Connor: Here we are with another chapter, even if this one's a little later in the day. But if you've been reading Ceres, you're probably used to this. :P

DarkFoxKit: Were you busy today, Connor?

Connor: Not particularly. What about you?

DarkFoxKit: Mostly just went out to eat some pizza. Heh, gotta love these simple days. ^^ Anyways, shall we go ahead and get to the reviews?

That one guy named me: Connor: Yep, as you may know the English translation of Mother states that the game takes place in rural America, so we're using that interpretation. You might see more characters from Mother/EB Beginnings pop up later…

A Polar Bear: DarkFoxKit: Gee, thanks. Sounds like someone has complete faith in your writing, Connor. -_-'

I usually enjoy character writing, though I'm the type of writer who prefers to write for one character and have them react to the others around them. I find it easier to do that way, so even if there's a lot of different characters I don't feel too overwhelmed. Now I'm not sure if you're talking about my or Connor's writing style here, but I'm going to assume you're mostly talking about Connor's style.

Connor: He did mention both of us, you know. :P I naturally tend to write way more characters than I need, so this actually feels a little tame to me. But you're right; it's hard to give all of the characters their time in the spotlight while keeping the overall story interesting. A while back, I even noticed that you tend to focus on only a few characters and tried that approach for myself… It didn't last long haha. And I think the part about teenagers making a lot of sense in this story applies to you too, Fox. :) Lucas is a pretty sensible guy. I totally get what you're saying, and I've tried to write characters in the past who don't stand on high moral ground and are less mature, but it hardly ever stays that way since I don't know too many people like that to base my characters off of. Still, I can promise that there will be moral conflicts between the characters; they just might be a bit more… eloquent than usual. Thanks for the support and I hope that you continue to enjoy this story! :)

Ninten64: DarkFoxKit: It was pretty obvious how and why Ness was going to be involved since he's the hero of the world from Eagleland, Lucas on the other hand, we had to get a little more creative with since he's the supposed nobody in the story. And yes, both boys met with Fuel before, it doesn't necessarily mean they'll trust each other though.

Darude Dogestorm: Connor: Thanks! :) Kumatora and Ninten won't be as pivotal as some of the other characters, but you can definitely look for them to make appearances.

Guest: DarkFoxKit: Um… Thank you for reading and reviewing this story, but did you really have to ask me to update another story of mine that isn't relevant to this at all?

Chapter 5: Planning

Eagleland: Twoson

"Hey!" Ness said, knocking on the door to Paula's house. "I have a couple new friends for you to meet!"

"You know," came a voice from the other side of the door, "You're lucky that I'm actually here."

The door opened, revealing Paula's disapproving face.

"Honestly," she said. "What if my parents answered the door?"

"Is that the first impression you want to make on your new friends?" Ness asked. "You might convince them that you're painfully serious all the time."

Paula's expression didn't change.

"This is Frank Fly and this is Fuel," Ness said. "We're part of a special squad together."

"Yeah, Pirkle told me," Paula said. "Because I actually answer the phone when it rings."

"I blame Tracy," Ness said. "I'm usually out, so she answers the phone and forgets to tell me."

"I do what?" Tracy said, walking up to the front door. "And who are these people? That's Frank, right?"

"I'm Fuel," the Nowhere Islander said. "And we're on a special squad with your brother."

"I wish that I could fight with Ness," Tracy said. "Although, I'm not serious enough to make it through any kind of training. Thank God that I'm White and middle class."

Ness looked at Fuel, expecting him to flinch or glare, but the islander cracked a smirk.

"At least you know it," Fuel said. "Still, war is a dangerous business. I don't think you'd want to get tangled up in it."

"I might end up a casualty whether or not I'm a soldier," Tracy said. "The Americans have enough bombs to cover the entire Atlantic Ocean with explosions."

"That's not a thing that little girls should say so flippantly," Frank said, playing with a knife.

"Uh… Tracy," Ness said. "I need to talk to you and mom about something. You know how we talked about Pirkle hiding you? He pointed out that I always advocated for treating everyone the same, so to hide you and mom away as a special request would kind of… um…"

"Violate the entire moral premise of every argument you've ever used against Pirkle?"

Ness cringed. Tracy hit the mark head on.

"Mom guessed that you would come back here with something like that. She knows you better than you think, bro. Yeah, we're fine hiding ourselves. We'll let you in on the details once we're done with our plans."

Ness breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Tracy."

"Don't thank me. Mom's the one who convinced me that your morals are worth more than a dollar."

