Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In yet another peaceful night of a small town in Eagleland known as Onett, Ness was sound asleep in his house on Onett hills. He had a whole day’s workout as usual, after having his weekly training in his school’s baseball team and finishing most of his homework, his mother said, so he should be in bed right now, like any other kid his age. Yet if his mother hadn’t put him to bed that early, he’d certainly have enough energy left to take a stroll on Onett hills with his pet dog, King, play another game with his little sister Tracy, or spend some more time with his friends in the treehouse hideout, if school wasn’t that busy. 

But he figured that he would have a lot of free time the next day anyway. After all, it would be Saturday, the start of a two-day-long break at the end of every week Ness would anticipate during the days before. He could enjoy some rest after a whole week for school, and have fun then.

Or, he would be, if it wasn’t for the incident that night… 

Now, Onett was normally so peaceful and quiet at midnight, to the point where one wouldn’t see another person wandering out that late, and only the rustling of leaves can be heard, so it was often safe for Ness to go outside and take a walk if he couldn’t sleep well. 

However, amid the tranquility of the midnight sky that night, a whooshing sound suddenly filled the atmosphere, gradually amplifying in voice, followed by a loud thud , shaking the entire ground violently for a short while, causing Ness to leap from his bed in panic.

What was that noise?  thought Ness. Out of the many things that could wake him up in the middle of the night, he couldn’t imagine one as loud and as sudden as this. 

He quickly scanned around his little room. There was a short sense of relief when he found that everything‒ from his desk and his floor lamp to his book in the bookshelf‒ were still in place. That couldn’t be an earthquake ‒ Onett hasn’t had any earthquakes for as long as he could remember.

Soon, the voices of sirens started to fill the area. Immediately, he looked out of his window, and just as he’d thought, several police cars had arrived, and the summit of the hill was strangely glowing a bright orange. 

Something must be wrong, Ness thought.

He rustled his jet-black hair as he kept thinking about this, and he wanted to get to the bottom of this so badly. He decided he’ll have to sneak out.

Hurling himself out of bed, he put on his slippers, took the keys from his desk and sneaked quietly through the room door and the corridor. 

He was passing by the door of Tracy’s room, thinking that she wouldn’t be awake that easily. Just as he reached the stairs‒

“Sneaking outside again?”

Ness’s heart skipped a beat and quickly turned around upon hearing Tracy’s voice. She was standing right outside her room in her pink and white-striped pajamas, with short, messy blonde hair like her mother.

“Gosh, Tracy, you scared me!” Ness whispered.

“Hee hee.” Tracy giggled, “Anyway, I guess the sound woke you up?”

“Yeah. It was really loud.” Ness said.

“Were you freaked out?” said Tracy jokingly.

“What‒ No, I‒ okay, just a bit.” Ness stuttered.

“Knew it.” Tracy giggled again.

“Yeah. Now go back to sleep. It’s late.” Ness said.

“I thought I should be the one saying this?”

“I know, but we’re both up, so we’re square. Just don’t tell Mom about it.”

“I’ll try not to.” Tracy said as she entered her room again.

Ness went down the stairs and into the living room. He continued to tiptoe across it, ensuring none of his steps made any noise as he tried to reach the door on the other end. When he passed the couch, a deep, soft voice rang over his head like an echo, as if an old man was speaking to him in a narrow, empty corridor.

"You know, we dogs have to sleep as well. Why aren’t you sleeping?"

Ness turned to look to the left to check on his white St Bernard, who was sleeping over a cushion on the floor. As strange as it sounded, this was how he communicated with King ever since he was young. He still couldn’t figure out why he could do that though.

“Just between you and me… well, and Tracy, but I’m gonna head out for a while. Did you hear that sound?”

But King was back to snoring again. Ness sighed, knowing how his dog would’ve preferred sleeping, unlike him. Besides, he must be really old in dog years as well, so he probably might not have enough energy to keep himself up at this point in time either.

“Fine. You can keep sleeping.” Ness said, as he slowly turned the door knob open and went out of his house.

He began his walk along the dirt path of the grassy hill outside. It wasn’t long before he caught the sight of a few police officers, in their black uniform and hats, who seemed to be busy with a young man in orange shades. Not wanting to draw any attention from anyone, Ness tiptoed past them until they were out of his sight. He was thankful that the abundance of trees and bushes around helped hide him from them. After all, a twelve-year-old wandering outside in his pajamas would be incredibly suspicious.

Continuing his way along the long and winding road, he passed by a few more officers near a police car, busying themselves with a man in a bowler hat, who was complaining to the officers about not being able to go home due to roadblock. Ness felt great sympathy for the man, for the Onett police were infamous for closing roads, and they definitely would close the road leading down to the main suburb. Some say they might even hit the world record for this.

It wasn’t long before he could see Mr Agerate at a distance, who was standing in front of his house. Mr Agerate was in a blue shirt, with hair curled to the outside, wearing a wide, yet weird-looking smile. It might be just Ness, but that man was always a bit shady. He tried to walk past him as quickly as he could, pretending that he didn’t see him, but Mr Agerate’s voice still caught him.

“Hi Ness, hiya buddy!”

Not wanting to sound impolite, Ness answered back.

“Oh hi, Mr. Agerate.”

“Guess what? A meteorite fell down and went boom!” 

“A meteorite ?” Ness wasn’t expecting this.

“Yeah, it landed on the hilltop. It was a real mess for a while.” Mr. Agerate told him, “I was fine because I eat garlic and work out to keep my body stronger! However, the weaker citizens probably fainted.”

Ness replied with an awkward “okay…”, seeing no correlation between the two.

Mr. Agerate continued, “I also want to tell you… whoops!” as he let out a nervous laugh and fidgeted with his fingers, “I almost told you about my… umm…”

For a moment, there was an awkward silence as Ness looked at him, waiting for him to tell him what that thing actually is, if he had any to begin with.

“Uh, by the way, Ness, did you check my billboard? I wrote the message myself. That’s my real job, you know… I’m a billboard guy. Why don’t you check out my work?”

Ness had a feeling that he was beating the bush around something. Regardless, he checked the billboard, hoping to see something new, if not relevant, but it was just the same message as usual:

Treasure Hunter! This is Lier X. Agerate’s house!

Nothing special, Ness thought, but he might have something big to show me… I’ll come back tomorrow.

So Ness waved goodbye to Mr Agerate and continued his way to the hilltop, where he was starting to get close. Mr Agerate’s words that a meteorite had landed on top of Onett hills hadn’t left his mind. If he were to be trusted, that would be great news, yet considering how quickly the police arrived at the scene, he might actually be telling the truth, and that only fuelled his desire to get to the hilltop further.

Except, right before the turn to the last slope leading to the summit, a loud conversation was ringing from behind the mountain walls. It was especially clear, considering how quiet it was on the mountaintop, he could hear the voice of another boy, and another from a gruff man.

“ … Don’t just stand there! Let me in! Let me in!”

“This is no safe place for kids! Get out of here immediately!”

Ness quickly took a step forward to check what was happening, hoping it was not what he expected. To his dismay, a couple of police officers and their car were already in front of a blockade in the middle of the road, so there was no passing them. He got all the way here, only to be blocked off by the police! What a disappointment!

But when Ness saw who else was there, the whole shouting might have made much more sense. Just as he had expected, a boy was waving his arms while babbling over and over to the officers standing next to the blockade, who were scolding at him loudly. He had fair skin like Ness and was almost as tall as him, but their similarities end here. That boy was overweight like a boulder, had long, blonde hair that covered his eyes, and was also in his usual white T-shirt and broken blue suspenders. Ness sighed, for that was his most annoying next door neighbour: Porky Minch.

That was no surprise, though definitely not impressive. For as long as he’s been with him, he was sure for one thing: if he’d ever wanted anything, he’d keep pestering others until he got what he wanted, especially to Ness. 

Ness was about to leave when one of the officers just turned to his direction.

“Not another one!” the officer grumbled, before he came shouting to him.

“Hey, you! Don’t you know what time it is? Get yer butt home, pronto!”

“Easy, easy, he might be helpful.” another officer said while slowly approaching Ness.

“Hey kid, you see Porky over there? He’s driving me nuts. Are you two friends? Will you do something about him?”

Before Ness could answer, however, Porky seemed to have noticed him already.

“Hey, Ness!”, shouted Porky, “Don’t be rubberneckin’! You’re gettin’ in the cops, oops… I mean officers’ way!”

“What?” said a confused Ness, “But you’re‒”

“You can go home now.” said Porky, ignoring Ness with a smug grin, “Tomorrow I, Porky, will tell you all about the strange meteorite!”

“Okay, Porky, but you’re getting into trouble here. Just come back with me.”

“What are you even talking about? I’m fine here, but you’re bugging the officers!” Porky shouted threateningly.

“Porky, why is it me?” Ness started to get more annoyed, “You were here bugging them first‒”

But Porky raised his fists and loomed towards Ness, who knew there’s no point arguing with his neighbour any further, so he quickly turned away from Porky and took a deep breath as he trudged away in frustration.

He finally reached the front of his house, but stopped when he noticed his mother waiting for him at the front door in her nightgown, slightly frowning. It seemed that even with his best efforts to sneak from his mother, she eventually knew. He lowered his head as he walked sluggishly back to his home, guilty of how he let his mother worry about him.

But upon the sight of her son, her expression turned into a gentle smile.

“Welcome home, Ness.” said his mother, gently rustling his hair, "I found you were sneaking out of your room again, even when I asked you not to. But it's okay, it’s not necessary to talk about that tonight. You must be tired from walking out that late. Why don’t you go back to bed?”

“Okay,” Ness said, and he scooted off upstairs back to his bedroom.

When he landed on his bed, dozens of questions kept floating in his head. What’s going on here? Where did the meteorite come from? How’s it even like?

He can’t stop himself thinking about it, but he did feel a bit tired from the walk out there in the middle of the night, and he slowly went back to sleep. Perhaps he shouldn’t be worrying about that by now. By the time he wakes up tomorrow, there should be answers to his questions. 

Later that night…

In the middle of Ness’s peaceful sleep, some door-knocking noises seemed to be getting louder and louder as they went on and on, in a pattern that was even more irritating than Ness’s alarm clock. He found himself subconsciously covering his ears with his pillow to block the noise, but to no avail. There’s no way Ness could sleep in this condition. He lazily opened his heavy eyelids to check the clock beside him, blurry-eyed, as it roughly read 4:30.

Ugh, who’s knocking the door that early in the morning? Ness thought. Whoever’s knocking on the door must have nothing better to do. He got out of his bed again to see who was behind it.

The only one immediately outside his room was Tracy, who was standing by her room door, though it definitely wasn’t her, for the knocking not only didn’t cease, but also became louder.

“Someone’s knocking at the door! What an annoying knock!” she said.

Ness couldn’t agree more. To him, there’s nothing that annoys him more than any noise that woke him up once more in the same night.

He lumped down the stairs sleepily, and went down to the living room, where the knocks went more furiously. His mum came downstairs as well, speaking in a drowsy voice.

“My land! Who could be knocking at the door at this time of night? Would you answer it?”

Ness drew himself towards the front door, ready to confront whoever ruined his (kinda) peaceful night. When he opened it, that familiar well-rounded figure appeared in front of him.

“Porky?”

“Hey! L-L-Listen to what I’ve got to say!” Porky said hurriedly, “When I took Picky to the place where the meteorite landed… Oh! Good evening ma’am.” Porky turned to Ness’s mum, “You’re looking lovely as usual.” he added with an inappropriate snicker, which didn’t amuse Ness or his mother to the slightest.

“Anyway, as I was saying, the police that were guarding the meteorite landing left suddenly to deal with the Sharks. You know the Sharks, they’re the local ruffians, and they were really going wild. Suddenly, I noticed that Picky was gone!”

“ What ?” Ness exclaimed in shock, “How could you lose him?”

“I don’t know! I blame the cops… it certainly wasn’t my fault at all.” Porky said with a shaky voice, his eyes blinking and darting sideways, and his hands at the back, “When my dad gets back, I know I’m gonna get it… You’re my bestest friend. Won’t you help me find Picky?”

The way Porky put it wasn’t very pleasant to Ness, even though Picky was Porky’s little brother, and the only decent one of the Minches. Sure, the Sharks, Onett’s local teenage gang, were on the rife in the town in their funny outfits recently, causing mayhem and frightening people, but he couldn’t remember the last time the police did anything to them, so all of this seemed a bit… weird. Though, given how there weren’t any noise of sirens outside, Picky would most likely be all alone in the night, which could be dangerous for him. Besides, he actually felt quite bad for the brothers, especially Picky, for the Minches next door were some of the worst people he’d seen, so bad, that Picky might even be too good for such treatment. He needed to find him as soon as possible.

“Okay,” Ness sighed, “I’ll come.”

“Ok, good buddy! Let’s blow this popsicle stand. Before you go, why don’t you say ‘goodbye’ to your mum. Don’t you agree, ma’am?” Porky said with another weird glance at Ness’ mum.

Ness’s mum ignored him and turned to her son, “It’s okay, Ness. I see you’re trying to help your friend out, aren’t you? Well, I know the dog may be unreliable, but you should take King along. You also have a bat borrowed to Tracy, right? I bet that would be useful at a time like this…”

“Of course. Let me go and ask her.”

“Good,” said his mum, “But remember to change out of your jammies before you leave.”

Back in his room, Ness quickly took out his favourite everyday outfit from his wardrobe. He donned a comfy, yellow and blue-striped T-shirt over his chubby body, along with a fitting pair of blue shorts, complete with his red and white sneakers, despite being slightly worn. Last but not least, he grabbed his treasured red baseball cap with a blue visor, the one cap he had worn throughout the years he could remember, before putting it on his head, thinking how cool he looked in it. He carried his small, brown, nylon backpack and went to Tracy’s room.

“Tracy, do you still have the bat you borrowed from me?”

“Right you are!”

Tracy pulled out a wooden bat with a crack at the hitting end from under her bed. It was one of Ness’s favourites, being the one he got for his eighth birthday, but its condition was telling him to find a replacement soon.

“What’d you need it for?” Tracy asked.

“Oh, Porky’s lost his brother out there on the mountain, and now he’s called me to help him…”

“Ah, I bet you’ll need it more than I do then.” Tracy handed the bat to her brother, who stuffed it in his backpack.

“You might get hungry along the way, so here’s a cookie.” Tracy added, giving him a piece of cookie wrapped in aluminium foil as well.

“Cool!” Ness said.

“Tell me what happens out there!” Tracy said.

“Sure! Just wait until I come back!” Ness said confidently.

“And don’t get caught by aliens outside!” Tracy added.

Ness chuckled as he left his sister’s room and descended down the stairs. Right in front of him was the sight of Porky, who was watching the television while lying on the sofa like a slug with his limbs spread out, as if the entire couch was his own.

“Oh, there you are! What’s taking so long up there huh?”

Ness crossed his arms upon the sight, gazing at him in silence.

“All right, you go out in front, and I’ll follow at a safe distance.” said Porky, as he lazily got himself up from the couch, “Let’s get going!”

“Hold up, I need to get King as well.” said Ness, turning to the furry white ball near the sofa, “King, why don’t you come with us? You could lend us a paw.”

"Well, I guess I have no choice, let’s go."

With his dog and Porky by his side, Ness set off to the front door.

“Bye, Mom!”

“Be careful out there!” his mother said to the three as they went outside.

Chapter Text

“Picky! Piiiiicky! Where are yooou?”, Porky kept shouting as the group walked along.

They kept looking around for signs of a tiny boy with blonde hair, while King kept sniffing the ground as he led the group along the dirt path. 

Suddenly, amid the quiet atmosphere, some loud, rattling noises came across the group. They stopped abruptly.

“Where’s that coming from?” Porky asked nervously.

As they looked around, they found a bush among some trees going from rattling to outright shaking, which prompted Ness to stare intently into it.

“What is that?”

“I’m… not sure either.” Ness said.

The rustling only got more violent, which didn’t seem like a good sign. Ness pulled out his bat and pointed it towards the bush, keeping an eye on anything that might happen. King took a few more steps away and growled at the bushes, just when a dog with brown, shaggy hair, almost the size of King leaped out from it and landed in front of the group. Porky screamed loudly, running to hide behind Ness’s back and clutching his T-shirt tightly, which didn’t help the situation at all.

The dog made a loud, piercing howl. Its eyes scanned across the group, circling them while assuming a pouncing stance. Its stare was oddly menacing, even emitting a sense of hostility, which would be more fitting for a wolf hunting for prey than for a dog, and even seemed to alert King enough to bark back loudly. 

Before Ness could do anything, the runaway dog lunged forward to him, but right before its body could make contact with his owner, King leaped and knocked it out of the way.

