Chapter 2: A Mysterious Visitor
Reluctantly inviting Pokey inside to wait in their living room, Ness ran back upstairs and threw on the same outfit as before. This time, wary of an unfriendly encounter, he also grabbed the first weapon he could find: a wooden baseball bat he'd used when playing on his middle school's team the year before. It had a long crack down the middle from a game-winning home run, to date his proudest achievement. Sentimental value aside, he'd need a new bat soon; this one looked like it would break under too much force.
Tracy met him in the hallway, holding something out to him. It was a cookie, wrapped in tin foil. Where she'd been hiding it beforehand, he didn't care to ask.
"You're going back out again, aren't you? Take this in case you get hungry," she said with a sweet smile.
Grinning and ruffling her hair, he accepted the cookie and put it into his pocket.
"Thanks, Sis. I'm sure this won't take long. Go back to bed, it's late."
"Don't get eaten by the Demogorgon!" she called as he walked down the stairs. Ness chuckled and rolled his eyes.
"Finally! I thought you fell asleep up there!"
His good mood was vaporized upon seeing Pokey again, lounging on their futon in front of the TV. He jumped to his feet- with a noticeable "thud" against the carpet- and strolled over to Ness's side.
"Great, let's blow this popsicle stand! Why don't you say goodbye to your mom first, huh buddy?"
His mother ignored Pokey and pointed toward the corner of their kitchen.
"I know he's unreliable, but I think you should bring King with you. He might be able to help you find Picky."
Resembling a large blob of white fur, their lazy sheepdog was fast asleep. He seemed to sense that he was needed and dragged himself to his feet. King trotted over to them with a resigned huff.
"Be careful out there," Ness's mother said as they headed toward the door. "I know you can handle yourself, I just can't help but worry."
"I'll be fine," he reassured her as Pokey and King filed out behind him. All was quiet outside, with the police sirens no longer blaring. The meteorite's glow could still be seen even from the bottom of the hill.
"Let's do this!" his neighbor cheered. "You take the lead, and I'll follow at a safe distance."
Ness muttered a few foul words to himself but clutched the bat in one hand, proceeding up the path toward the top. If they were going to search for Picky, the last place he was would be a good start. King remained by his side, sniffing at the air but not seeming to find the scent.
"Man, I hope he's okay…"
"Ugh, where is he? PIIIICKYYYYY?!" Pokey shouted after barely two minutes of searching. No reply came, at least not until something rustled in the bushes behind them.
"Hm? Someone there?"
Ness started toward it with his bat held close. He didn't feel right about this; if it was Picky then surely he would have said something. King was on edge too, growling at the bush. Pokey, on the other hand, seemed to have no doubts whatsoever and stomped up to it.
"Get out of there, you moron! We're gonna be in trouble if Mom and Dad get home before us!"
"Pokey, hold on a second-"
The bush shook again, and a brown-colored blur shot out of it and knocked him to the ground, snarling. It was another dog, evidently a stray due to its messy and faded fur. Pokey scrambled away from it with a squeal, only for it to turn its attention on Ness. Slightly trembling at the feral look in its eyes, he raised his bat to try and scare it off.
No… not just feral. There was something about the way it growled and lumbered toward him that indicated the dog was acting on more than just defensive instinct. It had a piercing, sinister gaze that was locked directly on Ness in a way that didn't make sense to him.
With a bark that almost sounded like a roar, the wild animal bared its teeth and lunged for him. King intercepted it, ramming into the other dog's side and knocking it away. The two snapped and swiped at one another for a few seconds, with the stray dog gaining the upper hand as it managed to force King to fall down. Ness took the opportunity to close the distance and swung his bat, striking the aggressor on the side. It let go of King but focused on him immediately afterwards. Another swing connected to the top of its head, and it dropped to the ground.
Ness's arms were shaking even more by then, but he stood his ground in case the stray dog decided it wanted to attack again. He'd held back on his swings, not wanting to risk killing the animal but rather scare it off. King, luckily, didn't seem to have suffered more than a few scratches and rejoined him.
