Chapter 37: Reconnecting, Reencountering
In hindsight, Ness really should have expected a country named Winters to be cold. The gentle snowfall around them was pleasing to the eyes, and fond memories of making snowmen in his yard came rushing back to him as they progressed north through the soft white fields, but at the same time he and his companions were hardly dressed for the occasion. Not even five minutes into the walk he'd lost all feeling in his face and limbs.
"I n-never thought I would miss the desert," Paula groaned, hugging her arms across her chest and shivering miserably.
"Twoson never got this cold," muttered Apple Kid, who despite his heavier clothing wasn't faring much better than them. "I should've brought a jacket…"
Teddy, however, barely seemed affected by the temperature. He had a toothy smirk, his hands casually tucked in the pockets of his black suit.
"C'mon, don't tell me you're letting the cold get you down! Heroes like you need to be ready for anything!"
Ness sneezed.
"Easy for you to say, you've got long clothes…"
Grinning wider, Teddy reached to his shoulders and ripped his sleeves off, exposing muscular forearms to the biting cold.
"There, now we're even."
"H-how are you not bothered by this?!"
"My tough spirit gives me all the warmth I need!" he laughed. "Are we getting close?"
He checked the Sound Stone again and found it was glowing brighter. Their destination, a circle of rocky archways around an unremarkable patch of snow, came into view up ahead. Ness picked up the pace in the hopes they'd be able to claim the Sanctuary and get out of the cold, coming to a stop near the middle of Stonehenge.
"Okay… I don't see a guardian anywhere, so this should be easy…"
Strangely, he didn't feel the familiar rush of energy like the others he'd visited. There was something more sinister about this place, but he couldn't put his finger on the reason. All he felt was a faint, looming darkness from somewhere nearby. The Sound Stone didn't react, and to his surprise it was still directing them north.
"Is this not the right place…? Let's keep going."
As they continued on, however, something told him he hadn't seen the last of Stonehenge just yet.
"…that's when Mr. Megane showed up. Ness still had the mushroom on his head, so Paula and I had to fight him off ourselves."
Modifying the Sky Runner wasn't difficult- in fact, it was already finished after only half an hour. While Jeff waited for his friends to return, he and his father had taken the time to catch up with each other. Dr. Andonuts told him about his various scientific theories and breakthroughs, showing off various ideas for future inventions and asking for his feedback. After that, Jeff had begun telling him about how life at Snow Wood had been over the years as well as his recent adventure.
"Ah, your teacher… you said you looked up to him?"
Dr. Andonuts had an odd look in his eyes, one Jeff couldn't quite get a feel for.
"Yeah, I did. He taught me how to use bottle rockets, and even build them myself. Apparently I'm his best student."
"Hmhmhm… I see… well, I'm glad your time at that school wasn't lonely. Tony sounds like a nice friend too."
They were quiet for a few moments. Jeff worked up the courage to ask the question hanging over him for his whole life.
"Um, Dad? Why… why did you, uh, leave me there?"
"…"
Dr. Andonuts gave a barely audible sigh.
"I… wasn't able to take care of you. I couldn't provide you with a proper environment to grow up in, and… I'm not proud of this- in fact, I've always regretted it. The principal at Snow Wood is an old colleague of mine, and he offered to take you in as a student until the time was right for us to meet again."
Whenever Jeff asked about his father's reason for leaving him at the boarding school, the teachers would simply reply that they didn't know. Not even Mr. Megane had answers for him, though out of everyone at Snow Wood his mood alone appeared to sour whenever Dr. Andonuts was mentioned and he would often leave the room shortly after. Did he suspect anything? Had he resented the man for all the years Jeff had known him?
"It was selfish of me," his father continued. "Selfish to put my work before your well-being. Selfish, even cowardly to leave you there, assuming you would be better off than to take on the responsibility myself. And no apology I could possibly give you would make up for it on my part."
A pause.