The two dogs went rolling on the ground before they got back to their feet, pushing each other around with their paws while barking loudly. The brown one even gnashed its sharp teeth in an attempt to bite King as he resisted the best he could.

“Stop‒ stop fighting!” Ness exclaimed in shock.

At the same time, from where his neighbour was grabbing his shirt, he felt a slight push.

“What now?”

Ness turned around to find out that Porky was trying to force him forward while taking a tiny step closer towards the dog, as well as keeping his head lowered behind Ness at the same time, as if he was using Ness as a shield, much to Ness’s displeasure. 

The fighting didn’t cease, and now the brown dog seemed to gain the upper paw. It knocked King over and pressed its paws on his body, giving its opponent a sinister glare, while King pushed repeatedly in a desperate attempt to free himself from its clutches, but to no avail.

“Hey, you! Get away from my dog!” Ness shouted as he took a few steps forward.

The dog didn’t seem to notice, for its head only lowered more towards King.

He couldn't bear to watch it any longer. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, but neither should the dog. He had to do something, something that would drive that runaway dog away, lest he wanted to get his pet torn to pieces. He took Porky’s hand out of his way and held his bat tight with both of his hands.

“Sorry little one, I hate to do this.” he said under his breath.

With his shaking arms, he raised his bat and swung it at the side of the shaggy-haired dog, only meaning to fend it off and not to kill it. Immediately, it toppled over right next to Porky, who was now laying on the ground motionless.

The dog soon got on its legs again, eyes fixed on Ness, it charged straight towards him. He quickly leaped sideways right before it pounced, dodging it successfully. Seizing the chance, he gave his bat another swing, smacking a painful howl from it before it fell to its knees. 

When it got back up, the hostility in its eyes were gone. It looked around cluelessly before limping away into the woods.

As he watched the dog get away, a strange feeling was building inside of Ness. His forehead began to grow hotter than ever, causing a dizzying discomfort, and for a moment he found it hard to focus what was in front of him. This would only happen whenever he got a fever, but there was no way he would catch a fever that quickly, could he? Surely, dodging the dog's pounces and swinging the bat a few times wouldn't give him anything as serious as a fever, would it?

After a few seconds though, the uncomfortable heat in his head was gone, and he was back to his usual self. But fevers don't go away that quickly, so what exactly was that feeling?

It was certainly odd, and something about the dog’s behavior felt kind of wrong too, but at least now everyone was safe. He decided to check on his pet first, who was trying to get back up.

“King, are you alright?”

"I’m ok, just some bruises he’s done. What a fierce dog!"

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” he rested his hand on the dog, “But glad that it’s gone! Good job!” he patted his head, smiling.

“Hey… is‒is it gone?” 

The shaking voice came from Porky, who was still on the ground, shuddering.

“Yeah, it’s gone. You can get back up now.”

“Well, I thought playing dead might help…” Porky shrugged.

“It would be more helpful if you could try distracting it,” said Ness flatly, “that thing would’ve bitten you too.”

“Well, why don’t you beat it earlier then? I wouldn’t have to play dead for that long!” Porky complained.

“How about trying it yourself? You’ll see if it’s easy as you think…” said an irritated Ness, before letting out a slightly exasperated sigh, “C’mon, we’d better get going.”

As Ness led the Porky and King up the hill, the image of the dog’s fierce expression couldn’t leave his head. He can’t help but find himself scanning the surroundings while holding his bat forward on his walk, wary of any potential dogs like these around. More questions sprawled across his mind: What’s happening to the dog? Why did it attack us that way? Why did it simply calm down suddenly after getting a few hits?

There was still no sign of Picky anywhere, but before Ness could think any further, a random crow went swooping towards him. In defence, he swung his bat in an attempt to rid it off, but not only did it not get away, the crow had also landed on his cap and swung its head downward. Ness immediately closed his eyes.

“Ow! Ow! Ow! Stop! Ah!” Ness screamed while swinging his hands, desperate to get the crow off his face. A spike was poking at his eyes continuously, but it felt a hundred times worse.

“Help, Porky, HELP!”

But there was no sign of anyone or anything making an attempt to get the crow off his head whatsoever.

Ness’s hands no longer focused on swatting the crow, but to cover his own throbbing eyes. Unfortunately, his hands were now also being pecked at, and as it pecked he grasped with his hands tighter and tighter. 

Just then, a familiar bark echoed at a distance, and that furry, white body knocked Ness over. A few more barks came before Ness could finally open his aching eyes, from which he could faintly see King leaping and chasing towards the crow, making it squawk in panic. Soon King nearly snatched the bird with his paws, but only grabbed as many as a few feathers out of it. The next second saw the spiteful crow diving towards King at full speed, preparing a counterattack at the back of his head.

Seeing this, Ness quickly got his legs back up, clutching his bat, dashed to his pet, and sweeped the crow onto the ground before it could touch the dog’s fur.

“That… that was close…” Ness said while catching his breath.

When the crow got back up seconds later, it seemed to be back to its senses again, as it flew around aimlessly before settling back to a nearby tree. 

Just what is going on with all the animals? Ness thought cluelessly.

Ness pressed a hand on his swelling eye. King was coming back to Ness’s side and sat next to him.

"Thanks, Ness." said King.

“Nah, I should be the one thanking you, though you could have been a little less rough…” Ness said jokingly, and they both shared a laugh together.

He beckoned Porky to come along, who was now standing behind a tree, thinking to himself.

A couple more steps on the route, after passing by Mr Agerate’s house (thankfully that guy didn’t notice the trio), they were getting close to the summit, but not before a hissing sound nearby caught their attention, and lying on the ground in front of them was a coiled green snake with its raised-up head. Its eyes gazed at the trio in a way like how Medusa would before petrifying her prey.

“Snake! SNAKE!” Porky screamed.

Even Ness was given a shock. His hands trembled even more on his bat while jerking backwards at the sight. 

He tried to avoid direct eye contact with it, but the snake only slithered towards him quickly as if he was its next meal. 

Ness swung with his bat top-down, attempting to scare the snake off, but it only seemed to have pulled a trigger on it, making it speed up, much to Ness’s horror. His anxiety levels only increased when Porky decided to grab his back.

“H-H-Help me, Ness!” Porky yelled between pretended sobs, “It… it’s going to… to kill me!”

“Quit it, Porky! I’m trying to sort it out!” Ness hissed.

Porky’s untimely intervention only made Ness lose track of the snake, until he realised an unfamiliar itchy feeling on his right leg, like something heavy was sliding on it. In a panic, he took a quick look on his leg, and almost jolted when he found his leg was wrapped around by the coil snake. He didn’t dare move another muscle.

Don’t worry, don’t worry, calm down, he muttered in his mind, just‒

“AH!”

All of a sudden, a sharp pain pierced through Ness’s right leg as if he had been nailed through, immediately causing him to drop his bat and fall while quickly reaching both of his hands for his leg, not caring if the snake was still around anymore. In fact, he couldn’t feel anything else. He wanted the pain to be gone so badly, but not only did it remain, the pain was also getting harder to bear. There was nothing he could do except moaning in agony. Everything started to go blurry in Ness’s eyes, as if they could fade at any moment, and if that snake was venomous, he would really be gone within minutes, if not seconds.

But the more the pain pushed him towards despair, the more his mind resisted, and his head went burning strongly with the desire to stay alive.

No… I can’t… not like this… I still have to come back home... the pain… it hurts… let it be good…

Unexpectedly, a warm, soothing feeling ran across his whole body, and all the pain Ness felt had magically melted away.

Ness was back to his senses again, and checked his right leg at once. To his surprise, not only was the snake gone, but the bite as well, not even leaving a scar. The pain in his eyes was also gone. It was like some super quick-acting ointment being smeared onto his wounds. Ness felt super lucky that everything felt fine that quickly. Startling, even, because when was the last time that happened?

"Ness?"

He heard some panting at his side at that moment. 

“King, are you ok? What happened?”

"I’m fine. Are you ok though? You had a snakebite…"

“I’m fine, kinda. The bite really hurt, but it’s gone now.”

King raised his head in astonishment.

“Don’t look at me like that! I have no idea how that happened!” Ness said nervously, “Where’s the snake, though?”

"It’s gone too. I got it away before it could do you any more harm. It was quite a tussle to deal with it though, and pretty scary too."

“Phew! I’m glad that you were fine. Where’s Porky, by the way?”

“I’m here!” said Porky behind them, who came out behind a bush, “Gosh, Ness, what’s taking so long for you? Can’t you finish the snake earlier? I’m about to lose my life!”

But Porky had gone too far. Ness’s insides went fuming as he began shouting at his neighbour before he even realised it.

“ About to lose your life? I WAS BITTEN BY THAT SNAKE! How could you expect me to fight when I couldn’t even stand up properly?”

“Hey, I called you here to keep me safe!” said Porky unsympathetically.

“That’s what I was trying to do! But what do you think I am? Your personal bodyguard ? I mean, yeah, I got back up because some sort of power ran through me, but what if I weren’t that lucky? How many times do I have to tell you?! I’m not the solution to all your problems! ”

Porky seemed to be taken aback by the voice of which his neighbour thundered. There were seconds of silence apart from Ness’s fuming breaths before Porky muttered in a low voice, yet Ness can tell it wasn’t that sincere, “Fine, sorry ‘bout that, okay? Won’t do that again. Why don’t we get moving?”

Ness simply turned back to the main path and strode his way up with heavy steps. Porky kept complaining about it as he struggled to keep up with his neighbour, but Ness almost wanted to plug his ears shut, thinking how usual that was to him, added with the grudge of how ungrateful he was towards him, that he didn’t want another word for him, at least for that moment.

They’ve reached the summit after a couple more steps. On top of it was something emitting a faint, orange glow. It was a rock, an oddly spherical one with fine cracks like those on ancient pottery all over its charred surface, and had approximately thrice the size of a beach ball. Ness took a closer look at it, full of admiration upon finding how unusually smooth and beautiful the structure of the meteorite was.

“So that’s the meteorite people were talking about…” Ness said.

Porky gazed at the strange meteorite with Ness, but was clearly darting his eyes sideways occasionally. King, however, was shuddering behind them uneasily. In fact, when they started to move closer to it, King howled an “Awooooof!” loudly.

"If I knew this was going to be such a scary place, I wouldn’t have come along… I’m outta here!"

“No, King! Wait!”

But it was no use. King had already ran out of their sight, and Ness couldn’t call him back.

“Heh, yeah, scary isn’t it? Can I go back too?” Porky said, his hands fidgeting behind his back.

“No, we still have to find Picky, remember? And it was you who asked in the first place.” Ness said, “He should be around.”

They walked around the summit, and it wasn’t long until they found a familiar tiny boy with long, blonde hair snoring next to a tree. That was unmistakably Picky.

Porky gave him a little kick on his arm. 

“Wha‒ Oh! You woke me up!” said Picky.

“Picky! Well, glad that you’re here.” Porky said.

“Porky! I’ve been looking all over for you…”

Ness’ face turned to Porky, giving him a “Wait, what ?” look over him.

Picky must’ve noticed Ness’s expression, as he then said, “You see, Porky got scared and ran away… Well, I’m glad that you’re okay at least…” 

Ness shot Porky a glare in a mix of confusion and disbelief, as well as a growing sense of displeasure at him.

“I thought you said he was just gone!”

Porky didn’t need to say another word. He knew it. They both knew it now. He can’t believe he had fallen into yet another lie of his neighbour, and it wasn’t long before Ness started ranting again.

“And it’s not your fault at all ! Ugh, I should’ve known‒”

“Forget it, Ness. It’s not the first day you knew my brother. Let’s go home now. I bet Mom and Dad are worried sick about us.” Picky said, before turning around to walk away in almost the same frustration Ness had, “Geez! Sometimes I wonder which one of us is the real big brother.”

Ness and Porky followed him, but before they could leave the summit, Porky tapped on Ness’s shoulder.

“What?”

“Ness! Do you hear a buzzing that sounds like a bee flying around?”

“No, definitely not.”

“Oh, c’mon… you must hear it…”

But Ness really didn’t hear anything. Porky must be trying to trick me again, Ness thought.

At that very moment, the meteorite glowed even brighter. A dazzling beam of light shot to the sky from the meteorite, growing wider and wider, until the cylindrical beam covered the whole thing up. As the beam of light shrunk back in, a buzzing sound was coming from the beam of light, and soon enough, something like a small, flying insect emerged from the meteorite.

Ness took his bat out once more, thinking that it might be one of those creatures down there, not to mention that it came straight from the meteorite , and that might be more dangerous than he could’ve thought. 

Maybe Porky was right after all.

Chapter Text

“OH NO! IT’S REALLY A BEE!” Porky grabbed Ness uncomfortably.

“A bee I am… not…” a deep man’s voice echoed in Ness's insides.

“Oh no, it’s even speaking to us…” Porky shrieked.

Ness was quite startled too. A bee, or whatever it was, was talking to him, in a way like King did. And he wasn't the only person who could hear the voice.

“Do not worry, young ones, I am not your enemy.”

“Who are you then?” Ness asked, still unable to let his guard down.

“You can call me Buzz Buzz. I heard that your friend called you ‘Ness’, is that right?” said the voice.

“Yep.”

“I’m from ten years in the future, from another planet. And, in the future, all is devastation… Gyiyg, the universal cosmic destroyer, sent all to the horror of eternal darkness.

“However, you must listen! Where I am from, there is a well-known legend that has been handed down from ancient times. It says, ‘When the chosen boy reaches the point, he will find the light. The passing of time will shatter the nightmare rock and will reveal the path of light.’. Believe me, this is all true, for it is from the Apple of Wisdom, the prophecy-telling machine that Gyiyg discovered and possesses…”

“Hold on,” Ness interrupted, “I don’t understand. What are you talking about? How can you come from the future?”

“By time travel, of course. Perhaps I should’ve made it clearer in the beginning. I forgot there are things that were not recognised by most of your kind.”

The answer only left Ness even more confused.

“And who’s that gig guy?”

“Gyiyg, Ness, like ‘geek’. He is an alien from my planet, a powerful being who seeks destruction of the Earth, along with the entire universe. Most from my planet have sided with him. Others like me continued to resist him, but our efforts are inadequate. That is why I am here, to alert you people on this planet, to act on it before the destruction happens.”

“What about the ‘chosen boy’?”

“He will be the one to confront Gyiyg, and defeat him.” Buzz Buzz replied, “You see, it is in my opinion that you are that boy, Ness. This I believe…”

For a moment, Ness was speechless‒ he, the chosen one?

“Really? But that's impossible… I'm just a normal kid!"

Buzz Buzz flew closer to him.

“Do you really think so? Do you think you’re really that ordinary?” Buzz Buzz asked, “I do say otherwise. I see great potential in you.”

“Potential?” Ness said dumbfoundedly, “Like what?”

“A lot,” Buzz Buzz said, “You are young and there are a lot of things you can do without you even knowing it. In fact, you can do what many others cannot .”

“Like?”

“Ever made things happen yourself without knowing how you did it?”

The question immediately froze Ness. A light broke in upon him. All those weird stuff that happened earlier… 

“I was bitten by a snake on my way up, and the bite healed itself really quick… I could talk to King too. He’s my dog, but I could hear his voice inside my head and…”

Ness concentrated harder, trying to recall anything weird before this point… 

“ … and sometimes, when I feel really angry or scared, things start to move around, or go in my way if I really, really wanted…”

“Aha! You see, Ness, if you can do this, you are far from ordinary. You possess a gift that most other humans could only dream of. You have the ability to utilise PSI.”

“Psi?”

“Yes, spelt P-S-I, short for psychic powers or psionic abilities . This means you could make things happen just by thinking of what you want to happen. Ness, you’re a psychic.”

“ A psychic ?”

“Surprised? Well, think of it, Ness, what were you thinking when you got the snakebite?”

Ness’s mind jumped back to the particularly painful scene… 

“All I wanted was to make the pain go away.”

“And it healed itself, didn’t it?” Buzz Buzz said contently, “Yes, that’s called Lifeup, and that is just one but many of your PSI abilities.”

“Wait, you mean there’s more?”

“Of course,” Buzz Buzz assured, “Advanced PSI users like us could even see what abilities others can use. And… you’re not short of abilities too! You can use Hypnosis, Paralysis, Shield, Flash and some others, all of which are strong to their own extent. I sense that you could even pull off the ‘favourite thing attack’ too…”

“‘Favourite thing attack’?” Ness raised his voice upon hearing that, “What is that?”

“It’s an all-so-powerful PSI ability that could only be utilised by the select few, even by PSI-user standards.” Buzz Buzz said, “It will be a blast of psychokinetic waves from your body, very much like an explosion if done well.”

“Really?”

