The jealous bass had summoned a Gently Weeping Guitar and a Beaten Drum to the fight. Just to show what it could do, it did a jam session, dealing plenty of damage. I used PK Love to attack the instruments while Boney threw bombs. With all this racket, I was surprised that DCMC hadn't come rushing up. Nevertheless, we beat the Jealous Bass… although we barely escaped by the skin of our teeth. We dived into DCMC's room.

"You took forever. Violet has finished her explanation to DCMC," Violet said. OJ, the band leader, sized me up.

"Tonda Gossa. So you want Lucky, eh?" he asked. I nodded. Lucky thought it over, and stated what he knew about the entire situation.

"I don't know what I was like before coming to Club Titiboo. I remember clutching a weird egg, which I hid in a clump of dirt nearby. It's up a cliff near a giant waterfall."

"Unknown Valley! That's it, Duster!"

"But… am I Duster? Duster or Lucky… One will no longer exist as of this day. But how to decide which?"

"You'll have to ask destiny," Shimmy Zmizz stated.

"I'll accept whichever decision destiny makes!" Baccio claimed.

"We'll do it the way we always do in doubt," OJ said.

"…Stone-Sheet-Clippers?" Lucky asked.

Rock-Paper-Scissors, by the way.

"Yep. Lucas will play a round of Stone-Sheet-Clippers with myself. If Lucas wins, Lucky will be the one to cease to exist. If I win, Duster will vanish without trace. Understood?" OJ said. Five voices answered, "Yes."

And there is voice acting here: they say 'Ready, Set, Go!' once you've chosen your hand. It's worthy of a mention, but not a link. It's a GBA game, for briljantheid's sake.

I won. Clippers beat sheet. Duster's coming with us.

…Woo-hoo!

We left, only stopping to watch the DCMC concert from the other side of the door.

watch?v=hO_RUTHh_OI&list=PLC3CE762A52A46507

This is only here because the scenes following are worth seeing with one's own eyes and ears.

Bon voyage, amigo.

Oh, guy in the sky, please grant a gift to our friend who's about to set out…

How much time we wasted laughing together…

But, guy in the sky, oh, how we loved that wasted time and those helpless smiles…

Bon voyage.

Bon voyage, amigo.

"Let's go, Lucas. Give Duster a little time."

"OK."

"Hey, no random people allowed!"

Duster got knocked back several feet.

"Hey! Random guy! How would you like to join DCMC?"

"…Sure thing… amigo…"

Duster practiced for hours on the bass… as Lucky…

"Tonda Gossa… amigo…" Duster wept. He put down his wig. And left Club Titiboo.

I released the carrier pigeon. We found Duster.

This chapter is dedicated to:

STARMEN DOT NET

For their continued devotion to the Mother series through the bad times and the terrible. And for translating Mother 3 for this story.

…But seriously, we need responses to those petitions.