Chapter 12:
Inside the lobby of the Empire Porky Building, the group encountered a scene that they were not expecting. While they had been expecting a group of armed security officers or Pigmask soldiers to greet them, they found that it was relatively empty. There was not a single Pigmask in sight. They quickly slung their weapons over their soldiers in an attempt to appear non-hostile. The only person standing before them was an old man in a business suit. He approached the four and welcomed them. "Welcome to the Empire Porky Building. There is a DCMC concert on floor twenty-four. It starts in a few minutes. If you hurry, you might be able to make it." His tone indicated that he was trying to be as polite as possible and did not recognize Ness and the others as enemies.
Ness and the others were not interested in a concert, though. They were only interested in getting to the top floor to see Porky. "Excuse me, sir," Paula said, bowing politely. "Do you know where the elevator to the one-hundredth floor is?"
The man replied, "I don't know if it will take you to the one-hundredth floor, but there is an elevator in the room to your left. However, it is still undergoing maintenance and is only guaranteed to take you to the twenty-fourth floor. However, that is the floor where the DCMC is about to perform so I guess it's not so bad."
"Thank you, sir," Paula said, bowing again. Seeing little choice, the group turned and entered the room on their left, ignoring the main desk and the woman in the lobby.
In the elevator room, the four found the elevator to their right. Unfortunately, they also found a Pigmask Captain armed with a rifle and a belt of grenades standing next to the elevator. He noticed the four as they came around the corner and yelled, "Intruders!" and fired on them while simultaneously trying to alert security. Ness and his friends ducked back around the corner while blue pulses of energy gouged sizeable holes in the wall a few feet away, leaving burning scorch marks behind. The punk and two workers quickly fell to the ground, cowering, as the Pigmask tried to shoot the four teens. Jeff peered around the corner and felled the Pigmask with a single shot from his Gaia pistol right between the eyes. The Pigmask fell to the floor, dead. Ness and the others emerged from around the corner and approached the elevator. The others who were present gave them a wide berth, but did not try to hinder them in any way. In fact, the punk was even smiling. The four teens had been taking notice of the fact that the vast majority of people were not exactly fans of the Pigmask Army. They pushed the button on the side of the elevator and waited for it to arrive. It soon arrived, and they boarded it.
The elevator ride was uneventful. No one except the four were riding the elevator and no one boarded it while they were en route to the twenty-fourth floor. They soon heard a chime after a few seconds and the elevator stopped. Looking at the display above the door, they found that they were on the twenty-fourth floor, the floor where this DCMC was about to perform. They disembarked from the elevator and scanned their surroundings. No one was in the elevator lobby area so they decided to take a look into main lobby. There, they found two Pigmask Captains and the Fierce Pork Trooper from the Thunder Tower sitting in a chair at a table near the corner of the room. He was wearing a blue suit that looked to be a power armor battlesuit with a helmet that had bigger horns than the last one he wore. This time and when he saw the four teens approach, he roared, "You! You are the four who embarrassed me at the Thunder Tower! Now you want to make me late for the DCMC concert! No way! I'll crush you all, and make it in there still in time for the main event!"
With that, the two Pigmask Captains that were flanking him drew their pistols and began opening fire on Ness and the others. The others that were in the main lobby, two members of the staff and a young couple, fled into the elevator lobby in order to avoid being caught in the middle of the Fierce Pork Trooper and his quarry. Ness and the others quickly tried to find some pillars against the wall to hide behind. Quickly seeing that they would not provide adequate cover, Ness sighed and raised a shield over the party. The energy blasts from the rifles of the Pigmask soldiers and the missile fired from the Fierce Pork Trooper's Heavy Bazooka splashed against the shield, causing it to flare with each impact, but not damaging the shield in any way. Ness glared at the two Pigmask Captains and sent them flying backwards into the wall. There, they struck the wall, leaving an indentation, and fell to the floor. However, that was not enough to stop the Pigmasks. They rose and continued to fire at the teens. Ness and Paula gave a short sigh before unslung their Pigmask rifles and took aim at the two Pigmask Captains charging back towards the Fierce Pork Trooper in order to support him. They pulled the triggers and blue energy pulses erupted from the barrels of their rifles. The pulses of energy burned noticeable holes into the armor and bodies of the two Pigmask Captains. The Pigmask Captains fell over, smoke rising from the many holes in their bodies.
The Fierce Pork Trooper decided to charge the teens, since he had expended the missiles of his Heavy Bazooka trying, and failing, to collapse the shield that Ness had raised over the party. The four scattered as the large Pigmask barreled towards them. Paula took this opportunity to launch a grenade at the Fierce Pork Trooper. The grenade struck the ground near him and exploded. The blast sent the Pigmask flying, despite the fact that he was wearing a battlesuit. The suit protected him from most of the shrapnel, but a few pieces were still lodged into the suit. The suit ceased to function properly as a result of the damage. The Pork Trooper tore it off and threw the pieces at the teens, trying to injure them with the pieces of his wrecked suit. They deftly dodged the oncoming pieces of armor and began to prepare an attack. However, Poo had already crossed the distance and was now standing next to the Fierce Pork Trooper. The Fierce Pork Trooper tried to punch him, and while he was powerful, he was slow, especially compared to a skilled fighter like Poo. Poo dodged the man's punch with ease and kicked him in the knees. The sickening crunch of bones could be heard as Poo's kicks shattered the Fierce Pork Trooper's knees. The Pork Trooper wailed aloud in agony. He continued to wail as Poo approached and delivered a single palm strike to his head, rendering him unconscious, silencing him. For a second, Ness considered killing him, so that he would not cause any more trouble later, but he decided against it. After all, they had already beaten him before, and he was in no condition to tell anyone anything at the moment. And it looked like he would not be able to talk for a good while. The kids walked past him and proceeded through the door, and into the next room.