“Of course. It is often, however, easier said than done. You will need to concentrate very hard on the coolest thing you can ever think of. The end result will be much stronger than you can think.”

“That sounds cool!” Ness exclaimed.

“Wow, Ness,” Picky added, “I didn’t know you were a psycho!”

Buzz Buzz let out a silly laugh, “A psychic , young one. A psycho is someone crazy.”

“Oh, right…”

“Honestly, I had no idea about that either…” Ness said to Picky.

“D’you think I have these powers too?” Picky asked innocuously.

Buzz Buzz flew around Picky and Porky for a short while, before hovering himself in front of Picky.

“I regret to say that, little one, that you do not possess such capabilities, nor does your brother. That’s alright though. You have to be really lucky to have these abilities.”

“Oh, ok…” Picky sighed.

“Huh, so no wonder you’re all that different and weird, Ness,” Porky added, “or should I say, ‘special’, for being the chosen one? Just because you can wield this PSI…”

“Not exactly,” Buzz Buzz said, “There are other humans who could use PSI. Besides, PSI is commonplace on our planet, especially in Gyiyg’s species…”

“Wait, then why did you find me specifically?” Ness asked skeptically.

There was a short pause in the air. Buzz Buzz fluttered around in circles before he spoke again.

“Well, I suppose… I saw you, and you look like a hero of some sort, but I can’t quite place it… Though like I said, the Apple of Wisdom told us someone like you could stop Gyiyg, so I’d better trust it than not. After all, it is not that we had a lot of options… We have found many others in the past, of course, some were successful in calling off his attacks, others not as much. But as time passed by, he only got more and more dangerous. Now, Gyiyg’s monstrous plan must have been set in motion somewhere on Earth… If you start to confront the enemy immediately, you may have time to counter the evil intentions of Gyiyg."

"So do you mean... I'll have to start doing everything now?"

"Not really. If you don't want it, you don't really have to." Buzz Buzz said, "But think about this, we all didn't try stopping him for nothing. We had many plans to fight him, but we failed in the end, because we didn't discover the prophecy. If the Apple was right, you are the only one who can defeat him. You, the chosen one, have the chance to set everything right.

“Besides, I know it’s not very pleasant for you to hear, but… Gyiyg is coming for you specifically. He has made it clear that he had to hunt you down…”

“Wait, he’s coming after me ?” said Ness in disillusionment.

“I know, he is adamant about this, ever since he had the Apple in his hands…”

“Well, guess I didn’t really have a choice, did I?” Ness gave both his hands a wave.

“Not really. If you don’t feel comfortable handling this, you don’t really have to. No pressure.”

“No, I'll do it. If that Gyiyg guy's coming, I can’t just sit here and, what, let him kill me?” said Ness strongly, “I've gotta face him, even if… I don’t know where to start.”

“Rest assured, Ness, you’ll never walk alone. I can be your guide.” Buzz Buzz said, “Three things are of the utmost importance: wisdom, courage, and friendship.”

This quote sounded oddly familiar to Ness. He’s certain that he’d heard it somewhere in a video game… 

Buzz Buzz continued, “The legends from the ancient times tell of three boys and a girl who defeat Gyiyg… I will tell you more later. Go now! And do not be anxious about the future! You have much work to do, Ness.”

Ness nodded his head once more, but Porky spoke up.

“Ness! It looks like you’re really in a lot of trouble this time… Three boys, he said? … Uhhh… I’m not one of those three, am I?… ‘Cause, I’m not into this kind of thing at all…”

Ness looked at Porky without saying a word. He hoped from the depths of his heart that it would not be true, given his actions during the escort mission...

“Geez, my heart is almost pounding right out of my chest!”

They walked down the mountain, and Buzz Buzz followed too. It was odd that, as they moved down the hill, there weren't any signs of weird creatures around it. No one was attacking, all seemed peaceful. When they passed Mr Agerate’s house, Porky lingered his eyes on it for a few seconds as if it were a pile of snacks from the classmate sitting next to him, until Picky dragged him back to his senses.

"Porky, whaddaya looking at? Hurry up and come back here!"

Begrudgingly, Porky followed Picky back. Meanwhile, Ness was talking with Buzz Buzz about the quest.

“Three boys and a girl? Who d'you reckon they are?”

“Hmm… I have no idea. I suppose you would have to seek them out on your way. Though just as a general reminder, not everyone is willing to aid you on your journey, so be sure to check on those who do.”

“I just hope that they’re nice and that I could be friends with them.”

“From my experience, you’d have a great chance to get along with each other. Especially when all of you are children to begin with.”

Porky, however, started to complain about everything on their way up.

“You know, why would we even be here? If only Picky hadn’t got himself lost…”

“Hey, you were the one who left me behind!”

“Yeah, right. You surely hadn’t seen all those creatures going mad and attacking us!”

“Ah!” Buzz Buzz exclaimed, though his tone sounded more serious, “Then what I fear must now be true: Gyiyg is influencing the evil in their minds! It’s not just the creatures who were becoming more violent, some of your kind, especially those with evil thoughts themselves, may also be subject to his influence. I bet it wouldn’t be long before he sends his own forces to‒”

A blinding beam of light shot from the sky for an instant, interrupting Buzz Buzz, and from it descended a silvery, humanoid object. It had pointy arms on its waist and podlike legs, as well as a visor on its head. There was a symbol of some sort on the left of its chest.

“What’s that?” Porky shrieked.

“IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME, BUZZ BUZZ. YOU’VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL AT FOILING MASTER GYIYG’S PLANS.” a low, whirring, robotic voice boomed inside of Ness, “BUT… BUZZ BUZZ, YOU MUST NOW SURRENDER. YOU’RE NO LONGER A HERO, BUT JUST A USELESS INSECT.”

“I’m sorry, I’m afraid I can’t.” Buzz Buzz said calmly, “I have accepted this route from the very beginning. Now if you excuse me, I need to take these kids back to safety.”

“THEN YOU SHALL BEAR THE CONSEQUENCES OF DEFYING HIM. I’LL STOMP YOU HARD!”

At the end of his sentence, Ness took out his bat, while Porky was screaming out loud once more.

“Everyone be on guard,” Buzz Buzz alerted, “this is a Starman junior, a minion of Gyiyg at the lowest level, but still a great threat to you young ones.”

“Then what do we do?” Ness asked.

“Fret not, this will call for extra protection. PK PSI Shield: Sigma! ” Buzz Buzz said loudly.

Immediately, Ness found his whole body enveloped by a shiny, purple, translucent membrane, and so were Porky, Picky and Buzz Buzz.

“DEFENDING THE CHOSEN, I SEE. IT IS USELESS, YOUR POWERS ARE COMPARABLE TO A MERE INSECT NOW.” the Starman Junior taunted, “ PK FIRE: ALPHA! ”

A ball of fire shot from the visor of the Starman junior. Ness covered his eyes reflexively with his hands as the flames started to grow larger in front of him…

But there was no pain on his body. It should at least be searingly hot by now… When he removed his hands from his eyes, he couldn’t see any fire, much to his astonishment. In fact, nothing was on fire. The fire seemed to have disappeared somehow.

“My shield can block you from all PSI attacks. Come on, we can beat him together!”

Mustering up his courage, Ness rushed head-first to the Starman Junior, raised his bat, and smacked a hard dent on the alien robot. He went for a second side swing at full force, but where he should hit that thing became thin air, and all the momentum Ness had gained caused him to lose his balance for a short while. 

When Ness was back on both feet again, the robotic voice laughing from behind caused him to turn immediately.

“YOU PUNY LITTLE HUMANS SURE HAVE BAD AIM, JUST AS I HAD EXPECTED. PK FREEZE: ALPHA! ”

A thin stream of icelets swirled from the Starman junior’s visor towards Ness at a high speed, but upon contact with the purple membrane, the stream of ice just disappeared into thin air. The shield really was effective.

“I’ll hold him off.” Buzz Buzz buzzed right beside Ness, quickly ramming his tiny body onto the Starman Junior’s. Despite being inside a tiny body, Buzz Buzz quickly proved to be more than capable in battle, as the Starman Junior stumbled backwards upon that hit. Ness couldn’t believe how strong his little partner was. 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Picky leaped out with a stick on his hand, and struck the Starman Jr. with it, before pointing it at him saying, “Perish from the world, you big, stupid monster! Abracadabra! ”

But the alien robot had started to fade half a second before Picky started chanting his spell and flicking his stick. Despite this, Ness kind of appreciated his attempt to help.

“I did it! My spell worked!”

“Yeah, that definitely worked. Do something useful!” Porky yelled from a tree nearby at a distance.

“What about you? What are you even doing?” Picky asked back.

“What? That’s your problem, not mine.”

“Guys, we don’t even know where that thing went!” Ness said.

But it was at this moment when the familiar shadow of a humanoid grew right in front of them.

“HOW DARING, YOU BUNCH OF UGLY EARTH PEOPLE. BUT IT’S OVER. YOUR SHIELDS WON’T SAVE YOU NOW…”

The words seemed to have alerted Ness and Buzz Buzz. Ness checked his shield, which was now dimly flickering. Bad news. He started to worry that his shield probably couldn’t last that long, and if the Starman Jr decided to use another fire attack, he’s pretty sure he’d be burned into ashes… 

As Starman Junior cried, “ PK FIRE: BETA! ”, Buzz Buzz shouted, “ PK PSI Shield: Sigma! ”

A blazing jet shot from Starman Junior’s visor this time, landing with a blast on everyone’s shields, but not before the colours of the shields intensified. The group was, of course, unharmed, though it left the shields to flicker a little.

“Now’s our chance. Let’s go!” said Buzz Buzz.

Picky picked a handful of pebbles and threw them onto the Starman Jr repeatedly. It wasn’t much, but a few managed to hit it, enough for a distraction to buy some time for Buzz Buzz to reach it successfully and slam onto its head, causing its whole body to fall like a board, leaving it open for an attack. Ness raised his bat and smacked it onto the Starman Jr, shattering its visor completely and exposing the inner wiring.

The Starman Junior was defeated.

“Whew!… I was taking a big chance there… He came from 10 years in the future to kill me, so we can’t relax yet!” Buzz Buzz said as he lifted his body back up, “As you can see, that was a pawn of Gyiyg, so you can imagine how his army could be.

“But you fought well. Perhaps, with enough skill, you could actually counter them right.” Buzz Buzz continued.

“Could I?” Ness said in surprise.

“Of course you could! From how I saw you fight, I knew the Apple’s eye was bright. It hasn’t chosen the wrong person.”

Ness said with an embarrassed smile, “Huh, don’t mention it, I don’t even know how to use PSI…”

“Oh, right, about that… You know you can heal yourself with that, right?” Buzz Buzz said, “All you have to do is to concentrate hard on what you want to achieve, but this can be easier if you could remember the name of the PSI and say the incantation. I suppose you might have noticed the pattern…”

Ness’s mind returned to the battle scene. They’re shouting PK something, and then something happens… What’s the name of my ability again?… 

“So if I say, PK Lifeup… what comes after it?”

“That’s the level of the PSI you wanted to use. The higher the level, the harder you will need to concentrate. Currently, you only have the alpha level, the lowest one.”

“Ok, so, PK Lifeup: Alpha? ”

“Well, nothing’s gonna happen for now. You’re fully well.” Buzz Buzz said, “But I’m sure it will work next time when you or someone else gets hurt.”

“Wait, I can heal others as well?”

“Only one at a time, but yeah, you can, as long as you desire to.”

“Cool! What’s PK, by the way?”

“Ah,” Buzz Buzz said, “it stands for psychokinesis , the action of using psychic powers, basically.”

“Oh!”

“And in the future, once you get strong enough to wield a PSI ability of a certain level, you will get a feverish feeling. How strong it actually is will depend on the type of ability unlocked and its level, just to let you know. Does this sound familiar to you?” 

A bulb turned on in Ness's mind upon Buzz Buzz's words… 

“Yeah, I got something like that, right after fighting the dog… How do I get strong enough for those powers?”

“I thought you said it yourself. You got that by winning the fight.” Buzz Buzz said, “As you fight more, you will be stronger and more experienced too. When you are strong to a certain point that you can handle a certain power, it will be unlocked inside of you, ready for use at any time.”

“And then I’ll grow to have lots of abilities?” Ness said excitedly.

“Exactly.” Buzz Buzz said, "I'm glad that you have picked up so much that quickly."

“Guys!” Picky pointed at the brightening sky, “It’s almost morning.”

Ness quickly turned to the two brothers, “Oh yeah! I’d better get you two home now.”

They arrived in front of Porky and Picky’s house, and the inside was lit.

"Oh, no, Mom and Dad's home already…" Porky said.

“Do… do you think you can… come inside with us?” Picky asked nervously.

A thought telling him that he didn't want to get in was floating in his head, not to face the Minches. But another told him that the two brothers don’t deserve any punishment, especially Picky, and definitely not from their parents. If he chooses to come in, he could surely explain it to their parents, could he?

“Sure.” Ness said, with a hint of hesitation in his voice.

They were inside the Minch residence, a large, luxurious house with crystal blue tiles for the ground, a chandelier hanging on the ceiling at the centre of the living room, silk curtains for the windows and a seemingly antique carpet beneath the tea table. It was a stark contrast to Ness’s house. 

Just then, an obese woman with blonde hair and in a red dress came shouting to them in a high, harsh voice. Ness never felt comfortable whenever she’s around.

“Where in sam hill have you boys been? I’ll have to think of a suitable punishment!”

“Lardna, what is it?”

It was from another loud, rough voice of a man, who was sitting on a sofa in a business suit and glasses with a long mustache, making him seem all the more intimidating. He slowly walked up to Ness and his group, and towered upon them. Porky and Picky’s faces grew pale at the sight of their father.

“So, what have you boys been up to, huh?” Mr Minch said in an unpleasant tone.

There was a pause in the room before Ness said, “It‒ It’s really nothing‒”

“That’s fine, I get it. I’m sorry my kids troubled you so much.” Mr Minch interrupted flatly, before turning to his kids and roared, “Both of you are really going to get it now!”

Mr Minch then proceeded to grab his kids by their arms firmly. Porky, Picky and Ness exchanged terrified looks.

“Mr Minch, wait-”

But Mr Minch ignored his pleas and towed his children up the stairs. It wasn’t long before he heard screaming and shouting above him, as well as the unmistakable noises of slaps and whips. Ness actually felt sorry for the brothers, and he wanted to help, but given their father’s demeanour, there didn’t seem to be a chance of stopping their father whatsoever. He couldn’t do anything but to close his eyes and cover his ears from the torturous noises in agony.

When he opened his eyes again, Mr Minch was now in front of him with curled lips.

“By the way, I would be happy if you left sometime soon.” Mr Minch said, “I’m tired of your family living next door. We’ve loaned your father a lot of money. It may have been a hundred billion dollars or more. Well, I guess it really could have been less, but because of the loan, my family and I are living in poverty!”

As he watched Mr Minch turn away, Ness was clenching his fists and his insides started to burn badly. That was so big and fat coming from him. How could he call himself living in poverty, when he’s got a luxurious house like this? And how could he accuse his father like that?

Ness’s disgust at the Minches only grew when Mrs Minch added a dismissive remark, “My husband is much too lenient with the children. Oh well, nice guys finish last. That’s the story of our life…”

Ness prepared to turn and storm away, tired of the hypocritical comments made by the Minches, until the screaming of Mrs Minch caught his attention. She was staring at Buzz Buzz.

“Ayaaaeee! It’s a dung beetle! Die and go to hell!”

“What‒”

SMACK!

But it was too late. The tiny wings of Buzz Buzz flapped slower and slower, until his body came faltering in the air before dropping onto the ground.

“Buzz Buzz!” Ness screamed in horror. In a split moment, everywhere else was blank except his tiny friend, and he fell to his knees in front of him. Buzz Buzz’s body was half-crushed and his body was twitching futilely.

“Uhh… I was much… weaker than I thought…”

“What? No, stay still… I can help…” Ness said shakily, focusing as hard as he could on getting his tiny friend back up while holding him with his trembling palms, “ PK Lifeup… Alpha! ”

But Buzz Buzz was still on the ground, not even flying back up. 

“What? Why didn’t it work?” Ness closed his eyes tightly, “ PK Lifeup Alpha! PK Lifeup… ”

“It’s no use, Ness…” Buzz Buzz said weakly.

“No… You can’t just go like that! You have to get back up!” Ness pleaded.

“Do not concern yourself with me. You must now begin your adventure…” his voice getting weaker and weaker, “See… you…”

“No, please…” Ness said in a wobbly voice.

Despite how much he refused to believe what he saw, he knew that it was happening. There was nothing he could do to make his friend fly up any more. A pang of helplessness and misery ran straight into Ness, causing tears to fall on his cheeks as he sobbed uncontrollably.

