Author's Note: Okay, I've been a fan of the Mother/EarthBound series for a few years now. Lately, I've been focused on the first game of the series, EarthBound Zero (Mother in Japan). Ever since looking at the whole game, this scenario has been stuck in my head. I just had to write a story behind it. Happy reading! ;)-AMX
Summary: This story takes place after going through Mt. Itoi for the first time, after Teddy is wounded. The story is created around one question: What if Giegue made contact with Ninten before that fated final battle…?
EarthBound Zero: The Judgment Dream
White.
Completely white.
That was the color of the ceiling Ninten was currently staring intently at. It was nighttime, and he was attempting to sleep; something his friends, Ana and Loid, seemed to find naturally. Teddy, on the other hand…he still hadn't woken up since that afternoon.
It had been quite a day: he, Ana, and Teddy had attempted to scale Mt. Itoi, attempting to find out the secret of the mountain. Along the way, the trio found a house that belonged to a healer; they all decided to rest for a while.
Then, while Teddy was busy making a few phone calls…Ana took Ninten into the next room and, of all things, asked if he loved her!
Of course, Ninten was caught off-guard at first (who wouldn't be?), but after some hesitation, he said he did. Because…well, he really did like Ana. She was an overall good person, and a powerful PSI user. Ninten was more than happy to let Ana join in the quest to defeat the aliens attempting to invade Earth, especially since they took her mother. The fact that he got to dance with her after he said "yes" didn't hurt, either!
It was after they had finished their dance when the trouble started. Teddy had suddenly heard strange noises outside, so of course, they went outside to investigate. As soon as they stepped outside, the R7038 robot jumped them and did major damage to all three members. Thankfully, Loid appeared at the last minute and defeated the massive robot with one shot from a cannon.
Ninten and Ana would be okay. Teddy, on the other hand…was in critical condition. Loid rushed the entire party back to the base of the mountain, where there was a doctor.
Ninten glanced over at Teddy, who was lying in a bed, comatose, on the other side of the room. He could still remember what Teddy said before he passed out…
"I know now that peace can be brought back to us. I believe…"
Teddy hadn't woken up since then.
Ninten turned his gaze back at Ana and Loid. After what happened to Teddy, he was spooked. He certainly didn't want the same fate that befell the ex-gang leader to happen to his two other new friends, too!
Ninten began to think about everything that had happened ever since this whole adventure started, from fighting that lamp in his room, to the events that led to Teddy's injury.
But one location stuck out in his mind: Magicant.
For some reason, every time he and his friends traveled to that particular place, Ninten just had the sensation that something was…off. Did this place even exist? If it didn't, how could they buy items, and stay overnight to regain energy? How did it even come into being?
But what puzzled Ninten the most was Magicant's ruler, Queen Mary. He didn't mean to have hesitant thoughts about her, but…for some reason, Ninten always had this weird feeling when he was around her. He wasn't sure how to describe it; the closest thing he could come up with was…some type of nostalgia.
But that was impossible! Ninten had never visited Magicant or met Queen Mary before his adventure began.
So…why did he feel like he already knew Queen Mary?
Ninten sighed; he probably shouldn't have been thinking too hard. Then he would get a headache, and then he'd never fall asleep.
He began to wonder how long it had been since he'd last checked the clock. Time had to have passed since thinking of all this, right? He figured at least an hour had passed since he last checked; he decided to guess a half an hour, just to be on the safe side.
With that thought, Ninten let his eyes glance at the clock.
Twenty seconds?!
Ninten let his head drop back onto the pillow. It was going to be a long night.
Why wouldn't sleep come to him? Normally, when he used up this much energy, he was knocked out even before his head hit the pillow!
Maybe that was it; he was literally too tired to sleep.
Well, Ninten could say one thing: he was nervous. If the enemies that lay ahead for them were as powerful as the ones today, what if they were even stronger than that? They had taken down Teddy, and he was an ex-gang leader! And what about Ana and Loid? What if they got hurt? Could he live with himself if that happened?
And what would happen once they faced the actual alien invader?
Ninten sighed. He had not talked about this to his friends…at least, not recently. He knew Ana and Loid would have his back no matter what, same with Teddy, but that didn't mean he couldn't worry about them.
