One thirty-two in the morning. Hard pounding at the door. The feeling of being unable to move. The feeling of being unable to open his eyes.
Ness Franklin had to ask himself, how familiar was this?
It happened to him twice already. The last time, it was Picky Minch with a letter from his brother, Pokey. The letter teased Ness about not being able to find its writer, but Ness could care less. After all, those who knew, did. That was at the end of August. The situation before that happened at the end of June, and at the door was Pokey Minch himself, not bearing a letter, but rather a small problem. His visit would ignite what Ness considered to be the best summer of his life thus far. Then again, he would probably consider it the best summer of his life, period. How many summers does one get to travel the world and experience the highest of high adventure, after all? True, he lost a friend, and he was knocked unconscious several times over the course of two months, but he gained three new friends, and as for being knocked unconscious…well, he liked hospital food.
This time was slightly different than the other two times. Now it was mid-December, the chill of northern Eagleland blanketing Onett with snow instead of sunshine, and he was sick with a cold and home alone. Mom was off visiting Dad, and Tracy was sleeping over at a friend's house.
And now, there was yet another knock on the door, late at night, and once again, he didn't want to hear it.
The knocking would not stop. Despite a cold that was slowing him down, Ness was in good enough psychic condition to defend himself long enough for the cops to get to the house, in case it was an intruder, or…whatever. All he knew was that after the Tarantino-style butt-kicking that he personally delivered to some of Onett's finest last June, the fuzz better be ready to back him up at a moment's notice.
Ness rose, walked down the stairs, towards the door. There was a tremble in his step. He had no reason to be afraid of what was behind the door, yet he was afraid anyway. All he knew was that his hand was now on the doorknob, and from what Ness could tell from the peephole, he was going to open it to a figure dressed in a hat and trench coat.
Ness took in a hard breath, and opened the door to the figure. "Man," said Ness, hiding his fear behind a tough guy voice, "You seriously do not know who you're messing with!"
The figure smiled, shook his head, and with a certain combination of words and a voice of Sir Anthony Hopkins, made Ness' jaw drop. "A bee I am…not."
*********
The coffee maker beeped, signaling the end of the percolation process. Ness pulled out the coffee pot and poured coffee into each mug. He then brought each mug to the table where Buzz Buzz sat, waiting for Ness.
"You know," said Ness, "You're not a bad looking human. I guess you weren't a bee after all, huh?"
"That is what I said, isn't it?" replied Buzz Buzz, breathing a smoky, cool breath onto his tea and taking a sip. "Excellent coffee, Ness. What brand is this?"
"Foldgers decaf."
"I'll have to stock up before I go back."
"Which brings me to my next question. How is it that you're not dead?"
"You defeated Giygas. Without Giygas threatening to destroy our very way of life, I had no reason to come to the past to set you on your way. Hence, there was no need to be crushed to death by Lardna Minch's awful flyswatter." Buzz Buzz shivered, and continued "Do you know that it kills me to swat flies these days?"
"Wait, back up. How do you still know-?"
"Please, Ness, I couldn't possibly explain it to you, because not even you have the capacity to understand such things. I will say this, though: With thousands, perhaps millions of years left until humans can naturally die out, do you really think that the people of your time discovered everything there is to discover about the laws of the space-time continuum?"
"Please, I can't think like a college student when I have a cold…"
"Why don't you heal yourself?"
"Because I have a math test tomorrow and I'm not ready for it yet."
"Understandable, understandable," said Buzz Buzz. The two sipped their coffee in silence for a moment until Buzz Buzz broke the silence. "Well, Ness, I'm afraid this isn't all about pleasantries."
"What is it about?"
Buzz Buzz sighed, a sigh that Ness read as a sign that he was about to accept a great responsibility. Not that it was a new feeling. Ness figured that there had to be a reason behind Buzz Buzz's visit. "The world still needs you," said Buzz Buzz, "Perhaps the universe will live to see another decade because of what you have done, but I can guarantee that if you do nothing, you will live to see the end of existence."
Ness blinked. It couldn't have been a pure reflex because he was aware that he blinked. He put down his coffee mug, suddenly not feeling like any more."How long will you need me?"
"As long as it takes. I fear, Ness, that this is not just one task. I'm asking for something that may be hard to accept, something that could put a curb on your educational life, your job, your career, your family."
"What is that something?"
"I am asking you to be on call to save the world for the remainder of your life. And I fear that you will get calls much more frequently than twice in your lifetime."
"This is just me? Not me, Paula, Jeff-"
"No, this involves them, of course. After all, they are the chosen four, and you cannot be successful without them." Buzz Buzz stood up to leave. "I can sense your disdain for this task."
"It's not just that," said Ness, "Paula's easy enough to talk to, but Jeff's going to be a little hard to bring on board since he's far off in Winters, and Poo…well, Poo's too far off and too busy with, uhm…princely duties to help. I could only probably get Paula."
Buzz Buzz smiled again. "Don't worry," he said, "You'll find things a lot easier to deal with when you come home from school on Tuesday." He turned around and started for the door. "I'll be in the hotel for two weeks. You will find me registered under the name Aldrin."
"Clever."
"If you fail to contact me, I shall take your answer as a no and return to my own present. And Ness?"
"Yeah?"
"This will be your only opportunity to accept this fate. You will not get another chance to say yes." And with that, Buzz Buzz left Ness with the burden of his new responsibility.
*********
Monday came dreary and cold. Ness slept through the morning, woke up in the afternoon, and hit the books to use the extra day before having to stay after school on Tuesday to take his Math test. Ironic, thought Ness, how he was capable of manipulating space and time but associated the word "sine" with crop circles. He felt a little better when Paula called up to say hello.
"How was school?" she asked
"It wasn't," responded Ness, "I was sick today with a cold."
"You? Sick? Don't you have some healing ability?"
"Yeah, but I had a really powerful strain that I couldn't stop."
"A new strain?" Paula sounded concerned.
"Yeah. The Trigonometry Virus." Paula was chuckling at Ness' line when he suddenly remembered his visitor. "Paula, we've got troubles."
"What're you talking about?"
"Remember how that whole thing started?"
"You got a visit from some bee that came out of a meteor, something like that."
"Keep an open mind, this gets a lot weirder."
"How much weirder can our lives be?"
Ness sighed. He couldn't believe what he was about to say. "That bee, Buzz Buzz, came back. He was human. And he told me that we needed to be on call to save the world."
"What from?"
"He didn't tell me."
"You going for it?"
"Paula…I don't know."
"What?"
"Paula, I went to save the world last time because I knew that if I lived through it, I would be back by the end of the school year and return to my normal life. This…my life, our lives, would change forever if we did this."
"But the fate of the world is still in the balance, Ness!"
"Yeah. It'll end by the time we're old, frail, weak, and ready to die."
"And what about the people that are our age when they face the apocalypse?" Paula sounded angry, very angry.
"I'm not thinking about them right now. I can't. I don't think I can give up everything I've known so I can save people I'll never know." Ness immediately stopped himself before he said anything to make him look like a bigger jerk. "Look, I didn't really mean that-"
"Really?"
"Really. Paula, how can I deal with being a…someone who can…" Ness was tripping up on his own words. He couldn't explain his sudden absence of human decency. It was just there.
