Despite jolting awake from the noise, I remain frozen. I search the murky outlines within Ness's room for a sign of danger. And after finding no malice in the shadows, I glance over at Ness to see him sitting up straight, panting. He shakes his head and hops out of bed, heading for the hallway. His footsteps are quiet, but there's no fear in the way he regards the door.
Not danger, then, but a nightmare.
After Ness walks out into the hallway, I consider what to do. Glancing at the ground reveals that Jeff is still snoozing away. Really wasn't kidding about sleeping like a rock, huh.
I hear the toilet flushing and the faucet running from the nearby bathroom, which dispels the more colorful anxieties about how Ness is handling the panic. Soon after the door opens and Ness slides in. When he sees me, his body stiffens.
"Shit," he says. "Did I wake you up?"
I open my mouth to deny it before realizing how transparent of a lie that is. There aren't many other explanations for waking up in the middle of the night after someone jolts awake screaming.
"Sorry, Paula." Ness shakes his head. "Shit."
"It's…" all right? I can't say that for him. "I'm fine. I was worried about you."
Ness settles back into bed, and even though I'm on the opposite side I can feel the mattress slope towards him as it sinks from his weight. I had forgotten how much I had missed feeling his presence as I fall asleep.
"I'm all right," Ness says. "It's just a nightmare."
"I may not have Jeff's big brain," I say, "But I did figure that part out."
After the words come out I worry that I'm making things worse, but when I study Ness in the hazy darkness I see him smiling in response.
"Guess I wasn't exactly hiding it." Ness flops onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. "I thought I had it under control. But of course the nightmares show up when I'm with other people who need their rest." He pauses, then glances over at Jeff. "Well, I'm glad one of you is sleeping through it."
The nightmares are regular? I don't remember Ness having them on our journey together. Ness studies me, and even through the dark I can tell that my expression hides no secrets from him.
"I know," Ness says, "I didn't exactly have 'be more of a crybaby at age 17 than 12 on my bingo card either.'"
"That wasn't what I was thinking."
"Right, I shouldn't put words in your mouth," Ness says. "It's hard enough answering to myself for only getting weaker over the past five years. I don't need to pretend like you're putting pressure on me too."
"Having nightmares doesn't make you weak," I say. After a pause, "Do you want to talk about them?"
"Not really."
Silence lingers between us. Eventually, Ness lets out a sigh.
"Thanks for the offer, Paula. Really, I do appreciate it. But this isn't your problem, and even if it were then we should focus on getting sleep instead of having me whine and whimper about how scared I am."
It's not my place to push further if Ness doesn't want to talk about, but something about that response doesn't sit right with me. Ness talking about his fears isn't "whining" any more than it was when we chatted about my tattoo back in the cave.
So as Ness pulls his arms under the covers, I scoot closer to him. He hesitates, and I push past the way it looks like he's about to pull away from me.
"I can back off if you want," I say, "But I want you to know that I'm here and that I'll chase the nightmares away whenever they come."
His posture relaxes. "Thank you. I… don't mind you being close. But really, I'm fine."
I snuggle up close to him and throw an arm over his chest, feeling its rise and fall as he breathes. With how I like to sleep on my side and his weight pulling me closer, it's hard not to fall into his strong body entirely.
"I'm sorry." Ness's voice is shaky. "I didn't want you to see me like this. You shouldn't have to tuck me in like you're my mom."
"Don't think about that," I say. "I'm here, and I'm not leaving. Get some sleep and we'll face the world together in the morning."
Ness gulps and nods. And then we fall asleep together under the starlight filtering in through his windows.
#
Ness is back to his chipper self by the morning, and it isn't until he shoots me a thankful glance at breakfast that I'm certain he even remembers the nightmare. If he doesn't want to bring it up, I suppose it's not any of my business.
After Ness's mom hugs him on the way out, which he claims she's doing to embarrass him in front of me and Jeff, we're off and out to Saturn Valley. It may have been five years since I've been, but I remember the strange cylindrical houses and pale green grass like I live there.
Jeff chats up the Mr. Saturns lounging about, and only then do I remember that Jeff stayed with Dr. Andonuts after our adventure to work with them on developing… sciency stuff. I don't think I ever heard the details. Still, it's cute how happy they are to see Jeff, and they're able to confirm that Dr. Andonuts is in the direction of Milky Well.
"All right," Ness says, taking a deep breath. "Time to face the mushrooms."
"Why do you think they'll even be there?" I ask. "We haven't run into any of Giygas's minions except for that one Starman."
"You can never be too careful where the Ramblin Evil Mushrooms are concerned," Ness says. Shaking his head in mock disappointment, "I have failed as a leader by not instilling that wisdom in you."
"I think the ones we fought here were the Struttin Evil Mushrooms, actually," Jeff says.
Ness shoots Jeff a flat look, who cracks a smile after multiple seconds of pressure. Ness grins back at him, and the three of us head out the far end of Saturn Valley towards the sanctuary.
It's good to be back here with friends.
Lo and behold, we don't encounter any mushrooms or enemies on our way to Milky Well. Not that the foes we faced here five years ago should even present much of a threat to us at our current strength. And while I expect that the lack of enemies means that Ness will stop talking about the mushrooms, I am proven wrong. It's only after several minutes of back and forth between him and Jeff that I realize how Jeff is looking less tense than when we arrived.
Right. While we all want to save Dr. Andonuts, this mission has special importance for Jeff. Even though I'm sick of hearing them argue about the evil mushrooms, I'm glad that Ness is keeping a pulse on how Jeff's doing.
