By James

-Dedicated to the EarthBound/Mother series and fellow fans-

Chapter One
-Can you hear me calling you?-

Two robots have just been destroyed.

One flies into the opening of a cave, propelled by a blast of mystical, glowing fire. It hits the ground and the crimson light emanating from its’ ‘eyes’ slowly fades. The other stumbles in after its’ partner and collapses in an icy coating.

Shortly afterward, the young woman who sealed their fates is cloaked by the light at the entrance, before coming in herself. Slowly, she inches further and further into the cave. Fists clenched, eyes alert.

"I know you're in here," says Paula. "I'll find you sooner or later. I can feel your mind. Let's do this the easy way."

And suddenly, someone else generally identified as a young lady emerges from the shadows. Paula takes a step back, but resists the urge to take another few. Her fists still clenched, she looks the girl over. She wears black shoes, blue jeans, and a black T-shirt that matches the color of her hair. She wears something else too. A cold, bold stare that won't leave Paula's eyes alone.

A bit stunned, Paula speaks. "You...are you the one who's causing all this?"

The girl says nothing.

"The attacks in Twoson, Onett, and everywhere else?"

The girl’s eyes narrow, but she remains silent.

"ARE YOU OR NOT?!" The last of it echoes through the cave after it leaves Paula's mouth.

But the girl, seemingly the same age as Paula, remains quiet, and cold faced.

Paula opens her fists and continues, "Look, I followed your 'message' here. I could almost sense a power in it. What, are we going to stand here wasting time all day? I have to get back to Twoson. People are in danger there. Do you…know how this is happening again? I thought Giygas was the end of it."

The young lady keeps her eyes fixed on Paula's.

Paula turns to the ground beside her, then looks back at the girl, "A little kid was hurt because I didn't make it to him in time....is that good enough for you?" She clenches her fists in anger. "So whoever's behind this latest attack...I am going to personally make them pay," she promises, now staring at the ground again.

"…You're certainly capable of that."

Paula quickly looks up in response, and sees the girl’s eyes on the two robots behind Paula.

"...Who are you? What do you want?"

The girl returns her eyes to Paula, "To test you, Paula."

"...What? How do you know..."

But before she can finish her latest question, the girl cuts her off with, "Red Dome, 1!"

Suddenly the air around Paula is 'lined' with thin, circular beams of red.

Paula is too shocked to move. "What are you, AAHGGH!"

As the beams complete their circle, Paula feels an intense burst of energy that brings her to her knees.

"I really expected you to be prepared for that," says the girl.

"You're not the one I'm looking for," she continues.

Paula breathes a bit, then suddenly raises her head and sends a seemingly powerful blast of ice at the girl a few yards from her.

"Green Dome 2," says the girl.

Paula's second strongest ice attack is blocked by a circular pattern of green similar to the one that surrounded Paula, only this one surrounds the girl.

"...Powerful," says Paula, still on the ground. "Who are you?"

But the girl says nothing else.

At the same time, a great battle was taking place in Twoson.

A boy named Jeff—who's new jacket is being held by a group of pre-school kids with their eyes pressed against the windows of their daycare—is firing a blast of energy from a weapon he created himself. Naturally, it has an impressive effect on its’ target. One alien-like creature falls, but five more are coming down the street—fast.

Before Jeff can even turn to face them however, another boy, named Ness, approaches and yells. "Get down!"

Jeff does. The aliens stop, but it's already too late. Ness concentrates, and sends colorful rays of energy their way. They explode on contact and disintegrate their targets.

Jeff, after rolling out of the way, stands up. "Thanks."

"Heh, heh, you're getting careless," says Ness, with bat in hand.

In the very next second, one of the shiny aliens known as the Starmen, is propelled by an attack known as the Starstorm into a nearby building.

The kids inside of it jerk back from the window below. "Whoa…that was cool," is the general reaction after they turn back towards the site.

"You both are," says a young prince, speaking in their language.

As Ness and Jeff bring their guards down, they see a smiling Prince Poo approaching, who had just arrived in town using the same means in which Ness had brought Jeff: Teleportation.

"Well at least I'm not...scaring little kids with my efforts," jokes Jeff as he pointes towards the building and starts chuckling.