Sure enough, the dog was on its feet again in seconds. It looked around in a daze, and Ness noticed that the hostile look in its eyes had vanished. He watched as it moseyed off into the woods again, leaving them alone.
"I-is it gone?" Pokey whimpered. "Why'd it do that?"
King was still tense and continued to stare in its direction for a while. Ness gave him a pat on the head before he kept walking up the trail, beckoning for his two companions to follow.
"I don't know. But we'd better get going, there might be more of them."
His prediction was incorrect, as there weren't any more dogs in sight. There were, however, crows circling overhead. The birds perched on tree branches lining the path leering down at Ness as if daring him to get closer. He held his bat up as he continued forwards, and like he'd feared the crows swooped down at the trio.
Pokey's frightened shrieks came from behind him, but he was occupied with his own crow for the moment. Strangely, as it flitted around before his face he noticed that it was wearing what looked like a pair of pointed sunglasses above its beak. From what he could see, the others had the same accessory.
"What's the matter with the animals out here?!"
The crow dodged a swing of his bat and reared backwards, letting out a caw that sounded more like smug laughter. It flew straight at Ness again, only to be interrupted by King who snatched it out of the air. He snarled and shook the bird as it squawked in panic. The others, noticing its plight, ganged up on King instead. They pecked and scratched at him from all sides while he whimpered and tried to fend them off. Ness, like before, ran to his dog's aid and took a few careful swings. Crows were knocked in every direction, sailing into the trees with some even dropping feathers as they went. Soon there were none left, the rest having gone through the same strange shift in attitude as the stray dog from before. It was as if Ness was literally knocking sense into them.
An odd feeling raced through his head all of a sudden. He felt cold, then feverish, then finally a brief chill passed from his head down to the rest of his body. The sensation was over just as soon as it had come, leaving a faint voice in its wake. It was Ness's own voice, whispering a strange phrase into his head: "PSI Lifeup: Alpha." He didn't have any clue where it had come from or what it meant. King was licking his wounds to the side, bringing his attention back to the moment at hand.
"Thanks for the help, boy," he said as he inspected his dog. The crows had given him several scratches and cuts, but nothing too serious.
(Don't mention it.)
The voice was male and deep in pitch, but didn't come from any discernible source. It echoed in Ness's head as clear as could be despite him not knowing who had said it.
(You can pay me back by giving me some of your steak at dinner.)
Slowly, his eyes drifted back down to King, who was giving him a blank stare with his tongue slightly hanging out.
"Did… did you say that…?"
His eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and he wondered if he was losing his mind. There was no way he'd been hearing things; the voice was too clear. His dog had just telepathically communicated with him. Whether King secretly had magic powers or he himself did, Ness wasn't sure. He didn't have much time to think about it, however, as Pokey was speaking up again.
"T-the crows are gone? Uh… of course they are! I must've scared 'em off! Ha! You owe me one, Ness."
(Can I bite him? Please?)
King's voice rang in his head again, causing him to flinch. Not wanting his neighbor to think he was crazy- he didn't need another reason to inflate his ego- Ness didn't say anything back and just gave King a rub on his side.
"I think we're near the top of the hill," he said. "Let's go, Picky must be around here somewhere."
(I haven't smelled him yet. It's hard to smell anything when his brother's around.)
Though he hadn't fully gotten over the shock that King could speak in some fashion, Ness smirked and gave him a nod in agreement.
The only other wild animal they encountered for the remainder of the walk was a snake which attempted to wrap itself around whoever it could find. "Attempted" was the operative word; it was so small that even Pokey sent it packing with a terrified kick. Given his relief at not having to fight another murder of crows, Ness didn't mind his neighbor's gloating over the minor victory. They passed by Lier X. Agerate's house (thankfully he had gone back inside) and soon enough were walking up the final stretch of the hill toward where the meteorite had landed.
Ness could feel the heat even before it came into view. An orange, almost perfectly spherical object was half buried in the dirt, still emitting a great deal of light. The way it had landed was unusual, as nothing else around it appeared to have been damaged. No ashes or fires, or even displaced dirt could be seen in the vicinity. It looked more like it had been a controlled landing than a crash. Staring at the meteorite gave Ness a chill of apprehension, which was evidently shared by King.
