Chapter 8
After the long night, Ness had finally awoken in a cold sweat. After what had happened the night prior, he tried the best he could to wake himself up, but to no avail. He was dead tired, and was one to sleep in. When he finally arose from the bed, he knew that he had to get going, so he put on his shoes, exited the door, and went down the elevator. When he got out of the hotel, He looked up at the sun, and found that it was not at its usual sunrise. He feared the worst, and asked someone on the streets for the time.
"It's 12:30 young man!" a man answered. He had been sleeping that late?! Paula was going to be dead before 2:00, and he was too lazy to get up! As much as he wanted to punish himself for such a stupid mistake, he NEEDED to figure out where she was. She said that there were people in blue that had captured her, but to no surprise, there were no one in full blue that he saw. He then wondered if he was going to fail, and she would be dead by the time he got there by mysterious men in blue.
He searched around the town asking over a dozen people if they have seen people in such color, but no good responses. In shops, knocking on house doors, but none would give any critical advice….except for one.
"Oh, dear." An old woman said to Ness while she was sitting in a rocking chair on a patio. "Last night, I did see two strange men with cute blue outfits going into that forest over there." She pointed with her frail hand to an entrance through trees in the distance.
"I thought that they were quite odd that they would be going out this late, so it made me mallet over what else this town has to offer."
Before she started to go on into a long story, Ness thanked her, and ran to the forest. When he got there, there was a sign on the right of the entrance that read, "Peaceful Rest Valley". Maybe this was it. He had to hurry. So he began to sprint as fast as he could down the paths, which lead to an opening to a cave. As much as he was afraid of caves from what happened in Giant Step, he ignored his fears, and went through the dark tunnel.
He could barely see two feet in front of him, and he kept bumping into sudden rocky walls, giving him many bumps on his legs and forehead. He then saw the light at the end, and adjusted his vision to the bright sky. It was covered in dark clouds, with the sun barely peaking through the clouds. As his blood pumped faster, his breathed steadied as he slowed down to a deep river. The walls behind him were too high to climb, but he could see a bridge that was far enough to walk. To get there, he followed the stream on one side, until he found it peeking through the branches of apple trees.
The bridge didn't look very sturdy, and needed much mending, as it was made of only rope and logs, but he had to give it his best shot. As he carefully crossed, the creaks of the wood rubbing against each other made him feel uneasy, and he jogged the rest of the half across. As he wiped the sweat off of his face, his eyes caught a glimpse of something through a bush. It startled him, and told himself that he needed to investigate it. When he slowly crouched over to the plant, he saw it shake one last time, and when he pushed the bush aside, he saw something truly odd.
It was a red mushroom plant with white spots, and two legs made of roots and leaves. It jumped at him with all of its force, knocking Ness to the ground. It curled it legs around Ness's arms, keeping him pinned down. He struggled to escape, but the plant was too strong to break through. It hissed, and showed it menacing teeth underneath the colorful top. It then let off a green mist that hovered over Ness, making him cough. It made his vision blur, and his brain go loopy like it was drunk.
He felt dizzy, wanting to puke, but Ness had other plans, and he grabbed his bat with one of his hands, and knocked it into the river. It screeched as Ness slowly got up, trying to regain his balance, and saw the vicious plant float down the creek. Ness was in disbelieve, but then broke that feeling with the thought of all of the other aliens and paranormal things that he had seen yesterday. As he continued down the river, it curved up a sharp bank, where more mushrooms were. Ness groaned, and hit them like baseballs, shooting them over, or into the water. It didn't take him long for his shoes to get wet from the damp grass, and his body to get cold from the sun becoming to get covered over the sky.
He wrapped his arms around his body, and shivered in the breezy air. Then, he heard a crack of thunder shoot over the sky. This was not going to be good. As Ness found another bridge after the curve, he crossed it quickly. He could then see another cave in which to be scared in. But right when he was about to run to it, another crack of lightning shot from the sky, hitting a tree to his left. A spark of light hit the top of the birch tree, setting the leaves on fire. And in amazement, Ness saw it come to life. The tall plant shook as it ripped itself from the ground it was currently living off of, with the roots pulling itself out of the moist dirt.
It shook and crackled like a campfire as it was set ablaze. Its branches became arms. The twigs became figures, ready to rip Ness a new one. It had stomps that shook the ground below him, and its hot flames scorching the entire body. Ness was in for it, and he wasn't prepare for what was about to happen. It took a big swing at the boy, hitting his pelvis, shooting him to the wall of rocks and earth. He fell to the floor, getting the air knocked out of him. Ness returned the swing with a huge smack that left a dent in the monster. Angry, the creature without a face took the bat, and threw it aside.