Paula filled the silence. "You seem to be at a loss for words right now. So I'll tell you what I know. My whole life before last summer, I've been hounded by the press. It's better these days, but pretty much the only privacy I could get back then was the bathroom. Now I could've ended all of that if I just stopped getting kittens out of trees, or healing little kids who became hit-and-run victims. But I hold myself in higher moral regard than most other people. And last summer, I thought that the only person that beat me in morality was you." She paused to catch her breath.
"Paula, understand something. All I want to do right now is settle down, be with my girlfriend, get a life-not be a-"
"You don't want to finish that sentence!" Paula screamed. Ness heard a hard CLICK on the other end.
Ness swore to himself. He replayed the conversation in his mind. Why was he acting like such a jerk? Last summer he was in it for the greater good. How is it that he's suddenly acting this way?
He went over this question several times. He went over it while he studied for his math test. He went over it while he ate his steak dinner. He went over it while watching "Fourside Public." He went over and over it until sleep would not allow him to go over it any more.
*********
"What are you listening to, Jeff?"
Jeff Andonuts pulled off his headphones and looked at Tony Matheson. Their plane had just left Winters, and was set to arrive at Fourside International Airport in two hours. In the meantime, Jeff's plan was to take the laptop that Eagleland Airways's business class supplied, and work on his thesis for Snow Wood Boarding School. When the thing was finished, Jeff's victory would be bittersweet-happy that it was done, but angered by the fact that he would have to write three more of these things.
That was the plan, anyway. Jeff had the disk containing his work in the laptop, but he eventually got lazy with the paper and just popped in the David Holmes CD that he bought with him. "I'm listening to a very interesting artist," said Jeff, "David Holmes."
"I never heard of him."
"He does movie scores these days, but he's an excellent techno musician."
"Really? The CD is good?"
"Yes, it's called 'Come Get It I Got It.' I'm listening to it right now. It's old, but it's certainly fun."
"I'll have to borrow it from you one day."
"As soon as we land, it's yours." Jeff turned back to the computer screen. Something fascinating about watching a timer count how long a song was running, second by second.
"Hey, Jeff?" Tony broke his concentration, but it wasn't anything Jeff got too worked up over.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"What happens when we land?"
"Well, first, we check into the airport hotel. We'll spend the night there, then we'll go into the city for some breakfast."
"Why don't we eat at the airport hotel?"
"Because it's an airport hotel. Anyway, we'll have our breakfast, and we'll catch a bus to Onett. From there, I'll talk to a friend of mine, Ness. You've met him."
"Yes, during the Stonehenge incident. What does he have to do with your paper?"
"Trust me," said Jeff, "He knows a lot about meteor rocks."
*********
Tuesday was sunnier. The sky was clear, boasting its brightest blue. Ness took his trigonometry test, but he figured that he failed it. He had studied well for it, but what Paula had said to him cut his concentration like a knife. He always thought he was a noble person, glad to help out anyone no matter what the cost. However, the words that came out of his mouth yesterday surprised even him. He wanted to save the universe. But would the cost of taking on such a responsibility prove to be too much for him? He wanted to choose world peace over his own personal life, yet he still felt that he valued his personal life more.
Ness walked home, feeling guilty over what he did to Paula, over letting down six billion people, although only three of them would have to know what he had done. He felt a little better when he saw two people sitting on the steps leading up to his house, one of them familiar. "Well, well, well," said Ness to the familiar face, "What brings you here?"
Jeff smiled, walked over to Ness, and gave him a hug. "Hey, Ness," he said, "So great to see you." Jeff broke the hug and motioned over to Tony. "Ness," he said, "You remember Tony Matheson, do you?"
"How could I forget?" said Ness, who had completely forgotten about Tony until that minute. He shook Tony's hand and said "Nice to meet you…again. Can I get you guys anything to drink?"
"Perhaps later, Ness," said Jeff, "This isn't all about plesantries." Ness instinctivley cleared his throat. He never wanted to hear that phrase again, although he didn't voice his complaint to Jeff. Uninterruptted, Jeff continued, "We're doing a report on meteor rocks for our advanced astrology class, and I was wondering if you could lend us a hand."
"Sure," said Ness, "You need to see BALLPARK-52?"
"Precisely," said Jeff.
*********
The last student had been picked up. Paula was uncharacteristically glad for that, because she had never felt so relieved to be able to feel so depressed. She touched her fingers to her head. Her mind flashed back to that last day she talked to Ness, in person that is. They were standing there, in front of the preschool, thinking about all the adventure that was about to end. And that one thing that she wanted to tell Ness, but forgot about, but really didn't.
She didn't have the courage to tell Ness how she felt. Maybe it was the same thing Ness was going through. Maybe she'll drop by later and apologize, tell him that she understood what was going on, tell him how she-no, just the apology would do.
Paula looked outside. Across the street, a boy sat on a bench, staring into Paula's window. She smiled, her depression giving way to the joy of a familiar friend. She went downstairs and out the door, crossed the street, and sat down next to the boy on the park bench.
The boy stared at her for a few seconds before Paula, without looking, smiled and said, "Poo, you still can't get past me."
The boy spoke in an entirley recognizable Dalaamese accent. "Paula, one of these days, I will fool you."
"Well," giggled Paula, "it sure isn't today." Poo smiled, his Mirror ability still in effect, stood up, and gave Paula a hug.
"I missed you, old friend," said Poo.
"What are you doing here?" said Paula.
Poo broke the friendly embrace, and took his seat back, as did Paula. "Well," he said, "I have come to study abroad." Poo's eyes strayed to two brunettes talking and giggling amongst themselves as they walked down the street.
"Indeed," said Paula. She knew those brunettes, and she leaned over to Poo and told him exactly what she knew.
Poo felt sick from information overload. "That is the most disgraceful thing I've ever heard!"
"Of course it is. Come on, Poo, if you wanted to find quality women, why didn't you study in Summers?"
"You are quality enough, my dear friend," replied Poo. Paula let loose a girlish giggle before she saw the expression on Poo's face change to a seriousness that was usually reserved for talking about his culture. "I fear, however," he said, "that I am not just here to find a mate."
Paula would have read Poo's mind, but she didn't need to. "You know about Ness' visit with…that bee guy. Did you catch his name when he told you about it?"
"Actually, I do not know of this 'bee guy' you speak of. I do know, however, that our obligation as the Chosen Four is not yet fulfilled."
"Ness told me all about it. He's not sure that he wants to go, though."
"Ah," said Poo, "He is scared."
"More of change than his life, I think."
"Yes, this is a big responsibility. Are you not angry at him?"
Paula sighed. "I was, but…I'm sort of in a similar situation."
"You are scared as well?"
"Yeah, but not of this. I want to do this…it's just…something else that I couldn't really explain to myself…"
Poo looked into Paula's eyes. "You have feelings for him."
*********
Seton Hill hadn't changed since last summer. The meteorite there, which Onett's sole astronomer called "BALLPARK-52" because "it sounded pretty cool," had changed, of course, but that was because it had cooled down until it was just another hunk of rock. The mayor left it there, a sign of Onett's "strength and integrity." Of course, this meant absolutley nothing, but that was just a sign that the mayor hadn't changed, either.
Ness, Jeff, and Tony journeyed to the top of Seton Hill and found the rock, the rock that started it all. Scientists were free to examine the meterorite as they pleased. If they wanted to take a chunk off of it, however, they would need a permit.
Of course, however Ness could explain it, it still wouldn't get through to Jeff or Tony.
