Hi! I'm a big fan of the mother series (Earthbound in the U.S.), so I decided to write, novel style, what occurred during the first game. Mother 1 (Sometimes known as Earthbound Zero, or just Mother) was what innovated RPGs, at least in Japan...
I will do this as closely related to the game as possible, thought the fight scenes will undergo some changes. It would be boring to read them as: Ninten attacks, bad guy takes damage; bad guy attacks, Ninten takes damage... and so forth. The characters will be kept in-character, as much as possible. A few of the minor character's might receive a bit more characterization; enemies too. A few parts might be bit darker... but it will not go beyond the essence of the game. So rather than bore you with details read on and see for yourself.
P.S.: Remember, this is just the prologue, so the chapters will be longer and more detailed. Hope you enjoy my telling of Mother... Or Earthbound Zero... whichever...
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Prologue
In the early 1900's, a dark shadow covered a small country town in rural America. At that time, a young married couple vanished mysteriously from their home. The man's name was George. The woman's name was Maria. Two years later, as suddenly as he left, George returned. He never told anyone where he had been or what he had done. But, he began an odd study, all by himself.
As for Maria, his wife... She never returned... 80 years have passed since then...
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Ninten's eyes opened up as he bolted up on his bed, desperately gasping for air. Instinctively, his hand found its way under his pillow, where his asthma inhaler rested. Having trouble locating it, he turned on the lamp that rested on the table near his bed. Able to see clearly now, he gabbed the inhaler and took a deep breath of it. He noticed, however, that he felt somewhat nervous, a strong sensation that he couldn't identify, but that bothered him greatly. Looking out the window he could see the few rays of light that entered, indicating that it was time to get up already.
Pushing his bed sheets aside, Ninten stood up and stretched, yawning in the process. He then grabbed his red baseball cap, which rested on the table, and placed it atop his short black hair. While doing so, he turned off the lamp, since he could see a bit anyway. Ninten then turned and headed towards the door.
'This feeling, man... It feels so eerie, better go see if mom's up already. I have no idea of what time it-'
The room was lit up again, and Ninten froze, his hand already in the door handle. The few rays of light that entered from his window were not nearly enough to produce this much light, and he could have sworn he had turned off the lamp. Ninten's hand curled up into a fist as he turned around, half expecting to come face to face with someone, or something.
Nothing.
No one was in the room, and the light he thought he had seen was gone. The bed laid there as he had left it, messy. There was nothing on the floor, or the walls; not even in the ceiling. The table was the same as well, and his lamp... his lamp...
'Where did my lamp go?' Before Ninten could even move his lamp reappeared in front of him. His eyes widened as he saw that his lamp now sported a maniacal grin. That, and the fact that it was flying and headed towards him, also surprised him.
Ninten threw himself out of the way in time to avoid getting slammed by it, which in turn caused the lamp to hit itself against the door. To Ninten's horror, the lamp simply turned around and headed towards him again. Out of sheer instinct, Ninten ran on the opposite direction of his "attacker". He jumped and landed on his bed, only to remember that the lamp could fly, which meant him being a bit higher wouldn't help much. Instead, he opted to use the mattress as a spring and jumped over the incoming lamp, barely landing a few inches from it.
He took this opportunity and ran out the door, closing it after doing so just in time to hear the lamp slam itself once again onto the door.
'J-Just what is going on here?' He thought, his mind racing as to why his lamp was attacking him. He had discarded it being a dream since it was too vivid, and he didn't think a practical joke could be done this well.
"Mom! Ninten! A monster!" Minnie's voice brought him back to reality, as his eyes widening in realization that he wasn't the only one being attacked.
"I'm coming Mi-"
Moving towards Minnie had proven to be a mistake, as the door of his room had separated just enough for the monster lamp's power cord to pass and wrap itself across Ninten's neck. For a moment he was tempted to joke about the fact that a lamp was chocking him now, but the force of which it did made it not very funny.
"My lamp's flying around!" Minnie's voice could be heard from the other side of the hall that Ninten was getting chocked in.
'And mine's chocking me...' Ninten thought smiling a bit at his misfortune, thought opted that if he was to be killed by a desk lamp, the least he could do was save his little sister. Grabbing the power cord of his attacker, Ninten gave it a hard enough pull to bring the lamp out into the hall with him. His pull proved to be a bit more effective that what he had originally thought, as the lamp swung itself into the wall, a loud cracking noise echoing itself across the hall.