Beaten, Ness backed off into a corner, feeling as if he was about to die. The whole tree then became a giant burst of fire. It made the young man terrified of what was to come, and he closed his eyes. He put his hands to the wall, and squinted to see the beast step foot by foot to him. Blood was coming out of his broken nose, and his head was still woozy from the gas from before. But as the tree was mere inches from Ness, ready to swing, they both heard another lighting strike, and the sky then became darker, and dropped something from the sky. Rain.
The rain poured down, hitting both of them like they were in a shower. Buckets of water came from above, splashing onto the ground, creating small puddles of mud and dead grass. Then, the fire decreased from the plant. It was putting the flames out, making the creature spin and move backwards into a boulder. Like a fire type Pokémon, it was no match for the water type, leaving it defeated by Mother Nature. It soon died, leaving Ness to the sound of heavy rain and thunder. The opponent then cracked a smile, thankful for the gift of water from the sky, but all that meant was that he could continue his journey, and encounter even worse enemies.
After he had exited the cave, he found something that left Ness in a state of many emotions firing at once. It was a town. A small town, with all roofs purple and blue walls. There were shops, farms, even a hotel, like in the city before them. It was amazing to see the number of houses that occupied the area, giving a bit of information on how many people lived in here. It made sense that it was hidden deep in the depths of Twoson, probably never heard of by anyone. As he stepped through the gravel roads that went through the place, he saw nothing but people with smiles on their faces, like the rain that was pouring down on them felt like a sunny day. Smiles that never seemed to come off, like dolls.
It creped out Ness, but he needed to ignored these feelings, and find the girl. People looked at the deviant boy with strange eyes, but kept their grins on their faces. He didn't know what to do, but he wanted to play it safe, and keep himself unknown if he didn't want to become one of them. After he passed through the main part of the town, he was met by a woman in a yellow suit, with the same expression as everyone else.
"Hello sir!" She said happily. "Would you like to donate to our leader, the Carpainter? He enjoys all giving's that are given to him. It would be wrong not to hand over some money to our cause."
The Carpainter? He seemed to be the leader of the group, but he didn't want to tango with him just yet, and declined the offer. Even though her smile hid some of her expression, he still noticed her deep anger that she kept to herself.
"Okay," she said, "have a nice…day, sir."
As he kept his face hidden so no one else would notice, he spotted two men in what appeared to be blue suits. They both had masks with pointy tops, with robes of the same shade. The two holes in the mask showed eyes gleaming back at Ness with irritation, and they ran off into another cavern. The boy chased them through the caves, which seemed to be lit from previous uses, and a cover from the weather outside. Once out, there was only a small area with a building with white a green fixture. Was this where she was imprisoned in?
As he looked around some more, the two groupies were nowhere to be found. It didn't matter to him, and he soon went to the building cautiously in case he was to be ambushed. Instead, he found a wall made of bars, like a jail cell, with a bench with bread and water in it….and a girl. As the pounding of rain was heard on the roof, she was crying deeply as her tears dropped to the floor, but she looked up to see her savior in the flesh. Her frown flipped over, uncertain that it was really him.
Although she was a bit torn up, with more cuts and scrapes than Ness, she looked just like the picture. They were both shocked to believe that they were really where they were, and Ness was the first to speak.
"I believe that you are Paula?" He said even though he knew that it was indeed her.
"Yes, I am….an you're Ness?" Said the girl replying in the same way.
"Look. I'm here to get you out. Is there a key around here that I can use?" Ness asked.
"No! Not here! You need to go see the Carpainter. He has the key with him, I believe. I'm here because they were going to…use me as a sacrifice for their group, using my….blood for their ceremony. I just wanna go home…"
"I will get you home. I will get that key. I will come back. Just hang in there until I get back."
Ness then turned to leave, but was interrupted by Paula.
"Ness?" She asked as he turned his head. "Thank you. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you."
Her hero nodded his head in agreement, and opened the door.
As he took three steps, he felt someone grab his neck, and knock him square in the face. He then pushed him to the muddy ground, while another kicked him right in the stomach. Ness looked up to find that they were both wearing the same outfits as the people he chased. They both chuckled, and they repeatedly kicked them in various places, as Ness's nose began to leak again.
"That's enough, boys. I think that he's had enough beating for one day." Someone said in the background. What was surprising to Ness was that he recognized the voice before. He knew that voice before. Then, he put the puzzle together himself. It was his neighbor's. It was Pokey Minch himself, his body completely damp.
