A/N: Thank you, Revu, No Name (blank), YaoiGirly, redtheyoshi, Mihakuu, Treehugger19, TomBoy247, the same anonymous again, FawfulGrox, and Nessie-DoMiSol!

So holy crap, wow. Bet you guys weren't expecting this, were you? I wasn't expecting this either. But I thought, since I was in the mood, I'd try to get this chapter done as soon as possible. We'll see if I can keep this up with my next chapter as well. ; ) And I guess I'll answer a few questions while I'm at it.

To the same anon- I apologize if maybe I didn't get this information in as clearly as it should have been (that's the bad thing about writing such dang long chapters!) But I guess I kind of made it to where all of them were aware of Kato's other name Poo, but didn't really want to talk about it much. Luckily for you, that's one of the things I wanted to focus on in this chapter, so I hope I answered your question here!

Also, to FawfulGrox, I lol'd at that typo you found (the whole Jeff putting an arm around Ness's waste, that's gross!) Eee, yeah, my typos tend to be bad, and I apologize. I might, when I'm done with this story if it gets done, go back in and fix some things. : )

A lot more happens in this chapter than I originally planned. It also played out much differently than I originally thought of too. We're starting to see a few characters develop, hopefully over these next few chapters. (well dang, that would be really strange if they didn't develop after what they're about to go through!) And I am typing like a drunk right now apparently, and it is cold!

Anyways, thank you guys so much for understanding what's going on and your support! I love you all, and you all have inspired me to try and continue this story as much as I can. If I can get at least the next chapter done, it shouldn't be too hard then, right? We'll see, hopefully it won't be. : ]

Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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I literally held onto my stomach as the boat rocked back and forth. Back and forth… back and forth… …back and forth. I cringed, as I felt my stomach give way again.

I had been like this for about five hours now, as I checked my watch. We had left the shore of summers around eight in the evening when the sun was setting and it was almost one in the barely qualifying morning, and I had hurled into the ocean… I'd say about five times since we departed, and each time I did, I was scared to death at the deep, deep waters before. They seemed more violent, which didn't help at all. Ness and Paula started to worry about me, but Kato on the other hand didn't seem to really care. Well… I think he did, just in a different way.

The funny thing was; I wasn't the only one that was getting sick. The boat driver, after talking to his wife over the phone had gained a bit of sea sickness himself. He hadn't thrown up, but the fact that he even had the urge to do so was fascinating. Like he said, a sailor that gets sea sick? Hah…

"So, the oriental kid in the corner. Haven't seen your face around with these kids before, where you come from?" The sailor asked. Since my eyes were staring at the wall as I lied down, I couldn't see anyone. Kato sighed slightly.

"From a far off country named Dalaam," He replied. "It's much farther from Summers than Scaraba is, by far."

"So you kids are on an adventure then, eh? If you kids come from far off places, you must be! Do your parent's get worried at all?"

"Nah… not really," Ness replied. "But yeah, you could say that we're adventurers."

"Well… maybe not Jeff right now," Kato intervened. I cringed slightly, feeling another wave of nausea. The sailor laughed.

"I'm sure we'll be getting there over night," He said. Overnight? Ugh, I wasn't sure if I could last that long…

It was that thought that the boat gave a violent shake as we felt ourselves rise and sink into the water more steeply than we should have. Oh god…

I scrambled up, holding in my stomach before grasping my mouth and making a dash towards the door. When I scrambled outside…

CRASH!

My heart stammered as I was blinded by lightning, but I had bluntly ignored it because of my urge to throw up, and when I did, I could feel the last bit of my acid escape my stomach. It didn't help the fact that my face was being entirely soaked in rain. Every time I hurled into the ocean, I had to make sure not to leave my glasses on. That would be bad…

When I opened my eyes, I could see my hands gripping the railing for dear life as the boat rocked in a faster rhythm. And the thunder…

We were stuck in the middle of a storm in the middle of the sea.

"Jeff, you should probably go back inside, it's pretty bad out here…" Ness approached me, as he rubbed my back to try and soothe my nausea with his PSI, but it really was no use whenever he did it.

"I… I can't help it, this is frightening," I told him, shaking from the cold. I tried looking up to Ness with my blurry eyesight. Ness looked back at me, mouth open a gap in attempt to say something, as if he was at a loss of words.

Or so, I thought he was looking back at me.

"Jeff… get back inside."

The tone in his voice was more frightening than the storm.

The boat gave another violent rumble, as the both of us tumbled down to the floor.

"Ness!" I gasped, trying to stand my way up, but with no luck whatsoever.

"Jeff, stay down, I don't think you can handle this one!" Ness exclaimed as I felt him stand up again. This time, I heard another roar.

But it wasn't the roar of thunder, I thought.

"What is that?" Paula yelled.

"It's… it's the Kraken…" The sailor stated. Ness growled. The boat lunged again. I felt my head slam against the wall of the boat cabin. I hissed.

The roars were more noticeable now, as I tried to open my eyes and sit up. I tried to slip on my glasses again, in attempt to actually see what was happening. Though in that instance, I almost wanted to take off my glasses.

As the rain splashed my freckled cheeks, I saw in the darkness, what looked to be a giant serpent. I couldn't tell if it was gray or green in the dark, but its red hairs, or spikes were a blaze as it flashed its sharp teeth in the lightning. Then a flash. And then a blast of cold air. The beast screamed, as I slipped my glasses back off.

Then the boat jerked again, more violently than before, as I was launched onto my feet, feeling my glasses chatter onto the wooden floor. I was sure now that I was in my hurling position, but the question was, was I about to hurl out my insides, or was the boat about to hurl me instead?

The next part changed everything.

When the boat shook one more time, I had lost my footing. And my grip on the railing slipped. I was separating.

"Jeff!" I heard someone scream, before the water swallowed me. Before I could react. Before I could… oh my god.

The first thing I thought was that it was so cold. So cold… so cold and salty. Nothing but cold, liquid salt as it tried to choke me, and my now already stinging eyes that I tried to keep closed, I really did. For that, I couldn't see a thing, or breathe for the matter.

I tried to swim up, to gasp for air, flailing around like a kitten, reaching up for dear life.

But the more I struggled, the more I sank. Deeper… and deeper…

My biggest fear. Drowning in this darkness that controlled my ever being, as my body memorized the deadly soothing rhythm of the waters.

And the only thing that existed then were the last of my thoughts, as my lungs started to run out. This was it, I thought. I was about to die, and the world soon after.

A heart beat. Beating… beating…

It was in this state of mind, that I could barely register the feeling of one's hand reaching out to my own. But it was in that moment, where the beating had finally quieted down, as I felt an arm wrap around me.

Without thinking, I clung back, clung back for dear life.

XxxxxxxXxxxxxX

The Universe Will Die Without You

Chapter 27 No Pain, No Gain

XxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxXxxxxxxX

"You got him enough blankets, right?"

"We set him next to the fire, this is the best we can do for now."

Voices.

"Thank you."

Then the sun.

Then a slight burning sensations under my eyes, as I could see light. I was afraid to open my eyes. That was when of course, my head hurt the most. Part of my brain registered my current location, but the other half was still lost out at sea somewhere. My body still knew the rhythm of the ocean. The random thought of my youth at the beach occurred suddenly. It hurt to breathe… slightly.

I felt a pair of extra warm hands cover my eyes and forehead as I began to breathe short, shallow breaths.

"Ness, I think he's starting to come to," I heard a young girl's voice say. Paula? I hoped I really wasn't losing half of my brain by then.

"Even so, we can't continue if he's down like this," Ness spoke in a sulk. I tried to speak, but all of my words were mute.

"I hate to say it but… with Jeff having no PSI, he tends to be the most vulnerable, given the circumstances of the situation," I heard another familiar voice. Poo…?

Was Poo his name? Even if it wasn't, what he just spoke sent a stone onto my already flattened stomach. Speaking of my stomach…

"It's a good thing his glasses didn't follow in with him; they were smarter than to jump into the ocean."

"Kato, stop. It's not like he jumped in there on purpose…" Ness defended.

"One of the things any person should learn to do while growing up is to swim. That's-"

"Kato. Please. Even if Jeff could swim, it wouldn't have helped much without the aid of his glasses, and even if he did have his glasses, there was a strong chance of him losing them. And not to mention, we were in the middle of a storm. He did all he could," Ness stated. I shivered.

"I…" The three of them were silent.

"Jeff?"

"… I'm…" "I" was the only thing I could speak then. I felt another hand on my forehead as another healing sensation helped my troubled mind. I calmed down.

"Whatever. I just hope he doesn't lash out at anyone when he wakes up." The sound of a curtain moving aside; as I felt a presence move away. I sighed a staggered breath.

"Ness… Paula…" I started to speak, before I finally could open my eyes. My dry, stingy eyes, I thought, as I was momentarily blinded by more light. Then the atmosphere changed, and I was looking at two faces above me. A wall that seemed to be made of stone provided the ceiling above.

"Jeff. How are you feeling?" Ness asked; voice full of worry. I frowned, feeling my arm; it felt like spaghetti, as I tried attaching the back of my hand to my forehead.

