Chapter 19

"BOING!"
"Not welcome visitor!"
"Man of the Star! Bring terrible wrath!"
"Run now! Live longer! BOING!"
Supreme Starman swelled with glee as he tossed more Mr. Saturns around.
"You are definitely an amusing species," Supreme Starman commented, "I'll give you that."
Supreme Starman raised his hands and two more Mr. Saturn got sent into the air as they were trying to run.
"This whole place is amusing really," Supreme Starman went on, "The tiny huts, the brewed coffee, the soothing springs. All nestled in this small little valley for all of you to try and hide."
"Man of the Star!" a Mr. Saturn yelled, "Terrible wrath!"
"You have no idea," Supreme Starman growled.
He motions his arm and the Mr. Saturn crashed through the roof of one of the huts.
"As much fun as I'm having, I'm afraid I cannot linger," Supreme Starman continued, "Rest well for now, Mr. Saturns, and do keep careful watch for any… future surprises."
The rest of the Mr. Saturns that Supreme Starman had levitated fell to the ground as he released his hold and walked off laughing.
"Danger!" one Mr. Saturn gasped.
"Evil plot!" another Mr. Saturn declared, "Unseen threat! Doom!"
"Doom for us all," a third Mr. Saturn whimpered.
The Mr. Saturns huddled close together and wept.

"You will not stand in my way!" Pokey raged.
He quickly held out his hands and twin beams shot out at the group.
"PSI Shield Epsilon!" Angela quickly yelled.
Pokey's attack got absorbed by the psychic shield.
Pokey wasted no time and charged straight at them.
"Be careful!" Kayla cautioned, "He can be very tricky!"
Mako stood his ground and spoke, "You will not bring harm to Ness."
As Pokey reached him, Mako stepped slightly to the side and then jumped into the air. He spun around, bringing out his foot which struck Pokey in the back of his head.
"Argh!" Pokey roared as he stumbled forward.
"PSI Repel Alpha!" Brian yelled as he jumped in front of Pokey.
Pokey was thrown backwards and landed on his back.
"PSI Freeze Beta!" Kayla yelled.
Pokey scrambled to roll away but still was partially hit by Kayla's attack.
Pokey scrambled to his feet and was met by Angela, who took out her frying pan and smacked him across the face.
"ENOUGH!" Pokey fumed.
He jumped straight up and spun around quickly. A strong wind suddenly radiated from him and knocked everyone down.
"PSI Fire Beta!" Brian yelled as he got back to his feet.
Pokey grinned as the wall of fire rushed towards him.
"Reflector," Pokey hissed.
Brian's fire attack suddenly reversed course and raced towards Brian.
"PSI Wave Beta!" Angela cried.
She threw two big balls of water which connected with the wall of fire and extinguished the flames.
"Thanks for that," Brian said shakily.
"Anytime," Angela answered with a small grin.
"Watch it!" Brian yelled.
Pokey quickly leapt at Angela and grabbed her arm.
"No!" she cried.
Brian ran towards Pokey and pulled out his bat.
Pokey quickly spun Angela around and slammed her into Brian.
The two gasped and fell to the ground.
Mako lunged at Pokey with his fist.
Pokey spun around and grabbed Mako's fist in his hand.
Mako quickly spun free and kicked at Pokey.
Pokey blocked the kick and punched Mako across the face, sending him to the ground.
Kayla began to move, but Pokey quickly appeared in front of her and knocked her down as well.
"PSI Controller," Brian gasped as he got to his knees.
He felt his mind become one with everything around him as things appeared to slow down greatly.
"Distract him," Brian hissed to Angela.
"PSI Wave Beta!" Angela yelled.
Pokey turned and jumped over the rush of water that came at him.
"PSI Wave Beta!" Angela yelled again.
Pokey dodged the second wave.
"PSI Mine Blaster Alpha!" Angela raged.
"Reflector!" Pokey answered.
"AHHH!" Angela screamed as the ground exploded beneath her. She flew through the air and landed hard on the ground.
"Angela!" Kayla gasped.
"PSI Thunder Beta!" Brian shouted.
The lightning bolts soared down, and Brian watched their every movement and he sent them straight at Pokey.
"What!" Pokey gasped.
He brought up his hands to deflect the attack, but didn't' quit make it in time. One bolt bounded off but one struck and sent Pokey sailing backwards.
Mako rushed over to Angela and said, "PSI Lifeup Alpha."
Angela shook off her wooziness and stood up.
"You little pig's butts are really starting to get on my nerves," Pokey growled.
He stood back up and shot multiple beams out of his hands and eyes.
Everyone did their best to dodge, but random shots struck the ground and exploded upward, knocking them all down.
"We're not getting anywhere," Brian gasped.
Pokey suddenly appeared above Brian and gripped his throat hard. Brian gasped for air.
"You are definitely one I should have killed the second I saw you back in Pikor!" Pokey yelled, "Lucky for me I have time now to undo that mistake!"
"That's enough, Pokey!"
Everyone turned to follow the sound of the new voice.
Ness stood not fifteen feet away from them, glaring hard at Pokey.
"Put him down," Ness ordered.
Pokey grinned, and dropped Brian, who began coughing hard. Angela ran over to him.
"Well," Pokey mused, "We finally meet again. How's life?"
"I guess it'll be a lot better once you're taken of," Ness growled.
"Harsh," Pokey replied, "What happened to the soft, gentle pig's butt that ran around ruining my life with his stupid, innocent grin?"
"He grew up," Ness answered.
The two then just stood there, glaring at each other, and reminiscing of all their past encounters.
Angela sat on the ground in awe. Ness stood before her. He was taller than even she thought he was. A couple inches over six feet perhaps. His shoulders were broad and you could see he had become quite muscular over the years, with no real sign of aging evident. The famous Chosen One was here to save the day once again. It was her dream come true.
Mako slowly stood up, and eyed Ness curiously.
He seems to be able to move around fairly well now, Mako thought, but there's no way his wound could have fully healed from this morning until now. None of this can be good. We may yet still need to fight.
Brian looked at Ness hopefully. It was definitely weird finally seeing one of the Chosen Four. Brian had really never learned much about them except in a few stories told to him, and he never really thought about them, but now here we was, in the middle of this war and now in the midst of the legend. All the while a part of his mind was relieved that a real hero was finally here to offer some real help.
"So that's Ness," Kayla said, "He actually looks pretty cute for an almost middle-aged guy. He definitely kept his younger features."
"This is so awesome," Angela whispered.
"So, Pokey," Ness said, "I guess you're not back in town to catch up on old times, especially given the… changes you've gone through."
"Too right you are," Pokey answered, "I've spent years preparing for this. You humiliated me for the last time back in Giygas' lair. This time it'll be me making you look dumb and ruining your life!"
"Fine then," Ness said, "Let's see you try."

