Ness stood at the entrance of the Cave to the Past, the sounds of life in the Lost Underworld a muted roar behind him. An all-too-frequent presence in his dreams of late, the black archway seemed to absorb all light, its passages obscured by the darkness. Although he knew it was just an illusion, he still struggled to cross the threshold. Frustrated, he rubbed his unshaven beard for several long minutes before he finally mustered his courage and stepped inside.
As his eyes adjusted to the dim luminance of the cave – where it came from, he didn't want to think about – Ness let his gaze roam the familiar green and brown landscape. An odd smell lingered in the air that reminded him of rusted metal and rotting meat. Willing himself to believe that it was only his imagination, he focused his attention on the gap in front of him and the strange, metallic root emerging from the ground on the other side.
"It's theoretically impossible, you know," stated Jeff frankly as he rummaged through his crowded and disorganized lab. "Certainly, there is a timeline in which we failed to stop Giygas and he still lives, but we destroyed him in the past and prevented his existence in our present and future."
Ness, attempting to stay at arms length from the towers of yellowing papers and dirty dishes, winced. "I don't want to hear that name again," he groused.
Jeff looked back at Ness and shrugged. "All I'm saying is, the two timelines no longer intersect. There's no way he could have any influence in our reality."
"It just...doesn't feel real anymore," Ness said tiredly. "I have the memories and the nightmares, but no one else remembers. There's no signs of what we did anywhere."
"It makes sense," Jeff replied as he resumed his search, placing a few items in a large bag. "As time travelers, we weren't affected by the changes to the timeline like everyone else. Not that I suppose that will change your mind."
Ness shook his head. "I have to see it with my own eyes," he stated stubbornly. Glancing down, he saw a wrinkled, coffee-stained newspaper with the headline SPACETIME GENIUS MISSING IN ACTION? "You should come with me," he said. "Get out of this lab. Might do you some good."
Jeff stopped in his tracks and stared at the floor in silence for a long moment. "There are things man wasn't meant to witness," he whispered, "and we've seen one too many already. I couldn't..." Trailing off, he shook himself out of his paralysis and handed Ness the sack. "Here are the items you requested. I didn't have everything, but it should be enough."
Ness took the bag with a nod. "Thanks," he replied, then turned to go.
"Ness—" Jeff reached out a hand to touch Ness's shoulder, but hesitated and pulled back. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, "about Paula. And about—"
Ness froze a moment, then walked out of the lab without saying a word before Jeff could finish, leaving the young scientist alone in the mess.
Removing a grappling hook from his backpack, Ness stood and gauged the distance. He tossed the hook at the metallic object, catching it on the smooth surface on the first try. Tying the rope securely to a steel stake, he pounded the stake down with a small mallet, then tested the taut line carefully. Confident that it would hold his weight, he shouldered his pack and lowered himself onto the rope.
Ness inched his way across the line, the rough cord biting into his hands through his gloves. Despite having trained extensively for this, he gritted his teeth as he struggled under the weight of his equipment. Suddenly, he realized he was sinking, and a quick glance confirmed his fears: the hook was slowly but surely sliding towards the top of the pole, and might come off any second.
Racing across the gap in an adrenaline-fueled rush, Ness barely managed to reach the other side and get a grip on the root before the hook slipped off and fell past him, banging against the far side of the fissure. He pulled himself to solid ground and lay on the sparse grass, gasping and heaving from the exertion. When he recovered, he stood and examined the object suspiciously. Had it bent under his weight? Or was it just too smooth to work as an anchor? There was no way for him to know.
Passing the broken Phase Distorter, Ness made his way to the next gap, where the Phase Distorter II once stood, and considered his options. He had more rope, but only the one hook. Even if he had another, he knew that trying his luck on the same trick would likely not end well. Besides, the flat plateau had nothing to anchor to anyway. It was time to use an old skill in a new way.
"You can try to speak with King Poo," the prime minister said with a sigh as he escorted Ness through the golden halls of Dalaam Palace, "but I would not expect him to answer. The night his father died, he locked himself in his room, and he has not emerged or spoken to anyone since."
"What's he doing in there, anyway?" asked Ness as they arrived at Poo's chambers.
The official hesitated. "Meditating and fasting, I believe. He said he had to 'remain pure for the coming of the tenth year.' Does that mean anything to you?" When Ness remained silent, the old man shook his head sadly. "Whatever it means, he has neglected his kingly duties because of this. Dalaam suffers, and its people are full of sorrow."
Ness grimaced. "Well, let's see if he'll talk to me," he said, then knocked on the elaborately decorated door. "Open up, Poo," he called. "It's me, Ness!" No response came from the occupant of the room. Frustrated, the young man banged on the door angrily. "Dammit Poo," he yelled, "I need your help!" Suddenly, a thought struck him. "Say," he said, turning to the prime minister, "didn't his father die months ago?"
