Sidequest #1: The Origin of the Sound Stone

It was a cold day in Onett. Ness had just gotten through with the Onett police force and, despite Captain Strong's best efforts, had convinced them to allow him passage to Twoson. Before he left for his southern neighbour, he decided it would be wise to stay at a hotel for the night. Who wants to go travelling between cities on a tired, empty stomach? Nobody. That's who. The hotel bed had been strangely uncomfortable. He felt that something was not quite right inside him, that something was calling for him. He dismissed it as anxiety towards his mission, and eventually fell asleep.

Upon waking, Ness yawned and tipped the busboy. He left the hotel briskly, not wanting to wait any longer. The strange feelings of the night before had left him, and he decided that a good night's sleep was indeed all he needed to feel like himself again. Moving through the streets was much easier after the dissipation of the Sharks, and he found himself at the Onett - Twoson border in no time. The police stopped him, but allowed him to continue once they realized that he was the boy Captain Strong warned them about. While on the route to Twoson, Ness was jumped by a pair of Ramblin' Evil Mushrooms. He warded off the first quickly, but the second was able to spray him with spores before it met its doom. The spores made their way into Ness' system, and he felt strange. He lost his balance. He could swear he meant to take a step north, but he went west. His rapid loss of perception caused him to stumble through the forest, wandering far off course. He was now heading due east, far away from where he wanted to be. He stumbled through to a less wooded grotto, and stumbled over a tree root, falling to the ground. The impact coupled with the spores eventually drained the consciousness from his body.

He awoke several hours later, feeling strangely refreshed. He quickly sat up and checked his backpack for the important items. After assuring himself of the safety of the cookies, he checked for his ATM card and Sound Stone. He found the card easily, but the Stone seemed to be missing. He stood up and looked around desperately. If he lost it, what would it mean for the world? Would his mission be over before it even started? Would he fail to protect all existing life because of some shrooms? He looked around the immediate area, figuring it must have merely fallen out of his backpack and rolled into some grass or something. After an hour of looking, however, he couldn't find it. He seemed to be screwed. He sat on a rock, thinking. It would be no use to continue on his journey without the Sound Stone. Even if he found the sanctuaries, he couldn't do anything about it. He seemed to be at a loss.

At that moment, just as Ness was losing all hope, he saw something. It was a fleeting glimpse, and as he turned to get a better look, it moved out of sight, but not before he new where it was going. He got up and ran after it. Every few seconds, he could see it move above the grass, so he was able to keep with it, until suddenly, when he reached a large tree, it seemed to run right into the tree and then vanish. Now Ness was even more at a loss than before. Was he chasing a ghost? Or was he going insane? Whatever it was, did it have the Sound Stone? He sat down at the base of the tree, and buried his face in his hands. Once again, he had failed.

The rain poured down on the forest, but Ness didn't care. He had built himself a shelter, so he wasn't very wet. There were too many things to worry about, anyway. Where exactly was he? How far off his route was he? Where was the Sound Stone? He was deep in thought, when suddenly he saw the same movement he had seen earlier. This time, he was ready, and he threw his backpack in front of the creature, and caused it to stop. He now had a clear chance at it. What he saw shocked and awed him. It was like a small person almost, except it was pure white, and had a large head with no hair. It stared up at him the way a stray puppy stares at a person walking down the street. Ness leaned in towards it, but as he did, it jumped back. It kept its eyes focused on Ness, and would not allow him to get any closer than a foot. Ness decided to ease back, and he sat down in front of the creature. This seemed to confuse it, and he stared at Ness with the kind of look Gary Coleman gave Willis when he wanted to know what he was talking about. Ness tried to read its mind, like he does with dogs and stuff, but he couldn't quite pick up anything of substance. The words "Stone", "Need", "Defeat", and "Evil" ran through his mind, and he was sure of it - they had the Sound Stone. The creature seemed to sense something, and it suddenly ran. Ness got up and followed it after grabbing his backpack. He was getting sick of following this thing, but the Sound Stone was too important to give up. By the time the creature stopped, Ness had been so focused on the little thing that he hadn't noticed where he was. When he looked up, he noticed thousands of the little creatures lining the trees and rocks, and the forest looked drastically different before. It was the kind of image that popped into your mind when you thought of Heaven, a perfectly peaceful scene with beautiful tall green trees, a babbling brook running by, bright sunshine streaming through the branches, and birds chirping in the sky. And then, of course, were those freaky little people. The one he had been chasing turned back towards him, looked up, and began to speak.