"Digested…" I replied. In actuality, that wasn't the best way to describe how I was currently feeling, but it really did feel like the ocean consumed me while I was in it.

"My head huts… my eyes sting… I can't feel my stomach… and half of my brain is lost," I replied slowly.

"This is bad," Ness thought. I looked up at Ness, whom almost looked as if he was in the verge of tears. I lazily slung an arm out at him, trying to take his hand.

"I'll be ok… I'll be ok…" Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Jeff. Ness's eyes were open as he looked down to me. He accepted my hand.

"We didn't think you'd fall into the ocean, you scared us," Paula replied. I shivered, though, Ness's warm hand lightly grasped mine, and they felt warm. Warm and dry for once. Just like the air. It was strange, I thought.

"Are we… here?" I asked suddenly.

"Yes, we're in Scaraba now. It's morning, but we're going to spend the first day here to let you rest," Paula said. I grunted in reply.

"So… what exactly happened?" I dreaded to want to know. I kept my eyes closed, by then, trying to remember the horrific thoughts, but keeping them at distance, so they couldn't consume me.

"Well… the Kraken appeared, like he said. And you fell in the ocean during the fight. Paula nor I didn't even notice because we were so focused on defeating the Kraken… which we did." My brain processed this information slowly.

Then the thought hit me, as the kinesthetic memory floated back to me.

"If… you and Paula didn't notice me drop into the ocean… then who…?" I remembered the strong hand that sought out mine, as the protective arm took me in. It was then that the sound of the heart beat settled down.

I opened my eyes slightly as I saw Paula and Ness exchange awkward glances.

"Kato… Kato was the one that saved you," Paula explained.

My head swam. Kato…? Kato… or…

"You mean…?" In that instance, the curtain flew open again, and the similar voice spoke up again.

"Hey Ness. The chief wants to talk to you," I could hear him say seriously. I could feel Ness's soft grip let go of mine.

"Alright," He said, while getting up. I let my eyes casually drift to the ceiling, all the while trying to avoid something that lingered in the room. I let my eyes drift to Paula for a moment.

Paula had run a couple dainty fingers through my blond hair before smiling at me.

"I'm sure you'll be fine soon. Just take it easy for today," She told me. Thank god, I thought…

"Thanks… Paula…" I thanked her. But then… in the background.

Why did I feel as if half of the air in here went back down to freezing temperatures?

xxxx

Time passed by as I lingered in and out of sleep, and it was in this time that I tried blocking every thought that passed through my brain out of me. It seemed like I was getting pretty good at that, ever since Ness and I had our "meditation" session together. I wouldn't mind that… actually.

Most of all, I kept count of who sat next to me while I slept. Sometimes it was Paula. Other times Ness. And other times, both. But this time…

My heart sank slightly, as my eyes sought out who was sitting next to me that time. My eyes found a pair of grumpy eyes, one black the other white. And while I thought I would be repulsed by them at an instance… for some reason I wasn't that time.

Maybe it was because of how weak I was. Maybe because he was in a better mood because I wasn't stubborn towards him then. Maybe it was because I was without my glasses, and he was somehow just barely in the ranks of my clear vision. Or maybe it was because of some reason I wasn't even aware of yet.

But his eyes were slightly perplexed, as he sat cross-legged, his jaw planted in his right palm as he looked down upon me, expression plainly bewildered, with a twinge of annoyance. And I wasn't sure if that was a good thing… or a really bad thing.

When I was positive that he was aware I was awake, I looked up at him in return. I had no idea what kind of expression I was showing then, whatever it was, I hope he didn't take any offense.

Poo? No… Kato? No, his name was Poo, I was sure of it.

"And yet he survives once more," He barely muttered, with an emotional accent I couldn't quite pin point in the moment. I could only grunt.

"Where's Ness and Paula…?" I asked him.

"Out doing errands before we head out into the desert," He replied. The desert…

"We're in the desert?" I asked.

"Only have been here for about eight hours now," He replied. Oh…

"Sorry… my mind's not in the game right now," I told him. In all honesty though, my head started to feel better though. There was no more sick feeling at least. Only slight aches, heaviness and the feeling of my body trying to sway with the water still.

"Oh don't worry. Your mind will be back soon," He replied.

"Thanks," I told him. He chuckled.

"No. Take it more as an order than anything," He told me. Oh… dandy.

"I see…" I sighed. Well this was starting to become awkward, I thought.

"You had us worried, you know," He added. My slow mind rephrased that sentence.

"Why did you…"

"Why did I?"

"… you know…"

"No, I don't know."

"Yeah, you do…"

"Did you… go after me?" I asked again. Ka-Poo seemed to puff out some air lightly.

"Depends what you mean," He replied. I wanted to growl in frustration. Instead, I lightly grasped my forehead, trying to phrase the sentence I wanted to say in my head, bold, straight and clear for him to understand. He was just being stubborn.

"Did. You. Dive. Into. The. Ocean. To. Save. My. Life. After. I. Fell. Into. The. Ocean?" Poo- Poo chuckled.

"That's a lot of sudden pauses for such a simple question," He told me. I let my hands slide down to my sides as I let my eyes drift up to his now slightly cocky face. He smiled.

"You could say that," He replied. "It's not like I could just let you drown or anything, that wouldn't do any of us any good, now would it?" I sighed through my nose. He really didn't need to be so complicated in this moment, I thought thoroughly. He took the moment to look at me again in the eyes, smile slightly visible still before closing his eyes.

"You're going to have to get up sooner or later. We aren't on vacation anymore."

"It's not like can help it," I told him.

"Maybe if you've had swimming lessons before, you wouldn't be like this right now," He told me. I growled at him, finally deciding to let myself try and sit up in protest.

"I didn't grow up in a place where I could swim, alright? So I never learned-" And it was in this moment, when I did sit up, that my head didn't agree with me. Not one bit. It didn't stop him from letting off a small laugh.

"Well at least you have enough energy to be stubborn," he told me. I tried to force myself to stay sitting up, but even so, the room still swam around us. My glasses, I thought. I felt around, all until a hand gestured in front of my eyes.

"Thanks…" I sighed, retrieving them and placing them on. I blinked. Ugh…

"Also, you should probably take the time to walk around before night time. You know, so you can get your coordination back," he said. I paused.

"By tonight?" His laugh had a bit or dry and dark humor in it.

"Yeah, tonight. You'll see why," he said, standing up.

"You'll get more than just your coordination back after this next coming week through the desert," he spoke before walking out of the door.

"You'll get more than just your coordination back after this next coming week through the desert…" What was that supposed to mean?

xxxxx

So eventually, I did get up, but let me tell you, it wasn't easy at first. My body wanted to waddle in every direction it could, and it was thanks to both Ness and Paula that I could start to remember what walking felt like with their support. But when I finally could start walking on my own again, Ness handed me a fresh loaf of bread that had been decorated with melted cheese and pepper and a few fruit to nurture my stomach. It was delicious, and somehow I didn't throw it back up. As I finally stepped outside; munching on my new snack, I literally had to shield my eyes from the strength of the sun's rays. Ness laughed.

"You'll get used to it, I hope. At least it should get you warm pretty fast," Ness explained. Paula stayed back where we were; which apparently was a "luxurious, first class hotel," doing some preparations for the long trip we had ahead of us. I blinked, still feeling the slight sting on the corners of my eyes. My eyes had always been sensitive to the sun anyways, I thought.

Ness hooked his arm into my own and held my hand, as if to guide me around the Arabic city we were in.

The first thing I noticed was that everyone wore white and lightly colored clothing, probably to block from the sun easier. Everyone wore some sort of bright sheet on their heads, some people wore see-through sheets over their noses, and some didn't. Ness handed me a wet towel, just in case if I needed it. Like I need to get wet, I thought almost bitterly. But besides that, I was finally content, possibly because now it was just Ness and I, even though I didn't really know what we were doing.

"I was really worried," Ness told me. I frowned.

"You do that too much," I replied. Ness gave me a funny look.

"Would you rather me not worry?" He asked. In all honesty, kinda.

"Just know that I'll be ok, either way," I smiled at him. Ness smiled back, before hugging my arm close to him for a moment. After walking past a couple vendors, and purchasing a few food items, a random thought passed through my head that I couldn't avoid bringing up.

"Did I need CPR?" I asked, hoping for an interesting answer in return, slightly crossing my fingers. Instead, as we passed a small vendor, Ness tried holding in a huge snicker. I raised an eyebrow, munching into my roll again.

"What's so funny?" I chuckled. Ness's hand was over his mouth, cheeks flushed. Awww yeah! Ness so gave me CPR! It was the first thought that ran through my mind happily.

"Yes, you did, but it wasn't me," He replied. All my hopes and dreams. Broken. But then who? Paula I didn't think would be suitable or strong enough physically for giving me CPR, so… Kato? Poo? My heart sank very low at the almost frightening thought.

"Wh-who was it then?" I asked. Ness's laughter increased slightly. This was a serious topic, Ness!

"The Sailor," He replied with a chuckle. I didn't throw up, but I did nearly gag, and snort at the same time, almost wanting to laugh. But really? I guess it made sense…

Wait a second no, I kissed an old man? I had whiskers on my lips? AH!

