Legal Disclaimer: Earthbound/Mother is copyright Nintendo. I do not own it, Nintendo does. It and all of its characters in the games were created by Shigesato Itoi. Also, any and all Nintendo characters from other franchises that appear in this story are copyright Nintendo and their respective creators.

Earthbound 3/Mother 4 Epilogue

Chapter 1

Ness and his friends took a few moments to gather their thoughts before looking at the strange, yet familiar, scene in front of them. They were standing in what appeared to be the town square of a rural town not dissimilar to Onett. People were busy coming and going from place to place. Even the clothing resembled the style of dress people wore in the late twentieth to early twenty-first century. The only exceptions to this were the strange looking men wearing uniforms and masks that made them look like pigs standing in front of what looked to be a recruitment center for the army. Ness and friends could also hear the people around them arguing, partying, and even haggling over prices in outdoor markets. There were also people laughing and also seemingly telling jokes. However, this was not Onett. Something was different, much different. Something was wrong. Ness had thought that the teleporter that Light Giygas had told them about would send them back to Onett. Apparently he had thought wrong. From the looks on his friends' faces, they were just as surprised as he was. Jeff quickly holstered his Gaia Beam pistol and removed his Counter PSI Helmet and put it in his backpack so he would blend in better with a crowd.

"Where are we?" asked Poo.

"I don't know," replied Jeff, "but I don't think this is Onett. The layout is all wrong."

"Something's not right here," Paula warned. She began to look around the town, focusing on things both near and far. Her eyes began to glow a soft blue, a telltale sign of her using her more passive telepathic abilities. "I'm sensing something."

"What is it," Poo asked.

"I don't know exactly," Paula answered, her eyes returning to normal. But there was still a hint of wariness in her voice. "It's like nothing I've ever sensed before. But something is definitely wrong here. And I don't think it's only with the scenery."

"It's the people," Ness said, in a way that made it sound more like an observation than an inquiry. "Isn't it?"

"Yes," Paula responded. "What made you think that?"

"Just the fact that we've just gone through the adventure of our lives and it ended so quickly without us finding out anything about the fates of our families yet." Ness then changed the subject. "Anyway, we can't just stand here looking around town. We have to find out where we are, and what the situation is. We should at least look for a map of the town then split up into groups of two and find out what we can from the local population or any libraries that may be around here." Ness checked his watch for the time. It read 9:00 A.M. "We'll meet back in the town square at three o'clock, our time, okay? If you find anything interesting, give us a call. We'll do the same."

There were no objections. That would give them six hours to find out all they could before they would have to check in. That should be plenty of time for them to get the lay of the town and to find out what they were looking for.

The groups soon formed: Ness and Poo formed one team and would ask around the town for any information on where they were and what, if anything, was going on, while Jeff and Paula, both being highly educated for their age, would look for a library so they could find out any history that may have been going on in this town.

Ness and Poo quickly went throughout the town, asking anyone they met about where they were and what had happened. The residents were friendly enough being willing to talk to them and all, that is everyone except for the people wearing those ridiculous pig uniforms, but they got surprisingly little information out of them. Aside from learning that the town they were in was called Tazmily Village, and that a local vendor named Mapson sold maps of the village and the surrounding area, they had surprisingly little information. Ness attributed it to the probability that the villagers were wary of outsiders, and it was likely that everyone in the village knew everyone else. They also probably noticed that Poo was wearing his standard gi over his normal clothing, an article of clothing that appeared to be completely alien to the villagers, and that both kids were armed, Ness with a strong baseball bat, and Poo with a katana strapped to his back. Despite the fact that they were both very polite and showed no hostile intentions, they were still likely viewed with a bit of wariness.

The two children continued to search the village until they saw a vendor. He appeared to be middle aged with brown hair, wearing what looked to be a business casual uniform. They approached the vendor and looked at the merchandise. It primarily consisted of maps. There were large maps and small maps. The vendor looked the children in the eye and smiled. He said, "Hi there, my name's Mapson. What map can I interest you two in?"

Poo looked up at the man and responded, "What maps do you have?"

"Well young sir, I have maps of just about everything from Tazmily Village, to the Sunshine Forest, to even New Pork City itself."

"New Pork City?" Ness asked.

"What?" Mapson replied in surprise, "You haven't heard of New Pork City?"

They both shook their head.

"Well, New Pork City is only the largest city in the Nowhere Islands."

