Ness is able to resuscitate Dr. Andonuts without issue, and we begin leading him back to Saturn Valley. He's a bit groggy at first, but after a few minutes halts and regards Ness.
"Young Ness," Dr. Andonuts says, "Is that you? When did you get so tall?"
"It's been five years, doc," Ness says. "You didn't think I was still going to look like a preteen, do you?"
"Begs the question of why you still dress like one," Jeff mutters.
"Shush." Ness glances at Jeff and presses a finger to his lip. Turning back to Dr. Andonuts, "It's good to see you again after all these years. I did mean to check in before this, but I guess I'm too forgetful without your son around to set me straight."
"Likewise." Dr. Andonuts nods. "It is good to make your acquaintance once again. And you as well, Miss Paula."
Funny how him calling me that during our adventure made me feel dignified. Now, I can only hear it as well-meaning but slightly condescending. We continue our journey back to Saturn Valley, and upon arriving we sit Dr. Andonuts down by the hot springs and update him on what's happened.
"Ah, yes," Dr. Andonuts says. "I was wondering why those Starmen kidnapped us all those years back. Truth be told, I suspected something of the sort was behind my newfound psychic powers. Hrm, I did get the contact information of everyone who was captured."
Jeff blinks. "That's a surprising amount of foresight coming from you, dad."
"My, my, you are developing an attitude after all." Dr. Andonuts twirls the end of his mustache. "No matter. Their numbers should be in my notes… somewhere."
"And there's the kicker," Jeff says. "I'll help you look through your records so we can check up on the others. Hopefully your notes are only at the astonishingly disorganized state I saw them last instead of the horrifyingly disorganized state in your Winters lab."
Ness whistles. "When did you get so ruthless, man?"
Jeff pushes up his glasses. "I believe this behavior is expected for a teenager in the midst of their rebellious phase such as myself. Now, dad, before I devote hours of my life to staring at your messy handwriting, we should address how you were turning into a Starman."
"Yes, yes," Dr. Andonuts says. "Concerning indeed. But it's not altogether surprising, is it? Knowledge of PSI was originally taken from Starmen by some fellow named George near the start of the 20th century."
"But Ness and I never started turning into Starmen," I say.
"Astute observation. It appears that PSI is not indicative of Starman influence, but the other way around. We never did figure out why they actually wanted to conquer Earth to begin with, did we?"
I exchange a glance. Is he saying that Giygas's endgame was turning us all into Starmen using PSI? We couldn't comprehend much by confronting the entity itself, so that guess is as good as any.
"And now five years later," Jeff says, "Transformations are starting. Why now?"
"I'd like to know the answer as well, my boy. Suffice to say that it is progressing, and that we should drain the powers from the others to prevent the situation from escalating further."
"So let me get this straight," Ness says. "We have to big brain scientists who independently figured out that the abduction victims from five years ago started developing psychic powers, and neither of them realized it was a red flag until they started being possessed?"
Jeff shrugs. "Curiosity killed the cat and all."
"That's not nearly a good enough reason." Ness turns to me. "Back me up, Paula."
All eyes go to me. Oh boy.
"At least we know now," I say. "Let's make sure the others who got taken to Stonehenge five years ago are okay first. We can worry about being more careful in the future later."
"My, my," Dr. Andonuts says to Ness. "Your lady friend does have quite a good head on her shoulders."
"And you had to go and make us look bad by sounding condescending," Jeff says. "I take it back, Ness. Genius scientists are actually all idiots and shouldn't be trusted. Happy?"
"When am I not?" Ness says, giving Jeff's shoulder an affectionate shake.
"Anyways," Jeff says, "It sounds like we have our plan. My father and I look through his notes, and while I undergo that cruel and unusual punishment you two hang out. Don't teleport out of town, since we might need to grab you at any time."
"You sure you don't want help?" I say.
"Unless you figured out how to use telepathy on pen ink, I think my father's notes will be indecipherable."
"Well," Ness says, "I have no interest in reading through info that is denser than school textbooks, so have fun."
"I will be experiencing quite the opposite, thanks," Jeff says.
I pause, but Ness's smile in combination with Jeff's light tone confirms that there's no passive-aggression behind the words. I guess this is Jeff's sense of humor now. Once again, it strikes me how little I know the personalities of my friends after the past five years. I'm left to mourn what could have been, fun trips with Ness's teleport and friendly chatter under the stars. Jeff even mentioned seeing Poo recently, making me even more reclusive than the literal monk.
"Hey Paula," Ness says. "What do you want to do?"
I blink, and then look around at the Mr. Saturns strolling about. It doesn't look like we're bursting with options for activities.
"How about we stroll around the village?" Ness says. "We can make our own fun."
That sounds like what parents say to get kids off the computer, but it's not like I have any better ideas. We head through the cave in the middle of the village up to the higher level, where I can see the pink hot spring and the path back to Milky Well.
"We could relax in the spring," Ness says. Then, sizing me up, "Actually, we shouldn't go in with our clothes in case Jeff needs us soon and you got pretty squeamish the last time we were in our underwear. So maybe not."
"Well excuse me," I say. "Mixed-sex springs aren't standard anywhere in the country, you know. But sure, I'm the weird one."
After a bout of silence, a feeling of dread sinks through me.
"Wait," I say. "Was that offensive?"
Ness blinks. "Offensive?"
"I mean, since you're into… boys and girls, I guess mixed or single sex doesn't matter for that angle either way. I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"
"Paula." Ness looks like he's about to burst into laughter. "You should look into writing for comedy shows. That would be the funniest thing for someone to get offended by."