"He was the one that knew how to do it best out of all of us anyways," Ness told me, as we looked at another vendor. There was a lot of food on display. For pretty decent prices too, I thought to myself. Maybe that's what we were doing, I thought. I rubbed my head.

"Well… you said thank you to him for me, I'm guessing…"

"Obviously." A small smile crept on me. At least he saved me too, I thought.

"So… what's going to happen next?" I asked him. "Do we know where we're going yet, or…?" Ness picked out a couple more good fruit for us to bring along. Apparently we were bringing lots of food!

"We need to get to the pyramids. By foot, they're almost a week away," He told me. A week?

"A week walking through the desert Ness? I don't know if that's…"

"Don't worry Jeff. Remember, I can cure sunstroke easily now, and if we get tired, we'll just take a break. Anyways, I've spoken to the chief here, he knows what we're doing and he's been expecting us. And the path we're taking has a bunch of oasis stops along the way, we'll be fine." Oasis, eh? Well that was something, I thought. But I just knew that my feet were going to kill me…

"We might even ask for rides to some of the stops along the way, we may or may not even have to walk the whole way. It'll be a matter of luck, really," He told me. Hmmm…

The rest of the time was just between us, as we walked through the busy streets, hand in hand. Ness was cute, sometimes he would poke me shyly if our small conversations were muted for too long; or other times he would tease me, whenever I brought up my still kind of hazy feeling I had from being plunged into the ocean. Somehow, all of that was behind us now, and we almost treated it as a joke now. It was kind of strange, almost sudden, I thought to myself. But he was happy and I was happy, and when I saw him smile at me like he did, it always gave me slight butterflies, even if we were closer and aware of our feelings now.

Ness turned to me when we were at one of the last vendors and pointed out the many small gadgets and junk lying about.

"Is there anything her you might need?" He asked. Admittedly, the stand perked my interests, as I bit into the last bit of fruit I had in my hand. Just… a lot of junk, I thought. My eyes trailed to what looked like an unassembled arsenal weapon though, as I picked the gadget up to examine it.

"We found that thing a week ago, left behind by a chubby kid wearing a red suit, we don't know what model it was supposed to be, but if you want it, we can give you a discount," the man running the stand told me.

Ness and I exchanged serious looks to each other. Pokey… we both thought at the same time. So the bastard was ahead of us…

I looked at the small gun. The bastard had guns now, I thought. The look on Ness's face was serious, as he looked away in the distance. I put the broken gun back down. There were a few thoughts in my mind right now.

"Are you sure you don't want anything?" Ness asked me. I frowned.

"This is going to sound bizarre… my head's not probably here when I say this, but I'd kinda feel bad if I replaced my gun with something else… and it's kind of awkward to know that I'm touching something Pokey has in the past…" It almost made me nauseous anymore, which was why I put it down as soon as I could. And even so, I didn't have the heart then to replace the gun I did have, which was really strange, seeing that gun was a gift from my jerk dad, it was strange. Ness's smile faltered slightly.

"I'd also like to see if I can get that damn bazooka fixed again… it worked when I found it, but it totally gave out the second time." I had my hand cupping my chin as I thought to myself, scanning the place.

"I like how you look when you're deep in thought," Ness suddenly spoke. I glanced at him, taking a double shot before rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly. Haha…

"I'm more of an airhead right now than anything," I replied. Ness chuckled.

"You could have had me fooled." I flashed him a small smile. I stretched my arms above my head.

"Well… I guess it's starting to get darker… at least my coordination is better," I told Ness. "Why did I have to get it back by night time?" I asked him. It was a stupid question, even his expression agreed with me.

"Your coordination? What about it?" Ness asked. Oh, erm…

"Well… Kato told me to be back on my feet and normal by night time… I don't really know why by night time, but I guess…"

"I'm guessing he just wants you to be prepared for tomorrow," He replied as we made our way back to the hotel. I grunted.

"That's the only thing I can think of too," I told him. Ness squeezed my hand.

"Everything will be good," he reassured me. I let my eyes examine him real fast. He looked a little tired, but overall, I enjoyed his calm nature that day. I gave him a soft hug before pressing my lips slightly against the side of his head. I think that probably hushed him on the way back.

We walked towards the sun, hand in hand.

xxxxx

I was a little tentative as I let the strands of warm water pour down on my head while I took a shower that evening. The showers in Scaraba were outside, and I could still hear people passing by the nearby streets.

I reeked of salt and musk that day, and I was surprised at how clean the water was there. At least my skin didn't taste that salty anymore, I thought.

The small shack I was in was old and wooden, it looked like it could have fallen apart at any moment. I could hear the small door creak open, in and out, and for some reason, I expected someone to open it. That's why I had a towel around my waist, just in case.

I yawned, reaching the soap behind my ears as I scrubbed, when I felt something other than water tickle my toes. My eyes looked down, and while my feet were blurry, I saw something white by them, that wasn't there before. It looked to be…

I picked it up before it got too wet. It was a small piece of paper. I brought it to my nose, trying to make out the words…

Jeff,

When Ness and Paula fall asleep, I would like you to meet me at the edge of town where the trail to the desert begins. I will explain why by then.

Kato.

…. Poo? Why did he keep calling himself Kato? Oh…

Well come to think of it, as my memory started to recall, he's been calling himself that for a while now. Did I call him Kato too?

I just couldn't seem to remember…

xxxxx

After a pretty decent meal that the hotel offered us because of our luxurious hotel, I worked steadily on my project. Ness sometimes would join me, poking and touching some of my props. I would laugh sometimes at some of the silly ways he looked at them.

"Are these your notes?" Ness asked me casually, holding up a small booklet. Well no… those were my dad's notes, I thought to myself.

"Ah, yeah," I replied. They're a little sloppy to understand though," I told him. He chuckled.

"If they're too sloppy to understand, then how can you understand them?" I scratched my head. How would I describe it without giving dad any cameos?

"Erm… it's just been a while, and it's not that I don't understand them in particular, it's just a little bit more advanced than your everyday newspaper," I replied. Ness finally frowned, before putting the book down.

"I don't read the newspaper though…" I frowned.

"No no, it's nothing like that," I told him. "It's just kind of for geeks like me, see? It's a good thing for you because… you aren't… a geek…" I gave up, sighing. Ness wasn't really sad, I concluded, he instead just kinda flashed me a silly grin.

"You are a geek," He replied. "But that's nothing to beat yourself up for either." Ehehehe…

"Anyways, I just want to make sure you get enough rest for tomorrow… we have a lot of walking ahead of us. Hopefully not too many distractions, but the sun could be worse than the sea," He told me. I shrugged. Couldn't be that bad, right? I didn't feel the heat too much today…

At the same time though, I grew up in a place that only snows, every day, every year… Oh well, I thought.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm heading to bed now," Ness told me, leaning in to give me a small hug. "Night, Jeff."

"Night." I returned, watching Ness crawl back into our small corner of blankets and tattered rags.

I tried to keep quiet then, wondering why Ka-Poo wasn't there. He had been absent from the hotel room since dinner, I thought. I asked Ness and Paula about it before, but they had just told me that he was probably out meditating. It was his thing.

But something else was bothering me… something I wasn't going to find out until later that night.

xxxx

I snuck out, as quietly as I could. All I brought with me was my knife, my gun, and my thin wallet. How I successfully got out was beyond me, but Ness and Paula didn't seem to catch my late expedition.

I looked around me outside. The night air was cool, but it wasn't enough to be cold. There were some people who were still awake at this hour; some people were out, then others who were at home with their lights out. I tried not to make eye contact with anyone for some reason, I was afraid I would run into a random complication if I did.

Outside of the city ranks… the note said. That's where I needed to go. This wasn't going to be good, I thought…

So I eventually did go out there, outside of the bounding brick walls. I looked out into the desert, and the pathway that led out there.

It was vaster than the Dusty Dunes desert, I thought. Nothing but sand and sky for miles and miles. This was a wasteland…

Now to look for him, I thought. And while I thought I was going to take forever to find him, I found him almost instantly. High up, sitting to himself on the brick wall, further down on the other side. Something stirred in my stomach slightly. Why did he want me to come out here?

Why was I stupid enough to actually come out here and find him? I was supposed to be resting for tomorrow, wasn't I?

"Hey…" I spoke, approaching him. However, instead of replying, he just sat there, eyes closed; posture perfectly still. He was probably meditating, like Paula said. I crossed my arms, waiting for him to respond. It was a good two to three minutes til I bugged him again, annoyed.

"Hey!" I yelled louder. This time, without budging any other muscles, his eyes did open slightly. But he didn't look at me; he only looked ahead of him.

"I didn't open my eyes because of you, if that's what you were curious about," He told me finally. "I've learned to block out any unnecessary noises out of my mind when I meditate." I grunted, cutting to the point.

"So… why'd you want me out here?" I asked. Poo's eyes didn't stray from the desert.

"Oh… many reasons," He replied. Many… reasons?

"Like what?" I asked, standing my ground slightly. Finally, his eyes darted down to mine.

