Hello, everyone, and welcome to my newest project, an EarthBound project! I've been watch Chuggaaconroy's Earthbound Replay and Mother 3 LPs, and I thought it'd be a fun idea to have Claus aka the Masked Man, post-final battle with Lucas, end up in Eagleland and join up with the so-called "Chosen Four," as we in the community seem to call them, and lend them his strength to stop another threat on par with, or maybe even worse in terms of scale, than Giygas.

Well, that's quite enough talk on my end. Let's get started!

Chapter One

The Chosen Four Years Later

Onett, Eagleland-199X (four years after the War Against Giygas ended)

Ness Azure, a young man with messy black hair and dark, royal blue eyes shot bolt upright in his bed, apparently having experienced a nightmare. Currently, he was wearing only a pair of blue and white pajama bottoms, leaving his chest completely exposed.

What was that dream…? That is, if it really WAS a dream and not a premonition… Ness thought as he climbed out of his bed and made his way to the bathroom to get a drink of water. After taking a sip, Ness coughed slowly to remove the droplets from his throat as he looked at his reflection in a nearby mirror.

Four years ago, a short rolly-polly school boy of thirteen whose only concerns were baseball practice, protecting his best friend Pokey Minch and his younger brother from bullies at school, hanging out with a group of kids known throughout school as "the Hat Club for Boys," and getting his homework done on time, would have looked back at him. Today, however, a tall, powerfully-built battle-hardened PSI Warrior of a high schooler of seventeen looked back at him, having developed both an exceptional training regimen for both his body and his mind to strengthen his PSI Powers, so that should the need for the Chosen Four ever arise again, he wouldn't be caught with his pants down. Thanks to training with Paula Jones, he had managed to harness and master the full power of PSI Magnet, PK Fire, and PK Thunder, even inventing a creative use for the latter in the form of "Thunderball," a move where he struck himself with a globual of PK Thunder that had to be controlled with pin-point accuracy via his telekinesis powers, causing him to launch himself as an electrified missile at the enemy. Admittedly, it had taken A LOT of practice to perfect the move, and he had lost count of the number of times he had accidentally exploded himself in the process. His progress with Paula teaching him how to use PK Freeze, however, was something of a work in progress.

Paula wasn't his only PSI training buddy. Thanks to training with Poo in Dalaam, Ness had learned and mastered the power of PK Starstorm. However, he was still in the process of learning how to use the rest of Poo's abilities, including what he called "PK Farewell," which Ness was pretty certain was actually a more powerful and precise version of PK Teleport, perhaps Gamma, Sigma, or even Omega level, but given the fact that Poo, being royalty, had royal duties to perform, he couldn't really hold it against him, although he did occasionally rib and joke around with his friend about how hilariously unfortunate a guy named Poo having royal duties sounded.

But, it wasn't it wasn't only his physical abilities and PSI powers that were growing more powerful. Ever since he and his friends had defeated Giygas, the so-called Chosen Four had become famous celebrities recognized all across the planet, although this was far more prominent for Ness and Paula in their homeland of Eagleland, especially in their hometowns of Onett and Twoson.

In Onett, Ness had become the big man on campus, something that had been a thing for him during the rest of middle school and continuing now into high school. The egotistical billboards across town that praised former mayor, P. H. Pirkle had been replaced with ones praising him while others turned him into the unofficial poster child of the Fresh Breeze Movement, before it fell apart from lack of support and funding. At school, if he told someone to stop bullying someone, they stopped with no questions asked. After all, no one with any concern for their health would argue with the leader and potentially most powerful member of the team of four people who had saved not only the world, but literally the entire universe itself from aliens, risking life-and-limb in the process while doing it. Ness and the others still had the various types of scars to prove that was exactly what they had all risked throughout that journey, PK Lifeup and PK Healing be damned…

As he continued to gaze at his almost completely altered reflection in the mirror, Ness couldn't help but struggle to wrap his mind around just how much things had changed in the last four short years, not only for himself, but for those around him. Picky Minch had finally been taken out of the care of his parents, or more specifically, his mother, as Mr. Minch had lost his soul to the demon in the bottle and was now rotting in Hell where he belonged. As it turned out, Pokey was presumed dead about two years after he had fled following Giygas' defeat, prompting an investigation by social services, who quickly caught on to the abuse the Minch brothers had been put through, and promptly removed Picky from Ms. Minch's care… and placed him into care of Ness' mother and father. These days, he was Picky Azure, as he proudly declared upon his official adoption.