“Oh… I just remembered… Listen to my final words… my last wish…

“To defeat Gyiyg, your own power must unite with the Earth’s… There are eight locations scattered all over the world, called ‘Your Sanctuaries’, and you must make these places your own… They will channel your power and strengthen it… One of them is near Onett. It is called ‘Giant Step’... Go there first… Do you understand?”

Ness’s throat still choking, he nodded his head.

“Good. You are a bright young man… and… Oh! The pain! Everything is getting dark… Ugh!”

“Buzz Buzz…”

“But… before I pass on, I have to give you something. It is the ‘Sound Stone’. You can record the melodies from each of the eight ‘Your Sanctuaries’ locations into this stone. I’ve also added the function of viewing your info, and the PSI abilities you can use… An awesome item, isn’t it?”

Ness tried to force a smile on his face, but faltered soon after Buzz Buzz spoke again.

“Good. I’m almost gone… It’s going to be dawn outside… But that doesn’t matter to me. I’m fading fast… The fate of the world rests on you…”

Buzz Buzz let out one last gasp before his body moved no more. A small, shiny, bluish orb rolled out from his body. Ness grasped his orb and tucked it inside his pocket as he wiped a tear from his eyelid.

Despite getting Buzz Buzz’s gift, there was not a hint of happiness in Ness, only emptiness. He carefully took the remains of Buzz Buzz’s body with both of his palms without turning his teary eyes away from him as he quietly walked out of the Minch residence and and their garden, before hopelessly sitting down on a nearby patch of grass, where he can spill his tears without disturbance to lament the death of the tiny alien.

He could've been his companion, his guidance for his quest. But this was taken away from him, with only a single smack. Now it's just him left...

How could I even carry on, all on my own? Ness thought.

But Buzz Buzz was really gone. No matter how much Ness mourned, he won't be coming back.

The truth was painful to accept, but knowing how he couldn't cling onto the corpse of this tiny guy, Ness figured he should be giving him a proper resting place.

He slowly walked towards the front yard of his house, and picked a section with a line of flowers. He started to dig a hole of a few inches deep with just his bare hands. As he kept digging, the images of his little friend shone across his mind, how he encouraged him, how he protected him and his neighbours, how he was easily killed by the hands of his neighbour’s mother…

Ness tried to stay away from the last thought, but the shock and grief from it would always bring his mind back to the scene, paining him even more.

He looked at his little friend one last time for a moment before carefully placing him into the place he dug, not leaving his eyes from the resting posture of his friend for a couple of seconds. It was a pity that he couldn't know him more, but he must go now. Ness closed his eyes and lowered his head in silence, thinking of what he meant to him. Even though he only knew Buzz Buzz for a short moment, he was like a mentor, if not a friend of his. He even saved his life when they confronted that alien robot. If it wasn’t for him, he could be dead already. But most importantly, he relayed the message of the fate of the world to him, a fate he would never know otherwise, and encouraged him to be ready for his role to avert it. It wasn't good news, but at least he was thankful to him.

After what seemed to be a minute, he covered up the grave with the dirt he freshly dug slowly, and there should be something to commemorate the place he buried him. He took a nearby rock and placed it on top of where Buzz Buzz’s body laid, imagining it as a tombstone. If he could carve something on it, it would be “Here lies Buzz Buzz, a valiant hero”.

He took one more look at the grave, before trudging back towards his house in silence. Sure enough, his mother was waiting for him. 

“Welcome home, Ness.”

But Ness didn’t respond. Instead he kept walking in a tired fashion.

“Ness... are you okay?” said his mum in a concerned tone.

“No… I’m just really tired…”

“It’s alright. Don’t bother yourself talking too much now, scoot off to bed and we can talk when you get up. I could make some steak if you want.” she said tenderly.

“Sure.” Ness said flatly.

He stumbled upstairs into his bed. Despite being truly tired, he wasn’t able to sleep very well. He couldn’t believe what he’d got himself into, even though he promised his friend, and it was such a horrifying sight to see him die. The image left a scorch mark in his mind that he dared not go back to sleep.

Yet his body eventually couldn’t resist the comfort of his bed. It might be for the better of him though. Perhaps when he gets back up tomorrow, he’d be feeling better.

Chapter Text

The next thing he knew, Ness was under the midnight sky again. Looking everything around, he found himself on a familiar dirt path overlooking the town, leading to the summit. He wondered why he was back here.

Only this time, no one seemed to be on his side, not King, not Picky, not even Buzz Buzz. He was all alone with the cracked bat on his hand.

“Is anyone here?” he shouted, “Mom? Tracy? Anyone?”

But nobody came.

It’s not even right. With everything like this, he couldn’t feel safe. Instinctively, he started heading back to his home.

When he was about to take his first step, someone else’s arms closed on his chest and yanked his body backwards, making him lose his balance.

“What the‒”

“Ness!” Porky shouted, “You better cover me up, or I’m gonna beat you into a pulp!”

“Get off!” Ness said as he struggled.

But the more he forced himself back up, the harder Porky pulled him. Even at his best efforts pulling Porky’s arms out of his grasp, he couldn’t, as Porky’s arms clutched with a huge force that Ness could almost feel his ribs crushing.

As he was being dragged backward, a twitch of pain at his leg caused him to scream out loud. That green snake had sunk its fangs so deeply into Ness’s flesh again, blood started to seep out of the hot, swollen part, and it didn’t seem to leave. Clenching his teeth, he tried to reach the snake, but his body was still restrained by Porky, and all he could do was squint his eyes as he watched the serpent continue its bite…

And then Porky released the grip. Ness collapsed from all the pain and exhaustion he felt, finally able to grab his wound, where blood was oozing out quicker as he grabbed tighter. 

Just when he thought the torture would be over, a sight more painful than the snakebite appeared in front of his sight. There was Buzz Buzz, who was sitting on the shoulder of Lardna Minch. Ness wanted to crawl himself forward to his friend, hoping to save him from that woman, but the wound acted like a leaden ball on a chain that prevented him from moving forward. All he could do was try to shout.

"Buzz Buzz get out of here!"

“I’ll smash your guts out!”

“No!” Ness gasped.

SMACK!

Again, too late. Buzz Buzz fell again. He had let Buzz Buzz to be brutally murdered again.

“Ness… it hurts…”

“No…” Ness’s lips trembled as he closed his eyes.

But Buzz Buzz’s voice only grew louder at Ness’s ears.

“I can’t get back up…”

“No…!”

Ness retracted his limbs and curled his whole body into a foetal position.

“Help me… Ness…”

“NO!”

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself looking at a light-blue wall while breathing anxiously. His body was still curled up and he was still breathing rapidly, but instead of the dirt ground, he was lying on his mattress under his azure blanket.

Of course it was all a dream. He should’ve known, but the whole dream brought back the worst memories last night such that he cowered in fear, even with full knowledge that Buzz Buzz perished at that time.

In fact, he must’ve been too exhausted after all those events‒ he was still in his sweaty T-shirt and blue pants. At least he bothered to take off his backpack and shoes before going to bed.

Getting up, he felt a bulge in his pocket, and he remembered: the first and last gift from Buzz Buzz. He pulled out what seemed to be a blue, shining orb with the size of a table-tennis ball from his pocket. 

Now that he’s in his room, safe and quiet, he could inspect the orb carefully. He stared at the orb closely and gave the Sound Stone a little tap. A great screen, like a holograph, popped up from the stone, something Ness wasn't even expecting to happen in his own eyes.

So that's alien technology... that's awesome!

On the leftmost of the holograph was a three-dimensional, semi-transparent, monochromic figure that highly resembled himself. Written on top of it were a couple of large words:

Ness Edward Smith of Onett, Eagleland, 12

Below the figure was a table that showed two items: one showed HP and another showed PP, along with a number next to each of them. This oddly reminded him of video games… too bad both numbers weren't that high though.

Next to the figure were two tabs. One read “Stats”. The other read “PSI”.

PSI?  

By intuition, he tapped on it, just like how those people did in sci-fi movies. A box expanded to the right and white words shone atop:

For the user, to understand the abilities he possesses should there be no other guidance.

Ness stared at the display in awe, given how he’d never imagined such a small stone could display everything about him like that, let alone how it could know his powers in any way.

Some texts were at the bottom of the screen, which read, "If you touch this to your forehead and concentrate on your thoughts, Your Sanctuary melodies can be heard." Though, for now, Ness didn't have any of the melodies yet, so he would have to try and see what happens once he gathered some melodies.

With another tap on the Sound Stone, the holograph shrunk back. It was much easier to operate than he thought.

So there he was. Now he had a way to know his psychic powers, he could go out there and visit those Sanctuaries, and then defeat… whoever Gyiyg is.

Was he even sure he had to do this? If he does, he’ll have to leave his family and friends behind. There was no telling when he could see them again. Besides, knowing how he won’t be able to play baseball or video games for a long time, but had to do something he barely even knew, he hoped there could be at least something he could enjoy so much during the adventure.

He decided he would tell his mother first.

Heading towards the living room, the aroma of freshly-simmered steak coming from the kitchen came right into his nose. King was already peeking into the kitchen by the door.

“Good morning, sleepy bones. Feeling much better now?” his mother asked by the kitchen door.

“Yeah.”

“Oh, and you’re just in time! I’ve made some steak for you.” his mum said, “Tracy, lunch is ready!”

Tracy came hopping down the stairs, flopping down on a seat next to Ness. As their mother dished out plates of steak from the kitchen, King kept following her with his tongue stuck out. 

"Food! Give me some! Give me some!"

“Now, now, King, you’ll get yours soon.” Ness’s mum didn’t need telepathy to know what King wanted.

Having the plates of finely-cut steak on the table, Ness dived into it at the first chance. The savoury whiff and the shiny grease made the whole dish so irresistible. Even King didn’t stop panting there, his tongue drooling. Seeing how her brother was so distracted by his plate of food, Tracy cut off a slice of her steak and fed it to King.

After some time, Tracy spoke.

“So, what happened outside last night? Tell us all about it!”

An awkward silence filled the dining room for a moment. Ness wasn’t even sure how to put it. As accepting as his family was, there was some doubt in his mind that his mother might consider the tale of the incident last night being ludicrous, if not outright ridiculous. Yet, his family had to know all about this.

“Well, you might not believe it, I couldn’t believe it as well, but I saw everything with my own eyes…”

So as he ate, he went on telling them everything last night: how he saw the police blockade to the hilltop, how a meteorite caused the crash, how he encountered animals going violent during the search of Picky, and how he and King had to fight back. When he told them about the fight with the snake, his mother was terrified.

“Oh no, Ness!” his mother gasped in horror, “That’s dangerous! It must’ve hurt a lot! You shouldn't fight like that…”

“I know, I really should be more careful.” Ness felt his cheeks growing warmer.

“Wait,” Tracy interrupted, “if you’re bitten by a snake, how are you still alive?”

Ness lowered his head, though not out of a lack of confidence, but more like pondering on how to tell them so.

“I dunno why, I really thought I can’t come back until… I… somehow magically healed myself?”

“What?” Tracy exclaimed.

“Yeah, ‘cuz I have something called PSI… psychic powers.”

Tracy and her mum were now smirking.

“What's so funny about that? I almost lost my life there! Why would I even make that up?” said Ness heatedly.

But his mum and sister were giggling even louder.

“Stop laughing ! Look, I know it sounds ridiculous, but I’ll show you.”

In the middle of their laughs, he gave a hard tap on the Sound Stone to show the holograph to his mother and sister, who turned their focus there almost immediately. Even King retracted a few steps back, shivering.

“What’s that?” Tracy asked.

“That’s the ‘Sound Stone’. It can record melodies and show a profile‒”

“My gosh, that’s so cool! May I have a look?” Tracy said excitedly.

“Yeah.”

Tracy snatched the Sound Stone from her brother’s hand, and immediately, the figure in the display changed to an outline of Tracy, and “Tracy Elizabeth Smith of Onett, Eagleland, 8” replaced the heading of the holograph. The tab labelled “PSI” disappeared too, but it seemed that Tracy didn’t notice, or she wasn’t bothered by that.

“Holy smokes, it’s just like magic! Where’d you get that thing?” Tracy asked.

“I got it from… from…”

He wanted to tell them about Buzz Buzz, but for a moment, he found it hard to spit it out.

“Ness?” Tracy asked again.

“Oh, right, I got it from Buzz Buzz. He may look like a tiny insect, but he came right out of the meteorite, and he’s actually from outer space.”

“So you did meet an alien!” Tracy said.

“Yeah.”

He continued to tell them how he met Buzz Buzz, how Buzz Buzz told him about the prophecy and his destiny as the chosen one, how he fought a Starman Junior with him, all the while trying to sound normal. He ended his whole story by saying “So I guess I’d have to leave and go on this adventure, even though I don’t know how long it’ll take.”

Tracy sounded ecstatic at this. “Oh my, I can’t believe my brother has to go out and save the world!”

His mother, however, seemed more concerned. “Do you mean… you really have to…”

“Yeah. I guess I gotta.” Ness said plainly.

“Is, um, your alien partner Buzz Buzz still here?”

“Where is he? Can I see him?”

Though innocuous these questions seemed to be, they hit Ness hard in his chest. His voice lowered with his head as he recalled the demise of his friend.

“No, he‒he’s gone…”

“Huh? He must’ve just flown away for a while…” Tracy said.

“No. He’s not coming back…” Ness gulped, “Mrs Minch, she… she…”

A hug closed in on him when a drop of tear fell from his eyes. His mother understood what must be for him.

“I’m really sorry that happened. Was he a friend of yours?”

Ness nodded sulkily as his eyes burned, while tears kept flowing down along his face.

“It was s-so horrible... She just s-smacked him a-and he groaned- he groaned in pain... I‒I tried e‒everything I could to help, but I couldn’t even s-save him… only sit there and‒and watch him d-die and…”

His mother hugged him tighter and gave a few gentle pats on the back of his head.

"Oh Ness, no wonder you looked so tired last night. It really wasn't a good night for you, was it?"

"No," Ness mumbled, "I really w-wanted him to s-stay for a bit longer, b-but now he's j-just g-gone. N-now I'm just d-doing this all alone... I-I don't even know w-what to do..."

"Ness, I know how you might worry about doing all of this on your own, especially since... you've lost a friend..." his mother said softly, "But, everything will be okay, trust me."

Ness turned his eyes to his mother again.

"I remember my first day going into college. It was scary for me at first, knowing I had to leave my home for such a long time, and I was crying on my Mom's shoulders like you did when I had to leave my parents and start off a life on my own. But I slowly learned how to manage it, and college life was a lot of fun. I even met your Dad there!" Ness's mother said, "It might be a long trip for you, but I'm sure you can make it."

"Really?"

"Of course. It could be a quest to save the world, like you said, but in another sense, it could be a good chance to see the world for yourself. Didn't you always say you wanted to see how it's like around the world?"

"Yeah," Ness said, remembering how he said that a couple of times.

"Good. If that's something you wanted to do, it might make things a bit easier, won't it?" Ness's mother added.

"I guess." Ness said quietly.

"Relax, you're much younger than me when I first had to go out like this, but I have faith in you. No matter what anyone says, you’re a courageous, strong boy. You’re my very own natural born fighter… You’ll go far… Remember to ‘Go for it!’"

“Yeah, go for it, Ness! You’ve got my back!” Tracy added enthusiastically.

Even King gave a little bark as well.

"Yeah, Ness, I believe in you!"

Though still unsure about his road ahead, the words of encouragement from his family seemed to have lessened some of Ness's worries. Perhaps going out all alone wasn't that scary after all.

“Alright, I’ll… ‘go for it’!”

"That's my boy!" Ness's mom said.

At the very same time, the phone rang. Ness got the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Ness.” said the familiar voice over the phone. 

“Dad?”

“Hey there! I was gonna call and check if you guys are alright. It’s all on the news, I’ve heard a meteorite landed near your home, isn’t it?” his dad asked.

“Yeah! I saw it last night…”

Ness went on to tell his father about his tale at the meteorite.

“Oh, so you’re off to an adventure, great! How long do you think it’s gonna take?”

“I dunno… I really wanna come back as soon as possible though.”

“You’re gonna be fine. ‘Work till exhaustion when you’re young…’ Have you ever heard of a weird saying like this?”

“Hmm… probably?” Ness said while thinking of his mum’s words.

“Well, never mind that. I think it’s a good motto though.” his dad laughed, “Just remember, I’m always behind you 100%. Don’t be afraid. I know that you’re brave. You can do it!”

“Sure, Dad!”

“Don’t forget to call me periodically during your adventure, just to make sure I’d know where you are, in case anything happens.

