A/N: Thank you babyangel22, and The Leander again for such sweet reviews! x3 And Thank you so much for the encouragement, both of you, on the story, and the writing itself, it really means a lot to me. X/3 I'll try my best to improve my writing as well; it's a goal of mine after all! :o And babyangel22, I'm sure you're a wonderful writer, I'll have to check out your fiction sometime! :D And thank you The Leander for making me realize that this fiction is and AU, for I totally forgot that term even existed! XD
Oh, and if you read this, thank you, YukuTiszuki, for the comment on DeviantArt! I wasn't even sure if anyone was going to even find the first chapter on there. I'm happy you're enjoying it! X3
Yet again, it took a while to get this chapter on the road. It's pretty much the same excuse from my last chapter, except to a different extreme. I literally needed to write this one out again, because this part was originally supposed to be with the last part, but I decided to break it apart, I guess. So yah…
Next Friday, I'm going to spend the day in San Francisco with my sister! :3 I may be able to get ch. 8 up before then, that part will be easier to revise hopefully, depends how busy I am before with school and all. So I may not be able to upload as quickly. Oh, and my folks are leaving me alone in the house for at least a week after that, so I may be too busy to do too much. I'll see what I can do.
Oh, and a quick note: Most of you should recognize the intro's setting, if not, you may be confused! XD
Hope you guys enjoy nonetheless! :3
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I was lonesome, scared, trapped inside this shell of glass. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe; but I watched, and felt myself lower unwillingly down onto a stage, which had been floating in outer space all this time. Was I trapped in the glass chamber to keep myself alive? That couldn't be possible, there were four others on the stage as well, but they were fighting. It was a mosh pit of doom. I didn't understand why, but I inwardly screamed when I saw just how small I really was compared to everyone else. The smashers were seemingly giant if you will, and I was about to be a part of their grind fest. I was temporarily blind from the star patterns glaring through the glass; as well as my glasses for a bonus. The distance would gradually begin to glow white, just like that scene in the movie Star Wars. What monstrosity! But still, it looked like the middle of nowhere to me.
Final Destination is what others would call it I guess. How do I know this? Just where were we heading?
The first thing that caught my eye when I had landed onto the stage was a young blond, timid boy dressed in jeans and a red and yellow striped tee. I blushed when his innocent blue eyes spotted mine. A smile lit up his rosy cheeks, as he approached my still form. Maybe he would free me from this prison I was locked in, maybe, just maybe, I would be set free. Then yet, I thought, I hoped he wouldn't.
The blond boy examined me, putting an index finger to his lips as he brought his hand to grab me like a lifeless doll. My heart started to pound. Just what exactly was this boy going to do?
In a matter of seconds, I watched in horror as another small man's black shadow held up the number '9' above his head, hammering the boy in the head with a loud forceful clash. In an instant, the young and innocent boy flew off into infinity. I got a good look at the predator.
This seemingly two dimensional being that had come out of nowhere had no eyes, and no settle movements. One frame he would be in one position, the next, he'd be in another. He rang a bell, which sounded more like an old fashion cell phone ring to me. He approached me, click, click, sang his feet as he walked.
Before the strange man could reach me however, he too was knocked away by another, a dark, bulky and murderous man, roaring in rage when his palm glowed purple. There went the two dimensional man at lightning speed, I thought. If I could, I would be trembling, once his wicked, golden eyes spotted mine. His dark skin was slightly tinged green, and his black, medieval armor and cape suited him. He looked like a god. Laughing hysterically, he picked me up, and held me over his red spiky haired head. His golden teeth glistened as he spoke to me.
"Tear these worthless entities down, my assistant!" He snickered. Assistant? Well at least I didn't have to worry about him hurting me then, I thought.
"Let it down, Ganondork, and hand over the assistant trophy," I heard someone's familiar voice say. My eyes widened, as well as the man's did when we spotted a very smug, very egotistical Ness.
However, he wasn't dressed in his normal blue and yellow striped tee, but instead wore a black shirt with a Mr. Saturn logo, and a dark purple cap. He would have looked emo if it wasn't for his smirk. The man holding me let off a hefty laugh.
"And what can your meaningless 'PK' powers accomplish? I already told you, I am Ganondorf, the King of Evil. Only the Blade of Evil's Bane can slay me." Ness started chuckling.
"Those rules don't exactly apply here, but nice try anyways," Ness replied. Ganondorf growled angrily, tossing me into the air as swiftly as he could, just to charge towards Ness.
I was let out of my cage as the glass shattered around me; I grew back to my normal size instantly. I gasped, and choked on my breath. Straightening my glasses, I got up off of my knees to watch Ness and Ganondorf's duel to the death. Ness was fast, faster than Ganondorf, as he knocked him down on the ground using his bat. Ganondorf got to his feet, and ran towards me. In a fit of rage, he grabbed me forcefully by the collar of my shirt and spat into my face.
"If you don't fire off those damn rockets at this very moment, I'll fire you along with them myself!" I shivered as my glasses became out of line.
"O-Okay…" I managed to say before we were both distracted by a glowing colorful orb. Ganondorf's irises widened.
