Jeff stood by the window in Ness' room gazing into the sky above.
Paula sat on a nearby chair quietly crying into her tissue.
Ness was still sitting up in his bed, not quite wrapping his mind around it.
They had just listened to Mako's story about how Supreme Starman attacked him and Poo. How Poo fought back fiercely and had appeared to have destroyed him, but Supreme Starman came back for more and sent Poo hurtling off the high cliff. It seemed very surreal to them. They no longer felt right inside.
"I just... can't believe," Ness murmured, breaking the silence.
Mako slowly nodded. He was standing by the dresser, looking upon a picture of Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo when they were just kids themselves. He was deeply saddened, but he knew now was not the time for emotions to take over.
"I came here in accordance with Poo's plan," Mako described, "He said we had to come here at once."
"He most likely sensed what was coming," Jeff said, "Not much got by Poo. We never even knew who he was when he joined us so many years ago, but he knew perfectly well who we were and what had to be done."
"He saved us many times," Ness commented, "But now... we weren't able to save him."
"You musn't blame yourself, hon," Paula consoled, "We had no idea what was going on."
Ness let out a snort of some kind.
"Regardless of what has happened, we must work now to stop this thing before it goes any further," Mako said, "I'm sure my father intended to join with you all once again to fight this evil. Since he can no longer do that, I would like to take his place and fight with you."
Jeff turned away from the window and looked at Mako.
"That is very brave of you, Mako," he complimented, "and also very curious."
"How so?" Ness asked.
"Consider the facts," Jeff said, "Before this new evil even really began to make its move, it managed to eliminate half of the Chosen Four. I have to wonder if there is any significance in that."
"What are you getting at, Jeff?" Paula asked.
"Here we have this young boy," Jeff went on, "He is willing and able to stand up to this new evil just like his father did twenty years ago. He is doing this because his father, sadly, is no longer with us. Furthermore, Ness is no longer in any shape to fight this battle. I have to wonder..."
"Are we even meant to fight this battle," Ness finished.
Jeff nodded in agreement.
"You think fate has chosen new kids to fight the battle?" Paula asked.
"The more I think about it, the more I am leaning towards the possibility," Jeff said.
"I suppose it makes sense," Ness said, "We already have one kid who seems to have been placed in that position."
"I am ready to face whatever comes at me," Mako declared, "I will fight for the honor of my father."
"But isn't there still something we can do?" Paula asked, "I'm fully aware that children are capable of beating a force such as this, but it still makes me uncomfortable to do nothing to help them when I know that I can."
"Of course, Paula," Jeff said, "We can all still help in this fight, and I'm sure Mako will appreciate our help especially now when we don't know much about our enemy."
The telephone rang downstairs. Paula left the room to go answer it.
"So, do you think you'll be up for this, Mako?" Ness asked.
"I have completed my Mu training," Mako answered, "I have been prepared for the worst, and I face it without fear."
"You're definitely Poo's son," Ness said with a smile.
Paula came back in the room.
"Jeff?" she said, "It's for you. It's your friend, Tony. He says he has news for you."
Armed with a burger and fries in his backpack, Brian walked along the path leading away from Summers. He could see a forest up ahead and glanced back at his bat sticking out of his backpack. He knew that more than likely he will have to face a handful of battles along the way. He wasn't sure if he was ready for it or not, but he knew this was something he had to do
As he approached the forest, he noticed a sign on the side of the path.
It read, "Brindlewood - 1 mile. Please watch out for forest ticks"
Brian looked ahead at the forest and took a deep breath.
"Here goes nothing," he said to noone.
He walked into the forest and could already feel the overwhelming sense of unrest. Even the trees looked like they were uneasy. Brian reached back and pulled his bat out of his backpack and held it firmly, and not a moment too soon.
From behind a tree, a stray dog let out a piercing howl and leapt at Brian. Brian jumped a bit and turned towards the dog. Before he swing his bat though, the dog landed on him and he fell down.
The dog quickly tried to go for the throat, but Brian put his bat in the way and the dog's fangs tasted hard aluminum.
The dog reacted by darting around the other side of Brian and getting a mouthful of his shirt. The dog began to try and drag Brian away.
Brian swung with his bat.
The dog jumped out of the way, and Brian quickly got back up to his feet.
Brian faced the dog and held his bat at the ready. The dog, however, did not attack. It merely growled and stood poised. Brian then saw what the dog was waiting for.
From behind the dog, a large shrub straddled up towards them. Brian was shocked to see that it moved around as if it had a mind of its own.
While trying to figure the shrub out, Brian did not notice it breaking off one of its branches, which it then hurled at Brian at a frightening speed.