Naturally, Ms. Minch didn't let Picky go quietly, and the police were quickly, although reluctantly on account of preferring to set up road blocks instead of actually doing the other duties that came with being a cop, involved. Thanks to the police investigation and subsequent rumors spreading throughout Onett and Twoson that she had had a hand in Pokey's "death," Ms. Minch was forced into leaving not only town, but the entire immediate region. No one knew where she was or what she was doing at the moment, and the same went for Mr. Prettyman, her… whatever the male equivalent of a mistress was for a man's wife, because "master" didn't quite seem to work there.

On a somewhat-unrelated note, it turned out that Ness' father had paid back the Minch family's initial investment years ago, which Ness had long since figured that to be the case, given the massive amounts of money his father had deposited into his bank account.

Prince Poo, meanwhile, had ascended to the throne as King of Dalaam, with Ness and Paula in attendance, and being given the V.I.P treatment, for what was quite literally his crowning moment. Admittedly, Ness and Paula hadn't heard much from him since then, although they supposed that was to be expected given how busy and stressful the life of an actual ruler of a kingdom was, contrary to Pokey's, and quite honestly, most other people's, belief. That being said, they had heard that the people of Dalaam were eagerly awaiting their new King to take a bride… and they knew that there was a long line of fangirls who were far more eagerly hoping that they would be that bride.

Ness' expression quickly grew more solemn as his thoughts drifted to the brains of what everyone called "The Chosen Four." The night that Picky had delivered Pokey's letter, Jeff's father, Doctor Andonuts, had been kidnapped and spirited away somewhere without a trace. Dr. Andonuts hadn't been the only kidnapping victim either. Mr. Carpainter, Orange Kid, Captain Strong, the Onett Chief of Police, Frank Fly and Mr. Monotoli among countless others from all over the globe were kidnapped and spirited away without a trace. The only clues to the identity, or rather, identities of the culprits behind the mass kidnappings was security footage from adjacent buildings of what seemed to be soldiers of some kind wearing pig masks and other swine-themed articles of clothing. The security footage even depicted them oinking and squealing like pigs. Obviously, this was some form of coded language. Apart from this, however, there were only noise complaints filed by residents of the areas where the kidnappings had taken place involving what sounded like some sort of national anthem playing over a loudspeaker.

It was all too obvious to Ness that Pokey was up to something. The timing of the kidnappings and the taunting letter all indicated that Pokey wanted Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo to try to come after him and rescue his hostages. Unfortunately, apart from the fact they they didn't even know where or when to start looking, as they had a strong suspicion that Pokey had used some form of Phase Distorter to whisk the kidnap victims away, and they had no means of pursuing the "Pigmasks" as they were called by the public, or at least, they didn't have a way to give chase without major, potentially very dangerous risks that none of them were willing to take by using the other variations of the Phase Distorters.

Well, no one except Jeff, anyway.

Losing his father, this time more than likely forever, after being given the chance to make up for ten years of lost time and to finally have him in his life for good had left Jeff truly devastated. He started working on his inventions, weapons, and machines non-stop for days on end with absolutely no sleep until he was physically unable to keep his eyes open, and not eating or drinking anything except granola bars and at least fifty cups of coffee a day. It had gotten to the point where Ness, Paula, and Poo had grown very, very worried about him. Their worries were proven to be well-placed two months later when they received word that Jeff had been hospitalized after one of his inventions had gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Jeff's physical and mental state had deteriorated to the point where the doctors weren't even sure if he would survive his stay in the ICU. Thankfully, he did survive, and although it had taken some tough love on the part of Ness, Paula, and Poo, as well as several dozen doses of PK Hypnosis to make him fall asleep and get some… well, "much-needed" didn't exactly cover just how badly the poor young orphan needed some rest after all that had happened. Regardless, thanks to the efforts and support of his friends, Jeff seemed to be on the mend, although it was clear that the wounds of losing his father to those weird soldiers would take a very, very long time to heal, if they ever did.

And then… there was Paula Jones, his girlfriend and the love of his life. Even if his future self hadn't been sending that Photographer back in time throughout his adventure, as revealed to him by a letter written by the aforementioned future Ness that the Photographer delivered to him along with the photo album, to ensure that he and the others would have pictures of their journey to look back on fondly and reminisce, there was no way in Hell that he would forget what the two of them had been through.

Paula had been nothing short of instrumental in defeating Giygas via her prayers. Her desperation even somehow managed to contact someone from either a different dimension or a higher plane of existence who had been watching their journey unfold ever since the meteorite first crashed in Onett, and had perhaps even been influencing certain decisions the Chosen Four had made along the way, acting as a sort of Anti-Giygas. If Paula was to be believed, it was this entity who had struck the killing blow on Giygas, saving a universe that they honestly had no reason or obligation to get involved with. While Ness and his friends were more than happy to take the full credit for destroying Giygas, a part of them wished they could meet the entity responsible and thank them for the assist, face-to-face.

