Hey…

I'm Ness. I can tell from your badge that you're Dr Stone. I don't really think that talking about this will work, but I'm willing to try anything. I just want this to stop… The Smashers have probably told you about me. I still think I don't really need a psychiatrist like you, but, I don't really know what I need right now. All I know is that something's wrong. I'd better start near the beginning.

When I was just 1 year old, nearly 2, there was an earthquake where I lived. It was a very strange earthquake, and although I barely remember it, people talked about it for years to come. It was one of the mysteries of our town. The earthquake had been felt everywhere, all over the world, but nobody could find out exactly where it was. The Richter scales were going crazy everywhere, but nobody could find out exactly what had happened. People searched for days, some dedicated their life to it. It was only after my adventure that I realised it was me.

I guess I should be thankful. The earthquake didn't destroy any buildings or kill anyone, so I was lucky that way. It was only when I was nearly 12, and I had been tasked with saving the world from Giygas that I caused it. Some people don't know all the details, but when I fought him, my body wasn't. My soul, and the souls of my friends had to be transported to machine. Giygas had manipulated the timeline, and was attacking the world from 10 years in the past. I had to go back to stop him, but my body would have been destroyed. Again, I was very lucky. When we defeated him, my soul was in 2 places at once. It was at my house in Onett, while I played with my dog, and it was in the cave to the past, where I was stopping Giygas once and for all.

There was no guarantee that my soul would get back to the right time, and I knew that, but I thought that one life, well, four lives, I'm forgetting Paula, Jeff, and Poo, were at stake. Some people called it heroic, but I think anyone would have made the same choice. Anyway, we were all ridiculously lucky. We all made it back to our proper time, souls intact, and the world safe. A few scientists did a few studies about me, wanting to discover more about the effects of time travel on a person, but most of their theories were never continued. All they said for sure was that it wasn't healthy. That's why the mayor of Onett ordered the last Phase Distorter to be deconstructed, so that nobody could ever do it again.

But I had done it, and nothing could stop that. I suppose I could have gone back in time and stopped myself from going back in time, but then the world would be gone. At the time, I didn't even care, I was just happy to be back with my friends in one piece. Now, things are beginning to catch up with me.

It's Giygas.

I killed him, I know I did, but the thought of him… it's still there, in the back of my head. Only me and my friends experienced seeing Giygas, hearing him, and defeating him, and I can tell you from experience, that it's worse than every nightmare you will ever have. Giygas had a way of making you doubtful, making you lose hope, making you want to give up. We were lucky that we didn't.

Then, last time I went back to Eagleland during my holidays, I met up with the old gang. Paula, Jeff, Poo, everyone was there. It was so fun to catch up with them, but something seemed wrong. Jeff was the one who sparked the question. When Poo and Paula were playing a game, he pulled me aside and nervously asked me something.

"Ness, do you ever… hear Giygas? His voice?"

I didn't know what to say, but I saw something in Jeff that day. Something I hadn't seen during all our adventures. Fear. Jeff was afraid. Petrified. He excused himself early that day. A few days later, he went missing. His friend Tony found a note at Snow Wood Boarding School. Jeff was a star student there. The note didn't explain much, it just said that Jeff was scared that he was hearing Giygas, and he was terrified that the voice might make him do things, so he left. He said he didn't trust himself around other humans, so he ran away. We searched for him for days, but never found him. I don't know why he did it, but there are only two possibilities. He was either crazy, or smart. We'll never know which.

Poo was the next to go. Rather than run away, he simply admitted himself into a mental asylum. I visited him once, and he looked exactly the same. He sounded the same too, he just said that he wanted somewhere quiet to meditate, and try and beat the voice that was talking to him. The voice of Giygas had struck again, and although Poo said that if he ever found a way to get rid of the voice, he'd be out in a flash, we both knew that he wouldn't be coming out. Giygas had taken two of my friends. I knew he'd save the worst for Paula.

Paula was amazing. It was her prayers during the battle against Giygas that gathered the power of the people of Earth. She had psychic powers much more advanced than mine. I admired her, and we both knew she had been a huge part of defeating Giygas. Maybe that's why he was much more wrathful to her. Giygas didn't make her run away or spend her life hiding. Giygas killed her.