Both Ness and Poo exchanged glances. So the name of the country they were in was the Nowhere Islands. That meant that they were on an island-based country of some sort. By the name of it, it sounded like it was a hidden country much like Dalaam, Poo's homeland.

"So, do you still want those maps?" Mapson asked, hoping that since the kids were from out of town they would be more amenable to buying one or more of his maps. "The single village maps cost only fifty Dragon Power. The ones of the whole of the Nowhere Islands cost one hundred."

"Dragon Power," Poo inquired, "Is that the currency of the Nowhere Islands?"

"It sure is," Mapson replied cheerfully.

"Is it anything like dollars?"

"What are dollars?" Mapson asked curiously.

Poo put his hand into his pocket and fished out a twenty-dollar bill. He showed it to Mapson. Mapson took the bill and examined it closely. He then focused on the face of Andrew Jackson on the front of the twenty-dollar bill. He frowned and said, "I'm sorry but paper like that isn't accepted as money here. This isn't King P's face."

"Who's King P?" asked Ness.

"King P is the ruler of the Nowhere Islands. He rules from New Pork City. He's the one who introduced us to things like money and profit and who also brought such wondrous technology to the Nowhere Islands three years ago."

That little tidbit of information seemed to spark Ness and Poo's interest. "What were the Nowhere Islands like before King P came and changed everything?" Poo asked.

"It was…different," said Mapson. His pause and tone indicating that he did not know whether it was better or worse. "We didn't have any technology at all. Or rather, it wasn't like any of the technology we have right now. It was more agricultural. It was a simpler life, but not necessarily better," he added quickly. "Why are you interested in it? You probably know just as much as I do about the way things were around here." Then a look of realization crossed Mapson's face. "Then again, maybe not." His eyes focused on the two children standing before him. "Why don't I know you? You're not Pigmasks, so the only other people here would be from Tazmily. Unless, of course, you're off duty."

"Who are the Pigmasks," asked Ness. He had a feeling he knew the answer, though.

"The Pigmasks are the army of King P. They are the guys, I think they're guys, who wear those funny uniforms with the masks that make their heads look like a pig's head. They're pretty powerful. I think that they're taking recruits if you're interested."

It was obvious by the almost scowls of Ness and Poo that they were not interested. Poo then turned his attention back to his twenty dollar bill that Mapson was still holding. "Is there an exchange where we can exchange our money for Dragon Power?"

"No, not really," replied Mapson. "However, if you've got any items you want to sell, you can go to Thomas's Shop and sell them for some Dragon Power."

"Thanks," replied Poo earnestly. "Do you know where Thomas's Shop is?"

"Sure. It's a few blocks north of here. Turn right and go down a block or so. You'll find a shop with a sign out in front of it. That's the place you want."

Poo bowed and again thanked Mapson. Ness simply nodded and thanked Mapson and then they went to find Thomas's shop. They barely heard Mapson call after them, "Hey, when you get some money, don't forget to come back for some maps. I have more than just maps to Tazmilly Village."

Following Mapson's directions, they found the shop in no time. They entered and they saw the proprietor of the shop standing behind what appeared to be a cash register but looked just different enough for them to wonder what it really was.

"Welcome to Thomas's Shop," the proprietor said in greeting, maintaining a businessman's smile. "My name is Thomas. Whatever you're looking for, I've got. Need clothing or other items? I got 'em. Is there anything I can help you find?"

Ness and Poo approached the cash register. Poo responded, "Actually, no. We came here to sell some things. Do you accept other people's items?"

"Sure," replied Thomas. "If you got somethin' to sell, I'll take it off your hands for a fair price."

Both Ness and Poo fished through their pockets and packs and looked for any unneeded items in their inventory that they hadn't gotten rid of to stock up on weapons before fighting Giegue, and the dark remnant of Giygas. Ness found an old Meteotite stone and a Meteornium. Poo found a Diamond Band. They handed the items to Thomas and his eyes went wide. "By the Dragon, how did you two find such exquisite stones and bands? This is worth a small fortune!"

Thomas then ducked down and opened a drawer and got two cards out of it. He returned handed each of them a card. He then explained, "This card keeps track of your Dragon Power. You'll notice that right now, you have none. That'll change when we make our exchange."

The two kids then handed the items to Thomas, and he then rang up the exchange. They handed him their cards and after the exchange was made, they noticed that numbers appeared on their cards. Ness now had three thousand Dragon Power, and Poo, five thousand.

