Here's another chapter for you guys! This one is dedicated to Satoru Iwata. RIP, an awesome game developer.
"So through that tunnel?" Jeff asked, pointing towards a dark, gaping hole in the nearby hill.
"Yes, through there is bright light and mean guy. He wants power from spot. Maybe you can take?" The Mr. Saturn replied, raising his eyebrows.
Ness leaned in. "Power and a bright light, huh? Sounds like one of the sanctuaries."
"I would assume so," Paula joined in. "This is number three, then."
Jeff's face contorted a bit in confusion. "Sanctuaries?" Lemme guess; it's some other crazy phenomenon I need to be clued in about.
"Yup, it is," Ness said, smiling. Jeff looked at Ness, highly surprised and a little freaked out. Ness laughed and spoke before Jeff could himself. "Sometimes I get whiffs of what people are thinking. Don't worry dude; I'm not gonna try to read your mind or anything."
Jeff nodded his head slowly. Well, I guess if I ever have any backhanded thoughts, I'll just have to keep them to myself from now on. "So, care to explain, mind reader?" He asked, jokingly but still a bit stirred up.
Ness respired a bit before speaking. "There's these places around the Earth that contain loads of power and energy, but they can only be absorbed by certain people, such as myself. There are others who try, for instance, this dude we're gonna go wreck in a bit here. But don't worry; we'll be able to take him. They're never anything to crap your drawers over."
"I admire your word choice, Ness," Jeff chuckled. "Paula? Anything to add?"
Paula, still a bit entranced, looked up from the ground. "Uh...not really, actually. I feel like Ness summed it up pretty well."
Ness grinned. "You all right there?"
"Yeah, fine. Just a little drowsy from that coffee. Man, what do they put in that stuff?" Paula asked quizzically.
"Beats me. Sure gets you up there though, huh?" Ness replied, chuckling as the Paula and Jeff cracked smiles. "Hey, how about we go check out the town shop and for new gear? Could help out with out battle with this new guy."
Jeff and Paula nodded. The group slowly and lazily sat up from the ground and made their way towards a little building at the highest point in the valley, which had a ladder draped down the side of a cliff so customers could reach it. The three kids climbed up and went inside, instantly greeted by a Mr. Saturn behind a table.
"Hi ho! Can something get for you?" He said, peppy like all of his brethren.
Ness was the first to speak, looking around at the odd ATM machine and other funky looking stuff inside the shop. "Yeah, do you guys have any baseball bats? Mine is a little worn," he said, showing the Saturn a large crack down the middle of his Minor League Bat.
"Not have, sorry," The pink alien answered. "But many slingshot, yes!" The Saturn used his foot to open a drawer in the table and pull out a few slingshots with metallic enhancements. "Bionic, they are! Only $449!"
Ness picked one up and looked at it. Never been a big fan of these things...Ness thought, recalling an earlier incident.
The dry grass drifted slightly in the wind along the purple tinted streams in Peaceful Rest Valley, where a few steps away from the cave entrance to Twoson a boy in a red cap shot rocks with a slingshot at a flying UFO.
"God damn it, sit still!" He shouted, missing every shot while the strange little ship laughed and released cold-inducing beams. The boy tossed the slingshot away and pulled out a Tee Ball Bat to finally smash the UFO. Sighing in relief, he shook his head and narrowed his eyes at the discarded slingshot before smashing it as well.
Ness rolled his eyes and pulled out some money from his pocket. "Here, I'll take it. Don't have much of a choice."
The Saturn nodded and looked at Paula and Jeff. "Can help, ding?"
The two kids looked at each other before shaking their heads. "No, I think we're good," Paula replied.
"So sure?" The Saturn retorted. "We have big bright bow for you!" He exclaimed, looking at Paula. The Saturn used his foot once again to retrieve a large, red bow from the same drawer and put it on the desk.
Paula's eyes widened and a smirk crept on her face. After a few seconds, she too pulled out some money. "You know just how to get your sales, don't you?"
Paula tied the new bow in her hair and put the old one in her pocket. "Well Jeff, it looks like it's your turn. Gonna buy anything?" She teased, giving Jeff a slight nudge in his shoulder.
Jeff laughed and relented. "Okay, okay. Do you guys happen to have any gear for a scientist?"
The two Saturns in the store looked at each other and thought for a sec. "No, but repairs can do! Anything broken have you?"
Jeff thought for a second, pulled out the laser gun he found in the factory and set it on the desk. "What about this?"