"What's on you?" He asked. What?

"Why…"

"Just curious. I wouldn't want you unprepared," He replied. Uhh…

"I have my knife, my gun… my wallet… my glasses… my clothes…" Ok, were those details really necessary?

"Oh good," He said, finally standing up on the wall. He put a hand on his hip and smiled at me.

"Then there's nothing to worry about," He spoke. I blinked at him.

I didn't have enough reaction time of course, with what came next.

He jumped down, knee in the air, as he looked as if he wanted to kick me in the face. I lunged to the side quickly before he landed on the ground gracefully; his foot barely grazing my glasses. Catching them from falling off my nose, I looked at him as he stood up.

"Wait, what are you-" Again, he lunged at me, this time throwing a strong arm towards my neck in hopes to grab me. I dodged by kneeling down quickly and rolling away.

"Hey, hey why are you attacking me? I don't want to fight you! Look, I'm sorry that I dropped in the ocean, I'm sorry you had to go and get me, I'm sorry!" But still, his random swings and kicks kept coming, all in coordination and ease. Coordination… I thought.

"Ka-!" It was lucky that I was a quick dodger, but one of his last kicks swept the top of my head as I tumbled backwards awkwardly.

"Spar me," He finally said, bringing his fists to his face. Sp… Spar?

"Wh-" Again, Po- Kato took a quick step forward with his right leg, as he tried to throw another punch in my direction with his left fist. As I quickly moved my upper body to dodge the attack, my other side was not pleasantly surprised as a swift leg hit me in one of my knee caps. My leg felt a fast jab of pain as I fell to the ground, gasping slightly as I held my knee. That was cheap, I thought…

Still, he kept going, I thought with my mind racing, as he tried to stomp down. I rolled to the side, away from his movement, as I tried to stand up, aware of my now slightly hurting knee. I couldn't run now. He put a hand on his hip.

"You dodge a lot," He told me. I frowned.

"And you like to kick knees a lot," I replied. He chuckled.

"If it's an opportunity, definitely. You wouldn't want to see me fight along with my PSI, would you?" He teased. I growled slightly.

"Why did you just do that?" I demanded. "You could have at least warned me that you wanted to spar…" Now I would have to deal with a hurt knee all this coming week, I thought. He shrugged.

"If I would have told you my intentions, you would have reacted differently, and I wanted to see how you naturally reacted to an assault," He explained, taking a couple steps closer. I backed off slightly.

"Hmmm… I guess you're going to try that trick again right now, aren't you?" I asked.

"Precisely," He replied, as he dashed towards me again. This time, being more prepared, I took that moment to really look at what he was about to do.

Even so, he was pretty damn fast!

I could feel my body lunge towards the left as I saw him make his way toward the right of me, in attempt to kick my legs from behind. Without grace, I tried jumping over his movement, and with barely any success, I did succeed, but soon tumbled onto my back, as I saw Kato come into the kill.

I wasn't sure what I was thinking, when I saw his foot stomp down onto my chest, but rather than rolling to the side, I wanted to test my strength as I grabbed his foot with my hands.

Hah... bad move, I thought.

If there was one thing that I lacked as a human being, it was brute strength. Sure, I had gained a bit of muscle since I started traveling, but what training did I actually have for those travels? My arms could barely keep his weight up, considering that he was probably made of nothing but muscle. But rather than finishing me off and stomping me down with all his might, he did it in a more reasonable motion, as he let his foot stand on my chest once he knew I couldn't keep him off. At least he didn't crush my lungs, I thought. I glared up at him. He smirked back down at me.

"Hmmm, see, this is what I was getting at," He told me, taking his foot off of me. I sat up, rubbing my wrist.

"It's only going to get harder," He told me. "That's why we're going to train this week." I frowned, standing up as I felt my knee again.

"I don't need to train," I replied, instantly feeling stupid as the words left my mouth. Uh… yeah you do, Jeff.

"Oh, you don't need to train. If you don't plan on making it through the desert." I took in a deep breath.

"So what, are you going to train me, or something?" I asked him. He chuckled.

"Yeah, something on the lines of that. How's that knee?" He asked.

"Not very happy," I said. It was then that he patted me on the shoulder, as I felt that healing PSI travel through my body again. I moved my knee.

"Thanks… Poo," I replied, flashing him an awkward glance. Kato's smile paused for a moment. I paused myself.

… What did I just call him?

"… What did you just call me?" He asked in a high monotone voice. Erm… I chuckled nervously.

"I er… Kato, was it? I kinda… the ocean…" My heart sank at the look he was giving me. He really didn't like that name, I thought.

Now I remembered what name he liked going by. But what I've always wondered was, why?

It didn't matter then.

Because he was utterly pissed off looking then. I shivered.

"Don't. For your own good. Call me by that name," He stated, taking a chilling step towards me. I backed up. Oh my god, he was serious…

"Look Po- I mean Kato… let's just…" Kato took a swift movement towards me, and I had barely any time to dodge a nasty fist to the chin, which he did catch, by the way. My jaw felt like rubber, as I continued my clumsy dodge out of his way. But while I was in mid-dodge, he was already in the middle of another tactic that I had no time to respond to whatsoever, and it was in this swift movement that he kicked my feet off the ground. Then a swift slap in the stomach. I felt the air punch out of my stomach, as I fell to the ground again. What kind of training was this?

Even so, he wanted to keep going. I felt my entire body tremble as I looked up at his dark eyes.

"Stop!" I pleaded, feeling my body tremble in fear slightly. Our physical levels were completely opposite, I thought. At this rate, if we had continued, I didn't even want to know…

But then again, he was my ally, right?

"I know you've been itching to call me that for a long time now, haven't you?" He grabbed the collar of my shirt, and with ease, picked me off of the ground.

"It was an accident, I swear!" I stated. Though his last statement… I was curious about. Now I knew. Was this his weakness?

"Kato… why do you hate your name so much?" I asked, shivering as I brought my hands to his in hopes to loosen his grip. I finally got to look pathetically into his discolored eyes again. I could see his left pupil adjust in size as he examined me.

"Is it really any of your concern?" I finally shot him a glare, feeling my infamous stubbornness kick into gear.

"I think it is my concern… you might have been very fast with those assaults, but you were also pretty sloppy at them," I replied. Was that really the case though?

"Don't you lecture me on fighting when you can barely keep my weight off of your own," He replied. Oh, haha…

"Maybe if I knew why you didn't want to be called your real name…" I wasn't sure how I was going to finish that sentence. "I don't understand why you can tell us. After all…" Kato raised an eyebrow at me.

"Aren't you doing the exact thing with your name as I was with that notebook?" Kato's eyes widened. He dropped me, as I made an uncomfortable landing at his feet. I watched him walk away from me, features stressed as he put a hand to his forehead.

"Well… isn't it?" I asked again. Again, he didn't respond. I stood up, dusting myself off before deciding to approach him.

"That seems to be your weakness, your real name," I told him. "And look… I didn't mean to call you by that name… it's just that time when I was thrown in the ocean, my mind got boggled from that-"

"So then where did you learn my name?" He asked sternly, turning around to glare at me. My look to him was slightly casual.

"Well, if you remember right, your king or emperor or whatever addressed you by that name. He called you Prince Poo. And…" My memories drifted back to a slightly distant past, one where it was only Ness and I, back when we were trying to be reunited with Paula.

"Talah Rama... that strange man we met in those monkey caves. He knew all of our names," I told him. Kato's expression changed completely. I wasn't sure whether he was shocked or confused.

"You met Talah Rama?" He finally asked after a moment of pause. I nodded. I watched as his shoulders dropped slightly.

"He's a good friend," He finally said. "To the Kingdom of Dalaam. He's been around since…" All I could do was look at him.

At least it seemed like he finally calmed down a bit.

"And I'm just going to guess that Paula already knew that you had complications with your name, so she never brought it up to you. Ness was either probably told by Paula or he also knew, and he was just too chicken to bring it up, possibly afraid of spoiling a new friendship. Me on the other hand… you knew I would anyways. I'm stubborn and sometimes act like a smart ass." Kato finally sighed.

"You're a dumb smart ass," He corrected. "A physically weak, dumb, smart ass." I chuckled lightly. Yeah, I guess that was true.

"I was curious anyways, and even though, I still swear, that was an accident, I was going to ask you eventually anyways. I never really could trust you until I could know why."

"Well why would you want to know?" He asked me. I shrugged.

"I guess… maybe so I could understand you better, and maybe possibly grow a little closer to you. You know, like friends," I said. That was a strange way of putting that, I thought.

"So let me get this straight. You want me to tell you my secret, so I can be friends with you?" He asked. "What do I get?" I flashed him a slightly nervous look. I didn't really want him to lash out at me like that again.

"So, you hate your real name Poo. I hate my dad," I told him. Kato raised an eyebrow.

"Your dad?"

"My dad abandoned me, and stuck me in a boarding school for almost as long as I can remember," I told him. "And even now, after I've seen his face a couple of times, despite the very few things he's actually done for me, I don't know what to think of him anymore. So I'll just hate him until I know or find a reason not to hate him."