"Well, tell her thanks when you see her," Ness said. "Where is she, by the way?"

"Buying stuff. We're both dying our hair to make ourselves less identifiable." Tracy cocked her head. "Identifiable. That sounds like it shouldn't be a word. Just say it, Ness. It sounds wrong."

"I've already heard you say it twice," Ness said. Turning to Paula, "Pirkle said that you would have the details of our mission."

"Right," Paula said. "Come on in. You're lucky that our preschool isn't in session. You'd both reduce those poor kids to tears."

"Us?" Fuel said. "Why?"

"Maybe because you have a rifle strapped to your back?" Tracy said. "Just a thought."

"Oh," Fuel said. "Hey Ness, does your sister always have to make everyone else feel inferior?"

"Always?" Ness said, pretending to contemplate the question. "I want say that's a stretch, but it really isn't."

Tracy snorted.

"I have to speak bluntly or else my dear brother will hog all the attention with his fame," she said. "Speaking of which, are you dating Paula yet?"

"Tracy…" Ness said. "There is no 'yet.' No, I'm not dating Paula."

"So you're that opposed to the idea?" Paula asked, feigning surprise. "Do you hate me that much?" She broke down into clearly fake tears. "You're terrible, Ness!"

"You two are bad influences on each other," Ness said. "Now may we come in and get down to business?"

"Sure," Paula said, dropping her facade. "We would never want to waste valuable time, after all."

She walked further into the house, beckoning for Ness' group to follow.

"This," Fuel said, "Was not what I expected from my first encounter with two of the four legendary heroes."

After the four members of Pirkle's squad settled down in the second floor of Paula's house, she introduced the mission to them.

"For some reason," she said. "The Pentagon doesn't have all of the data about American PSI-users."

"You mean we broke in and didn't find anything?" Frank asked.

"Wait, slow down here," Fuel said. "What's a pentagon? Isn't that a shape?"

"Ah, right," Paula said. "The Pentagon is the center of American military intelligence, but we've decoded reports saying that people are frustrated how little information they have about their own PSI unit. I guess Ninten's doing a pretty good job of keeping his PSI-users from becoming glorified soldiers."

Which is what we are, Ness thought.

"We know little about the American PSI-users," Paula said. "How many there are, how well they're equipped, what weapons they have… you know, everything that we need to determine how much of a threat they are. We also don't know how well the government controls them."

"Pirkle did mention that we would be gathering information," Fuel said. "So is that what we do? Sneak in and grab files from where the PSI-users are?"

"Files would be nice," Paula said. "But we have no idea where they would be. For now, our mission is to study the PSI users and record our impressions. Are they a minor add-on to the American army, or will they form the backbone of an assault?"

Ness shuddered. Dealing with PSI-users was bad enough on its own, but a military strategy that used PSI as a key form of attack or defense… That opened up more possibilities than Ness could imagine. Someone who specialized in more supportive PSI like Ness himself could turn a squad of regular soldiers into killing machines.

"Scared already?" Frank asked, clapping Ness on the back.

"If the Americans know how to enhance their military with the right PSI," Ness said, "We've basically lost the war already."

"I don't relish the opportunity of taking on such an army myself," Paula said. "It won't matter if they have nukes or not if they harness PSI effectively."

"So the rumors about the Americans going after nuclear fusion technology," Frank said, stroking his chin. "They're true?"

"You lost me again," Fuel said, gritting his teeth. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Paula said. "Ness probably doesn't know what nuclear fusion is, and he has no excuse since I explained it to him earlier."

"That's not true!" Ness protested. "Nuclear fusion is… uh… a way to make even bigger bombs. Right, Paula?"

"...Basically. It can be used to make bombs far more destructive than the ones outlawed by the Fourside Convention. Well, theoretically. Nobody's managed to do it yet."

"That's a relief," Fuel said.

"Indeed. Although, I believe Pirkle has some of our scientists working on it as well. He figures that if we both gain hydrogen bombs then we'll be able to force a stalemate."

"Really," Frank said. "Can't say I blame him."

"Although that's confidential information," Paula said. "So obviously, you didn't hear it, and you absolutely did not hear it from me."

"Let's try to get back on track," Ness said. "So how are we going to get the information from the American PSI unit? Their training facility is located in Merrysville, right?"

Paula nodded.

"We'll stick out like a sore thumb," she said. "Four new arrivals with Eagleish accents? Although you sound like you come from the Nowhere Islands, Fuel."

"I do," Fuel said. "But I don't think that really helps."

