she' put 'her' hand on his forehead. Claus watched anxiously as his twin closed his eyes. For a second, it seemed nothing would happen, but then… Lucas suddenly began squirming and shut his eyes tightly.

"L-Lucas!" Claus called in concern, clenching his fist worriedly.

"It's okay, just endure it." Aeolia said. "Kumatora, hold him down."

Kumatora quickly hurried over to them and held down the blond haired boy, who was groaning in pain and squirmed. Claus's heart froze when he saw his brother in such pain. He wanted to yell at them to let him go, to stop hurting him, to get away from him, but the orange haired boy found himself frozen stiff and couldn't do anything but watch as his brother suffered. And almost as quickly as it began it stopped, and Lucas calmed down as his body relaxed.

"There, it is done. Lucas has awakened~" Aeolia announced proudly.

Claus managed to unfreeze himself and hurried over to his brother's side. "L-Lucas! Lucas, are you okay? I-I'm so sorry! I didn't think they'd hurt you! Please tell me you're alright!"

"Ugh… Claus, I'm fine, just give me a minute. It felt like my body was just hit by lightning." Lucas groaned.

"What did you do to him?" Claus demanded the self proclaimed Magypsy.

"Calm down. I simply helped awaken the PSI within him. I warned you the awakening would be the hardest~" Aeolia said with a giggle.

Lucas sat up as Claus and Kumatora helped him get to his feet, the former still being worried.

"Now Lucas, when I say the letters 'PK', what comes to mind?" Aeolia asked.

The blond haired boy answered automatically. "Lifeup, Healing, Love."

Claus had no idea why he was saying that, but both Kumatora and Aeolia looked taken aback and shocked.

"Love? Oh my… he's the one." Aeolia said with a whisper.

"Wow, I can't believe we found him already." Kumatora said. "And he knows Lifeup and Healing, sounds like he'll be an assist PSI user."

"Wait, what's going on? What's so special about this 'Love' thing?" Claus demanded.

Aeolia gave a giggle before it answered, "Well dear boy, PK Love is a very rare PSI. Perhaps one of the most powerful. Even us Magypsies could never use such a rare ability."

"PK Love? Sounds kinda girly…" Claus grumbled.

"Um… how could I use it?" Lucas asked curiously.

"It's simple, really simple." Aeolia said.

"All you have to do is concentrate and say the words 'PK Love'. But be careful, PSI will drain you mentally, so don't use too much." Kumatora warned.

"Go ahead and use it~ It'll be fun to see PK Love in action~" Aeolia said with an eager smile.

"B-but what if I hurt someone?" Lucas asked with a concerned frown.

"It's okay, you won't." Aeolia assured him.

"O-okay, if you say so." Lucas said.

"It'll help if you raise your hand." Kumatora suggested.

Claus frowned but decided to watch and see if his brother can really use psychic powers. Lucas raised his hand and focused on what he loved. That was easy; his family. His mother, his father, and his twin brother Claus. "PK Love!" His hand sparked blue and a huge blue energy beam came out of his hand and created a hexagonal explosion around a barrier. Aeolia set up a psychic barrier so Lucas wouldn't hurt anyone.

"W-whoa…" Both Lucas and Claus were amazed by this.

It was then I had witnessed something amazing. I always knew my brother was special, but this just further cements it. I never knew Lucas could have psychic powers, let alone one this powerful and apparently it's legendary. But this did make it hard for me. It became increasingly difficult to not be jealous of him. I was envious of him, but not jealous. I had to keep visiting Mom's grave and pray that I wouldn't fall for the green eyed monster that Mom used to tell stories to us about and how it could ruin innocent lives so easily. I didn't want that, so I had to keep myself from falling into deep jealousy. I love my brother and I'm happy for him that he can become strong with these PSI powers.

Of course, with these new PSI powers, it brought over more of those Magypsies. One in particular named Ionia seemed especially interested in helping Aeolia and Kumatora train Lucas in utilizing his PSI and help him learn more. I stopped following him. It was clear I had no reason to be there. Lucas was training his PSI, but I didn't have any so I just stayed home. Dad didn't seem to mind us going out, as long as we help out while we're here.

For weeks now Kumatora visited us and Lucas would go with her to train with Aeolia and Ionia. I felt so useless and lonely. Lucas and I used to stick together, but now… the villagers are calling me the loner since they saw Lucas going with that Kumatora girl all the time, probably thinking he scored her or something. I didn't dare let Lucas know I felt envious and left out, I would put on a mask and smile at him whenever he tells me he learned a new PSI and gotten stronger. I wanted him to know I was supporting him, and I didn't want him to feel guilty for leaving me behind. He had always been the nicer twin, the twin everybody likes... the better twin.

Claus was looking at his plate of omelette and just fiddled it with his fork. Lucas had already gone out with Kumatora today. Flint sat down and frowned as he moved his cowboy hat back. "What's the matter son? You haven't touched your omelette today."

"I guess I just miss Lucas." Claus sighed. "I don't know if you noticed, Dad, but he hasn't been around a lot lately."

"Ah yes, ever since you two met Kumatora he's been hanging out with her a lot." Flint said. "You should tell him. I'm sure Lucas doesn't know he's making you feel lonely."