"Keep those cards close to you," Thomas instructed. "They are the only way to show that you have Dragon Power. Also, you may earn Dragon Power from working places, from defeated enemies, etcetera. However, it will go into an account that you can access through the use of a special kind of frog called a Save Frog."

Both Ness and Poo exchanged puzzled glances. "Save Frogs?"

"Yeah, I don't know how they got that name, or how they really came to be, but they're how people can keep track of their records and deposit and withdraw Dragon Power."

Frogs as ATM's? Ness wondered. He didn't know what to make of this revelation. It was Poo who spoke next. "Thomas, I was wondering, what do you know about the history of these islands?"

"What," Thomas asked in a surprised tone of voice. He was not expecting someone to ask about that. He then began to think about what Poo asked. After a few moments, he replied, "I don't rightly know. Until three years ago when the Pigmasks came, there was nothing really important going on. Now that you mention it, there isn't much information about these islands at all besides the legend of the Dark Dragon. And even that is believed to be merely a legend, and not a reality."

"What does the legend say?"

"It says that long ago, there was a dragon that was so powerful it had to be sealed. How it was sealed, I don't know, it just was. Well, after the dragon was sealed, all was quiet until people began to arrive. When this was, I don't know, but I can't remember anything from beyond eighteen years ago or so. The thing is, though, I never thought of this until now." A look of concern crossed Thomas's face. "And now that I think about, the more questions are beginning to come to mind. Why can't I remember anything before eighteen years ago?"

This was interesting, and a little disturbing as well. Ness and Poo didn't need to speak. They knew what they would have to do. They would have to solve this mystery. They were only hoping that this mystery would help them find out how to get home. They thanked Thomas and left the store and retraced their steps back to Mapson. When they arrived, Poo presented Mapson with his card. Mapson grinned. "Well, it looks like you kids have managed to make a fair bit of dough while you were gone. Is there anything I can sell you?"

Poo indicated that he wanted a map for Tazmily Village, New Pork City, and an overall map for the Nowhere Islands. It was quickly decided that Poo would pay for the maps since he had more Dragon Power than Ness. Poo paid for the maps and they soon left. They could hear Mapson call, "Thanks, come again," after them as they left. Ness looked at his watch. It was still just eleven o'clock. They had a lot of time to kill before they would meet with Jeff and Paula. They soon decided to explore the rest of the town, making doubly sure to take note of any Pigmask soldiers, and to make sure that they were not followed by anyone.

Meanwhile, Jeff and Paula were exploring the town searching for any clue as to where the library was, if there was one, and as to any history of the town of Tazmily Village. After an hour of searching with little success, they had decided to take a rest before continuing. They had managed to find a bench near an old building that was built out of wood. They sat back and reclined, Paula giving an audible sigh. They were surprised at how little the townspeople knew about their own history, and even more surprised at the fact that they did not know where the library was, or they didn't care.

"Well that was less than successful," Jeff stated flatly as he reclined with his hands behind his head.

"I wouldn't worry too much," Paula responded. "We still have a lot of time before we have to meet back with Ness." She pulled out her cell phone from her pocket. She activated it to see if there were any calls. There were none. She put the cell phone back in her pocket. After a few minutes, she got up and glanced down at Jeff. "Well, we've spent enough time resting. It's time for us to get moving. We have to find a library, or something, anything that can help us find out where we are, and maybe even when we are."

Jeff slowly rose from the bench and almost groaned. "I don't think that a few more minutes would make much of a difference. It's only what, ten o'clock? We can rest a bit more. After all, we just got through the biggest battle of our lives. I wouldn't mind resting before we go searching for more information."

Paula shrugged and grabbed his wrist. "Come on," she said exasperatedly, "let's get a move on. We have to find out something. Personally, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. If you ask me, it's more like the Land of Oz only with people."

Jeff couldn't argue with her. Despite the modern setting, this wasn't any city Jeff was familiar with. He then rose and the two then continued their unguided tour of Tazmily Village. After a while, they went north away from the center of town, and more towards the more rural outskirts. There they found a small house made out of wood, rather than glass, iron, or brick. It appeared to be unoccupied from the outside. Just as they approached the house, a bolt of lightning struck the house. Instantly, a loud clap of thunder sounded and both Jeff and Paula jumped at the sound. Paula reflexively covered her ears and closed her eyes. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and looked at the house. The house seemed to have suffered minimal external damage, but there was no telling how much internal damage the house had sustained. Even though there was no fire, the internal electrical wiring could have been burned out by the bolt. Paula turned to Jeff. "Did you see that?" she asked almost still in shock.

