"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" said a voice at our feet. We looked down. It was a Mole Cricket.

"Hey, man! It's been forever since we last met!" it said. For the life of me I do not remember this mole cricket.

Fun fact: I had to check how this guy spoke in my prologue. So I forgot him too!

"No. Don't remember you."

"You don't? We promised to do battle at the Mole Cricket Hole Stadium? You and that other boy? Where is he?"

"We promise to do battle if you don't mention that other boy."

"OK. I was counting the days waiting for you to come!"


The mole cricket led us all the way down to his elder in the Mole Cricket Hole. He explained a complicated set of rules for the battle, and the Elder advised us that, should we be in danger, we should leave.

You encountered a Mole Cricket!

By the time you have finished this sentence, we have already beaten him.

"…I'll have to meditate on what such an easy defeat means. But you win. Do you have need of anything?"

"Can you direct us to where we might find a Needle?"

"Nee-dle? There have been legends of one of the other sides of this tunnel… I think. Possibly. Sounds like it."

"In which case, how do we navigate your tunnel?"

"…Always turn. And use this guy if you get lost."


That was a complicated dungeon, but we got through it. The mole cricket guide abandoned us, and we began to climb the mountain.

A Ten-Yeti suddenly attacked!

A Chilly Dog blocked the way!

For some reason, I started to feel feverish…

"Lucas!"

"Don't worry. It's a PSI technique."

"Not that. It's that…" Ana pointed up in the sky. A Pigmask ship began to lower itself to the ground.

"We're too late. We'll never reach the Needle with this PSI fever."

"I've never regretted the need to develop new powers with fevers before now."

"When I was adventuring with Ninten, we learned PSI on the go. None of this fever nonsense."

"I prefer that method."

We went up to the third Needle as fast as we could to try something.


*SHINE* *WHIRR* *CLICK*

Darkness filled the skies and the earth roared and shook. I had a hard time keeping balance. A yellow glow tinted the sky, and once the fog cleared, I saw two Pigmask troopers. One was clad in red Pigmask armour, and had a cape and a visor. The General. But it was the commander that caught my attention.

He was very familiar. He was the Masked Man.

Three Pigmask soldiers rushed up. They were clad in the pure white uniform of Pigmask Colonels. They looked down at us, and screeched. A second Pigmask machine came flying above, and lowered a tool of war. One of the Pigmask Colonels walked up to the tool, and fiddled with the wires. All five Pigmasks promptly entered the vehicle, and flew away as if panicking. But we had a different problem.

The Steel Mechorilla suddenly attacked!

Both Kumatora and Ana flexed their fingers, as if attempting PK Thunder. But I stopped them before they could get a shot off.

"Lucas, why did you stop us?" Kumatora asked. The Steel Mechorilla lunged, and we had a view of the open control box.

"Oh. His weakness has turned into his strength."

Kumatora tried a PK Freeze, but missed the control panel. She and Ana merely attempted all different kinds of non PK Thunder to subdue the beast. Boney ducked and weaved trying to chew on the wires. I created PK Shields and raised our abilities. The fight was a bare victory.

"Well… Lucas… Uh…"

"What's wrong, Ana?"

"You knew that, someday, I would leave you. I couldn't aid you forever…"

"Why leave now?"

"My hometown was a wintry wonderland. I feel a spiritual attachment to this place, disconnected from my time as it is…"

"Time?"

"The Pigmasks were taken from various times and amassed here. My home is the thing I miss second most."

"…I understand, Ana. I, too, have had my mother stolen from me. I give you leave of absence, Ana. May you prosper on this mountain from now to the end of time."

"And may you pass your heart onto the Dark Dragon, Lucas."

We stood there awkwardly, until I embraced her. She stood, shocked, before I let go.

"You do know about me and Ninten, right?"

"Yes. This is strictly in a friend sense."

"Lucas. We have to go now."

"Sure thing, Kumatora."

We climbed up higher on the mountain, and found a white box. We hopped in, and went flying down the cliffs to land in the Sunset Cemetery.