"I can do an American accent," Ness said. "See? It's easy. I just put emphasis on different parts of words."

"Right," Paula said. "That's where Ness comes in. By most accounts, I should be the one leading the infiltration. I have PSI Magnet, which means that I can detect other PSI-users. I'm probably better at stealth than Ness is, and I'll be able to recognize data files more easily. But Ness can talk his way into any situation."

"And out of them, too," Ness said. "My words shall never fail me!"

"Please stop talking in that American accent," Paula said. "You'll drive me insane."

"I think that means switching to a southern American accent," Ness said, performing the switch halfway through the sentence.

"Good God, please stop!" Paula said. "Now, as I was saying… Ness will probably want some backup, so he can go with Fuel. I'm counting on you to bluff your way through this entire mission like you always do. Fuel," she turned to face him. "Ness is a persuasive speaker, but he's also an idiot. If he's starting to tie a proverbial noose around his neck, you need to get him out of there even if it means shooting him in the foot. All right?"

"Yes ma'am," Fuel said with a smirk. "I'll try to rein him back."

"Good," Paula said. "Because if he gets captured or goes missing, this entire mission falls to pieces. He's the only one who can teleport us out there."

"Yeah," Ness said. "We should bring Poo along for backup."

"Dalaam is neutral in this war," Paula said. "So you'll have to do, despite your vast inferiority."

"That's actually rude," Ness said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I demand an apology."

"I'm sorry for bursting your bubble," Paula said. "Now that we got that over with, back to the other part of the mission."

"Wait a second," Ness said. "You can't possibly count that as an apology!"

"Frank and I will investigate a nearby factory that belongs to a man named Duncan. He's making bombs and we want to know the detailst. Maybe we could take a page out of his book and improve our own weapons. Frank knows a surprising amount about explosives, and I'll steer us clear of any PSI users. Does that sound good to everyone?"

"No," Ness said. "I still haven't received a legitimate apology yet."

"Does that sound good to everyone else?" Paula amended.

Fuel and Teddy nodded.

"Hey Paula," Ness said. "Serious issue. If I have to infiltrate their training grounds, I'll need to look different. I'm thinking about using the hair dye that my mom's out getting."

"Sounds good," Paula said.

"Also, do you have a knife or something?"

"What for?"

"I want to stab myself and heal it most of the way so that I get a scar," Ness said. "Everyone knows that the hero Ness doesn't have scars on his face, right? Easy way to throw people off my scent."

"Please tell me you're joking," Paula said.

"I'm serious. The fate of Eagleland could be in our hands, and it could depend on whether or not anyone finds out who I am. Let me give myself a couple scars, Paula."

"You're an idiot."

"You're the real idiot if you would rather put our whole plan at a greater risk just because you don't like the idea of me hurting myself.."

"I… guess that you're right," Paula said. "Just don't spill blood everywhere. Otherwise, I'll drag your ass over here to clean it up yourself."

"Phew," Ness said, faking a sigh. "For a second, I thought that you were actually worried about my well-being. Wouldn't that be something special?"

"You're the worst."

"And you're not acting any better. Now, who wants to watch me stab myself with a knife?"

The entire process of dying his hair and giving himself scars took longer than Ness expected. After some experimentation and failed run, Ness eventually managed to dye his hair blond after trimming it down significantly. Additionally, he gave himself a massive scar across his left cheek and a smaller one across the bridge of his nose. His mom also came back with eyedrops that could change the color of his eyes, and Ness used them to turn his irises bright blue.

"Ah," Ness said, looking at himself in the mirror. "I hardly recognize myself. I just need a cool outfit…"

"What if you wore an eyepatch or something?" Fuel asked.

"Are you serious?" Ness asked, looking at Fuel as if he were crazy. "That is… the greatest idea I've ever heard in my life! Hey Paula! You dressed up as a pirate once for a school skit, right? Can I borrow your eyepatch?"

After minutes of arguing, Paula eventually gave up and got Ness a cheap eyepatch that was probably worth a couple dollars at most.

"Never thought the fate of our country would hinge on a plastic prop," Ness said, adjusting his eyepatch in the mirror.

"It's already dark," Fuel said. "Should we still teleport to Merrysville and carry out our plan?"

"Yeah, let's go!" Ness said. "We'll be fine. I can use the night to my advantage, since I'm as stealthy as a wolverine."

"As stealthy as…" Paula trailed off, frowning at Ness. "What?"