Regardless of how critical she had been in ending Giygas, that fact of that matter remained that ever since Ness had beaten the snot out of Mr. Carpainter and his Happy-Happyists, all of whom had been under the influence of Giygas' Mani-Mani Statue, in order to rescue Paula from her prison, the two of them had grown closer and closer, until the embryo of something more than friendship began to form between them, something that both Poo, and, despite being the quintessential egghead with no social or love life to speak of, Jeff, took note of, if his offer to be the guy who fixes their electronic appliances if the two of them ever got hitched was anything to go by.

Finally, the love between the two of them was consummated when Ness escorted Paula home after destroying Giygas…

Four Years Ago-In Front Of Polestar Preschool

"Ness…" Paula said as she stood at the front gate of her home. "Thank you for escorting me home."

"Uh-huh, no problem," Ness said as he put his hands in pockets and nodded with a smile. "It's the least I can do for you after all you did for me, Jeff, and Poo… and besides, we can't have you go and get yourself kidnapped again."

"Yeah…" Paula said with a small smile and a chuckle, even as her palms started to get sweaty from her nerves. "Ness… I… I… there was something I've wanted to tell you for awhile now…" she started to say, but found the three magic words stuck in her throat as her confidence quickly left her. "But… I've forgotten it… I, um, I'm sure that I'll remember it by the time I see you again," she said quickly.

A few awkward moments of silence passed by later before Paula spoke up again. "Well, uh… I guess this is it… good-bye… uh… so long… see ya… bye…" she said as she walked towards her house, only to be stopped by Ness' voice.

"Ah, gee, you sure you really gotta go already? 'Cause… there's something I gotta tell you before I forget too…"

At this, Paula turned around to face Ness, her heart hammering a thousand miles an hour as she did so. "O-oh? U-um, what is it?" she asked.

Ness heaved a sigh before he swallowed his pride. He needed to do this before it was too late. He had promised himself that he would tell Paula his feelings for her after they had stopped Giygas, but once he realized just how… impossible it was to grasp Giygas' true form, let alone the form of his attacks, he had nearly told Paula how he felt about her, out of fear that none of them would survive the final battle, let alone return home to tell the tale, but now that the Universal Cosmic Destroyer was vanquished, hopefully once and for all, he now had his chance to confess his feelings.

"R-remember how you said that… when I started showing up in your dreams… that I was your destiny?" Ness asked as he started to walk towards Paula while she did the same until they were standing right in front of each other. "W-well… you're my destiny too… and I will always be there for you should you need me, be it to rescue you, have a shoulder to cry on, you name it."

Paula frowned as she looked at Ness, mulling over his words. "I know… I mean, that's what the prophecy said, right? Only three boys and a girl could stop Giygas-" she started to say before Ness interrupted her.

"When I rescued you from the Happy-Happyists, yes, it was because of what the prophecy had said. Every time after that, though… it was, well…" Ness said as a heavy blush formed in his cheeks before he finally uttered the magic words that would change everything between the two saviors of the universe forever.

"It was because I love you. I love you, Paula Polestar…"

Paula's eyes went wide with shock at Ness' confession as her own blush began to form on her cheeks. "You know… I… actually just remembered what I wanted to tell you," she said as she closed her eyes and leaned in towards Ness while he did the same.

"I love you, too, Ness Azure…"

Present Day

Ever since then, the love that had blossomed between Ness and Paula hadn't stopped a single iota, but had instead been growing stronger and stronger. The trip between Onett and Twoson wasn't very far. Talking over the phone and via telepathy was easy enough, but meeting face-to-face was better by a longshot, even more so when the two of them went out on dates to the movies, the diner, picnics, wherever. The dates were just as common as they were fun.

Truly, the world and peace that Ness and his friends had fought and risked their lives for was truly worth the struggle. And yet, Ness knew deep down that wherever there was peace, there would always be something to threaten it. It was something that Ness knew his comrades and friends felt the same way about, but at the same time, that didn't mean they couldn't enjoy the peace they had fought for while it lasted.

Ness was quickly pulled out of his musings by a sudden disturbance that he knew his friends had to have felt too, Jeff included, despite lacking PSI powers of his own. Closing his eyes and calling upon his senses, Ness determined that this disturbance originated from… something human, and yet not at the same time…? Whatever it was, it was an exceptionally powerful PSI-user, almost on par with Poo and maybe even himself.

