Chapter 10: A Man and His Crow
Outside the lab, the two boys see Dr. Andonuts constructing some kind of machine resembling a television, but with weird add-ons here and there. It's still in-progress, and it's currently unknown to the boys what it's supposed to do. Seeing those two, Dr. Andonuts briefly stops his work.
"Ah. So you decided to show up and help me, hm? Come here and take a look at my blueprint! Once you understand it, even a bit, please help me constructing this thing! We'll make better progress this way!"
As instructed, Ness and Jeff take a look at the blueprint. It indeed has a resemblance to a television.
"I'll tell you two the purpose of this machine and how it will help you… once it's finished. For the time being, just help me out." Dr. Andonuts said.
Meanwhile, a man dressed in black whose face is obscured by the hood is watching over the alternate Winters.
Such a calming sensation…
It's been a long time since I could feel the cold winds…
…I want to see this place again.
But… I want to see it in reality…
Now, if only that crow…
If only that crow…
All of sudden, the man is surprised to see that the alternate Winters suddenly darkens and transforms into another one of the twisted places in the dimension. Fearing the worst, the man rushes through the forests.
Back in Dr. Andonuts's place, the impact has reached the area. Ness and Jeff get panicked, while Dr. Andonuts suddenly disintegrates, disappearing right before their eyes while saying his last words, "Wh-what's going on here?"
"DAD!" Jeff is shocked to see his dad disappear.
Ness looks around, seeing that Winters has transformed once again. Once it has fully transformed, Ness gasps in horror to see that they've been in Threed the whole time. The bright Winters they once saw in that dimension is merely an illusion.
"Th-this is… Threed…?" Jeff asked.
Ness then looks at the sky and notices that a cluster of lights is getting closer to where they are. He later realizes that those lights are of no good.
"JEFF! RUN! IT'S STARSTORM!" Ness informed.
The two boys run away as several balls of light drop down into the alternate Threed, destroying anything on their path. Their only hope is the two tunnels, one leading back to Twoson, and the other one leading to Dusty Dunes Desert. Unable to make their own decision in the middle of the destruction, Ness and Jeff go their separate ways, with Ness going for the tunnel back to Twoson, while Jeff runs for the desert. After several instances of dodging the deadly Starstorm, Jeff is suddenly surprised to see that the tunnel he's going after is apparently separated by a long gap. After that, the crow shows up behind him.
"Looks like I've finally managed."
Jeff looks back to see the crow. At this point, there's nothing he can do.
"You're truly bothersome, Jeff. I've tried so hard to get to you. To me, that's an easy task… but you seem to be something else that gives me so much difficulty!" the crow said angrily.
"Urgh… Look, crow, I still don't know who you are to be exact. What did I do to you anyway?!"
"Hmph. You finally got the guts. For that matter, I prefer not to tell you. But…" the crow readies his laser gun, setting it to a "death ray".
"…since whatever I did seem useless, I just have to kill you on the spot!"
Jeff braces himself as the crow fires his gun, only for someone to leap into the line of fire, reflecting it back. However, the crow manages to dodge it in surprise. That someone is the same man that witnessed the sudden transformation of the alternate Winters.
"You… you again…" the crow said.
"It's been a long time, Mad Scientist Crow." the man said.
"Heh. Never thought you would make it. I thought I've banished you to my version of Deep Darkness."
"There'll be always a glimmer of hope, even in the middle of the darkness. I can't be stopped."
"Grr… but even then, I'm failed once again. If only you didn't come here, my work would be done."
"…There's still hope for a different change."
In anger, the crow teleports himself away from the scene. As for the man, instead of trying to chase him, he talks to Jeff first, who is still puzzled at what was happening.
"Before you ask anything, let me make this clear. For a long time, I've been trapped in this dimension created by Mad Scientist Crow. Yes, that's his name, nothing special. My only role here is to capture him and get the music box back, as the latter is required for dimension-traveling. I can't believe that he would target someone as young as you now. Before that, he only wanted me gone."
"So… you're also his victim, just like my friends and I?" Jeff asked.
"Correct." the man answered.
"But… I still don't understand. I never know that there's someone else who is acquainted with the crow. Only for this case, it's really clear that you've known each other. As for the crow knowing me…"
The man stays silent, then leaves Jeff behind.
"Hey! Where are you going?! I'm not even finished talking!" Jeff said.
"Hmph. I still have to give chase to the crow. I'm only talking to you just for a brief moment in order to explain my purpose here a bit. I'm not going to hear your explanations for now. Until then, keep your thoughts to yourself. I'll see you again next time." the man said as he walks away.
Jeff tries to catch up to the man, but he teleports away. Jeff is now alone. Suddenly, he gets dizzy and falls to the ground, unconscious.
Meanwhile, Mad Scientist Crow somehow releases both Paula and Poo from his mind control, probably in fear that the man in black will find out. Without any second thought, he then just teleports both of them somewhere random. Thanks to the mysterious man, Mad Scientist Crow cannot concentrate on his job anymore. For the time being, he's now focused on trying to get the man away from him. At the same time, this might give The Chosen Four a temporary safety. As the crow is thinking about what he has to do next, the man in black finally shows up.
"I've finally caught up to you. Now, give me the music box… or I'll shoot you without any mercy." the man said as he points his laser gun at the crow.
"Grr… You're really that persistent! But, your powers are still no match to mine. The only thing that impresses me a bit is the fact that you can finally make yourself teleport using your lame device!"
"…So far, that's what I can do to modify my device. But that should be enough to chase you!"
"Heh, heh… You and your big mouth… Even though your little machine can block most of my powers and reflect my attacks, I'm still getting stronger than ever!"
"Mad Scientist Crow… you should be the one to listen to my instructions, not the other way around. Now, give me the music box! Make it quick!"
"Tch. Listen up. You're going to bring chaos to the world. If I give you my precious music box, you will do something worse than what I did…"
"You must be kidding. Of all things that can be made as an excuse of not listening to me, you chose that?!"
The man then fires his laser gun many times at the crow until the latter is nearly knocked out. As Mad Scientist Crow struggles to move due to his injuries, the man has something to tell him.
"You can't stand a chance against me now. While I don't know exactly what have you done for a long time, I can't believe that you chose to target that boy."
"…Heh… He's weak. He's far weaker than you… There are actually more ways of how I can eliminate you… but so far… he's just perfect…"
"Eliminating me… You keep using that word in front of me long ago. Now, it makes me wonder. Long time ago, you suddenly attacked me, out of nowhere. What made you do this?"
"…Even now… I prefer not to tell you. No matter what… I have to remove your existence!"
"Hmph. I never realized that a pet of mine would do such thing to his master."
"Heh… even now you still thought I'm your mutated pet…"
"What?!"
"Actually… I'm indeed your mutated pet… but how did I appear like this? Let that be a mystery to you…" Mad Scientist Crow pushes a button on his watch.
The device held by the man suddenly breaks into pieces. "Wh-what?!"
"Surprised, aren't you?! I was also anticipating your return, so I included a self-destruct feature for your wimpy machine! See ya later!" the crow shoots the now defenseless man using his laser gun, diamondizing him. The crow then teleports away.
Author's note: This is so far the toughest part to write. It's so tough that I don't even like the result. But… I hope this is still alright…