(Awooof! If I'd known this would be so scary, I wouldn't have come at all! I'm out of here!)
Before Ness could stop him, his dog had ran down the hill back toward his house. He turned back toward the meteorite, confident that King would make it home safely.
"This is creepier than I thought…" Pokey whispered. "Can we go now?"
"You're the one who wanted to find Picky, we're not going anywhere," he snapped. "Come on, he might still be around here."
The two split up to search around the hilltop, though it didn't take long for Ness to hear the faint sound of snoring. He checked behind the tree he'd heard it from and saw a small boy curled up in a ball, looking at peace despite being so close to the meteorite.
"Picky's over here!" he called, giving the boy a gentle shake. He had the same head of blond hair as his brother, and even the same style of a bowl cut partially covering his eyes. Picky wore a simple black shirt and light blue pants, both of which had a bit of dirt on them from where he'd been sleeping.
"Hm…? Oh, hey Ness," he yawned, sitting up. "What're you doing here?"
"THERE you are!" Pokey yelled as he stomped over. "We've been lookin' forever, where've you been?"
"You have?" Picky said. "You're the one who got scared and ran away when we heard the Sharks were out. I bet you didn't even realize you left me behind until you got back home."
Ness shot Pokey a glare, to which he gave a nervous laugh. Of course he'd run off in fear, that made far more sense than the police kidnapping his brother.
"Well, I'm glad you're okay," Picky continued. "We should probably get home, Mom and Dad must be worried sick about us. Sometimes I wonder which of us the big brother really is…"
Satisfied that they'd succeeded, Ness turned to begin the walk down the hill when Pokey called for them to stop. Irritated, he turned to face him.
"What's the matter?"
"Don't you hear it?" he replied. "It's a sort of buzzing sound, like a bee…"
Now that Pokey mentioned it, Ness could in fact hear something buzzing nearby. He didn't understand the significance until he realized it was coming from the meteorite, which was beginning to glow even brighter.
"W-whoa! Is it gonna explode?!"
A beam of yellow light erupted from the top and shot high into the air, causing the three boys to recoil and cover their eyes.
"Ngh- what is that?" Pokey yelled over the buzz, which had grown deafening by that point.
Something was emerging from the meteorite, floating in midair before them. As the light finally faded, Ness could see that it was some kind of insect. It resembled a beetle, with a light brown shell and a long horn coming off the front of its head. The bug rotated in midair, as if turning to look at each of them.
"A bee I am… not," it said aloud. Its voice was distinctly male, though a bit garbled and nasal-sounding.
"W-what is it?! Is it an alien?! Ness, hit it with your bat!" Pokey shrieked, stepping away from the bug.
"I am not your enemy," he continued with an urgent tone in his voice. "You may call me Buzz Buzz, and technically I am also not an alien. I'm from ten years in the future, and where I come from… all is devastation."
Ness stared transfixed at the insect, which was now looking directly at him.
"You… and your red cap… did your friend say your name is Ness?"
He nodded without a word.
"Oh man, I bet it's gonna try to abduct us and eat our brains-"
"Shut up, Pokey!" Picky hissed. "I think he just wants to talk."
"I wish no harm on any of you," Buzz Buzz insisted. "This world is in grave danger, and I believe you, Ness, are the secret to its salvation. I will tell you more soon, but for now we must find shelter. This place is unsafe."
Though he was completely overwhelmed by how suddenly the address had come, Ness didn't have time to even begin processing it. A gray light flashed before them, leaving behind a tall figure that blocked the path down the hill. It was like nothing he'd ever seen, having a sleek gray body with slim legs and tentacle-looking arms ending in sharp points, resting on its hips as if to sass them. Its face- if it could even be called that- was little more than a black visor, behind which nothing could be seen. A black insignia was visible on the front of its chest.
"There you are… it has been a long time, Buzz Buzz," the towering thing said in a whirring, robotic voice. "You've evaded Master Giygas's grasp for too long, and now your luck has run out. You are no hero, merely a fugitive. This is where you meet your end… under my boot like the useless bug you are!"