Kato finally did not look like he was in a spar mood anymore. And with the new dose of information I told him, he tried to soak it in. He looked a little perplexed while doing so.

"And I have two confirmed individuals that want to kill me," I added. "And I have no idea why, but I'd like to keep the number down to two please." Kato finally closed his eyes, covering them from mine.

"Alright alright…" He looked at me through his fingers. "You and your mouth. I'll tell you what. The background of my real name. I'll tell you," He said. My jaw dropped slightly. Was that all it took?"

"You will?" I asked. He paced a few steps before finally pausing. He turned to me, crossing his arms.

"Yes, I will. Six days from now," He told me. Oh…

"And not only that…" Kato walked closer to me, in attempt to get a better view of my eyes.

"You have to beat me on that final night," He added. I frowned. Really?

"You won't… use PSI on me, will you?" I asked. Kato snickered evilly.

"If I told you, I'd be spoiling the surprise," He replied. Oh great. I'm so excited.

"Ok. And even if I lose. Why are you doing this?" I finally asked him. Kato turned around, and looked up into the night sky.

"We grow stronger if we work together. So we all need to be strong. Since you don't seem to hold up, either with lack of weapons or just physical strength, I thought it'd be good for you, since I've been training for my entire life. Partly, just for this journey in particular. And also," He smiled.

"I've never really trained with anyone before. It might be fun." I took note of his last statement especially.

"You're a good fighter, I admit it," I told him. "You're pretty strong if you can stop a car in its place," I tried not to snicker, but it sorta came out. "But you're right, it could be fun."

"Plus, you really need it," Kato added. Yeah yeah…

"I'm up to your challenge then," I told him. "Especially if I'm getting something out of it. And believe me; I will beat you on the final day." Kato laughed.

"At least you're competitive. That's something."

Kato, for a moment, looked at me again. Looking back, I wasn't exactly sure what he was thinking, but something occurred to me then that surprised me.

I didn't seem to have any compulsive reactions when I looked at him then. He looked almost serious, but he was calm at the same time.

"Let's go back. We have a long journey ahead of us." I could only grunt.

xxxxx

Day one.

The feeling of his fist meeting my jaw was still present as we moved out into the desert finally. It wasn't long before we couldn't see the city anymore, and all that was left before us was a sea of sand. It was as if the ocean was replaced with it overnight. And now I was starting to understand Ness's point.

We had a lot of sun block and white sheets on us luckily, but even then, it didn't help any of us from getting burned in the process. My glasses were starting to burn my skin as well, it wasn't fun.

The depressing thing about it was; none of us said a thing to each other. We weren't sure what we were to expect, well except, it was just as I expected. Nothing.

And at the end of the first day, we already had it. I was already missing the ocean, ironically…

… ok, I take that back.

Our first night was to ourselves, under a few palm trees and a small oasis, one of the first stops along the path to the pyramids. All of us were quiet, as we ate our dinner. We weren't mad at each other; we were just already exhausted from the day. And dehydrated.

I cringed though, remembering what Kato told me last night. And as soon as Ness and Paula were to fall asleep, he would make me join him, in another night full of spar and foul play.

But before that time, after I washed up, I took the time to glance through my father's notes again. They were really kind of boring, I thought, and I was starting to doubt them. I was slightly startled by the feeling of Ness's sleepy head plopping against my shoulder as his mind lulled to sleep. I sighed, helping him lay back down onto the blankets softly for him. He's been slightly clingy lately, I thought. But then I figured; he was just making sure that I was ok. I looked down from Paula's passive face, to his, as he looked as peaceful as always, sprawled on his back.

Alright, I thought. It was time again. I looked out to the near desert, where Kato was sitting to himself, at the edge of the small body of water. I got up to meet him there.

"Ready?" He asked me. I nodded, feeling a small lump of fear deep in my chest. We had moved out into the distance, far enough to where they couldn't hear us, but not far enough to where they weren't out of our sights. And when we finally started our practice spar, it played out exactly like I thought it would.

I fell a lot, trying the same methods as the previous night. Kato, after finding a way to throw me on the ground for the fifth time, stopped me, and showed me a couple techniques.

"Aikido," He said. Aikido?

"Elaborate for me," I replied. Kato sighed.

"Punch me," He said.

"Punch you?"

"Punch me." Ok, I thought. So I punched him. Oh wait, no I didn't.

As I watched my failed punch pass Kato's dodge, Kato grabbed my arm around my elbow area, and somehow managed to twist my body around his, throwing me off balance, and pretty damn far, probably because of his PSI.

I tumbled in the dirt, feeling my glasses fly right off of my face. I tasted sand as it filled my gums. Gross.

Kato slapped his hands together as he made his way back over to me.

"Using an enemy's flow is very good for self defense. If you can redirect their blows away from you, you won't have to dodge their attacks as much," He said. "Here, try with me." I got up, dusting myself off as I was handed my glasses. Pausing after my eyesight returned to me, I wasn't sure exactly what I was supposed to do.

"Just try doing what I did," He said, showing me another demonstration, slowly, using my body as an example of the technique.

"Alright…" I said. Kato, finally threw a punch; not as fast as he normally would. He was going easy on me, the bastard! But even so, learning like a copy cat, I tried exactly what he easily had done with me…

I completed at least a third of the movement, pausing as I tried swinging his body around me. The thing was, his body didn't budge at all, and it was all the more awkward as he looked at me, almost pathetically as I struggled to overthrow his weight. I gritted my teeth. He soon shot in another one, feeling myself fumble; I tried the same kind of thing, but with little success. Kato sighed at my utter failure.

"Alright, I guess it would help if you had a little more upper strength," he told me. I frowned.

So the rest of the night was spent just building muscle. At the end of the session, my legs couldn't even support themselves anymore as we walked back to camp.

"I suggest drinking that protein shake, you'll need it," he told me. "See you in the morning," he whispered to me before lying down. I plopped down, utterly exhausted. The worst thing was, for some reason, I couldn't sleep.

So for the remainder of the night, I worked on trying to find a solution to that damn bazooka. I ended up with about four hours of sleep.

Day two.

Today was hotter than before, of course. The journey was always going to get hotter and hotter. Why we didn't travel during the night was beyond me, I thought bitterly to myself.

There was one point of a small ambush with strange desert inhabitants, though they were pretty easily defeated. Paula had a minor burn from another small UFO, something I hadn't seen since the other desert. I wondered why I had suddenly grown used to these, wouldn't I, or shouldn't I be afraid of these types of things too?

Maybe we were just getting stronger.

There were times when we thought Mr. Ziggy was either dead or just bluntly exhausted, even if he didn't walk at all. He wouldn't sneeze or anything. Paula sacrificed her wet towel to comfort him, and to tease all of us, Paula put a small dose of PSI Freeze on herself, enough to cool herself down.

"Hey, that's not a bad idea," Kato replied, doing the same thing onto himself. Ness and I gawked at the two of them.

"H-hey, that's not fair!" Ness protested. Paula looked willing to share some of her powers, but Kato was another story.

"Hey Jeff, need to cool down your muscles a bit?" He asked me. I wasn't sure whether to respond or just ignore him.

"Well…" He extended a hand out to help out, but instead applied it right back onto himself. He shrugged, teasing me.

"Hand slipped," He responded. I raised an eyebrow. It was too hot for me to get mad, I instantly thought.

"For someone who hates their own real name, you really like to put your hands all over yourself," I responded simply.

Let's just say that he did not like that.

"Why you little-"

"What's wrong, Pookey, did the PSI burn you the wrong way?" I asked tauntingly, dodging a small assault of his. Paula responded to this quickly.

"Hey! Knock it off, both of you!" Paula instantly demanded. Ness kinda just stood there, and let Paula take charge.

"He started it," We both countered. Paula curled her hands into fists as she bit her lip as we bickered still.

Woooosh!

We were blasted with a freezing wind. The both of us stood stock still, staring back at her in awe. When was the last time I saw her like this…?

"If you two don't knock it off, we'll never get through this desert. Don't make me demand you two to hug and make up," She said. Oh god, not this…

"What kind of hug, sentimental or strangling?" Kato asked. I darted him a negative glare.

"Don't push the subject," I instantly muttered. "She'll make us embrace. Like lovers."

I quietly smiled at my own victory, as that last remark shut him up completely, for the rest of the day.

So, I stood by Ness the rest of the way, whom was a little quiet, but I assured him that things would be ok. Ness flashed me an awkward smile.

That night, when Ness and Paula rested, Kato and I had our toughest quarrels yet. Towards the end, I secretly called it a draw. Because things kind of got ugly between us.

Let's just say that, we continued our bickering from before, except more physically, and it seemed as if we were really determined to see each other fall.

I felt as if my bones were going to break. Surprisingly, Kato kind of looked a little tuckered out himself and there was a point in time where we just stood our distance from each other, panted and exhausted.

We stared at each other for the longest time. I was trying to figure out, just exactly was his weakness in fighting?

"I thought so," I heard a familiar voice say. The both of us looked over.

Ness, dressed in his pajamas crossed his arms and tapped his barefoot against the sand.