Ninten slowly closed his eyes, in an attempt to clear his head. He just couldn't keep all this in anymore. He finally made a decision: he would talk to Ana and Loid about it in the morning. After what happened to Teddy, he decided they deserved to know. Then, he opened his eyes, so he could look around the room again.
But when he opened his eyes, Ninten was unexpectedly stunned. The white ceiling he had been staring at before seemed to have disappeared. Now…it was black.
This made Ninten sit up and take notice. But as he sat up, he noticed other things wrong with the picture. The bed he had been laying on was gone. In fact, the entire room he had been in had disappeared!
Ninten's head whipped around the area. There was nothing from the room there anymore. It was all just black. Nothingness…
Then, he looked down, and breathed a sigh of relief. At least his bat was next to him. He picked it up, and shakily got to his feet.
"Hello?" Ninten called out. No answer. With no other option, the nervous psychic slowly began to walk forward, searching for any sign of life.
'What's going on?' Ninten thought as he walked. 'Where is everybody? They were just here…right?'
Then, without warning, Ninten tripped over something. After recovering from the shock, he wondered what had happened. What on Earth had caused him to trip in a place like this? But when he turned around to look, he immediately regretted it.
Under his feet was the battered and bruised body of Teddy.
Even worse, a few feet away were the bodies of Loid and Ana, also lying motionless on the ground.
Ninten started, and scooted away from the bodies; this understandably upset him. There was no blood anywhere, thank goodness, but it still was a horrifying sight for a twelve-year-old. But he knew he had to maintain his composure; maybe there was something he could do.
"P-P-PSI Healing Gamma!" he managed to blurt out.
However, to his horror, he didn't feel the surge of power he normally felt when he used his PSI. Even worse, none of the three bodies didn't even twitch.
"Uh…PSI…Lifeup…Gamma?" Ninten tried again.
But once again, nothing happened.
Now Ninten was really nervous. Something had attacked his friends, and now his powers weren't working? What was going on?!
'Okay,' Ninten began to think for himself. 'Just calm down. I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this. Just think for a second. I was in my bed in the doctor's house, everyone else was asleep…'
That's when Ninten thought of something. 'That's it!' he thought. 'I must have just fallen asleep! This is all just a bad dream! My powers have never shorted out on me before, and they never will. I've just been worrying too much, that's all. All I need to do is focus hard enough and I'll wake up!'
With that, Ninten closed his eyes as tight as he could, gripping the bat in his hand and trying to think about waking up. But just when it felt like he was going to succeed…
"Hello, little boy. Are you lost?"
Ninten's eyes shot open, and his blood went cold. Never before in his life had he heard such a malevolent voice. But, it didn't sound like the voice was talking out loud. Was…was someone communicating with him telepathically?
'Wh-who's there?' he thought.
"Oh, nobody special. I just wanted to talk to you one-on-one…Ninten."
Ninten flinched. 'How do you know me?'
"How don't I know you would be the better question. I've heard a lot about you lately, and I must say, I'm not too happy about it."
Ninten forced to control his breathing. 'Why?'
"Well, because you and those other pathetic humans are standing in the way of the invasion plan, of course. And I'm not about to take it sitting down."
'You…you're one of the alien invaders? Is this why this dream is so messed up? Are you messing with me?!'
"If by that you mean am I the reason your powers aren't working, then yes. I was just curious of how easy it would be to fight you if you didn't have them."
'But…why? Why would you do this to me? To my friends?'
"Why? I think you already know the answer, Ninten…"
Some very creepy chuckling followed this statement, which seemed to echo throughout the room. Now Ninten was really nervous; he had no idea where the owner of the voice was, and what it was capable of doing. Then, just when he thought it couldn't get creepier, it did.
"From what I've learned about you humans, you seem to have a widely-known myth…that if you die in your dream, you die in real life."
Ninten started. He had heard of the story. But it was just a story…right?
"What do you say we test that theory?"
Ninten jumped about a foot in the air. Instead of hearing it in his mind, the voice had spoken out loud…right next to his ear. As soon as he hit the ground, he whirled around, swinging his bat…but there was nothing there.
"Wh-what's going on?" Ninten asked. "Who are you?!"
"You mean you don't know me? I'm surprised; you and those other humans have been fighting my minions this whole time!"
Ninten froze. This was the leader of the alien invasion? "Wh-what…?" he started to say.
However, he never got a chance to finish. Without warning, someone-or something-kicked Ninten in the back. Hard.
The boy went flying.