"I doubt I have any right to ask this after having left you for so long, but when your adventure is over… would you be willing to give me another chance? You've grown into a fine young man, and I was wondering if you would like to stay with me from now on."
Jeff hesitated. His father had given him up for reasons even he referred to as selfish and left him to grow up never knowing what it was like to have a family. Whatever Mr. Megane may have thought of the man, he'd never voiced his opinion to anyone. Was Jeff supposed to be angry with him too? He was confused, unsure, perhaps upset at being left behind, but out of the mix of conflicting emotions he felt he couldn't say anger was among them. Really, he didn't know what he was meant to be feeling.
At the same time, though…
His gut told him Dr. Andonuts was sincerely remorseful. By his own admission, the decision to leave his son behind was inexcusable yet he still wanted to make up for it. The offer triggered something within Jeff. Deep down, the longing he'd always felt for a normal home life roared awake, and for the first time since joining Ness and Paula he had something to look forward to after their adventure was over.
He realized he was smiling, and he couldn't help but nod in agreement.
"I will."
Jeff acted on impulse, pulling his father into a light hug. He was no good with intimacy on any level, and it may not have been the most opportune moment, but he felt like he needed to do something.
"…thank you," Dr. Andonuts murmured, returning the embrace. "Thank you so much… I don't deserve such forgiveness after I couldn't- no, didn't take care of you, but I promise you won't have to be alone again…"
He chuckled.
"This is all very confusing to me. Nice, without a doubt… but confusing."
"Same here," Jeff replied, his grin hopelessly wide. "At least we get to be confused together now."
"Hahaha! You really are special…"
They stayed like that for a very long time.
The Sound Stone guided Ness away from Stonehenge and to a snowy mountain with a tunnel leading through it.
"I'm getting kinda tired of caves," Paula noted as they walked into the darkness, "but at least it's not as cold in here."
"How many have you been through?" Apple Kid asked, bringing up the rear of the group.
Ness had actually lost count over the course of his adventure.
"I, uh, don't remember. But most of the Sanctuaries we've visited had us go through one."
The yellow glow was his only source of light, but the tunnel wasn't as dark as he'd expected. He wondered if his eyes were adjusting to caves the further along his quest he went. Teddy, meanwhile, hadn't taken off his sunglasses and stumbled rather blindly beside him.
"Isn't it hard to see with those?"
"Don't worry about me! I never take these off when there's business to be done. No self-respecting tough guy would be caught dead without his shades!"
He blundered into a low chunk of the ceiling and muttered a curse, causing Ness to grin at the timing of it. The Sound Stone was emitting a brilliant light by the time they were brought to a branch in the tunnel and turned to continue down the left side.
"Ah, you've arrived!"
Experience taught him that the Sanctuary would have a guardian, and the voice calling out to him must have been it. He could see light further ahead, at the end of the cave, but their progress was blocked by a shambling figure approaching them.
"You'd better stay back," Ness said to Apple Kid. "This could be rough."
"Uh, okay! Show 'em who's boss!"
"This is the fourth of your Sanctuaries, Ness. But it's mine now!"
"Wouldn't it be the fifth?" he called to the approaching enemy, which had a stout and wide silhouette in the darkness. "I got one early, so…"
"FOURTH! I already had to deal with a fake-out from some blond kid who came here without you. Shut up and don't steal my moment!"
"Blond kid? Did Jeff come through here on his way to rescue us?" he wondered to himself.
The guardian- a walking mushroom about his height with a sneering face and round white eyes- finally came into view. Smaller fungi sprouted from the red dome atop its head, giving Ness an unpleasant reminder of the time he'd been taken over by a mushroom.
"As I was saying," it cackled, "take this spot from me if you dare! Or perhaps I'll just turn you all into puppets of mine."
"PK Fire: Beta!"
Paula opened with the first attack, a psychic blast of flames which scorched the guardian's protruding spores. It gave a frightened shriek and backed away, rubbing the burns on its head.
"Ack! Hot! Hot! Oooh, now I'm mad! You're gonna pay, runts!"
