Troublesome Force: Chapter 9

Place: Onett, Nintendo City
     "StarMaster?" Ness asked, staring at the wrinkled old figure. "Why have you come here? Onett is burning..."
"Shush." StarMaster motioned for everyone to listen. "Listen now. The final battle is at hand. All of you, here, must come to the aid of your allies."
"Allies?" Tracy asked anxiously, reaching over to grip King tightly.
<Hey! Find someone else to cry on!>
"The others. I sent one group there from Dalaam, and the other group came of their own fruition."
"How would we meet with them?" Amy inquired.
"I will send you there as I did with Paula's group."
"Paula... survived?" Ness smiled.
Must be a love interest, Amy thought.
"Yes. All of her number survived the crash of Gaira. I myself plucked the strings of destiny masterfully, and ensured that thirteen would wrest Cartame from Siruv together. I could not risk a single fatality. All my plans rested on thirteen fighting."
"Isn't thirteen unlucky?" Myau queried.
"Only if one is triskaidekaphobic. Or superstitious. Siruv predicted who I would choose correctly, and attempted to stop you in your tracks. Crashing Gaira into Dalaam; taking the Dalaamians; setting fire to Onett; and capturing you, Ness, and Amy and Myau; they were all part of his plan to foil mine. But now that eight have come together, five more must join with them. I send you with my best wishes, and I will deal with the fire as I deem necessary."
"You're not the StarMaster, are you?" Tracy demanded. "Ness told me about you before. He had no powers as you have."
"No, I am not StarMaster, but my goal is the same."
"Then what is your name?" the musk cat asked.
"Penicillin."
"Penicillin?" the three humans and Myau exclaimed.
"Yes, Penicillin," Penicillin replied. "But I can answer no further questions. I must send you now. For if I dally longer, Siruv's hold on Cartame grows stronger..."
He raised his hands, and the five disappeared.
"Now," Penicillin said, "one would suggest, 'Fight fire with fire.' But I would rather fight fire with... Bismuth Rain!"
A pink rain fell across Onett, squelching the fire as it went.
"Nothing more than a simple case of heartburn."
Penicillin pulled his hood over his head, and disappeared as mysteriously as he had come.

Place: Fertile Lands, Just Outside Cartamian Desert
     "Ness!" Paula exclaimed.
"Paula!"
The two ran towards each other.
Similarly, Alis and Myau had a reunion of sorts.
"Getting to the matter at hand," Jeff protested, "we should enter the palace and confront Siruv."
Poo and Ani nodded in concurrence. Their friendship grew every minute, it seemed.
"We have farther to go," Ana-Ecoli explained, their dual voice creating a subtle echo effect. "We have only been ferried to the fertile lands outside the desert. StarMaster hinted that his power does not extend within Siruv's boundaries."
"It's not StarMaster," Tracy said quietly. "It's Penicillin." "Kaaa?" (Penicillin?) Pika asked, abashed.
"Yes, Penicillin," Amy confirmed. "In fact, it was Tracy herself who unmasked him. It would not have occurred to me to define his true name. I would have gone along with whatever he had said... betraying my training as a doctor to not simply accept what I immediately see or hear."
"Again I say," Jeff cried, "we should head into the Desert!"
"I was once here," Alis noted. "It was when I met Pika... I think."
"Chu..." (It looks familiar...)
"So, let's go!" Jeff spat out. "I'm tired of waiting. Now is the time for action! Who's with me?"
Everyone went over and stood by Jeff. "I'm with you!" Ana-Ecoli echo said.
"Let's go!" Poo, Ani, Paula and Ness exclaimed.
"What do we have to lose?" Alis asked. Pika jumped up and down.
"I won't lose my courage at all," Myau said, meowing.
"None of us will!" Amy and Tracy added.
"Woof!"
And so the thirteen headed off to complete the journey for which they had united: Defeat the Virus Lord, Siruv.

Place: Just outside Siruv's Palace, Cartamian Desert
     After what Jeff estimated as being three hours, forty-three minutes and sixteen seconds of walking, and Poo derided Jeff for being too exact, the thirteen arrived at the doors to Siruv's Palace, and were met with a rumbling.
"This isn't good!" Tracy cried, picking up Myau as a frightened child would pick up a teddy bear.
"Do I look like something to hold and cuddle?" Myau moaned.
"Of course you do, you're just so cute," Alis teased.
"Thanks a lot..." Myau muttered as Tracy held him harder. "*wheeze* I think I just broke a rib..."
"Look!" Ani pointed. "The Desert is cracking around us!"
"Let me go, Tracy!" Myau pleaded. "I need to eat a Laerma Nut so we can get out of here!"
"Laerma Nut?" Ani asked.
"Don't ask," Myau bluntly stated. "Alis, do you have a Laerma Nut?"
"Y... yes." Alis rummaged for the nuts, and produced one. "We may want to step back while he transforms."
<Transforms?>
Tracy let Myau go. He went a short distance away, ate the Laerma Nut, and immediately grew to a much greater size and sprouted wings.
<Nightmare!> King, ever the chicken, cried.
"Oh, don't be worried," the transformed Myau said consolingly. "I'm still the same musk cat. Just bigger. Get on."
He walked a little closer, and everyone climbed on.
<Talk about a tight fit,> King muttered. He was sitting upright, as if begging, on Tracy's lap, who was sitting on Paula, who was sitting on Ness. Ani was sitting on Poo, and Jeff on Amy. Alis, however, sat alone in the back, having had the most experience riding transformed musk cats in the air.
"Umm.... you're not the one under at least 200 pounds," Ness retorted.
"Hey!" Paula protested. "I'm not that heavy!"
"There's Tracy and King, too, remember?"

Place: On top of Siruv's Palace, Cartamian Desert
     No similar arguments took place with the others. Myau flew up and landed on the top of the Palace just as the ground around it fell down.
"That was close," Myau reported.
"It sure was." Alis strained her eyes, looking at the darkness far below.
Everyone decatted, Myau reverted to normal musk cat size.
<What a relief!>
"Oh, don't be such a chicken," Tracy chided.
<And you weren't?>
"Hey! I got over it earlier than you did!"
"Stop arguing!" Alis separated Tracy and King, who coincidentally was snapping angrily at Tracy.
Paula walked over to Ness.
"I think we should split up into three or four groups.... and keep King, Myau and Tracy away from each other," she whispered.
"Good idea," Ness said. He raised his voice. "Alis, Poo, could you come here for a second?"
Alis placed King in the watch of Ani and Jeff and came over. Poo simply sheathed his sword and neared Ness and Paula.
"What do you want to speak about?" Poo asked.
"Paula's suggested we split into a few groups. It would help us find Siruv faster, and minimise arguing amongst King and Tracy."
"Moreover, we should keep Myau away from King. I've noticed that's another tension point," Paula added.
"I'm okay with that," Alis said, smiling slightly.
"I don't find anything wrong in splitting our forces until we come across Siruv," Poo replied.
"So, we're in agreement, right?" Ness queried.
Paula, Alis and Poo nodded in concurrence.
"So, who do we take with ourselves?"
"We should choose a varied group. We wouldn't want to have a super strong group and a weak one, too," Alis noted.
"So... I'll take Tracy and Ana. I guess Ecoli's part of the package too," Paula said.
"King and Jeff can go with me," Ness announced.
"I choose Amy and Pika," Poo stated bluntly.
"I guess that leaves me with Myau and Ani," Alis concluded.
"Let's go!" Ness foisted his fisted hands in the air.