"Yeah," replied Jeff, who was still reeling from the loud thunderclap. He then gathered himself and then something came to him. He glanced around thoughtfully for a moment and then said, "That was not a natural occurrence."

At first, Paula didn't understand what he meant. He then peered up at the sky, and Paula did the same. There was not a single cloud in the sky. The sun was shining brightly down on them.

"You're right," Paula said, "This wasn't natural lightning."

"Was it psychic?" Jeff asked, turning towards Paula.

"No," Paula responded, shaking her head. "This wasn't a psychic attack. I didn't sense any psychic energy in the area."

Just then, they heard a male voice from not too far away. "That's the price for not getting a Happy Box," it said in a malevolently satisfied tone. "I just hope the old fool who lives here either gets one soon or we're allowed to take matters into our own hands. I don't think it's a good idea for the Thunder Tower to be wastin' energy on him. Besides, he's been actin' suspiciously and one of his kids is interfering with our plans. Maybe he'd be less inclined to go against us if his dear old dad were to be held in front of him with a gun to his head."

Jeff and Paula quickly followed the source of the voice down the street and around the corner to a man wearing a light blue uniform reminiscent of the Pigmask uniforms worn by the men in the town square. He quickly noticed the two children approaching him and laughed haughtily. "Did you like that? That man didn't buy a Happy Box, and look what happened! It must be an omen."

Jeff grunted. "An omen? That was not normal lightning. First of all, there isn't a cloud in the sky. Besides, we heard your speech about what you plan to do to this man if he doesn't get one of these 'Happy Boxes'. It's disgusting!" Jeff almost yelled that last phrase.

The Pigmask drew out a pistol that looked more like an old science fiction ray gun from Flash Gordon than a real energy weapon. He then leveled it at the two young teenagers approaching him. "I'm a Pigmask Captain." He chuckled a bit and continued, "But more importantly, I'm armed and you're not."

Jeff's lips twisted into a grin. He then reached into his jacket and drew out an energy pistol of his own, just as B-grade sci-fi looking as the Pigmask Captain's. The difference was that Jeff's pistol was a lot more powerful than the Pigmask's, only the Pigmask did not know that. Jeff quickly flicked off the safety and took aim at the Pigmask Captain. But that wasn't the worst thing for the Pigmask. He glanced over at Paula and he saw Paula holding out her right index and middle fingers together, pointing at him. Just then multi-colored energy played across the fingertips of Paula's outstretched fingers. The Pigmask Captain stared into Paula's eyes and did not see normal human eyes, but bluish glowing portals into seemingly boundless energy. Something clicked in the Captain's head that these children were not to be messed with, and that the more dangerous one wasn't the boy with the gun, but the girl with glowing eyes and energy sparking at the ends her fingertips. He quickly holstered his pistol and raised his hands. He backed away slowly and when he was close to a corner he turned and broke into a full sprint away from the kids.

After the Pigmask Captain had left, Jeff holstered his pistol and Paula powered down. "Wow, what a jerk," Jeff commented. They then left the area and proceeded back into town. They took left and went to see more sights. They looked around town and try as they might there was no sign of any library. They were just about to return to the town square when they came across a frog. They began to walk past when they heard a voice. "Hey there kids, how ya doin'?"

Paula's eyes went wide as she looked down and saw that the voice was coming from a green frog. "Okay, this is getting to be more like Oz than anywhere else we've been," she said. Even Jeff was surprised. He got out a small towel and took off his glasses, rubbed them, and put them back on. The frog was still there.

"What's the matter kids," the frog asked. "Haven't you ever seen a talking frog before?"

"No," they responded in unison.

The frog's lips seemed to twist downward, indicating a frown. "Well I'm known as a Save Frog. You can use me to save a record of your accomplishments, or use me to deposit or withdraw Dragon Power."

"Dragon Power?"

The Save Frog then explained what Dragon Power was and handed them two blank cards. The number "30" was printed on their cards. After the Save Frog explained how to deposit and withdraw Dragon Power, he ended his summary saying, "Don't forget that there are many Save Frogs all around the Nowhere Islands. Use them to record your accomplishments and deposit and withdraw Dragon Power."

