Chapter 36: To Winters!

"Okay, we're in Threed now. Did your vision tell you anything on what to do next?" Ness asked.

Paula shook her head.

"Not really. It was very short, so I didn't get a lot of information. I don't know what we're supposed to be looking for here."

Fate decided to throw him a bone, as the very moment she stopped talking the receiver phone in his backpack started to ring. Ness dug it out from beneath the mess of dirty clothes, food wrappers, and other assorted junk- distinctly aware that he would have to clean house eventually- and answered to the sound of Apple Kid's voice.

"Hey, Ness! I haven't called in a while, how've you and Paula been?"

"We're fine. That Zombie Paper you invented helped us save Threed, and we've also gone to Fourside in the meantime."

"Sounds like you have a lot going on! You'll have to tell me more sometime," Apple Kid laughed. "Anyway, I'm calling to let you know I might be able to help you again. I've figured out who your enemy is! And, knowing that, I'm going to meet with the great Dr. William Andonuts to get started on an invention that'll help you take him down."

Ness looked over to Jeff.

"Isn't Dr. Andonuts your dad?"

"Uh- yeah, he is. Who are you even talking to?"

"No way! You have his son with you too?!" Apple Kid exclaimed through the receiver. "I'd love to meet him! Right now I'm in Threed, and you'll never believe what I found! It's some kind of wrecked spaceship under the graveyard. Over the last few days I've been fixing it up to take me to Winters."

Ness had long since stopped questioning how Apple Kid knew the things he did, so how he was able to repair the ship Jeff arrived in didn't even cross his mind. What did occur to him was how conveniently-timed this was.

"Wait, are you still here? We're in Threed too, we'll come meet you."

"Great, I'm at the place right now. Hurry on over, this thing's just about ready to fly!"

He hung up, and Ness turned to his three companions again.

"We're going back to that ship Jeff came here in. Apple Kid's fixing it for us, so we might be able to fly to Summers now. Come on, he's waiting!"

"Who's Apple Kid?" Jeff repeated as he ran alongside them.

"Another inventor-type person, like you. I met him in Twoson, and he's been helping me since then. He gave me an eraser machine to get rid of metal pencil statues, and he also send us the Zombie Paper when we were here the first time. I… don't really know how he's always able to tell what we need."

Jeff seemed to be frowning, but nodded without a word.

"What kind of name is Apple Kid?" Teddy asked in a short bark of a laugh.

Ness shrugged.

"I think it's just a title. There's another person like him named Orange Kid."

The mention of fruit reminded him of how hungry he was. With so much happening during their adventure, they found themselves neglecting meals on several occasions. It was all catching up to him now, and he didn't even have crumbs.

To their surprise, the spaceship was sitting in the middle of a sidewalk through the graveyard. It looked to be in working condition despite the crash landing from several nights prior, though numerous scratches and dents were still visible along its outer shell. Apple Kid was sitting next to it, a slice of pizza hanging from his mouth and some odd gray device in his lap. He waved to Ness and company as they approached.

"There you are! Guess what, in the time between our phone call and you getting here I made a new invention! It's a yogurt dispenser capable of making any flavor you could ever want. I think it's got real potential."

"Really? Can you make some chocolate yogurt?" Ness asked, almost drooling at the thought of being able to eat.

"Ehehe… sorry, it isn't quite done yet. Right now it can only make trout-flavored yogurt."

The sound of that was enough to make him briefly forget his hunger. Just thinking about what trout yogurt would smell like caused his stomach to turn.

"You're… an inventor from Twoson, right?" Jeff said slowly. He didn't seem impressed by Apple Kid's appearance.

"Sure am. I come up with all sorts of wacky stuff," he responded through a mouthful of pizza. "This next invention will be the greatest one yet! I've been in contact with the great Dr. Andonuts for a few days now, and he says he's working on something called a Phase Distorter. I'm heading to meet him so we can combine our efforts."

"Really? He… didn't tell me about anything like that."

Ness saw Jeff's shoulders slump a bit and wondered if he was taking the news worse than he let on.

"Huh, that's weird," Apple Kid commented. "Well, if we're going to see him together you can ask about it then. Wait a second… Ness told me he was with- oh! You're his son, right? It's so great to meet you!"

As the two inventors shook hands- with a somewhat awkward laugh on Jeff's part- Ness approached the ship and ran a finger across its outer shell.

"It looks kinda… small. Can it really fit all five of us?"

The hatch was open, and Teddy peered inside from the stairs.

"I think there's enough space. It might be a bit of a squeeze, but we should be able to do it."

They climbed in, with Jeff taking the pilot's seat at Apple Kid's insistence. While the ship wasn't as spacious on the inside as he would've liked, Ness found there was at least enough room for each of them to sit down for the flight. Apple Kid shared his leftover pizza with the group, both alarmed and amused by the fact that none of them had eaten for such a long time.

Jeff flew them away from Threed, passing over the desert and Fourside before heading across the ocean. He swiveled around in the chair to face them, having set the ship to pilot itself.

"We should get to Winters in about nine hours. The Sky Runner can't handle a trip to Summers from here, but Dad can probably fix that for us."

Ness had finished scarfing down two slices of pizza only a few minutes after they'd taken off.

"Works for me."

A loud burp echoed around the cramped space, causing everyone to jump.

"Hahaha! That's a good belch you've got, Ness!" roared Teddy, who had to sit with his legs tucked in the most on account of being the tallest.

"That… wasn't me…"

All eyes traced over to Paula, who had her extremely red face buried in her hands.