The branch hit Brian in the forehead.
"Ow!" he gasped.
He put his hand to his forehead and could feel a small cut. He looked at the dog and the shrub and wished he was back in Pikor.
The dog let out another howl and began to charge towards Brian.
I have to protect myself, Brian thought.
He raised his hand and yelled, "PSI Shield Alpha!"
An invisible shield quickly appeared around Brian. The dog ran into it and was blown backwards. The shrub quickly began to move in closer.
Brian put the bat in his backpack and held out both hands towards the shrub.
"PSI Fire Alpha!" he cried.
A smoldering ball of fire flew through the air and struck the shrub. The fire caught its leaves and branches on fire. It raced away to find water, but eventually withered away to nothing before it could find any.
The dog was still moving and began to come at Brian again.
"Here's something different for you," Brian said, "PSI Hypnosis Alpha!"
The dog began to stagger as an overwhelming feeling of sleepiness overcame it. It slowed down until it finally came to a stop, and then fell over. It was fast asleep.
Brian slowly backed away and moved on. He continued to encounter various creatures throughout the forests. They ranged from dive-bombing birds to spore-scattering mushrooms. The birds Brian found were easily taken out with an accurate swing of his bat, while the mushrooms also did not like the presence of PSI Fire.
As Brian neared the edge of the forest, he saw a tiny hut on the side of the path. He could hear whimpering coming fron inside. He walked up to the doorway.
"Hello?" he called as he stepped inside.
He saw in the corner a small mouse weeping.
"What's wrong?" Brian asked.
The mouse looked up.
"My children," she bawled, "They're all still trapped in Brindlewood. We tried to get away when those things came, but I lost them all. I don't know where they are, and I'm too frightened to go back. Oh, I don't know what to do!"
She continued to sob.
"It's okay," Brian said, "I'm heading to Brindlewood now. I'll keep an eye out for them."
"Would you?" the mouse squeaked, "I'd be most grateful, but please be careful. The monsters look very dangerous. Very dangerous indeed."
Brian had trouble swallowing, but said, "I'll bring them back."
He walked out of the hut and continued onward, feeling more nervous than he was when he left Summers. He had no idea what he was walking into, and it seemed insane that he was doing it anyway.
He came to the end of the pathway and saw a sign stating that Brindlewood was 100 paces ahead.
He then could hear a lot of strange noises coming from the village. They sounded like many feet shifting along on the grass, and every now and then he could hear high shrill voices bickering.
He came into the opening and could see the village up ahead. Noticing some large rocks, Brian decided to go hide behind those so he could try and see what was going on.
After crouching down behind a rock, Brian peered around it and into the village. He had to keep himself from letting out a yelp of surprise. He was not expecting what he saw.
Many, many legs. The arms looked like long tentacles of a squid. The mouth was large and the eyes rested on the top of two long stalks.
"Mooks," a voice whispered.
Brian nearly fell over from the shock. He turned around and saw a boy about his age.
"Sorry," the boy said, "I saw you sneaking close to the village and was curious what you were doing."
"I'm not entirely sure I do know what I'm doing," Brian said lowly.
The boy crept up beside Brian. "I'm Heath," he said, "My dad's the mayor."
"Is he still in the village?" Brian asked.
"Yea," Heath answered, "They're keeping him prisoner in the prison house."
"What did you call those things?" Brian asked.
"Mooks," Heath said, "At least that's what they've called each other. Private Mook, Charger Mook, Defender Mook, and of course the Senior Mook."
"Senior?" Brian repeated.
"I think he's the leader," Heath said, "He's a little taller than the rest of them and he's a different color. Most of them are blue and purple. He's sort of a grayish color. The others seem scared of him."
"So taking him out will probably stop the rest of them," Brian said.
"Is that what you're here to do?" Heath asked, "You're here to save us?"
"Uh..." Brian stuttered, "I guess I've come to try."
"My dad said the Chosen Four would come," Heath said, "He said these things have been on Earth before. He's seen pictures. They were a part of the big invasion people talk about. The one from twenty years ago?"
"I've heard of it," Brian said dryly.
"He said the Chosen Four saved the planet, and he said they can do it again. We just have to be patient."
"You're dad sounds like he has a lot of faith in these Chosen Four," Brian remarked.
Heath nodded and said, "And I wouldn't mind meeting them either. That'd be way cool."
"Yea," Brian agreed, "Well, I don't know if they're coming."
"They're not?" Heath said, "But then who will help us?"
"It looks like I will," Brian said, and he got up and began to walk towards the village.
Heath stared after him and his eyes widened. "New chosen ones," he murmured.