The elderly man shot him a despairing look. "Yes! We leave food on his balcony, but he has not touched a single dish. I would go in to check on him, but an overwhelming urge to flee strikes anyone who attempts to enter. Such is the power of Mu, I suppose."
"But not the power of friendship," Ness grumbled as he stormed out of the palace, summoning all his willpower to suppress his fear of the future.
Ness returned to the pile of broken machinery and faced the long walkway. Performing this maneuver was exceptionally dangerous indoors, and thus forbidden for good reason, but he had no choice. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and concentrated, activating the power of Teleport Alpha. With a sudden burst of speed, he raced down the narrow path towards the edge of the cliff. At the last second, he forced his body to turn sharply to the right and leapt into the air, hurtling over the fissure.
Landing on the opposite side of the crevice, Ness strained to rein in his momentum before he careened over the edge or built up enough speed to teleport away. He skidded to a halt right on the verge of falling into the black void, his arms flailing wildly to keep from tipping over. The ground between his feet abruptly gave way, and he fell backwards in a frantic effort to scramble to safety. As he waited for his heart to stop pounding, he considered whether the near-disaster was merely a coincidence, or something more sinister. It seemed harder to distinguish the two in this place.
Ness rose to his feet and brushed himself off, then stared down the path ahead of him. He still had a long way to go before he reached his destination, and after readjusting his pack continued on his way. He briefly wondered why the ever-present and strangely spongy grass was the only thing that grew in the cave, but quickly squelched that line of thought.
A short hike later, Ness arrived at the point where he remembered first seeing the plateau that led to the final cavern. Much to his surprise, however, the platform had vanished without a trace. A thorough search of the surrounding area revealed that while the eastern island was still intact, the four teleportation spheres had also vanished. Most likely they fell into the abyss after the final battle, he theorized. The western plateau probably suffered the same fate, weakened in the aftermath of the abomination's death and eroded over the years. Fortunately, he had anticipated that this might happen, and came prepared.
"What do you mean, you won't go with me?" growled Ness into the phone as he paced around the living room.
"I'm not going to risk my life to try to prove something I already know," replied Paula on the other end of the line, "and you shouldn't either."
Ness clenched his jaw in frustration. "If you and the others won't help me, I'll go by myself. No one'll care if I fall down a pit, anyway."
"That's not true," Paula said firmly, her voice thick with concern. "Your family cares, and your friends care."
Sighing, Ness rubbed his forehead irritably. "Whatever. When are you coming home?" Paula failed to reply, and the realization slowly dawned on him. "You're not coming back, are you?"
Ness heard Paula crying through the phone. "I can't," she whispered. "After you...after my baby..." She trailed off, too overwhelmed to continue.
"At least tell me where you are," Ness implored.
"I can't do that, Ness. I won't." Paula paused for a moment, then hardened her voice. "You need help, Ness. If only you'd go to counseling, or church—"
"I am NOT going to church," Ness stated crossly.
"How can you not have faith, after everything that's happened to us?" asked Paula accusingly.
"We don't KNOW that it happened," Ness argued. "Memories aren't good enough for me. I NEED to know it's real!"
Changing tactics, Paula adopted a pleading tone. "Please, Ness, I want to help you. You used to be so strong and full of life, but now it's like you're obsessed—"
"I AM NOT OBSESSED!" Ness roared, waves of shimmering psychic power erupting from him and destroying everything in their path. The line went dead, and he thought about calling back until he saw the wrecked phone. In silence, he sat on the couch in the center of the ruined room, still clutching the severed handset, and stewed in his rage.
Ness lit a flare and dropped it over the edge of the cliff, carefully observing its fall. An agonizingly long time later it finally hit the bottom, a dull bloom of light in the darkness. Slipping on a headlamp over his baseball cap, he turned on both it and the light clipped to his belt. He had also secured his ropes in two places near the center of the path, just in case the ground softened again or a knot came undone. Where he was going, it paid to take no chances.
After checking his equipment one last time, Ness began his descent. The cliff face had no shortage of handholds, but he soon found that many were weaker than they looked and crumbled under pressure. He briefly considered rappelling down the surface, then decided that such a rapid approach was unwise given the potential dangers lurking in the gloom. Besides, he might not have room to teleport home at the bottom, making it worthwhile to find a safe path on the way down. A trail of reflective flags marked the route he had already discovered.
The further down Ness went, the more he noticed a bleaching effect on the rocks. They were beginning to resemble the white stone in the Cave of the Past, as if drained of their essence. A light mist had emerged as well, similar to the fog that filled the cavern before, making it harder to pinpoint the location of his flare.