“Oh yeah, I’ve also deposited $62 into your bank account. Do you have your ATM card? Just withdraw your money from any cash machine and buy whatever you need.”

“Great!”

“Haha! Anyway, you said that you’re going out for god knows how long… so why don't you do some packing? You’ll need to carry a lot of stuff in your backpack. Think of it as a trip, but a long one. And don’t forget your passport. Who knows how far you’ll go?”

“Wait, even my passport ?”

“Yeah, I dunno, but you made me think that those ‘Sanctuaries’ can be anywhere in the world…” his father said, “but anyway, good luck, m’boy! I feel like such a hero!”

“Hey, I’m the one who has to go out and stuff.”

“What? Well, the father of a hero, at least. Wa ha ha!” his dad laughed.

Ness shared a laugh together with him. It was a good laugh like they always had, until it reminded him to ask his father about that thing.

“By the way, Dad… when are you coming back?” Ness asked, hoping for a definite answer once again.

His father let out a sigh.

“I know you want me to come back soon, but… I’m quite busy at the moment. It’s difficult to get a leave with a schedule like that.”

“Oh…” said Ness in disappointment.

“Alright, alright, but I promise that we’ll do the good ol’ stuff again once I come back, ok? Jam some music together, you know?”

“Sure thing!”

“Oh, do you mind handing the phone to your Mom? It’d be nice to talk to her.”

“Ok, later, Dad!” 

Ness handed the phone to his mother before heading back to his room to pack his stuff. 

After packing everything he needed, he took one last look around his room. His comfy bed at the far side of the room; his bookshelf holding his favourite set of books, including one whole section of superhero comics, and another holding his favourite albums, as well as a few trophies on the top; his messy desk scattered with action figures, books and notes, yet in the most recognisable way it could be; his guitar sitting at the corner of the room, waiting for him to play once his father gets back; and all those posters too made his room his cosy nest. Now, knowing how he had to leave this place, he hoped he could bring some of those things with him, but his backpack was almost out of space, so all he could do was to spend a few more minutes inside recalling some of the best moments doing the stuff he liked, particularly when he learnt how to play the electric guitar with his father’s guidance, how he won the inter-school baseball match last year, how he finished Dragon Quest with the help of Tracy…

After feeling what would be sufficient, he closed the door slowly before heading down to the living room. His sister was waiting downstairs while his mum was still on the phone.

“Hey Ness,” Tracy said, “I was thinking, I’m gonna help you too.” 

“Tracy, you don’t have to…”

“I can! I don’t wanna just sit here and do nothing!” Tracy said, “I have a huge cupboard. It’s mostly empty. You can leave anything you don’t need with me. I can help you store them.”

“Really?”

“Yep. You can always call Escargo Express to deliver your stuff to me. Here’s their number,” Tracy gave Ness a paper slip with a string of numbers scribbled on it, “keep it well and call it whenever you need, ok?”

“Not at all.” Ness assured.

About the same time, his mum hung up the phone and came over to her son.

“Are you ready to start your own adventure?”

“Yeah,” Ness said.

She came in to give her son another tight hug.

“I’m so proud of you! My little man is growing up fast…” his mum said. Tracy joined the hug too, and Ness hugged them back. A mixture of excitement and nervousness filled his heart‒ he would be starting a brand new adventure, with a path unknown ahead of him, and while there would be many new things for him to see, that would mean leaving his home and family behind.

“I’ll miss you, Mom. I’ll miss you, Tracy.”

“I’ll miss you too.” Tracy said.

Even King joined, kneeling next to them and giving a little bark. 

“Hey King, you wanna come with me?”

But King shrieked instead.

"I don’t wanna go out anymore. I don’t care if anyone thinks I’m a stubborn mutt."

Ness gave him a little pet.

“Well, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to. You’ve done a good job last night though.” he said, giving his leftover steak to his dog before hugging him, “I’ll miss you too, King… I can't be feeding you everyday…”

King let out a little whimper as if he understood.

“Alright, everyone… I guess I had to go.” Ness said by the front door.

“Bye Ness! Don’t forget to call back!” Tracy said loudly as she waved her hand with her mum.

“Goodbye… I hope I’ll come back soon!”

Stepping out of the front door, he took one last glance at his family, and noticed his mother’s joyful expression turned into a much more worried one, as if his mother wanted to say something more before he left, but Ness returned a grin to her, which told her from his expression that “I’ll be fine,” before closing the door.

And so his journey began with the step out of his house.

It was another typical sunny day of Onett. The sky was clear, rays of sunlight shone from above him and reflected off from the bright green grass that covered the terrain, while a gentle breeze blew across his face, perfect weather for a game of catch with his friends. For Ness however, it’s not going to be any simple game.

But weird things were already happening to him even at a step out of his front yard. It started with a middle-aged man in front of him, who was wearing a tuxedo, top-hat and round glasses with a thick, yellow beard, who had a camera on a stand next to him.

“Pictures taken instantaneously! Smile for the camera, little one!”

“Wha‒Who are you?” Ness startled upon his sight.

“I’m a photographic genius, if I do say so myself!” said the man in the tuxedo.

“What are you doing‒”

“I’ll be taking a picture of yours. You wouldn’t mind, would you?”

“No, but‒”

“Okay, get ready for an instant memory!”

“Wait‒”

“Look at the camera…”

“Sigh… O‒Okay…” Ness said, staring into the camera.

“Ready…”

Though his mind was still processing what was going on, Ness did the peace sign in front of the camera, as if it was second nature to him.

“Say, ‘fuzzy pickles’!”

“Fuzzy… pickles?”

SNAP!

Before Ness even knew it, the cameraman was already gazing at the freshly-printed photo, saying, “Wow, what a great photograph! It will always bring back the fondest of memories…” before he turned and left, leaving Ness completely bewildered. He didn’t even have a chance to see how the photo looked like.

The fondest of memories? What’s he trying to do, coming out of nowhere and suddenly taking photos of me? 

At least he seemed harmless. I mean, what could he do with just a simple photo?

Perhaps the photo would be important later on. Perhaps he would meet that guy again. Or perhaps he wouldn’t be that important. It’s just a photo, after all. There isn’t much that could go wrong, Ness thought.

Pushing this weird incident aside, Ness stood on the grassy cliff overlooking the town, giving it one good look before heading down. That is where all would start‒ Onett, his hometown, of course. Onett was small, the buildings were sparse, and none were taller than three stories, but because of this, it was easy to get around and meet others, which also made this whole place cosier. He's going to head down once again, but for something totally different… 

“Hiya Ness!”

Ness almost jolted, quickly turning his head to the creepy voice for cutting his thoughts short.

“Mr Agerate? Gosh, you scared me!”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to. Anyway, I have something big to tell you last night.”

“What is it?”

“Actually, uh, it’s more like showing you. You wanna come with me?”

Before Ness could respond, his mind started to bubble with words after words of adults reminding him not to follow strangers into random places, especially with shady ones like Mr Agerate. But Mr Agerate wasn’t a stranger, though he didn’t know him that well aside from being that strange guy living up the hill. Does that qualify him as a stranger?

But his curiosity still got the better of him. Still skeptical about Mr Agerate, he answered, “Sure.”

“Alright. Now follow me.”

Walking up to Mr Agerate’s house meant going up the mountain again. Ness was still comprehending how strange this ordeal will get. Two minutes into the adventure and he had already been greeted by two of the weirdest people he’d ever met.

Halfway through, Ness thought he saw another snake, immediately receiving goosebumps from the sight. He quickly signaled Mr Agerate to stay still while trying to restrain himself from trembling too much. Thankfully the snake quietly slithered past them without noticing.

It didn’t take them too long before they reached Mr Agerate’s house. It was a small, wooden house with a broken floor, including a gigantic hole in the middle, and a worn-out bed at the far end. If Ness didn’t know Mr Agerate the slightest, he would have believed that his house was burgled, or that simply he was crazy.

“I’m doing this because I trust you.” Mr Agerate said, “First, let’s go to the basement.”

Ness looked down the deep, dark hole that laid in front of him. Mr Agerate sure had a weird idea of what’s called a ‘basement’, if that’s a ‘basement’ at all. Something’s telling Ness that the house was haunted, even with the owner standing right in front of him. The few times he had been with this guy reminded him there might be nothing inside the hole, if not something worse…

“Ah! I can tell by the look on your face you don’t want to hang out, do you?” Mr Agerate said, “That’s all right. We’re not even related. I know you think I’m a big liar, but maybe I’ll surprise you!”

He descended down the ladder into the hole followed by a reluctant Ness.

It was a long walk down the ladder. Mr Agerate’s basement was more of a dug-up cavern, and sure enough, there was a shovel and a cart filled with soil lying at the bottom of the ladder.

“Come on here, Ness buddy… follow me.” Mr Agerate said as he went further into the cavern.

As Ness slowly walked deeper and deeper into the cavern, the corridors started to get narrower and narrower, and the lighting became dimmer and dimmer. Scanning the surroundings side-to-side, a feeling of unease grew stronger and stronger inside of him. 

“Mr Agerate, what exactly are you gonna show me?” said Ness with a hint of exasperation.

“Don’t worry, We’re close… You’ll see…”

By the time they were tens of metres away from the ladder, Ness was pretty sure that if he screamed, no one could hear him except Mr Agerate.

When they reached what seemed to be a turning spot, Mr Agerate suddenly stopped.

“Mr Agerate?”

Mr Agerate slowly turned to face Ness.

“… So Ness buddy, I’ve found proof of a great treasure, a huge haul… yah hah hah…” Mr Agerate said greedily, “I’ll show you, but you’re the only one. C’mon…”

With trembling steps, Ness walked into the turning spot as sweat filled his tightly-closed palms, hoping that it really would be some great treasure, if Mr Agerate had found any treasure in the first place…

Turning around, he found that, contrary to his belief, Mr Agerate had not been lying this time. In fact, standing at the end of the dim cavern was a giant, golden statue of a strangely glowing big man with horns on his head, who was holding a sword pointed to the pedestal that it stood on. His eyes met with those of the statue’s, and it stared back at him in such an unsettling way, yet he found it somehow… attractive.

“If this statue is a sign of what lies below, I just need a little time.”

But the strange glow from the statue was starting to catch Ness’s attention more and more.

“My destiny is to find and dig up the buried treasure. I’ll eat garlic and work out to help strengthen myself. That way, I’ll keep digging up more treasure! I’ll finally be richer than I ever was!” he bragged.

The words trailed off at Ness’s ears. The weird glance from the eyes of this statue… its mesmerising glow… it’s giving an odd desire inside of Ness. A rather strong one, even. Somehow, he wanted to take the statue away, all to himself… 

He took a step forward.

“Yeah, admirable, isn’t it? Just looking at the glamorous statue itself may make you want it your own…”

But Ness found himself taking longer and longer steps forward, slowly getting closer and closer to it.

“Wait, you don’t actually want the statue to yourself, do you?” Mr Agarate’s voice echoed with shock.

Ness didn’t even realise he was an arm’s reach from the statue already. Mr Agerate quickly grasped his hands onto the statue, shouting, “No, go home now. You’re getting in the way of my work!”

The shouting brought Ness back to his senses, and he quickly darted his sight side by side, startled at everything around.

“Ness? Ness?”

He quickly turned to Mr Agerate as if he just noticed a man in front of him.

“M-Mr Agerate?” Ness blurted, “What did I… I wanted that statue so much…”

“Oh no, so it’s not just any normal statue,” Mr Agerate mumbled, “You shouldn’t be looking at it. You may start to get greedy thoughts…”

Ness stared blankly. What was he even trying to do? Trying to get that statue just by the glance of it, even though it’s nigh impossible to carry such a huge thing. What fuels such an immense desire?

He turned his eyes to the bottom of the statue just to see if there could be anything wrong with it. On the pedestal where the sword was pointing was a sign with a few large words carved on it:

MANI-MANI STATUE

“Mani-Mani Statue? What does that even mean?”

“I don’t know, but you really should get out of here. Now stop looking at it, this is mine .” Mr Agerate said in an irrational anxiety.

Knowing that Mr Agerate was getting out of control like he was, he darted out of the cave and climbed back up. 

Just what was that thing? I mean, how did it make me do that? 

No matter how he wanted to let the whole incident make sense, he couldn’t. It felt completely out of place. Nothing could explain how a simple golden statue could make him and Mr Agerate fuel with such strong desires.

Whatever it is, that artifact seemed cursed, perhaps even outright possessed, like those he saw in movies. He wouldn’t dare going back inside again. It might seem unreal to him before, but if he comes into contact with it again, he might actually get into real trouble. Or maybe he will be, if he’s already cursed by it.

Though, it’s not that weird things hadn’t happened to him last night, and this might just be one of those things. A feeling’s telling him that his adventure would only be more bizarre than he thought. First a cameraman out of nowhere, then a man that gave him creeps, and now a peculiar statue.

Looks like there would be a lot more waiting for him… 

Chapter Text

As unsettling as the statue was, it appeared to Ness that he only needed to be aware of its existence. As long as he didn’t return to Mr Agerate’s house, he would be safe. 

Now, he could turn his focus back on his main journey, with the first step being heading to Giant Step, which is thankfully near Onett. However, despite living in this town for twelve years, he hadn’t the slightest idea where Giant Step was. He wondered why nobody in his memory had ever spoken of it.

What he needed was a map, one that could pinpoint the location of Giant Step, which he previously never considered using one due to how familiar he was with his hometown. The library at the foothill always contained loads of info, so he travelled there first, asking the librarian at the counter for a map.

“Of course you can have one, kids borrow them all the time. Here’s a map.” the librarian handed out a book half-inch thick to Ness, “Onett isn’t the only thing on the map. All the info is there, except the info that isn’t there.”

“Thanks.” Ness said, though the last sentence felt awkward to him.

“It’s not necessary to return this map now. You can return it anytime you want.” the librarian added.

That’s good to hear , Ness thought, as he had no idea how long he would need the map for.

Now with the map in his hand, he now took a closer look at it. The title read:

The Town Maps of

Onett and Some of the Famous Spots in the World

He opened the book and turned the page titled “Onett”, showing a bird’s view of the town, as well as labels of shops, restaurants, the hotel and the hospital, along with 'to Twoson' marked at the southmost of the map. He kept looking around in the hopes of finding Giant Step on the map. It is bound to be here somewhere… 

Except there is no marking of it on the map. No signs, no tags, nothing .

Where is it? Why isn’t it on the map?

He decided to ask the librarian lady once more.

“Excuse me?”

“What’s up?”

“I just checked the map, Giant Step wasn’t on it…”

“Giant Step? What is it?”

“What?” Ness exclaimed. Not even the librarian lady knows about that place?

“I’m sorry, I might have heard of it, but I can’t quite remember… I suggest you search around on your own.”

“Where should I go then?”

“To the Geography section. There should be some info about it.”

“Okay, thanks.” Ness said. 

He turned himself in front of two doors with a plaque on top of each of them. The left one has “books 000-499” inscribed on it, while the other one had “books 500-999”. 

It wasn’t that hard for him to find the Geography section, which was in section 900-999, “History, Geography and Related disciplines”, owing to a sign between the two doors. 

After walking into the right door, Ness scanned his eyes over and over on the tower-like bookshelves at the section 900-999. To his luck, the only books he can find were “ Fourside: A History ”, “ The mystic land of Dalaam ”, “ Navigating the unplottable: Deep Darkness ” among some others, but none of them were about Onett, let alone Giant Step.

He went closer to the bookshelf to carefully swipe the books one by one, which didn’t change the fact that the book he wanted wasn’t there. His heart went burning. It didn’t take long before it became a rash fumble. 

Why aren’t there any books about it? Why isn’t there anything I needed?

“Y’alright, kid?”

The question gave Ness a shock amid his rummage. He turned his head to find a tall young man standing behind him.

“I saw you were fumbling all over the shelf. What’s wrong?”

“Oh, uh, do you know about Giant Step? I can’t find anything about it.” Ness said the only thing he could think of.

“Oh, you’re just in the right time. I’ve been researching about it in this book called ‘The many secrets of Onett ’. I understand why you can’t find it, actually. It’s the last one on the shelf when I took it out. Here,” the young man turned to a page with an image of a giant dirt step in the middle of a grassy hilltop, “it’s located north and west of Onett. It was said that it contains a special power.”

A special power? This must be it. It was even closer than I thought.

“Great, thanks!” Ness said.

“You’re welcome!”

Now that Ness knew where he had to go, he headed out of the library, and prepared to head northwest. There is a shack up there, and he wondered if Giant Step was somewhere nearby.

Right at the front door of the library, Ness caught a golden yellow butterfly in his sight. Flickering golden yellow sunlight with its gleaming wings, it left a trail of sparkles, making Ness fascinated. It was certainly a species he had almost never encountered before.