Ness charged the giant mushroom, bat raised and Teddy by his side. They both connected with strong physical strikes to its midsection and threw it back even further. The guardian crashed against the tunnel's wall, but retaliated by lunging forward to knock into them when they attempted a second attack. Both of them were launched onto the floor several yards away from it.
"It's been a long time since I had a fight like this," Teddy mused, cracking his knuckles. "Get up quick, Ness, or I'll have all the fun myself!"
"Fool! Nobody stands a chance against Shrooom!"
"Uh… why did you hold on the 'o' for just a bit longer than normal?" Apple Kid asked, watching from the sidelines.
The guardian glowered at him.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Well, instead of just saying 'Shroom' you held the middle part for too long, like it was spelled with an extra 'o.'"
"You're not making any sense!" it barked. "And who gave you the right to question- gah!"
Paula had snuck up behind it, slamming her frying pan onto "Shrooom's" head with a mighty grunt. The guardian reflexively buckled from the impact and put itself in an ideal position for Ness to add another swing of his bat. Dazed from both hard strikes, it stumbled forward into the path of an uppercut from Teddy.
"Oooh, this isn't my day…"
It collapsed onto its back, flinging charred spores everywhere. Another wave of PK Fire fully destroyed them to prevent anyone from being infected, and the three surrounded it in a triangle with their weapons (or in Teddy's case, bare fists) at the ready.
"You're a pretty fun guy, aren't you?" Ness quipped. Teddy grinned and stifled a snort, while Paula just rolled her eyes without a word. Apple Kid could be heard laughing hysterically in the background.
"Oh! OH! Did you just make a mushroom pun?! I can't believe you have the nerve!" Shrooom growled as it got back up. "Humor like that needs to be dealt with in the most brutal way possible."
"We… might be in trouble," Ness muttered, his bat held close.
"Please, this thing's a joke," snickered Teddy. "Now that Paula's roasted the spores, it can barely do anything to us."
"You think I'm going down that easy?! Well, I've got news for you!" Shrooom spat. "You haven't even seen my ultimate attack, so here goes! Get a load of the Fungal Overgrowth Technique!"
Ness steeled himself for whatever it was about to try. His mind raced, imagining a suffocating layer of roots and mushrooms forming all around them to block their escape.
"HIYAAAAAH!"
What actually happened was almost disappointing by comparison. Shrooom abandoned all subtlety and ran straight at Ness, flailing its arms uncontrollably the whole time. Given the stoutness of its body, it wasn't even very fast.
"Is it serious…?" Ness asked aloud as it slowly jogged toward him.
"Who cares?" replied Paula. "PK Fire: Beta!"
The walking mushroom's entire body burst into flames this time, leaving it black with ash save for its comically wide eyes. One of its arms dropped off, becoming a pile of soot by the time it landed.
"Huh. That was almost too easy."
At Ness's remark, Shrooom cracked the tiniest of grins despite more of its body coming apart.
"Heh-heh-heh… of course it was… I don't know how, but you punks are way stronger than Master Giygas's initial plans were able to keep up with. I'd never be able to win against you. That's… that's why I have some help. There's another person who wants a crack at you, Ness… and he'll really give you a run for your money! Gahahaha!"
Its laughter died out as Shrooom collapsed into a pile of ash. They didn't have more than a second's peace before a yellow light flashed in front of them, and an instant later something hard collided with Ness's chest. He was sent sprawling without his bat, landing several yards away against the cave's wall. Worse still, when he got a look at what had hit him he found himself staring up at a towering robot with pointed, snaking arms on its hips.
"Greetings, Ness. I have been waiting for this moment."
The Starman Junior's voice was the same low monotone as back when he'd met Buzz Buzz, and it didn't look any less imposing this time. Its formerly black visor now shone a deep purple, glowing in the darkness of the cave. None of the damage from their first battle was visible on its body, which had been given a sleek golden paint job.