"Ness, please understand," said Jeff, "In your public school system, it is your personality that counts. But in Snow Wood, your peers only care about your grades!"
"OK," said Ness, "So go apply for a permit over at city hall!"
"Are you mad?" asked Tony, "It'll take months before we can get that permit, what with all the bureaucracy-"
"Don't the greatest minds struggle with a groundbreaking thesis for years?" retorted Ness, "I mean, wouldn't Snow Wood respect that?"
"Ness," replied Jeff, putting an arm around Ness' shoulder, "We're Snow Wood students. We're supposed to make John Nash look like Russell Crowe."
"Didn't Russell Crowe portray John Nash in A Beautiful Mind?" asked Ness, half-sarcastically.
Jeff paused before saying, "Up yours." He took his arm away from Ness' shoulder and walked away from him.
"Well, doesn't that technically mean that Russell Crowe already looks like John Nash?" called out Ness.
"Up yours!" Jeff repeated.
"HEY! What are you kids doing up here?"
Ness, Jeff, and Tony turned around to find three uniformed Onett officers coming up behind them. They were wearing mirrored sunglasses, the kind that was supposed to intimidate you as you were being interrogated. "You have no right to be here!"
"This is a park area," said Jeff, "We have every right-"
The cops weren't impressed, so Ness stopped Jeff and motioned that he would take over. He walked up to the cops and said "Hey, how you doin'? My name's Ness Franklin."
The lead cop took off his sunglasses. "So what's yer point?"
Ness couldn't make that point. He couldn't make it because something suddenly didn't feel right.
He saw it in the eyes. The eyes of the lead cop had a strange red glint to them that he couldn't explain. Looking at that glint made him uneasy, as if he was facing the devil himself. "I'm talkin' to you, boy! What's yer point?"
Ness decided to speak. If he didn't talk soon, he sensed, a fight would have broken out. "Er, no," he said, "No point, I, uh, just wanted to introduce myself." He held out his hand as if he wanted to shake hands with the officer.
"Get that outta here, son, and go run home to your family. That goes for the rest of ya!"
Ness turned to Jeff and Tony. "Let's get out of here, we don't need a fight right now."
"Ness," said Jeff, "didn't you beat the Onett-"
"-Hammers in a baseball game," said Ness, turning back to the officers to save face, "You know, it was this little bet between me and my friends and the guys who play on that team, we made it last summer, and man, we wiped the floor with those guys. But, you know, that year's team sucked, I'm sure if I were to play them again, we'd have a much tighter game-"
"Git!" screamed the lead officer.
"Let's bounce, guys." Ness started down Seton Hill, followed by Tony.
Jeff wouldn't leave until he said "Four-zero-zero-two. Your badge number. I promise that you'll be hearing from your captain-"
"Jeff, step off!"
"Bye, then." Jeff finally followed Ness and Tony. "What was that about?" said Jeff, as soon as the cops were out of earshot.
"I don't know, Jeff," said Ness, "But there was something about those cops that I didn't like."
"So?"
"Didn't like, as in, something told me I didn't want to mess around with those guys."
When Ness, Jeff, and Tony made it to Ness' house, Jeff immediatley jogged to the porch to greet Paula, standing there as if she was waiting for someone. They embraced as Jeff said "Of all the people I expected, you were near the bottom of the list!"
"Same here, Jeff," said Paula, embracing him back. Jeff reintroduced her to Tony, and after they shook hands, Paula said, "Listen, I need to talk to Ness. Would you excuse us?"
"Uhm, sure, of course."
Ness rolled his eyes, wondering what else she could possibly have to say. He walked up to Jeff and gave him $70. "That should cover a night for you two at the hotel."
"Thanks," said Jeff, "You were carrying this much cash?"
"I was planning to go to the movies tonight with Michelle. You know, movies are just absurdly expensive here."
"…Michelle?"
"My girlfriend."
"Oh, yeah, I remember you telling me about her. Have a good time."
"Sure." Jeff and Tony said their goodbyes and took off, leaving Ness and Paula alone.
They just stood there for a while, each one thinking about what they would say and when they would say it. Finally, Paula said, "We need to talk."
"I didn't even say anything yet!"
"Ness, don't be a jerk, OK? I wasn't going to come down on you!"
"I get it, it's one of those insults-cleverly-disguised-as-a-compliment. Fire away, then."
"When did you become so impossible?"
"Ever since Buzz Buzz came back! I did my job, Paula, we did our jobs, and now all I want is a normal life! But he comes back, and suddenly, my world is turned upside down FOREVER!"
"All right," said Paula, "You're scared! I know the feeling, Ness, believe me, I do, and that's why I'm here! I acted like a jerk over the phone, OK? I got too self-righteous for my own good and I'm sorry!
"Look, the truth is, if you don't want to do this, I can't make you. Nobody can. But it's also the truth that without you, we're doomed. Please, Ness, let's do this."
Ness let go of a slow breath that smoked in the cold December air. He closed his eyes for not more than a second, and opened them again. "I want to be the good guy, Paula. I so do. But I don't know if I can."
"Maybe you shouldn't think about this right now," said Paula, "You said you were going to the movies with Michelle?"
"Yeah, I am."
"Go catch that movie," said Paula, "Forget about this for a while, OK?"
Ness sighed. "Yeah, I will." He turned to walk away, then turned again. "I gotta stop at the ATM first before I grab my bike and pick up Michelle. You wanna come with?"
"Really?"
"Yeah, I mean, other than our fight, it's really great to really see you."
Paula's smile became wide, very wide. "It's good to see you too," she said.
*********
It was just like the adventure, without the pressure of having to save the world...well, sort of. Ness and Paula walked to the drug store, chatting it up about everything under the sun. Paula loved it, and she got the sense that Ness enjoyed it, too, although not as much as she would have liked. But it was OK. Michelle was OK-heck, she introduced him to her in the first place. All she cared about was that they cared about each other enough to be together, and if the care should only add up to friendship, at least she had-
"WELCOME TO THE PARTY, KIDS! ON THE FLOOR, NOW!"
Every thought that ran through Ness and Paula's mind had to do with the two people that held black guns and wore black clothes. The two people that noticed Ness and Paula the second they walked into the drugstore. The two people whose faces were hidden by rubber masks in the likenesses of Bill Clinton and George Bush.
Ness noticed another thing about the two people. Their guns were police issue. He felt Paula nudge him as they sank to the floor. "Ness," she said, "This isn't going to end well for me."
"What?"
"Look, I need to tell you-"
"SHUT YER DAMN TRAPS RIGHT NOW!" Bill Clinton marched over to Ness and Paula and pointed his gun directly into their faces. Ness recognized the accent. It was the cop on Seton Hill. He even got that same uneasy feeling around him. What clinched it for him was the red glint that he could see through the eyeholes of the mask.
If it wasn't going to end well for Paula if things kept up like this, then he had to do something unexpected. Something completely stupid, yet completely smart…
When Bill Clinton turned away, he said "It's OK, man, it's OK, I'm just here to play the Eagleland Win 4." He stood up and attracted both Bill and George's attentions. They pointed their guns at him. "Hey, look, I'm just gonna give my man the numbers, then I'll be off, OK?"
"HIT THE FLOOR OR HIT THE GRAVE, PUNK!" screamed George.
"Look, Mr...what's your name?" asked Ness.