"Young one… Welcome to our home. We understand that you want this stone back…" He promptly held up the Sound Stone, and Ness reached out for it. The creature pulled it back, and passed it off to another. He looked back at Ness, and shook his head.

"Please understand, it is not that we want to keep this from you. But this stone is the only key we have to getting back to our home… You see, when the evil invader came to our planet, he sent out massive armies of robots and strange creatures to find the central point of our society, for he said it would be the key to the success of the legendary Chosen Four. We could not let him have it, for the legends told that the Chosen Four would be the saviours of the universe, that they would be the ones to protect all life from the great evil. The only way to flee his wrath was to flee the planet, along with the Stone… and we landed here, in this dense forest, away from the watchful eyes of the invader. I am dreadfully sorry, but we cannot allow you to have this stone… it would be too dangerous, too easy for the invader to find you and take it. You must understand."

Ness was shocked. Quite obviously, there was a fair bit of revelation going on here. Aliens from another planet. The origin of the mysterious stone he was given. And support of the legend Buzz Buzz told him about the Chosen Four. He looked at the creatures confused, and just as he was about to say something, he heard a noise. At first, he though it was a squirrel or a bird or something. But then he heard the noise again, clearer and closer this time. It was a whirring sound. A whirring sound he had heard before. The aliens looked scared, and they backed away from the source of the noise. Ness as well stepped back, drawing his bat and awaiting whatever would exit the bushes. The familiar whirring was heard once more, and this time it was accompanied by a familiar sight that Ness had hoped he would not have to see again. Out from the bushes stepped a Starman, glimmering in the rays of the sun hitting its shiny coat, and it stepped directly towards Ness. When it was 3 feet from Ness, it stopped, and made its demand.

"Hand over *whirr* the Stone. You will *whirr* be unharmed if you *click* co-operate." The Starman spoke in a deep, intimidating mechanical voice that sent a chill down Ness' spine. It gave him the feeling of a distant thunder rolling in before a massive storm. He clenched his bat, prepared for the worst.

"We will not relinquish the stone! It must be kept safe for the good of all life in this universe!" One of the aliens spoke up. "It will never touch your hands so long as any one of us are alive." The aliens surrounded the one holding the stone, and they attempted to make a break for it. However, a flame shot from the Starman's hand, and a ring of fire kept them at bay. He moved right past Ness, and towards the fire.

"Fine. Have it *whirr* your way. You will all *click* perish in your futile attempt to protect it." As it stepped forward, Ness brought his bat down in front of its face. He would not let it get the Stone. "The boy… *click* You are the boy *whirr* that Giygas spoke of… That *whirr* we would have to eliminate…"

At the moment it finished speaking, the Starman launched a PSI Fire attack on Ness, who dodged it with singes on his shirt. He leapt forward with his bat above his head, and brought it down towards the Starman. The Starman dodged that, and swiftly kicked Ness in the ribs, sending him back towards the trees. Ness rose slowly as the Starman closed in for the kill, and Ness surprised it by diving forward, and managed to tackle it. He rolled back and got up, as the Starman did the same. Ness once again leapt towards the Starman, bat swinging downwards, and once again the Starman dodged. This time, however, Ness swung his bat to the left as soon as he landed, catching the Starman off guard and sending it into a rock. It whirred menacingly (as menacingly as a whirr can sound, anyway), and got up. If it had a face, it would have looked angry. It said nothing, instead charging towards Ness. Ness charged toward the Starman and, as a PSI Fire attack launched from the Starman, Ness used his backpack to block the flames for a split second before he jumped up off of a rock into the air above the Starman. The view of the invading robot was blocked by the fire, and it could not see Ness poised above its head. Ness closed his eyes and concentrated. A bright glow emanated from his body, and after yelling the words "PSI Rockin'!", a large explosion of pure energy blasted from below the Starman, sending it flying backwards into the rock Ness had jumped off of. The energy of the explosion blew wind and dirt onto the fire surrounding the aliens, putting it out. After hitting the rock, the Starman whirred, and mumbled something that was garbled by its death. The only words Ness could make out was "Apple" and "Enlightenment." The Starman whirred again, and slowly began to disintegrate until nothing was left except a few shards of metal on the rock. Ness breathed a heavy sigh of relief, and turned around, to see the shocked expressions on the faces of the aliens. Now, it was Ness' turn to look confused.