The room was darkened, as there were spotlights focused on the stage and music was playing. The band on stage had to be the DCMC. It consisted of five members. A man with black hair in dreadlocks and sunglasses played the keyboard. A man in a brown mohawk played the electric guitar. The man to his right with blond hair in the form of a crew cut played the saxophone. A man with blonde hair and sunglasses behind them played the drums. All the way on the band's right was a familiar looking man in a black afro. He was playing an upright bass. There seemed to be no vocalists in the band. Ness smiled and was eager to relax for a bit and listen to the band play. The song they were playing sounded like an instrumental rock and roll piece. Ness and the others, wishing to rest from their battle with the Fierce Pork Trooper and his underlings, found the nearest unoccupied table and tried to remain inconspicuous while they rested and took the time to enjoy the music. Ness looked at the crowds that were surrounding the stage and he thought that he could see Lucas, Kumatora, and Boney sitting at a table pretty close to the stage. He noticed the look on Poo's face and knew that his friend had spotted his supposed ancestor, Kumatora, in the crowd. His friend stared at his ancestor. Ness did not need to be psychic to sense the conflicting emotions going through his friend's mind. Poo had a strong sense of honor, and his family was also highly important. More than being threatened should Kumatora die, he feared that he, himself, would likely be the one to face her should he and his friends have to face off against Lucas and his friends for the right to pull the needle, or leave it alone.
Ness then focused on the stage and his eyes were immediately drawn to the young man in the afro playing the upright bass. After looking at the man for a few moments, Ness believed that the bass player was, indeed, Duster, one of Lucas's friends. That would explain why the others were here. Immediately, the lights went dark. Everyone looked around and began to shout and complain. Ness and his friends stood stock-still, fearing that they had been discovered and that a big fight was about to be on their hands. Paula immediately began to telepathically scan the area in order to find out whether or not they had been compromised. It turned out that no one in the room knew who they were, so chances are that they were still safe.
Just then a voice came over the loud speakers. It said, "Attention, all goody two-shoes inside the Empire Porky Building." The voice belonged to Porky. "The final game has begun."
Ness's heart skipped a beat at that statement. Did that mean that Porky had found and was about to pull the final needle? "Please gather what pathetic wisdom and puny courage you have and come to the one-hundredth floor." There was a brief pause before Porky continued. "However, there's no guarantee the elevator will work how you want it to! Wahahahaha! Well, I'll be waiting for you on the one-hundredth floor!"
With that, the people began to file out of the auditorium, seeing as how the concert would not continue. Ness and his friends quickly fell in with a group leaving the auditorium and hoped that they would blend in well with the others who had gone to the concert. Outside, they made their way towards the elevator. A crowd had gathered around the Fierce Pork Trooper, who was still unconscious, as he was being placed on a stretcher. The two Pigmask Captains were being loaded onto stretchers, tarps covering their bodies, a clear sign to everyone that they were dead. Upon making it to the elevator undetected, they called it. While they waited, Poo would peer around the corner every once in a while to see if anyone suspicious was standing around, focusing on the lobby. The elevator soon arrived, and Poo had spotted no one that had taken any interest in them, most of the people still huddled around the Fierce Pork Trooper. The then boarded the elevator and went to the next stop, which they hoped, but doubted, would be the one-hundredth floor.
On the one-hundredth floor of the Empire Porky Building, Porky sat on his throne, furiously looking over the reports that were coming in on a screen on the arm of his chair. So far, three Pigmask Captains were dead, and the Fierce Pork Trooper was unconscious, and likely to remain that way for a while. This was before he had learned that Lucas and his friends had entered the building. At first he had thought that it was Lucas and his cohorts that had felled those Pigmasks, but upon further analysis of the data, that did not seem to fit. That meant that there could only be one other possible conclusion: Ness and the rest of the Chosen Four had infiltrated the Empire Porky Building. He pushed a button and made the following announcement. "Attention all security and military personnel. Report to your security stations immediately. There is a group of intruders other than Lucas and his cohorts. This person is named Ness. He has black hair, is likely wearing a baseball cap and is dressed in a purple and yellow striped t-shirt with blue shorts. He is armed with a baseball bat and is a powerful psychic. Two of his three allies, a blond girl in a pink sleeveless polo-shirt and blue shorts, and an oriental looking teenager, older than the others, dressed in a white robe with a braid, are psychics as well. The fourth, a blond boy who is Dr. Andonuts's son, is a known scientist. These four are highly dangerous and are Priority One targets to be killed with extreme prejudice. Understood?"
The confirmations quickly came in over the radio in his throne. He then pushed another button and spoke some more, "Fassad, did you get all that?"
The ringing of trumpets and the voice of Fassad's interpreter came in over the radio. "Mr. Fassad says 'he got it'."
"Good," Porky cooed. "You are now the Chief of Security in my building Fassad. I'm sending up a special project of mine to assist you as a part of the final line of defense."
"Mr. Fassad confirms the order and is on it," the interpreter said over the sound of trumpet horns in the background.
With that, the radio went silent. Porky smiled. Ness and the others had no idea what they were going to be in for. In back of the Pig King, a humanoid figure stood. It quietly stepped out into the light. It was dressed in a suit with a visor. Its suit was gold with a silver stripe running down its right side. There were spikes protruding from the suit's head and shoulders. It's arms looked more like tentacles than arms. Porky pointed to where Fassad and the Natural Killer Cyborg were located. The figure floated away in the direction the two servants of Porky and he smiled. Ness would have to face the wrath of Porky's own personal Final Starman, if he ever made it that far. But what was waiting for them in Porky's own throne room would be far worse.
The elevator chimed after a minute or so and came to a stop. The doors opened and the four came upon a grassy knoll. They took a look at the walls and found that they were covered with vines. Ness wondered if this was a zoo level. They all knew that this was not the one-hundredth floor, but they continued anyway. They saw an Instant Revitalization Capsule standing just right of the elevator's exit. However, the Pigmask insignia on the capsule gave them pause. They eventually decided that it would be smarter to not use it and, instead, to rely on their own healing items and powers. They looked out and they saw a small pond a few steps away. Inside the pond they found what looked to be a couple hippopotamuses. However, Ness and the others knew better than to trust the appearances of animals in the Nowhere Islands. They also found that the pond shallow pond in the center of the room led to, and was the only way into the next area of the floor.
The four made their way towards the water and immediately, the two hippopotamuses in the water turned to face them before they even managed to get into the pond. The hippos opened their mouths and immediately two massive missiles, one from each hippo, emerged and rocketed straight for the heroes. The four teens scattered and the missiles impacted the ground, but did not land a direct hit. However, the blast radii of the missiles was enough to threaten the teens and the concussion of the explosion sent them sprawling.
"What are those things?" Paula asked, turning towards Jeff.
"Jeff drew out his data pad and scanned for information on the creatures. He quickly found it started to read. "It says here, that these things are called Hippo Launchers. The missile from the mouth is only one of their attacks. They can also fire missiles from their rear, when their trunk-like rears open. They can fire two missiles from their rear, but each missile is less powerful than the one launched from their mouth."
