Ness awoke from his slumber after a horrible nightmare to find a young man sitting at the foot of his bed.
     "Ness!  I know this is hard to believe, but I'm Giygas, and I need your help."
     "What?  I can't help you!  We're enemies!   And you are supposed to be dead!"  Ness Exclaimed.
     "Yes, but the Apple of Enlightenment foretold our friendship" Giygas said.
     "How are you here?"
     "When you first destroyed me, I traveled into the body of a young man by the name of Seth."  Giygas explained.  "He is the perfect host."
     "Then why are you trying to help me?"
     "Another young man, name Kine, who also happens to be my brother, is awaiting the chance to take over the universe.  He is trying at this very moment!  He is much more powerful than I, so you must find your friends and help me!"  Giygas whispered.
     "But Jeff is in another Universe with his dad!  And Poo is in spiritual training.  Is just supposed to be Paula and I?"  Ness thought.
     "There are two youngsters that will join you..."
     "Were will I find..." Before Ness could finish his sentence, a Starman Deluxe burst into his room!  Giygas and Ness both jumped up, prepared for a tough fight.  Ness grabbed his Gutsy Bat, and lunged for the Starman's head...
     ...and missed horribly.  Ness was out of shape.  A lot.   Just as it looked like the end to our Hero, Giygas jumped forward and shot a beam of pure energy at the Starman.  Starman disappeared in a puff of red smoke.
     "Whoa," Ness mumbled.
     "Ness, you must help me!  I have no control over the Starmen..."
     "But if you had no control, why did you guard the Stonehenge base?"
     "The Stonehenge base was a powerful spot, but Kine wanted to disguise it as being under my control to keep you from discovering him."
     "Oh," Ness said.  He leaned down to look at the remains of the robot when he suddenly had a great idea.  "Hey, if the Starmen were under Kine's control, maybe the base can give us a clue!"
     "Wonderful idea, Ness!" Giygas said.  The two of them set off for Stonehenge.  "Wait, shouldn't we just teleport?"
     "Oh, yeah.  Let's go!" Ness concentrated on the cold, white snow of Stonehenge, of the Snow Wood boarding school, Dr. Andonuts lab, everything he could think of.  Slowly, he felt himself shifting, changing.  When he opened his eyes, he was facing Tessie's Lake.  As he turned around, he saw a horrible sight.
     The entire Winters landscape has been destroyed.  He could see two plumes of smoke coming from either direction of Stonehenge.  Ness could only assume they were Snow Wood and Dr. Andonuts lab.  At that point Giygas appeared behind him.
     "Kine must have gotten here first.  Let's go check out the base." Giygas suggested.
     "Okay." Inside the base, Giygas and Ness found a huge swirling mass; almost what ness thought a Black Hole would look like.  Instead, they saw the Apple of Enlightenment.
     "Are there any other predictions I should know about Giygas?" Ness asked.  When he got no reply, he turned to see that Giygas was gone.  Then, when he turned back to the Apple, all that was left was a small notebook, marked "Seth's Journal."  Ness opened the small book.
     "5-09-XX - Giygas told me about 3 Special Places.  I have no idea what that means."  Ness set down the notebook, intending to find out what the three spots were, when he got a psychic message from Paula.
     "Help me!  Giygas is here!" Ness sighed and thought about Paula.  This was going to be another interesting adventure. He hoped Giygas would at least tell Paula about Kine and the 3 spots...

     Paula arrived just outside of the Fire Springs cave.  She knew it wouldn't be easy getting inside; the place was swarming with Starmen.  They must have figured out as much as she had.  Knowing they would be distracted by PSI Flash, Paula let loose with the strongest blast as she could, aimed right at the Tenda Village II located deep in the Lost Underworld.
    Just as she had suspected, the Starmen swarmed towards the blast.   Paula slipped in to the cave and knelt in front of the Fire Springs and concentrated on the power of fire deep within...