"No… I don't want him to think I'm jealous or trying to hold him back." Claus said, looking away. Flint didn't know that Lucas can use PSI, he just know he hangs out with the Princess of the former Osohe Castle a lot.

"Well if you don't tell him, he'll never know the problem." Flint said. "It's important to talk when you have a problem."

Claus just sighed and Flint shrugged, "But it's up to you son. We're out of mushrooms, so we better get more in the forest today."

"I'll get them. Maybe it'll be a good distraction." Claus volunteered.

When Claus walked into town, he was passing by Fassad. His head started hurting all of a sudden but he ignored it. Fassad looked over in his direction, but the boy didn't notice as he continued his way to the forest.

By the time Claus entered the forest his headache had gotten worse. He groaned as he rubbed his head, not noticing the red tint on his face. "Ugh… It feels like I banged my head on the mountainside or something… it freaking hurts!"

The boy walked further into the forest, he wasn't even sure which way he was going, he just wished his head would stop aching. The boy stumbled and realized he just walked past the forest and was on the rocky mountain base. "Oh man… I just went past the forest. Greeeeat."

Claus turned back, trying to resist his headache, when what sounded like stomping footsteps came close. The boy froze in cold panic when he heard and felt the huge footsteps coming closer to him. Gulping and pleading mentally, he turned around and saw the same Mecha Drago that killed his and Lucas's mother a year ago there. It gave a loud roar and made Claus yelp and run.

The Mecha Drago stomped towards him, roaring as it tried to bite down. Claus, despite his major headache, managed to keep running. The boy hurried down into the forest while the Mecha Drago kept going after him, not slowing down. Claus panted as he felt much weaker than he usually is, but that didn't stop his adrenaline as he hurried to hide. The boy scanned the area quickly before diving into some bushes. He quickly froze and stayed absolutely still as the Mecha Drago began stomping his way.

The Mecha Drago stopped as it began to looking around, probably trying to find him. Claus forced his body to stay still, he wouldn't allow himself to tremble in fear, it would give him away. Why is that Drago here!? Why did it come down from the mountain? Why is it going after me specifically!?

Then the Mecha Drago roared before stomping towards Claus as if it heard his thoughts. Claus's eyes widen in shock before he jumped out of the bushes and ran just before its giant foot crushed the bushes completely. Claus panted as he forced his body to run. He groaned as his headache became more severe but he couldn't afford to stop and yell in pain or he'll be joining his mother much sooner than he had wanted.

"S-stay away from me!" Claus shouted desperately as the Mecha Drago continued to chase him.

The headache was so severe that Claus's legs buckled and caused him to fall to the ground. The boy turned and saw, with blurry eyes, the half machine dinosaur right over him. It gave a fearsome roar as it lunged down, opening its large jaws, showing deadly sharp teeth ready to pierce him. Claus screamed as he felt like his head exploded and the tingly sensation like being hit by strong electricity went through his body.

Believing he was dying from this weird illness and about to die anyway from this crazy Drago one thing went through his mind. Mom… Dad… Boney… Lucas… I'm sorry… I love you all. As if his body was on automatic he lifted his hands and shouted, "PK LOVE!"

A powerful blue beam of psychic energy shot out from his hands and exploded hexagonally into the Mega Drago's face, causing it to be pushed back and hit the ground hard. Claus's eyes was wide in shock and fear, and he panted from exhaustion. His headache was gone, but he still felt very tired and weak.

And to make it worse, the Mecha Drago wasn't done yet. It managed to get back on its feet despite that fall and being hit in the face by a PK Love. It roared angrily as it approached Claus. Claus shut his eyes, preparing for the end.

"Gotcha!" Claus suddenly felt someone grabbed him and jumped just before the Mecha Dragon could bite down on him.

"W-wah?" Claus opened his eyes. "F-Fassad?"

"Hang in there kid, I'll get us somewhere safe. You rest now." Fassad said to him.

Claus groaned as his eyes felt very heavy. Not being able to fight off the fatigue and the need to rest, the boy closed his eyes and he was out cold.

Now that you've reached the end of the chapter I'll explain a few things. As you may have noticed- for those of you familiar with Mother 3 characters anyway- Claus is more shy and logical and less hasty and impatient than he is in the game, already that is enough to create an alternate timeline where he didn't decide to go fight the Mecha Drago. This will become more important later. Lucas is a bit more outgoing and a little less shy than his game counterpart, but he still retains his timid and lovable nature so don't worry about that. And yes, Lucas gets his PSI before Claus does in order for this to work. Chapter 1 certainly does look like Claus is the central character, but actually both him and Lucas are the central characters here, you'll see in later chapters. I just have more ideas for Claus than I do for Lucas early on. And yes, Fassad isn't a sadistic, mean jerk like he was in the game, that's already becoming apparent here. And anyways folks while it's AU I do try to keep everything else similar to the game itself. I hope you guys leave a review on what you think of it so far and if you want to see more of this story. Until then, I am DarkFoxKit and I look forward to hearing from you.

And on a special side note. I've uploaded this on a friend of mine's birthday. Key2DestNE HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! :D