Earthbound CH14 – The Path Ahead

I glanced around at the five officers who each wore a knowing smirk. One cracked his knuckles, while another was popping his shoulders and neck.

"I don't want any trouble," I said, holding the bat before me, ready to wield it once again.

Chief Strong chuckled, "See if you can get past five of my best men…"

With that the Chief strolled past me with a snicker, and blocked the exit to the room. I saw the two tall windows—I could escape like that maybe—but before I could move the officers spread out around me and the first came charging in with a loud scream, "Eeeeyah!"

He swung a punch and I ducked out of the way, keeping my eye on as many of them as I could. They all just wore those same smiles. What kind of sick bastards were they? Were they influenced by Giygas as well!?

"Hey, small fry!" that first cop called out.

I turned to him and he pulled back a fist, "You must be shaking in your boots!"

The cop swung and his fist turned into a karate chop. I brought up my bat, but he went right over it and his hand cracked into my shoulder. The sharp pain was instant and so fierce it brought me to one knee. He struck out again, but this time I saw through his speed and brought my bat up higher. His hand hit the strong bat and his face contorted in pain. He snatched back his hand as I sweeped my bat under his legs, knocking him right on his behind. I kicked forward, planting my tennis shoe in his face, and with a loud thud, he hit the floor.

I breathed a sigh of relief—until he popped right back up and climbed to his feet. I was ready to strike again but he started to walk away toward the room's exit.

"You're tough," he said, "You should join the police force!"

Chief Strong let him past and he left. But no sooner did the cop behind me speak as he came forward.

"Your average policeman is stronger than any super hero!" he said, swinging a fist at me.

I spun around as his fist whizzed past my face. I swung my bat at his side, and cracked him good. He grabbed the attack point in pain and growled. He swung out his hand in a backhand whack, but I was able to twist enough so it barely grazed me, still his rough skin scratched my face.

I snapped up the bat and hit him under his chin. He staggered back into the arms of another officer.

"Oh…" he whispered, "you won…"

The cop who caught him pushed the defeated one past me. He staggered and rushed to out of the room, holding his likely broken jaw.

The next cop came up to me cracking his knuckles.

"Don't let the Mayor's compliments give you a big head…" he snarled.

"Don't worry, jerk face," I sneered, "You guys aren't that tough!"

"Bring it on, fat boy!" he shouted and charged me.

I brought up my bat in a bunt, and he ran right into it chest first. I thought I heard something inside him crack, but before it could resonate the cop slugged with across the face. My head jerked to the side, and I could taste warm blood inside me. I took a step back, dizzy and reeling. He swung again and hit me in the gut. I wheezed, nearly falling over.

"Life," I whispered, and instantly I felt a rush of healing energy flowing into my veins.

I looked up with a grin, and caught the advancing officer off guard. I charged and thrust my bat right into his stomach. It was his turn to gasp and wheeze, falling back into the wall.

Another cop tried to help him up, but he waved his hand at him. The cop backed off and let the defeated guy stand up on his own. He smiled at me and walked over.

"Let's do this again sometime…" he whispered as he walked past me, "Next time, I'll take you out with my nuclear suplex attack!"

With that he was gone and out the door. The fourth cop approached, looking more than a little nervous.

"C'mon!" he said, his voice shaky, "I'm going to take you apart right here, right now, baby!"

I wasted no time in swinging my bat and cracking it into his knee. His leg buckled but he still managed to get off a punch, with hit my shoulder. The pain was barely existent. I brought back my own fist and punched him in the face. He fell to the side as I raised my bat above my head. He scrambled with a whimper.

"Grr…" he growled, "I lost…"

He rushed out of the room as I growled through my teeth at him. The final copy and I made eye contact and he held up his palms in defense.

"That's it buddy," he said, "You can forget about me, I'm going to call for my boss!"

I smiled as he turned and ran out of the room like a coward. Somehow I had managed to make it through the fight with the four cops, four adults, bigger and stronger than myself. I felt pretty darn proud of myself. I spun as I heard boot steps coming my way. Chief Strong stopped several paces away. He twirled the corner of his moustache and grinned.

"There is no way I can beat you in a straight competition," he said, "So… get ready for my 'Super Ultra Mambo-Tango-Foxtrot martial arts'!"

"What?" I asked, confused.

Chief Strong began a set of fancy footworks, dancing around with his fists held before him. It looked like some wannabe form of a fighting style, but it was one I had never seen before. He shuffled to the right, then skipped to the left. With a hop he came at me, overhand chopping with both fists.

"Rockin!" I cried out, thrusting both of my hands forward.

The bright blast of white light struck him, sending him flying back into the door, cracking the foundation.

"Whoa ho!" he cried out, "You little brat!"

He flexed his muscles and began the same wild dance if I had never hit him. I furrowed my brows and swung my bat sideways. He twirled away like a football player and smacked the inner side of my bat, sending my arm out wide. His leg came up and kicked me in the chest. I stumbled and he came again spinning and swinging out punches. I couldn't get my bat up in time before he backed it away again and brought his arm around my neck, sweeping my foot out from beneath me and bringing me to the floor.

"Let go," I hissed.

But all I got from him was a chuckle and he squeezed tighter, cutting off my oxygen. I could feel my face turning blue and all around the edges of my vision, things were becoming dark. He had got me in a chokehold of doom. If he wanted to play dirty, so would I.

"Hypnosis," I gasped, with my last breath.

I felt the energy leaving my body and just as I hit the floor, I felt him come down with me. Suddenly I was able to breathe. I gasped in air and rolled away from the officer. I scooped up my bat, and kicked at his prone and sleeping form, rolling him onto his back. I stomped down onto his stomach and he wheezed, his eyes flying open wide. He stared up at me with a grin, and a drop of blood on his lips. He held his arms out to the side accepting defeat.