This was not good. The team decided that they would have to deal with the Hippo Launchers before proceeding. The Hippos were smart, though, in that they were not emerging from the water. That meant that the group could not use their Super Bombs against them, and Jeff did not want to waste an Advanced Multi Bottle Rocket, or any of his missiles against them. Ness and Paula then trained their energy rifles on the Hippo Launchers and fired. The pulses of blue energy struck the Hippos, but only did moderate damage, leaving only a few scorch marks on their flesh. Soon, Jeff assisted Ness and Paula by drawing out his Gaia Beam pistol and adding his fire to their own. They focused on one Hippo Launcher. Poo cast Shield Sigma on the party so that they would be able to focus their fire on the Hippo Launchers without having to worry too much about retaliation from the Hippos. The fire eventually penetrated the hide of one of the Hippo Launchers and inflicted serious damage, the return fire from the Hippo Launchers impacting and detonating against the shield that Poo had raised over the party. The shield managed to absorb the enemy fire without weakening. The Hippo Launcher eventually fell to the ground beneath the water and stopped moving, numerous holes burned into the body of the robotic chimera. Ness and the others did not know whether it was alive or dead, and they did not care. They trained their fire on the second Hippo Launcher. After a series of concentrated bursts on its side, the second Hippo Launcher fell as well. The group waited until the bodies of the Hippo Launchers stopped sparking. Only then did enter the water. Ness put one foot into the water and did not feel a shock of any kind. This was good. He then fully entered the water, being followed by the others. The water came to about the shoulders of Ness. They waded through the water and proceeded to the opening into the next room.
In this next room were another two Hippo Launchers. They made it a point to try and go around the Hippos without attracting their attention. However, the Hippos did not let them go unnoticed. They quickly approached the four teens. Not wanting to enter a protracted firefight and be forced to use any psychic powers this early in the assault, Paula and Jeff each drew out a Pencil Rocket. They lit the fuse and quickly launched them towards the Hippo Launchers. The Rockets streaked towards the Hippos and impacted them on their sides. The Rockets detonated and the Hippos fell, their bodies smoking and looking quite ragged from the explosions. The four made their way past the fallen Hippo Launchers and turned to their left and went through another opening, and into yet another room.
In this room, there was bank on the left side of the pond. There were no Hippo Launchers in the water, this time. They were all walking on the grassy bank. Jeff called the others over to him and informed them, "The Hippo Launchers out of the water are said to be noticeably weaker than those inside the water."
The others nodded and they proceeded to make their way to the bank and stepped out of the pond. They turned to their right and they saw a woman with brown hair and eyeglasses, dressed in a lab coat. To her left, they saw a Hippo Launcher. They approached the woman and she stopped them, saying, "I'm the Chimera Doctor. I invented these wonderful chimeras. The Hippo Launcher is my greatest work yet. And you look quite suspicious." Turning to the Hippo Launcher to her left, she said, "Go my Hippo Launcher! Kill the suspicious kids!"
The Hippo Launcher immediately opened its mouth to fire a missile. However, Ness and the others did not give it the chance to attack. Ness and Poo rushed forward, producing their baseball bat and katana respectively and began to bash and slash at the creature. Paula also joined in the fray, bashing the chimera with her frying pan. Jeff leveled his Gaia Beam pistol at the creature and fired. Each attack struck so fast that the Hippo Launcher could not fire. It could only try to dodge and turn its armored hide into the attacks to limit the damage. But that was not going to be enough. After a few seconds the creature fell to the floor and stopped moving, numerous cuts and burns adorning its body. The Chimera Doctor gasped in horror as she cried out, "How could you! My Hippo Launcher, it's ruined! I'll get back at you, stupid heads!" With that, she ran through the door behind her. Seeing that there was no other exit to the room besides the way they entered, the four teens followed the doctor through the door.
Inside the next room, they found another small pond with more Hippo Launchers in the water. However, there was no bank step that would lower them into the water on the bank in this room, for which they seemed grateful at first, until they noticed a large, gray door at the other end of the room standing just above the water. They noticed another doctor, this time, male, in the distance standing on the bank to the pond, but they did not go and talk to him. He was likely a member of the research team that helped develop these chimeras. They quickly turned to their right to see an entrance into a second room. Ness and Paula unslung their Pigmask rifles, expecting more trouble. They went to the entrance and were greeted with another Hippo Launcher. A volley of fire from Jeff's Gaia Beam, along with Ness and Paula's Pigmask rifles put down the Hippo Launcher. They reached the end of the room and turned left, seeing a step that they could use to get into the water at the other end. Another Hippo Launcher seemed to be guarding this step, though. It was no match for the withering fire that Ness, Paula, and Jeff hurled its way. With that Hippo Launcher felled, they continued towards step. They noticed another Hippo Launcher in the water and decided that they should take it out from afar. Paula drew out her last Pencil Rocket and fired it at the Hippo Launcher. The rocket struck the hippo in the side and the explosion blew a hole in its side. The Hippo Launcher fell into the water, never to rise again. Ness and the others then got in and waded back into the previous room.
In the previous room, they noticed two more Hippo Launchers, as well as several boxes wrapped with wrapping paper and bows tied to the top. Carefully avoiding the Hippo Launchers, Jeff and Paula opened the presents. Jeff found a Cup of Lifenoodles, a good item for reviving a friend should that friend ever suffer a fatal injury or be rendered unconscious, and Paula found a Pencil Rocket to replace the one she used on the last Hippo Launcher in the previous room. They then proceeded to the metal door. They pushed a button on its side and waited for it to open. The door opened and the four boarded the elevator. The door closed and the four made their way to the next stop, which they hoped would be the one-hundredth floor.
The elevator stopped after about ten seconds or so and the door opened. They walked out of the elevator and into a room that definitely had an Arabian style to it. At first, they wondered if this was Fassad's level. They proceeded into the main room and found a large bed against the north wall. It was covered with a fine, purple quilt. There were also boxes littered not to far away from the entrance along with jars of candy. A brown wooden table that was adorned with a purple tablecloth stood next to the bed. On the table was cake sitting on a silver platter, dribbled in chocolate with a cherry on its top sat, a bottle of wine standing next to it. Not far from the bed, a centaur-like chimera, which the teens did not know was an oxygen machine, wandered the room. Four lovely young women, one with black hair, two blondes, one of whom held a large green leaf, and one with light brown hair, stood near the large bed. Each woman was dressed in what looked to resemble a bikini. This had to be Porky's harem. Ness and the others wanted to make their way through the room as quickly as possible, but the women saw him and his friends and they quickly intercepted him. The woman with light brown hair, wearing a white bikini, approached the four and said, "This is a gathering room for Master Porky's fans. Can you put your hands to your chest and say from the bottom of your heart, 'I love you, Master Porky?'"