Jeff moved cautiously from the spot he and Robert sat at.
"I think they are slowly giving up their pursuit," Jeff said, "Soon we should be able to sneak back to the lab and figure something out."
RING! RING! RING!
Jeff nearly jumped ten feet as his receiver phone began ringing. He snatched it out of his pocket and answered.
"Hello?"
"Jeff, thank God," Paula answered, "I tried you at the lab and Apple Man said you had left to check out Stonehenge."
"Indeed," Jeff said, "It is once again active, and definitely armed with sufficient defenses and security. I was about to head back to the lab and touch base with you. Is something wrong?"
"I'm afraid what we discussed earlier may be becoming an issue," Paula said.
"The PSI Tuner results?" Jeff asked.
"Yes," Paula said, "It finished its full analysis a few minutes ago, and what you mentioned to me before you left seems to be true. The injury Supreme Starman left on Ness affected his mind as much as his body."
"He is becoming unstable then?" Jeff asked.
"Irrational, aggressive, and uncontrollable," Paula replied, "He got so worked up just before about not being able to do anything. He insisted on leaving and helping Mako out. I wasn't sure what to do, so on instinct I used my Barrier Alpha to block him from leaving the room."
"I take it he didn't appreciate that," Jeff sighed.
"Oh, Jeff, he didn't even look like himself anymore," Paula groaned, "He was furious. He began yelling, destroyed the barrier, and stormed out. I have no idea where he went."
"This is definitely distressing news," Jeff said, "According to my tests, his injury may seriously cloud his judgement, and on top of that, it is most likely increasing his adrenaline and testosterone levels. He probably feels and is much stronger than usual which would lead him to think he can do anything even though the strain would not be good for him."
"I'm scared for him, Jeff," Paula said, "I don't want him hurting himself."
"You may have to go and try to find him," Jeff said, "The last thing we want is for him to get into some sort of fight. The results of that would simply not be good at all."

"AHHHHH!" Pokey roared, "It's time for you to pay!"
Pokey leapt at Ness.
Ness moved to the side and swung his fist so fast Pokey didn't see it coming until it collided with his jaw.
Pokey's head snapped back and he stumbled a bit, but managed to spin around and kick at Ness.
Ness hopped backwards and took another swing at Pokey.
Pokey noticed Ness' fist this time and jumped through the air to the other side of Ness.
Pokey was surprised at Ness' speed but refused to show it.
"Impressive moves you've picked up there," Pokey complimented.
"Did a little training with Poo," Ness replied, "Where did you steal your moves from?"
Pokey growled and twin beams quickly fired from his eyes.
"Shield Gamma!" Ness yelled.
The beams bounced off of Ness' shield.
"PSI Paralysis Beta!" Ness yelled.
Pokey narrowly dodged the attack as he retuned with a freezing mist soaring out of his hand.
"PSI Magnet Omega," Ness said and the mist dissipated as its PSI energy was absorbed into Ness.
"Stop that!" Pokey yelled.
He soared into the air and fired a monstrous beam at Ness.
"PSI Rockin' Gamma!" Ness quickly yelled.
His attack met Pokey's in mid air and the two bounced off each other and flew off into the air.