"Fire them, now!!" He shouted; tossing me aside before chasing after the orb. My knees trembled though they were locked into place. I didn't think Ness was even aware that I was here. In a sense, I was glad he wasn't. I collected my senses, and brought my sight to a set of rockets aimed towards the sky; ready to be launched. My trembling hands reached for the random box of matches on the ground.
"DON'T LIGHT THE ROCKETS!!" Ness shouted angrily. I gasped as he landed swiftly next to me. His blue-gray eyes glared darkly down at me.
"Jeff, if you light those rockets, I'll kill you when you wake up," Ness threatened. I gulped. What was better, being fired into the air by a godly man, or being slaughtered by the boy I barely knew when I woke up? I was screwed either way…wait a minute…
Ness was off again, dodging whatever attacks Ganondorf threw at him. What was I to do, nothing? With a daring leap, Ness jumped on top of him in the air towards the colorful orb that they had been chasing for minutes.
"DON'T DO IT!!" Ness shouted again, as he smashed his bat into the orb, breaking it apart. Ness absorbed the powers of the orb, which made an aurora glow like the northern lights around his body, and his once blue irises literally had shown a golden light. Ganondorf roared.
"FIRE THE ROCKETS!!" Ganondorf shouted. But I couldn't, I was frozen stiff in awe. He floated, and smirked to me. Ness outstretched his hands above his head, trying to reach for the stars.
"P…K… STARSTORM!!" He shouted to the sky. Horrifically, looking above us, multiple white comets came pouring down onto us. I was frozen, as I watched my eyesight fade into whiteness…
"Gaaahhh!!" I shouted when I woke up. Sweat coated my forehead, my heart pounded; it took a moment to collect my senses as I panted. Without my glasses, all I could see was darkness. I was dreaming… it was only a dream… I thought to myself over and over again. I plopped back down, staring off into the distance… I hope I didn't wake up Paula or Ness… I sighed, and closed my drooping eyes. Recollections of my dream, and our fight flooded my mind before I was able to drift off again.
Seriously though… what the fuck did I just dream about?
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The Universe Will Die Without You
Chapter 7 Times a Trillionage
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"Jeff! Wake up, Jeff!" Paula giggled as I felt something smooth, wet, and warm on my face. What the hell? I could have sworn something wet sprayed my cheeks. I crinkled my nose in protest, bringing my fingers to touch the slippery sticky substance that coated my freckled skin. Once my brain clicked into beta mode, I gasped, and shot up feeling my cheeks glow, and my heart pounding. Gasping for air, I pulled on my glasses swiftly to meet a bowless Mr. Saturn with a runny nose on my lap. Paula laughed out loud as I light heartedly glared at her. I sneezed, and rubbed my eyes.
"What the hell was that for?" I asked wiping my freckled cheek off.
"You should have seen your face when Mr. Ziggy sneezed on you!" She kept snickering. I raised my eyebrow and looked down at the Mr. Saturn.
"Mr. Ziggy? You named him Mr. Ziggy?"
"Hey, what's wrong with that?" She asked. I snorted to myself.
"Heeeeeeeeeey!" She complained as I started to laugh; covering my eyes.
"What a ridiculous name!" I snickered. Paula pouted in response.
"Well, why don't you name him something better?" Paula asked putting her hands to her hips.
"Nah nah, its fine its fine… Mr. Ziggy!" I snickered again. Paula frowned. In the meantime, I tried to collect myself, coughing in the process.
"Okay ok, it's a good name, I promise." I told her rising from under the covers feeling my stomach growling.
"You're hungry," Paula said. I rubbed my tummy.
"I know…" I moaned as my stomach complained again. Paula reached into her small bag and pulled out what looked like a sandwich, but was mashed and cramped in plastic wrapping.
"It's a skip sandwich, you need it more than either of us," She smiled. My mouth curved down; it looked like it was at least two days old.
"Are you sure you don't need it?" I asked. Paula nodded as she stood up, and shoved it into my grasp.
"Just eat it," She ordered before walking out of the hut. I shrugged, and took my first bite, tentatively at first; I ignored the disgusting texture, but the flavor was still okay.
Walking out of the hut would have been fine, if I didn't literally bump into something on the way out… more like someone. It was so quick and so sudden that my being shook still, until Ness almost immediately flung himself away. The now sore bruise on my neck reminded me of last night. I inwardly cringed at the memory of such closeness. That wasn't a dream… I did hug Ness I thought. We both still hated our guts apparently; judging by the unwelcoming expression that decorated his passive face.
"Hey," Ness grunted as he brushed passed me as quickly as possible. Thank you Paula, we'll be friends for sure now! I thought sarcastically in my mind as I flashed him a grumpy look.
"Hey yourself," I grumbled watching him take his back pack to the very opposite side of the room. Ness roughly packed away his clothes.
"Look. Whether you like it or not, we're going to the third sanctuary location today. If you don't want to tag along, it's fine by me, but don't think Paula will let you stay behind either," Ness explained. Third sanctuary location? Was that one of the places I was told about before?
"What's a sanctuary location for?" I asked. Ness's sigh was impatient as he put on his red hat roughly, and grasping his bat.