"No," the four teens sharply said in unison. Ness made no effort to hide the fact that he hated Porky's guts by yelling it out for her.
"Then quit lurking around and get out of here!" the woman cried in response. Ness growled and was about to yell back that Porky was a monster and that she was an idiot not to see it when Paula placed her hand on his shoulder and gently shook her head. Ness relaxed his shoulders as the four proceeded towards the exit of the room, ignoring the other occupants of the room.
In the next room, the four found another elevator. They called the elevator and waited for it to reach their floor. When it did, the orange doors slid open and the four boarded the elevator and rode it up to its next exit. It stopped after a few seconds and the four disembarked.
The heroes found themselves on a level that was covered with a purple rug covered with diamond designs. On their left was a revitalizing capsule, but they were still wary of using it, due to the Pigmask insignia on it. They proceeded to their right and went through the opening into the next room. In the next hallway, they found a series alternating between red and blue. The doors led to the bathrooms. They figured that this had to be some sort of maze. Nearing the first door on the right, a red door, Paula tried to open it. It was locked and they could hear a woman's voice sing from the stall, "Someone's in here."
They then tried the next door, one that led to a men's bathroom. Inside was a Pigmask Major who had just risen from the toilet seat, still in full uniform. Shocked at the appearance of the four teens, he charged them. This was a mistake since three of the teens were armed with guns. Ness, Paula, and Jeff quickly fired their energy weapons at the Pigmask Major. The blue and red blasts of energy burned numerous holes into the Pigmask's body and head. The Pigmask quickly toppled over. The two quickly retreated back into the hallway and went into the women's bathroom that was next door left of the previous stall. There was nothing of interest there, so they exited the bathroom quickly and went to go into the men's room on the left. However, the door would not open. They heard a man say, "Sorry! I'm a little busy at the moment. Could you save it for later?"
That led them nowhere. They then entered the final women's stall on the left. Inside they found a brown door. They quickly went through the door and found themselves in another hallway full of bathroom stalls. This time, a men's room was on the far right. Ness and the others, hoping that this stall would lead somewhere quickly opened the door. Inside they found another Pigmask Major. The Pigmask Major attempted to draw his pistol to shoot the intruders to his privacy, but he was too slow. Jeff was faster on the draw and shot the Pigmask Major right between the eyes. The Pigmask Major slumped over in the seat, his pistol clattering on the ground. As the battle was being fought, Ness thought that he had heard footsteps echoing outside. They quickly exited the stall, but they could not see the source of the footsteps, or where they had gone.
They proceeded over to the women's stall on the left. Inside they found nothing and left that one. They returned the way they came and went on down the line into the next stall, which was a men's room. Ness had noticed by now that the stalls were alternating between men's and women's, and that the two enemies that they had encountered were both in men's rooms. Ness gripped his Pigmask rifle and prepared for trouble as they prepared to enter the next stall. However, a man with black hair, wearing a suit, came from nowhere and rushed into the stall before Ness and his friends could reach it. They could hear the man breathe a sigh of relief, "Whew! Made it just in time!" That stall obviously did not lead them anywhere. They then proceeded down the line to the end of the line and to the final men's room, since in the last hallway it had been the last stall that held the key to their escape.
Upon examining the door, the men's room sign fell to the ground with a clatter. A blue stream of energy rose from the sign and took the form of a ghost with shining white eyes and white teeth pasted into a grin. The ghost proceeded to attack them with PK Starstorm. Ness's eyes widened as blue orbs of energy formed around the ghost. Paula quickly cast a PSI Shield Omega, which raised a psychic counter shield over the party as the ghost launched its stars at the heroes. The stars from the ghost's PK Starstorm impacted the psychic counter shield, causing it to flare with each hit, and returned the attack back towards the ghost. The stars struck the ghost, one after the other. Jeff quickly drew his PSI Disruptor, a weapon that was very effective against energy beings, and fired it at the ghost, inflicting fatal damage to the ghost. The ghost disappeared and the men's room sign clattered to the floor once more, no longer possessed.
The four then went back to the women's stall that they had passed on their way to the men's stall and entered. Inside the stall, they found another brown door. They quickly went through the door and found another maze of bathrooms.
This time, there were four stalls, two women's stalls on either end of the two men's stalls in between them. The four went into the women's room on the right and saw that it led nowhere. They quickly went into the men's room next to it and found a toilet seat shaped like a duck. That took Ness and Paula by surprise, but they did not stop to examine it. They exited the stall and went into the next men's room. Inside that one, they found a massive toilet seat. It was even labeled, "For big people." The four glanced at each other and each of them silently agreed that they did not want think about what they saw before them. The four then exited the stall and went down to the final women's room. Inside, they found another brown door, which they promptly entered, leading to another hall full of bathrooms.
There, they found that this floor had the doors lining the hallway, moving down the line to their right as they entered. They went through the first stall, a men's room and found a man standing on the toilet. As if on reflex, they quickly exited the stall and moved down to the next stall, a women's room. This one was full of white ghosts. They exited this one and went to the next stall. Upon examining that stall, the men's room sign came off the door and flew towards the group. Not wanting to suffer another PK Starstorm attack, Ness, Paula, and Jeff whipped out their energy rifles and the Gaia Beam pistol, respectively, and fired on the sign. The sign withstood multiple hits before going down, but this one was unable to let loose its Starstorm attack before being felled by the withering fire coming from Ness, Paula, and Jeff. Poo had drawn his Sword of Kings, but the sign was destroyed before he had a chance to strike. They then proceeded to enter the stall, which now had no sign, and inside they found another Pigmask Major. The Pigmask Major went for his pistol, but was unable to draw it out to fire on the kids before being impaled through the head by Poo's katana. Poo withdrew the blade and the Pigmask slumped over and fell, another casualty in the war against the Pigmask Army. The group then proceeded to the women's stall next to a men's room that had water leaking from underneath the door. They entered the stall and were quite thankful to find a brown door that led to another hallway.