The power cord dropped off Ninten's neck as Ninten was allowed to breathe again. Rubbing the sore spot he eyed the lamp, its grin gone. He noticed that the light bulb had been broken, and his eyes widened in realization.
'So that's how you beat them.' With this knowledge he ran into his sister's room, opening the door fully. His eyes met with his sister's lamp, which also spotted a grin. Said lamp turned and faced him, but before it could attack the lamp was grabbed by its rear.
"I got it big bro." Minnie spoke; the petite blonde's face spotting a grin similar to the lamps. "Hurry up and smack the stu-" The lamp, however, retaliated. Its power cord wrapped itself around Minnie's waist, lifting her up a bit.
"Hey!" She protested, but before it could do anything further Ninten had already grabbed it as well with one hand and had placed the other on its light bulb. Thanks to the fact that its power cord was currently busy with the younger sibling, Ninten had little trouble removing the light bulb, which caused both the lamp and Minnie to fall.
"Thanks for that, but you could have been faster you know." Minnie spoke as she gave the defeated lamp a kick for good measure, as Ninten just sighed. "Mine attacked me too you know, I was busy."
"Wait..." Minnie spoke, eyeing her brother. "If yours attacked you too, does that mean?..."
"Mimmie!" Both sibling spoke in unison, as they darted out of the room and towards the one next to it. As if on cue, Mimmie's screams could be heard, as Ninten hurried his step. He could have sworn these damned rooms had been closer to each other.
"Don't worry Mimmie, the lamp is easy to beat, all you have to do is remove its light-" Ninten called out to her as he entered the room, eyes widening at what he saw. "...bulb." He finished for the heck of it. His other sister, Mimmie, was currently standing a top her bed at the furthest corner of it, back against the wall. Her lamp was sitting at the table were it always sat, no grin present. What was flying around the room however was a rather ugly doll that had turned its attention towards the two new guests.
"You have got to be kidding me..." Ninten spoke, before Minnie frowned. "Hey! You told me Rey had taken my doll!"
"Sorry Minnie! I accidentally cut out one of its ponytails so I didn't want you to get mad, but can't we talk about this later!" The younger of the twins spoke, nearly falling to tears. Mimmie just sighed as Ninten rushed towards his sister's aid. The doll took it personally, apparently, as it attacked Ninten as soon as he did.
"B-Brother!" Mimmie screamed.
"Ninten! Behind you!" Minnie followed.
Ninten turned as his eyes widened in shock as the doll slammed itself against his chest, sending a strong sensation of... nothing. Ninten looked down and saw that the doll kept on slamming itself against him, even doing a few karate chops for good measure, yet he barely felt it. "Oh, that's right... you're made of cotton, aren't ya?"
Grabbing the doll by its neck it was Ninten this time who spotted a maniacal grin. The doll tried to release itself from said grip, but Ninten proved to be the stronger one. "I've had just about had it with you flying things... Mimmie, Minnie, open the window."
The twins did as they were told and opened the window as wide as they could, which in turn Ninten took a pitch and threw the doll as hard as he could out it.
The force of the throw was strong enough to make the doll land flat onto the grass, thought the soft landing prevented it from dying. It began to lift itself back up for a counter attack, but found itself stuck. Turning to see what was holding it, it was meet by a pair of black narrowed eyes and a row of rather sharp teeth.
Ninten could have sworn he heard someone squeal, but paid no mind to it as he checked on his two sisters. He also gave the lamp on that room a good look, but it displayed no evil characteristics, so he allowed himself to calm down.
"Just what was that Ninten?" Minnie spoke up, looking across the room. Ninten turned to face her, alongside Mimmie, who was as close to them as physically possible. "Not sure, they just attacked. It was weird."
"W-Weird?" Mimmie spoke up, shuttering. "I was scared half to death!... You don't think those were... ghosts?" She forced herself to speak the last word, trembling as she did. How she hated ghosts.
"Not sure..." Ninten spoke, before turning to walk out of the room. "In any case, we better see if mom's alright, she might have been attacked as well."