Suddenly Ness stopped laughing with them, "Wait a minute," he says slowly extending his arm. ".......It's Paula. She's in trouble."

"What? Where?" asked Jeff.

“P.R.V. She's calling me."

Poo remains silent.

"I gotta go, you guys can handle the rest. Be careful. I'll be back with her." Ness teleports.

The other two boys turn their attention to their approaching adversaries.

Suddenly Ness arrives at the site of the cave, and runs in. "Paula, you okay?"

She's still on the ground. "Watch out, she's strong," warns Paula.

Ness looks at the girl who's standing as he runs between her and Paula.

"Perhaps you're the chosen one," says the girl.

"...Huh?" replied Ness.

The girl looks at Ness with interest for a moment. Then, "Red Dome 2."

"No!" As Paula says this, a pink essence escapes her being and covers Ness, protecting him from the attack.

"Hmm," says the girl looking at Paula, "you may be better than I thought.
…But you and I aren't finished," she says to Ness.

"What are you doing? Who are you?" asks Ness.

After a brief silence, the girl actually answers: "Speid."

Paula stares at her.

Speid folds her arms, "Blue Dome 1."

And after a lined blue essence surrounds her, she's gone.

Chapter Two
-A nice thing to remember, but not okay if you forget-

Prince Poo stood up. Right now, at 2:51, on this not so pleasant Sunday afternoon, he was a rather frustrated young man. His home country was being attacked by alien invaders. But so was everywhere else. He had problems in his personal life. But so did everyone else. He had just been blasted by Psi freeze, kicked back down when he had tried to stand up a previous time, hit by a water balloon that was aimed at an enemy ("Sorry," yelled the kid from daycare), and been given a taste of his own Psi attack when it was deflected to him 20 seconds ago. But then.....someone else was probably having a bad day too. And he thought he had eliminated this threat a few years ago.

With his arms outstretched, fists clenched, and a loud yell, the powerful prince summoned an attack that would leave the Starmen before him in pretty bad shape. Glowing thunder arrived and struck down several aliens, one at a time.

The three facing him in their arrogant posture—knocked to the ground. The one running away—blasted and disintegrated in three seconds. The one charging towards Jeff—stunned and brought to his knees. Jeff Andonuts aimed his blaster and fired. Poo was a little surprised at how good the results were, since he could only hope for the best when there were enough targets to attempt this attack.

Then the other three were hit by a powerful blast of color from behind, and disappeared. Ness had returned, and Paula was with him.

Prince Poo caught his breath, "...What happened?" he asked her.

"There's another one," said Paula, "another kid like the three of us."

Jeff was running towards his friends, "What?"

"A girl," she continued. "About our age, my height, Asian, and really powerful."

"I saw her too," said Ness. "She's looking for a 'chosen one'."

At that moment, the kids' day took a turn for the worse. Around fifty Starmen, of multiple classes, arrived in Burglin Park via teleportation.

"..........…" was about all Jeff could get out as his facial expression got his friends to turn and face the problem.

"Oh no.............oh no," said Ness.

Paula's eyes widened, "Where are they coming from?"

Prince Poo teleported the short distance to the park and stood before them all. The others quickly caught up by running.

"We can't let them get past us," said Ness.

"Not to sound too pessimistic, but we can't win either," replied Jeff as he pulled out a second blaster.

"We have to try," said Paula, "…we have, to try."

"I know," said Jeff.

And suddenly, a blue light appeared in front of them, and then dissipated.

"I've seen enough," said Speid.

"That's her!" said Paula.

Speid turned her attention to the Starmen, spread her arms, and an aura of sorts slowly lifted her black ponytail. She spoke in a deep, bold voice, "REVOLUTION!"

A glimmer passed by Jeff's glasses and he turned around. "Look!"

Coming from the sky behind them all were shiny, long red particles of light. They flew just over the teens’ heads and bombarded the Starmen in the park, continuously for several seconds. Ness and his friends had hit the deck.

When it finally stopped, Ness adjusted his red cap, looked up, and saw the Starmen were no more. As they stood up, Paula quickly covered her party with a psychic power shield, although she wasn't sure it'd be enough.

"Pretty cool huh?" asked Speid, who had not yet turned to face them. "I call it that because it has the strength of an army."

At this point, several police cars and officers had finally surrounded the park. Weapons snapped out and aimed—from behind their cars.