Inside the next hallway there were more bathrooms on the other wall. There was a women's room surrounded by two men's rooms, with another men's room to the left and on the far left, down at the other end of the hall, there was a final women's room. Just as the four entered the hallway, there was a mad dash by two men and a woman to the first three stalls. The four proceeded to their left to see what the fourth stall held. As they approached it, an old worker rushed in crying, "Outta the way! Outta the way! Outta the way!"
The old man managed to make into the stall before Ness and the others could. Considering that he did not leave, that left only one exit to this hallway, the door on the far left. They entered the stall and found a brown door leading to what they believed would be another maze of bathrooms. Their belief was confirmed when they found another series of stalls.
As they emerged into the hallway, they found three men's stalls staring at them. A man in a black suit rushed out from the center stall just in front of them and move to the men's room on their right. They moved to the men's stall at the end of the hall on their left and they opened it. They found a punk cleaning the toilet. They quickly exited and went to the stall that the man had exited from. There they found a card on the toilet that said, "Out to lunch." They proceeded to the final stall, past the women's stall and they tried to open the door. There, they heard an eerily familiar chime. As they tried to get through the door, they saw heard something banging against the door. The four quickly backed away as the door burst open and they found themselves staring face to face with the Ultimate Chimera once again. Not only that, but the Chimera was blocking their path to the door that led them out of the maze. To make matters even worse, the four noticed that the button that had been used to deactivate the Ultimate Chimera in the Chimera Labs was missing.
Ness clenched his hands into fists and told everybody, "Get behind me."
Paula called out to him, "Wait, Ness," for she knew what he was planning.
"There's no choice, not this time," Ness told her. "This is the only chance we have of beating something like this. I'll lure it away from the door while you go through."
Paula hesitated before Poo placed his hand on her shoulder, saying, "Ness knows what he's doing." He then added, "And there's a chance that this may actually work."
Ness then approached the monster, causing it to notice him. Ness then fled from the beast, giving Paula and the others the chance to get through the stall that led to the next hallway. While he was fleeing, a ball of pulsing red energy formed in his hand. This ball of energy quickly grew until it was the size of a grapefruit, much larger than his normal PSI Rockin was, even at its Gamma level. "PSI Rockin Omega," Ness cried as he charged the beast. The beast opened its maw and charged Ness as well. Ness then fired the scarlet ball of psychic energy, launching it into the mouth of the beast. The mouth of the beast shut as he devoured the energy blast. Just then, the beast began to tremble. It roared, apparently in agony as it tried to charge Ness, only for it to only stagger towards the boy. Ness then made his way through the women's stall that lead to the next hallway just as the Ultimate Chimera exploded. Ness could hear the explosion last for a few seconds. After a few seconds, the explosion subsided and Ness reentered the hallway. No trace of the Ultimate Chimera was left, save for some scorch marks on the floor, ceiling, and walls where the Ultimate Chimera had been standing before Ness force-fed it his PSI Rockin Omega. He then proceeded into the stall that the Ultimate Chimera had been occupying, but he found that the box in there had already been opened. He knew that Lucas and others were ahead of him. He then went back into the women's stall and through the brown door and met with his friends. He grinned, indicating that he had been able to defeat the Ultimate Chimera. They quickly turned to move forward.
Standing in front of the group was a large door with a men's room sign on it. This sign, however, was not possessed and the group was able to enter with no trouble. On the other side of the door was a large hall, most of which was a fountain with a six naked Porky statues, three on each side of the bridge that led across the fountain, urinating water, or what the Chosen Four hoped was water, into the fountain. Several pillars were in the fountain as well. The bridge that allowed them to cross the fountain was adorned with a red carpet. Could this have been the one-hundredth floor? Ness doubted it, but when the crossed the bridge, they came upon a golden toilet. This was just Porky's personal bathroom. They then heard Porky's voice sound over the loudspeaker, "Hehehehe, how did you like my bathroom maze dungeon, complete with my own personal golden toilet. I am sorry to inform you that you are not even close to the one-hundredth floor."
Ness had figured that much when he saw the toilet. Porky soon continued, "Come aboard the elevator and you will be taken to the real one-hundredth floor. Or not. Come and get me losers! Spankety, spankety, spankety!"
Ness gritted his teeth in frustration. He would get Porky. He would get him and this time, he would do whatever it took to stop him, permanently, even if it meant killing him. Just past the toilet throne was the elevator to what Porky said was the one-hundredth floor. The four boarded the elevator and continued on their journey. After a few seconds, the door opened and they stepped off the elevator.
Here, they emerged to find a small, dirt mound with a Save Frog. Ignoring the frog, they turned to their left and found an entrance to another room. In the center of this otherwise barren room, they found a pink shell-like house. They crossed over a small bridge and entered the shell house. The inside of the house was painted blue. Strewn across the floor were banana skins. There was a table on the left wall with a banana on it. Several crates of bananas were found on the right wall. However, on the blue bed with a blue quilt with a diamond design, they found a set of two trumpets. This house had to belong to Fassad. They also found several open boxes on the floor, indicating that Lucas had been here. With nothing more to see, they exited the house and turned to their left and made their way through to another elevator room. There, they saw a mouse walking around, seemingly waiting for someone. Ness approached the mouse and it began to talk. It squeaked, "Oh, you just came from Locria's house. Have you seen him?"
Ness's eyes widened. That house looked like it belonged to Fassad, given the trumpets inside, not to a Magypsy. Ness then remembered what Leder said about how one Magypsy, Locria, betrayed the others and told Porky about the needles. Since he did not know for sure that Locria and Fassad were one and the same, he shook his head. The mouse frowned. "That's too bad. I know that many people say he's mean, but that's likely due to his 'nwehehehehe' laugh. He's always been very nice to me. I hope he comes back soon."
That clinched it for them. Fassad was, indeed, the renegade Magypsy Locria. But if Mixolydia was any indication, 'he', was actually an 'it'. With that revelation they boarded the elevator and proceeded further up the Empire Porky Building. Soon, the elevator reached its destination. When it did they disembarked and proceeded onto the next floor.
The four found that this floor had a very industrial feel to it. The floors and walls were made of metal. Toolboxes, along with some tools were strewn across the floor. They ignored the revitalization capsule and proceeded through to the next room since there was nothing of interest in this one.