"Just a place we need to head to if we're going to save the planet, nothing more." Like hell there was more.
"So you gotta decide right now, we're leaving at this very moment." He said walking out of the building. I rolled my eyes. Paula wasn't going to leave me. So I guess I had no choice. Grabbing my strap bag, and stuffing my red tool box inside, I followed, several meters away, but I followed, as the Mr. Saturn around us praised us.
"Yay for Ness and his friends, BOOM!" One of them said. I think I just had it with these nosy little critters.
"Ness, we can't leave Jeff behind!" I heard Paula told him. Ness brushed off the statement, and ignored it, until Paula growled in frustration.
"We're going to do this together," Paula said coldly. Ness stopped to glare down at her, as if he wanted to say something nasty. Paula Polestar however was not buying it, standing for what she believed in so much that Ness sighed in defeat.
"Fine, we'll let him catch up." Ness snorted crossing his arms. I sighed as I caught up to them, keeping my eyes from landing on Ness in any way, shape or form. Paula looked as if she was going to say something, but decided not to. While we walked in silence, Ness stopped in his tracks.
"What is it, Ness?" Paula asked. Ness shook his head.
"I dunno… I have a bad feeling though… should we go see what kind of junk the Saturn's here have to sell to get ourselves prepared?" Ness asked more so to Paula. Paula nodded.
"That's a great idea, Ness," Paula said. "Is that ok with you, Jeff?" Paula asked me. I appreciated the fact that she was trying to include me, I really did. But it only seemed to make things even worse.
"Yeah, that's fine," I replied. I didn't miss the glint in her eye.
"'Kay," Ness muttered turning away.
--
"Damn it, they don't have any new bats…" Ness complained.
"Well what do you think, creatures like these wouldn't be able to use bats, Ness," Paula replied. Ness sighed in annoyance.
"I know, I know. It's just I don't think this bat will last much longer. I can at least get us some defense items at the least. Besides, you need a new ribbon anyways, that one's getting old, and it still reeks from the puke blob," He said handing the Mr. Saturn some cash in exchange for the ribbon, a bracelet, some herbs, and a horn of some sort.
"Thank you, Ness," Paula smiled receiving her ribbon. I'll give Mr. Ziggy my old one when we come back." Ness nodded.
"Well then, let's get going then," Ness said before Paula tugged on his shirt.
"What?" Paula pointed at me. Raising my eyebrow, I pointed at myself in confusion.
"Get Jeff something, he needs to be protected too," Paula said. Ness rolled his eyes.
"Fine. Jeff, pick something out." I shook my head. I really didn't like the thought of using someone else's cash.
"It's your money Ness, I don't need anything that you don't want to offer," I replied semi coldly. Ness growled.
"Yeah, it is my money, so what? Pick something." Ness spoke harshly. I wasn't sure what Paula did when she made a gesture to touch Ness again, but it was enough to make him squeal.
"Ouch!!" Ness yelped. I inwardly snickered.
"Are you sure I will need something?" I asked him. Ness looked like he was about to explode, for his face started to change color.
"Fine, fine, I'll just take a silver bracelet as well, if you don't mind," I replied feeling my mouth curve up when his eyes widened.
"Those are expensive! OUCH!!" Paula pinched Ness again as he snarled.
"Alright, alright, you win, Paula!" He handed the Mr. Saturn the extra money for my new silver bracelet. Better than my cheap one I thought. But really… how does a bracelet defend one that's holding it? Ness shoved the bracelet into my hands, while I handed him my cheap one for sale.
"Hmph, at least I'm getting some money out of this," He said receiving a few bucks. Paula smiled.
"Really, Ness, I didn't think you'd even offer. Thanks for the deliberation," I spoke sarcastically, but happily flashing him a cocky smirk. Ness flushed angrily, and pushed passed us.
"Let's just get going," He spoke in a flustered tone before we headed towards the mountains. Paula smiled up at me. I formed the words thank you on my lips for her.
--
Frankly, all three of us were miserable walking through the mountains hours later. We were attacked by rabid sprouts, mushrooms, and weird creatures called 'Ranboobs.' When we approached the cave, we were practically dragging our feet up.
"Please tell me that this is it!" Ness groaned.
"We can make it, Ness, just have faith in yourself!" Paula said. Ness snorted as we progressed through the cave.
"Yeah, that's easy for you to say!" He remarked. Paula laughed. It was nice though the trip was hard, that everything seemed partly normal. Ness however, refused to talk to me since the store incident. In the distance, after venturing through the cave for a little while, we spotted a glowing orb blocking a different cave. Now that I thought of it...it looked exactly like that spot I saw in the cave leading to the lab up in Winters.
Only Ness has the power to absorb this location it whispered to me back then. I was knocked out of my reverie when Ness sighed.
"Well...there it is," Ness sighed. "Let's get this over with."
"You finally got here, Ness, I've been waiting for you..." The orb spoke to us. Ness snorted.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I need to steal this location to call my own, you don't have to tell me," Ness replied. The orb chuckled.