    "Lucky, do you understand what we're saying?"  Ness asked.
    "Yeah, but I don't think I'M the one who should be helping you!   Don't you think it's convenient that I was walking by?"  Lucky asked.
    "Maybe so, but I believe that you are the one who can help us most.  The powers of Freeze go beyond that of Fire and Thunder.  More enemies are affected by Freeze than Fire or Thunder!"  Giygas said, exasperated.   "You must try to help us, at least.  Please?"
    "How can I help you?"
    "Think about where you were when you last felt a great power, like a lot of energy." Ness said.
    "That was when we performed in Fourside..."
    "Really?"  Giygas gasped. "But what could be in Fourside..."
    Ness suddenly jumped up.  "I know!  Venus is in Fourside!"
    "Ness," Giygas laughed.  "We all like Venus.   Don't go overboard!"
    "No, really, let's go talk to her."  Ness said.   Giygas and Lucky shrugged.  "Ok then!  Let’s go!"   Ness shouted.  Giygas and Ness began twirling around, only to hear Lucky shouting.
    "Hey!  I can't do that yet!"
    "Grab hold, Lucky," Giygas said.  "You're in for a ride."

    Paula bowed her head as she felt the power of the Fire Springs entering her body.
    She saw swirls of red and orange in front of her.  They were growing brighter.  She thought that she was moving towards something bright.   Paula heard the voice of a small green man, maybe... maybe a Tenda...

    "Venus!"  Lucky shouted.
    "Darling!  I've missed ya!"  Screeched Venus.   "And Ness!  Why do I have the honor of this visit?"
    "We wanted to talk to you about some...stuff..." Lucky mumbled.
    Giygas stepped forward and kissed Venus' hand.  Ness and Lucky snickered, but Giygas continued.  "I've heard much about you, Venus.  I just wanted to know when you felt the most power when you sing?"
    "Oh, right here at the Topalla Theater!"
    "I thought so..." Giygas said.  "Ness, step back, this isn't Venus.  It's an Assassin sent by Kine."
    "What?  Why?"  Ness asked.
    Venus lost her smile.  "How did you know?"
    "Please!  You think I'd kiss someone's hand?"   Giygas sneered.
    Venus lost her disguise and almost instantly took a shot at Giygas.   He was hit in the arm with a powerful beam of concentrated PSI, but nothing serious.  Giygas, of course, came back with a much more powerful blast of pure energy.  The Starman Assassin fell back against the wall with a grunt.
    "PSI Special Omega!  Concentration Blast!"  Ness leapt high into the sky and launched his own powerful beam of energy only he can use.   The powerful shot seemed to disintegrate the Starman instantly.
    "Wow, I still got it!"  Ness said.  "See, Lucky, it isn't a joke."
    "I see..." Lucky stuttered.
    "We have to leave here.  Kine's force's will be here soon.   They probably have Venus with them.  They want us, and I know it.  Venus sent off a powerful aura, making Lucky feel powerful around her.  Lucky, you might still have the gift of freeze.  We just have to find out if you do.  I'm sure we'll see soon..."

    Unaware of the events occurring in Ness's life, Paula continued to concentrate her soul on the Fire Springs.  Now she heard the Tenda's over screeching of Starmen's radios behind them.  Fortunately, she was too far in her vision for them to stop her.  It would only be a matter of time before she would know the powers of Firestorm Alpha...