As he gently stuck a finger out to the butterfly, it slowly landed on it, closing its wings up. Upon a closer look, Ness found the butterfly wasn’t just reflecting sunlight, it was glowing, but unlike the strange glow from that statue, its glow was beautiful as a fairy in a children’s book, or a piece of cartoon. Looking at how this butterfly then fluttered away from his finger and flew around him made Ness’s worries fly away like a fluttering butterfly. Only that the relaxation was like an oddly instantaneous relief, like getting a Lifeup, rather than the appreciation of its beauty.

That was so reminiscent of a certain mechanic in a video game… but he wondered why something similar was happening to his world, and how he hadn’t seen one of these in his memory.

As he continued on the dirt path leading northwest, a familiar voice from a boy called him out.

“Oi, Ness!”

“Oh hey Pete! You good?”

Pete was another black-haired boy in an olive green T-shirt, a friend of Ness’s from his middle school.

“Yeah, I’m doing watch-out duty for the hideout, do you wanna take over?”

Wanting to help ease out some of his friend’s job, he said, “Sure, why not?”

“I’m just kidding.” Pete said, “Being watch-out is my job.”

“That’s fine,” Ness said, “did they let you into the gang?”

“No, not yet,” Pete shook his head, “said I need to work myself harder. I wish they could be a little less serious on this matter though.”

“Do you want me to ask them?”

“Eh, it’ll be fine. Anyway, why don’t you head in? They’ve been itching to see you for a while.” Pete said.

“Sure.”

Walking behind him, a wooden treehouse stood in front of him with a couple of trees in between, and from its door hung a rope ladder. Climbing it up into the familiar place, his three friends from elementary school, Tim, Charlie and Ken were all hanging around by a wooden table. All of them were wearing suspenders and a hat as usual.

“Yo Ness, long time no see!” said Ken, the boy in the red cap, which was a limited edition of Ness's, who had wanted it for quite a while.

“Hi guys!” Ness said.

“You’ve grown since I last saw you. You’re beginning to look like a man. You’re so cool! I… I think I really like you.” Tim, the boy in the bowler hat complimented shyly, “Well, you know what I mean.”

“Um, yeah… thanks…” Ness said, thinking he might only have grown a few centimetres taller.

“Where have you been these days?” asked Tim, “It’s been quieter without you.”

“I know, but it’s quite busy for me lately…”

“Like meeting new girls?” asked Charlie, the boy in the cowboy hat.

“Charlie, I can’t be busy for that .” Ness said, knowing how Charlie loved to tease him with that.

“Really? I thought you had a lot of chances! I mean, we all knew you’ve got Amber‒”

“We’ve never been together, okay?”

“Aw, that’s fine, but don’t give your hopes up, I’m sure you’ll find another one.” Charlie said jokingly, patting Ness on his head, who squinted at his friend, but in a nice way.

Charlie went on, not helping Ness at all, “I had a dream about you, and you were travelling with a cute girl. If the dream comes true, say hi to her for me. After all, I’m single…”

“Alright, I’ll tell her you needed a girlfriend, desperately.”

Charlie turned to Ness immediately, “Ness! How could you‒”

“What? Taking back your words, Mr ‘I’m single’?”

“Well if you dare tell her, I’ll tell everyone about the stuff between you and Amber.”

“When are you guys gonna stop milking this joke to death?”

“I dunno, forever? It was fun for us. Don’t you say, Charlie?” Ken added,

“Of course.” Charlie snickered.

“But seriously, if you’d like another partner, I think Paula would be nice for you.” Ken said to Ness.

“And who is she, even?”

“Seriously, Paula Jones from Twoson, don’t you know? She’s quite famous there. People say she’s really special. Why is she special? I forgot to ask. Oh well…” Ken shrugged, “Anyway, you said that you were busy recently. What is it?”

“Oh, it’s not much, just schoolwork, y’know?” Ness said.

“Fair point,” Charlie said, “our Ness loves to work hard no matter what.”

“Yeah, it’s not the first time you were gone for that long.” Ken said, “Remember the time when you went into that Eagleland baseball league? You practiced almost every day, just to get your swings right.” Ken continued, “I wanted to come with you, but eh, can’t bring myself that far, even though we were in the same team.”

“That’s too bad, you missed a lot on that.” Ness said.

“Honestly Ness, sometimes you just need to take your time and chill like us.” Charlie said, laying himself on a beanbag chair, “Sitting here, having a chit-chat, playing some games, in the base that’s only for the four of us.”

“What about Pete then?”

There was a short pause before Charlie turned his head to Tim after he asked.

“Hm, let’s just say he’s not as cool as us, don’tcha think?” Charlie said with a smirk.

“Really, Charlie?” Tim asked.

“Just kiddin’. But look, we’ve been like this for four years, almost five, and I just kinda wanted to stay this way.”

“But he’s my friend!” Ness interrupted, “I know he’s nice and trustworthy, and he said he wanted to join you guys for some time. Why can’t you guys just let him in?”

“Well of course we could, it’s just that we needed someone to keep watch. You know, especially on the Sharks. They’re just hungrier than ever after hogging the arcade.” Ken said.

“You guys can watch in shifts.” Ness said.

“Eh, we just wanted him to do some work first. We can’t just let people hide in our place just to get away with stuff. Porky, for example.” Ken scowled, before patting on Ness's back, “Don’t worry though, we’ll let him join, once the chaos in the town’s done with.”

“Uh, by the way, speaking of chaos, I’ve heard the meteorite landing near your home, isn’t it?” Tim asked.

“Yeah, I totally didn’t expect that.”

“Don’t we all? But you’ve got the chance to see it yourself, right?”

“Yeah, Porky brought me up to see it.”

Ken let out a derisive laugh, “Would he be that good?”

“Nah, he brought me up ‘cuz he lost his brother up there.”

“Typical. Needs you to save his butt again.” Tim said.

“Ness, you could be too nice sometimes. I would’ve ignored him if I were you.” Charlie added.

“There’s still his brother.”

“Eh, I know you'd go up and save him.” Charlie said, “What’cha see up there?”

Ness pondered on for a while, before he proceeded to tell them all the weird stuff he saw heading up to the meteorite.

“No way!” Tim said.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Charlie shook his head.

“I know, unbelievable, isn't it?” Ness said.

“Hm, but that might explain why my dog was running crazy this morning. I swear I almost lost my leg there.” Ken said.

“Me too! I'm glad King was there though…”

“Did he bite you as well?” Charlie asked jokingly.

“Nah, he’s too old for that.” Ness waved his hand.

Charlie let out a little laugh, and continued, “So, you’re gonna ditch us again to save the world, huh?”

“I never said I’d ditch you guys, you guys are always my friends!” Ness said.

“Just kiddin’.” Charlie said.

“Y’think we can come with you?” Tim asked eagerly.

“Y’know, lil’ Timmie, three boys and a girl… we’d totally exceed that.” Charlie said, “But of course, if you really wanna join, we can ditch Ken behind…”

“Charlie, why me?”

“Just kiddin’. I’m not into stuff like that.” said Charlie lazily, “Well, lil’ Timmie, if you wanted to join, I wouldn’t mind…” Charlie said.

“Nah, that’s fine.” Tim said, “But I wish you luck.”

“Have fun on your journey!” Charlie patted Ness on his shoulder, “Perhaps my dream will actually come true! If that ‘one girl’ is actually Paula‒”

“Yeah, yeah, I know what to tell her.” said Ness.

“Don’t forget about us!” Tim added.

“No problem. I’ll see you guys then!” Ness said, as he began to head out of the treehouse.

Continuing his way northwest, he realised he was going to miss them too. Sure, they might have set up their kind of ‘admission principles’, but there’s a reason he always liked to hang out with those guys. Before the meteorite crashed, he thought he would have loads of time to have some time with them, but now this didn’t seem like a possibility. Though, at least he could be coming back for the thing Ken wanted to give him. He hoped it could be something that could help him, or simply something he liked would be good.

At the end of the road, in front of him was a shack with a wooden wall in front of it, separating the shack from the rest of Onett. The signs “Travelling entertainer’s shack” and “Don’t Enter” were next to it. Two people with big eyes and in bright red outfits were murmuring to each other in front of it. Judging by their funny appearances, they must be the touring entertainers.

“Excuse me,” Ness called the two of them.

“Huh? What’re you doing here?” one of the entertainers turned and asked.

“Um, do you know where Giant Step is?”

The two men looked into each other’s eyes for a brief moment, before the one who just spoke said, “You mean, the big footprint that was said to be on the hilltop behind this shack?”

“Did you just say where it is?” Ness asked.

“No‒ I mean, yeah! I just did…” the man said, “but I haven’t seen it myself… It’s just a rumour.”

“So I just have to pass through the shack to get up there?”

“Technically, yes, but now I’m afraid you can’t,” the other entertainer said, “this shack was locked by someone from the Town Hall, so we can’t use it. The reason it was closed was ‘cause a punk named Frank may have trashed the place. What a drag. We can’t even change our clothes, and hotels are too expensive…”

“Yeah, someone should teach that Frank guy a lesson.” the first entertainer said.

“Sorry that happened to you, d’you think I can help?”

“Unless you can go to the Town Hall and ask for the people there to open it, I don’t think you can.” the second entertainer said.

“And who’s this Frank guy?”

The two entertainers looked at each others’ eyes again.

“Hmm… I think he’s the leader of the local gang.” the first entertainer said.

Ness’s sight narrowed a bit, realising who they might be talking about.

“Wait, do you mean the Sharks?”

“I’m not sure, but if that’s their name, yes.”

“You should ask someone in town. They could tell you about it.” the second entertainer said.

“Okay, thanks!” Ness said.

So that’s where he had to go now: the Town Hall, where the key to the shack is at. At the same time, a desire to seek that Frank guy out kindled in Ness, for making the lives of the travelling entertainers and his adventure difficult. 

Getting back to the branching path in front of the library, he headed south, where the pavement roads are, as well as the main area of Onett, the small town that he spends most of his time in. The Town Hall is at the centre of the town, and thanks to the size of the town, it would only be a minute's walk or two to get there from the library, which is a good thing, since the size of the town made everything so accessible and familiar to him. But to his right were the burger store and the drug store, the latter of which sells various equipment for some reason, and it would be a good chance to find a replacement for his cracked bat.

Inside the drug store, he went to have a look at the goods on the shelves. There were some second-hand bats and… some wooden tee-ball bats to the right! That’s exactly what Ness needed. He took out one of them, and just when he turned to pay, some tempting yo-yos caught his eye.

Those were so much fun to play! That’s something to kill time on my journey.

He took a green yo-yo from the shelf, as well as all his cash from the ATM located conveniently near the counter ($62) before turning to pay. 

“That would add up to $77, sir.” the cashier said.

Shoot, I don’t have enough cash...

Ness checked his wallet thoroughly, in the hopes of finding extra money if he had left any. Thankfully, there was already an additional $20 note in his wallet, meaning he could afford all of them.

“Thank you. I can also buy back your cracked bat for $9.” the shopkeeper said.

“No thanks.” Ness said, knowing the value of the bat to him.

After placing his items in his backpack, Ness felt that it could be a good chance to call his mother as well, even though he just left home for a couple of hours.

He inserted a coin to the phone near the door and picked up the receiver.

“Hello?” the other side of the phone said.

“Mom?”

“Is that you, Ness? You called me back sooner than I thought…”

“Yeah, just wanna know if you guys are okay.”

“Everyone here is doing just fine.” Ness’s mum said, “Oh, what is it Tracy?”

Some muffled noises came from the other side of the phone, before Ness’s mum responded with, “Here, I’ll let you talk to her. And call me when you have some time.”

“I don’t have free time, Mom, I’ve got a world to save!” Ness said cheerfully. His mum didn’t seem to share his cheeriness though.

“Oh… you don’t have any free time? Well, here’s Tracy.”

“Hello Ness!” Tracy said, “How are you?”

“I’m fine.”

“Great! I’ve been writing a job application to Escargo Express! I hope they will take my offer. I’d do anything to help!”

“You’re too young!” Ness said.

“Who cares if I’m too young? I’ll try! If I try hard enough, I’m sure they’ll take me in!” Tracy said excitedly.

Not wanting to discourage his sister, Ness made a silly laugh.

“Oh, Ness, do you need any help, by the way?”

“Not right now. I’ll call you when I need it.”

“No problem. See you!”

Ness hung up the phone and went out of the drug store. It was such a brief talk, but he couldn’t imagine how Tracy would want to apply to Escargo Express minutes after his departure. She must really be willing to help her big brother out. In fact, Ness felt if she’s of age, she might actually be fit for the job. Her room was much tidier than Ness’s even after she could clean her room on her own, and she could always tell where the items in their house were located, far better than her brother or her mum.

Walking past a couple of houses, he reached the Town Hall, an easily recognisable large building in the middle of a park with a triangular top and pillars supporting it at the front. A young man in a blue T-shirt and blonde hair was distributing some sort of posters to the citizens near the front door, while another withered old man nearby was holding a cardboard sign, which read, "THE END IS NEAR!". Ness never had expected someone would hold a sign like this in Onett. Normally they only happen in Fourside.

He walked up the stairs into the atrium of the Town Hall. It was quite an old hall, grey walls surrounded the whole atrium, complete with a dark, wooden floor, making it look like some sort of architecture in the 1890s. Plaster figures of some honorary officials of the town stood along the walls. A group of people gathered around a corner in the hall, more than what he’d seen before inside. They gathered around a staff member, who visibly seemed to be at a loss, and spoke to him. Though they sounded more like complaining than anything. One of them, a man in a red business shirt, was especially loud.

“There are lots of snakes and stray dogs around Onett. Is the mayor going to let them just run around, doing whatever they want? I’m here to protest!”

The rest of them seemed to be filled with similar disappointment when they voiced out their concerns. Though this group is small, the meteor incident must’ve caused a lot of inconvenience for the townsfolk.

Ness rushed into the door opposite to the main entrance with the words “Mayor’s Office” on top of it, and then up the stairs leading to it, ignoring the call of the receptionist woman nearby to not do it without an appointment. 

Once he reached the end of the stairs, however, a police officer stopped him right before he could take another step into the mayor’s office.

“The mayor is busting his butt with all the troubles in town, like the Sharks and the meteorite…” the police officer said in a gruff voice, “Hey, are you the guy who’s trying to reform the Sharks?”

“Umm… kind of? I mean‒”

“Wa ho! Wa ho! Wa ho! You’ve got to be kidding!” the police officer laughed hysterically, before shouting, “SCRAM!”

He gave Ness a little push, which almost caused him to trip over the stairs. Ness glared at him for a second, knowing he had no choice but to grudgingly get back down.

“I told you not to go up there without an appointment.” the lady at the reception desk said, causing Ness to stop and turn to her. “Simon’s pretty loud himself, but if you’re dealing with the Sharks, good luck on that.”

“Wait, I don’t understand.”

“You said you can deal with the Sharks.”

“I didn’t say any of that! I mean, I was gonna ask you guys to open the travelling entertainer’s shack, but Frank’s trashed it, so I wanna find him out as well.”

“You know Frank’s the leader of the Sharks, right?”

“Yeah, is he?”

“Then I don’t think there’s a point going there. It’s dangerous to go alone.” she said unenthusiastically.

“Ok, then how about opening the shack?”

“Unfortunately, we can't do this. We don’t want anyone to bust the shack again.” the lady said, preparing to turn back to her own work.

“I’m not gonna bust it, I promise!”

“I’m sorry, but until the Sharks are dealt with, we cannot open it to anyone.”

“Are you guys dealing with it now?”

“Well, the mayor is too busy to do it himself.” she said as she scribbled on a piece of document with her pen, “Now that the meteorite struck, he and the police are under extra pressure, and put all their time to‒”

“They’re just blocking roads! And the Sharks‒ they took the arcade station for ages ‒ across the street from the police station!” Ness said in a mix of impatience and desperation.

“Listen, we’ve got a lot of work on our hands already, so we’d have to deal with the urgent first.” the lady turned her head to Ness, “We'll open it up after we’ve dealt with the Sharks, but not before the meteorite crisis is solved first.”

“I can’t wait for that! I need to get in now, it’s important!”

The receptionist lady leaned forward to Ness, lowering her voice as she spoke in a stern expression, “Now, little one, I hope I can clarify here: it is not that easy. The Sharks were already a pain in the neck to deal with, especially Frank, their leader, and we’ve already dedicated most of our manpower to tackle those animals running wild after that meteorite crash. Do you even think you have a better way to do that?”