"Then that makes the deal easier then… you can't call this third sanctuary your own until you erase my name… so… dare to take it from me?" It spoke before fading into something different. When the being finally transformed, I was afraid at first that it was another puke blob. In reality, it was a giant pile of dirt that had sprouted a yellow stem on its head. A root-like mouth, and two eyes; similar to Master Belch's, formed on its body. Three minions of his; retreated to its side.
"I am the Trillionage Sprout. This sanctuary location belongs to me now!" It shrieked. I winced as its roots outstretched, and at amazing speed, attempted to whip one of us. Ness held up his bat while Paula held up her hands. It was obvious looking at the way things were, that we would need to turn up the heat in this fight. Paula in reflex to the sudden attempt used one of her PSI powers, in which all of the smaller sprouts went up in flames. Trillionage shrieked again.
"Now, Ness, get him!" Paula ordered. Ness grunted, and ran up to Trillionage to whack him on top of the head, while it was stunned from the flames. Ness backed off as it started to laugh again. Trillionage shook off the flames.
"It will take more than that to defeat me," It grunted as an aurora surrounded itself.
"Did he just use life up alpha?!" Ness questioned. It was then that Trillionage's eyes scanned us all that I saw a mysterious glint in its eyes. Whatever it was, it sent shivers down my spine.
"Don't look into its eyes!" I yelled. Ness and Paula gave me skeptical looks.
"I… I don't know what exactly this thing can do… but keep your eyes from it as much as you two can manage…" I spoke seriously. Trillionage laughed.
"You got a sharp eye there, boy, just like mine…" It spoke to me. I frowned.
"It's not hard for me to point out one's motives. You taking on the traits of a plant after all, I'm sure Paula's fire attack hit you pretty hard… and it looks like you wouldn't stand up against the bitter cold either." Trillionage's expression turned dark, but then became passive.
"It doesn't matter however, I won't let you kids take my precious sanctuary away from me…" Ness stood forward.
"I understand your pain, Trillionage, but you're in our way. I need to visit this place in order to save the world. Two of your friends are already gone, I'm afraid," Ness spoke using one of his PSI powers. Trillionage shivered.
"You won't take my sanctuary away from me!!" It shouted firing a beam of flashing lights that blinded me temporarily.
"Jeff!" Paula shrieked while I was blind. I felt myself fall onto my back with a thud. When my sight went back to normal, I tried moving my hand to my face, but my arm was frozen stiff. I couldn't turn my head to see around me. I can't move… I can't move! I repeated in my head. My heart started to pound. I felt paralyzed; helpless…
"Jeff? Jeff, say something!" Ness asked in panic. Trillionage laughed.
"Your friend can't move now… makes things a deal easier for me!" It snickered as it reached for Ness. Ness gasped.
"Ness!" Paula cried before she shot another wave of flames at the monster. Trillionage in a quick reflex kicked up dirt with its other root, and managed to block the flames. Ness growled in its grasp, and then there was another blinding, flashing light. Trillionage dropped Ness on the ground. Ness gasped, and quickly got to his feet. Paula shot off an icy cold beam, one in which Trillionage screeched at. It was then that Ness ran up in front of me.
"Say something Jeff, are you alright?!" Ness asked me getting to his knees, and grasping my shoulders. My eyes drifted to his, icy, worried, and concerned. I could only grunt for my lips refused to make words. Ness shook my shoulders.
"Just hang in there-"
Ness was knocked to the side by Trillionage forcefully before he could finish his sentence. Ness yelped from the mere force as he was tossed to the other side of the room. It was so sudden that it was rattling enough to loosen up my jaw.
"Ness…?" I managed to say in an awkward tone.
"Ness, are you alright?!" Paula asked in shock as she continued to fight Trillionage. Ness struggled to his feet. He seemed weak. While I watched their endless duel of doom, I struggled to make any of my limbs, my feet, my fingers, anything to get them moving. However I was caught out of my reverie when some dirt flung into Paula's eyes. Paula yelped, and rubbed at her eyes while Ness was knocked to the ground again. It was then that Trillionage's eyes became fixed on Paula. The entire ordeal was appalling.
"Paula, watch out!!" I managed to shout. Trillionage paused and looked at me, with that same glint.
"I will get rid of the worthless pest that you are at this very moment!" Trillionage hissed as it glared into my eyes.
Oh god…
It was hypnotizing, that was all I could mostly recall when Trillionage seemingly glared into my soul. Paula shrieked out my name. My heart pounded, I had lost total control of my senses, as I felt time freeze itself…
… until I was jolted back to reality as Ness took a daring leap right in front of me, more like, right on top of me, back facing me, as he must have glared into Trillionage's eyes himself. I couldn't forget, the mere terror I felt that day, when Ness started turning into stone…
A clear and shiny stone that is.
"NESS!!" Paula screamed. My eyes were wide as Ness fell with a thud next to me. What the hell had just happened? Feeling my body become loose again, I scrambled up to Ness.
"Ness? What happened, why did he turn to stone?!" I panicked while examining his wide- eyes expression. When I could touch his shoulder to see if it was real, I realized by the hardness of the stone that he didn't turn into just any stone. He was a diamond…
"Jeff, watch out!" Paula yelled. My eyes went wide when Trillionage whacked me away forcefully behind my back. I grunted painfully as I rolled on the ground uncontrollably. The Trillionage Sprout laughed.