"Hey! Wait for us." The twins spoke in unison as they followed their elder brother to the stairs and down them. As the reached the final step they were suddenly face-to-face with another flying lamp. Mimmie grabbed onto Ninten's leg screaming while Minnie took a step back. Ninten, now having the extra weight of his sister in one leg, tried to reach out to grab the light bulb. To his surprise, said light bulb was already broken.
"Wha-?"
"Oh, sorry to frighten you kids." Ninten's mom popped her head out from behind the lamp, which Ninten noted to being held by her. "You just wouldn't believe what just happened."
"Try us." Minnie spoke as she came down the final steps. She then turned towards her mother. "How'd you beat it?"
"I was cooking your breakfast..." Their mother spoke up. "When my lamp just started flying on its own." As she spoke she moved the lamp around, for added effect. "I just smacked it with my frying pan... I knew having a desk lamp in the kitchen was not a good idea..."
Ninten narrowed his eyes as both he and Mimmie walked down the stairs as well and joined the other two. The four then headed towards the living room, where they each took a seat. Their mom sat on a couch, while the twins took the other. Ninten, on the other hand, was forced to sit on the table. Damn... they needed more furniture.
"I'm not sure what's going on with our house exactly." Their mother spoke, sounding a bit nervous as she did. "This are the times I wish your father was still around, he'd know what to do..." She narrowed her eyes, as the three siblings just looked on. She shook her head, shaking that thought away.
"Maybe-" Their mom continued, but was interrupted by the sound of the phone, which made the four members of the family jump a bit. After seeing that it was just ringing and not attacking them, their mother turned to Ninten.
"Ninten, would you please get it?"
"Sure." Ninten stood up, not too overly comfortable on the table anyway, and headed towards the ringing phone. Grabbing it, he spoke. "Hello?"
"Ninten." A man's voice was heard through the other line. "Hey son, this is your father..."
"Dad, hi. You won't believe what's going on here."
"Poltergeist?"
"No, a gh-" Ninten stopped, eyes widening. "How'd you know?"
"The same phenomenon has been occurring all over the world." His dad spoke, saying it as if where something casual. "As a matter of fact, my stapler attacked me. It looked like a shotgun shooting staples at me. Too bad I don't have my old plastic bat with me anymore, had to settle with using my shoe..."
"We've had our own problems here as well." Ninten spoke, eyeing his family as he did. "Three desk lamps and a doll."
"One for each member in the family huh?" His father's voice sounded even more amused. Ninten just frowned. "Glad to hear you guys are okay, it was creepy, but nothing dangerous."
'That's because staplers don't try to choke you.' He decided it was best not to tell his workaholic dad about all the details, so instead he opted to just be as casual as him. "Yeah... Fortunate."
"Right... But, the other reason I called for, aside from hearing from you guys, is that your great-grandfather studied PSI. I'm not sure if this is related, but it seems likely. Ninten, I need you to go to the basement and find his journal. I'm sure we can get some information on what's occurring by doing so."
"Sure, give me a sec." Ninten placed the phone on the table as he walked a few steps towards the basement door. Pulling on it he realized that said door was locked. Walking back to the phone he spoke. "It's locked."
"Oh... That's rather unfortunate. That old basement hasn't been used for years." His dad stopped, apparently thinking. "I think there used to be a key somewhere in the house, not sure where... you better go and search for it."
"I'll try, give me just-"
"I can't." His father interrupted him, sounding a bit more serious. "There's quite a commotion here at the office, and not many phones. A few of my coworkers need to call their homes as well. Good luck at finding that journal, and I'll try to contact you later on. Take care, and tell you mother and sisters I said hi."
With those last words Ninten's father hung up the phone, not giving the youth enough time for even a proper goodbye. "Bye..." Ninten said as his eyes lowered. His mother eyed him for a moment and was about to speak when he turned and faced her. "Mom... Where's the basement key?"
He could mask his emotions well, his mother noted, and smiled. "I'm not exactly sure." She honestly spoke. "I haven't used that old thing in ages."
"If something's lost in here." Minnie spoke up, pointing outside. "Then it means Rey probably has it."