Ness looked downward, knowing how there seemed to be no way to get the key. Of course snakes and crows are far easier to tackle than the Sharks, but he couldn’t just wait. By the time they’re done with the crises, Gyiyg would probably have struck Onett. Then he looked back at the receptionist, who was still staring at him with her usual expression. If she said the Sharks had to be dealt with, he just needed a better candidate, but who should that be?

At that thought, Ness’s desire to retrieve the key and give Frank a piece of his mind burnt greater in his heart. 

“I’m gonna go and stop them.” Ness said, rising his chin to look at the receptionist's face.

The lady gave startled laugh.

“Seriously? You’re mad! You won’t stand a chance against any of them!”

“That's what you said, but I’ll give it a try. If I try hard enough, I'll surely take them down!” Ness said as he turned to leave the room.

Even with his determination to take down the Sharks, he couldn’t stop feeling how quickly his heart pounded as he walked south. Those Sharks all wore shades and a hat‒ or rather, a hood resembling a shark’s fin protruding from the back‒ to make themselves look ‘cooler’. That’s how they got their name from. But on the street were only normal pedestrians. Ness wondered why there’s still not a single member in sight. Normally they would be all around the town, finding any small fish around for their next meal.

Could he even stand a chance against them? They all have builds that would put his into shame. Plus, those Sharks are all happy to pick on anyone who they think as 'suitable prey', and he's likely their next meal if he just tried to confront them face-to-face. Passing by the hospital to his right brought deeper breaths to him as he batted an eye on it, before quickly turning his sight back to the main road. That would most likely be his next stop if he screwed up, and he’s not going to screw up.

Suddenly, a faint scream from the other side of the buildings in front of him cut Ness’s thoughts off, prompting him to hurry forward. Turning his head towards the left, which is the street leading to the arcade, Ness’s desires to combat the Sharks burnt even greater when he saw the commotion causing the scream: Louis, a blonde-haired boy shorter than Ness by half a head as well as one of his baseball teammates younger than him by a year, was pinned to a fence by three teens, all wearing shades and fin-like hoods.

“Help! Someone help me!” Louis screamed.

“Shut up, small fry, now gimme your cash!” one of those teens said.

“What’s the problem with you guys?” said an exasperated Louis.

“Nothing personal, kid. It’s just that you happened to show up while we’re here.” said another one holding a skateboard, as he loomed over to the kid, “Now, if you want things easy, give us your cash.”

Ness clenched his fists upon this sight.

With his trembling arm, Louis sheepishly reached his pocket and tugged out a 20-dollar note.

“That’s… that’s all I’ve got…”

“Only twenty bucks?” the third teen with a pogo growled.

How could they‒

Ness grabbed his fists tighter and took a step closer, but no one seemed to have noticed him yet.

“I really don’t have any more… please, let me go…” Louis’s voice cracked.

“Nah, I think he’s got much more, Bolt.” the second teen said to his peers, before turning to Louis, “Give us all you’ve got!”

“NO! GET OFF ME!” Louis screamed with a broken voice, trying with all his might to push off the bullies’ hands, who were all grabbing his limbs tightly while fumbling violently with his clothes.

Ness couldn’t stand it anymore. He pulled out his tee-ball bat and pointed towards the bullies.

“HEY! Leave him alone! ”

“Huh? Who the heck are you?” the first teen said.

“I’m his friend. Now let him go .” Ness demanded.

“Let him go?” the first teen gave a laugh of mockery, “Who do you think you are, chubby boy? We’ve just laid hands on this brat, and now you want us to let him go? What if we don’t?”

“Then I guess I’ll have to take you down.” Ness said, holding his bat tightly towards the teen.

“Take us down? Wa ha ha! I’m so scared! ” the first teen mocked.

“You’ve got guts, mate,” the second teen said menacingly, “I wanna have them for dinner!”

“Nah, Pop, I think we’ve had enough, let’s just finish him already!” the teen called Bolt said.

Chapter Text

Snagging their skateboard and pogo quickly, the two teens put on a fighting stance as they crept towards Ness, his heart beating faster, finally realising how small he is compared to them: two imposing Sharks against a small boy like him. But knowing how a fight is inevitable, his eyes focused on the two, and held his bat up front.

Without further warning, Pop bounced with all his might using a pogo, flipping before landing, but missed Ness. With his back turned, Ness swung his bat on Pop’s butt, knocking him off his pogo.

But right then, Bolt shredded fiercely with his skateboard, knocking Ness onto the ground before he could even react. He screamed when a surge of pain emerged from his back before he went rolling over with Bolt. It was quite lucky for Ness to easily push the bully away from him and run. As he ran to get his bat landed nearby, his wounded back stung quite badly, that he'd like to grab his back right now, but he needed both hands on his bat.

Albeit wobbly, Bolt had stood back up too, throwing a punch too high for Ness, who stepped back in reflex and took his revenge by a smash in his stomach with his bat. Bolt stumbled back, crouching as he clutched his belly in pain, shouting, “Fridge! Ba-Back us up! We’ve got a problem here!”

The teen who was holding Louis quickly pushed the kid aside and rushed towards Ness, punching on the left of his chest like a rock thrown at him. He staggered a few steps, but quickly gained back his composure and swung his bat onto Fridge. Just then, his collar was yanked backward with a great force.

It was Pop who pulled him onto the floor. The two teens drew nearer, raising their feet, but he just rolled right out of their way before they could even kick him. Seizing the chance, Ness swiped his leg swiftly onto Pop’s ankle, tripping him over, before standing back up and giving him one hard kick out of his way.

“Don’t you go anywhere, kid!” Fridge’s voice came right in front of him, where he thrusted his open hand onto Ness's. In a shock, he punched Fridge in the face and kicked him back in the groin, causing him to squeal and double over in pain.

At last, they were all down. He breathed heavily and frequently as sweat was running all over his head, but seeing how the teens were all moaning on the ground in pain, he couldn’t believe what he'd just done: a kid like him had beaten up three big Sharks!

At that time, he was greeted by another feverish feeling, another wave that made his head spin, but just for a brief moment. Would that be… 

Before he could think any further, the three Sharks stood back up, groaning in pain. He certainly didn’t want to fight again, but he’s still not done with them, so he pointed his bat to the bullies.

“Where’s Frank?” Ness demanded.

The three Shark members exchanged uneasy looks.

“Frank? Our‒ our boss?” Fridge blubbered.

“Do you want to meet Frank? You don’t want Frank to beat you up, do you?” Bolt said cockily.

“Yes, I wanna see him, and no, I don’t want him to beat me.” Ness said.

“But you’ve got the nerve to fight us!” Pop said.

“That’s because you struck first, and you bullied my friend!” Ness pointed his bat to Pop, causing him to retract his arms.

“Well, if you wanna try him, he’s in the backyard of the arcade.” Bolt said.

“Good. Now give those things back to my friend.” Ness said firmly, taking a step towards the Sharks, who took a step back in response.

They took out the $20 note with quivering arms, before throwing it on the floor next to the fence, where Louis was shivering behind in fear, along with the wallet that was robbed from him.

“Good, now get out of here! Don’t hurt anyone ever again.” he said, pointing his bat sideways.

They nodded quickly, and dashed out of the street for their lives.

As the bullies went off the street, a timid voice came behind the fence.

“Are… are they all gone?”

Ness turned his head to the fence. Giving a few careful looks, he confirmed that there were no more suspicious figures, at least on this street.

“No, there’s no more. You can come out now.”

Louis meekly walked out of the fence, still trembling a bit from his head to his legs.

“I’m so glad you came, Ness… I can’t imagine what would happen if you hadn’t shown up!” Louis said.

“It’s okay now, they’re gone.” Ness assured, placing a hand on his shoulder, “You should hurry back home now. Don’t let them see you on the way, ok?”

Louis nodded, turned back and walked his way home.

With no-one else on the street, Ness picked up the Sound Stone and gave it a tap, wondering if that feeling was just like what Buzz Buzz said.

It turned out that his predictions were true. Under the PSI tab, “Hypnosis α” was displayed next to “Assist”.

Hypnosis… hmm… that could be useful.

After shrinking the holograph back, he still felt his back tingling. At least he needed to be in proper shape before entering the arcade. 

Then he remembered: he also had the ability to heal himself, only he wasn’t able to do it verbally. Or he could’ve done it, if Buzz Buzz wasn’t mortally wounded already. He could give it one more try, to see how it really was like.

Closing his eyes, he placed his right hand on his back, where the aching sensation was, before muttering, “ PK Lifeup: Alpha! ”

Immediately, a warm sensation flowed around his back, and when the warmth faded, so was the pain. His back was also smooth once again, not even leaving a scab.

It worked! So that’s how you put it into use… Got it!

With the success of intentionally using the psychic ability in mind, Ness felt a bit more confident in what comes forward.

But even when he reached the front doors of the arcade, he stopped before it, thinking how there could be dozens of those teens in the Sharks’ den. Sure, he might be able to beat three of them, but what about the whole gang?

Perhaps he might still stand a chance against them. With his newfound PSI, who’s to say he can’t go one-man-army against them? Added with the incidents they caused to give him and the townsfolk such inconvenience, his mind was burning to give them some well-deserved ass-kicking.

Okay Ness, you can do it!

He pushed open the doors to find himself in the stuffy, dimly-lit room he used to know, with arcade machines lined up all along the walls and in the middle of the room, forming two narrow corridors, as well as a pinball machine next to the doors opposite to him. This was the place where he used to hang out occasionally with his friends in the treehouse, challenging each other with Tetris and Space Invaders , but was now infested with those teens in their weird hoods, so they had to go elsewhere. If he succeeds this time, he might be able to free the arcade, and he could be able to play with his friends here again. That would do a huge favour to him, his friends, and the town.

His entry alerted a teen in a green hood nearby though, who was taller than Ness by a head. He rushed towards Ness and pointed at him.

“It was you! YOU beat up my buddy, didn’t you? You better just beat it!”

Ness noticed now, there were many hostile eyes pointing at him. He stood in silence and his throat tightened up.

“Get him!” another teen shouted to the rest of his friends.

Immediately, the Shark member took out his pogo and thrusted it towards Ness, poking him at the waist, forcing him to stumble sideways as a throbbing pain emerged. The pogo punk raised his pogo again, ready to thrust it down on Ness, but he sidestepped it inches from where it hit, when he gained back his posture again.

“Nowhere to go, huh?”

Another teen in a grey hood holding a skateboard stood in front of him next to another purple-hooded teen with a long metal rod, both looming over him gleefully. At his back was the pogo punk. Ness was surrounded in the middle of the corridor.

He’s sure that one hit on any of them would not only be unable to bring them down, but also earn himself a massive beating. The bullies now were dangerously close to him. He’d better come up with a way, quickly.

Think, Ness! What to do, what to do?

“Get ready for a beat-up!” the green-hooded teen taunted.

Wait, they could beat me by force, but I don’t have to… 

“I don’t think so,” Ness said, before pointing at the green-hooded teen, focusing with his might, “ PK Hypnosis: Alpha! ”

Several multi-coloured rings spread out from Ness's fingers onto the Shark member, fading away when they reached him. Shortly, the Shark began wobbling around, before collapsing onto the ground and going fast asleep. 

“Wha-what did you do to my pal?” the grey-hooded Shark next to him said, quickly taking a step back along with his friend.

Ness looked at his hands, frozen on the spot. Did I just… made him sleep?

“That kid… that kid’s got magic!” the purple-hooded one pointed with a shaking arm.

“Yeah, you like it? How about I do it again? PK-”

The teens’s lips quivered before Ness could finish and ran away in horror.

That felt good.

Now that his path was clear, he could safely head to the back door of the arcade.

Or so he thought. Another one of those Sharks in a black hood and shades descended down the stairs, heading right towards Ness. To make things worse, he’s got quite a build for one.

“So yo' the one causin’ all the trouble.” that guy said, “What? You think you’re better at our game?”

“Your game? Like what, beating people up?”

“Yo' lookin’ for a fight, aren’tcha? Well, yo' not gettin’ to the boss without goin’ through me!” the punk growled, “Motor, dump me the board.”

The grey-hooded teen threw the skateboard to his friend, who caught it with both his hands and rushed towards Ness, chasing Ness into the other corridor, cornering him on the edge of the line of arcade machines. He slammed the board, and Ness, in a gasp of breath, just managed to duck. Luckily for him, the teen had only hit a nearby arcade machine instead, causing the wheels of the skateboard to break. That didn't stop his heart from beating rapidly from the possible impact.

“Hey, that one’s new!” Motor yelled from a distance.

“Get yourself a newer one then!” the black-hooded teen said back.

But knowing how dangerous his opponent could be, Ness focused on the teen, pointing at him while bellowing, “ PK Hypnosis: Alpha! ” as soon as he turned back to Ness.

Another shot of multi-coloured rings emerged onto the teen, which made him fall and slumber on an arcade machine opposite to Ness.

Finally, Ness could turn to the back door, which now seemed to be guarded by another teen in a blue hood and pullover. Looks like he had to get through that guy first.

To his amusement, the Shark member greeted him instead, but an uneasiness roused in his mind when she gave her wide, seemingly cunning smile.

“Hey kid! Nice work you did there! You’ve beaten almost everyone in this room!” the punk said in a tomboyish voice, “You know, I was gonna beat you first, but now that I saw what you did here… I was thinking that you could be a great addition to us! Do you wanna become a member?”

The blue-hooded Shark took out her hand to shake Ness’s, but he didn’t take it.

“I don’t think snagging stuff and bullying kids is my cup of tea, thanks.” Ness said cooly.

“Don’t be such a snob!” the blue-hooded teen said, “Maybe you’ll change your mind… after this!”

She quickly grabbed her hula-hoop and swung on Ness with such a huge force that made him trip onto his knees, while the Shark member laughed hysterically. Irritated, Ness swiftly grabbed his bat and did a low-swing to her knees, tripping her over as well.

“On equal ground, are we?” the teen said.

“Heh, yeah, good one. Won’t change my mind though.”

“I know, ‘cuz that’s good on your head !” the teen said, flinging her hula-hoop right onto Ness’s head.

“Ow!” Ness yelped, who didn’t‒ but felt that he should’ve‒ predicted this. In response, he gave a blind swing with his bat, and actually managed to hit something‒ the teen, who was the one yelping now. When his eyes focused on hers again, he finished with a downward strike on her before she could attack, hitting her onto the floor. With a heavy hit like this, he had to catch onto his breath, when the teen slowly stood back up again.

“Wow, you do really mean it kid.” the blue-hooded teen said with a weak grin, “As I said, if you want to be in our cool gang‒”

“I said I have no interest. You guys aren’t even cool. All you guys do is go out in your lame outfits, steal stuff from other kids, and beat others up when things didn’t go your way. Who wants to join your gang anyway?”

But he must’ve pushed her button, because the teen seemed to have gained back all her strength immediately and pinned him onto a nearby wall.

“I’ll make you reconsider your words, kid.” she said quietly with her lips curling, “We could do whatever we want, get whatever we want, and make the whole town fear us, ‘cuz there are none of those useless adults holding us back. That’s why we’re cooler than anyone else. Don’t you even know how many kids like you wanted to be one of us? You think just because you barged in you’re better than any of us here? No, you’re just a weak, pathetic kid, like all those losers who scurried away the other day. What are you even doing here, huh?”

“I just wanted to talk to Frank. I’ve got something to deal with him. That's it.”

"Hey, you guys heard him? He wanted to challenge our boss!" the punk shouted to the rest of the arcade.

The remaining teens that are awake sneered at him.

"Good luck kid, hope your skull wouldn't get cracked open!" a nearby teen said.

The teen who was holding Ness let go of him.

"Well, I won't hold you back, I'll leave the rest to The Best. Have fun."

Ness placed his hand on the front door for a second, his heart still beating quickly for the anticipation, thinking if he would be able to handle their leader, potentially the biggest Shark around, and the most dangerous of them, like a video game boss in a castle of minions. But considering how he had beaten a couple of the Sharks here, he pushed open the door, ready for the upcoming confrontation.

Entering the backyard, he stopped before the figure in front of him: a much taller male figure than any of the other Shark members he’s seen. Instead of a hood, he had an actual mohawk like a golden fin, and his clothes‒ a red, pinstripe suit complete with a pair of matching pants and black boots, gave him the appearance of a serious figure, which, when added up with his shades, made him appear to be staring at anyone who simply caught sight of him. An appearance fitting for a gang leader. He even had a necklace with a few shark tooth-like ornaments, as if he had taken them down from their owners. Next to him was a large wooden tank-like structure that towers over that guy, and had metallic arms with gloves shaped like fists at their ends. It even shared the man's face with a cheeky grin. To Ness, it kind of resembled a fusion of a tank and a robot, but he wondered what Frank would need it for, or simply why it was here in the first place.

Part of Ness wanted to go for the door handle when the man crossed his arms and said with a bright, yet uncomforting grin, like those of actual sharks.