"You…" one of the aliens stepped forward, one that looked older than the others. "You are… you are one of the Chosen Four!" Ness didn't object to the term, because Buzz Buzz had told him the very same thing. Ness figured he should have told them that a while ago, but he was never one to say very much.

"Only one of the Chosen Four could dismantle a servant of the invader with such ease and power… Young man, please, take the stone. We can keep it from you no longer. You may not look it, but you have the power inside you to stop the invader for good. This stone will help you fully realize the truly awesome power you have in your heart. Go south to the next town… there should be another like you waiting for you. Find her, and protect her. She will be of unimaginable importance on your journey. We wish you luck, young one. We know you will achieve greatness. Our duty here is complete. We must go back home. We may be able to draw some of the invader's attention away from this planet if we leave again. Goodbye, young one… and thank you."

Ness ran forward to try and stop them. He had so many more questions he wanted to ask. Could they help him? Did they know about Buzz Buzz? Was there more of this legend he was not told? Did they know anything about what the Starman had said before shutting down and disappearing? But before he could say anything, they began rising into the sky. A bright white flash covered the area in blinding light, and Ness had to close his eyes. He heard a loud 'ping' noise, and he felt himself get thrown to the ground. Once again, he seemed to slowly slip into unconsciousness.

When Ness awoke, he was surprised to find himself on a bed, with a strange-looking man in a doctor's uniform checking on him.

"Ah! You are awake. Splendid! And your motor skills appear to be better. When I found you, you were wandering the path between here and Onett with a mushroom on your head! You seemed to have no ability to control your walking. I brought you to this hospital, and was able to remove the mushroom! You should be okay now."

Ness at up, jumped off the bed, and walked around. He did seem to be okay. But, if he was found wandering the forest, confused like he was after the mushrooms attacked, did that mean everything that happened was a hallucination? He certainly felt like everything he experienced was real, but he couldn't be sure. If he had really met those strange aliens, how did he manage to find his way back to the path without remembering it? If those mushrooms had attacked him again, he would have remembered at least fighting them, like he did from the first time it happened. He shook his head to clear it. He certainly couldn't ask the doctor about it. What if it was a dream? Then the doctor would think he was crazy, and try to keep him there. Ness didn't have the time to be locked up because of a dream. He thanked the man, and left the hospital. The sunlight caught him by surprise, and he shielded his eyes. When he could see again, he looked around. He was in Twoson alright. He didn't know how he got there, but he was there now. He looked around again, and shook his head. It must have all been a dream. He had a lot on his mind, especially questions about what the Sound Stone was. When he went under after the shroom attack, he must have dreamed an answer for himself. It was the only answer. As he stepped onto the sidewalk and walked towards the hotel, something caught his eye. It was just a fleeting glimpse, and when he turned his head to make sure he had actually seen it, it had disappeared. It was almost like a small person, except it was pure white with no hair. He stood still for a long minute, before shaking his head, once again thinking to himself that this was not the time to be thinking about dreams. At that moment, a hippie-looking man charged at him. Ness dodged a punch, and then the hippie brought out a ruler. He measured something, and then brushed his teeth. He charged Ness again, and this time Ness dodged again and drew his bat. It appeared he would have to deal with some hippies on his quest. Good. Now he could eliminate two great evils on one journey. Not a bad deal, he thought.

FIN.