"What do you want?" asked Ness, turning back to Speid.

She turned around. "For you to listen to me. Because in five days, Giygas returns and all of these people will be gone."

Chapter Three
-The war against Giygas...is not over-

"Polly?" called an officer from across the park. "Everything alright?"

The other men and women wearing blue looked at him as though he were crazy. He shrugged his shoulders and grinned for a second.

Paula raised her hand in his direction for a few seconds but kept her eyes on Speid.

Her companions stared in silence until Jeff asked, "What do you mean in five days Giygas will be back?"

"It's said that Twoson is where he strikes first," said Speid, "then Onett, Threed, and eventually everywhere else. He'll keep sending his armies, infecting people’s minds and devastating everything until the world becomes a very lousy place to live."

Ness and his friends stare at her in confusion.

"Of course, when I think that this could have been prevented, I always get kind of angry," she said staring back.

"What do you mean?" asked Ness.

"Stop me if this sounds familiar," said Speid: "I'm from seven years in the future, and in the future pretty much everything's been devastated by Giygas."

"Oh no I'm not hearing this," said Paula as she turned away in disgust and anger.

"That can't be true," said Poo immediately after. "We destroyed Giygas."

"Oh no," she chuckled, in a corrective manner. "Maybe you could have, but you didn't."

"How...what are you talking about?" asked Jeff. "And what do you mean you're from the future?"

"Just as Buzz Buzz before me, I am also from the age where the true war against Giygas has taken place," she replied.

Ness looked at her with curiosity.

"Ness, did Buzz Buzz say anything about her?" asked Paula.

"No," said Ness.

"Why should we believe you?" asked Paula. "How do we know this isn't a trick and you're not one of them?"

"There's a lot Buzz Buzz probably didn't tell you," Speid continued. "He didn't tell you that Giygas had been destroyed in the future did he?"

"What?" said Ness.

"I guess he didn't want you getting overconfident…but it looks like that didn't work," she continued.

"What do you mean Giygas hasn't been destroyed here—as in NOW?" asked Poo.

"I don’t think you were ready to take him on," said Speid, "but somehow—according to what I’ve been told—an incredible force weakened him, and pushed him away. You had a chance—during those brief seconds he was vulnerable to destroy him right? But you didn't. You were too SURE. Too tired. Too confident that everything had worked out. What do you think this is, a story with an inevitable happy ending?"

The other teens kept listening, although they were getting a little nervous now.

"THIS, is the time Buzz Buzz spoke of. He didn't know it, but this is when Giygas gets his way. Your destiny was a responsibility, one you weren't supposed to mess up. The legend DID speak of three boys and a girl after all. You defeated Giygas all right, but not the right way."

"........I can't believe this," said Ness.

"You can't just...blame us that easily. We did our best," said Paula. "It can't be all our fault."

"Don't even begin to defend yourselves until you've lived in my time. You haven't. Do you know how much pain that moment of weakness has caused?” Speid continued. “Do you see all of these people who think things are bad right now? Your mistake has consequences that you're not going to like."

"Alright, alright…then tell us what we can do about it," said Ness.

Speid suddenly smiled, “As you may have guessed, that's where I come in."

They kept listening to her as the police began moving in and yelling orders.

"Are you willing to do whatever it takes this time?" she asked.

"Yes," said Ness slowly.

"Anything?" asked Speid.

"Yes. I won't let that future happen. No matter what," he said. "I'll fight to save this world for as long as it takes, and I'll...sacrifice myself to stop Giygas if I have to. Just show us where to start, Speid."

Speid stared at him. "…You know I was skeptical, but after hearing you and seeing you in action—just now, I’m pretty sure…you're the one."

With that, she said "Blue Dome 1," and appeared right in front of Ness.

Startled, he doesn't manage to resist when she grabs his arm.

"Blue Dome 3," says Speid.

"Hey!" says Paula.

Then they're both gone in a flash of blue light.

-Later, Jeff gets off the bus in Fourside, clad in his new black jacket, and hurries to the location of an important meeting. In a clean alley, he encounters a boy usually called Apple Kid, who's around the same age as Jeff, and the slightly older, underground arms supplier who had helped out a few times during the first battle three years ago.

