MT. ITOI, SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA
EARTH'S LAST STAND
AUGUST 11th, 1988
Ninten had seen some strange stuff in his short life, but the strangest thing that stood out to him as he stood at the end of his journey, side by side with his gently shivering friends, was how right it felt. Ending it all on Mt. Itoi, to be more specific. He, Ana, and Lloyd had been to this mountain… how many times now? Three? All Ninten remembered was that there had been a lot of climbing and crying. Tragedy hung around this place like a dewy mist, clinging to every crag on the cursed mountain.
So of course this godforsaken place would be where all of their paths would lead. Where had Ana's UFO-abducted parents been? Mt. Itoi, with enough deep caves for all your alien base related needs. Where did Teddy lose his parents? Mt. Itoi, where Death keeps a holiday home. Where did poor E.V.E get totally, completely scrapped beyond even Lloyd's abilities for repair? Mt. Itoi, where the best laid plans of men are eaten by homework-starved dogs. With rabies.
So where did Ninten's and the world's final enemy decide to land in a few minutes, in order to begin his invasion of the Earth and destroy everything Ninten had ever known, leaving the planet a charred, black husk? Good ol' Mt. Itoi, where hope goes to croak! But nonetheless, that is how it happened, and even though being there had never done anything good for them… OK, well one good thing had happened to Ninten there… they came anyways, not backing down from this one, final challenge.
Ninten stood at the front of the three, keeping his eyes glued to the horizon for any sign of that final enemy's, Giegue's ship. His clothes were muddy and tattered in places, with something that looked suspiciously like bear drool on the back of his shirt. (Yet another future nightmare, courtesy of Mt. Itoi!) He held his red hat on his head as a gust of wind stirred up from nowhere, but otherwise didn't seem too bothered. If I let something as small as that, Ninten thought bitterly, gripping his bat even tighter in his hand, if I let that get to me then I'd have no right to face Giegue!
Suddenly, Ana tensed up, and Ninten's thoughts halted instantly. Ninten extended his telepathy in her direction, sending a silent question her way.
How close is he? Ninten asked, letting his mind connect with hers, once again getting that pleasant, tingly feeling he always got when their thoughts touched. He had to smile a bit. It was a different sensation from everyone else in the world. It didn't matter if everyone on Earth was in one room, thinking towards Ninten at the same time. He'd always be able to tell his girl apart from the others.
Ana's answer however, quickly drove the smile off his face. I… I don't know…
"What?!" Ninten shouted out loud, startling Lloyd from his own thoughts so badly that he dropped a bottle rocket down the crags below, where it detonated with the sound of a Ten-tentacled-Mook screaming. (Under normal circumstances, a sadistic chuckle would be in order… but this was serious.) This couldn't happen, it had never happened before. If Ana sensed you, she knew where you were and how strong you were. Period. If you were a psychic, she'd know your moves at a glance, know exactly how to counter them and how to blast you to pieces. Ana was, in fact, one of the most prodigal psychics on Earth. (Granted, there were maybe only three human psychics on the planet. That was a pretty big maybe though. At any rate, she was better at sensing than Ninten, who couldn't sense a psychic if it spit in his eye.)
Ana flinched at Ninten's sudden outburst, and a wave of guilt washed over him. "Oh, S-sorry Ana…" Ninten muttered sheepishly.
"Um… so, what do you mean, you don't know?" Ninten said hurriedly, getting back on track.
"I don't know," Ana replied simply, clearly shaken, "I… well, I can sense him! But… it's funny. Or terrifying."
"What is?"
"I don't know exactly, but I get the feeling that, well… Giegue is still in space."
Ninten blinked, feeling at least slightly relieved. "Oh, is that all? Then your range has gotten big-"
"No!" Ana said forcefully, stopping Ninten in his tracks. She shook all over, clenching her hands into tight fists at her side. "No… my range is the same as always, it's just… He's so far away that normally I shouldn't be able to feel it, even if he's coming fast. It's just that, even though he's farther away than the moon, his power is-"
There was a huge crash up above, as if the sky itself was shattering, and the whirring of a grand machine hummed over them. The sky turned black as the inky space from which it came from, black as death. The gargantuan gray spaceship slowly turned to face them, and in its depths two beady eyes sparkled at them.