"What is this?" He demanded angrily at the both of us. I mentally punched myself. Now the boy I had spent so much effort into gaining respect from is now mad at me again. Son of a… To my surprise however, Kato immediately covered.

"We're training," Kato smiled contently to him. "Would you like to train with us?" He asked. Ness glanced between us, giving me a strange look I couldn't really comprehend.

"Well I do kind of feel sad that I haven't joined in the fun, but…" Ness yawned. "I'm really tired. Just don't fight… alright?" He asked, slight insecurity in his voice. So much for a leader, I thought. He needed more assertiveness…

I sounded like Kato there.

"Ness…"

"I understand. Besides, it's Jeff who really needs this," He said. I shot him a fuming glare.

"Hey, I'm not that useless!" I spoke irately. Ness sighed.

"Whatever you two. Just don't be too loud; Paula and I are trying to sleep. And don't get too wiped out, we still have a long ways to go," He said before making his way back to camp. I looked back at him as we walked away, shoulders slouched slightly.

I felt slight shame for some reason. And it was then that Kato caught me completely off guard.

He had somehow swung my body into the air, and with a thud, I landed on my back. Oh my god; did that hurt, I instantly thought, hissing as I could only just stare up at the sky, glasses somehow still plastered on my face. I saw Kato's form over my body.

"I win," he simply stated. I beat myself up mentally. Damn you Ness, you pretty distraction…

"Alright, let's finish the night off with some more body building," he told me. I groaned. It wasn't over?

By the time we made it back to camp, when everyone else was asleep, I was literally shaking, as I tried fumbling with my devices. And my father's notes.

I will get this damn thing fixed one way or the other, I thought to myself bitterly. Even if it meant deciphering his scientific language, and killing myself over it…

Day three.

The third day wasn't any better either. The days seemed as if they were replaying themselves. Mr. Ziggy kept having sunstroke issues, Kato and I still bickered from time to time. Then there were other times when we were just laughing and joking amongst all of ourselves. I was happier to see that Ness was in a better mood…

…until Paula suddenly collapsed in front of us.

"Paula!" Ness exclaimed, rushing to her side as we followed. The three of us hovered above her, Ness holding her in his lap as she slightly opened her eyes weakly. She grumbled.

"It's… so hot…" she mumbled. "I'm sorry…. I'll get up soon." Ness touched his forehead to hers as he seemed to use a healing spell on her. While it seemed to help, she still looked completely weak.

"Nah, I'll carry you the rest of the way Paula," Ness assured to her, as they got up. Ness wrapped her up in a white blanket, as he put her on his back.

"Thank you…" She muttered. I offered to carry Paula's bag as well as Ness's back pack.

It got to the point where, eventually, even when we did see a small village ahead that Paula was too much weight for Ness to carry in this heat. So Kato walked over to him.

"I'll carry her for the rest of the way," Kato offered. Ness looked at him, eyes starting to droop slightly.

"Oh-okay," He replied, handing her to him as she settled on his back. Ness touched his forehead with his hand, as he must have refreshed himself somehow. I wish I had PSI damn it…

But to my surprise, Ness's hand took me by surprise as he placed it on my forehead. And my sudden sunstroke was cured as well. I looked at him, as he smiled back sweetly.

"Thanks…"

When we made it into the village that night, they were nice enough to welcome us in. They had everything we needed, food, supplies, water, shelter… thank goodness, I thought to myself. We had decided to spend the remainder of the day then and spend the night.

Of course, I knew what was going to happen that night. I always cringed at the thought of it.

Training was as vigorous as usual, this time we focused mainly on agility. I admitted though, I had a feeling that my strength was starting to improve…

… Or not, as I felt myself tumble at his feet again after he managed to grab me by the ankle and swing me upside down. I could feel my ankle snap as a slight whiplash affected my neck. I shivered when I was at his feet. The fucker was damned to kill me one of these days, I angrily thought. At least there was less talk this time and more fight.

When we got back to the small shed that the village offered us, Ness was still half awake, tending to Paula's previous burn from the previous day, and make sure that she was in good enough condition to travel tomorrow. Our small shack was lit by candle light.

"The village offered us a ride to the next stop," Ness told us. Kato grunted, sitting down in his corner of the small wooden room.

"Good. We don't want anyone else getting weak from the sun," He said. I frowned, feeling myself sink with ease onto my own pile of blankets.

"Why don't we travel during the night anyways?" I asked suddenly. "I mean, wouldn't it make sense?" Ness shrugged.

"Something to do with how this area operates, I guess. At least we leave before sunrise, when the air is the coolest," He spoke. I guess that was true…

"Well, no time to waste, let's rest for tomorrow," Kato spoke, lying down on the sheets.

"Alright. Night you guys," Ness spoke as he curled up next to Paula.

And of course I stayed awake again all until I felt my eyes give way.

Day four.

This was probably our luckiest day of our travels, I thought to myself. There was no walking that day, as we all rode in the back of a carriage truck as we made our way closer to the pyramids. Paula still was tired, as she was curled up next to Ness. Kato laid his back against the truck boundary across from them as I sorta sat in the middle of them, my back against the back of the front portion of the truck. There was a nice shade above our heads, so no sun stroke today! I spent the majority of the ride looking through my father's notes.

"What's that?" Kato asked curiously. Don't think this is another diary, I thought.

"Some notes my father left behind for me," I asked. "He either left them on purpose or he accidentally left them. I'd like to think he left them on purpose though…"

"What are they about?" Uhh…

"Just… science," I replied. "Just some personal science notes that he's written, I'm guessing when he was building the sky runner."

"The same sky runner we crashed?" Ness asked. Thanks for reminding me.

"Yeah," I said.

"I'm sure he could build another one. Is that what you want to do?"

"Oh no, not really. He has notes for other things too… other generic things. I'm just trying to find out if there's anything that's of use…" The thing was there had to have been. If he was known for inventing revolutionary things with just scraps of metal… there had to be something in here revealing how he did those things.

It really wasn't a matter of how to construct the bazooka now, but rather, how to get it to work again. If only I knew how and what it ran off of…

The answer had to have been in these notes somewhere…

"Well, if there's anyone that can figure them out, it's you," Ness smiled. I paused, eventually smiling back, rubbing the back of my neck. Awww…

"Thanks Ness… I just hope you're right."

That night was spent again in the next small fort, or village. If we had walked there by foot, it might have taken us more than a day. Just how far were these pyramids anyways?

When late night hit, and we were all resting again, I went outside of our small room to track down Kato again. And expecting him to be in some sort of open space, I didn't expect him to be sitting right on top of our roof.

"Up here," Kato spoke. I grunted, climbing up with him.

"Tonight's training will be different," He told me. "Meditating can really help your focus a lot," He told me. Meditating… the last time I somewhat did that was with…

I grunted. Kato crossed his legs as he closed his eyes.

"Try just focusing on breathing," He said. "The rest will soon follow." O…kay.

Meditating with Kato for me at least… wasn't quite what I expected. I wasn't really the meditating type, I thought. It was hard for me to forget everything I had been going though. It only seemed to work when I was with Ness that one time, I thought. When it was just the two of us…

I blushed slightly.

"You aren't there yet, are you?" He asked. I flashed him an awkward side glance.

"Not really… it's kinda hard for me," I told him. He breathed out.

"Alright then. I guess it's not that important," He said. "But just try to clear your mind tonight; it'll do you some good. Do whatever helps you in doing that. For me, it's meditating," He told me. Well ok, I thought. If you put it in that case…

I lied on my back as I let my eyes wander into the sky as Kato did what he did. And tried my best to forget a lot of things.

I had little success as we decided to go back inside. Then when I focused on the bazooka again, that was when it actually worked.

Day five.

Back into the scorching desert, I thought. Back to sunstrokes, back to…

The bazooka was finally outweighing my back, as I felt my knees go weak. I was about to take a nasty tumble to the ground, Kato broke my fall before he touched my forehead and healed me. I looked up to him weakly. Kato was, since the third day, starting to respect me more, I thought.

"Thanks," I told him, adjusting my things on my back before we continued.

The whole way through, all I thought about was how to defeat Kato in tomorrow's training session. It was hard to believe we were already coming up to the sixth day, and soon the pyramids.

The nice thing was that, I think I finally understood what our eyes could do. Ness could see the bad or evil things in people. Paula could see the good. I could see the weaknesses. And Kato could see their strengths. So in order for me to defeat Kato, I thought, I had to find his weakness, right?

At the same time, he sought out my strengths, and defeated me that way. What were my strengths? My ability to find weaknesses? Well that was the problem… I wasn't quite sure what his was yet.

It was almost like thinking in reverse, and it confused me quite a bit. What if I tried observing him like he observed me? What if there was a flaw in his methods that I was overlooking?

What if I mirrored his methods, and found a weakness through that? It might have been stupid enough to work, I thought. Though I wasn't sure how…

My brain hurt just by thinking about it.

We settled for the night by the smallest oasis yet. All there really was were a couple of trees, some bushes and barely a puddle of water. How this puddle didn't dry out, was beyond me. We were just lucky it existed in the first place.