"Starmen are here already?!" Teddy shouted. "Giygas's plans must be further along than we thought! There's bound to be others like it."
"There are no others like me, Earth vermin," it droned. "Ness! I will claim revenge for my earlier humiliation!"
He was further separated from his allies when the Starman Junior swung one of its tendril-like arms down at him. He rolled backwards out of its reach and jumped to his feet, unharmed but also lacking his weapon. The robot didn't let up on its barrage, jabbing at his head with both arms from either side. Though he was able to duck beneath them, his opponent had anticipated that and followed up with a solid kick to his chest. Once more he was knocked to the ground, feeling the wind rush out of him.
"I didn't travel through time to be bested by a human child," it said. "Your earlier victory was only due to Buzz Buzz's assistance. Without him, you are nothing. PK Fire: Beta."
"PSI Shield: Alpha!" Paula cried, pointing at Ness.
Her psychic barrier harmlessly dispersed the flames before they could reach him, leaving him ready to counterattack.
"I'm stronger than you think! PK Rockin': Beta!"
"PK Fire: Beta," it repeated.
By then he'd gotten used to casting that ability without losing too much psychic energy. Ness did have access to Rockin's Gamma form, but the two occasions he'd used it on completely drained his stamina. He was lucky to have ended those battles so soon, but here if it wasn't a guarantee for victory he couldn't risk using such an all-out attack again. At any rate, PK Rockin': Beta was more than enough to overpower the Starman Junior's own PSI. The flames bursting from its visor scattered upon contact with Ness's ability, and the robot was hit with a multitude of colorful blasts.
"Oh yeah, that's how it's done!" Teddy whooped, charging in for his own attack. "Keep it up, you're a natural at this!"
He leaped off the ground and connected a right hook to the robot's head, but to their unanimous shock it barely even buckled under the pressure. The Starman Junior whipped an arm out and sent Teddy sprawling, then turned its attention back to Ness and Paula.
"PK Fire: Beta. PK Freeze: Beta. PK Thunder: Beta."
Its visor flashed a different color for each attack, a barrage of elements streaking across the cave to batter the pair multiple times. The only exception was PK Thunder, which rebounded off the Franklin Badge still attached to Ness's shirt and damaged the Starman Junior instead of them.
"Are you okay?" Paula groaned, shakily getting to her feet after the psychic onslaught. "The badge kept you safe, right?"
"Yeah… I'm not as hurt as I would've been."
Ness used PSI Lifeup on them both and grabbed his bat off the floor while their enemy was still recovering from the electrical rebound.
"Let's get him! PK Rockin': Beta!"
"PK Freeze: Gamma!" Paula yelled, putting in more energy than Ness had ever seen her use.
The Starman Junior's body suffered visible damage from their combined efforts, even freezing solid in a few areas. It made a strained whirring noise under the constant impact, and when their attacks had concluded it was missing a good portion of its lower-right torso. Frayed wires openly sparked from the damaged area, reminding Ness once more of their first battle.
"D-d-d-disabling PSI inhibitor sys-sys-systems…" the robot sputtered.
He paused. Hadn't it said something like that back then as well?
"PK Fire: Omega!"
Right. Now he remembered.
"Oh cra-"
Ness had never seen an Omega-level PSI move before, so he wasn't sure what such a thing would look like. What it turned out to be was a literal explosion of flames from the Starman Junior's visor. He didn't even have a chance to squeeze his eyes shut before the devastating attack washed over him, instantly reducing his flesh to-
"…what? How am I not hurt…?"
That was a bit of an exaggeration. He most certainly was hurt, sporting numerous minor burns on his face and arms, but the brunt of the attack had been absorbed by a PSI Shield covering his body. To his side, Paula's hands were still raised after she hastily casted the technique, a barrier around her as well.
"I… did it…" she gasped. It had clearly been one of the stronger variants, judging by how exhausted she looked.