The Saturn looked at the gun. "Something for this I may have." The Saturn looked in his desk and found an old broken bionic slingshot with a working firing mechanism, exactly what Jeff's gun needed. "Ah! Something found!" The Saturn bellowed, quickly forging a new firing mechanism out of the old one and attaching it to the laser gun with surprisingly precise skill. "Done!"
Jeff picked up the laser gun from the desk. "Wow...you guys would be a riot at Snow Wood-" Jeff said before accidentally popping off a beam and knocking a painting off the wall. Ness and Paula looked at Jeff a tad scornfully as he grinned meekly and looked in his pockets for cash. Upon finding none, he looked to Ness.
"Yeah, I got it Rambo," he said, rolling his eyes and pulling out a couple hundred bucks. Here's for the trouble and the damage. Thanks."
The trio exited the shop and made their way back to the hot springs. After a somewhat awkward silence, Jeff spoke. "So, where did you get all this money, Ness? Legally, I hope?" Jeff joked, trying to make light of the situation.
Ness gave a small throat laugh. "Yes, legally. Every now and then, my dad deposits money into my bank account. It always seems to go up after I've kicked some ass."
Paula shook her head and laughed. "Okay, so what's the plan now, guys? Just go in and beat up the next dude?"
"Sounds good to me," Ness responded, loading some rocks and other junk into his new toy.
The chosen ones peeked their heads through a cave entrance near the pink springs. Jeff pulled out a flashlight he had from Snow Wood and shined it around, looking for any signs of danger. After seeing that the coast was clear, they decided to head in.
The tunnels were a bit damp and musky, a smell they all knew too well by know, Jeff included. Some puddles were scattered around, filled with an odd, milky water like substance. Curious, Jeff kneeled down and grabbed a nearby stick and swished around. "Interesting."
"Come on man, you can gather up some samples to play with later. We got a job to do," Ness said impatiently.
Jeff grunted and got up, following the others outside. The cave lead into a valley similarly colored to the Grapefruit Falls Valley, the same dark greens and chalky cliffs present. As the group passed through a few trees, they noticed some strange looking creature sitting on a rock.
"What the hell is that?" Ness whispered, pointing at the human-like plant monster holding a stalk.
"Not sure, but whatever it is, it's probably here to keep us out. Let's get it," Paula replied confidently. Jeff nodded, and they moved forward, sneaking up on the odd creature.
As the kids approached, the monster turned around. In the blink of an eye, Ness and Paula began assaulting it with deadly PSI and bashing attacks. Right as they were about to finish it off, Jeff pulled out his new laser gun and blasted it dead center in the chest. The creature fell over, and the Ness and Paula looked at Jeff, smiling in approval.
"Good shot there Eagle Eye," Ness said, giving Jeff a high-five.
The trio passed by the fallen enemy and continued walking until they spotted another cave entrance.
"Think he's in there?" Jeff asked.
"There's a pretty good chance," Ness replied. "They almost always seem to be in caves for some reason."
Jeff nodded, and the kids headed inside. When they entered, they saw that the cave was on a downward slope, and appeared to have a large pit in the center.
"Hey guys, watch your footing. I don't like the look of that pit," Paula warned, almost hugging the wall as she moved.
"We'll be fine as long as we don't get too crazy," Ness responded, trying to assure Paula.
As Ness continued to lead the group through, he stumbled upon a present box.
"Score!" Ness shouted, rushing to open it. When he took off the ribbon, he found a cup of lifenoodles inside. He grinned and put it inside his backpack. "Can never have too many of these!"
"What's that?" Jeff asked loudly. "Lifenoodles?"
"It heals just about anything!" Ness yelled back.
"Damn it guys, keep it down! I don't want anyone to hear us in here," Paula whispered loudly.
"Too late for that, kiddies!" A voice cried out farther than the tunnel.
The group turned in the direction of the noise and saw a huge, sprout creature guarding a cave exit. "So you're the chosen ones, huh? And you wanna get the power from the milky circle? Ha! Fat chance!"
"Yeah? We'll see about that!" Ness shouted back. Rushing towards the creature, he shot out a beam of PSI Rockin', causing the sprout to cry in pain.
A couple of smaller sprouts heard the cry from outside the cave and ran in, quickly vaporized by Paula's PSI Fire. Jeff reached in his jacket for his big bottle rocket that he saved from Snow Wood and started to set it off. Better time than any, I suppose.