And when Kato and I spared for the fifth time…

"You only have this last night to figure out your methods of defeating me for tomorrow. If you want your answers that is," Kato responded. I frowned.

"Oh, I'll figure you out alright," I replied. Kato smiled at me, and then the spar started.

The way he fought was swift. Whatever I did, he would find a way around it, whether it was catching me off guard or finding the opportunity to grab me and throw me off guard. It mostly worked. Most of the time.

It was really hard to tell what to do. If I couldn't dodge him anymore, how was I supposed to attack him…?

…Unless…

I was at least able to dodge with much more grace whenever he tried to go in for the kill. Though when he tried to redirect my attacks…

I threw a punch, or so, that's what I made him believe. And as I tried missing his grip onto my wrist, I made myself flip myself around, almost like I was doing a cart wheel. It probably wasn't a good idea, but when I tried to kick up dirt into his eyes, he became distracted.

But not distracted enough as he grabbed my ankles and flipped me on my back again. He slapped his hands together in ease, as he tried to wipe sand out of his eyes. The chilling realization hit me then.

He still hasn't even used his PSI, I thought. Kato smiled.

"Nice try," He told me. "But it's going to take more than just a few tricks up your sleeve to confuse me." I chuckled negatively.

"Well, it's late. Let's call it a night."

It was when I was back on my bazooka that my mind went slightly berserk. What was going to work against him?

Day six.

We had it.

All of us.

"When will we get there…" Ness spoke with the little strength he had. "This is torture…"

When we had first started our journey again that early morning, we were still considered to be in the middle of nowhere. And by mid day, apparently I had started to spot mirages.

"Hey… isn't that them?" I asked pointing towards the distance. "The pyramids…" The rest of them were silent, all before Kato slapped my forehead lightly and healed my apparent sunstroke.

The pyramids disappeared. Oh…

The bazooka was starting to burn my back, I thought, even if it was being covered by a light colored sheet, it still burned to some degree.

Paula ended up leaning on Ness a lot of the rest of the way since then. I looked up, looked up at the evil sun above us. Taunting us with its everlasting warmth. I could feel my pupils go ablaze as I looked away. Ouch.

It wasn't until we reached our last oasis that we started to see signs of our destination.

A sign, etched in stone, in hieroglyphs. And a few more down the line. And when you tried to see, and I meant, really see… you could see them.

It took a few hours for us to actually tell that they were really out there though, enough to wipe the heat out of our systems.

After I changed into some lighter, dryer clothes, I splashed my face with water as I sat next to the oasis spring, letting my hands slide slowly down my face, which in fact, felt like it was going to melt right off. At least we were starting to see signs of sun set now, and it was then that I could see the pyramid's form much clearer, even if it was hidden behind a thick heat wave.

Ness had somehow snuck besides me, placing his hat onto my head. I touched the rim of his hat before glancing over him as he splashed his face with water. He let out a big sigh.

"Well… at least we've semi-made it. It's only a few miles away now," Ness spoke.

"You sound exhausted," I told him. He brought his knees up to his chest, as he rolled up his jeans.

"You too," He said. "I'm pretty sure everyone is about to implode from this heat," He said, looking at me again. "At least you got a nice tan!" He joked. Hahaha.

"I was probably as white as snow before, I know," I replied. Ness rested his chin on his knees, as he looked ahead.

"What do you think will happen?" He asked.

"Hmm?"

"In the pyramid… what do you think will happen? Where will we end up after it? I don't… it could be the heat, but I don't sense any of my sanctuaries around here at all," He told me. Oh…

"This is where Paula suggests we head, right?" I asked. Ness grunted.

"I'm sure this is where we should go, but I'm not sure why yet. Maybe it's because it leads somewhere. Maybe it goes to an area that hasn't really been explored yet. Let alone, but children," He added.

"Well… you never know," I told him. "Maybe it holds a secret, something we have yet to find out. I guess we will tomorrow," I told him. Ness hummed.

"I'm just trying to think back at what Kato told us back in Summers," He said. "Remember when we went to the museum? He said that the pyramid was the key and we'd find the hawk eye. Whatever that is," He spoke. Hmm… A fifth eye, I thought. I wonder what it would do.

"Then it must be important it he claims it's a key," I told him. "At least we're getting somewhere. And at least he's able to somehow ready hieroglyphs." Why was that, I thought?

"Yeah… guess you're right," Ness replied stretching out. "I'm starving. Apparently Paula's cooking something for us with that frying pan she's barely touched!" I chuckled.

"She's cooking?"

"Along with Kato apparently," He replied. "I'm gonna go bug them," He said before getting up.

"Hey Ness." Ness turned around, raising an eyebrow at me. The way he looked at me was slightly awkward, as if there was something else on his mind too. I flashed him a lazy smile.

"Like I said, everything will be alright." Ness could only smile with one corner of his eye before looking slightly flustered before we went back to Paula and Kato. I sighed then, turning back to the water as I watched my reflection. I saw what looked to be a hawk, flying above me.

Tonight was the night, I thought. I had to know more about him, and the only way I could was to defeat him. It made me nervous, I wondered if I could even do it. Soon, thoughts also trailed to Pokey, and the fact that we were barely tailing him.

"I can't believe he's ahead of us still," I thought out loud bitterly. But we all thought that. What was the bastard up to this time? I let my thoughts trail to possibilities beyond this night. What kinds of new and old challenges were we going to face? It almost made my stomach turn, thinking back on what has happened to us so far.

Then I thought back to Kato, and how I was going to beat him. I was going to beat him, I thought. There was no way I could let him win. But how…

If he was going to use PSI, it was all over, I thought. How would I top that? With my zap gun that dad had made for me? With my knife? With my broken bazooka?

Wait… the broken bazooka, I thought. Strange thoughts popped into my mind once I glanced at the thing. The thing was just a huge hunk of metal and mechanics, I thought. He had PSI, skill and strength, while I had a big hunk of metal, barely enough arsenals and my mind. When the math built up in my head, it was useless. He still outnumbered me.

It would be kinda cruel if I used my knife against him, I thought. That's just mean… Then yet… if he were to use PSI… that was cruel as well.

No, I thought. If he was going to play unfair, I had to play unfair back. To him, it must have been easy, he's so strong, trained all of his life and he could use PSI. And as long as he knew how I fought, he was going to beat me. No… I had to change my way of thinking. If our eyes clashed, it would be harder for him to read me, but now that he's used to my fighting style, I had to change it up. I had to trick him somehow…

That was my specialty, I thought. And I had to use it.

xxxx

With what decent amount of food we still had, Paula and Poo actually cooked something that was tasty. And after our meal, it was just a matter of waiting. Waiting for the final spar. I had to plan out my strategy then and there. I could tell for some reason, how curious Kato was then. It was slightly nerve racking, looking over only to find him looking back, just as curiously. I slapped myself mentally. Urgh…

And as the sun fell, my anxiety only rose, as I finally started to gather what I needed. Then sooner or later, it was finally time.

I bit my lip as I went out to the desert, to find Kato waiting for me. Kato looked at me, more like stared at me, eyes not straying as he crossed his arms. Was he uncomfortable too?

"Well…" Kato spoke. He was nervous… maybe it was because of the possibility of me actually beating him. And what he promised six days prior. He seemed to examine me, because of my slightly different appearance.

There was one change that only mattered, just one important change, as I adjusted the strap of the bazooka on my back. I let my gaze try to pierce through his.

Our eyes clashed. We were a blaze as Kato made the first move.

And just as I expected, his PSI was going to aid him this time.

Somehow, with his teleporting abilities, he dashed right behind me swiftly, I had to take a double take before he tried to grab me by my right shoulder. I countered by lowering my upper body, as his elbow clashed against hard metal on my back. I swung my knife at him, not trying to aim to cut him, but he withdrew himself, taking a gigantic leap backwards. We stood our ground again. This wasn't going to be easy, I thought.

Next, he teleported again, but it took me a little bit before I realized where.

A flash of blue light above me, I thought. My eyes widened as I realized he was above me, launching an attack towards me as I jumped to the side. My right foot felt cold, I bitterly thought, but I brushed the thought aside. It wasn't much longer when he was in my face again, and I had to use what I learned from him, to catch him off balance. But this time, even though my strength wasn't as strong as his, I used an extra method, as I caught his wrist. When he went to grab with his other arm, I was able to swing my bazooka around my body, enough for his grip to loosen off of me, and soon we were both holding the hunk of metal. I swung the bazooka in a circular fashion, in hopes to swing him around with it. It worked, slightly, but he soon gained his control again, as he used another PSI attack, as I felt my right arm freeze up. I winced. It wasn't as bad as it should have been…

…but it was, I thought to myself, happily. I yelped, as I dropped to the ground in defeat.

"Argh!" I growled to myself, grasping my arm in pain. It hurt so bad, I kept telling myself, enough for the message to show onto my features. Kato finally stopped, as he realized that I was down, quickly teleporting to my side. I weakly looked up to him, as I shook my sore frozen arm in hopes to heat it up. I exhaled. He approached me, muttering to himself moreso.

"I win," he stated.