"It's an inside joke," Ness said. "Now let's hurry over to Merrysville before anyone makes a dumb blonde joke referencing my new hair color."

America: Plains

Lucas felt cold when Ninten told him he was there to recruit him for the war, because of his PSI.

"Excuse me," Flint said. "But my son and I were leaving the city because we wanted to stay out of this war as much as possible. I thank you for saving our lives, but neither of us want to be involved with this war."

"Well too bad," Kumatora said. "It doesn't matter where you go; you'll get involved with some of the bombing or gunfire anyways. And if your plan was to stay out here and live in the wild, well you wouldn't live very long either, considering there are many deadly chimeras out here, some even stronger than that Mecha Drago you just fought with."

"As much as I hate to admit it, Kumatora's right," Ninten said. "I'd rather not get involved in this war myself either, but I wasn't given much of a choice. It's such a shame, especially since I'd have to go up against the hero of the world himself."

"You mean Ness? The one who defeated that Giygas fellow?" Kumatora asked.

Ninten nodded.

Kumatora rolled her eyes, "Need I remind you who defeated that alien douchebag before Ness even knew about the world outside of his own house?"

"To be fair we only sung a lullaby to send him running. A lot of good that did since he returned and almost destroyed everyone," Ninten sighed. "But we're not here to talk about that."

Lucas swallowed as he felt his heart beating against his chest, what was he going to do? He was not a fighter and he wanted nothing to do with this war. He and his father came to America to live peacefully, not get involved with war.

"First, I'd like to hear a little more about you," Ninten said. "You two don't look like Americans."

"Oh, so because I'm a dog I'm not included in the conversation?" Boney grumbled.

Kumatora smirked a bit at the dog before she said, "Nah, it's just because you're a dog you're not included in politics."

"How rude! … What's politics?" Boney tilted his head, making Kumatora laugh.

Lucas almost smiled at the little interaction between Boney and Kumatora, but he felt too uneasy.

"We came from Nowhere Islands about a week and a day ago," Flint answered. "We came here in hopes of escaping the Pigmask's fascism and live peacefully here, but now I see that it was a mistake. Everywhere we go we're always going to get pulled into strife."

"So you're from Nowhere Islands?" Ninten looked at them. "I'm surprised, I had thought that Kumatora was the only one from Nowhere Islands who could use PSI."

Lucas looked up at Kumatora, surprised himself.

"Yup, I came from Nowhere Islands just like you!" Kumatora smiled. "It's pretty darn small once you've seen the world outside of it."

"Well…" Flint hesitated. "If you must know our names, I'm Flint."

"... Lucas," Lucas introduced himself.

"I've been recently given the name Boney!" Boney barked proudly.

"Boney? Well I guess that's fitting seeing how bony you are," Kumatora said.

"Shut it you! I'll get more meat on these bones one day!" Boney snapped.

"Now, now, Kumatora, let's not play with the dog when we have business to attend to," Ninten said with a small smile before turning his attention back to Flint and Lucas. "Now listen, please… I know this is asking for much, especially since this isn't even your homeland, but the way you three handled yourselves against that Mecha Drago makes you invaluable soldiers in my eyes. I also know Nowhere Islanders have it much harder out here than the locals do. I can help with that, but you'll have to join the army."

Flint frowned at this. Lucas only looked down, not knowing what to do.

"What do you mean by 'help'?" Flint asked skeptically.

"If it's money, food and shelter you need, I can easily provide that," Ninten said. "I was provided with an extensive amount of cash during my… little journey back in the day and still have plenty of it left over. But I have to use that money now in order to get the soldiers we need."

Flint was still hesitant, "I don't know… we do need that, but to join in on a war we have no interest in…?"

Lucas looked up as he thought about the offer. Ninten was right; they did need money and shelter right now, and who knew how long they could last with the food they have now. And Kumatora had a good point she brought up earlier; no matter where they run, they'd still be in the middle of the war. It was just a matter of being an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire or a soldier nobly fighting in the war. Between the two, Lucas did prefer not to fight but he also couldn't deny the benefits of joining the soldiers. Maybe he wouldn't have to fight and just sit on the sidelines, after all, Ninten and Kumatora seem like pretty strong PSI users already, why would they need him for?

"We'll do it," he said.

Everyone looked at him in shock.

"Lucas? Are you sure? This is war we're talking about you know," Flint warned. "Once we join, we can't turn back."

"I-I know, Dad…" Lucas said. "But… it is as Kumatora said… we'll get caught up in the war whether we join them or not. Maybe it's better to stand against the bombers rather than running and getting bombed, right? And Ninten is right too… we do need the money he's offering to us."