“Well, well, lookit what we’ve got here. A little kid in a red cap.”

Chapter Text

Ness didn’t say anything. He was preparing for better or worse from this guy.

“Nice to meet you here, I’m Frank. You are?”

“Ness. You’re the leader of the Sharks, right?”

“Oh no no no, who told you that? I’m not just ‘The Leader of the Sharks’,” Frank cleared his throat, “I am the greatest leader of the Sharks…”

“You mean, the only leader of the Sharks…”

“Hey, that's just my way of saying it. It’s my grand introduction, not yours.” Frank said, “But you’re right, yes, I am the only one… for I am the strongest and burliest of the Sharks... the one and only… ‘Fail-proof’ Frank Fly!” Frank finished with both his index fingers pointed towards Ness, one in front of the other.

"'Fail-proof' Frank Fly?"

“Yeah, check it out, mate, ‘Fail-proof’ Frank Fly has never lost a single match!" Frank grinned widely before flexing his muscles, "He’s the greatest combatant in the arcade, and across all of Onett! Now, cower before my greatness, baby!”

Ness stood firm and stared at him in silence. He's not here to bow down to this guy, after all.

“Hm? Not satisfied, eh?” Frank leaned forward to Ness, “Unless you say… you can top my high score?”

Before Ness could say anything, Frank just laughed himself off, “Ha, don’t even think of it, mate. I didn’t even see a ‘Ness’ on the leaderboards.” Frank laughed derisively, “Well, actually, all the leaderboards are covered with my name… but that’s because I’m ‘Fail-proof’ Frank! What are you, some kind of pawn tryin’ to take down the mighty king? Don’t make me laugh.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know you’re great, can I speak now?” Ness interrupted.

Frank looked back to Ness. “Dude, I’m not even finished. Have some respect for the big guy, okay?”

"Yeah, good, but it's my turn now," Ness spoke on, “Why did you thrash the shack and raid the arcade?”

Frank stood in a moment of silence before he grinned and went on.

“Why, just havin’ some good ol’ fun, of course, not much of a big deal.”

"Yeah, you guys are having fun while we have to suffer!"

“You? You middle schoolers?" Frank pointed back at Ness, "You know, you guys kinda deserved it.”

Ness narrowed his sight.

“What?”

"You pesky little kids always took all the spots in the arcade before we even came. Other people are waiting, you know? But you little schoolchildren are utter weaklings! I called my goons to raid this place one day, to show you guys who's the biggest one in the bunch, and boy, turns out it was much easier, we didn't even need to fight you guys! As soon as we threatened you guys, you guys were all shaking in your feet! Finally, we could have all the fun to ourselves!”

“ That’s why you took the arcade?” Ness exclaimed, unable to believe how Frank ‘raided’ the arcade for such a selfish reason.

“Dude, it’s simple, as ‘Fail-proof’, I’m the strongest one in town. Of course I can easily get whatever I want!”

“Doesn’t mean you can come in and scare us off!” Ness raised his voice and leaned his head forward.

“That’s society, kid. It’s called survival of the fittest!”

“Survival of what ?”

“You still don’t understand? And you’re here thinking you’re better than me, Mr. Goody-two-shoes? Perhaps Uncle Franky should teach you a proper lesson. I’ll show you…”

Frank reached the inside of his suit, and swiftly pulled out two daggers from it, a devilish smile forming on his face as he did.

“ … who’s the boss of this place!”

Ness gasped as his heart quickly sank. All the other Shark members used skateboards and pogos at best, but their leader wielded actual knives. One wrong move would really mean the end for him.

Frank threw a knife right beside Ness. In a gasp of breath, he dodged to the side, when a second knife shot right across his sight, narrowly missing him. He almost had a shock at this, while his opponent laughed at his plight as he drew two more blades from his suit.

Realising how dangerous his foe is, he pointed at him and shouted, “ PK Hypnosis: Alpha! ” while his mind tensed up.

Multicoloured rings flew towards Frank, but surprisingly, Frank showed no signs of falling.

“Was that supposed to be some sort of spell?” Frank laughed mockingly, “This isn’t a video game, okay? Kids like you really need to stop getting so caught up in such delusions. I’ll show you how to fight like a real man…”

Frank threw both knives towards Ness, and both missed. He brandished two more, rushed forward, and came swinging onto Ness, who stepped a few steps back with his teeth clenched and pulled his bat up front in defense, dodging quickly from Frank’s speeding punch, only to be immediately hit by another on his right shoulder. Stumbling back, another punch landed on Ness’s forehead, almost cracking his skull as everything blurred over him and he tumbled onto the floor.

“Ha, so weak…”

“Not... yet... Hi-yah!” Ness resisted, standing back up with a limp and blindly swung with his bat, finally hitting something. Frank tripped sideways, but quickly came back swinging and‒

“AH!”

A thin, sharp pain scratched his right arm, as Ness immediately dropped his weapon in reflex, losing his breath while tightly shutting his eyes. The wound only got more painful the harder he grabbed it, and warm liquid seeped out of his hands, as well as some other from his eyelids.

“Whoa, I can’t believe…” Frank said in an unusually surprised tone, but Ness wasn’t having any of it. This could almost be the most painful wound he had. In his shortness of breath and cloudy mind, Ness muttered, “ PK… Lifeup… Alpha…”

Slowly, his headache felt no more, and he felt as if the cut on his right arm wasn’t made at all. His sight reverted back to normal, and the first sight after that was Frank’s almost speechless face. It almost took some satisfying five seconds before Frank could speak.

“Wow… so you actually knew magic…”

“Yeah, isn’t it magical? It’s called PSI.” Ness, back in full spirit, adjusted his cap to the left and said, “Now take this… HI-YAH!”

With a quick swing, Ness hit hard on Frank’s leg, and despite losing balance like Ness did, he swung once more to the side, only to miss, giving Ness one more chance to hit Frank at his waist, before kicking him onto the floor as Frank moaned in pain.

Slowly catching back on his breath, he walked up to Frank, looked down at him right at his side.

“Well, who’s the weak one now ?”

What Ness didn’t expect was how Frank would react. He stood back up with a stagger while laughing derisively. Ness’s eye didn’t leave him for a second, fearing what he might do next.

“Hmhmhmhmhm… AHAHAHAHAHA! Do you really think this was all I had?” Frank sprung his right arm at Ness, pointing with both of his fingers again, “‘Fail-proof’ Frank Fly can’t be beaten. And now, prepare yourself… for my Super Duper Ultra Mecha-Superweapon! It will crush you into fine smithereens!”

“Oh no you won’t!”

Ness charged towards Frank, but as he caught Frank by his collar, he shoved him back in retaliation. By the time Ness was back on his feet, Frank had already crawled inside the nearby wooden structure from the back of its Frank-like head. Some engine noise revved as the machine started vibrating, letting out a puff of steam as a booming voice of Frank came from what sounded like a megaphone from the machine.

“Say hello to Frankystein Mark II!”

The robot raised its stiff mechanical arms as it slowly moved towards Ness with its tracks. Despite that, Ness had the gut feeling that it could pack a great punch. The unsettling grin didn’t help either.

Ness gripped his bat, charged towards the machine, ready to smack it, but the robot sprung a punch, sending him on the ground. With his chest throbbing badly, he struggled to stand back up while Frank’s taunting laugh echoed at a distance.

“ PK… Lifeup… Alpha! ” Ness said under his breath.

But he was still in pain. Maybe he didn’t focus hard enough, so he tried once more.

“ PK Lifeup… Alpha! ”

Yet even when he concentrated as hard as he could, the moment he said the words, everything was all clogged up in his head, and the effect wouldn’t come.

Why does it have to be now, out of all times?

All seemed hopeless. His body was paining, yet Frank’s machine was nearing, ready to end him right there.

It became apparent to Ness that it’s going to be all or nothing. It’s either the machine taking him down, or him taking it down with his raw strength. Despite how his body was badly bruised and his dizziness, he carefully stood back up and put on a brave face towards his opponent.

“You think I'd be down... but I won't!”

“Whoa, check it out, mate, he’s made of iron!” Frank said.

Enduring all the pain, Ness began his stride towards the large brownish structure in front of him.

“Ugh!”

Channeling his remaining power, he banged on the machine with his bat, one strike after another.

“And he's tryin' to be hard! But Frankystein’s even harder!”

The machine slammed its fist downwards onto Ness, who flinched back a few steps.

"What's the matter, huh, too chicken to fight?" Frank taunted as the machine slowly moved backwards, letting out another burst of steam, "Oh, but that's too good, 'cuz now I can finally mow your butt down! Ahahahah!"

Wait, is there a pattern to this thing?

Apparently, it had to stop to let out some steam very frequently, leaving an open spot for Ness to counterattack. He smacked top-down, and somehow heard glass cracking. Checking the machine carefully, he noticed he just smashed a large, round glass panel, located at the centre of the machine. Was that some sort of weak spot?

“Whaddya doin’?”

SMASH! And the glass panel broke.

“Hey, I wasn’t even ready yet!" Frank shrieked, "That’s cheating!”

But Ness kept smashing with all the strength he had, strike after strike, determined to stop it once and for all. The machine moved back further and raised its right arm, but wasn't quick enough to dodge Ness's bat, which collided with the insides of the panel once more, causing sparks to be spewed out from the inside, emitting a smoky scent. The revving noise died down and the machine’s arms dropped.

With the robot finally destroyed, Ness wiped off sweat from his forehead, as he let out breaths of exhaustion‒ and relief. 

After a while, Frank slowly climbed down from the machine afterwards and walked towards Ness, as he ranted with frustration.

“How can this even be? This is my first defeat, and to a middle school boy too. What’ve I been doing over all these weeks ? I’ve been tryin' to perfect that thing, turn it into the most unstoppable machine, all by myself… My goons even told me it was the most incredible thing I’ve ever made! But now, it just went down like that.” Frank sighed, lowering his head, “Guess I’ll just have to admit, ‘Fail-proof’ Frank is now just ‘Failure’ Frank. All those efforts I’ve made to keep my name up… shattered by a mere boy. Just... how?”

For a moment, Ness stared blankly onto Frank. Finally, he successfully defeated this guy up front- the leader of the Sharks, who led his underlings rummaging around the town, and tried to kill him moments ago. He should be feeling triumphant- but now with Frank putting it this way, that was far from it. He couldn't help but feel for him in some way.

"Y'know, I don't really know either." Ness replied.

Frank raised his head a little bit.

"What? But you've just... defeated me." Frank asked in confusion.

"Yeah, but you've managed to build a robot all by yourself, and almost kill me with that! I could never have built anything like this on my own. I'm not saying I'm over with you," Ness said firmly in the last sentence, "but that's certainly something. All I did was just using brute strength to fight back, and I'd still be bleeding on the ground if I didn't know PSI."

"You don't understand," Frank said coolly as he turned around, "I never wanted to kill you. Those knives, that Frankystein, all were just some show-offs, to show you how cool I am, just like how I did to those kids that day. That's the only way I could keep myself up these days. But they're pointless now. My track record's broken, the one thing I'm tryin' to uphold in my entire career- it's now nothing!" Frank punched on a nearby tree trunk and lowered his head.

So that’s what Frank’s trying to do all along… 

Ness took a deep breath and walked closer to Frank, “Listen, you don’t have to keep showing off to be great. I mean, what's the point of that? Everyone fails at some point. No one’s really ‘fail-proof’. I’ve played baseball for years, I know this. Besides, you’re not telling me you didn’t build Mark II of that thing if Mark I didn’t go bust.”

“That doesn’t count, Mark I’s engine didn’t even work.” Frank shrugged stubbornly.

“But you’ve got it working this time, right? And even after this, you can always build a better one. Just‒ well, don’t use it to cause chaos around.”

"What's the point if I'm not gonna cause mayhem with it?"

"How about becoming a better person in general?"

Frank turned back at Ness with a slightly annoyed gaze.

"Kid, I'm a gang leader, how can I be any good?"

Ness took a deep breath and said, "You can be, if you start trying now. I mean, you're much stronger than I thought for sure. But you don't have to wipe your strength on others' faces, and tell them how great you are, just to be, what, some sort of person who never fails? C'mon, think of the effort you needed to keep it! What you can do though, is to be better than before."

Frank looked back at Ness for a brief moment again, but turned back slowly.

“Your words are empty. What exactly could I do?”

“Well, to start off, give the arcade back to everyone. We all wanted to have fun there. Plus, I know there’s other people who've wanted to top your scores for some time. You might even make a match with them.” Ness said, “Also, just stop causing trouble around. Everyone would appreciate you a lot if you did, trust me. At least I will.”

Frank gave off a cool laugh as he finally turned back to face Ness.

“Well, I guess I could try, if you say so..."

"Glad to hear that!" Ness said with a smile.

"I mean, what can I say to a schoolboy who's beaten me up, and then taught me how to do better? You're an unusual kid indeed… but I must say, I’ve never met a worthier opponent!”

“Eh, don't mention it, I didn’t really wanna fight in the first place.” Ness brushed it off, “I actually came to ask you something.”

“Anythin'.”

“Do you know anything about Giant Step?”

Frank paused for a while, before saying, “I don’t really know much, but I know you’ve been asking around, so I’ll tell you about it. It… seems… to be quite a powerful spot. I’ve heard that some sort of special power is stored there that allows certain people to perform wondrous feats. However, a monster sucked up all the energy at that spot. It’s difficult to get up to Giant Step. That’s all I know… I suggest you collect more information on your own.”

“Wait, did you say a monster?”

“Yeah, some other guy said he saw some sort of giant monster appearing o’er there last night, and only last night. No idea what it is though.”

“Hold on, that’s when the meteorite struck!” Ness exclaimed. If that's true, that could only mean one of Gyiyg's minions arrived at the spot already. That would be much more of a challenge to him.

“Yeah, things have been pretty crazy lately, isn’t it?” Frank said, “By the way, the entrance to the path leading to Giant Step is behind the touring entertainer’s shack or something.”

“I know, that’s the one you thrashed the other day.”

“Well, I gotta find stuff to build my Frankystein, after all.” Frank laughed it off, but Ness narrowed his eyes at him while crossing his arms.

“Not fun for you? Oh well. Anyway, ‘Bald Head’ Pirkle has the key to the shack, ever since he locked the darn thing up. I’m sure he’ll give it to you if you tell him though. He’s been itching to get me, but he never actually did anythin'.”

“Got it!”

"Oh, and if you did go to the office later, tell him I said hi."

"Ha, I'm never gonna tell him that, he's gonna send all his men against you immediately." Ness chuckled.

"Nah, I bet once he heard me, he'd be like, 'It's Frank? He's gonna destroy my office!'." Frank laughed loudly, "Anyway, I guess you gotta go, right?"

“Yeah, I think so.”

“I'll see you then. It's really nice to have met someone like you, Ness. You’ve become stronger than I!” Frank smiled at Ness encouragingly.

"Me too! And I finally got to see this face behind the Sharks' leader! You actually could be a pretty nice guy!" Ness returned a smile at him.

"Feel free to come back here and have a match together sometime!"

"Sure!" 

Ness smiled in satisfaction as he returned into the arcade. Almost all the Sharks turned towards him as he closed the door.

“You’re alive ?” shrieked the green-hooded door-guard almost immediately.

The Shark with the blue hood came forward and pointed to Ness.

“Speak. What did you do to our boss?”

“Well, let’s just say… we kinda locked arms with each other.” Ness grinned as he rested his tee-ball bat on his shoulder, “Don’t worry, your boss is fine.”

“I don’ believe it!” the teen with gangly build grawled. He stormed out of the back door, but came back within seconds.

“Guys! Our boss is fine an’ all!” he exclaimed.

“No way!”

“How did you‒”

“Wait, does that mean his streak's broken?” Motor said.

“In a way, yes. But that doesn't matter now.” Ness replied.

“Holy cow,” Pop added, “you've actually got guts, mate!”

“Really, Pop?” Fridge said to his friend.

"Just look at him, storming through us all like it was nothin'!"

“Say as you like, I’ll leave you guys to check if your boss’s okay,” Ness said, “I’m sure that things will start to change for you guys…”

He walked away, never feeling more satisfied, and confident too. Before all that, he’s not sure how things will go. Now, however, he had not only single-handedly dealt with the Sharks, but also managed to earn their leader's respect, something he didn't expect. This whole adventure might not be as hard as he thought, even though it was just beginning…

But his problems didn’t stop there. As soon as he stepped out of the arcade, a kid in an orange T-shirt and glasses bumped into him. Ness recognised him as the one who got stuck near his home last night.

“Wait, did you just… walk out of the arcade on your own?”

Ness answered plainly, as if it wasn’t obvious enough.

“Yes.”