    "Ness!  He's waking up!"  Paula yelled.
    "Lucky!  You okay?"  Ness asked.
    "Yeah, I'm fine, but I don't know how they are."  Paula and Ness whirled around to see Arcata and the mysterious young boy standing behind them.
    "Hello, Lucky.  You were so active in your sleep.  I see you've learned some PSI.  Care to try it out?  I won't be too tough on you, boy!"
    Lucky leapt up.  "You're on!
    The boy circled around Lucky, preparing to strike.  The boy lunged out with a cry and struck lucky in the chest.  Lucky staggered, but remained standing.
    "PSI Fire Alpha!"  Lucky's fire blast rocked the boy back, but he quickly retaliated.
    "PSI Living Earth Alpha - Vine Whip!"  A small rumbling under Lucky's feet led to vines wrapping around his ankles and wrists, pinning him to the ground.  "Ha!  The battle is mine.  I will finish you with a single blow.  No, I could finish you with a single blow.  But I won't."
    The boy lunged forward and began beating Lucky with repeated blows to the face and chest.
    "Hey!"  Ness lunged forward, but Paula stopped him.
    "It's Okay," she said.  "Look at the vines.
    Lucky concentrated all his energy into the vines holding him down.   Slowly, they began to freeze over.  With a sharp jerk, Lucky broke free from the boy's evil grasp.
    "PSI Arctic Alpha - Blue Lightning!"  The powerful blue lightning bolts flew forward and struck a blow deep in the heart of the boy.  He suddenly lost the will to fight.  "I don't enjoy hurting people, so pardon me if I leave it at this."  Lucky turned to walk away, but was stopped by the boy’s sudden voice.
    "Lucky, please, don't leave me,"
 Lucky knew that voice, but only paused to think about it before continuing towards Paula and Ness.  "We definitely didn't see the last of them."
    "I think we new that."  Paula said.
    "I guess we should find Giygas."
    "I know..." Lucky started.
    "What?"
    "Never mind."
    The threesome started walking towards the burned out Snow Wood school, and decided not to try to find Jeff.
    "Where to now?" asked Paula.
    "I guess we should just wait here."  Ness replied.   Paula turned to look out at the ocean, at the setting sun.  Ness too looked out over the vast ocean.  They both watched the sun set.  As the stars began to come out, Ness turned to watch the moon rise.
    "Do you think we'll ever get to go there?  To the moon, I mean."  Paula asked.
    Ness just looked at her and shrugged.

    Ness awoke to the sound of a man rummaging around in garbage near him.  His head shot up, his bat ready to strike, but all he saw was Giygas roaming through the remains of Snow Wood.  The Starmen had departed.
    "Giygas!  What do you have in your hands?"  Ness asked.
    Giygas turned and pointed a gun directly at Ness.  Ness screeched and shot a bolt of energy at Giygas.  Of course, the bolt didn't hurt Giygas.   It made him laugh.
    "Chill out!"  Giygas laughed.  "It's not even active yet!"
    By now Paula and Lucky had both woken up.   "Whoa," said Lucky,  "Nice gun!  What is it?"
    "I think Jeff was working on it before Snow Wood was taken over.   It's a Phase Destroyer, like the Phase Distorter Paula and Ness used last year to defeat me.  Only this gun has enough power to destroy a universe! If used properly, though, it could be the ultimate weapon."
    "Jeff..." Lucky said.  "I just saw..."
 Ness interrupted.  "We should take the Phase Destroyer to Dr. Andonuts.   He might be able to fix it up."
    "I think so!" said Giygas.  "Let's go!"   The group began walking to the lab in southern Winters.

