Author's Note: I'm still down in West Virginia, but luckily, I've managed to get some good writing in. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter! :D

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Ness was fast asleep as Gig nestled himself outside in the tree near his bedroom window, speaking through a floating tele-vid screen to the Cragmite Emperor Tachyon, who looked rather amused by Gig's new lot in life.

"...so you can see how ironic it is that we two children of similar fortune find ourselves playing "buddy-buddy" to the very beings that brought about our downfall." Tachyon finished, gesturing at Gig. "The same species...the same MEMBERS of the species."

"I am surprised Ratchet has not slain you."

"Angela has been putting in VERY good words for me. She spun a lovely tale of remorse. Have you done the same?"

Gig's face was set like stone, but a cruel glint flashed in his eye as his words became cold and biting. "There's something else we have in common. Matricide and Patricide."

That wiped the smug smirk off of Tachyon's face. "...don't you ever...EVER...talk about it like that." He hissed quietly. "I took no joy in her death. I still weep for her."

"You enjoyed HIS death."

"He...had...his...chance. I offered to spare his life, he choose HIM over-" Tachyon looked to the side, growling angrily before he "harrumphed". "And what of you? Did you enjoy feeling the life ebb out from sweet Maria as you killed her?"

"I will never say I enjoyed it. But I can never, ever forget it." Gig murmured. "...I loved her."

"...as did I."

"...it seems sad that we must be this way." Gig realized softly as he lowered his head, shaking it back and forth. "...we didn't need to be. But Fate had no love for us."

"I don't believe in fate, my friend. But I believe in poor circumstances." Tachyon said quietly. "And we were given many. I think it's time we crawled back up the ladder...don't you?"

"..."

"Eventually...you'll have to do it. If I were you, I'd do it quickly...quietly. While he's sleeping..." Tachyon crooned.

Gig crushed the tele-vid broadcaster in his clawed paws, growling angrily as his tail whipped back and forth, Tachyon being unable to hear his final curses. It was a good thing Ness was asleep through it all...

Ness. What was he to do, Gig thought to himself as he hovered back inside, going back to rest on the young dibbun's bed. What was he to do?

...

...

...

...Dr. Kong was a cheery, albeit rather dull-faced gorilla, and he was quite eager to explain the mechanics behind the beautiful city of Xanadu that his people called their home. Each home was brightly-lit and shiny like a brand new banana, with the sweet smell of fruit lingering all around. Sude and his "host" had no idea what type of cleaner the gorilla people used, but it was smelled FANTASTIC.

As the nice gorilla doctor led the possessed Nick further into the city, having finished with a long discussion on the history of the road they were walking on and why it was not only named "St. Grodd's Street" but what had happened on May 12th, 1982 (a terrible accident involving several thousand tons of vanilla cream). What really caught Nick...or rather, the Entity of Life SUDE'S attention, was a building that looked unmistakably like a gigantic church. There was a church. There was a the door...

"Lookit all the people!" Nick managed to get out from his own mouth, Sude speaking the very same words as Dr. Kong led them inside, dozens of gorillas all seated at pews and reading books alongside of upright-walking, slightly humanioid-built lizards. Nick KNEW what these things were, he could vaguely recall them from his days of playing "Donkey Kong Country 2".

"Kremlings, Apes, we got ourselves a newcomer to Xanadu. He's another actual man. A real human! Now we've got TWO! Everyone say "hello" to our new guest, eh wot?" Dr. Kong laughed cheerily, giving Nick a hearty clap on the back that almost floored him.

Every single Kremling and Ape turned their head, cheerily smiled, and let out a loud, proud, "HOWDY, NEIGHBOR!"

"Er...hello?" Sude said through Nick's mouth, waving sheepishly with his stolen hands as Dr. Kong led Nick to an empty spot so they could get a good view of the services, which were taking place in front of an enormous golden statue of some kind of lizard-like being with bumpy shoulders, a slightly rounded muzzle and deep, powerful-looking eyes of ivory and black diamond that seemed to pierce your very soul. Beneath it stood an ape, quite possibly the ugliest, most wrinkled and most clever-looking ape that Nick had ever seen. He had a very squat-looking face, looked VERY old...