Ninten's mouth went dry. Ana looked like she was about to faint. Lloyd gulped slowly, "H-Hey guys… d-do you think t-that I may have become a Ps-Ps-Psychic?" His eyes looked like they were going to bug out of his glasses, "B-Because even I can feel that thing!"
It was true. The power that resonated from within was so powerful even Ninten, no, Lloyd too could sense it no problem. Ninten doubted there was a person in the world who didn't feel a shiver go up their spine that day. But none more than these children at the summit. For when they looked up into Giegue's eyes behind the glass-like pod he now came down in, all they saw was the vastness of infinity.
Now, in the face of this, it was quite plain to all of them the reality of the situation they were in.
"Ninten! I am very grateful to your family," Giegue rumbled.
They had made a mistake.
Right off the bat, things were going terribly. Ninten didn't even have time to blink before Giegue's PSI hit, knocking him off his feet and destroying the ground where he once stood. In the corner of his vision he saw Ana hold her hands out in front of her, mouth moving frantically. He couldn't hear what was said, but a glowing blue barrier appeared in front of her and Lloyd just as the wall of force washed over them. There was a scream, and blue shards of the psychic barrier flew everywhere.
Ana! Lloyd! Ninten righted himself in the air to land on his hands and feet a while away, spurred by the thought of his friends' suffering. He gripped his bat with both hands and whipped around to face Giegue, who was still floating just off the edge of the cliff in his pod, his face a mask. Without thinking, Ninten found himself rushing at the alien, weapon at the ready. His eyes began to glow a neon blue as he concentrated, and he shouted, "PSI QuickUp!"
With those words, the PSI within him exploded, and he became a red blur, streaking past the quickly recovering Ana and Lloyd at speeds that would make a cheetah faint outright. He leapt off the cliff and, with a savage cry, brought his bat down on Giegue's pod with a mighty swing! As his bat connected, Psychic energy shot out from the impact like red lightning bolts all around. The Earth rumbled. Giegue's expression did not change.
But Ninten wasn't done yet! "PSI Offense Up!" he yelled, and his bat glowed a violent orange and hummed with the incredible power barely contained within. Ninten attacked in a rain of blows, his arms a blur as he whaled on Giegue with everything he had. Finally, he kicked off of the pod and back towards the cliff side of Mt. Itoi, letting loose one last burst of plain Psychokinesis at the pod, hoping to break at least something. He heard a satisfying thunk as the wall of energy rammed the glass of the capsule.
He touched down, a perfect ten point landing! He would've smiled to himself then with how cool he no doubt looked, if not for the fact that the power overhead hadn't faded one bit. He scowled at the pod above. All that and I didn't even make a scratch on it? He thought in disbelief.
Yet it was true. Neither Giegue nor the pod looked any worse for the wear. Next to Ninten, Ana and Lloyd were finally up. Ana clapped her hands together and Ninten felt the rush of power that flowed forth from the girl. "PSI LifeUp! Omega!" she cried.
A green aura flooded the area around the summit of the mountain, and Ninten's wounds closed up immediately. He blinked. He had barely noticed when he had gotten them. The mountain erupted into bloom as millions of flowers broke the ground at the summit, compelled by Ana's PSI power. In no time the battleground was as pungent as a perfume shop, and Ninten had to gag a little.
Yet Ana wasted no time after bringing everyone back to health. Immediately she prepared her next attack, eyes aglow with the energy she was building up. "PK…"
"Your great-grandparents, George and Maria, raised me," Giegue informed, as Ana completed her incantation.
"Fire Gamma!" Ana ended her spell, and the sky turned a brilliant red. A wave of crackling violet flame erupted from the ground, feeding off of all the flowers and growing ever brighter and hotter as it raced towards Giegue, finally leaping off the edge to consume him.
"But, George stole vital information from my planet that can be used to betray my people…" Giegue went on as the fire greedily engulfed him. As it surrounded his pod, it suddenly exploded and grew nearly ten times as humongous, and ten times as hot. It was as if the sun itself had come down to Earth to eradicate the alien, and even Ninten and Lloyd broke out into sweats despite being as far from the center of blast as they were. The fireworks continued in a cacophony of loud bangs and crackles as the bright violet lit up the sky, and Giegue was no longer visible amid the chorus of flames.