Seeing the light beneath him sputtering, Ness lit another flare and let it fall. This time, however, it plummeted without stopping before eventually vanishing from sight. He swore under his breath, realizing that it had fallen into the crevice between the plateaus. A short toss landed the third flare on the platform below, replacing the dying light. At some point, he would have to cross that fissure, but he still had a great deal of climbing to do before then.
"Breathe, Paula," Ness urged as his wife gripped his hand tightly, "you're almost there." The labor had gone on for nearly eleven hours, but thankfully it was almost over.
Paula exhaled sharply as another contraction hit, then gave Ness a wan smile. "You know, Ness," she said between breaths, "we've been through a lot, but I honestly think this is the worst I've ever felt."
Ness laughed weakly. "Doctor—"
The harried doctor waved him off. "The epidural should have kicked in by now, but it's too late to give her anything else for the pain. Just keep pushing, Paula."
Suddenly, Paula's eyes widened. "He's coming!" she gasped. Straining, she began to push with all her might as nurses scurried around the delivery room.
"Keep going, Paula," the doctor encouraged. "I can see the head!"
With a low moan, Paula pushed one last time, and the baby fell into the doctor's waiting hands. Standing, he gave Ness his first glimpse of his child. "Congratulations, Ness," he said warmly, "it's a boy."
Overcome with emotion, Ness rose without realizing it. An instant later, his joy turned to horror and he shrank back in terror.
"He looks just like you, Ness," murmured Paula dreamily, sounding as if she was very far away. All Ness could see was the Devil's Machine, and his face emerging from the body of his enemy.
ness
The lights flickered for a few seconds, then came back on. Confused, the doctor glanced down at the baby. "Wait," he said in a worried tone, "something's not right. He's not breathing!" Ripping off his surgical mask, he quickly performed CPR on the unmoving child. No cries emerged from the infant's lips.
"What's wrong?" demanded Paula with rising panic. "What happened to my baby?"
The doctor hurriedly passed the newborn to one of the nurses. "Get him to the breathing machine, STAT!"
"My baby!" Paula screamed, struggling to get up as the nurses tried to restrain her. "MY BABY!"
Numb to his wife's cries and the chaos unfolding around him, Ness stood by the bed in silence. Only when the infant disappeared from view did he collapse in his chair, weeping uncontrollably.
After what felt like an eternity of climbing, the plateau finally came into view. Ness stared down at the colorless stone through the mist, racking his brain for the best way to cross the gap without falling into the void. With a limited supply of flares remaining, he knew he had to act soon before the darkness engulfed him. Eventually he settled on a course of action that, while risky, was both quick and had the highest probability of success.
Mentally preparing himself for the challenge, Ness closed his eyes and breathed deeply. A strong push propelled him from the cliff face, and as he let out his rope he plunged rapidly in a modified rappelling motion. Fortunately, his aim was true, and he landed roughly on his back on the lower platform. He picked himself up, groaning with pain, and looked around. Up ahead he could see the faint outlines of the rocky outcroppings that bordered the invader's cave.
Ness staked the cord to the ground so he could return later, then ignited one of his last flares and ventured forward, trepidation filling his heart. Clambering over piles of collapsed chalky stone, he scanned the landscape warily for danger, as well as signs of the proof he came here to find. Seeing nothing but the fog and brittle white rock, a surge of despair washed over him, and he wondered if he was truly insane after all.
Suddenly, a splotch of muted color caught Ness's eye, and he rushed over to it. Touching it hesitantly, he recognized it as fabric – the dusty and faded scraps of the red hat that Jeff's father had sent back to the past. With this discovery, the rubble surrounding him took on new form. What had appeared as large rocks were now clearly the twisted and mangled remains of the robot bodies he and his friends occupied during the final confrontation.
Though he knew they were all identical, Ness felt drawn to one mechanical form in particular. Shakily making his way over to it, he knelt beside the ravaged metal object and stroked it reverently. Staring into its blank, soulless eyes, he could almost see himself through them again, as he had so many years ago. He rejected the thought to bring some memento back with him, instead deciding to leave their resting place undisturbed. Removing his cap, he placed it on the robot's head and rubbed it down, the same way his dad had done when he was a child.
"I'm not crazy," Ness whispered, smiling at the upbeat tenor in his voice.
Standing, Ness let his gaze flow over the area one more time. Just before he was about to leave, he noticed a familiar-looking cleft in the rock out of the corner of his eye. Holding up the flare, the recognition sent a chill down his spine. Hidden behind a mass of rubble and crushed rock was the passageway that led to the Devil's Machine...to Giygas.
ness
Ness shuddered, and no amount of courage or willpower could convince him to move a single stone. Moving swiftly down the path, he felt his fear subside. He gave the desolate landscape a final glance, then shook his head wryly and returned to the rope. As he started his ascent, vindicated, he wondered whether his friends would believe him. Maybe, with a little luck, he could get them to join him on the next pilgrimage. Either way, he knew his memories were real, and that was all that really mattered.