And as we enter the final cave and approach the sanctuary, they at least have the good sense to quiet down. And when we peek around the corner to the exit that leads to Milky Well, we see Dr. Andonuts levitating above the ground.
Except unlike the other thralls, the ends of his fingers transition into tiny grey Starman arm-tentacles where his fingernails should be.
"Why do you resist serenity, Paula? You of all people should know how this is necessary for us."
A vision flashes in my mind. I'm seeing through the eyes of Dr. Andonuts, staring down a group of four kids ready to enter the Time Distorter. He warns them that they may never return to their bodies, but that doesn't dissuade them. Ness rallies the other kids together, and they all agree. No hesitation, no regrets.
Right then, a thought passes through the mind of Dr. Andonuts. That his machine is being used to send children off to what could be their graves. The baby face and sweet smile of Ness, the serene poise of Paula, the steady acceptance of Poo, and the even resolve of Jeff. His own son.
He wonders how he will live with himself if they do not return. And he decides that if he thinks about it for too long, he will change his mind on allowing them to fight Giygas. So instead, he tells them to enter.
I return to my own mind, recognizing the empathic emotion flowing from Dr. Andonuts into me as self-hatred. It lingers for several seconds. She and the others—no, I and the others—looked so young through his eyes. How often did Dr. Andonuts return to that moment in the years after we defeated Gigyas?
"Do you blame me for wanting to escape myself, Paula? Do you look down on me?"
No, I don't. Not after what I've done.
"All right," Ness says. "I don't think he's seen us. We should try to get Paula as close as we can before-"
Calm. Sharp, cold, ecstatic. For a second, my thoughts and body are not my own. I am a raindrop in a river, being carried with the current. I have no control, no responsibilities.
I simply am.
"Paula?"
Even Ness's voice sounds distant, and only after processing the confusion in his voice do I realize that I've stepped out towards Dr. Andonuts.
"Let's move," Jeff says. "Get his attention on us and the influence will break."
He darts out from behind the cavern wall and whips out a laser gun, firing it at Dr. Andonuts. As Dr. Andonuts reels, the calm releases its hold on me. Once again, the sensation of my own thoughts and feelings returning is like getting socked in the stomach. How do I live with this much anxiety in my day-to-day life?
Ness barrels towards Dr. Andonuts, and I take the hint and run after. Dr. Andonuts fires beam attacks from his Starman-tentacle fingers. First I see them slam into Ness, who flies back and tumbles on the ground, and then my vision goes red and I slam onto the cave floor. I gasp and stumble to my feet, the pain fading when Ness darts over and uses Lifeup PSI to heal me.
"How do we get close when he can bat us away with those lasers?" Ness shouts in Jeff's direction. "Any big brain ideas?"
"You know I was never the battle strategist." Jeff peeks out from the cavern wall, and then ducks behind it to avoid beam attacks aimed at him. "I don't spy any PSI weaknesses, but he looks healthy enough. Let's throw some attacks his way and charge when he's reeling."
Ness nods. "I have an idea. Paula, stay behind me. Jeff, try to slow him down."
He takes off back towards Dr. Andonuts, and I do my best to keep up while my lungs start screaming for air. When Dr. Andonuts raises his hands to unleash more beam attacks, Ness halts and I nearly run into his back.
"At my side," Ness says. "Make sure my body's shielding you, but don't stand behind me."
Easier said than done, but I do as I'm told and run around to Ness's side. A thought passes through my mind about how it must look like I'm clinging onto him like some scared damsel, but in the heat of the battle it's easy to discard the self-conscious attitude.
Dr. Andonuts levels his tentacle-fingers at Ness and fires beams from them.
"Shield β."
Ness covers himself in a jagged, blocky sheen of rainbow right before the beams hit him. They still connect and send him flying back past me, but in addition to not throwing him as far the beams also reflect back at Dr. Andonuts and send him staggering. This causes him to fall to the ground, and a blob of green, sticky ooze flies from Jeff's direction and binds Dr. Andonuts to the ground.
Three cheers for Jeff's slime generator still working after all these years. Time to finish this.
I sprint towards Dr. Andonuts, pushing my body as far as I can. The attack that Ness reflected gives me a couple second head start, but Dr. Andonuts soon shakes off the pain. He's looking bad enough that we won't be able to try that maneuver again without risking a serious injury on his part, so I need to make this chance count.
Dr. Andonuts raises his hand to fire more beams. Right as his tentacle fingers start to glow, I reach out.
"PSI Magnet."
As I say the words, I'm able to grab onto his hand. Power floods into my veins, faster and stronger than I'm used to. My vision flashes white, and when I come to I'm on my hands and knees panting. I glance over at Dr. Andonuts, who is also on the ground and unconscious. The good news is that his Starman-like features have vanished, leaving him as the same elderly man I remember.
"You okay?"
I glance over to see Ness offering a hand. I take it, and once again the smoothness and ease at which he pulls me up leaves me impressed by his strength. I let go and create a crackle of psychic energy. Nothing out of the ordinary.
"Seems like the burst of energy isn't affecting my powers," I say, "And I don't feel any different."
"I believe your body expelled the excess energy as a defense mechanism," Jeff says. "It's not ideal to rely on the technique, but if you don't feel any different then I don't see a reason to worry right now."
Jeff glances down at the unconscious body of Dr. Andonuts. Even with Tony, Jeff's affection was reserved, so it shouldn't surprise me how analytical he looks now.
"I was worried about this," Jeff says. "My father looks all right, but it's clear what the purpose of taking over his consciousness was. And to think that this started five years ago in Stonehenge."
Right, the grey-tentacle fingers we saw during the fight can only mean one thing. Before we intervened, Dr. Andonuts was in the process of becoming a Starman.