Bill pointed his gun at the clerk while George kept his gun on Ness. "Answer that and you're a dead man!" The clerk nodded.
"It's all right, just memorize these numbers, I'll pick up the ticket in half an hour."
"SHUT UP!"
"My numbers are four-zero-zero-two! My favorite cop's badge number!"
Bill glared at him. "Are you completely retarded?"
"Do I have your attention now, Deputy Dumbass?"
"SMOKE THIS GUY!"
Paula jumped up and screamed "No!"
"Paula, get back down," said Ness, as Bill pointed a gun at Paula and George started for Ness, "it'll be cool, OK? Promise." Paula laid back onto the floor, hands above her head.
Ness was pushed onto his knees in front of Paula. He felt the muzzle of George's gun against his temple. "Anything you want to say to your girlfriend before you go?" said George.
"She's not my girlfriend, but there is something I want to say to you."
"Yeah?" laughed George, "What's that?"
Ness smiled. "You don't want to do this."
"Why not?" mocked George, "I'll live to regret it?"
"Who said you were going to live?" Ness suddenly grabbed the muzzle of the gun and sent a surge of PSI Rockin' through his arm. The gun exploded in their hands, and George was thrown backward into the wall.
Bill cocked his gun, but Paula sprang up and put her hands on the muzzle, too. The gun frosted over, and so did Bill's hands. Bill swung his arms, hitting Paula on the temple. She fell to the floor, still concious, still ready to put up a fight.
Meanwhile, George was starting to recover from the recoil of the gun explosion. Ness remembered something his teacher said about the Gulf War, about how psycholgical warfare would be used to intimidate the enemy. Ness thought it might be a good idea. He opened his hand to George, showing the skin of his palm torn apart by the blast. He used PSI Healing, and let George watch the wounds magically heal themselves as he marched toward him. Ness couldn't see the expression on George's face, but he was quivering and that was all Ness needed to know. When he was close enough, Ness closed his hand to make a fist, and knocked George back to the floor with a heavy overhand right. He didn't move after that one, and Ness assumed that he fainted.
He looked over at Bill and Paula a few feet away. Bill made an attempt to kick Paula while she was down, but Paula grabbed the foot and pulled Bill to the ground. Paula stood up, rolled Bill onto his stomach, grabbed the strand of rubber that held the mask to his face, pulled it, and snapped it back onto his skull. Bill howled in pain, but got back on his knees and knocked Paula to her back.
"Bat!" commanded Ness. The drugstore owner threw Ness a cracked bat, and he broke it over Bill's back. He went back to the ground again.
"Ness," said Paula, "These guys are done."
"OK," said Ness, "let's throw 'em away." Ness grabbed George by the ear and led him to the door. Paula did the same to Bill. They opened the drugstore doors to find a single squad car to give the two assailants to.
The cop standing near the squad car jumped and grabbed his radio. "This is Parker! Get the SWAT team, get the helicopter, get ever cop car within the city limits to the Onett Pharamacy! It's HIM!"
Paula looked at Ness. "Relax, guy," said Ness, "I'm not gonna hurt anybody. It was those guys that we threw to the ground."
"Oh," said Parker, "Er, I knew that." Parker grabbed his radio and recinded his request. It was ten-foured.
"What are you guys talking about?" asked Paula
Ness looked at Paula and said "I'll explain later."
*********
Bill and George, whose real names were, respectivley, John Bayris and Mitchell Swackheimer, were taken into custody. As John was being led into the back of a squad car, Ness looked at John's eyes and found that the red glint had disappeared from his eyes.
This had not been a normal week thus far.
Paula came up to Ness and asked if he was all right.
"Yeah," said Ness, "I just remembered seeing a red glint in one of the eyes of the bad guys."
"Really?"
"Yeah, that's how I knew who those guys were. They went after me on Seton Hill earlier that afternoon. Actually, it was right before I met up with you."
"Odd…did Jeff see it?"
"That's a good question."
Ness' dad gave Ness a full functioning cell phone when he got back from his adventure, and took his old reciever phone away. He never had to use it for an outgoing call, but today would be a good day to test it out. He dialed 411, and asked to be connected to the Onett Hotel. When he got the conciarge on the phone, he said "Good evening, sir, is there a Jeff Andonuts or Tony Matheson staying at your hotel?"
"Hold on, sir." He heard some classical music, which was pleasing for a while, but he eventually had to imagine Five Iron Frenzy playing it in order to keep his cool. After waiting for three minutes, the conciarge picked back up. "Sir? There is a Jeff Andonuts staying here."
"Thanks, could you connect me to him please?"
"Certainly."
More waiting, another imaginary concert by Five Iron Frenzy. Finally, "Jeff Andonuts here."
"Jeff, it's Ness."
"Ness, how are you? Is everything all right?"
"I don't know. That cop we dealt with earlier?"
"Yes?"
"You don't have to worry about filing a report. He was just arrested for armed robbery."
"What?"
"Yeah, he and his partner held up the drugstore I was in at the time."
"Wha--? I don't understand! Why would a cop knock over a drugstore, of all places?"
"I don't get it either, but maybe you can help. Did you see a red glint in his eye when you confronted him?"
"A red glint? That's imposs…rather, I'm afraid not."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive, his eyes looked normal. Perhaps you were seeing things?"
"No, Jeff, I'm positive too. That's a problem. Look, I'll talk to you tomorrow, maybe I can sort this out…" Suddenly, Ness realized that it didn't have to be sorted out. There was already someone with all the answers.
"OK, Ness, I guess I'll see you then…Ness? Ness?"
"Yeah, I'm here. Listen, scratch that, and meet me at the front desk of the hotel in about five minutes."
"Why?"
"I'll explain there. Just get dressed and meet me at the front. Leave Tony, this has nothing to do with him."
"Is this a Chosen Four thing?"
"Yeah, it is."
"Maybe I should go back and get my gun."
"One thing at a time, Jeff, don't get excited."
"Then I'll see you at the front desk in about five minutes." Jeff hung up and so did Ness.
Ness turned to Paula and said "Call Poo. He needs to meet us here pronto."
"Is this considered 'pronto?'" said a voice behind Ness. He spun around and found Poo, ready for action.
"Poo!" said Ness. He gave Poo a brotherly hug. "It's great to see you again."
"As it is to see you, Ness," said Poo, "Where are we going?"
"To the hotel. There's a guy there that may be able to give us a hand with whatever the hell's going on here. Jeff's already there, so we'll meet up with him."
"OK," said Poo. He, Ness, and Paula walked to the hotel.
"So," said Paula, on the way to the hotel, "You already made a decision as to what you're gonna do?"
"Just like I said to Jeff," replied Ness, "One thing at a time. I need to know what's going on. From there, we'll see."
"When are you supposed to meet Michelle?"
"In about an hour. I'll make it."
"That's good."
They came to the front of the hotel. Ness looked at Paula, who looked at him back. He turned to Poo, who continued to stare at the hotel doors. He took a heavy breath. "All we're looking for is answers," said Ness, "We're not committing to anything yet." He took another look at Paula and Poo, with their determined faces, and dedided to correct himself. "I'm not committing to anything yet."
"Ness," said Paula, "Once you hear what this guy has to say, you may not want to turn back."
"I never wanted to turn back. All I want is courage. If I can't turn away, I'll be very happy."