In the next room, they found several robots as well as a set of logs near the door. There were industrial tools present, such as saws and jackhammers, as well as a box full of cement. It appeared as various parts of this floor were still under construction. One of the robots, a snake, leapt towards Ness. Ness used his telekinetic powers to catch the snake before it could strike and he threw it against the wall. The snake's metallic body cracked due to the impact and it fell to the floor, electricity sparking across its body. There, it ceased movement and soon, the electricity ceased, indicating that it was non-functional. Soon, another robot, this time a robot dog, leapt to attack the group. The four scattered and dodged its attack. Jeff searched through his data pad for its identification. "This is a K9000. It can use an attack similar to PK Flash and is vulnerable to Thunder."
Poo wasted no time testing out this theory as he used PSI Thunder against the robot. Poo's lightning struck the robot and gouged a large hole into it, lightning continuing to spark across its body. The robot soon collapsed onto the floor and exploded. It had been reduced to scrap. They four then continued into the next room, which contained two Boa Transistors and a K9000. Ness, Paula, and Jeff drew out their energy rifles and the Gaia Beam pistol respectively and they fired at the series of enemies. The blue and red pulses of energy gouged large holes into the robots, felling them quickly. Once the trio of robots was dealt with, they made their way through the room, which was also littered with construction equipment and tools. They quickly found the door and proceeded to go through it and into the next room.
The next room was still partially under construction. There were large holes in which steel beams could be seen in both the upper right corner and the lower left corner. There were two robotic enemies in this room, one a K9000, and the other, a Rhinocerocket Mark II, a missile-like enemy. Ness trained his rifle on the Rhinocerocket Mark II and fired on it. The energy beam struck the missile in rear engines. The beam melted the engine walls, causing the rocket to fall to the ground. The beam also managed to damage the warhead, causing it to explode well away from the party. Jeff just as quickly dealt with the K9000 with his Gaia Beam pistol. After the enemies had been dealt with, the four proceeded towards the door in the upper left part of the room. They went through the door and found themselves in another room that was under construction.
In this room, Ness and the others found that there were gaps in the floor. Construction workers were working to place steel beams across these gaps so that the others could cross safely. These gaps were not wide though, so Ness and the others were able to jump across them with ease, which they did. They then proceeded to cross the gap to the door that led to another incomplete room. Standing directly in front them was a strange enemy. It was a ball with a set of red lips with four human female legs surrounding its ball core. Jeff looked it up and found that it was called a Love Walker, and that it was weak to fire, which he promptly told Paula. Paula took quick action against the creature by unleashing a blast of PSI Fire at it. The fire struck the creature and it was set ablaze. The robotic creature continued to walk, not making a sound, as the fire was consuming the creature. The four rushed past the burning enemy, which soon collapsed onto the floor and died. The group then proceeded to jump a second gap and they came upon a K9000. Ness and Jeff quickly riddled the robot with holes using their energy rifle and Gaia Beam pistol respectively. With that, they turned left and headed through the next door.
The group found themselves outside on an area of the building still under construction, with construction workers milling about. They found another gap to their right, which they jumped with ease, and proceeded towards a steel beam to cross over to another section of the floor. There, they found a Love Walker and a Rhinocerocket Mark II. They were huddled close together, so Paula waited a distance away and she loaded a grenade into the under-slung grenade launcher on her rifle and launched a grenade at the two enemies. The grenade landed among them, detonating. The explosion destroyed the Rhinocerocket, causing it to crash, and severely damaged the Love Walker. However, the downed missile quickly detonated, itself, and its detonation blew apart the damaged Love Walker. The four then made their way across a series of steel beams and after a few seconds, they found themselves on a seemingly more complete part of the building. However, they were greeted by another Love Walker and a K9000. Paula launched another grenade their way and the ensuing explosion blew them to pieces. She quickly checked her belt and found that she had one grenade left. To the left of the four was another elevator. They boarded the elevator and went to whatever floor Porky would decide to drop them off on. Soon, the door opened and the four once again left the elevator to see if they had arrived on the one-hundredth floor.
Upon emerging, they found another revitalization capsule and a Save Frog nearby in a room with metal walls and what looked to be power lines running on the ground in the corner. They ignored the capsule and frog and went through the opening to their left and into the next room. The next room seemed to be some kind of laboratory. There were neon green and pink tanks and vials placed on tables and ledges. There were also very technologically advanced looking machines all over the place. It all looked very futuristic to Ness, and somewhat familiar in a way. Giegue's Flagship was not much different in terms of interior style. They quickly noticed that a trail seemed to form through the vast amounts of machinery. They followed the trail and came upon a new mechanical monstrosity, a Mecha-Lion. True to its name, it looked very much like a golden mechanical lion. It even had a brown mane. Jeff looked it up on his data pad and found that it was weak against Thunder attacks, and that it was actually weaker than the Almost-Mecha-Lion they had faced in the Chimera Labs. Ness, Paula, and Jeff drew their rifles and Gaia Beam pistol and they targeted the Mecha-Lion. Despite it's toughness, the Mecha-Lion was unable to withstand the withering fire brought to bear against it by the three teens. The Mecha-Lion was reduced to scrap metal before it could get in a single hit.
The four proceeded towards the exit into another room when they encountered two more enemies. One was an Upgraded Robot, and the other was the Return of Octobot. Jeff looked at his data pad and he found that the Upgraded Robot had abilities that simulated PK Flash and a Forgetful Gas that simulated Brainshock. Paula decided to play it safe and engage the Upgraded Robot from far away. She peered out from behind a corner and tossed a Super Bomb at it before ducking back behind the corner. The Super Bomb exploded, destroying the Upgraded Robot. The large blast radius also damaged the Return of Octobot, but the Octobot was still functional enough to try to counterattack. However, Poo was too quick for it. He rushed the Octobot, with his sword drawn, and he slashed away at it. After a flurry of slashes, the Octobot fell apart, its wreckage clattering on the floor. With the two enemies having been dealt with, the heroes made their way into the next room.