"Dear lord I can smell him from all the way back here." Sude mumbled inside of Nick's mind, his spirit continuing to keep a firm, yet still gentle grip on Nick's own. He was trying to be as gentle as he could with the human, he didn't wish to harm the young dibbun, certainly not. The death or harming of a child was a sin to true dragons, a terrible, terrible one. "He reeks of magic and lies and ego."

"He smells like egg. The bad ones ALWAYS smell like egg." Nick's spirit agreed as Sude spoke up, raising a hand. Or rather, NICK'S hand.

"Er, excuse me, uh...father-who's-name-I-don't-know. You're a human as well? How long have you been here?"

"Why I've been here for three centuries my boy, I've been teaching these men the way of Inthra for eons. I'm quite an old man, you know. Don't go thinking I'm an ape. If I look like an ape, it's because I'm so incredibly old, and because I'm old, I'm wise, and it's because I'm wise that I happen to be the only one that the ever-powerful, all-knowing, DEFINITELY NOT TAME Inthra will speak to."

"Yes, he's not a TAME god." Everyone in the church insisted as Sude frowned darkly inside of Nick's mind. It was him. It was DEFINITELY him.

"Not a word through the ceremony." Sude whispered to Nick's spirit. "I need to extend my soul out into this church...look through it in secret. I'm letting you keep your body, but I'll need you to do what I say. There's dark magic lingering everywhere, and I imagine that a very close...FRIEND...of mine...helped your "Doctor Kong" change his world into what you see here. That's the way things had been with the others, is it not?"

Nick nodded inwardly. "Yes, sir."

"Good! Now remember...just watch, listen. Keep your eyes peeled." With that, Sude's spirit vanished from Nick's body, and Nick shivered slightly, feeling his form return to normal as he, and only he, saw a white sliver of flame flicker around the large golden statue as the priest went on.

"Can I get an AMEN?"

"AMEN, Father Rule!"

"So as I was saying to this worshipper the other day, he spoke often of the "One God" that the Arcadians prayed to, and the "One God" that the Seraphi had prayed to and the "One God" that humans pray to."

Nick frowned at this. The being hadn't referred to God in the right way. If he'd really been a human, he would have said something like "The One God we humans pray to" or "The God that humans like me pray to". This father was fishy.

"And I tell him quite simply. It's just other names for the same thing. All those old ideas of you being right and so-and-so being wrong, that doesn't work. They might use different words, but they all mean the same thing."

"I'm going to be sick." Nick gurgled out as he looked away, holding a hand over his head and biting into his lip.

"I think that examining religious mythology is fascinating, personally." Doctor Kong admitted to Nick as he chuckled slightly, patting the kid on the head. "Here. Do what I did when I got sick to death of the sermons: read a book. Excellent stories." He picked up a nearby book in one of the compartments in the back of each pew, grabbing one that wasn't too well-worn and giving it to Nick. The human nodded politely, looking through the book, smiling slightly as he glanced down at the pages. Such fascinating stories!

Evidently, the religion was called "Tashvishtraism". It was named after the prophet "Tash", who, according to the beliefs of the people of Xanadu, had brought the "Twelve Laws of the Great One" for all to live by. He'd even laid an egg that had then promptly birthed the God before their eyes, allowing him to take a physical form.

Not only that, evidently the statue was the God itself! After going through a dozen or so adventures involving flamingos, giant crocodiles, boxing matches and bananas (the last bit being used in ways that made Nick blush VERY deeply and want to vomit), the God had turned into a statue, being coated in...

Dear LORD, was that even POSSIBLE?

...THAT many people?

...how could you FIT all...

...with a MELON?

Nick snapped the book shut, pulling his lower lip over his upper, eyes slightly bugging out as he decided that was PLENTY of learning about foreign religions for ONE night. Luckily though, the service was almost over. Soon everyone was leaving the place, Nick saying he'd like to stay behind to "look around and the really nice-looking church". Doctor Kong had agreed, telling him to meet back up with him at his laboratory, which he "couldn't possibly miss".