Ness let out a growl of frustration. Whoever or whatever this PSI-user was, it was almost impossible to get a read on their exact location, but the abrupt nature of its appearance left a bad feeling crawling up his spine. After a few moments, however, Ness shook his head in defeat. He would need to talk about this with Paula, Jeff, and Poo tomorrow, the very first thing after school. Perhaps one of them would have better luck finding out where this entity was and have some form of idea how to track it down.

And when they eventually did find out where this entity was and were able to catch up with it… their first order of business was to figure out what side it was on.

Meanwhile, Somewhere Between Twoson and Onett…

A well-built teenage boy of around seventeen with ginger hair was lying flat on his back and starting to stir. He wore a black armored jacket with a white v-shape across the chest and a white fur collar, underneath which was a blue and yellow striped polo shirt, a black cape that reached down to his ankles, orange pants containing all manner of bombs and other gadgetry being held up with a black leather belt, a white glove on his left hand, and black leather combat boots.

However, this person wasn't completely human. At least, not anymore. His right arm was cybernetic from the elbow down, where it ended in a powerful repulsor cannon. Not only that, but concealed in his back were rocket boosters modeled after a pair of demonic bat wings that allowed him to fly at great speeds.

After a few moments of groaning and stirring, Claus Ryuka opened his eyes, one a bright forest green, the other demonic blood red, and sat up before looking around.

Where am I? What is this place? thought Claus before he spotted his deactivated lightning sword, Levin, and his Commander's Helmet lying on the ground next to him. As he attached the weapon to his belt, donned his helmet, and waited for its Heads-Up Display to boot up, Claus tried to remember what had happened before he had woken in this strange place in the middle of the night.

Slowly but surely, the memory of what had just happened returned to him. Claus had been about to pull the final Needle and awaken the Dark Dragon when his twin brother, Lucas, showed up with his friends and their father, both of whom tried to remind Claus of who he really was. They failed, and Claus attacked them both. His father, Kumatora, Duster, and their pet dog Boney had been seriously injured while Lucas was protected by that strange lightning-proof aura he had inexplicably developed, leading into a final showdown between the brothers who had at last been reunited on the battlefield. Even so, Lucas refused to fight, merely guarding and using PSI Shields to protect himself, all while trying to get Claus to break free of Porky's control.

Claus' eyes began to water a little as he remembered what happened next. The fight between him and his brother had somehow awakened the spirit of their deceased mother. Together, she and Lucas had managed to get through to him. However, Claus had been consumed by remorse for all of the terrible things he had done, brainwashed or not, and used Lucas's strange lightning-proof aura to reflect a very powerful lightning bolt back upon himself. As he lay dying in Lucas' arms, finally at peace after all the pain and suffering that he had been through and inflicted upon innocents, be they humans or animals, he begged Lucas for his forgiveness. And then, he woke up here in this place, which he was pretty sure was not the afterlife. Perhaps the Dark Dragon had something to do with his resurrection into this unknown location, be it what the Nowhere Islands had become when Lucas pulled the Needle and awakened the Dark Dragon, or if it was somewhere or something else entirely.

As Claus continued to look around, he caught sight of a sign that seemed to be indicating the direction some form of settlement called "Onett" was in, providing even further proof that Claus was certainly not on the Nowhere Islands anymore, as there was no such settlement known as Onett that he was aware of, and considering both Fassad and himself had been Porky's liaisons for pretty much every single Pigmask base and facility on the face of the Nowhere Islands, he would certainly know about it if a new settlement had appeared.

Hmm… maybe I can find someone there who can help me figure out what's going on… then again… it's a pretty good bet that the people who live there haven't seen anything like me before outside of a movie, so I can't fly directly into town and start asking questions… Claus thought to himself as he tried to determine a course of action.

Then again, even walking into a strange, unknown settlement like a normal person is something of a risk, considering that the natives might be hostile, and if by chance they're normal people like back in Tazmily, be it before or after my liege-no, not my liege… thought Claus as a tone of hatred, loathing, and venom entered his thoughts. Before Porky showed up and corrupted the islands and those who lived on them, they might not have a favorable response to my being a Chimera... thought Claus as he casted a glance down towards his Chimera Buster. Still… it's not really like I have much choice… I'll just have to act casual and hope that people think I'm dressed up for a costume party… that should make for a good excuse… maybe…

His mind made up, Claus began walking towards the direction the sign was pointing, hopeful that he could find some form of assistance there.

And that's a bingo! Hopefully I did a decent job for you guys, considering this is my first Earthbound project. Also, if you can figure out where I got the name for Claus' lightning sword from, you win all the lint in my pocket.

But, anyways, if you guys liked what you see here, then be sure to fave, follow, review, and be sure to join us next time as Claus arrives in Onett and clashes with Ness and Paula! See you then!