Teddy and Apple Kid both had shields of their own, causing Ness to realize what she specifically had used. Like Buzz Buzz had on that fateful night, Paula defended the entire party with PSI Shield: Sigma. Everything had come full circle for them despite the adventure not being over yet. He might have laughed at the circumstance, but their shields all abruptly vanished from the stress of the attack.
"Recharging…" the Starman Junior droned, keeping its pointed arms on what remained of its waist.
"Ness, we have to stop it now!" Teddy yelled. "I don't think Paula's barrier can take another one of those!"
He flexed his fingers, and a sense of dread came over him when he didn't feel psychic energy race through them.
"I'm out of PSI! I can't use Rockin' again!"
Recalling how even Teddy's physical strike wasn't enough to seriously harm the Starman Junior, Ness began to panic. He was all out of options, and their enemy was preparing to wipe them out in one fell swoop.
"I might have an idea," Paula said quietly. "PSI Magnet: Alpha."
A dim purple light emanated from the Starman Junior's visor. Ness thought it was about to attack again, but to his surprise the buildup of energy became a faint trail that led directly into Paula's outstretched hand before disappearing.
"Heh… I can't believe I never thought of doing this anywhere else," she chuckled. "Ness, Teddy, I'll lend you a hand! Offense Up: Alpha!"
He gasped at the invigorated feeling coursing through his body. All of a sudden he felt strong enough to lift a car with his bare hands, and the aches he'd accumulated throughout the battle became hardly noticeable. Ness clutched his bat, taking in the energy Paula was giving him, and charged straight at the Starman Junior with Teddy hot on his heels. Yelling out simultaneous battle cries, they each delivered the strongest blows they possibly could against its body.
It wasn't until the rush wore off that Ness noticed he was only holding half his bat, the other end of it still lodged in the robot's sparking midsection. Teddy's punch, meanwhile, had completely shattered its head. The motionless Starman Junior sagged and collapsed to the ground with a noisy clang.
"Oh man, you guys are the coolest!" Apple Kid cheered, bouncing up and down from where he'd been hiding during the battle. "I don't think my heart's ever beaten this fast!"
Ness, though he felt exhaustion setting in, grinned and gave his friends a thumbs-up. Paula and Teddy both returned it with smiles of their own.
"You kids really are something else," the latter said. "Maybe you're even stronger than Ninten and Ana were back then."
They dusted themselves off and continued on through the tunnel Shrooom had been guarding, relishing in their victory.
"That was a nice save, Paula!" Ness said. "How'd you do that?"
She giggled softly and rubbed behind her head.
"I've had both those abilities for a while, but I kept forgetting to use them whenever we got in a fight. Magnet let me absorb some of that robot's PSI, and it gave me just enough energy to use Offense Up on you both."
"Quick thinking," remarked Apple Kid, "I like it! Are we at that special place yet?"
The tunnel opened up to a clearing where the snow continued to gently fall. Ness's eyes settled on a spot that appeared to defy the environment: a circular pond of crystal-clear water with a constant stream of rain pouring into it from an unseen source above. Like with the other Sanctuaries, his troubles melted away as he held the Sound Stone over the pond. Energy flowed into his mind, bringing with it another fragment of music. The gap between the melodies from Milky Well and Magnet Hill was filled in by the new notes to create a more coherent song, though still incomplete. He smiled when the faintest whiff of his mother's steak reached his nostrils, and once again he felt a renewed sense of confidence.
Five down, three to go. They could do it after all.
Wisdom, Courage, Friendship Guide to New Bosses
Sanctuary Guardian: Starman Junior-Super
"When it gets desperate, it'll deactivate its PSI inhibitor and go all-out. It's much stronger than it was last time, but so are you. Work together and take it down!"
Author's Note: Dr. Andonuts was tricky for me to write, and I really hope I did well with him and Jeff reconnecting. But that's for you to decide, so let me know what you think.
Also, Starman Junior's back! Is it a very strange choice for a recurring boss? Yes, of course. But there's more to it than you might realize, so stay tuned.
Next time: The evil power stirs, and another hero is called to action...