The two thanked the Save Frog and they turned to leave. "Aren't you going to kiss me?" the Save Frog jokingly called after them, particularly Paula. "I may be a handsome prince."

Paula blushed and replied, "Ah, no thank you. Not to be rude, but I somehow doubt that you're a prince. And, I already have a close friend who is a boy."

Jeff merely smiled. So it seems Paula may actually be in love with Ness. They then left the Save Frog and continued traveling throughout the town for the better part of an hour. Just as they were about to give up, they happened to come upon an old cemetery. It did not seem to hold much importance, since there was only one marked grave in the graveyard. They were about to leave when they noticed a man leaving the cemetery. He was in his late thirties to early forties, or so they thought. He wore a cowboy outfit with a brown jacket and hat. Jeff could not help feeling as if he had met this man before. With nothing left to lose, they approached the man.

"Excuse me sir," Paula said looking up at him. The man looked at her with a downcast expression. "I'm sorry sir," Paula apologized, believing that she had either offended him or interrupted him. "I didn't mean to…"

"Don't worry about it," the man said. "You didn't offend me at all. I was just thinking." He held out his hand. "My name is Flint." Paula took it and they shook. Jeff's eyes went wide with recognition. Of course, he thought, this is Flint Sanders, the pilot I fought alongside when I went to the future, three years before the War Against the PSI Aliens. He had also been instrumental in helping to bring the world together in peace in order to present a united front against the aliens after I was captured. He was also the father of twin psychic children. But what is he doing here? The two children introduced themselves and Paula then asked, "Do you happen to know where the library is, sir?"

After a few moments of thought and attempting to remember if he had seen one, he responded, "No, I don't know of any library in this town. However, I just got back so I may have missed it. I've been looking for my son, Claus, for the last three years. I haven't had any success."

Jeff and Paula felt a lot of sympathy for Flint. Jeff remembered that he had a wife named Hinawa and they had twins. But the twins were only two years old during the War Against the PSI Aliens. Paula then asked, "What does Claus look like?"

The question seemed to surprise Flint. He replied, "He has orange hair and was wearing a green and orange striped shirt with orange shorts the last time I saw him, which was when he was going to avenge the death of my wife and his mother Hinawa."

Jeff felt a pang of sympathy for the man. He had not met Hinawa, but from what he gleaned from Flint's description of her, she seemed to be a nice woman. Flint then continued, "He was going to kill the Drago that killed his mother."

Jeff and Paula didn't need to ask any questions to know what a Drago was. They were already guessing that it was some variant of a dragon. They also saw the anger and sadness in Flint's eyes. Not wishing to bother him any more, Paula said, "Good luck in your search. I'll keep you in my prayers."

"Thank you," replied Flint in a melancholy tone. "One more thing," he added. "Beware of the Pigmasks, people who wear strange uniforms with helmets that look like a pig's head. They've been causing a lot of trouble, even though they supposedly run the place. They have tried to fry my house with lightning since I won't accept one of their so-called 'Happy Boxes'. Despite their silly looks they are quite dangerous." They then pondered something for a moment. "I also think that there's something up with these Happy Boxes. Everyone except Wess seems to be accepting these Pigmasks without question despite the fact that they only appeared three years ago. Back before they arrived, things were peaceful. We had to work for our living, having to grow and raise our food, but we were happy. Despite the advances in technology, I don't know if things are any better."

Paula and Jeff smiled. "Thank you for your concern. We'll be careful," Paula said. However, Jeff wanted to get in one last word. "Actually, just so you know, Flint. Technology is only evil if it is used by for evil purposes, the same as with anything else."

Paula rolled her eyes. While Jeff had a point, she didn't want him to get into an argument with Flint over the pros and cons of technology. She grabbed hold of Jeff and smiled. "Again, I'm sorry if we inconvenienced you in any way."

Flint smiled and said, "Don't mention it." After a brief pause, Flint asked, "I know you seem new here, but I was just wondering… you haven't happened to see Claus have you?"

Paula and Jeff shook their heads sadly.

"Oh, okay," Flint responded. He then continued towards his house. Both Paula and Jeff noted that it was in the direction of the house that had been struck by lightning. When he was gone, they hung their heads. "So it seems as if there isn't a library here," Jeff mused.