Waiting until everyone was long gone, Nick finally spoke up. "We're alone. We can talk."

"That's good." Sude's voice spoke as his physical form manifested, wings holding him up in the air as he pointed an accusing finger at the gold statue. "CUZ I GOT A BONE TO PICK WITH YOU, YOU GREAT GOLD GLOB OF GREASY, GRIMY GOPHER GUTS!"

"Saw right through me, didn'tcha?" The "statue" laughed in a deep, booming voice as it lowered itself on one knee, shrinking visibly before Nick's eyes, wings busting free from it's shoulders as it transformed itself into a green/gold-scaled dragon with a big smirk.

How...odd. His voice wasn't just booming, it was like giant drumbeats...and Sude's own voice sounded so oddly like a giant orchestra playing all at once, sweet music formed into words of power. This being was obviously one of his kind...did all of them speak like this?

"Verminthrax." Sude mumbled darkly. "Lord of the Dark Forest."

"I like it when you say my full title." Verminthrax chuckled as he folded his arms, standing before Sude as his slimy, webby wings folded closely to his roided-up muscles. "Is this your little "Varati"? The angelic host you've chosen to bond with in the defense of Life?"

"He's a defender of life, but he's not mine." Sude insisted, a small smile flickering across his face. "Not yet."

"Might I ask why you're here to spoil my fun?" Verminthrax chuckled.

"You've been manipulating these people into worshipping you. I can't allow you to keep doing that." Sude said calmly, firmly. "Religion is yet another way of discovering how the worlds work, and much like the other paths, there are right methods of discovering the truth, and wrong methods. Just as some formulas shall always be right, just as there is solid truth to be found in the sciences so is there solid truth to be found in faith. You are building your faith on a lie. I can't agree with that."

"But they're happy, Sude. If you knew how happy I've made them..." Verminthrax chuckled, calmly waltzing out of the church, vanishing into a flame that whisked through the air, Sude mumbling incoherently before he took off after, Nick rubbing his chin as he heard a faint chuckling from behind him.

He slowly turned around, seeing "Father Rule" chuckling darkly as golden beams of light swirled around him, his skin shifting and sagging, muscles bulging as his form became scaly and dark, a pair of slit-pupil eyes gazing intently at new prey. King ...leader of the Kremlings.

"So you were onto me, eh? I knew I'd have to act swiftly the moment I sensed Sude's power. I'll deal with you here and now, fool. You're no "Varati", just a useless fool from across the galaxy." King K. Rool said, spinning a sharp-looking golden scepter with a reptilian head around as Nick took up a fighting position.

"I feel bad about messing up a church, but since it's god is practically Satan with an alligator head, I don't think I'll feel as bad beating your head in with a pew and screaming 'The Power of Christ Compels You'." Nick admitted, leaping through the air, throwing a punch as King blocked with the scepter, grunting as he forced Nick back, then swung his tail at the kid.

Nick managed to duck, and then was forced to jump to avoid another sweep as Nick panted, "jump-roping" over and over again. "See my name is Nicky, tofu's really icky..." He sang out.

"You think this is a JOKE? You affront a GOD, you foolish little worm!"

"There's that 'fool' insult again." Nick commented, spinning through the air and leaping away, River-dancing his way around King as the being's reptilian-headed scepter glittered brightly, eyes a-glow as it launched a burst of flame that passed over his head, barely missing. "Call me afool! What's it to you! I knew she'd be my cup of tea..." He sang out cheerily.

"Such a shame about your girl, Ms. Pelekai." King chuckled darkly.

Nick...stopped...the song. His eyes slowly widened, his voice becoming a croak of a growl. "...what."

"Sweet little child. Not long for this world. Oh such FUN my organization will have with her! I must admit, you set us back quite a bit now that Mother Brain is gone, but we'll just have to make do. And poor Kirby. If only that dumb little marshmallow knew that he was the LITTLE FISH-"

"What...did...you...do." Nick hissed. "If you've hurt EITHER of their worlds...if you've hurt one HAIR on my Lilo's head-"

"You're so predictable."