Brian walked into the village and looked around. It seemed rather deserted except for the occasional Mook moving around. Brian kept out of their sight and kept looking around. He knew he had to find the Senior Mook. It made the most sense.
He looked around a corner and noticed a larger building that said "Town Hall"
"So if I were an invading alien monster, where would I keep myself held up?" Brian asked aloud, "A place of power?"
He quickly moved towards town hall and ran up the stairs.
Brian then heard a shrill shriek from behind him. He looked to see a Mook pointing its long arm at him while its eyes flashed with anger.
Brian quickly ran up to the door and burst inside. He scanned the open room and saw what looked like a large door leading to an office. He ran towards the office door.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a Mook racing towards him with its long arm stretched out and swinging towards him.
"PSI Shield Alpha!" he yelled.
The Mook's arm hit his leg but was repeled away. Brian reached the door and opened it.
He quickly ran into the room and slammed the door behind him.
"Well," came a raspy voice, "Usually I only accept company by appointment, but it seems you are just too eager to see me."
Brian looked towards a large desk and could see behind it a large, gray Mook facing the window. One of its eye stalks twisted around to look at Brian.
"Senior Mook," Brian said.
"So you've heard of me," Senior Mook said.
It suddenly jumped from its spot and landed in front of the mayor's desk, fully facing Brian.
Brian gulped, "I'm here to stop you from terrorizing this town."
Senior Mook leaned over and stared hard at Brian. It then leaned back and began to let loose with a high pitch cackle.
Brian felt a bit worse. It was laughing at him. Clearly this was just altogether a bad idea.
"How foolish you humans can really be!" Senior Mook laughed, "I'm more amused every day by how ignorant you all truly are!"
It continued to laugh histerically.
Brian clenched his fists. "That's enough," he said.
He held out his hands and gathered his strength.
"PSI Fire Beta!"
A wall of flames erupted from Brian's hands and raced towards Senior Mook.
"What!" he gasped.
The flames hit him and exploded outward. The large window shattered and the desk burned to a crisp. Finally, the flames died down and as the smoke cleared, Senior Mook staggered backwards and looked at himself.
There was a bad burn mark on his right arm. Senior Mook glared at Brian.
"How dare you," he hissed, "You will pay dearly for that."
Brian reached back and gripped his bat. Regardless of how bad this idea was, it was too late to turn back now.
Porkle's troops erupted from around him and charged at Angela and Kayla.
"We have to be careful!" Kayla yelled.
"Right!" Angela said.
Angela concentrated hard and then leapt into the air as several cyborgs came at her.
"Cover your eyes, Kayla!" Angela yelled.
Kayla quickly darted away and shut her eyes tight.
"PSI Flash Beta!" Angela yelled.
The park was suddenly lit up by blinding flashes of bright light.
"Fools!" Porkle roared as he covered his eyes.
"Can't see!" a cyborg gasped.
The light died down and Kayla quickly ran towards the cyborgs.
"PSI Freeze Beta!" she yelled.
A large mist of freezing air formed in the air and descended down on the cyborgs. They turned and tried to swing at Kayla, but their cybernetic attachments moved too slow. Kayla quickly ran out of their reaching distance.
Angela came back to the ground and and aimed her hands towards the ground.
"PSI Mine Blaster Alpha!" she yelled.
"Mine Blaster?" Porkle echoed.
Suddenly, several blasts erupted from where Angela's hands were and the blasts went in a straight line towards the group of cyborgs. The blasts knocked them into nearby trees and into each other. Some damaged their cybernetic parts and their circuitry began crackling.
"Interesting," Porkle said, "I have yet to hear of a PSI power quite like that one. I must make a note of it."
His robotic eye began taking down notes.
"Kayla, behind you!" Angela gasped.
Before Kayla could react, a cyborg wrapped its arms around her. Kayla screamed.
Angela began to run towards them, but a cyborg landed in her way.
"Most problematic," he stated, "You must be terminated immediately."
"Yea?" Angela said, "Terminate this! PSI Wave Alpha!"
Suddenly, a ball of water formed in Angela's hand and she threw it at the cyborg. The ball of water broke in the air and became a small wave of water which swept the cyborg off its feet. The water also seeped into its circuitry.
"This... does not... compute!" the cyborg cried as it began to smoke, and then it exploded.
The cyborg holding Kayla quickly threw her at blinding speed towards a tree.
Kayla gasped and closed her eyes, "PSI Transparent Alpha!"
As she hit the tree, her body suddenly went through it and also slowed down. She landed safely on the ground.
Porkle's eye continued furiously taking notes.
Angela quickly ran to Kayla. More of the cyborgs began to move towards them.
