Hmm. Short chapter. Beginning of a long and arduous quest like phase.


Chapter 40: O the Times! O the Confusion!


The door slammed against the opposite wall in a feat of inhuman strength. Phil lowered his foot. "Where's Jenna?" He yelled.

"Phil!" Everyone else in the room rose as one, as nobody had seen him for days, especially Trent. The noise level grew, and there was mass confusion. Phil sighed to himself and yelled "SHUTUP!" The room became still. "I'll as one more time. . . Where. Is. Jenna!?"

"Not here." Ben said flatly. "She's with Skye, if you wanted. . ."

"I know she's with Skye. Please. . . tell me where she is. . ."

". . . I don't know if I can. They're somewhere south of here. . ."

Phil turned around.

"Wait!"

"What for? I need to find her now."

"You'll never find her that way, and we need your help!"

". . . alright. I trust this won't take too long."

"A few days. Considering you don't die in the process."

"Oh, danger, is it?" Phil turned back towards the group and sat down in an empty seat. "By all means, get on with it."

"As I was saying, before we were interrupted, it seems the only way now to restore the worlds is to find a specific thing. . . I don't know, it could be anything, but it will be a very distinct thing. You'll know it when you see it." Ben scribbled on the whiteboard. "We'll be dividing up into teams. Jenna and Skye are taking care of the Pokémon sector. We'll go in order of prominence. Kirby sector."

Charlie raised his hand, but Trent put it back down. Danielle and Sean raised their hands together. Then the entire Fox team and all the Hunters. "Yes, I think that will be quite big enough. I expect DeDeDe to be one of the toughest challenges, as we don't know exactly what power he has, or if it can be easily overcome. . . But I'm a little worried about the StarFox sector. . . I don't have very many leads. . ."

"On the map we collected. . ." Peppy interjected, "of the planet. . . I'm fairly certain that there is an island not too far northeast of here that matched closely to a land formation on Corneria. . ."

"Got it. Volunteers? You'll get to fly an Arwing. . ."

Charlie raised his hand, but Trent put it back down. Robert raised his hand. "I'll do it."

"And I." Ken appeared mysteriously at the door, and took a seat. Nobody said anything this time.

"Hmm. . ." Ben wondered aloud, "Zelda sector."

Charlie raised his hand, but Trent put it back down.

"Mr. Pikanne. . . He's going to have to do something."

"It's too dangerous." Trent countered, "He's just a kid. . ."

"He'll go with me."

"I. . . I'll go, too." Liz stumbled over her words a bit.

"Me too." Crystal agreed. Trent sighed and leaned back in his chair again.

"Mario sector." Ben continued.

Luigi raised his hand, and Trent, too.

"Okay, that leaves. . . uh oh. . ." He doublechecked the charts. "Phil you're the only one left. . . Metroid sector."

Tad squeaked a gasp. Phil Just stood up coolly. "Alright. I'll be back after my task is done, and I hope I should find Jenna here." He walked out of the room.

"Remember!" Sean yelled, "Metroids are weak against ice!"

Charlie wasn't listening to anything, but just blinked. Was he holding Mario's sword? . .

"Everyone, we have work to do." Ben said. "Refer to the most recent maps we have, on the table. I've marked the appropriate sectors. Charlie, Liz, Crystal, follow me."

"Ben, I think Phil was. . ."

"Me too. I just hope he doesn't."

". . . What?"

"Nevermind."

"Nevermind what?"

"Nevermind nevermind!"

". . . okay, then, what?"

"ARGH!"

"Sorry. . ." Charlie retreated to Liz's embrace.

Ben sighed. "Let's go. . ." He grumbled and led them out the door.


"Okay, plan one:" Sean said, "As Grand Admiral of the Space Hunters, and spokeperson for the Federation, I say we should nuke Castle DeDeDe and get it over with."

"Ahem. . ." Fox quipped, "If we do that, not only would we have a good chance of incinerating what's left of Kirby, which would jeopardize or compromise the mission."

"Do the what?"

Fox sighed. "Nevermind. We don't want to risk bombing it, because we don't know what it can do, otherwise."

"Oh. Direct assault, then?"

"More plausible, but we need a way around the purple cloud. . ."

"Direct stealth assault!"

Fox blinked. "Okay. . . as if that had any meaning behind it at all."

"I think he might have something there." Lisa interjected, "The hunter space suits are impervious to any kind of gas, you might be able to use some."

Quickeye caught on, "And if only us go in, with as much firepower as we can carry. . ."

"DEATH SQUAD!" Sean yelled, "Alright! Glad I thought of it!"

Everyone sighed except for Danielle, who giggled.


"You ever flown anything?" Robert asked Ken.

"Nope."

"Me either. Let's get started." They walked out the door without another word.


Trent was first to talk. "So, um. . . you're a hero? Of this world. . . that is. . ."

"Oh, yeah, yeah. . . You're, ah. . . from that outer world thing?"

"Yeah."

"I see. . . so you probably thought I was just a pixilated mass on a screen, huh?"

"Heh heh. . . yeah. . ."

Awkward silence.

"So, uh. . . you ever been a hero yourself?"

"No, there's ah. . . not a real need for heroes on my world."

"Oh, I see. . . are there any?"

"Oh, several, several, but ah. . . really few and far between. Most people don't go for that sort of gig."

"Ah."

More awkward silence.

"So um. . . do we go?"

"I guess so."

"Alright then." They went.



NEXT TIME, ON VIDEO GAME: Jenna and Skye found the main research facility, but can they figure out what to do? All this and more, on the next installment, of VIDEO GAME!