"How noble of your friend; sacrificing himself just to save your worthless life! There is nothing you can do now… unless if you two can beat me, your friend will never wake up again!" Trillionage spat. I stood up grasping my now painful shoulder.
"Fuck…" I managed to mutter glancing Ness one more look before reaching into my bag. Paula was in tears.
"Why are you doing this?! We're trying to save the world, doesn't that count as anything for you?!" Paula asked the Trillionage Sprout. It laughed again.
"Why am I doing this? Master Giygas promises me great things if I guard this location, that's why!" It replied lifting its roots. Paula roared in frustration, as it used another freezing attack. I pointed my last bottle rocket towards it.
"Paula, step aside!" I told her, lighting one of my matches. The rocket flew off and hit the giant plant. It groaned in pain as Paula used an ice attack furiously. Trillionage waved its roots around violently as it shrieked in pain. Both of us ducked instantly. Paula used PSI fire. Trillionage shrieked again as it went up in flames for the final time. I rushed to Paula's side, panting as we watched the pitiful root passed on painfully. Trillionage waved its roots around wildly, as it tried speaking to us.
"Do not think that this is the end! Master Giygas will avenge me!! You will never get away with… this… the… future will… fall into darkness…" It uttered its last words before burning into a crisp. What did this all mean? I thought watching the flames. I wasn't expecting this to become so serious…
"Ness!" Paula cried as she rushed to Ness.
"Ness, you can't die, you have to live! We can't save the world without you!" Paula sobbed. I felt like I wanted to collapse, but was broken to do so.
"Wh… he… he's not dead, is he?" I asked in a weak voice. Paula hugged the boy with so much passion, sobbing in his now diamond collar. He was all she had before… Why did he risk his life for me? I felt, pathetic; guilty as I gazed down at his frozen wide eyes.
"Damn it, Ness, why the hell did you have to go and do that?" I muttered angrily to myself. Paula laid her head on his chest, silently sobbing. It was moments later that Paula gasped.
"What is it, Paula?" I asked her.
"His heart… he's alive," She replied in a whisper.
"Even so Paula, what's the point of being alive, when you can't do a thing?" I asked in barely a whisper. Paula stood up.
"Trillionage said… it said that unless if we could defeat it, Ness would die, right? Well… we did beat it… doesn't that mean that Ness could be recovering as we speak?" Paula asked. My eyes widened at her suggestion, but then she gasped again.
"Jeff! Help me carry him to the sanctuary location!" Paula said running up towards his shoulders.
"Are you sure it's safe if we move him?"
"We won't know until we try," Paula replied. I was skeptical at her suggestion at first, but complied, as I grabbed his feet.
"You sure you can support him? Here, you grab his feet, and I'll carry him by the shoulders. If there's one body part that we don't want to break off, it's the head," I told her. Paula nodded silently, but sadly in reason, as we switched positions.
Carrying a giant diamond was no easy task. Being that both of us were still weak from the fight, we practically dragged him through the small tunnel, until we were able to see the light of day, which was partly cloudy nonetheless. It was a small, hidden, but pretty area, surrounded with the greenest of green, flowers, and a fountain like pond in the middle. Its water glowed as soft white. In the oddity of it all, I actually started to feel my strength recovering, bit by bit.
"Let's lay him by the pond…" Paula told me. I grunted in reply, as we lay his lifeless form in the grass. Paula collapsed on the ground, and panted. It was moments later that the environment around us changed. The breeze circled us all, especially Ness. I could have sworn the pond started to glow brighter and brighter, until I was blinded once again. I covered my eyes with my arm, as so did Paula.
It was then that the pain from my shoulder disappeared. I looked at my now un-cut flesh on my hands in surprise.
"Jeff, look!" She said in awe. When I looked again, the once diamond Ness had been replaced with a Ness that was once more flesh and bone. His eyes were closed, but I could see his chest rise and fall. His clothes were still a visible wreck, but all of his injuries had faded as well. This place… this sanctuary had healed us all… Paula got up instantly to rush to him.
"Ness, Ness, wake up, Ness!" Paula smiled, as she started to cry again. She knew he would be okay, better than I could ever know. I stepped closer as Paula kneeled down to put her hand on his forehead. I stood still in place as we both heard a small, but real groan escape from Ness's lips.
"Mom…?" He mumbled, before opening his eyes slowly. His eyes drifted everywhere.
"Paula…?" Ness asked. Paula sniffed smiling.
"Ness, you're alive!" Paula squealed as she leaned down to embrace him. Ness's cheeks tinged pink, just slightly, probably from the sweet embrace he had received from one of his friends.
"Where are we, Paula?" Ness asked putting his hand to his forehead. Paula reached into Ness's back pack.
"The sound stone… here, Ness," Paula said handing him a seemingly normal looking rock, though it obviously had some sort of value to it. Just what exactly was it for?
"We're… here already?" Ness asked resting the stone on his forehead.