Ninten sighed as he walked towards the door leading outside. "I'll check." He walked out the door, but stopped, and walked back in. "By the way... Dad said hi." With those words spoken Ninten walked out the door and got outside. The weather was peaceful, no raging storms or heavy rains, just beautifully sunny. The green grass sparkled and the sound of the wind covered his ears accompanied by the smell of fresh water of the nearby stream. Days like these were rare, Ninten actually enjoyed them. He didn't get out too much, mostly due to his asthma, but when he did, he liked days like this.
Turning his attention towards Rey, the family's white pooch, who was sitting casually near his dog house. Ninten walked towards him and noticed a mess of cotton of what had once been a ghostly doll. Poor thing didn't stand a chance.
"Been playing around I see..." Ninten spoke as he bent down and patted Rey's head, earning him a look from the dog.
"(You threw it.)" Was the dog's response, and thanks to Ninten's ability to communicate with animals, he understood. "It was possessed."
"(I couldn't tell...)" Rey barked as he turned and scratched the back of his ear. As he did Ninten saw something sparkle behind his collar. "That wouldn't be the basement key, would it, Rey?"
"(How'd you expect me to know?)" Was the dog's response. Ninten just sighed and removed the key from the collar, half wondering how Rey had managed to put it there. Before he could turn and leave Rey barked. "(This dolls you people play with are weird... They move on their own and even have some hard box in them... Makes for a bad chew toy if you ask me... But beggars can't be choosers.)"
"Hard box?" Ninten turned and looked at the box Rey lazily pointed at before said dog turned back to biting the remains on the doll. Grabbing the box, which appeared to be some sort of musical box, Ninten accidentally started it. It played out a short symphony, something distinctive. It was weird, since Ninten had never heard the music before, but found it eerily familiar. The music stopped, and for some reason, it got stuck into his head.
'Well damn... now I'm going to be hearing that song every time I close my eyes. Still... why did it sound so...' Ninten shook his head as he turned back and headed into the house. Finding the journal was the priority.
Heading inside, he walked up to the basement door and placed the key inside. It unlocked, and with a creaking sound, opened itself. The basement was pretty dark, but Ninten could spot a few boxes lying around. About three of them to be exact.
"You found the key." Minnie spoke up, slightly catching Ninten off guard. Both she and Mimmie stood behind him, looking into the dark basement. "Yeah..." Ninten spoke, looking from the twins back onto the basement. "Hope the journal's in there."
"Right, let's go." Minnie spoke as she walked down the stairs of the basement. Ninten just frowned as he followed, muttering a "hey wait" in the process. As both siblings reached the bottom, Ninten turned towards the door facing Mimmie.
"You coming?"
"No way!" The younger twin practically screamed. "There are rats in there."
"There are no rats..." Ninten laughed a bit after speaking, while the elder twin just muttered a "coward". Minnie was the first to reach one of the three boxes that lay in the floor, and opened it.
"What did you find?" Ninten asked, as he walked over towards another box. Minnie sweatdropped, as she turned to face her brother, which due to his distance, couldn't see him much anyway in that darkness. "A fungus colony."
"A what?"
"Just some bread..." Minnie spoke as she took it out of the box. "It's all... mushroomy. Seriously, who leaves bread in a basement?"
"Who indeed..." Ninten then opened his box, while Minnie walked over to the last one. Inside his box laid a book, which Ninten took to be the journal. Blowing off some of its dust, he picked said book up and read the title. "George's Diary."
The book itself was a bit hard to read. It was old and ragged, but filled with entries. "Password... The one who lost the tail." Ninten read out loud. "The forgotten one..." He continued, not really understanding what he was reading. "...the ship that sails."
'What the?' He decided it would be a wiser idea to stop reading and leave the basement first, not to bright an idea to read in the dark. Secondly, perhaps his dad, when he ever got a chance to call him back, would understand it better. Turning to face his sister, who had apparently found a baseball bat which she was swinging around, he spoke. "Let's go back."
The two exited the basement. Ninten patted the head of the younger twin who had a worried expression as the two exited. "See... no rats." Mimmie just nodded, while they walked towards their mom, who was in the kitchen. "So..." Their mother spoke as she saw the three enter. "You've found the journal."
"Yeah..." Ninten spoke, eyeing the journal. "I think I should head out and see just what's going on. Father said that this is a worldwide phenomenon. So perhaps..."
"You're planning on leaving?"