Flint tilted his hat before he sighed, "... You're right, Lucas. We probably wouldn't be much better off if we refused anyways."

"Hey! You better not leave me behind!" Boney barked.

"So you're all in?" Ninten asked to be sure.

"Yeah, it's not like our other options are any better," Flint said.

Lucas just gave a quiet nod.

"Excellent!" Kumatora smiled. "We can take you straight to Merryville. There's a military center there that whip up the soldiers into shape, and an animal trainer who trains dogs like your little… Boney here to be a vicious killing machine."

Lucas frowned, he didn't like the sound of that.

"Don't worry, they're only like that to the enemy, he'll still be the lovable dog you know him otherwise," Kumatora reassured the boy.

"Lucas, you'll be training under me and Kumatora, to help with your PSI training," Ninten said.

Lucas bit his lip, he really didn't want to use his PSI, but he had expected this.

"Are we going to take the train there?" Flint asked.

"Heh… who needs a train when you can teleport?" Ninten smirked.

"Wait, what?" Flint frowned.

"Just try not to get too sick," Ninten said before he took Lucas and Flint's hands.

Kumatora grabbed Boney before holding onto Ninten.

"Teleport!"

And the world around them deteriorated.

Lucas couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he remembered when they first arrived in Merryville after Ninten teleported. It was quieter than Ellay, not as big or messy. The people here didn't seem as cruel as the people in Ellay, but they were a little high strung. Then again with war on the horizon he couldn't really blame them. Flint and Boney had to go their separate ways once they reached the military camp. Lucas just hoped they'll be okay and nothing between them will change after this whole mess.

Lucas was taken in by Kumatora and Ninten. They had asked what kind of PSI he could use, and he told them he could use Lifeup, Shield, Offense Up, Defense Up and PK Love.

"So you're an assist type PSI user," Ninten said. "That's like me actually."

"I'm more of an offense type," Kumatora said. "So mine usually involve elemental PSI and lowering the enemy's buffs."

Lucas could've sworn he saw something in Kumatora's eyes when he mentioned his PK Love, but he couldn't tell. Maybe he's just being paranoid.

"Alright, let's begin. First we'll teach you how to better control your PSI," Ninten said. "The last thing you need is for it to activate when you're seriously stressed, that would waste precious energy."

Lucas honestly didn't want anything to do with his PSI, nor did he want to fight, but he still did what they told him because he didn't want to disappoint them and get in trouble. He's made his bed, now he has to sleep in it. Lucas still prayed that he wouldn't be too important for this war, and maybe they'll let him stay out of it due to his young age.

By the time Ninten finally said today's training was over, it was already dark outside. Lucas was to sleep in an empty room for the time being since he didn't have a place to stay in. Lucas was grateful nonetheless, as uncomfortable as the cot he was laying on was, it was still better than the nasty bed in the apartment back in Ellay.

However, Lucas had trouble sleeping. He was too uneasy with the whole war thing, and he was using his PSI far more than he was comfortable with. Lucas knew he had agreed to it from the moment he signed on as a soldier, but actually doing it in practice was bothering him way more than it should. It reminded him too much of when those people back on Nowhere Islands wanted to train and use him to awaken the Dragon.

Lucas sat up from his cot and wondered if his dad and Boney were doing okay. Maybe he could use this time to take a stroll around Merryville since he couldn't sleep anyways. The blond haired boy just hoped that he didn't end up running into another gang and have a repeat of what happened back in Ellay. Lucas went outside of the room he was in and took in the scent of fresh air, this city was far cleaner than Ellay was. He stretched out a bit before he started walking.

Lucas saw different types of buildings and people walking around. The young boy was walking by a building that had a sign that said: Tinkle Elementary School. The boy knew what school was, but he's never been to one as Tazmily never had a need for such a thing. Lucas wondered why people needed to hire someone to teach a room full of other people's kids how to read, write and become little office employees. It just seemed like a waste of time and hard on the adult needing to teach all those kids at once like that. Parents should be teaching their children, not someone who has no real connection to these kids.

While Lucas was lost in thought, he almost missed a hooded person passing him by. The hooded person looked no taller than he was, but he couldn't really see their face. The person stood beside him as if studying the school. Lucas blinked at him, at least he assumed it was a him. The hooded person gave a sad sigh before shaking his head and started walking away. Lucas watched him go in silence and couldn't help but wonder if he should've said something.