"Yeah, Jeff and I were able to feed it off while you were knocked out. We really thought you were out for good." Paula replied as her tone faltered. Ness grunted in response.
"Wait a second… is he okay? Where is he?" Ness asked sitting up all the sudden.
"I'm right here, Ness," I told him not feeling sure about my emotions. Ness slowly turned his head up to me.
"Oh… that's good…" He replied glancing at the milky well. I sighed, putting my hand down to him. Ness was caught by surprise when he had spotted it. Ness looked up at me wide eyed.
"Need help getting to your feet?" I asked him. It took him a while, but a small, but real smile formed.
"Okay…" He replied grabbing my hand firmly as I pulled him up to his feet. He didn't stumble, so he obviously felt better. Ness helped Paula up to her feet himself.
"Really guys… thank you…" He said a sincerely as he could. "I guess we should head back to Threed now…" He said slipping his cap back on his head. And with that, we were off without a second thought.
--
We were attacked by a group of mushrooms along the way, which was odd, because most of the enemies avoided us by either fear, or by respect. What I wasn't aware of during the fight was that they were poisonous. After feeling as if they ganged up on me, I felt weaker than after fighting that disgusting giant root. Ness and Paula jumped in front of me, and guarded me while they finished them off. My head was starting to spin.
"Jeff, are you alright?" Ness asked. I grabbed my head and groaned. Everything around me spun so fast… I felt as if I would pass out at any moment. I fell to the ground.
"I think he's poisoned!" I heard Paula say. Ness 'hmmed.'
"Don't worry...I think I can fix this now," Ness spoke as I felt someone's hands touch my shoulders. It was the oddest feeling. What was once spinning started to slow down, and my head stopped swaying eventually. Soon enough, I could clearly see Ness in front of me, eyes closed, and still holding my arm. When he opened his eyes, we both looked at each other.
"Are you alright?" Ness asked me carefully. I nodded blankly.
"I...I don't understand, what happened, how did you… do that?" Ness smirked as stood up. Giving me a hand, he helped me to my feet, just like I did for him.
"Guess I just learned how to use healing beta," It took a while, but I eventually grinned.
"You did it! You learned it!" I cheered. Ness chuckled.
"Yeah… That should be enough to get back to Saturn Valley." It was the last thing he told me, at least until we reached Saturn Valley.
--
When we returned however, Ness was swindled to drink a cup of strange coffee that one of the Mr. Saturn's offered. His head dangled back and forth, as if he was drunk. He started to laugh at nothing. When he seemed to topple into me, I blushed slightly.
"The voice in my head says that you're timid Jeff..." Ness chuckled like a drunk. So are you in your own way I thought. Paula giggled.
"He'll be fine in just a moment, I'm sure," Paula assured me. I sighed in annoyance, pushing Ness at arm's length away from me. I was bewildered when both of us had to literally drag him down to the valley. Again
Ness soon felt better once we got back in the valley floor. All of the Mr. Saturn's gathered around us. The bowless Mr. Saturn jumped into Paula's arms.
"Mr. Ziggy, I almost forgot, I have a gift for you!" Paula smiled putting Mr. Ziggy down on the ground, before she rummaged through her bag for her old dark green ribbon. She knelt down, and tied the ribbon in a bow, right on Mr. Ziggy's antenna. It was then that all of the Mr. Saturn's cheered. Mr. Ziggy sneezed.
"We'll see you later, Mr. Ziggy, everyone!" She smiled waving goodbye to them all. However, Mr. Ziggy kept following us.
"Mr. Ziggy, what is it?" Paula asked. Mr. Ziggy looked at all of us with sad little bead like eyes. Paula sighed.
"Aww… we can't just leave him here… Ness, can we take him along?" Paula asked. Ness gave her a skeptical look.
"Hell no, we can't bring him along! What will other people think when they see a bodiless head walking around?" Ness replied crossing his arms. Paula frowned, but then brought back up the begging routine again.
"Please? I promise he'll be good! He can stay in my bag along the way, I'm sure I can make it cozy in there for him," Paula said, clasping her hands together and bringing them above her head.
"Pretty, pretty please?" Paula begged. Ness rubbed the back of his neck with annoyance, but then sighed in defeat.
"Fine, Jeff, is it ok if Paula takes Mr. Ziggy along?" Ness asked. I nodded.
"It's fine with me." I replied. Paula squealed cuddling Mr. Ziggy in her arms.
"But you're the one responsible for him, alright? That a deal?" Paula nodded, holding her new companion in her arms. Ness sighed.
"Then it's settled. You ready, Jeff?" Ness asked. I straightened my glasses.
"Yeah... but where are we heading now?" I asked him. Ness smiled.
"Remember Master Beltch saying something about a Mani Mani statue in Fourside? We're gonna try to get back to Threed again to make the next bus, which I believe will arrive at five thirty if I remember correctly." I checked my watch.
"It's already four thirty. Are we going to make it in an hour?" I asked.
"Of course we will if we hurry!" He smirked getting a head start. Paula quickly followed behind. I sighed, and followed. We all quickly waved back to the crowd of Mr. Saturn's farewell. One of them told us that they would do something for us in the future eventually. I wondered when that would be?