But then, there was the feeling. It was a feeling that washed over the children, like suddenly being drenched from head to toe in cold water. For a second, it was as if time itself had stopped, and the world had become a pale gray. Then, there was a horrible sound that made all the children cover their ears and shut their eyes together. It could only be described as the sound of a thousand glass panes being broken all at once. While screaming.
When they opened their eyes, they saw Giegue, floating just off the cliff as always, not a scratch on him or the pod. The Psychic flames had disappeared entirely, leaving not a trace behind, not even the heat of before. The sky was back to black. The peak was completely silent. Ninten gawked in disbelief as he saw that on the mountain, not even one flower had been burned, and his clothes weren't even wet from all the sweat he could've sworn he had been drenched in a moment ago! It was as if the fire had never existed in the first place.
All that was left was a horrible, red, evil feeling PSI that faded quickly into nothing before their very eyes. Ninten knew that a PSI move was the cause of this. He looked towards Ana.
"Ana… WHAT DID GIEGUE JUST DO?!" Ninten could not contain his panic. He had never seen such an attack before, he had never even imagined it was possible. Sure, PSI could manipulate the matter around them, could cause enough friction to make a fire or cool the air to create ice, even move electrons around to throw lightning. They could even fly and teleport thanks to PSI interacting with the world around them. But never, never had he seen a move that could erase something's existence from the world. Never had PSI ever completely broken the laws of nature, had destroyed that matter which Newton had stated could never be created or destroyed. PSI bent the rules, but it had never broken them.
Ana whispered her answer, and Ninten had to strain to hear it. "I… don't know. That's not… that's not a power that should even exist!" She started to hyperventilate, and Ninten knew what was coming. He ducked, and Lloyd behind him did the same.
"That's not supposed to exist!" Ana screamed, throwing her hands in front of her and letting her Psychic Power loose. It wasn't just her eyes this time, but her entire body pulsed violet PSI. "PK Beam Omega!"
There was a great flash, and violent roar like a dragon's rage. A great yellow laser shot forth from her hands, and engulfed Giegue and his pod. Even after hitting its target, the PK Beam kept going, and Ninten knew it would keep on going and going, even out into space, far after Ana had cut off her PSI flow. Far, far away, something was destined for complete, random annihilation. As it always was when Ana freaked out and unleashed her most deadly of moves, the PK Beam that could crush even the moon.
Giegue's voice swept over the children yet again. "And now, one of his descendants is obstructing our plans, and must be stopped! Ninten, I am talking about you!"
Unharmed again? Ninten just had time to think this before the sound of broken glass pierced his ears yet again. However, this time it was coupled with Ana's scream next to him, and he quickly jerked his head over to see what was wrong. Ana had fallen over screaming, clutching at her face frantically.
"My nobe! Mff node!" She screamed, as her hands glowed green with a LifeUp. Ninten could feel waves of pain coming off her, and knew at once that somehow, her nose had been broken. It… It couldn't be! Ninten hadn't even seen a single PSI wave come out of Giegue, and if he was doing a physical attack with PSI they should've at least have been able to see its glow before it happened, that was how PSI worked. Instead… it was instantaneous! There was no time to react at all, Giegue just spoke and it happened!
The pod exploded suddenly, jolting Ninten from his thoughts. Then it exploded again, and again, and once more. Lloyd gave a giant whoop of success. "Y-Y-Yeah! H-How do you l-like that you m-m-m-monster!" Lloyd taunted, already aiming another bottle rocket barrage at Giegue. Ninten was reminded of why he had let the boy onto his team in the first place. The guy was a master of explosives! Or at least a master of making things that hurt people. At any rate, it was nice to have him around.
"Lloyd!" Ninten called to him, "Nice shot!"
Lloyd smiled back at him, but just before he could launch another volley, the voice of Giegue came back, louder than ever.
"Foolish one, you cannot do a thing with your meager powers…" The boys' smiles died. Giegue was unharmed! Always unharmed!
"How can you hope to defeat an adult with mere children's toys?" Giegue spoke confidently, unperturbed in the face of everything they had thrown at him.
Ninten's resolve shook a little. How in the world could they stop this monster? But he shook his head to clear away the doubt that clouded his mind. No, they would win. They had to win!