"I-I-I'm… ahhhh…"

They all burst out laughing, and Ness gave her a pat on the back. She looked at him with an expression like a nervous puppy, but soon she joined in with them too. The group continued chatting on their way over the ocean, eventually drifting off to sleep as night set in.

"You really won't just give up already…"

"Ninten? Is that you?"

Ness had grown used to the garbled voice in his dream by then, but he still couldn't immediately identify it. The speaker sounded like the Mani Mani's sinister echo, as well as Giygas's deeper tone from when he and Jeff had encountered him in Moonside. Ninten's voice was mixed somewhere in as well, though it was too faint to clearly make out.

"No... think again!"

This time it took on a more familiar sound- namely, his own.

"What… what are you supposed to be? Am I imagining you?"

"I guess you can say that. I'm a part of your mind! All your worst fears and insecurities, rolled up into one solid form. That's me. Just call me 'Darkness' to make it easier. Hehehe, get it?"

"Ugh, go away. If you're really a part of me, you'd know I said I wasn't giving up in Moonside."

The voice chuckled a second time.

"Of course I know. I also know what's best for you, and just between us that would be turning tail and running away. If not, you'll blunder into horrible situation after horrible situation. I'd say at this point I'm about sixty percent composed of what you felt when Paula got kidnapped, to give you an idea of how doomed you are. The further you go, the stronger I get. Eventually the time will come for me to overthrow you… ahahaha…"

He narrowed his eyes.

"Not happening. Besides, you're just part of my mind. You can't hurt me, no matter how much you try to scare me away. And you sound like a bad cartoon villain."

"You're not completely wrong. All I can do is yell at you in your sleep, but that doesn't seem to be working. I'll leave you alone for the time being… just know that, one day, my chance will come. Our showdown's unavoidable, and I can't wait to squeeze all the hope out of you when we get to it."

The dream faded away, Darkness's cackling decreasing in volume until he was left in dead silence again.

It was very early in the morning by the time the Sky Runner reached Winters. So early, in fact, that only Ness and Jeff were fully awake to experience the landing- the latter having slept for just four hours, as was apparently his custom. Paula was still half asleep, leaning against Ness during the descent, while Teddy and Apple Kid both snored away without a care until they finally touched down in a white-and-blue-tiled building.

"Dad! I'm back!" Jeff announced as he stepped out of the ship's hatch.

Ness gently shook the others awake before following him, rubbing the drowsiness out of his own eyes.

"Ah, so these are the friends you rescued! It's so nice to meet you."

Jeff was talking to a short man in a white coat who he assumed was his father.

"That's right," Ness chuckled. "He really saved our-"

"Woooow! I can't believe I'm actually with the great Dr. Andonuts!"

Apple Kid had woken up almost instantly upon arrival and charged out, vigorously shaking the doctor's hand with stars in his eyes.

"Ho ho! You must be that boy from Twoson. I can tell you're excited to help me work on the Phase Distorter."

"Y-yes sir! I've heard so much about you, I just had to learn more of your skills!"

Paula and Teddy had both gotten out as well, stumbling bleary-eyed toward them in the dim light of the lab.

"Your friends seem tired, Jeff," Dr. Andonuts remarked, stroking his round chin. "Perhaps you could do with some time in my Instant Revitalizing Machine! After just a few minutes in there, you'll feel good as new!"

Ness tuned out the three inventors' discussion on how the device worked and merely allowed himself to be laid down in the black machine. A sense of refreshment washed over him, after which- like magic- all of his drowsiness and even lingering hunger disappeared. Paula, Jeff, and Teddy each had a turn in it as well, while Apple Kid insisted that he was fine without it.

"So, what brings you all here?" Dr. Andonuts asked.

Jeff was the first to answer.

"We're trying to get to Summers, but we'll need an enhancement to the Sky Runner. It's important for our adventure, we're just not sure… how."

"Ah, not to worry! I can send you on your way in no more than an hour after some modifications. I'd like to test the Phase Distorter, but it's not ready quite yet."

The man was gesturing to another large object tucked away in the corner of the room. Like the Sky Runner, it was entirely gray in color and had a sleek metal casing. The central bulb was a half-circle in shape, topped by a transparent dome through which a mess of buttons and levers could be seen around the seat. Six spider-like legs ending in sharp tips protruded from the sides of the Phase Distorter's cockpit, each splayed outwards to keep it steady on the floor.

"…not to mention there are too many of you to use it," Dr. Andonuts added with a small laugh. "In the meantime, Jeff, why don't you show your friends around? Perhaps they'd like to see Stonehenge."

"Whoa, we're close to it?" Paula gasped. "I've only ever heard stories!"

"Maybe it's another Sanctuary," added Teddy. "You're supposed to be looking for 'special places,' aren't you?"

Ness looked at the Sound Stone and, surprisingly, found that it was indeed glowing a faint yellow, directing him north.

"Hey, I think you could be right! Let's check it out."

"Mind if I tag along?" asked Apple Kid. "I haven't gotten to see you guys in action yet!"

Jeff was quiet, and appeared to be thinking about something. As they stepped out the door to investigate, he called to them.

"If it's okay, I'm gonna stay here to help with the Sky Runner."

He suspected Jeff wanted to spend more time with Dr. Andonuts, and Ness couldn't blame him. They'd never had much of a chance to interact, so it only made sense.

"I wonder when Dad's coming home… I'd better give him and Mom a call again soon."

"Yeah, go ahead!" he replied. "We'll be right back."

With Paula, Teddy, and Apple Kid behind him, he followed the Sound Stone's light north toward what would be the fifth Sanctuary thus far.