The rocket flew off and hit the Trillionage Sprout, blasting off some of his roots. The sprout fell back a bit, but soon recomposed.
"Okay, you've asked for it!" the sprout cried out, fixating his cold, dead eyes on the kids. Ness was the first to gaze back, quickly finding that his body was beginning to harden.
"What the hell-" Ness yelled out, interrupted by a complete diamondization of his body. Paula and Jeff gasped in horror as their friend collapsed to the ground, followed by a loud vibration ringing throughout the cave. Paula dashed over to Ness while Jeff continued to shoot off his laser beam.
"Ness!" Paula screamed, shocked at her friend's state. She tried to shake and punch her rock hard, lifeless friend, but to no avail. After a few more choice shots with his laser beam, the monster was disintegrated, and the exit was unblocked. Jeff turned his attention to his friends
"What happened to him?" Jeff called out from a few feet away. As he approached, he observed his friend's horrifying state. "Oh my God. Is he...a diamond?" Jeff asked, bewildered.
"I don't know," Paula began. "I've never seen anything like this!"
Jeff thought for a second. "Wait, Paula, what about those lifenoodles Ness found? He said that they can cure anything, right?"
Paula looked at Ness's backpack, and frenzied to find the cup. Upon finding it, she poured the noodles into her friend's stiff, open mouth. "Please please please..." she whispered.
After a few brief moments, Ness's body began to return to it's normal color and soft state. Paula let out a huge sigh or relief, and sat down herself.
Ness slowly lifted himself up to a sitting position, blinking his eyes intermittently. "What...happened?" He said, rubbing his head a bit. "I can't remember anything."
Paula and Jeff looked at each other for a moment before shaking their heads and shrugging, laughter soon following. "I honestly have no idea dude, but I've never been so happy to see you soft and squishy before," Paula said.
Ness, Paula and Jeff exited the cave and stumbled onto the Milky Well that the Saturns had talked about. It was a sort of natural fountain, projecting a milky, watery substance into the air then falling back down into the well.
"Looks like the same stuff from inside the caves," Jeff pointed out.
"I'd say so too," Paula replied. Gonna take out your soundstone, Ness?
Ness nodded and reached into his bag. He pulled out a light blue stone about the size of his fist, and touched it to his forehead. For a brief moment, Ness was in his own world.
Ness was standing alone on a long path, everything shrouded in darkness save for a few areas lit by stars. He felt like he was back in Onett as he looked at the familiar, bright green grass and lumpy dirt road. A few hundred feet away, he thought he saw his house, although very vaguely. He started to walk towards it when, in the distance, he heard his mother say something. It was quiet and remote, but he thought he heard her say,"Be a thoughtful, strong boy..." As he started to wake up, a short melody played in his mind.
Ness suddenly awoke, greeted by an awkward stare from Jeff. "So...what's up, Ness?" Jeff asked, confused.
"Oh yeah, this is your first sanctuary visit, isn't it?" Ness said, reminded of his new friend's naivety. "Whenever we come to these places, I use this soundstone that an old friend of mine gave me, touch it to my head, and I'm taken to another place. Right before I come back to real life, I hear a part of a melody. After I hear eight different ones, I will be able to defeat Giygas. Or something like that..."
"Huh...all right, why not?" Jeff shrugged.
Ness gave a toothy grin and waved towards the exit. "All right, let's go guys."
As they made their way back through the cave, Paula grew curious. "What did you see this time, Ness?" Paula inquired.
Ness thought for a bit, his memory of the event fading by the second. "I seem to remember hearing my mom, actually. For the life of me I can't remember what she said, though..."
The trio made their way back to the Saturn Village, where they were welcomed by nearly every single occupant in the valley. All of the Saturns expressed their gratitude for clearing out the final evil that resided in their town. After the thanks, the kids headed out to traverse the Grapefruit Falls once again.
The valley which the Grapefruit Falls ran through was quiet and empty, almost eerily so. There were only the sounds of water splashing and occasional wind blowing through the grass as Ness and his friends walked on. They quickly reached the Threed tunnels, and went inside. No ghosts or zombies were present, and they noticed that somebody had cleared the rubble from before. As soon as they exited the tunnels, they saw an extreme change since they had last been in Threed. The sun was out, the graveyards were empty, and the inhabitants were freely roaming the streets, laughing and smiling.
"Holy crap..." Ness whispered, shocked beyond belief. "It's so different here now..."