"Perhaps," Paula commented. "But we did learn some valuable bits of information. And we know to be wary of those Pigmasks. Something tells me that they are doing more than just giving out technology and introducing money to Tazmily Village."

"Yeah, but we still don't know their history," Jeff said. "It doesn't make any sense. It seems as if there is nothing from beyond eighteen years ago or so."

"Maybe there isn't," Paula said thoughtfully.

"If that's the case," Jeff said alarmed, "then this could be a lot worse than we thought. If there's no history from before eighteen years ago, we could be looking at a civilization that has universal amnesia. That would not be a good thing for anybody."

"We should probably call Ness and Poo and tell them what we learned." Paula got out her cell phone and activated it. She checked to see if she was getting a signal. There were no bars, indicating that there was no signal. Jeff turned his phone on and he got the same result.

"It looks as if there aren't any cell towers," Paula concluded.

"Either that or they are inactive," Jeff replied. "Either way, these cell phones do still have some range even without cell towers."

Paula dialed Ness's number. There was nothing but static. She put her cell phone away and said, "Well, it looks like these things aren't going to be much use."

"Yeah," Jeff said quietly.

"I guess we should go back into town."

She got no argument from Jeff. Soon, the two headed back towards the town square. After they arrived, it was not long before Ness and Poo arrived as well. Paula and Jeff rushed over to the two and began to tell them about their findings. After they had finished explaining what went on, the four of them went over to a bench to sit down. Ness and Poo then told Jeff and Paula about what they had learned, particularly about the legend of the Dark Dragon.

"Have you sensed anything strange here?" Ness asked Paula after a few moments.

"No," replied Paula. "I haven't sensed anything out of the ordinary with regards to anything magical or psychic." She then added, "However, if there were other psychics around here, there is a possibility that they would be able to shield themselves from being detected, especially if they were more powerful than I was."

"Which is not all that unlikely," Jeff added. "No offense, but the likelihood of there being stronger psychics than you guys is not small at all if this is some post-apocalyptic remnant of the world that we're living in."

"We're still assuming we're on Earth," Poo said.

"That's true," Jeff conceded. "Our cell phones don't work, though that's likely due to the fact that there aren't any cell towers around."

After a few minutes the group decided to take a look at the maps that Ness and Poo had purchased from Mapson. The noted that there were several forests surrounding Tazmily Village and there seemed to be a few factories near these forests. The one thing they did notice was the large city in the north part of the Nowhere Islands marked New Pork City. They also noticed that there were a few other areas of note such as Tanetane Island and Castle Osohe. However, they knew one thing. They would not find out much more if they didn't explore the rest of the Nowhere Islands.

They four then rose and went to follow the map to the Cross Road Station. Just as they were leaving for the station, they happened to walk past the building they believed to be the Pigmask recruitment center. They could hear voices coming from the building.

"What, the Thunder Tower still isn't back up to full power?" one voice complained.

"Apparently not," said another.

"Damn, why are they dragging their butts around on this? If we don't keep striking the houses of people who don't have Happy Boxes, people will begin to think that that is an omen. We've already suffered some setbacks from a group of two kids, a young man, and a dog. We've gotta get that thing back up and running otherwise, King P's gonna be mad!"

"I know," the second voice agreed. "I agree with everything you're sayin'. And to make matters worse, there seem to be two more kids on the loose. One of 'em's armed with weapons like ours, and another's a certifiable psychic."

"Another psychic? Man, why doesn't the Masked Man or Fassad show up to take care of these guys?"

The four began to listen very intently now.

"Probably because the Masked Man is the one who's needed to pull the needles," the second voice replied. "After all, we only know of the one near Osohe Castle. He's probably goin' there right now to get it."

"I guess," the first voice said seemingly unconvinced. "Still, there are still issues over at the Chimera Lab. Heck, some are sayin' there's a needle near there, too."

"Who, that whacked out scientist King P got a hold of? He's not exactly a trustworthy source, don'tcha think? He's been draggin' his butt in his efforts to make human/animal chimera. The only reason King P keeps him and the Mr. Saturns around is because of their technical know how." the second voice said, surprised at what his friend was saying.

"You're probably right," the first voice conceded.

With that, the conversation ended. Ness and the others had heard all that they needed to know. Apparently these Pigmasks were less than friendly and they were experimenting on humans. They hurried to a bench out of earshot of the Pigmask recruiting center. Ness was the first to speak. "You all heard that, didn't you?"