"Well then," said Poo, "Let us hope that we may find some courage inside."
They walked into the hotel.
Ness Franklin had to ask himself, how familiar was this?
It happened to him twice already. The last time, it was Picky Minch with a letter from his brother, Pokey. The letter teased Ness about not being able to find its writer, but Ness could care less. After all, those who knew, did. That was at the end of August. The situation before that happened at the end of June, and at the door was Pokey Minch himself, not bearing a letter, but rather a small problem. His visit would ignite what Ness considered to be the best summer of his life thus far. Then again, he would probably consider it the best summer of his life, period. How many summers does one get to travel the world and experience the highest of high adventure, after all? True, he lost a friend, and he was knocked unconscious several times over the course of two months, but he gained three new friends, and as for being knocked unconscious…well, he liked hospital food.
This time was slightly different than the other two times. Now it was mid-December, the chill of northern Eagleland blanketing Onett with snow instead of sunshine, and he was sick with a cold and home alone. Mom was off visiting Dad, and Tracy was sleeping over at a friend's house.
And now, there was yet another knock on the door, late at night, and once again, he didn't want to hear it.
The knocking would not stop. Despite a cold that was slowing him down, Ness was in good enough psychic condition to defend himself long enough for the cops to get to the house, in case it was an intruder, or…whatever. All he knew was that after the Tarantino-style butt-kicking that he personally delivered to some of Onett's finest last June, the fuzz better be ready to back him up at a moment's notice.
Ness rose, walked down the stairs, towards the door. There was a tremble in his step. He had no reason to be afraid of what was behind the door, yet he was afraid anyway. All he knew was that his hand was now on the doorknob, and from what Ness could tell from the peephole, he was going to open it to a figure dressed in a hat and trench coat.
Ness took in a hard breath, and opened the door to the figure. "Man," said Ness, hiding his fear behind a tough guy voice, "You seriously do not know who you're messing with!"
The figure smiled, shook his head, and with a certain combination of words and a voice of Sir Anthony Hopkins, made Ness' jaw drop. "A bee I am…not."
*********
The coffee maker beeped, signaling the end of the percolation process. Ness pulled out the coffee pot and poured coffee into each mug. He then brought each mug to the table where Buzz Buzz sat, waiting for Ness.
"You know," said Ness, "You're not a bad looking human. I guess you weren't a bee after all, huh?"
"That is what I said, isn't it?" replied Buzz Buzz, breathing a smoky, cool breath onto his tea and taking a sip. "Excellent coffee, Ness. What brand is this?"
"Foldgers decaf."
"I'll have to stock up before I go back."
"Which brings me to my next question. How is it that you're not dead?"
"You defeated Giygas. Without Giygas threatening to destroy our very way of life, I had no reason to come to the past to set you on your way. Hence, there was no need to be crushed to death by Lardna Minch's awful flyswatter." Buzz Buzz shivered, and continued "Do you know that it kills me to swat flies these days?"
"Wait, back up. How do you still know-?"
"Please, Ness, I couldn't possibly explain it to you, because not even you have the capacity to understand such things. I will say this, though: With thousands, perhaps millions of years left until humans can naturally die out, do you really think that the people of your time discovered everything there is to discover about the laws of the space-time continuum?"
"Please, I can't think like a college student when I have a cold…"
"Why don't you heal yourself?"
"Because I have a math test tomorrow and I'm not ready for it yet."
"Understandable, understandable," said Buzz Buzz. The two sipped their coffee in silence for a moment until Buzz Buzz broke the silence. "Well, Ness, I'm afraid this isn't all about pleasantries."
"What is it about?"
Buzz Buzz sighed, a sigh that Ness read as a sign that he was about to accept a great responsibility. Not that it was a new feeling. Ness figured that there had to be a reason behind Buzz Buzz's visit. "The world still needs you," said Buzz Buzz, "Perhaps the universe will live to see another decade because of what you have done, but I can guarantee that if you do nothing, you will live to see the end of existence."
Ness blinked. It couldn't have been a pure reflex because he was aware that he blinked. He put down his coffee mug, suddenly not feeling like any more."How long will you need me?"
"As long as it takes. I fear, Ness, that this is not just one task. I'm asking for something that may be hard to accept, something that could put a curb on your educational life, your job, your career, your family."
"What is that something?"
"I am asking you to be on call to save the world for the remainder of your life. And I fear that you will get calls much more frequently than twice in your lifetime."
"This is just me? Not me, Paula, Jeff-"
"No, this involves them, of course. After all, they are the chosen four, and you cannot be successful without them." Buzz Buzz stood up to leave. "I can sense your disdain for this task."
"It's not just that," said Ness, "Paula's easy enough to talk to, but Jeff's going to be a little hard to bring on board since he's far off in Winters, and Poo…well, Poo's too far off and too busy with, uhm…princely duties to help. I could only probably get Paula."
Buzz Buzz smiled again. "Don't worry," he said, "You'll find things a lot easier to deal with when you come home from school on Tuesday." He turned around and started for the door. "I'll be in the hotel for two weeks. You will find me registered under the name Aldrin."
"Clever."
"If you fail to contact me, I shall take your answer as a no and return to my own present. And Ness?"
"Yeah?"
"This will be your only opportunity to accept this fate. You will not get another chance to say yes." And with that, Buzz Buzz left Ness with the burden of his new responsibility.
*********
Monday came dreary and cold. Ness slept through the morning, woke up in the afternoon, and hit the books to use the extra day before having to stay after school on Tuesday to take his Math test. Ironic, thought Ness, how he was capable of manipulating space and time but associated the word "sine" with crop circles. He felt a little better when Paula called up to say hello.
"How was school?" she asked
"It wasn't," responded Ness, "I was sick today with a cold."
"You? Sick? Don't you have some healing ability?"
"Yeah, but I had a really powerful strain that I couldn't stop."
"A new strain?" Paula sounded concerned.
"Yeah. The Trigonometry Virus." Paula was chuckling at Ness' line when he suddenly remembered his visitor. "Paula, we've got troubles."
"What're you talking about?"
"Remember how that whole thing started?"
"You got a visit from some bee that came out of a meteor, something like that."
"Keep an open mind, this gets a lot weirder."
"How much weirder can our lives be?"
Ness sighed. He couldn't believe what he was about to say. "That bee, Buzz Buzz, came back. He was human. And he told me that we needed to be on call to save the world."
"What from?"
"He didn't tell me."
"You going for it?"
"Paula…I don't know."
"What?"
"Paula, I went to save the world last time because I knew that if I lived through it, I would be back by the end of the school year and return to my normal life. This…my life, our lives, would change forever if we did this."
"But the fate of the world is still in the balance, Ness!"
"Yeah. It'll end by the time we're old, frail, weak, and ready to die."
"And what about the people that are our age when they face the apocalypse?" Paula sounded angry, very angry.
"I'm not thinking about them right now. I can't. I don't think I can give up everything I've known so I can save people I'll never know." Ness immediately stopped himself before he said anything to make him look like a bigger jerk. "Look, I didn't really mean that-"
"Really?"
"Really. Paula, how can I deal with being a…someone who can…" Ness was tripping up on his own words. He couldn't explain his sudden absence of human decency. It was just there.
