This chapter is also a bit short, but all the wrinkles are ironed out of Ben's theory, or at least most of them. Enjoy, R/R!

Chapter 31: A Night To Remember

"One room left. . ." Ben said, "And Skye and Jenna haven't reported in yet."

"That's okay." Charlie said, "You can bunk with me."

"With you. . ?" Ben thought Charlie had been a little afraid of him, but one look in his eyes showed that he was too innocent to be afraid. Maybe spooked, but not fearful.

"Me and Charmander." Charlie added in, "This way." Charlie led them to his designated room.

"Ben, what if the Feds come after me during the night?"

"There's guards posted everywhere, Chuck. I don't think it'll be a problem."

"What if Mario comes?"

"He's not looking for you. Charlie, stop being so scared."

Pause.

"Ben. . ."

"WHAT?"

"Sorry. It's just that I'm scared."

"What this time?"

"I don't know. Check under the bed for wild pokémon, would you?"

"Why can't Charmander do that?"

"Charmander's scared, too."

"Char char."

"See what I mean?"

"Alright! Fine!" there was a lot of blanket-rustling sounds, "No wild pokémon."

"Maybe they're ghost types."

"AAARGH!"

"What?"

"I thought you recommended that I go to sleep."

"Oh, yeah."

Pause.

"Ben. . ."

"WHAT? WHAAAT?"

"Who's Starkeeper?"

Pause.

"Erm, Starkeeper is the guardian force of Popstar, a planet of Dreamland. He is the one that keeps Nightmares and Dark Matter from taking over the entire planet."

"Ok."

Pause.

"How do you know about that?"

Ben sighed, "It was in a book in my rucksack."

"Where'd you get the rucksack?"

"Oh, Leona gave. . ." Ben stopped mid sentence. "Leona. . ." he repeated, "gods, I've been a fool!"

"What?"

"I promised Leona that I'd rescue Kirby!" There was more rustling in the bed.

"Didn't you tell me after the meeting that there wasn't any point to existing? That we were all just some pawn in someone's sick game?"

"That's not the point! I made a promise and I intend to keep it!"

". . . you believe in it that much?"

"If the entire multiverse collapsed upon itself, that shouldn't stop me from fulfilling a promise."

"You're kidding."

"No."

"Why?"

"There's a reason why we exist. Someone toys with us, and he can't be stopped, then it may be a sign to quit. But when starting out to do something. . . we shouldn't quit until it's finished."

"You've always believed this?"

"Since I could understand the principles of Quantum Physics. When I was seven."

"But. . . you're a very contradicting person aren't you?"

"Contradicting. Maybe, but I believe that even in the face of infinity, we are who we are."

"Always?"

"Always."

Pause.

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"Now, I think I have a better idea that I had beforehand. This may take a few days at most, but we have time. First. . ."

I've figured I'd been wrong about the crossing-over bit. . . technically, in the entire multiverse, there had to be at least one universe that met your specifications. But, let's say that there's a lower level of infinity, and anyone who can pass the dimensional barrier comes to a higher level of infinity. therefore, nothing in the multiverse could be copied by his actions. Thus, if he were to make a machine that could allow him to alter any universe at will, albeit change it a bit to the point of it looking a little 'unreal', theoretically he could create a game out of an entire universe. To cope with programming restrictions, he'd have to shrink this universe down to a manageable size, say a million miles wide. Here's a theory you probably didn't know: Say on a two-dimensional universe anyone could go in any direction on the flat plane ad infinitum. If you are to fold this plane into a sphere, the same goal is accomplished: You continue moving forever, but eventually reach where you start. So if the same may apply to the three dimensional world, space could warp around itself to eventually end up to a starting point. Shrink this, and you have a playing field.

Now another theory I have is that this, 'game master', as we'll call him, is trying desperately to put this new technology to use, but isn't a very creative person. Thus for the highly unlikely coincidences that we encounter, and the time-warps that seem to make things go faster, and the missing people to make an adventure. What I propose is. . . we finish the adventure before the game master can complete it! It's obviously very unfinished. . . he might realize eventually that we are still conscious souls not manipulated at his command, if we are to be here in the first place. . .

"Ben?"

"What?"

"Do you want me to tell you still?"

"It's not that important, is it?"

". . . I guess not. . ."

"Okay."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Pause.

"Ben?"

"What?"

"Does this mean we can go on an adventure?"

"Absolutely. How else are we going to save Kirby?"

----

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Next time, on Video Game: Quickeye and Lisa Are having communication problems with Porygon, who is manually fixing the ship. But where is Ken going? Find out next time! Until then, Ciao!