"Hmph!" I grunted and stepped back, letting him up.

As he climbed to his feet, he wiped the blood from his mouth and patted away the dirt from his fine pressed uniform.

"I didn't think you'd do so well against the might Onett police force…," he said.

"Well I won," I replied, "Do we have a deal?"

He nodded, "You want me to open the road to Twoson?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice!" I said.

"Hang on for a sec," he replied, "I'll radio my staff and give them the word."

The Chief grabbed a radio from his belt and held in the talk button. A series of beeps and clicks came through.

"Strong here," he said into the radio, "Do you read me?"

More static came through and Strong shook the radio.

"Hey!" he yelled into the receiver, "It's me, Captain Strong!"

A voice crackled back something undecipherable.

"Okay, listen," Strong said, "A kid named Ness will be there in a few minutes."

I hadn't told him my name, I realized as he continued talking.

"He's a kid in a red cap. I want you to open the road to Twoson for him."

The voice on the other end crackled back and Strong furrowed his brow, and barked back.

"I know that…"

More crackling.

"I know that!" he snapped, "Don't ask me why, just do it! That's an order! …Strong out."

He clicked the receiver back onto his belt and turned to face me, with his hands on his hips.

"Well kid," he started, "I'm not going to question you now, but I do want to see you again."

"I think I've had enough of this for a lifetime," I scoffed as I walked past him. He walked over and held the door open for me.

I exchanged glances with him and he smiled, as if he knew I was about to embark on a dangerous journey.

He said, "Good luck."

I nodded to him, and then walked out the door. I didn't take a second look back as I left the police station and headed outside.

"Holy crap," I whispered as I made my way down the street, "That was awesome!"

Not only had I bested four of the strongest police officers on the force, I had taken out the Chief as well! If there was anyone who was capable of saving the world—it had to be me. But I had to find those three others—two boys and a girl. Twoson would be the perfect place to start looking.

Suddenly I remembered my dream. The girl who had spoken to me, calling out my name—saying she was a friend whom I had never met! Maybe she was one of the three! The girl! Her name was Paula, so all I had to do was find her, and I had a sinking feeling the road ahead would lead me right to her.

I hurried faster as I crossed the street and came back to the dirt road leading south. The cops were still blocking the road with their orange and white striped barriers. But this time, they would have to open the road to me.

One cop turned and stared as I came forward.

"Hey," he called out, "Aren't you Ness?"

"Yep," I said, pointing at my red hat, "That's me!"

He snorted, "Well, I got the okay from Chief Strong to let you through."

"Thanks kindly," I said as he pushed aside one of the wooden barricades.

"Take care of yourself," he said.

"No problem," I said.

He pulled the barricade closed behind me, and I continued on my path.

As I followed the dirt road south, I passed a couple small houses nestled in the wooded path. The trees were growing taller as I went, and the sun was blocked out here and there, leaving me in complete shadow. I was glad it was still day. A trip through the woods was creepy enough in the day time, but night would have made it even worse.

I took each step forward with a sense of purpose and kept up my momentum. I wasn't stopping until I made it to Twoson. More than once I saw movement to the sides of the road—somewhere amongst the trees. An antoid or two crawled up the barks and into the branches above. Sure, I realized they were now afraid of me, but that didn't stop them from watching my every move—which they likely were reporting back to Giygas, or at the very least something higher in the ranks above them—maybe the next Sanctuary Guardian.

The road ahead curved around to the right. I followed it around and suddenly came to a patch of bright red mushrooms growing right in the center of the dirt path. I wouldn't have thought anything strange, mushrooms grew all over, but there was something odd about these ones. They seemed to sway, as if it were really windy—the problem was, there was no wind. Maybe something was hiding within them. I stopped walking and watched them for a moment.

They swayed back and forth continuously.

"What the heck is going on?" I whispered to myself.

I started my way to the left, trying to get around them, but the mushrooms, to my extreme surprise, uprooted themselves and scurried to block my path.

"Oookay!" I said, then quickly rushed around to the right, but they were quick.

They sprung in the direction next, blocking me once again.

"Definitely weird," I said.

I started through the middle and once again the group of a dozen gathered there.

"This is getting annoying," I said, "I'm going right through you if you like it or not!"

I stomped forward, right into the center of them, and gave a good stomp on the biggest one in the very center. A purple haze of dust flew up in the air and I gasped, breathing in something rough. I fell to my knees and the mushrooms scattered into the trees. I coughed hard, trying to clear my throat. It was as if something was growing on the inside, filling up my airway. I started to feel light headed. Something was definitely wrong. Had I just breathed in poison spores? I didn't have a power to fix this one. I needed to get to Twoson and fast—I needed a doctor.

I rushed forward, stumbling around the road, bumping into trees. I slammed hard into one, hitting my head, and nearly knocking myself out. It felt as if I were losing control of my own two feet. I came through a thick pocket of trees and felt my way between them and followed the now narrow dirt road. I continued to wheeze and gasp for air. The itching in my throat was awful, it felt so tight and textured—like sand paper.

Bursting through the last bit of trees I saw the city streets of Twoson ahead of me.

I saw a sign that looked like it read Twoson on the right. I made it to the sign and grabbed a hold. I needed to keep moving, but the dizziness was overwhelming. It was just then a guardian angel appeared. A woman with curly blonde hair and in a red shirt and black pants.

"Welcome!" she said.

I started to cough.

"Would you like me to tell you about Twoson?" she asked.

I felt my eyes roll up into the back of my head and everything went dark. I felt the grass beneath me as I slammed down into it. I heard a panicked voice somewhere far in the distance, and then I heard no more.