Paula filled the silence. "You seem to be at a loss for words right now. So I'll tell you what I know. My whole life before last summer, I've been hounded by the press. It's better these days, but pretty much the only privacy I could get back then was the bathroom. Now I could've ended all of that if I just stopped getting kittens out of trees, or healing little kids who became hit-and-run victims. But I hold myself in higher moral regard than most other people. And last summer, I thought that the only person that beat me in morality was you." She paused to catch her breath.
"Paula, understand something. All I want to do right now is settle down, be with my girlfriend, get a life-not be a-"
"You don't want to finish that sentence!" Paula screamed. Ness heard a hard CLICK on the other end.
Ness swore to himself. He replayed the conversation in his mind. Why was he acting like such a jerk? Last summer he was in it for the greater good. How is it that he's suddenly acting this way?
He went over this question several times. He went over it while he studied for his math test. He went over it while he ate his steak dinner. He went over it while watching "Fourside Public." He went over and over it until sleep would not allow him to go over it any more.
*********
"What are you listening to, Jeff?"
Jeff Andonuts pulled off his headphones and looked at Tony Matheson. Their plane had just left Winters, and was set to arrive at Fourside International Airport in two hours. In the meantime, Jeff's plan was to take the laptop that Eagleland Airways's business class supplied, and work on his thesis for Snow Wood Boarding School. When the thing was finished, Jeff's victory would be bittersweet-happy that it was done, but angered by the fact that he would have to write three more of these things.
That was the plan, anyway. Jeff had the disk containing his work in the laptop, but he eventually got lazy with the paper and just popped in the David Holmes CD that he bought with him. "I'm listening to a very interesting artist," said Jeff, "David Holmes."
"I never heard of him."
"He does movie scores these days, but he's an excellent techno musician."
"Really? The CD is good?"
"Yes, it's called 'Come Get It I Got It.' I'm listening to it right now. It's old, but it's certainly fun."
"I'll have to borrow it from you one day."
"As soon as we land, it's yours." Jeff turned back to the computer screen. Something fascinating about watching a timer count how long a song was running, second by second.
"Hey, Jeff?" Tony broke his concentration, but it wasn't anything Jeff got too worked up over.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"What happens when we land?"
"Well, first, we check into the airport hotel. We'll spend the night there, then we'll go into the city for some breakfast."
"Why don't we eat at the airport hotel?"
"Because it's an airport hotel. Anyway, we'll have our breakfast, and we'll catch a bus to Onett. From there, I'll talk to a friend of mine, Ness. You've met him."
"Yes, during the Stonehenge incident. What does he have to do with your paper?"
"Trust me," said Jeff, "He knows a lot about meteor rocks."
*********
Tuesday was sunnier. The sky was clear, boasting its brightest blue. Ness took his trigonometry test, but he figured that he failed it. He had studied well for it, but what Paula had said to him cut his concentration like a knife. He always thought he was a noble person, glad to help out anyone no matter what the cost. However, the words that came out of his mouth yesterday surprised even him. He wanted to save the universe. But would the cost of taking on such a responsibility prove to be too much for him? He wanted to choose world peace over his own personal life, yet he still felt that he valued his personal life more.
Ness walked home, feeling guilty over what he did to Paula, over letting down six billion people, although only three of them would have to know what he had done. He felt a little better when he saw two people sitting on the steps leading up to his house, one of them familiar. "Well, well, well," said Ness to the familiar face, "What brings you here?"
Jeff smiled, walked over to Ness, and gave him a hug. "Hey, Ness," he said, "So great to see you." Jeff broke the hug and motioned over to Tony. "Ness," he said, "You remember Tony Matheson, do you?"
"How could I forget?" said Ness, who had completely forgotten about Tony until that minute. He shook Tony's hand and said "Nice to meet you…again. Can I get you guys anything to drink?"
"Perhaps later, Ness," said Jeff, "This isn't all about plesantries." Ness instinctivley cleared his throat. He never wanted to hear that phrase again, although he didn't voice his complaint to Jeff. Uninterruptted, Jeff continued, "We're doing a report on meteor rocks for our advanced astrology class, and I was wondering if you could lend us a hand."
"Sure," said Ness, "You need to see BALLPARK-52?"
"Precisely," said Jeff.
*********
The last student had been picked up. Paula was uncharacteristically glad for that, because she had never felt so relieved to be able to feel so depressed. She touched her fingers to her head. Her mind flashed back to that last day she talked to Ness, in person that is. They were standing there, in front of the preschool, thinking about all the adventure that was about to end. And that one thing that she wanted to tell Ness, but forgot about, but really didn't.
She didn't have the courage to tell Ness how she felt. Maybe it was the same thing Ness was going through. Maybe she'll drop by later and apologize, tell him that she understood what was going on, tell him how she-no, just the apology would do.
Paula looked outside. Across the street, a boy sat on a bench, staring into Paula's window. She smiled, her depression giving way to the joy of a familiar friend. She went downstairs and out the door, crossed the street, and sat down next to the boy on the park bench.
The boy stared at her for a few seconds before Paula, without looking, smiled and said, "Poo, you still can't get past me."
The boy spoke in an entirley recognizable Dalaamese accent. "Paula, one of these days, I will fool you."
"Well," giggled Paula, "it sure isn't today." Poo smiled, his Mirror ability still in effect, stood up, and gave Paula a hug.
"I missed you, old friend," said Poo.
"What are you doing here?" said Paula.
Poo broke the friendly embrace, and took his seat back, as did Paula. "Well," he said, "I have come to study abroad." Poo's eyes strayed to two brunettes talking and giggling amongst themselves as they walked down the street.
"Indeed," said Paula. She knew those brunettes, and she leaned over to Poo and told him exactly what she knew.
Poo felt sick from information overload. "That is the most disgraceful thing I've ever heard!"
"Of course it is. Come on, Poo, if you wanted to find quality women, why didn't you study in Summers?"
"You are quality enough, my dear friend," replied Poo. Paula let loose a girlish giggle before she saw the expression on Poo's face change to a seriousness that was usually reserved for talking about his culture. "I fear, however," he said, "that I am not just here to find a mate."
Paula would have read Poo's mind, but she didn't need to. "You know about Ness' visit with…that bee guy. Did you catch his name when he told you about it?"
"Actually, I do not know of this 'bee guy' you speak of. I do know, however, that our obligation as the Chosen Four is not yet fulfilled."
"Ness told me all about it. He's not sure that he wants to go, though."
"Ah," said Poo, "He is scared."
"More of change than his life, I think."
"Yes, this is a big responsibility. Are you not angry at him?"
Paula sighed. "I was, but…I'm sort of in a similar situation."
"You are scared as well?"
"Yeah, but not of this. I want to do this…it's just…something else that I couldn't really explain to myself…"
Poo looked into Paula's eyes. "You have feelings for him."
*********
Seton Hill hadn't changed since last summer. The meteorite there, which Onett's sole astronomer called "BALLPARK-52" because "it sounded pretty cool," had changed, of course, but that was because it had cooled down until it was just another hunk of rock. The mayor left it there, a sign of Onett's "strength and integrity." Of course, this meant absolutley nothing, but that was just a sign that the mayor hadn't changed, either.
Ness, Jeff, and Tony journeyed to the top of Seton Hill and found the rock, the rock that started it all. Scientists were free to examine the meterorite as they pleased. If they wanted to take a chunk off of it, however, they would need a permit.
Of course, however Ness could explain it, it still wouldn't get through to Jeff or Tony.