Nick stiffened, suddenly yelping as he realized the bottom of his vest was on fire. "OHMYGODI'MONFIRE!" He screamed, rushing around the church as laughed and laughed and laughed at the poor kid's misfortune.

SPLOOOOOOSH!

He dunked his butt in the holy water, letting out a long sigh. "THAT'S what I call a baptism." He sighed out, leaping out and then, well, grabbing ahold of a pew, lifting it up, King stupidly blinking his dull reptilian eyes.

"Oh. You were serious about the pew thingie." The reptilian ruler of the Kremlings murmured, the shadow of his church's pew falling over him as a bell rang overhead.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

"THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU! THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU! THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!"

...

...

...

... "Tell me about this quality." Gig inquired of Ness as the two of them sat atop a tall cliff that overlooked an endless pit, Samus sitting nearby as Ness scratched Alex's head, making him-

No, it wasn't "purring". Tough guys didn't purr. It was "growling friendly-like".

"It's called "color"." Ness informed the alien being, waving a hand in the air. "See? See the way there's different...things...around us? Back at my home town, that thing you see..." He pointed at a far-off butte. "It doesn't look that. Or...me. Take a look at me." He put his hands on his chest. "This shirt. It was the same size. Same length, width, all of that stuff!"

"It's a nice shirt." Samus complimented.

"Yep! I got it from Macintyre's. "For the very best in men's attire, head right down to Macintyre!"

"...riiiight." Samus remarked.

"But this...everything else bit...the color...that wasn't there. It was all so different. But now there's more colors like this appearing everywhere." Ness went on.

"We didn't really HAVE this kind of stuff back where I'm from." Gig admitted, nodding as he took a small rock and launched it into the gorge, listening for several minutes before deciding that by the time it hit the bottom, they'd be covered in webs. "I think we did at one point...back and back and back. We relinquished that when we relinquished sunshine and hills and snow. We got control over many things, but...lost all control of others."

"Did you still have THESE?" Alex found himself saying with a slight chuckle, pulling out something he'd snuck with him and handing it to Gig, making the alien's eyes widen as he looked inside.

"Ooooooh! You finally invented books, eh?"

"Uh, actually...we invented them BEFORE computers..." Samus admitted, making Gig give her a "Whaaaaa" kind of look as Ness gave the same to Alex.

"Crikey. A talking dog!" He remarked.

"I'm from...outside your little hamlet." Alex informed the kid.

"What's outside of town?"

"Well...uh..." Alex tried to think of how to describe it. He put a finger to his lips. "There are some places where the road doesn't go in a circle. It keeps going. In fact, it ALL keeps going! Roads and rivers...like the mighty Mississippi!"

"The pages...have been filling in. More and more." Alex realized. "...how?"

"Truth be told, I've read many Earth books." Samus admitted. "I might be from a human colony in the stars, but even I know about Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. I started telling Ness about my favorites last night..."

"What IS this "Huckleberry Finn" about? What happens after this "part with the raft"? It's only going up to the part with the raft." Gig complained as Ness and Alex peeked into the book, over the alien's shoulder.

"Well...Huck and his friend, the slave, were going up the riverto get free, but in trying to BECOME free, they realize they're free already." Samus explained.

And with that, the pages began to fill in right before their eyes, all of their eyes widening as more and more words formed on the pages, with pictures to accompany them.

"Amaaaazing." Gig whispered, Alex holding paws to his lips.

"Wow...I...by golly, this sure is somethin' new!" Ness murmured. "But I've got a BETTER idea!" He laughed, jumping up and pointing dramatically at the heavens, his getup transforming as he once more became "Explorer Elliot", pointing down into the canyon-esque gorge as a gigantic glider appeared to their right.

"Ooh boy." Alex chuckled, rubbing his paws together.