I scowl. "Stop making fun of me. I'm still learning about…" what did Jeff call it, again? "Queerness. Or is that not something I'm supposed to say when I'm not like you and him?"
"You can say it. Some people get annoyed, but I don't think there's any harm in using the word itself. And sorry for poking fun. Why don't we move on and see what's left of Master Belch's factory for old time's sake? I bet the smell has finally cleared out after five years."
I let out a sigh. Even dealing with Master Belch again sounds better than embarrassing myself around discussions of Ness's identity. At least he's not judging me for my awkwardness with the topic.
Ness whistles to himself as he leads the way into the factory, but the sound stops a few steps in. When he tenses, I step around and ready my PSI for a potential ambush. But instead of an enemy, what awaits us inside is a lone, stationary object.
The Phase Distorter.
My main reaction is finding it strange how small it looks now that I've grown. Sure, Mr.-Saturn-shaped machine is still larger than me, but instead of towering over us it looks like I could barely fit inside. And when I glance over at Ness, the expression in his eyes is unmistakable.
Haunted.
"Um," Ness says. "Do you want to look inside the factory? It was only an idea, and I could really go either way."
"Ness, you're terrible at acting like this doesn't bother you."
I grimace after the words come out. In contrast to Ness who can always talk his way around awkward subjects to liven up the mood, I had to go about and phrase my comment in a way that sounds like an accusation.
"Guess you're right," Ness says.
Silence. Ness doesn't move.
"So let's head out, then," I say.
Ness nods and follows me out. Even when we enter the sunlight of Saturn Valley, his face looks pale. An entire minute passes without either of us talking, which only reinforces how bad I am at talking things through when he's not guiding me through it.
All right, Paula. You can at least try to support your friend.
"What do you need right now?" I ask.
"I need…" Ness glances around. "To climb that ladder."
He points at one of the random ladders scattered around the village, this one standing several stories tall and not leading to anything. I never understood what the point of them was, but I remember that they supported our weight well enough when Ness apparently needed to check each one to make sure there wasn't a hidden item chest at the top.
"Oh," I say. "Um. Want company?"
"If you don't mind indulging me, then sure."
Ness heads over and starts climbing, and I head up after him. So much nicer than the rope we scaled on our way to the Rainy Circle. When I reach the top, there's barely enough room for both of us to sit on the highest rung. My side is pressed against his, and I grab onto the railing side behind his back as the wind whips past us. Ness reaches behind my back to do the same, and it feels almost like we're holding each other.
"Sorry about that," Ness says. "And I bet blurting out that I needed to climb a ladder made me look like a little kid."
"I… definitely wasn't expecting something so straightforward when I asked what you needed."
Ness laughs. "Well, at least it's not like you were ever going to think I was cool to begin with. I mean, after making everyone put delisauce on rock candy and then lick it off in the middle of battles because Jeff said it was the best way to improve our combat capabilities-"
"Okay, but that one did work. I was amazed it made us stronger without the rock candy disappearing."
"-And then there was me rooting around in trash cans while everyone else watched."
"Oh my god, the trash burgers." I give him a nudge with my elbow. "That was disgusting. Don't remind me of that."
Ness grins. "That's the point, Paula. There's not much I can do to make myself look worse than what you've already seen." His expression sobers. "So do I have such a hard time letting you see me when I'm weak?"
As I grasp for the right words, I follow Ness's gaze out into the distance. From here we can see over the cave into Saturn Valley, all the way out to Grapefruit Falls. And across the lake, I can make out Threed. When I squint, I swear I can even see Twoson further out. The world is so far away, like it can't hurt us here.
The wind whips past us, and Ness takes off his cap to hold it between his knees. His hair ruffles in the breeze, and his expression softens. It's like…
Like a natural version of that serenity I felt from the Starman and thralls.
"I'm sorry," Ness says. "You were so open with me about the past five years, and here I am being all bullheaded. Even when it's obvious."
I think back to the Phase Distorter, and then to Ness screaming himself awake last night.
"Giygas?" I say.
He nods. "How often do you think about him?"
"So little that it feels weird. I kept myself up at night thinking about bad press I got for dyeing my hair, but what happened with Giygas never fazed me after it was over."
"Makes sense. I was helpless against Giygas. Trying to resist the flash attacks and using Healing PSI on anyone who fell unconscious, but not doing it as well as Poo. And then you were the one who broke through and saved us."
By being desperate and calling to be saved. Funny how I feel so conflicted about what should be my proudest moment.
"At least I did more than Jeff," Ness says. "So at least I can feel better by putting someone else down. Healthy coping mechanism, don't you think?"
"Paula."
As I look out into the distance, space seems to bend. My vision zooms forward by miles, even though I know my body is still back in Saturn Valley with Ness. With a bird's eye view, I fly over Threed and Twoson, and Onett passes by to my right. There's only one place this can be taking me. And when my vision flies over a cave system and focuses on an outside area with a massive humanoid footprint, I know I'm right.
Giant's Step.
And there, floating above the sanctuary, is the Starman. It looks like any other Starman, so I can't say for sure that it's the one who attacked in Twoson and Winters. But the voice in my head is the same, and I can't shake the feeling of familiarity.
"I see. You will come to me when you are ready to face your fate. I await your presence."
My view zooms back out, like my soul is flying back into my body. The jarring transition leaves me stiff, nauseous. I feel myself begin to lurch.
"Paula?" Ness's voice sounds distant. "You don't look good. What's-"
And then I fall.