Paula was a fighter. She put up with the voice for weeks, almost a month. It stopped her from hearing anyone else, and it stopped her from sleeping with it's incessant rambling, but she was dealing with it. Then, it spoke more deeply to her. She, like Jeff, left a note. Apparently, she broke down and realised that she didn't want to live with the voice for the rest of her life. Giygas' voice knew this, and it tried to get Paula to do things.

"One jump and everything will be over, you'll never hear me again!"

"Do it Paula, set yourself free…"

Like I said, Paula was very strong. She withstood the voice for a long time, but she couldn't hold out forever. One afternoon, she was walking down the street, probably trying to clear her head, when she just jumped suddenly, straight into the path of a car. The paramedics were quick, but we all knew they couldn't save her. She didn't want to be saved. No goodbye, no heroic farewell, she just decided to jump right then. I say she decided, but everyone knew that she didn't. Giygas did.

Now, I'm the only one left. The other Smashers heard about my friends, and they were all very comforting, but I was more worried than sad. Giygas had killed my friends, and I was the last one left. On the one hand, I'm not too scared. Once I die, everyone will be free of Giygas. Hell, for a few months, I thought the cycle had ended. I hadn't heard a voice, I was still fighting in the tournaments, but then, he came. So suddenly, that I barely knew what had happened.

It was about a fortnight ago. I'd just finished the match with Samus, and I'd won thanks to a stray bob-omb. I'd forgotten all about Giygas, and as I exited the hall where the other competitors had been watching, I heard a few compliments.

"Good match Ness!"

"Well played!"

"It hurts Ness, it hurts."

I spun around. Everyone was back to idly chatting, but I wasn't going to just walk away.

"Who said that? Who said 'it hurts'?"

Nobody answered. Somebody coughed, but I wasn't going to let the matter drop.

"DAMN IT, WHO SAID THAT?"

This time, people flinched at my voice. I was beginning to scare them. I was beginning to scare myself. I ran from the hall to my bedroom before anyone could try and talk to me. I tried to calm myself down by repeating things to myself, but it wasn't working.

"You just imagined it… Giygas is dead… You killed him…"

Slowly, I got up and walked over to the mirror. I wanted to see if anything was different, and it was. Looking at my reflection, I could see something in my eyes. The same thing I'd seen in Jeff. Absolute fear. Just as I was backing away, I heard it again.

"I'm so sad, Ness…"

I screamed. A few people knocked at my door, but I couldn't let them in. I tried to focus my psychic energy on cleaning my mind, but it was getting harder to concentrate. It was taking up all of my strength, and I wasn't even getting rid of Giygas' voice, I was just delaying it.

Every day, the voice got louder. I began to hear other things that weren't there. Sometimes, when there was silence, I could hear breathing. Not myself breathing, but Giygas breathing in the back of my head. It was an awful, hollow sound, as if he was sucking out all good memories I'd ever had.

I couldn't hear when other people were talking to me. I was too distracted to fight now, and as a result, Master Hand threatened to evict me. If it weren't for the other Smashers persuading him to let me stay until I was better, I'd be like Jeff right now. Living in the wilderness, trying to escape from my own imagination.

Then one day, I heard them again. The other Smashers talked to me, and I heard them. Giygas' voice wasn't interrupting them, but I know why. He hates me the most. I'm not going to die, or run away. I'm going to spend the rest of my life in fear of him coming back, and the voice knows it. Sometimes, just when I think it's gone, it whispers to me at night.

"Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness."

I've tried to kill myself, but the voice stops me. I know what it's doing. It's forcing me to live the rest of my life waiting for him to strike. I want to fight back, but I don't know how. Nobody else knows how Giygas works but me, and I have no idea how to stop him. Out of the chosen four who beat him before, only me and Poo remain.

One of the four has heard the voice, one of the four has fled.

One of the four has heard the voice, he hides himself instead.

One of the four has heard the voice, one of the four is dead.

One of the four will live his life with the voice in the back of his head.

I know it's not likely, but maybe, just maybe, I'll eventually find a way to beat the voice. I have the rest of my life to try, and I'm sure Poo will be of some use. Together, we might be able to get rid of him forever, someday. It's the only thought that keeps me getting up every day and trying to live my life.

After all, it's not like I'm really crazy, am I?

…

…

Am I?