"Ness, please understand," said Jeff, "In your public school system, it is your personality that counts. But in Snow Wood, your peers only care about your grades!"
"OK," said Ness, "So go apply for a permit over at city hall!"
"Are you mad?" asked Tony, "It'll take months before we can get that permit, what with all the bureaucracy-"
"Don't the greatest minds struggle with a groundbreaking thesis for years?" retorted Ness, "I mean, wouldn't Snow Wood respect that?"
"Ness," replied Jeff, putting an arm around Ness' shoulder, "We're Snow Wood students. We're supposed to make John Nash look like Russell Crowe."
"Didn't Russell Crowe portray John Nash in A Beautiful Mind?" asked Ness, half-sarcastically.
Jeff paused before saying, "Up yours." He took his arm away from Ness' shoulder and walked away from him.
"Well, doesn't that technically mean that Russell Crowe already looks like John Nash?" called out Ness.
"Up yours!" Jeff repeated.
"HEY! What are you kids doing up here?"
Ness, Jeff, and Tony turned around to find three uniformed Onett officers coming up behind them. They were wearing mirrored sunglasses, the kind that was supposed to intimidate you as you were being interrogated. "You have no right to be here!"
"This is a park area," said Jeff, "We have every right-"
The cops weren't impressed, so Ness stopped Jeff and motioned that he would take over. He walked up to the cops and said "Hey, how you doin'? My name's Ness Franklin."
The lead cop took off his sunglasses. "So what's yer point?"
Ness couldn't make that point. He couldn't make it because something suddenly didn't feel right.
He saw it in the eyes. The eyes of the lead cop had a strange red glint to them that he couldn't explain. Looking at that glint made him uneasy, as if he was facing the devil himself. "I'm talkin' to you, boy! What's yer point?"
Ness decided to speak. If he didn't talk soon, he sensed, a fight would have broken out. "Er, no," he said, "No point, I, uh, just wanted to introduce myself." He held out his hand as if he wanted to shake hands with the officer.
"Get that outta here, son, and go run home to your family. That goes for the rest of ya!"
Ness turned to Jeff and Tony. "Let's get out of here, we don't need a fight right now."
"Ness," said Jeff, "didn't you beat the Onett-"
"-Hammers in a baseball game," said Ness, turning back to the officers to save face, "You know, it was this little bet between me and my friends and the guys who play on that team, we made it last summer, and man, we wiped the floor with those guys. But, you know, that year's team sucked, I'm sure if I were to play them again, we'd have a much tighter game-"
"Git!" screamed the lead officer.
"Let's bounce, guys." Ness started down Seton Hill, followed by Tony.
Jeff wouldn't leave until he said "Four-zero-zero-two. Your badge number. I promise that you'll be hearing from your captain-"
"Jeff, step off!"
"Bye, then." Jeff finally followed Ness and Tony. "What was that about?" said Jeff, as soon as the cops were out of earshot.
"I don't know, Jeff," said Ness, "But there was something about those cops that I didn't like."
"So?"
"Didn't like, as in, something told me I didn't want to mess around with those guys."
When Ness, Jeff, and Tony made it to Ness' house, Jeff immediatley jogged to the porch to greet Paula, standing there as if she was waiting for someone. They embraced as Jeff said "Of all the people I expected, you were near the bottom of the list!"
"Same here, Jeff," said Paula, embracing him back. Jeff reintroduced her to Tony, and after they shook hands, Paula said, "Listen, I need to talk to Ness. Would you excuse us?"
"Uhm, sure, of course."
Ness rolled his eyes, wondering what else she could possibly have to say. He walked up to Jeff and gave him $70. "That should cover a night for you two at the hotel."
"Thanks," said Jeff, "You were carrying this much cash?"
"I was planning to go to the movies tonight with Michelle. You know, movies are just absurdly expensive here."
"…Michelle?"
"My girlfriend."
"Oh, yeah, I remember you telling me about her. Have a good time."
"Sure." Jeff and Tony said their goodbyes and took off, leaving Ness and Paula alone.
They just stood there for a while, each one thinking about what they would say and when they would say it. Finally, Paula said, "We need to talk."
"I didn't even say anything yet!"
"Ness, don't be a jerk, OK? I wasn't going to come down on you!"
"I get it, it's one of those insults-cleverly-disguised-as-a-compliment. Fire away, then."
"When did you become so impossible?"
"Ever since Buzz Buzz came back! I did my job, Paula, we did our jobs, and now all I want is a normal life! But he comes back, and suddenly, my world is turned upside down FOREVER!"
"All right," said Paula, "You're scared! I know the feeling, Ness, believe me, I do, and that's why I'm here! I acted like a jerk over the phone, OK? I got too self-righteous for my own good and I'm sorry!
"Look, the truth is, if you don't want to do this, I can't make you. Nobody can. But it's also the truth that without you, we're doomed. Please, Ness, let's do this."
Ness let go of a slow breath that smoked in the cold December air. He closed his eyes for not more than a second, and opened them again. "I want to be the good guy, Paula. I so do. But I don't know if I can."
"Maybe you shouldn't think about this right now," said Paula, "You said you were going to the movies with Michelle?"
"Yeah, I am."
"Go catch that movie," said Paula, "Forget about this for a while, OK?"
Ness sighed. "Yeah, I will." He turned to walk away, then turned again. "I gotta stop at the ATM first before I grab my bike and pick up Michelle. You wanna come with?"
"Really?"
"Yeah, I mean, other than our fight, it's really great to really see you."
Paula's smile became wide, very wide. "It's good to see you too," she said.
*********
It was just like the adventure, without the pressure of having to save the world...well, sort of. Ness and Paula walked to the drug store, chatting it up about everything under the sun. Paula loved it, and she got the sense that Ness enjoyed it, too, although not as much as she would have liked. But it was OK. Michelle was OK-heck, she introduced him to her in the first place. All she cared about was that they cared about each other enough to be together, and if the care should only add up to friendship, at least she had-
"WELCOME TO THE PARTY, KIDS! ON THE FLOOR, NOW!"
Every thought that ran through Ness and Paula's mind had to do with the two people that held black guns and wore black clothes. The two people that noticed Ness and Paula the second they walked into the drugstore. The two people whose faces were hidden by rubber masks in the likenesses of Bill Clinton and George Bush.
Ness noticed another thing about the two people. Their guns were police issue. He felt Paula nudge him as they sank to the floor. "Ness," she said, "This isn't going to end well for me."
"What?"
"Look, I need to tell you-"
"SHUT YER DAMN TRAPS RIGHT NOW!" Bill Clinton marched over to Ness and Paula and pointed his gun directly into their faces. Ness recognized the accent. It was the cop on Seton Hill. He even got that same uneasy feeling around him. What clinched it for him was the red glint that he could see through the eyeholes of the mask.
If it wasn't going to end well for Paula if things kept up like this, then he had to do something unexpected. Something completely stupid, yet completely smart…
When Bill Clinton turned away, he said "It's OK, man, it's OK, I'm just here to play the Eagleland Win 4." He stood up and attracted both Bill and George's attentions. They pointed their guns at him. "Hey, look, I'm just gonna give my man the numbers, then I'll be off, OK?"
"HIT THE FLOOR OR HIT THE GRAVE, PUNK!" screamed George.
"Look, Mr...what's your name?" asked Ness.