"PSI OFFENSE UP!" he yelled, his bat cracking a bit from all the energy that kept pouring into it. He was gasping for breath at his point, but he stayed firm. This was Earth's last stand. He wasn't going to go out without a fight!
"Ninten! Don't do it!" Ana yelled, realizing that he was going in for another charge,
"His attacks are inexplicable! Until we understand them…"
"We don't have time to understand them!" Ninten snapped back, already making the dash towards Giegue, "All we have to know is, if he is allowed to get away…"
He jumped off the ledge, facing Giegue head on. "Earth will be destroyed!" He yelled with all the fury that bubbled up at the thought, and swung his bat down as he let it explode. Finally, the sound of broken glass was heard on the top of the Mt. Itoi, and Ninten's screaming grew louder and louder with each swing he brought down on Giegue's head. He was seeing red, and adrenaline was pumping through him. Nothing could stop him now!
He was stopped immediately.
Suddenly he froze, as invisible threads held him back. His vision cleared, and he saw that, even though the pod's glass was definitely broken, the hideous, gray face of Giegue was still undamaged. Giegue's blood-red PSI enveloped Ninten, smothered him in it.
He could feel Giegue's breath on his face as the alien spoke again. "Ninten."
Ninten closed his eyes and braced himself. One of the alien's bony hands ran down the side of Ninten's face, and he blinked them open. It was surprisingly soft.
"You alone. I may save you. Just you alone…" Giegue laughed, actually laughed. It was a pleasant thing to hear, it almost reminded Ninten of Ana's, as scarce few times as he had heard that. Ninten's shoulders visibly relaxed. In the distance he could dimly hear his friend's shouting at something. But at what? Ninten didn't know. Why had he come here again?
"Come. Board our Mother Ship with me," Giegue gestured towards the Mother Ship behind him. Ninten stared sleepily into the doorway behind, at the darkness of the interior. Briefly, he thought of what it would be like, to live there, to fly through space…
"Ninten!"
Ana's PSI fueled scream came through loud and clear, and Ninten was snapped back to his senses. He erected a barrier in his mind immediately, gratefully welcoming his free consciousness back. He had almost let Giegue hypnotize him! Him! Ninten!
He found strength in his limbs once again, and kicked off of Giegue's face back onto the mountain, and without a pause he threw his baseball bat square into Giegue's eye. He grasped at his chest, panting heavily and sweating all over.
"Oh man…" he moaned, falling to one knee, "I think my asthma's acting up again…"
Ana dropped down beside him. Ninten saw there were tears in her eyes. "Ninten, you didn't actually think…"
"It was some really powerful mojo," Ninten said, getting up with some effort. "It was hard to get out of, but I did in the end. You don't have to worry," he assured her.
He looked up at Giegue yet again, and saw, unexpectedly, a hint of surprise on Giegue's face. Of course the bat hadn't really hit him, Giegue was a powerful Psychic, halting a bat hurled at him was far from an ordeal. But nonetheless he looked… wounded. He didn't talk for the longest time, and Mt. Itoiwas quiet. Ninten scarcely realized he was holding his breath, waiting for Giegue's next move.
Finally, the alien spoke once more. "…Then fall into a long sleep with your 'friends' and the other ugly Earth People."
Time seemed to freeze, and the earsplitting sound of a million windows shattering was heard once again. And suddenly, everyone on Earth, no, everything on Earth cried out in agony. Suddenly, the children could no longer support themselves, and fell down to the earth writhing in pain. Everything hurt. Ninten could tell in a moment that, in that very instant, Giegue had broken every single bone in his body. Judging by the screams of his friends, it was the same for them too. The birds above fell from the sky wailing. The fish in the lake came floating to the surface. Doctors around the world applied for bigger wallets.
Every bone on Earth had been broken all at once.
Then, just as suddenly as it started, it ended. There was a sound of breaking glass again, and the pain stopped. Ninten opened his eyes to find that everything was still in place, and he shivered. It was gone. Just like the PK Fire, gone.
Giegue hovered above him, cruelty glinting in his black eyes, and he lazily raised a hand towards Ninten.
Ninten closed his eyes, waiting for the blow to come.
And Ana began singing.