The rest of the group looked around with their jaws agape, taking in the true beauty that was returned to Threed. What were once frightening, purple tinted trees were now gorgeous, inviting oaks. No longer were the street lights the only source of light in the city, nor were there any thugs or zombies running rampant through the streets. Ever since the ghouls left and the sun came back, the citizens of Threed the happiest they had been in a long while.
As they made their way to the center of town, they were stopped by a huge crowd of people. The kids recognized many of the faces from the circus tent.
"You did it! You really did it!" The woman in the red skirt yelled out. "We can't thank you enough!"
A chorus of appreciation erupted from the crowd as the chosen ones blushed furiously. They spent a likely total of ten minutes shaking hands and accepting thanks before they were free.
"So, now what?" Jeff asked, his arms crossed.
"Well," Paula started, placing her hand on her hip, "now that the ghosts and zombies are gone, we can go through the tunnels to Fourside."
"I think Fourside sounds like a great place to go. We need a little break from this, don't you think? We could even go visit Lucky and the guys!" Ness suggested, growing excited thinking about the band that he loved so much.
Paula rolled her eyes. "We don't have time to waste, Ness. You seem to forget the world is still under attack."
Ness pouted a bit. "Fine, let's go save the planet, then. How about we take a bus through the desert to Fourside, though? I think us heroes deserve to put our feet up for once."
Paula and Jeff agreed, and the group walked over to the bus stop. Fairly soon, a bus rolled up.
"You kids going to Fourisde?" A cheery man wearing a grey cap called out from the driver's window.
"Yup, sure are!" Ness hollered. "We figured a bus ride was a hell of a lot faster than walking!"
The man smiled and waved for the kids to climb aboard. The trio climbed up and sat down as the bus took off, rapidly dashing down the streets of Threed and into the tunnels. Instead of ghosts coming and forcing the bus back, there was nothing more than some dust and tire tread on the road. Ness and Paula breathed deeply and reclined, happy to see that all of the hard work cleansing Threed paid off. Before they knew it, they were in the desert. They all took in the bright sun, beautiful orange sand, and mesa-like rock formations.
However, their adventure came to a halt. A huge traffic jam clogged up the road, preventing any vehicle from moving more than an inch every few minutes.
"Sorry kids, but it'll be a while before we can get anywhere. You might just want to travel on foot if you're in a hurry," the bus driver explained.
"Of course," Ness sarcastically said to himself.
The group exited the bus at the small, wood-paneled drugstore located near the start of the jam. The kids felt an enormous rush of hot wind whip at their legs as they stepped out. The heat waved back and forth as it rose off of the black, asphalt road, distorting the image of the cars piled up in the distance.
"Well, I guess we might as well grab some new equipment," Paula suggested.
"Yeah, and about a million gallons of water..." Ness groaned.
The kids walked into the shop and took a quick look around. The shop reeked of cigarette smoke and stale couch fibers. They tried to ignore the smell as they approached the counter. An old man and a younger boy stood behind the register, ready to take orders. The boy spoke, his voice cracking a little.
"How can I help you today?" He asked, a little nervously.
"Do you happen to have any weapons? A bat would be great," Ness asked, looking at his new yet undesired slingshot in his hand.
"Yes, we do! We have a new bat in stock, fresh from the factory! It's called a Mr. Baseball Bat," the boy explained, pulling the bat out and setting it on the table.
Ness's eyes grew wide. He immediately put the slingshot on the table and pulled out some money. "Will this do?"
"Sure! We are always open to trades. Thank you very much, sir!" The boy said happily as Ness snatched the bat from the counter. "We also have some frying pans if you wanted to replace yours, miss," the boy said, glancing over at Paula.
"That would be great," Paula said, setting her pan down and chuckling. She took out some goodies she had collected along the way and set them down as well. After pawning off some goods, she had a brand new thick fry pan.
Ness started swinging his bat around at invisible enemies as Jeff stepped up to the counter. "We have a long journey ahead of us, and it looks like that involves crossing the desert. Any suggestions as for what we should bring along?"
The kid scratched his head. "Well, some wet towels would be a good idea if you plan on going in the heat. Oh, and some picnic lunches might not be a bad idea either!"
The crew left the store with a plethora of new equipment and food for the trip. They stood on the side of the road, trying to decide how they wanted to go about crossing the desolate land. It would be a difficult adventure, as predicted during their coffee break. Although a bit daunted, the chosen ones took some solace in knowing that they were now at least one step closer to defeating the forces of evil. Now, they just needed to reach Fourside and rid it of those forces as they had done so many times before.