'What?!'
But before he even reached the ground again, something else (he guessed it was the same attacker) socked him in the stomach, sending him straight into the floor.
Ninten's bat clattered out of his hands. As he was recovering from the shock, he attempted to reach for his weapon…but then he felt a foot step onto his back. He almost attempted to use PSI Lifeup, only to bitterly remember that his powers working.
"Yes, yes. I would have to say, it's much easier to fight you without your powers."
Ninten just managed to look up…and his blood went cold again. Standing over him was…well, it looked like an alien, with almost cat-like features. Its skin was white with a blue tint to it, and he had a long tail and large ears.
Ninten had never seen the alien before, but for some reason, a name unexpectedly popped into his head. "G…Giegue…" he managed to mumble.
The alien smirked. "Very good, human. I am Giegue. I would be worried about now if I were you."
Ninten attempted to focus behind Giegue. He was just able to see that the disturbing images of his friends had disappeared.
"My…my friends," Ninten breathed out. "Those visions. Was that your doing?"
Giegue continued to smirk. "Maybe."
"But…you're mad at me, right?" Ninten asked. "If you're mad at me, why did you do that?"
Giegue frowned. "Why do you think?" he asked. "I'm eventually going to rid this planet of all its inhabitants anyway." He lowered his voice back to that whisper. "So I figured, why not start with the ones standing in my way?"
Ninten couldn't believe what he was hearing. "No," he said, "I…I can't let you do that. We can't let you do that."
Giegue slowly got down on one knee, so he was closer to Ninten. "Don't delude yourself, boy," he growled. "It is all your fault that I'm even here in the first place." He paused. "Or, more accurately…it's George's."
Ninten's eyes widened. "My great-great grandfather?" he asked.
"I will admit, I am grateful to him and Maria," the alien answered, standing back up. "After all, they did raise me. But then he had to be stupid and take information that was not to be seen by his eyes…"
"…The PSI research?" asked Ninten.
Giegue turned his head to look at Ninten. "How'd you know?"
"Lucky guess," Ninten bitterly answered. "But…I don't understand. If you're grateful to my great-great grandparents…why are you attacking the very same planet they were from? Doesn't any of this bother you at all?!"
Giegue's eyes narrowed. "Of course not. Why wouldn't it?"
"You just told me they raised you!" Ninten shot back, beginning to get impatient. "I mean, sure, maybe my great-great grandfather's actions weren't exactly justifiable, but from what I'm getting here, Grandma Maria did nothing wrong! What about her? Doesn't that make you feel any remorse at all?"
For a split second, Giegue's eyes appeared to dilate. Apparently, although it was faint, Ninten had struck a nerve. But as fast as it had happened, the look of shock disappeared. Then, that dark chuckle filled the room again.
"I will admit, my feelings for Maria caused some conflict with my orders at first…" As Giegue talked, he slowly began to walk in a circle around Ninten. "But I knew if I didn't carry out my orders, it would mean bad news for not only me, but the rest of my race. I also realized…the feelings I felt for your ancestors were pathetic and weak. So…I simply got rid of them. And I must say…" By this time, the alien had made a full circle around the boy, and stopped to give a sharp glare. "…I feel so much better now that they're gone."
But Ninten wasn't buying it. "No…" he said. "No…that doesn't make sense. You can't just get rid of your feelings for someone else. Even if you forget them, they're still there somewhere. I just can't believe you'd do that, after everything Maria did for you…"
Giegue's eyes narrowed again; it appeared that his patience was being tested. "I suggest you stop talking now…"
"I saw that look you gave me when I first mentioned everything Maria did for you," Ninten continued, as if the alien hadn't even spoken. "I bet you still have conflicting feelings about this whole thing, but you want to be loyal to your race. I bet if Maria was still here, you would…"
"SHUT UP, HUMAN!" Without warning, Giegue emitted a beam from his paw-like hands (Ninten guessed it was some type of PSI) that connected with the boy's stomach. Ninten went flying about a foot back.
"Oww…" Ninten mumbled, clutching his stomach. It was then his turn to shoot a glare at the alien. "You can attack me all you want, but it won't change your feelings…" he muttered.
At an instant, Giegue was at Ninten's side, grabbing him by the back of his shirt collar and yanking him up.
Ninten began to get nervous. The grip Giegue had on his shirt was tight; not only that, the alien seemed so angry, he was shaking.