"I have an idea," Kayla said, "We'll combine our best techniques. I think it'll stop them all."
Angela's eyes lit up, "I think it will too. Let's do it."
Kayla quickly moved in front of Angela and extended her arms outward.
"PSI Tornadogenesis Beta!" she yelled.
Suddenly, the winds around her began to swirl together furiously. She threw her arms forward and a tornado suddenly formed and swept the cyborgs into the air. A few managed to escape and ran over to Porkle, who looked at the tornado is amazement.
"Now, Angela!" Kayla yelled.
"PSI Wave Beta!" Angela yelled.
She held out her hands and two large balls of water appeared.
"Stop this!" Porkle cried.
Angela tossed the balls of water at the tornado. They burst and filled the entire tornado with water, making it a water spout. The water drenched the cyborgs, and as they rose higher into the air, they each exploded into bits. The tornado then died down and the water dispersed safely, creating a small shower around the park.
Porkle continued staring into the sky, his mouth hanging open.
"Impossible," he mumbled, "They're just little girls."
"Last chance!" Kayla yelled, "I can easily conjure up another tornado!"
Porkle glared at Angela and Kayla. A smile then slowly appeared on his face.
"Well, I must commend you both," he said, "Clearly I have underestimated you. I admit defeat... at least for now."
He quickly looked at the towering Monotoli Building.
"The mission here will have to wait for now," Porkle said, "We must skip ahead to the primary objective, but this time, I'd prefer to do it without you meddlesome girls getting in our WAY!"
Porkle quickly aimed and shot a beam towards Angela and Kayla. They darted away as the beam struck the ground and exploded. The explosion knocked Angela and Kayla off their feet. When they looked up, Porkle and his remaining cyborgs were gone.
"He got away," Kayla grumbled.
"We'll find them," Angela assured Kayla.
Angela quickly leapt into the sky and looked around.
"They must be moving on foot," Angela said, "Now that they know I can fly, it would be much easier for them to sneak around on the ground."
"We'll have to ask around then," Kayla said, "Find out if anyone saw a suspicious group moving off fast. As long as we know which direction they're headed, we can catch up to them with my teleportation."
Angela nodded, "What do you think they wanted with your family's company?"
"I don't know," Kayla admitted, "But I can't shake this feeling I had when that Porkle guy looked at the Monotoli Building. It's almost like he seemed... familiar."
Sirens sounded in the distance, and Angle and Kayla could see cops running across the park.
"The bridge leading out of Fourside destroyed!" one cop yelled, "What are these things up to?"
"I'm not sure!" another cop yelled back, "But they were last seen continuing east past the Fourside Bridge. We need to alert the police force in Threed!"
"They're going back to Threed," Angela said.
"Then so are we," Kayla said, "Come on. Time to teleport."
The hovering sphere Rygwar sat in moved towards the large screen. His scouter robots were now surveying the disturbance in Fourside. The bridge was out and the girls were preparing to teleport once again.
Rygwar spun around and looked at another screen showing images from Brindlewood, as Senior Mook glared furiously at the young Brian.
"What news, master?" Shendi asked, walking in.
Rygwar glanced at Shendi, and then back at the screen showing Brian.
"Do you have no sense of announcing your presence!" Rygwar snapped, "I was deep in thought."
"My apologies," Shendi said, "I merely wanted to make sure the next step was in place."
Rygwar stared straight ahead and concentrated hard. Shendi walked up towards him and his eyes slowly moved towards the screen from Brindlewood.
Rygwar's mind then made the connection and his scouter robot in Brindlewood suddenly exploded.
The screen from Brindlewood then went blank.
"It would appear your scouter robot has malfunctioned," Shendi noticed.
"Yes, yes," Rygwar said, "Well, they haven't been fully tested, and besides, I don't really care if those machines fully succeed or not. They're just a temporary convenience."
"Would you like me to go to Brindlewood and investigate the cause of the malfunction?" Shendi asked.
"NO!" Rygwar snapped, "Leave these matters to me!"
Shendi cocked his head slightly, not fully knowing what to say.
Rygwar looked around and then smiled, "I have a much better assignment for you anyway, Shendi."
"Yes, master," Shendi replied.
"Report to Fourside at once," Rygwar ordered, "There are two girls there I want you to keep an eye on. Track them wherever they go, and keep me reported on their activities."
"Yes, master," Shendi said, "I shall go at once."
In an instant, Shendi had vanished from Rygwar's side.
Rygwar looked back at the screen from Brindlewood, which was now dark. He continued to stare at it though as if it was still showing what he saw. Throughout this long process, never before had Rygwar felt this. He never was worried until now.