--
Making our way back through the well wasn't as bad anymore. The horrible stench was gone, which meant the abnormal glowing was gone. All three of us held hands as we blindly ventured our way out of the well. When we made it back to Threed, we were all surprised to be greeted by people that cheered for us.
"Thank you kids for saving the town!" A lady told us. How did they know?
"It was nothing, really," Ness said bashfully as he shook someone's hand. All of them clapped.
"Good luck, you three, we'll remember you!" Another one told us. We had to practically push our way through the crowd. What a mess…
--
"I wonder what will happen to us now," I mentioned as we waited patiently for the bus. We beat it by a good fifteen minutes or so. Paula was happily nuzzling Mr. Ziggy.
"Hopefully no more stinky blobs, that's for sure" Ness snorted rolling his eyes. I 'hmmed' in response. We were all silent for a while. But then eventually, we all heard a girl from afar, calling Ness's name.
"Ness, Ness, wait!!" A girl in a delivery uniform shouted from afar. I glanced over to Ness, who looked extremely bewildered.
"Tracy?!" Ness gasped. "Tracy, what the hell are you doing in Threed?!" Ness asked, pacing up to Tracy himself. Paula and I cast glances and shrugged. When I saw the girl up close, she looked no older than Ness, and wore her blond hair in a pony tail. She had a saddle bag that was labeled 'Escargo Express'.
"Doing my job, unlike my older brother, who's just going out for some sightseeing," The girl named Tracy replied. "Besides, I promised my friend, Kaitlin from Twoson that I would take her here to meet up with her boyfriend. However, I don't think it's working out very well, that dirty little sneak…" She said. So she was Ness's younger sister… I thought.
"Right… So how's the Escargo Express job going for you? How's Mom?" Ness asked. Tracy sighed.
"S' been alright. Mom's doing better than ever since Dad came back for the weekend. They had a romantic dinner together in return for his rudeness a couple of nights ago," Tracy smiled. Ness's expression lit up.
"That's great!" Ness said. How's King?"
"He's just his old self, I don't want to be mean, but I don't think he's even aware that you're gone," Tracy shrugged before spotting Paula behind Ness. Paula shyly waved to her. Tracy gasped.
"You weren't kidding when you said you were traveling with Paula Polestar, where you?" She giggled walking up to Paula, who shyly smiled.
"Hello, Tracy. I've always wanted to meet Ness's family," Paula said. Tracy cheeks lit up.
"Really? It's such an honor to meet you too, you're so pretty Paula! Urk, I mean… sorry, didn't mean to sound so-" Ness dropped his head in annoyance. I guessed that his sister embarrassed him a lot.
"It's fine. You're a sweet person, that's the first compliment I've gotten from someone on this trip, thank you," Paula smiled innocently.
"No she's not…" Ness mumbled, even though Tracy could hear him crystal clear.
"What was that?!" She spoke semi harshly.
"What?" Ness taunted until Tracy grabbed Ness's ear between her index finger and her thumb.
"Hey, stop that!!" Ness complained, ripping Tracy's grip off his ear.
"A year younger than you, and you're still Mommy's little strong boy," She snickered. Ness's entire face flushed.
"No I'm not!" Ness started to whine. Paula and I giggled from their little quarrel, until Tracy's eyes spotted mine. I stood silently as she became distracted because of me.
"Is this the Jeff you were telling Mom about?" Tracy asked. Ness's cheeks were still tinged pink.
"Yes it is. Jeff, this is Tracy, my bratty sister…" Unlike before, Tracy ignored his little insult, and scanned me up and down with her eyes as a small smirk appeared on her lips. Was she checking me out?! I thought to myself.
"So… you helped Paula and the squirt out, eh? Thanks for saving them. I hope my brother hasn't caused you any troubles yet," She smiled giddily handing out a hand. It took a small moment, but I returned the gesture and shook her hand.
"It wasn't much of a problem, I was glad to help," I smiled to her. Was she blushing? And for some reason, it took her a while to let go of my hand. I had to admit, she was rather cute when she realized it.
"Oh sorry!" She squeaked letting go of my hand. I chuckled, feeling both of Ness's and Paula's eyes on us.
"It's alright, don't worry about it," I replied flushing myself.
"Tracy, you're making Jeff uncomfortable," Ness said trying to break apart our little interaction.
"I was not! -As I can tell, you're a lot more mature than my pipsqueak brother-"
"Tracy, stop!" Ness whined blushing brilliantly. She really was embarrassing him.
"What? I'm pretty sure he already knew!" She snickered until we heard an older man yell out Tracy's name. Tracy turned around, and apparently spotted someone from her work.
"Jeremy, there you are! I was looking for you!" She said walking towards him, until she halted almost instantly to spin around.
"Well, it was nice running into my brother's companions… and my brother I suppose. But I gotta get going, duty calls, after all." She winked at me. "See yah guys later!" She smiled before walking away. Ness balled up his fists, as we saw the bus approaching from the distance.
"Sorry for the interruption, you guys. She can be pretty obnoxious sometimes," He said chuckling. Paula shook her head.