Bill pointed his gun at the clerk while George kept his gun on Ness. "Answer that and you're a dead man!" The clerk nodded.
"It's all right, just memorize these numbers, I'll pick up the ticket in half an hour."
"SHUT UP!"
"My numbers are four-zero-zero-two! My favorite cop's badge number!"
Bill glared at him. "Are you completely retarded?"
"Do I have your attention now, Deputy Dumbass?"
"SMOKE THIS GUY!"
Paula jumped up and screamed "No!"
"Paula, get back down," said Ness, as Bill pointed a gun at Paula and George started for Ness, "it'll be cool, OK? Promise." Paula laid back onto the floor, hands above her head.
Ness was pushed onto his knees in front of Paula. He felt the muzzle of George's gun against his temple. "Anything you want to say to your girlfriend before you go?" said George.
"She's not my girlfriend, but there is something I want to say to you."
"Yeah?" laughed George, "What's that?"
Ness smiled. "You don't want to do this."
"Why not?" mocked George, "I'll live to regret it?"
"Who said you were going to live?" Ness suddenly grabbed the muzzle of the gun and sent a surge of PSI Rockin' through his arm. The gun exploded in their hands, and George was thrown backward into the wall.
Bill cocked his gun, but Paula sprang up and put her hands on the muzzle, too. The gun frosted over, and so did Bill's hands. Bill swung his arms, hitting Paula on the temple. She fell to the floor, still concious, still ready to put up a fight.
Meanwhile, George was starting to recover from the recoil of the gun explosion. Ness remembered something his teacher said about the Gulf War, about how psycholgical warfare would be used to intimidate the enemy. Ness thought it might be a good idea. He opened his hand to George, showing the skin of his palm torn apart by the blast. He used PSI Healing, and let George watch the wounds magically heal themselves as he marched toward him. Ness couldn't see the expression on George's face, but he was quivering and that was all Ness needed to know. When he was close enough, Ness closed his hand to make a fist, and knocked George back to the floor with a heavy overhand right. He didn't move after that one, and Ness assumed that he fainted.
He looked over at Bill and Paula a few feet away. Bill made an attempt to kick Paula while she was down, but Paula grabbed the foot and pulled Bill to the ground. Paula stood up, rolled Bill onto his stomach, grabbed the strand of rubber that held the mask to his face, pulled it, and snapped it back onto his skull. Bill howled in pain, but got back on his knees and knocked Paula to her back.
"Bat!" commanded Ness. The drugstore owner threw Ness a cracked bat, and he broke it over Bill's back. He went back to the ground again.
"Ness," said Paula, "These guys are done."
"OK," said Ness, "let's throw 'em away." Ness grabbed George by the ear and led him to the door. Paula did the same to Bill. They opened the drugstore doors to find a single squad car to give the two assailants to.
The cop standing near the squad car jumped and grabbed his radio. "This is Parker! Get the SWAT team, get the helicopter, get ever cop car within the city limits to the Onett Pharamacy! It's HIM!"
Paula looked at Ness. "Relax, guy," said Ness, "I'm not gonna hurt anybody. It was those guys that we threw to the ground."
"Oh," said Parker, "Er, I knew that." Parker grabbed his radio and recinded his request. It was ten-foured.
"What are you guys talking about?" asked Paula
Ness looked at Paula and said "I'll explain later."
*********
Bill and George, whose real names were, respectivley, John Bayris and Mitchell Swackheimer, were taken into custody. As John was being led into the back of a squad car, Ness looked at John's eyes and found that the red glint had disappeared from his eyes.
This had not been a normal week thus far.
Paula came up to Ness and asked if he was all right.
"Yeah," said Ness, "I just remembered seeing a red glint in one of the eyes of the bad guys."
"Really?"
"Yeah, that's how I knew who those guys were. They went after me on Seton Hill earlier that afternoon. Actually, it was right before I met up with you."
"Odd…did Jeff see it?"
"That's a good question."
Ness' dad gave Ness a full functioning cell phone when he got back from his adventure, and took his old reciever phone away. He never had to use it for an outgoing call, but today would be a good day to test it out. He dialed 411, and asked to be connected to the Onett Hotel. When he got the conciarge on the phone, he said "Good evening, sir, is there a Jeff Andonuts or Tony Matheson staying at your hotel?"
"Hold on, sir." He heard some classical music, which was pleasing for a while, but he eventually had to imagine Five Iron Frenzy playing it in order to keep his cool. After waiting for three minutes, the conciarge picked back up. "Sir? There is a Jeff Andonuts staying here."
"Thanks, could you connect me to him please?"
"Certainly."
More waiting, another imaginary concert by Five Iron Frenzy. Finally, "Jeff Andonuts here."
"Jeff, it's Ness."
"Ness, how are you? Is everything all right?"
"I don't know. That cop we dealt with earlier?"
"Yes?"
"You don't have to worry about filing a report. He was just arrested for armed robbery."
"What?"
"Yeah, he and his partner held up the drugstore I was in at the time."
"Wha--? I don't understand! Why would a cop knock over a drugstore, of all places?"
"I don't get it either, but maybe you can help. Did you see a red glint in his eye when you confronted him?"
"A red glint? That's imposs…rather, I'm afraid not."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive, his eyes looked normal. Perhaps you were seeing things?"
"No, Jeff, I'm positive too. That's a problem. Look, I'll talk to you tomorrow, maybe I can sort this out…" Suddenly, Ness realized that it didn't have to be sorted out. There was already someone with all the answers.
"OK, Ness, I guess I'll see you then…Ness? Ness?"
"Yeah, I'm here. Listen, scratch that, and meet me at the front desk of the hotel in about five minutes."
"Why?"
"I'll explain there. Just get dressed and meet me at the front. Leave Tony, this has nothing to do with him."
"Is this a Chosen Four thing?"
"Yeah, it is."
"Maybe I should go back and get my gun."
"One thing at a time, Jeff, don't get excited."
"Then I'll see you at the front desk in about five minutes." Jeff hung up and so did Ness.
Ness turned to Paula and said "Call Poo. He needs to meet us here pronto."
"Is this considered 'pronto?'" said a voice behind Ness. He spun around and found Poo, ready for action.
"Poo!" said Ness. He gave Poo a brotherly hug. "It's great to see you again."
"As it is to see you, Ness," said Poo, "Where are we going?"
"To the hotel. There's a guy there that may be able to give us a hand with whatever the hell's going on here. Jeff's already there, so we'll meet up with him."
"OK," said Poo. He, Ness, and Paula walked to the hotel.
"So," said Paula, on the way to the hotel, "You already made a decision as to what you're gonna do?"
"Just like I said to Jeff," replied Ness, "One thing at a time. I need to know what's going on. From there, we'll see."
"When are you supposed to meet Michelle?"
"In about an hour. I'll make it."
"That's good."
They came to the front of the hotel. Ness looked at Paula, who looked at him back. He turned to Poo, who continued to stare at the hotel doors. He took a heavy breath. "All we're looking for is answers," said Ness, "We're not committing to anything yet." He took another look at Paula and Poo, with their determined faces, and dedided to correct himself. "I'm not committing to anything yet."
"Ness," said Paula, "Once you hear what this guy has to say, you may not want to turn back."
"I never wanted to turn back. All I want is courage. If I can't turn away, I'll be very happy."
"Well then," said Poo, "Let us hope that we may find some courage inside."
They walked into the hotel.