"Yeah," they each responded in unison, nodding.

"It's even worse than I thought it was," Paula said.

Jeff then said, "I know that we don't know the whole story, but I have a bad feeling about these human/chimera hybrids."

"I'm more concerned with these needles that they were talking about," Poo chimed in.

Paula turned to Ness. "What do you think? Where should we go first?"

Ness then said, "I think the best bet would be to go to the Chimera Lab first. First of all, we'll be able to investigate these chimeras that the Pigmasks are engineering. Second, we may find out more about these needles you're concerned about." The second bit was directed at Poo, though it was obvious that Ness shared his concern. "Any objections?" he asked. When there were no objections, Ness declared, "Okay, so it's decided. We're going to go to the Chimera Lab to see what we can find there. Any objections?" There were no objections. And with that, the group rose from the bench headed towards the Cross Road Station.

When they arrived, they saw a bright green train on station. The conductor was accepting tickets for the train. There was a board that showed the locations of the train stops. A map was placed above the board to show the geographical locations of the stops. Ness noted that the Chimera Lab was near two ponds. The first stop for the train was an unnamed factory, probably owned by the Pigmasks. They noticed that none of the passengers boarding the train seemed to have any tickets. They went to the station and found a middle-aged man in a conductor's uniform standing near a terminal. Paula then went up to him and asked, "Excuse me sir, but where do you go to buy tickets for the train?"

The man responded, "There are no tickets for the train. You pay as you board. It'll be ten DP."

"Thank you," Paula said. She returned to the group and told them what she had learned. They approached the conductor and he asked them for the fee. Ness paid the forty DP for the four of them and they boarded the train.

Meanwhile, back in Tazmily Village, two Pigmasks, one a grunt, and another a captain, were talking to a man dressed in Arabian style clothing, complete with turban and a white vest. However, his right eye was replaced with a red cybernetic eye as a result of a recent injury that only weeks ago would have required much greater modification. "I tell you Mr. Fassad, these kids are dangerous," the first one declared. "The boy had a gun, just like mine only I have a feeling that it was stronger. He seemed pretty confident. But the real problem was the girl. The girl had energy sparkling around her fingertips, just like the Commander! Not only that, but her eyes glowed while she was doing it."

"What did these kids look like?" the man called Fassad asked.

The Pigmask Captain then described the children, his fear of them evident in his voice. "The boy with the gun had blond hair and was dressed in a green jacket with a white dress shirt and green pants and wore glasses. The girl had shoulder-length blond hair with a red bow in the back, and was wearing a pink sleeveless polo shirt and blue shorts. She also had blue eyes that glowed when she was using her magic. They both looked like young teenagers, I'd say around thirteen or fourteen years old at the oldest."

"That's not magic," Fassad stated flatly. "At least, it's no magic that I know of. She's likely more similar to the Masked Man than you realize. She is what King P calls a psychic. There's a difference between the two, but I don't know what it is off the top of my head." He then focused on the captain. "Did you find out where the children were going? Did they state any of their plans?"

The Pigmask Captain began to shake. He knew nothing of where the children were, and he knew that Fassad would not be pleased with that answer. However, the second Pigmask came to his rescue. "I didn't hear them clearly, but I heard that they were planning on finding out what was going on. They went in the direction of the train station. There were two others as well. One had short black hair with bluish-gray eyes, and wore a striped shirt, blue shorts and a cap. He had something slung over his shoulder, likely a baseball bat or something. He was the same age as the two the Captain saw. He seems to be the leader. The other wore a white gi, and had a shaved head except for a small warrior's braid. He seemed a bit older; I'd say he was about seventeen years old or so. He was armed with a sword." He then paused before adding. "Also, I think that the kids may have overheard a discussion that I had with one of my comrades. In it, we made mention of the Chimera Laboratory and of the needles. I don't think they would know what the needles were if they were outsiders."

Fassad smiled. He knew exactly where the kids were going. He went over to the Captain and said, "Take your men to the airship and get it ready for takeoff. We're going to the Chimera Lab."

"Why there, Mr. Fassad?" the Pigmask Captain asked.

"Because that is where I would go if I had heard someone mention the Chimera Lab and needles. Nwehehehehe, I'll get them now."

"Yes sir," the Pigmask Captain said, raising his arm to his chest and stretching it out in a salute similar to a Nazi salute.