"Here we are, poised upon the precipice of "Guts and Gore Gorge", our only tool a flimsy, near-unsteerable glider!

Gig waved a little flag in the air. "Oyez! Oyez!"

"The mind recoils in horror to imagine the awful descent that awaits us! It's a thousand-foot vertical drop onto heaven-knows-what, spiky pricker vines lining the walls...a journey calculated to exceed the human capacity for blinding fear!"

"So there's no seat belts."

"Nope." Ness said firmly.

"Turning Signals."

"Nope."

"Brakes?"

"None."

"Steering?"

"None."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Gig inquired, gripping the right-hand side of the glider as "Explorer Elliot" joined him, the two of them taking off through the air, the wings of the glider carrying them across a thermal that lifted them through the mighty canyon.

"I'm going to start counting." Samus chuckled wryly as Alex hopped atop her armored suit, Samus firing up her suit's jet boots as she shot through the sky, watching the two "flying aces" make their way across the canyon...only to finally come crashing into a giant hill, go rolling down it into a giant pricker bush, and then finally come to a halting CRUCHA-CRASH as they slammed into a giant rock.

Grunting angrily, Gig and Ness stomped away from the rock, over to Samus and Alex as the two touched down. "Is starboard to the right or the left?" Ness asked.

"It's to the right." Samus said.

"SEE?" Ness yelled at Gig. "I TOLD you! Starboard is RIGHT! PORT is left!"

"Okay, so I was wrong for once in my life! It happens! The PSI Lords aren't ALWAYS omnipotent!"

"I know what'll cheer you up." Ness said cheerily to the bluish/white-skinned alien, rubbing his head against the alien as "Dry Gulch" faded away, being replaced with the forest that they usually went romping through. "Hewwooooo! Giggy-Wiggy's a nice, FWIENDLY puddy! Oh yes he is, yes he is!"

FIVE...SECONDS...LATER...

"Want me to pull you out?" Alex asked Ness as Samus and Gig walked off, Ness trying to tug himself free from the tree hollow.

"...I guess PSI Lords don't like to be called "puddies". Ness mumbled.

...

...

...

...Verminthrax was, to put it simply, soaking up all the attention he could get from his followers as he introduced Sude to them as a "dear brother". Sude calmly smiled and lied through his teeth about this, deciding to "play his game" and hear the lying little crocodilian creep out as they were treated to a delicious banquet at a very long table in the nearby park by Dr. Kong's lab, a place VERY impossible to miss because his initials were displayed in bright red-with-yellow-lining letters above. Nick was there as well, a big, cheery and VERY victorious smirk on his face as "Father Rule" also arrived, looking very humbled.

When the meal (which was a savory meat pie, cold ham, salad and vanilla cake) had been brought to the table and all had drawn their chairs up to said table and begun, Verminthrax relayed his tale to Sude as Nick calmly gave Father Rule, aka King , a look that said "If you tell anybody what I did to you, I turn you into a pair of boots".

"You see, many years ago I first came here, forced by a terrible spell to leave my home. The spell was simply horrific...every night there came an hour when I was horribly changed within my mind, and after this, my body would follow. First I would become furious and wild, then I would turn into the likeness of a sickening worm."

"Turn, nothing." Sude mumbled darkly. "I wish I had some salt to shrivel you up."

"Please, take another slice of ham." Verminthrax insisted to Nick as Nick eagerly took a large bite from his serving.

"Sure thing! Ya are what ya eat!" The kid laughed.

"I realized the only way to free myself of this enchantment was to find a new world, for often, jinxes and curses cannot carry over to other worlds. The moment I left my home, I found myself freed, and came to this planet that so needed my aid. Unfortunately, the jealous being revived the spell after following me here, and I knew the only way to ensure my beloved people's survival was to transform into a statue."

"Yeah, I read about that!...listen, about the MELON thing. Is that...true?" Nick found himself asking.

"Yes."

"...dear GOD." Nick groaned, holding his hands over his mouth. "...but...THAT MANY?"