"Just for a bit. If this occurrence really does have something to do with PSI, then I might be suited for this. I do have some knowledge of it after all." Ninten spoke up, rather proud of that fact. "It will just be a bit of researching. I'll probably just go to Podunk and ask around. Might give dad the necessary time to be able to call back so that we might get some information out of this thing." He finished while eyeing the journal.
To his surprise his mother bent down a little as she placed her hand on his shoulder. Before he could speak, she did. "I can't stop you from leaving... but, I want you to know. This door is always open. Try to be careful. You're a strong boy, but... just be careful, alright."
"Promise." Ninten spoke, while nodding. Before he could move, however, his mother gave him a strong hug. After doing so, she shifted his baseball cap to the side. "Your father was wearing it like this when I met him... for luck." His mother winked at him while sticking out her tongue, Ninten just nodded before turning to face the twins.
"Can't I go with you?" Minnie spoke, trying and failing to mask her worry.
"Sorry Minnie... This might be too dangerous for you. You don't have PSI knowledge, at least not yet."
"But-"
"Besides." He interrupted, smiling at her. "I need you two to take care of mom for me." Minnie just nodded as Mimmie smiled.
"Okay then... but take this with you." Minnie spoke as she handed the baseball bat to him. He noticed that it was the one his father had, pretty good material. Nodding, he took it. Mimmie quickly pulled out a small carton filled with orange juice, which she handed to him. "That's in case you get thirsty big brother."
While he doubted he needed orange juice, warm juice at that, he didn't want to hurt her feelings. He took it and placed it on his pocket. "Thanks, it'll come in handy." Lowering himself he gave the twins a quick hug before walking towards the door. Before doing so he handed Minnie the key to the basement. "Store that for me, will ya?"
"Hey!" She protested. "What do I look like, storage?"
Flashing his family a smile Ninten walked out the door and headed through the dirt road towards Podunk, the nearby town. Before doing so, he waved a friendly goodbye to Rey, who just raised a brow.
'Such a big change that my life took on so suddenly. I don't know why I'm even going to Podunk. I could just sit around and wait for dad to call back... But I guess I've never been too patient. Something's telling me to go out and search for the answers myself. Maybe I can finish great-grandfather's studies. Maybe after this is over I can meet up with dad again. Maybe I can figure out what exactly happened to my great-grandfather and my great-grandmother...'
Ninten stopped, as he eyed to flowing stream that seemed to head in the same direction he was headed. Witnessing this, he smiled, every doubt in his mind cast aside. 'No... I will figure all of that out. And I'll master this PSI powers I have inside of me. Just watch me... mom, Minnie, Mimmie... dad... just watch me... I'll make you all proud.'
With that on his mind and a smile on his face, the PSI-powered youth made his way towards the start of the biggest adventure that world would ever see...
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Far away, on the vast emptiness of space, getting closer and closer to the floating blue orb which we call Earth, was a big spacecraft which sent out a malicious aura. Inside said spacecraft, on one of the main rooms, was a single entity. As his eyes looked upon Earth from a nearby screen, his mind was invaded by memories. Casting said memories into the darkest pit of his mind, Giygas' eyes narrowed...
'Humans... your time... is up...'
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I tried to give Ninten precise characteristics. He is a silent protagonist, so I tried to make him look like good-boy type, for the most part.
I took a few liberties with some of the other characters as well. Minnie is the brave twin, while Mimmie is the caring one. Ninten's mom is very caring, but worries a bit. His father is a workaholic (like the game) so I added a bit of tension between Ninten and his dad. As for the enemies, a doll will hit a lost less hard than a lamp...
Rey, Ninten's dog, was not given a name in-game. I named him Rey, which is Spanish for king, which in turn is Ness' dog's name. Sounds fitting.
Well... That's about it. Giygas made a cameo there at the end... Ana will appear when the time is right, same with Lloyd, but first Ninten needs to learn that he's biting of more that he can chew, at least alone. Next chapter will technically be the first chapter, which will be longer, more detailed and overall better. A few more characters will be introduced, and we might see the story from a few of their perspectives as well.
Reviews will be appreciated, but I hope to continue this story regardless. I like writing, so it's quite fun to do so. Still, reviews are good...
Dr. Doctor signing out...