Brian, Mako, Angela, and Kayla had huddled together at a safe distance as the battle raged on. "This is intense," Kayla commented.
"Ness' abilities are as good ever," Angela said, "Much better actually. And do you see hwo often he can use his PSI? He must have an almost endless amount of energy inside him."
"This isn't good," Mako said.
"What?" Angela replied.
"Ness is still injured," Mako said, "He's hiding it well for now, but I've already noticed him favoring his right arm. All Pokey as to do is notice his weakness and he'll have a dangerous advantage."
"Can't he finish Pokey off pretty quickly though?" Brian asked, "With the level his power must be at."
"None of us know how strong Pokey really is," Mako reasoned.
"Is he going to need our help then?" Kayla asked.
"NO!" Ness shouted.
The four of them jumped in surprise, not realizing Ness could hear their whispers.
"You stay out of this fight!" Ness went on, "This is between me and this foolish child who calls himself a man."
"I'm more of a man than you'll ever be!" Pokey raged.
"Look at you!" Ness shot back, "You're not even fully human! You're nothing but a monster! And monsters can be easily killed!"
Ness brought his arms apart and took a deep breath. His arm muscles bulged as an enormous amount of energy flowed down them and into his hands. He slowly rotated his hands around as rainbow colored lights began coming out.
"PSI Rockin' Omega!" Ness raged.
Colorful lights raced around in a circle and came down on Pokey. They struck and radiated outwards, causing multiple explosions and sending Pokey hurtling into the nearby trees.
"That'll show him!" Angela cheered.
"That wasn't necessarily safe," Mako said slowly, eyeing Ness even harder.
"It didn't work yet," Brian said.
Pokey leapt back to his feet. His right arm had a few circuits exposed now that seemed to be shorting out.
"oh, you'll pay for that one!" Pokey shouted.
He rocketed through the air at Ness. The next thing everyone knew, Pokey's fist punched Ness across the face. Ness fell back.
"He's faster than we thought," Mako stated.
Ness leapt to his feet. Pokey punched again. Ness grabbed Pokey's arm and picked him off the ground.
Ness quickly spun Pokey through the air and threw him.
Pokey flew through the air nearly fifty feet and crashed into a tree, snapping it in half.
"Wow," Kayla and Angela breathed.
"That's… not natural," Mako stuttered, "Ness' strength is superhuman."
"How?" Brian asked.
"I'm not sure," Mako admitted, "but I don't have a good feeling about this fight at all anymore."
Ness wiped the sweat off his forehead and began moving towards Pokey to continue the fight.

Rygwar hovered back and forth in his lair.
"Master," a mook hissed as it entered.
"Report," Rygwar ordered.
"They are all in place," the mook reported, "We are awaiting your orders."
"Fantastic," Rygwar triumphed, "Soon, my goal will be reached."
"The powers will be divided once more?" the mook asked.
"It is a very complicated procedure," Rygwar admitted, "But the plan has been worked out carefully. It will not fail this time as it did last time. Do you know why?"
The mook remained silent, unsure of what he should say.
"I can explain it to you," Rygwar said.

"Long ago, my race used to be a dominant force among the galaxies. We were known as the Senkonytes and we were feared by millions all over the universe. There were few who were able to present a challenge to our might. However, fate intervened in our conquest. During one of the great wars, my race was poisoned genetically. Slowly, we have decayed into the nearly lifeless forms we are now, barely able to move around and forced to rely on technology for daily living.

"It was my brother, Giygas, who discovered the potent energies that make up all the planets. He deduced a theory of how we would be able to harness the energy of a planet and fuse with it to restore ourselves to our former selves. However, it seemed that the energy of each planet still proved ineffective on us.

"Giygas eventually discovered the planet Earth and its very unique energy. He was unsure of exactly how Earth came to have such energy, but his calculations clearly showed that earth's power would be enough to restore us. Giygas had flaws though, and he had another obsession that would be his ultimate downfall: his fascination with machines. He created robots to do his bidding, and while searching for the proper planet to restore us, Giygas also theorized a means for us to escape our fragile bodies and become one with a machine so that we can move around freely.

"Most of my kind rejected this notion though, deeming it blasphemous to our ancestors' beliefs and principles. Sadly, a civil war broke out and we lost many lives, not to mention time wasted fighting among ourselves instead of searching for the power we so desperately sought. In the end, Giygas' beliefs won out and several of our kind subjected themselves to Giygas' machine process, fusing themselves with "The Devil's Machine". Eventually, Giygas himself fused with a Devil's Machine shortly before going to Earth to finalize the invasion.

"Soon, reports came to us that the Devil's Machines were having adverse psychological effects on the Senkonytes, driving them insane and making them incognizant of their surroundings. Word was not able to be sent to Giygas, though, and he too fell into insanity before Ness and his friends found him. His weak mind state allowed the human Pokey to take control of him and attempt to use him to settle a petty score with his nemesis, Ness. Giygas was unaware of all this of course, and was incapable of using his powers to their full extent and thus was defeated by the Chosen Four and the invasion was halted.

"Moreover, the power of the Earth went to Ness and seemed lost to us. That is what we are now doing here. I will siphon the energies back out into the core of Earth and then extract them for myself, and once I do, I will be returned to my ancestral glory and wreak complete and total havoc among all who stand in my way! Where Giygas completely failed, I will completely triumph! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"