"...er, now the time has come for me to leave again, only this time, I shall gain the very thing I need to protect myself from any and all foul enchantments! I shall travel to the planet Earth." Verminthrax went on dramatically.

"Indeed." Father Rule spoke up, holding his gnarly "hands" in the air. "We shall ride forth in arms, fall suddenly on our enemies, slay their chief man, cast down their strong places and doubtless our great and all-powerful Living God shall be crowned their king within four and twenty hours!"

"Bit rough on THEM, isn't it?" Doctor Kong remarked, rubbing his chin. "And besides, calling them our "enemies"? I mean, really? We've never even met any other humans besides you."

"Oh, for the most part, humans are terrible, terrible people." Father Rule insisted. "They force their women to be pregnant in a plot to keep them fat, moody and immobile. Their children are all whiny, immoral, cruel little brats. The women are-"

"Untrustworthy?" Nick finished.

"No, I don't mean to imply that. But they will, in fact, cut out your heart and feed it to the cat at a moment's notice. They think that they need a man about as much as, say, a dragon needs butt dimples."

"...Butt...dimples." Sude commented.

"Yes. Butt dimples."

"But...butt dimples are useless."

"EXACTLY. MY POINT."

"But they're very cute." Verminthrax added, waving HIS butt in the air and chuckling slightly.

"Also, when they're not killing other members of their species that are divided by 'races', human beings are always killing each other." Father Rule added, taking his fingers and stretching his eyes to make himself look Asian. "Oh no, I am Japanese person, I have rotten day, I gonna restore honor. COMMIT...SEPPEKUUUUU!"

He held up a plastic knife and pretended to stab himself, everyone else bursting out into laughter save for Doctor Kong, who snorted in disgust, Sude, who was digging his claws into the table, and Nick, who was actually so visibly offended by this that he began praying for a thunderbolt to shut Father Rule u-

KRAKKA-KROOOOOOM!

"...here? Now?" Sude whispered, gazing up in awe at the clear-blue sky as Nick happily placed his hands together and bowed his head.

"Thank you."

"...well. Uh..." Doctor Kong remarked, scratching his head. "Er...um...I suppose I should call a doctor...I AM a doctor!"

Sude smiled to himself as he stood up and cheerily waved goodbye to Verminthrax, headed for the laboratory with Nick following after. "Is he really your brother or was that also a big fat fib?" Nick found himself asking.

"He's a cousin, actually. A fellow Seraphi from Allforce. A very, VERY black-sheep of a cousin. But the bit about him getting a spell cast on him..." Sude chuckled at this as he pushed the door open, leading Nick inside a red-carpeted laboratory with dozens of jars filled to the brim with odd chemicals, plants and fungus lining large shelves. "That was my doing. Only the enchantment made him self-aware of every rotten little thing he'd ever done in his life. Nobody ever thinks they're a villain. When confronted with it...he couldn't keep denying it. So he just ran away..."

"And now he's doing it AGAIN, and going to Earth. Earth really is the birthplace of all magic? Kickass." Nick cheered, punching the air above and grinning. "Thanks for taking me here, I'll sing a song and take care of that old serpent. I was in Australia for half a year, and I've been there a bunch of times since, I'm sure there's some song about a guy coming and skinning-"

"I'm afraid that "The Sacred Skill" doesn't work on my species." Sude admitted sadly as he sat at a desk, shaking his head back and forth, rainbow wings folded tightly to his back. "It just sounds like pretty words to us. Why do you think you're hearing my voice the way you are?"

"...wait." Nick's eyes widened. "...you mean...you're actually SINGING? Right now?"

"Close. Our language is entirely harmonium-based dialectic communication. We speak in music. Not lyrics, but real music. It simply sounds like words to you because of what the music represents. It's the IDEAL, Nick." The Entity of Life said gently. "It's the IDEAL that the Sacred Skill stands for, for it is ultimately the ideal that a hero seeks to embody, and in the end, that which he finally achieves when all is said and done. And our race was always about the ideal."

Doctor Kong entered and took a seat in a nearby chair and folded his hands in his lap. "Your race sounds very nice." He admitted. "I heard the whole thing, I understand your plight."