"You win…" I said, letting my eyebrows fill with sorrow and hopelessness. "My arm is frozen, I can't move it…" Kato looked tentative. Then he smirked.

"It'll take time for you to reach my level," He told me. "But it looks like you lost the bet." I was taken aback, or so it appeared, as Kato extended an arm out to help me up.

"Here," He spoke. "Let's finish up tonight with some more body building." I looked up to him. His eyes were calm, relieved, as he looked at my weak state.

Bingo.

The level of surprise was astounding to me, as I accepted his hand with all of my might, in an attempt to swing his entire body to my level. I used my left leg to kick back one of his knees, locking them from escape, as he took a nasty tumble onto the ground behind me. And before he had time to react, I flipped over and on top of him, legs around his torso, left hand pinning him down by holding my knife to his neck.

The other arm, holding a heavy, broken bazooka over my shoulder, aimed right towards his face. We paused, my vicious glare meeting his as I panted, heart racing as the two of us looked at each other.

It was the longest pause we had ever had. And it took me forever to finally see the bastard flash me a crooked grin, a flash of defeat gleaming off of his features.

"My bad," He replied. "Looks like you win this time." Even so, I held my guard up, expecting him to have one more trick up his sleeve.

But when my mind registered that it was finally over, I dropped the bazooka, feeling my jello-like legs lift me up off of him again. Kato soon followed, all the while holding out a hand.

"That was impressive," Kato said. "Should have known you would have played a dirty trick like that if you knew I was going to use PSI," He said. I looked at his hand before finally accepting it. I looked bashful, I was certain.

"Ahaha… I wasn't sure of any other way-" Kato managed to twirl my arm around, as my body flung back down to the dirt, back landing down as I looked up to him. Kato laughed at my sudden surprise. I shook slightly.

"Oh no, don't tell me…" I spoke again mentally slapping myself.

"Nah… you still win. That was just my way of communicating my gratitude," he said smiling. Right… I hissed, standing up. That was mean, I thought…

"Well…" He started. "I guess I should keep my promise." I looked at him.

The way he said it. He didn't sound ashamed, but rather accepted the fact that he had to then. It was in this sense of him accepting this that I almost kind of respected him at that moment. Though I didn't know what to tell him in that moment. We both sat near the oasis, but slightly apart from Ness and Paula so they could still sleep.

"So… your name," I asked. Kato closed his eyes, breathing in.

"Poo…" He didn't seem happy with the name escaping his lips. "Was the name of a warrior."

"Ok…"

"A great, and terrible warrior," He continued. "He…" I examined him, as he seemed to struggle with the topic as we sat across from each other on the dirt.

"He murdered hundreds and hundreds of innocent people," He continued. I let the last statement settle into my skin slightly.

"You…?" Kato sighed, letting his hands cup his chin.

"No… I didn't murder those people," He simply put it. "But the one I'm royally named after did," He looked over to me. "It's said in my ancient lineage that anyone given this name will do something great." I paused. "Something so great… it could change society or the world forever."

Oh… I get it, I finally thought. He's too stressed to have this name. So he named himself something else… to escape that?

"Until one is dubbed into the royalty line in my kingdom, we don't know our royal names. I… I wasn't supposed to be prince originally," He continued. "My brother was supposed to be prince and future king, not me. But then…" Kato's voice shook out of anger. I felt slightly timid from this.

"He was killed," He continued. "Lado… the brother I always looked up to. He was killed. By a metallic man…"

My heart stopped completely as my eyes slowly widened at his last statement.

No… no, it couldn't be… I could only imagine what was going through his mind right then. Those horrific memories… the pain of losing the one you loved so much being ripped away from your very eyes.

"I was too late," He continued. "The metallic man escaped. And all there was left was my dying brother…"

A tear escaped from Kato's eye.

"K… Kato…" My voice shook.

"He may or may not have had the same name if he went on or not, but either way…" He took in a deep, slow breath. "Because of that horrific incident, I was immediately put into his spot, and immediately, I had to start training. It was a hard and vigorous road, you know? The Star Master… one of our oldest men, was the one that taught me how to channel the earth's PSI. And it was at the beginning of that road that I was dubbed the royal name Prince Poo…"

"May I… ask one question?" I asked him timidly. Kato looked over to me, his eyes tired and weak. I swallowed.

"I… I was wondering. Is Kato your…"

"That was my birth name yes. Kato. It was always Kato. Kato and Lado. I was always happy when I was with my brother you know?" He continued. Images of my mom flashed to me.

"Lado… he was the greatest fighter of his- our time. Strong, noble, and a pure heart. We would spend our evenings together, after he was done with whatever work he had to do beforehand. He taught me meditation, and he taught me the stars, and the world. And he taught me how a true warrior should behave. He was my brother… and my best friend."

I could only be silent. That was all I could do then.

"Jeff…" He continued. "I… I wanted to teach you how to fight like my brother taught me. Not how my Star Master, or anyone else taught me. Everything I taught you, I learned from him."

"Thank you…" I told him. "I understand now why… why you hate that name," I continued. Because of a similar incident I had. Kato seemed to be ears then, as he looked at me as in to continue.

"My mother. She was killed by something of your description. Back when I was too young to do a thing…" Kato could only watch as my own anger started to spill out.

"Like you… I loved her. I looked up to her. Learned from her. Held her… she was my best friend too.."

"I'm sorry…" Kato responded truthfully.

"But…" I bottled it up again slightly, taking in a deep breath. "Don't… don't hate me for saying this. But I think, the way you handled your name around us before… it was like running away from your problems and shutting them aside. But see… you taught me how to deal with some of those problems these past few nights," I continued. "I've always been physically weak… and well, even though I'll never be as strong as let's say you, I think you've helped me build at least some confidence and strength. Now I feel like I can conquer the world, even if just this night." Kato didn't seem to want to lash out at me, thank goodness, but the look he gave me was as cold as ice.

"No. You're right, Jeff. But then again…" Kato paused, looking like he was in serious thought.

"That thing. The metallic man, I mean. Now that we both know that he wasn't just a coincidence, and that we're positive that both of our stories share a link and we're here right now, we now know for sure that eventually, we'll be facing him, or them again," He finally said. My heart sank at that final statement.

So it finally came down to it, I thought. It was set in stone. That strange figure is inevitably a part of what's going on right now. I could feel my anger and fear seep out of me by then.

"And like you said, we can't bottle that up anymore now, knowing that we will see them again sometime soon."

I could barely hear him then. All I could think of right then was my past with my mother, my father, and the metallic man.

With that thought in my mind, I couldn't get any real rest that night. But it was, at the same time. Knowing in comfort that, I wasn't the only one.

I cried to myself slightly, before my tears lulled me to the shortest sleep I would have ever gotten that journey.

xxxx

It took us a good hour or so before we finally reached the pyramid. All of us were exhausted by then, as we looked up at the big, triangular structure in the middle of the desert. Both Kato and I felt the same then. We were both tired, stressed and at the same time, wiser than we were before. But terrified.

I had told him the previous night, out of respect, that I would continue to call him Kato. He seemed happy about that. That was his real name after all, I thought, right? I couldn't forget the look of relief he had when I had told him that.

I think overall, he thanked me for defeating him.

And as Kato and Ness figured out the puzzle to enter the pyramids, all of us held hands as we entered with bravery.

… Only to find the place to be completely deserted and trashed. Our eyes widened, as we walked through the pyramid's caverns.

"Wh-what happened here?" Ness asked, as we walked through winding stair cases, Paula using her PSI fire to light the way.

"Pokey…" I spoke, as we entered another room. Yes, I thought. Pokey's definitely been here. I could smell his stench everywhere…

"No way…" Everything that could have been here for us, wasn't, as someone had come through here before, and cleared everything out. All of its challenges. All of its messages… everything.

"Pokey's trying to stop us," Kato said, as we made it into a room with a casket, moved over, as it revealed a hole. "He's been trying to stop us from knowing what the pyramid is trying to tell us." Ness's growl was furious. We all looked down the pit.

"This is the only way now," Kato explained. As we stood around that hole however, we felt some sort of energy. A presence.

"Something is definitely here though…" Kato explained. "I think Pokey's lead ended here, there's some force here, but it seems to be luring us in."

"Is it safe?" Ness asked. Paula looked like she was in deep thought for a moment.

"No, we have to go down, I know it," she explained. And that was that, I thought. All of us looked at each other before we descended down the hole.

When we got down there however, the whole room was still intact. Hieroglyphs covered the walls, as there was a stand before us. The stand looked to be holding a treasure. The treasure looked to be in the shape of an eye, made of gold and brass. Kato looked around us, as I did as well.

Each wall had a pair of eyes. All of them looking down upon us.

"So it's true," Kato spoke. All of us turned to him as he turned to us.

"This room was built, just for this moment that we are in right now. This room explains our purpose, and everything we have to keep true with in order to prevail."

I let my eyes wander the walls again.

A pair to seek out dark sins and thoughts.

A pair to seek the good.

A pair that spotted every weakness.

A pair that sought their strengths.

And the eye in the center that would aid us though our journey.

The hawk's eye.