"Your sister's really nice!" Paula smiled. Ness skeptically looked at her.
"No she's not…" Ness spat. I shrugged.
"You should be thankful Ness. Even if she does pick on you, I'm sure she cares for you, more than you think," I replied. Ness said nothing.
"That's right. Like they say, the more two fight and argue, the more the care for each other," Paula said. Ness sighed in annoyance.
"Yeah yeah, right." The bus stopped for us, and opened its doors.
"Where to, kids?" The bus driver asked.
"To Fourside, please," Ness said handing him three dollars.
"Alright you three, hop in," The bus driver said, as all three of us took our seats in the middle of the bus. I ended up sitting by the window, while Paula sat in between Ness and I. During the ride, none of us said a word to each other. Paula eventually fell sound asleep while I daydreamed, watching the scenery change from green to hilly desert shrubs. There was a lot on my mind; most of the things I thought of had no specific answer, at least not yet. I felt lost. I had gotten so used to science always providing some sort of answer, but this journey had been more complex than that, most of the things we had ran into so far had been unexplainable, at least to my knowledge. What was the reason for all this again?
"What, was that not a good enough reason? Do you dare say more? It doesn't matter now, ten years has passed, and there's nothing you or I could do to fix the past." My so called father repeated in my mind. How did this conversation pop into my head again?
"Jeff?" My eyes snapped back to reality on the bus as I glanced over to Ness, whose eyes were averted.
"Hmm?" I responded. Ness sighed, but he said nothing after that. Neither of us said anything until I broke the ice moments later.
"Why'd you do it?" I asked. Ness looked up to me, raising an eyebrow at first, but then I think it clicked.
"Oh… that, right. I dunno…" I sighed.
"You don't know? You just decided to jump in front of me at the precise moment for no reason at all?" I asked almost feeling disappointed from his answer. Ness shook his head.
"No no, it's not like that, it's just…" What the hell was he trying to say? I sighed.
"Look… about before… I shouldn't have said what I said. It was stupid of me; I make stupid decisions all the time, alright? So… don't take it personal, K?" I told him stubbornly slouching in my seat. Ness was quiet at first, but then he nodded silently. I didn't think he would ever completely forgive me.
"I'm… sorry too. Sorry for punching you across the face," He replied. I sighed, drifting my eyes outside the window again. There was a moment of silence.
"Really Ness, why'd you do it?" I asked again. Ness was silent at first.
"I guess… I was afraid, that's all. I've been afraid of this journey for a while now… I've been afraid of everything, everyone, even Paula at time to time." I grunted in response. But then he continued.
"But… when I first met you, I started to shut everything away… I hadn't been that scared in a long time. I wasn't sure whether to trust you or not… but I figured; either way, you were here, and you were here to help us," He explained. I turned my head to him giving him a blank look with a touch of alertness. Ness refused to look at me.
"So, when I saw that the Trillionage Sprout was going to hurt you, I thought of all the alternatives. I thought either you would get hurt pretty badly, or you would get hurt enough that you wouldn't want to stick around with us. I didn't want to take any of those chances… so that's why I did it. I know… it sounds selfish, I'm-"
"You were worried that I wouldn't want to help you guys out anymore if I got hurt enough?" I asked. Ness nodded slowly. I frowned, but then smiled slightly.
"We can only try our best in a world out there that isn't perfect. When I decided to go find you guys, I expected the journey to be long and miserable. Though bits and pieces of it were, there are more things I need to learn out in the world, about life, and possibly about myself. So if you're worried about me leaving you guys yet, you better change that thinking habit of yours around, shouldn't you?" I explained as best as I could. Ness smiled slightly.
"Yeah…," Ness replied.
"I just wanna know how you guys use powers. Do you two take any kind of pill or something?" I asked. Ness gave me a skeptical look.
"We're not on any special kind of prescription! I already told you, it's just how we are, that's all," Ness said. I snorted.
"Well, see? There yah go, there's one thing I want to learn about, how you two use special powers. Do you two even realize how many people would want to harness that kind of power?" I asked. Ness started to look uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. I sighed.
"Alright, we'll stop talking about your PSI abilities. What do you think Fourside will hold for us, besides this Mani Mani statue you were talking about before?" Ness shrugged.
"I dunno… I'm not even sure what the Mani Mani statue even is. But as long as it's an object under Giygas's name, we can't let it float around; we need to destroy it before it does any damage," Ness said. I grunted.
"So… do you really think Giygas is an alien?" I asked.
"Possibly. I don't know what else it could be…" Ness said yawning. There was another moment of silence. I looked out the window again.
"I apologize for all of these questions, they've just been bobbling around in my head lately, I can't shed them away," I explained.
"It's fine. It's better to ask things rather than letting them run untamed in your mind too long. It leads to very bizarre things, believe me," Ness explained. I noticed by his tone of voice that he sounded exhausted.
"Ness?"
"Yeah?"
"…. Get some sleep, you're tired. And so am I," I said leaning my head against the window.
"Alright… Jeff?"
"Hmm?"
"...Thanks...for helping us," He finally said before drifting off himself. I smiled to myself. I would ask him about the sanctuary locations later.
"You're welcome."