Inside the next room, they found themselves inside of another maze of machinery. They followed the trail and came across a Return of Octobot and a Nuclear Reactor Robot in a corner of the room off the beaten path that opened up before them. Ness and Jeff took out the Octobot from afar by shooting it full of holes with their energy rifle and Gaia pistol respectively. The next enemy they faced was recognized from their previous adventures as a Nuclear Reactor Robot. Carefully, the group backed away from the Nuclear Reactor Robot. Ness, Paula, and Jeff then opened fire on the robot while it was still safely away from them. The energy pulses melted their way though its metal skin and punctured its miniature reactor. The reactor promptly detonated in a massive explosion that would have destroyed anything within a ten-meter radius. With the two enemies out of the way, they went to open the box that was lying before the enemies on the floor. Inside the box was a Super Bomb, which Paula added to her arsenal. The four then continued to make their way though the room. They soon came upon an open area where they encountered an Upgraded Robot and a Pigmask Colonel. Paula drew out the Super Bomb that she had received from the box and tossed it at the enemies. The bomb landed between the Pigmask Colonel and the Upgraded Robot and exploded. The explosion completely destroyed the Upgraded Robot and severely injured the Pigmask Colonel, sending him sprawling to the ground. He slowly got back up and drew out his pistol. However, Jeff managed to draw his Gaia Beam pistol and shoot the Pigmask between the eyes before he managed to get a shot off. The Pigmask fell to the floor face down, a smoking hole burned through the back of his head. The group proceeded to turn right and walk past the dead Colonel and the wreckage of the Robot and through the door to the next room.
In the next room, they immediately ran into another Pigmask Colonel and a Return of Octobot. Ness and Jeff immediately took aim at the Octobot and shot it full of holes. The Octobot fell to the floor in a heap. However, this had not gone unnoticed by the Pigmask Colonel, who was armed with a Heavy Bazooka. He took aim at the four and fired a missile in their direction. The four scattered as the missile streaked towards them. The missile struck the floor where the heroes had been moments earlier and detonated, gouging a large hole and sent shrapnel flying in all directions. Fortunately, the four had managed to avoid the explosion. Ness, Paula, and Jeff quickly responded by firing their rifles and Gaia Beam pistol at the Colonel. The Colonel fell amid a hail of energy fire. The four turned to their right and proceeded down a trail through the lab and to an area patrolled by an Upgraded Robot and a Mecha-Lion. Poo rushed the Upgraded Robot with his sword drawn. The Robot turned to make a rush at Poo. Poo dodged his attack and held out his sword, skewering the robot in half, the upper half, as well as the wrists of the Upgraded Robot fell to the floor, clanking on the ground. The lower half of the robot soon followed. Poo ensured the robot's destruction by shoving the point of his blade through translucent head. Meanwhile, Jeff took the easy way out with the Mecha-Lion and shot it with his Gaia Beam pistol at long range. They found an empty box near the wreckage of the robots, another sign that Lucas and his friends had been here. They made their way back towards the entrance to the room and proceeded to their right. They followed a trail through the lab and eventually, they found an entrance to another part of the lab to their left. However, before they went through, they found a counter with a young woman with brown hair behind it. The approached the counter, hoping that she could tell them what floor they were on, and the woman greeted them. She said, "Welcome! This is the 'Nice Person Hot Spring'. Using this will make you into a 'nice person' who respects Master Porky from the bottom of your heart. Use it until you're red in the face, and you'll feel happy and revitalized as a 'nice person'. Unlike with regular hot springs, all you have to do is go inside a green-colored capsule, which makes it very simple and convenient!"
That sounded suspiciously like something Porky would do to brainwash people. They then proceeded through the door to the next room. Inside the room was the most horrifying sight for Ness. He saw a dozens of green capsules filling the room. Inside these capsules were people, and even some animals. Approaching one of the animals, a chicken, he heard its thoughts. "Just the idea that a chicken like me can be useful to Master Porky in some way makes me oh-so-happy."
Ness and the others stepped back in shock and horror. All of these people and animals were being brainwashed by Porky. And Ness had a feeling that entry into the green capsules was not exactly voluntary. As he looked around, he thought that he could recognize some people from Onett in his own time period being held captive in the capsules. Ness scowled. He would get Porky, and when he found him, he would kill him right then and there. Porky's game would come to an end very soon. They proceeded down the hallway towards the opening into the next room. In the next room, the walls were lined with more capsules filled with more people being brainwashed into liking Porky.
Ness could not stand to watch what was happening. Throughout these two rooms, the walls were lined with people trapped inside the green capsules being brainwashed by Porky. "Stand back," he told his friends. He soon turned to Poo and asked, "How many people can you use Brainshock on at once to reverse brainwashing?"
Poo glanced at Ness, not knowing exactly what he was planning. "I could cure everyone here in this room, but I would have to use the Omega level of the technique."
"Get ready then," Ness told him. He quickly raised a shield over the party to prevent the green fluid within the capsules from flowing over onto them when Ness broke open the capsules. Ness's eyes began to glow and the glass of each of the green capsules began to crack. They glass broke and the green liquid flowed onto the ground. The people and animals that had been trapped inside the capsules fell to the floor and were slow to get up. They rose slowly and approached the four teens, their movements odd and jerky. Their eyes looked blank, as if they had no free will to speak of. They resembled shambling zombies. Poo's eyes glowed a bright blue as he cast Brainshock Omega on everyone in the room, human and animal alike. Immediately, each of the people jerked, as if they had been struck by lightning. After a few seconds, their writhing stopped and they looked around and gather themselves. They quickly turned to each other and started murmuring, "Where are we? What have we been doing?"
Ness and the others smiled. The shock Brainshock therapy worked. They turned to the four teens standing before them, two of them brandishing Pigmask carbines and asked, "Who are you guys? And what were we doing in here?"
"We are four kids who are fighting against Porky and his minions," Jeff responded. "As for what you were doing in those capsules, it seems as if Porky wanted to make you 'nice people' who loved Porky."
Several of the people, and a dog, a Doberman pinscher, grumbled and growled. Ness then called out to Jeff and Paula, saying, "There's another room full of captives. Poo and I will go free them, you fill in the people here on what's going on."
"Right," Jeff and Paula responded in unison.
Ness and Poo rushed back into the room from which they came. Ness quickly broke open the capsules with his telekinetic power. After each person had fallen to the floor and risen from the floor, Poo used Brainshock Omega on them. Immediately, the group came to their senses and glanced at each other and around the room. Ness and Poo approached the group and identified themselves for the group. Paula and Jeff quickly came through the entrance to this part of the lab along with the rest of the people freed from the brainwashing. Ness then addressed the crowd, saying, "Okay everyone, there's an elevator not too far away from here through the lab. You should not run into any trouble on the way back, but there are several dead Pigmask Colonels. Each of them was armed with either a pistol or rifle. Some even had a bazooka. You can get these weapons so you can fight any potential stragglers that we may have missed on our trip through the building."