Although Ness's sight was fuzzy, and his body shivered as it was covered in mud, he could still picture out his chubby body, blonde hair, and blood covered clothes.
"Thought you could mess with me, Ness?" Pokey said with a sinister grin.
"P-Pokey?" Ness asked. "W-Why are you…doing thi-"
"Because of you, Ness. You little piece of shit made my parents drive me out!" He said in a slightly demonic tone. "My own damn parents KICKED ME OUT OF MY HOME, NESS! AND IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU!"
As he released his anger, he crouched down, and punched Ness again on the cheek.
"I…didn't….mean….for this to happen." Ness said apologetically.
"Well too late for sorrys, Ness!" Pokey said with a small tear in his eye. "After they packed my backs, and threw me out the door, I had nowhere left to go. So, a guy named the Carpainter showed me something that blew me away. It was a shiny statue…that changed me. I don't know what, but it felt good. It felt as if I could get whatever I wanted, and you know what I want Ness?"
No reply from Ness, which resulted in another punch to the head.
"YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT, NESS?!"
Still no response.
"I want you dead, Ness." He said with a small grin. "I want you to pay for what you did to me, no matter what it takes."
His two guards backed off as Pokey quickly pulled out a small pistol. Pokey was carrying a gun, pointing straight at his best friend. It was loaded, and one single bullet to the head would kill him.
"Please….P-Pokey. I thought…we were friends…." Ness said sorrowfully.
"OH REALLY?!" He said in full rage. "YOU DAMN WELL BELIEVE I WAS YOU FRIEND?! YOU WERE NEVER MY FRIEND! ALL MY LIFE, YOU WERE A LIVING HELL TO ME! YOU MADE MY PARENTS HATE ME, YOU MADE MY BROTHER HATE ME, I WANTED TO BE YOUR FRIEND, BUT YOU REJECTED ME LIKE A BUG!"
Pokey then stepped back, and cupped his hands to his face. He let out a big sigh, and his face which was read slowly turned a light pink.
"I….always envied you, Ness." He said regretfully. "I always thought that you were the cool one. I'm just a fat nobody that will probably be a bum on the streets. You, though, you have to go save the world. Because of that, the man who showed me the statue let me join his group. We're called the Happy Happiests, and we are put on this planet to kill people like you."
Ness then pictured the ring that was on Everdred's finger. HH? Did that mean…
"So, I'm going to kill you, Ness. Your blood will be soaked by the ground below you. The rain will wash it away like the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Then, we will see who's the real bug now…."
The thunder crackled in the sky, and the raindrops that bounced on all of their head covered their eyesight, they could still witness the pain of which was to come. But Ness wasn't going to give up, was he?
"Goodbye, Ness. Nice knowing ya!" Pokey said while laughing to himself.
But as soon as he was about to pull the trigger, Ness use his remaining energy for a psychic attack, and used a quick burst of energy to shoot Pokey flying onto the wall of the jail. The shot was fired at one of the men, blood soaking the pant leg, leaving him on the ground. Pokey smashed into the wall, knocking him out cold, with the impact breaking his skull. But Ness didn't have time for an apology, and he took his bat, and swung at the collapsed member of the Happy Happiests, then shoving the other to the wet grass, and ending it with a powerful hit. The air was silent. Ness then looked back at his friend, who moaned as he looked back at his friend with disturbed eyes while he lay on the ground.
"You think that's going to stop me?" He said. "I know that you have those dumb powers of yours! Kill me now! Kill me like you wanted to long ago!"
Pokey then threw Ness the metal pistol, and it skidded into a mud puddle. The rain made the pool ripple into a broken and imperfect mess of moving water. Ness felt a great empathy toward his friend, or what was left of his friend. Pokey was only thirteen years old, and he was suggesting murder. What has he done? His eyes themselves produced more water, but with tears which streamed down his face, but it wasn't easy to spot out from the condition of the outside.
"What are you waiting for? An invitation?!" He said while sobbing. "I said kill me already! You know you want to!"
Ness knew that he wasn't going to do it, and he accepted that fact. But what he didn't accept was how he had turned his friend into such a monster. But was it his fault anyway? Ness then replied by taking the gun, and chucking it over the hill, where no one could get it.
"I swear to God, Ness." He said happily. "I will make you pay. I will go to the highest rank of order if I have to; to make sure you die right in front of my feet. I hope you know that."
Ness couldn't handle it anymore, and walked away. He had more important things to deal with. Saving the world was one of them.