"You little Earth brat…" Giegue growled. "I should just kill you right now!"
Ninten started. He had not been expecting that type of reaction.
But then, just as fast as he had gotten angry, Giegue seemed to regain his composure. "However…" he said, slowly setting Ninten down, "…since you're George and Maria's descendent, I suppose it wouldn't be fair to just kill you without giving you a choice."
Ninten was confused. "A…choice?" he asked, uncertain. "What…kind of choice?"
Giegue then leaned in really close; too close for Ninten's comfort. "When we confront each other in the real world," the alien whispered, "don't try to defy me. Come with me."
Now poor Ninten was even more confused. "Ex-excuse me?" he stuttered.
"Come with me, Ninten," Giegue repeated. "On my Mothership. Even with your powers, you're no match for me. Sure, you'd be put into deep sleep, along with the other humans I have acquired during my invasion plan, but your life would be spared from when I eradicate everyone else on your pathetic planet." His tone began to become more sadistic. "And I would get something out of it, too. Since you're George and Maria's descendent, I won't ever have to think that they're gone ever again. I'd just have you right there!" Ninten could swear Giegue's eyes turned into little slits. "Wouldn't that be fun?"
Ninten took in a shaky breath. "I…no…I can't do that. I just can't do that, Giegue. I'm not abandoning my friends, and I'm especially not abandoning everyone else on Earth just so you can complete your orders! I'm sorry, but I just can't let you get away with what you're trying to do." He began to have to take deep breaths in order to get air; he hoped he had his inhaler in case he needed it. "Look, it…it doesn't have to be this way. We don't have to fight, Giegue. I don't want to fight you."
Giegue's expression went from manic to cold and calculating. He stared at Ninten. "…No," he finally responded. "You don't want to fight me." He stood up again. "I suppose you still have time to think about my offer. You don't need to make a decision right now."
"I just made my decision," Ninten answered back. "I'm not going with you, Giegue. No matter what you do. Not only that…I figure out some way to make sure you don't hurt anyone ever again."
Giegue turned away from the boy; he was obviously not happy. "Very well," he growled again. "You go right ahead and do that. But in the end, it won't matter."
"We don't know anything yet, even with PSI," said Ninten. "We'll just see who's right in the end."
Just then, Ninten was surprised to see Giegue's outline begin to fade away.
"You're disappearing…" Ninten said, the surprise apparent in his voice.
Giegue allowed himself to smirk one last time. "That's because you're waking up," he said. He paused again. "When we confront each other directly…I'll probably pretend like this conversation never happened. However…" Giegue had become completely translucent at this point. "…That does not mean you can forget my offer. I'm hoping you'll make the right decision."
"Oh, I will," said Ninten. "Don't you worry."
"I'm hoping I don't have to," said Giegue. He had one last thing to say before his form disappeared completely:
"I'll be waiting for you and your weak comrades at the top of Mt. Itoi, Ninten…"
Suddenly, a surge of pain ran through Ninten's head. He immediately shut his eyes and grabbed at his temples. After what seemed like minutes of pounding pain (it was really only a few seconds), it went away. He opened his eyes again…
And found that he was staring at a whole lot of white.
It was the ceiling!
Stunned, Ninten quickly shot up, and found that he had been lying on his back. His eyes darted around the room. It was the doctor's house! He was back!
Then, Ninten realized that he must have looked like a lunatic, with his head shooting around all over the place. He calmed his body enough to notice that he was sweating profusely.
"…Ninten?" a cautious, small voice asked.
Ninten looked over to his right. Ana and Loid were standing next to his bed with worried expressions.
"Guys…" he sighed in relief.
At this, his two friends sighed in relief also.
"We've been trying to wake you up for a few minutes," said Loid. "But…but we tried everything, and nothing stirred you. We were afraid you ended up like Teddy over there…"
All three kids looked over at Teddy's bed. By the looks of things, he still hadn't woken up.
"Ninten, what happened?" asked Ana, still looking a little worried. "You look like you've seen a monster!"
Immediately upon seeing Ana's face, Ninten felt guilty for making his friends worry about him. Then he remembered what he had decided to do during the night before.
"Well…" Ninten began, "I…had this dream. But before I get into that…"
Ninten paused to glance and Ana and Loid, who seemed to be curious as to what he was going to say.
"…I need to talk to you guys about something.
**END**