"What's up buddy? You've gotten bigger," says the young man to Jeff.

"Hey," replies Jeff. Then he looks past him at A.K. "So you learned something?"

"You bet," replies Apple. "This city has a much better library than people think. It's even more helpful than the one in Onett."

Jeff walks up to him and slides his hands in his jacket pockets.

"I'll, keep on the watch for bad guys *snicker*," says the guy at the beginning of the alley.

"Thanks man," calls Apple Kid.

Jeff turns back to him, "So what was so important?"

"Well I may have found some info on the girl, but it's probably not going to tell us where Ness is," he replied.

Jeff looks disappointed.

"Okay," Apple Kid begins, "first of all, her name may be Kaori Tanaka. I looked up some stuff on Twoson I didn't know before, and there was a little girl, looking sort of like that girl I saw on the news with you guys, who disappeared around 14 years ago."

"That couldn't be," replied Jeff, "she told us that she's from the future and her name’s Speid."

"Let me finish," said Apple Kid, "this girl Kaori was wearing the exact same outfit when she was last seen."

"...It's...just a coincidence. Gotta be," said Jeff.

"Okay then," said Apple Kid, "but it is kind of odd, and with what's going on I wouldn't count anything out. Secondly, a hacker friend of mine just told me over the net that the military has detected something approaching the planet. It's in orbit now, but it should be really close in about..."

"Five days," said Jeff slowly as he broke eye contact.

Apple Kid was a bit surprised, "You knew about this one already?"

"It's true after all," said Jeff with hesitation.

"…What's true Jeff?" asked A.K.

"Never mind. Don't worry though, I'm not stupid enough to mess with military computers, and I suggest you smarten your friend up. I’ve got to get going. Thanks. We may not be able to agree on who's the better inventor, but you're pretty useful sometimes A.K," he said with a playful grin.

"Well—the son of Dr. Andonuts has complimented me, that made my day," he replied with a superior smirk, as Jeff walked back down the short alley. "Hey you be careful out there Jeff," Apple Kid said as he followed.

"Hey man take a weapon on the house, it's the new model," said Jeff's old ally once he reached the beginning again.

Jeff looked it over in his hand, then after the brief inspection got excited and said, "Oh, aww man! This..."

"That's right, you know what's up," said the guy.

"This is modeled after that one they use on the TV show," said Jeff. "And it works too," he said after looking closer. "You're giving this to me?"

"Hey dawg, somebody's gotta stop this mess. I know you're one of the people who can do it 'cause you did it last time. And besides, I'm practically getting rich these days. Everyone's coming to me."

Jeff smiled, "After this is over I want to meet your supplier."

"Check," said the guy.

"What are you planning to do now Jeff?" asked Apple Kid.

"I'm not sure. This is gonna take three things: wisdom, courage, and friendship. As you can see I'm calling on all three. See you guys."

With that he runs down the street just in time to catch the bus, which is packed. He actually decides to go to the Threed hotel.

Arriving home just after a long battle has finally ended, Prince Poo finds many soldiers standing with their swords drawn, and many being carried to treatment.

"Prince Poo, are you alright?" ask many girls as his teleportation is completed.

"I've...you all got involved in it too?" He sees them holding swords as well.

"We had no choice," says one of them. "What's going on Poo?" she continues as she takes a few steps towards him.

"It's starting again," he replies. "And now I've got to try and find the one who can end it."

Poo runs to the place of Mu, for the first time in three years. He stares up at it.
He had truly hoped he wouldn't have to ever climb its’ ladder again. But now he does—only for assistance. He sits in the center and concentrates.

"Ness, I will now do my best to locate you, my friend."

The next morning, Paula shuts off an annoying alarm clock and gets up. She hadn't even changed clothes yet. She was worried—about Ness, about the future, about everything. She opens her window, closes her eyes, and concentrates.

"Ness," she tries to say telepathically, "come back. We need you."

After about five minutes of no results, she gets frustrated, storms downstairs, and heads outside. "Why would she take him if she knows...Speid, when I find you..."

As she opens the door she almost gets her way. On the cover of the newspaper at her feet is a picture of Speid. She picks it up. Then, through the plastic cover she sees something that perplexes her:

"KAORI TANAKA SPOTTED IN CITY YESTERDAY," reads the headline.

-To be continued