Ness and Paula then handed their weapons to a muscular African American man, likely military given his uniform, and told them, "These rifles are likely low on energy. However, they should still give you a chance should you engage any Pigmasks, though, but if you do, you should swap them out for whatever other weapons you can find."
Paula then took off her grenade belt and added, "As you can see, my rifle has a grenade launcher. However, this is the only grenade left," she added not quite sheepishly.
"Right," the man said. "Thanks a lot kids. We really owe you one," he said sincerely. He then turned to the rest of the crowd and said in a deep voice, "Alright people, and animals, let's move out! If there are any Pigmask stragglers, we'll make 'em wonder how they ever managed to capture us in the first place."
The others cheered as they charged out of the room and back into the labs, eager to make their way out of the building. The man who had taken charge of the group reminded him of a G.I. Joe character named Roadblock. Ness watched with admiration and hope. He had a good feeling that they would make it out safely. He almost wondered if he should feel sorry for any potential surviving Pigmask that got in their way. He quickly shook off the notion. From what he knew, the Pigmasks were willing servants of Porky, not brainwashed zombies. He had no sympathy for them. That was why it was as easy as it was to use deadly force against them. Ness could hear the whine of blaster fire and the explosions of missiles, punctuated by the muffled cries of Pigmask soldiers in the laboratory. He also heard the sounds of dogs barking, and biting and tearing at their unfortunate Pigmask victims. The scene was probably quite graphic, and from the sounds of it, the Pigmasks were getting massacred, so Ness resisted the urge to go back and take a look. He quickly heard a cheer from the freed captives and he heard the leader yell over the din, "Pour it on men, we've got 'em on the run!" It was obvious that the captives were getting their sweet revenge on the Pigmasks and that more than a few of them seemed to have military training. It was then that Ness began to realize how strange their trip through the building was. Despite the fact that Lucas and his friends had gone before them, Ness had encountered surprisingly little resistance. Despite the fact that they had encountered a lot of small pockets of enemies, all of the enemy forces seemed to be in groups of two rather than three or four. And there were too many enemies for Lucas to have simply gone around to avoid entering battle. Something was going on here, Ness just did not know what it was. The four then went back the way they came and continued towards what they hoped would be the one-hundredth floor.
They rushed back down the hallway and towards a door on their right. As they approached the door, a voice spoke to them over the loudspeaker. "Aw, come on, Ness," Porky whined. "Why can't you let me have my fun?"
"Because your 'fun' is hurting others," Ness responded.
"But it's still my fun," Porky continued to whine. "Those broken toys you freed are breaking my toys and the men I had sent after you. Anyway, it seems as if you are as strong as I thought you'd be. I'm impressed you've made it this far, but your quest will soon come to an end. Come up the stairs in front of you to gain access to the real one-hundredth floor. Come and get me losers! Spankety, spankety, spankety!"
"You bet we will!" Ness cried out in a loud voice in the direction of the loudspeakers. He only hoped that Porky could hear it. The group then headed through the door where they encountered a large stairwell. They made their way up the stairs quickly and soon, they came upon a door. They entered the door and they found themselves in a small room. Standing in front of them was a man dressed in a suit. He approached the teens and said, "Master Porky wishes you welcome. Normally, he would need to test you in order to allow you to pass to the one-hundredth floor, but he has specifically ordered me to let you pass without incident. Good journey. Master Porky must really like you."
Not hardly, Ness thought. And the feeling was mutual. They quickly proceeded through the door. Inside, they found a green game show arena that had six holes in the center surrounded by an empty grandstand, with the exception of the janitor robots that were cleaning. Apparently there had been a show here recently. Could it have been Lucas and his friends? The group charged through the room and towards the exit. Through the exit, they found another stairwell. They ran up the stairs, facing no resistance whatsoever. Ness and the others were surprised at the surprisingly small amount of resistance that they had faced while traveling through the tower. They entered the next room and found that it connected to another arena. This time, there were two purple bridges that crossed a pool of water. Ness and the others carefully crossed the bridge to the other side. On the other side, they found a red door that led out of the arena. They entered the door and found themselves in another stairwell. They ran up the stairs as quickly as they could and soon found themselves at another door. They entered the door and found themselves in a room that seemed to be a game room for blowing up balloons. The game that would have been played here had to have been a contest to see how fast they could blow up a balloon to the point of it exploding. They did not loiter in this room. They continued to the exit and the proceeded through.
This staircase was covered in a red carpet. The four knew that they were finally going up to the one-hundredth floor. They arrived half way up the staircase and they found a sofa. The four decided to take a quick rest and take stock of their inventory. They had not used many of their weapons so they still had a decent arsenal to choose from. They had a feeling that they would need it for the upcoming one-hundredth floor. Jeff unslung his Heavy Bazooka to prepare to fight whatever they would face on the one-hundredth floor. When the four heroes were ready, the proceeded up the rest of the way and entered the door that lead to the one-hundredth floor.
They entered a room with a gold wall and pillars, as well as a floor covered with a gold rug with a diamond design. Standing in front of the entrance beyond the door, however, was a machine shaped in the form of a pig's head with four legs and two arms. On the top of the machine was an organic brain. Ness wondered if that meant that it could use psychic powers. As if reading his mind, Paula glanced towards him and gave a faint nod, indicating an affirmative. Flanking the machine to its left was Fassad, who had even more trumpets emerging from his mouth, his interpreter standing next to him. To the right of the pig-like machine, however, was a very familiar enemy. The four heroes' eyes went wide when they saw that the other enemy flanking the pig-faced machine was none other than a Final Starman. Fassad noticed the look on their faces, believing it to one of fear, rather than surprise at the sight of the familiar enemy, and his trumpets blared. "Nwehehehehehehehehe," his interpreter began. "That's one 'nwe' and eight 'he's'. Now you are going to face this triumvirate of death and destruction. The most powerful servants of Master Porky are going to kill you. Mr. Fassad will finally get his revenge for the humiliations that he suffered at your hands. He says you may call him Miracle Fassad. And that he is your death!"
Ness and the others quickly took a battle stance. Ness began to smile. They were about to face the first line of resistance on the one-hundredth floor. And they all relished the opportunity to put down Fassad, permanently.