"You aren't...mad or anything about finding out-" Nick began, stopping himself. "Oh, right, you're an atheist n' stuff."

"My boy, you say it like it's a disease!" Doctor Kong laughed. "Please though, tell me, what became of your planet?"

"...it burned." The Seraphi mumbled, putting his face in his gigantic claws. "...it burned and burned and burned and my people burned with it..."

...

...

...

... "Mom, was I ever a grub?" Ness went into his kitchen, scratching his head. "Y'know, a larva? Did I really pupate at age two?"

Suddenly he saw something surprising. His mother. She was no longer in black and white. She, like he...was now in color. She nervously turned around, putting a hand to her cheek. "I...I just...er..." She chuckled slightly. "...I can't go out like this." She mumbled nervously.

"Mom, it'll be alright." Ness insisted gently, deep concern filling his eyes. "You look great. You DO, really."

Nervously he exited the kitchen, deciding to head outside and go into the backyard inflatable pool, leaning against it as Alex sat nearby on the lawn, the "nice plumber guys" putting the finishing touches on the sprinkler system for Ness. Much of the town was filling up with color now...the flowers, the trees, the sky...half the people, truth be told. He wondered why, though. What had changed?

Well, there was Gig, who was even now approaching the pool in his "special jams". Ness immediately frowned and held his hands up. "Woah-woah-woah, hold on there, fella! Don't come in here!"

"Why not? I am positively ROASTING in your hot Earth sun. Sirius MINOR didn't have a sun like this!"

"You'll get hair in the water, that's why." Ness complained.

"Oh, ya mean...like THIS?" Gig chuckled darkly, fluffing up one of his puffy ears/ponytails on the side of his head, blue hair falling down like pine leaves into the pool below.

"HEYYYY!" Nessyelled. "Stop it! Hey! Ooooh, you dirty bird, you!" He growled, hopping out of the pool as Gig slipped inside, smiling broadly.

"Heh-heh. That, my fine little friend, is called "Cutting the Gordian Knot". A simple, blunt, unsophisticated solution to a seemingly complex problem."

"Think you've won, huh?" Ness darkly chuckled back. "Well, I'M not even gonna TELL you what Idid!"

"ACCKKPPPTHHH!"

"You kids today." Mario remarked, rolling his eyes as Gig ran for the hose, Erin approaching with hands on her hips as she frowned at Ness's obvious glee in grossing Gig out.

"REALLY, Ness." The cafeteria worker said. "I was going to talk to your mother about you throwing stuff in the cafeteria, am I going to have to talk to her about THIS too?"

"You girls are so picky over things like this!" Claus's voice called out as he and Lucas walked across the street to Ness, Claus chuckling. "I guess you must look for every opening you can get! It must be frustrating knowing that men are bigger, stronger, and better at abstract thought than women. Really, if you were a girl, what would make you go on living?"

"The thought of a jerk like you begging one of us for a date at Lover's Lane when you're 17." Paula's voice called out as she passed by, chuckling...COLOR IN HER HAIR.

Ness's eyes widened and he found himself laughing. Laughing at something that a girl had said. And he found himself walking after her. "Hey! Wait, wait up, that was a good one!"

Claus scratched his head, shrugging as he and Lucas walked off, Erin kneeling down by Mario and Luigi was they put their toolbelts back up. "Uh...guys...quick question. Why is only SAMUS still in color? Is it just interaction with Ness that'll do it? I mean, YOU'RE in color."

"And lookin' GOOD!" Luigi laughed.

"I'm not sure." Mario admitted as Erin looked over at the stuffed animal toy. "What is it?"

"So...you see it as an alien. A real alien." Erin remarked, picking the bluish-furred toy up as it smiled up at her. "...what's it's name?"

"Gig."

"...Gig." Erin blinked a few times. "...that's a GIRL'S name, heh-heh." She chuckled slightly.

"Maybe it's not just the interaction with Ness." Luigi wondered out loud. "Maybe it's something else. You know, when I was a young kid, growin' up in Brooklyn, I had an imaginary friend!"

"Really?" Erin inquired as she sat on a nearby see-saw, putting Gig on the other end as she wrapped her arms around her legs. "What was his name?"

"It. It was "Squiggly", the talking Spaghetti Pile." Luigi told her proudly.

Erin began chuckling, holding a hand to her head as she giddily laughing, Luigi blushing deeply as Mario patted him on the head. "No, no, it's just..." She smiled. "I had an imaginary friend too!" She admitted. "It was a pet cat! A black cat. I named it Blacky, and he was a sweetie-pie. He reminded me a lot of the Cheshire Cat from the stories about "Wonderland" I enjoyed reading from Earth. Always had this big smile..."

At the thought of the cat, Erin thought back to the day her father...or rather, the man she'd assumed had been her father...had brought in the plushy little toy for her to play with. Though he hadn't been her true father...he had loved her just like she was his. How long had it been since she'd thought of him?...how long had it been since she first-

Suddenly the seesaw swung her UP and she turned her head, Gig smiling over at her and waving. "Salutations, Arosean." The PSI Lord told her.

Meanwhile, Ness was sitting by the pond with Paula as Claus and Lucas sat nearby, listening to Ness talk about his adventures. Even though the two twin brothers found it hard to believe Ness little tales about "Explorer Elliot", the stories were fascinating.

"So what's it like? When it all changes?" Paula found herself asking, one eyebrow raised high as the frogs began to ribbit in rhyme with the crickets.

"Well, it's louder...and brighter...and scarier...a lot more dangerous."

"Sounds..."

"Swell?" Claus asked.

"...TERRIFIC." Lucas finished, eyes widening. "G'aw, sure wish I could see it!" He admitted shyly, bowing his head and nervously chewing on his lip.

"I brought some food n' stuff." Paula added, pulling out an apple from her picnic basket. "I picked them all myself! This one actually has color in it, look!" She said, holding a bright green apple as shiny as an emerald for Ness to bite into, and he eagerly took a big chunk out of it.

And then...it happened.

There was a CRAKKA-THROOOM as they all looked up, and, a moment later, rain began to pour down from the heavens, Lucas gasping in surprise as Claus scratched his head. "What's this?" Paula asked.

"Rain!" Ness realized. "REAL rain, guys!" He stood up, holding his arms up to the sky as the rain came tumbling down, the others quickly ducking underneath the gondola by the pond for shelter. Ness just laughed, looking back at his friends. "Aw, c'mon! Get out here, it's harmless! Just rain, see?"

He held one hand out at Paula as she nervously took one step...then another...then took his hand, stepping out into the rain as the water slipped down her hair...the grey and the black and white melting away as her true color gave way...a pretty pair of blue eyes gazing into Ness's own, blue into blue.

Watching from afar, Gig curled his tail around himself as Erin shielded him under an umbella, Samus walking up to the two with Mario and Luigi as Alex nodded firmly. "You know...there's something in that boy. Something there that wasn't there before."

"Cool!" Erin chuckled. "Rain...real rain, here in this little town! And now that nice girl has color in her!"

"Yes." Gig admitted softly. "...it would be nice if it could always that this way. Guess EVERYONE'S gonna be colored-up soon."

"Come on." Mario said in a soft, but firm fashion. "I think we'd better go and set up a tent for our little troopers. Samus...could you go tell their parents you're acting "In Loco Parenti?"

...

...

...

...as Paula and Lucas awoke, stretching their arms wide as the dawn's early rays gently kissed them away, Ness looked out from the bright blue tent they had been sleeping in for the night, unzipping it and stepping out onto the fresh grass. He yawned deeply, stretching his arms as he looked out over the pond...

Claus sitting across the way on a hill, staring into the water...

Holding a hand to a cheek that was still as grey as ever. In fact, it seemed MORE gray...and his once-bright eyes seemed so glazed-over and listless, his voice deep and muffled, as if he had suddenly aged many years in a single night.

"...I don't...understand..."