    Unfortunately, the walk was much longer than anyone expected.   By the time the group reached the lab, Paula, Ness, and Lucky were about to pass out.  Even Giygas was winded.  As they staggered into the lab, Dr. Andonuts greeted them kindly.
    "Ah! Ness!  You've brought friends!" said Dr. Andonuts cheerfully.
    "Yes... Phase... Help... Gun..."
    "He's trying to say we found this gun.  Could you help us fix it up?"  Giygas explained.
    "Well, sure!"  Dr. Andonuts.  "Wow!  Jeff was working on this too!  Hmm...  I'll work on this later.  For now, I have a gift for you.  It's called the mind stealer, a powerful new gun I've invented."
    "Wow.  We could use some weapons."  Lucky said, catching his breath.
    "Ah, my friend.  You seem to be the perfect person to use this gun!  Use it carefully though.  It has a powerful blast that not only damages an opponent, but clouds their mind and stops the use of PSI."
    "Awesome!  This will help against Kine and maybe Neo Genesis."
    "Lucky!  You must be careful with that gun!"   Giygas said.
    "Yes, Lucky, for when you use the gun at the right moment, you might learn some of your opponents PSI abilities.  You must be warned, some of them are extremely powerful."
    "This is so awesome!  I get a gun!"  Lucky was happy.  It was obvious.
    Ness laughed. "It's Okay!  It's a gun!"
    "It's a big gun!" laughed Lucky.  Unfortunately, Ness' party never gets to have much fun.  As they laughed a Starman Assassin burst through the wall, PSI firing!
    "Okay, time to try out this gun!"  Lucky shouted, pulling the trigger.  The light ray shot out and bounced off of the Starman's psychic shield.  Although destroying the shield, the beam ricocheted throughout the room, getting larger and larger, until the entire room was filled with a bright red light.
    Lucky became aware of PSI Fire Alpha!  He quickly launched a blast of Fire directly at the Starman.  Paula followed with a blast of PSI Freeze Omega, and Ness finished the chain off with a powerful shot of Flash Omega to hopefully blast him into oblivion.
    The Starman remained standing, smoke rising from his armor.
    "No way!" shouted Ness.  "How could he just absorb all that?"
    The Starman began moving towards the group.  Lucky concentrated hard.
    "PSI Arctic Alpha - Blue Lightning!"  The powerful blue lightning once again shot from Lucky's hands, but his enemy dodged this time.  The wall behind the Starman froze instantly, and then exploded into millions of shards of Ice.
 Standing in the new doorway was a young man dressed in Black.
    "Hey!  You guys look like you could use some help!"   The man in black shouted.  "I'm X.  Hold on tight, this might hurt."  X closed his eyes and threw his arms up.  The ground around him seemed to flow to the Starman.  The Earth reached up and swallowed him alive.   "I think you'll make it from here.  Be glad I was here to help you!"
    "Oh man, that was even weirder than Neo Genesis!"  Lucky said.
    "Was it?"  Arcata said from behind them.  "We saw what you did to that Starman.  Think you can handle us?"  Arcata's hands shot out.  A soft white light seemed to slow out, directed at Paula.   Paula's eyes slowly closed, and Paula fell softly to the ground, asleep.
    "There we go," the strange young boy said.   "Now it's even.  And by the way, you guys can call me Jackal."
    "PSI Living Earth Gamma - Unearthly Demon!"  A hug crack opened in the ground and a huge, fiery figure rose up.  It let out a powerful scream of agony, and flew high into the air.  Its shadow engulfed the lab.  The room darkened.  Then a powerful humming came, and the entire lab seemed to be lifted off the ground!
    When the humming finally ended, the lab was hovering in space.   Then, with sudden earth shattering force, the demon screamed again, and the lab plummeted to the ground.
    Ness and his friends started screaming.
    As the lab crashed into the ground, Lucky and Arcata we both knocked unconscious, leaving Ness and Jackal to battle.
    "PSI Flash Omega!"  After the bright flash, Jackal was stunned, and crying.
    "Hey!  Cheap shot!"  Jackal swung his fists randomly, missing Ness.
    "PSI 'Special' Omega!"  The powerful blast of energy rocked the lab and sent Jackal flying back.
    "You think you've won, but you aren't even ready to battle me yet!"  Jackal shouted.  "PSI Living Earth Omega - Planetary Alignment!"  The roof of the lab flew off, and Ness looked up to see the sky turn black.  The stars began swirling around, and then completely disappearing.   All that was left were the planets.  They slowed down, and then began to form a powerful line.  First the moon stopped in front of Earth.  Then Mars, Jupiter, and the rest of the planets.
    The alignment brought great power.  From around the moon, Ness saw a small, green yellow light.  The light grew more and more powerful, until it engulfed the sky, silhouetting the moon, and then engulfing the moon.
    The blast of green yellow light centered in on Ness, and the energy of the Universe filtered down onto one small boy.
    Ness fell under the power.
    "Yes!  I've done it!  I killed Ness!"
    "Stop!  What are you doing?" Arcata was yelling behind Jackal.
    "I've killed Ness!"
    Arcata ran to Ness, cradled his head in her hands.  Softly she whispered, "PSI Lifeline Alpha - Heavenly Light."  Soft white light took over the darkness on night and shone upon Ness and Arcata.  "Be healed."
    Ness coughed and sat up.  When he tried to find the one who had healed him, all he saw was the remains of Dr. Andonuts lab, Lucky, Paula, Dr. Andonuts, and X.  Giygas, Arcata, and Jackal were nowhere to be seen.
    "What happened?"  Ness asked.
    "You got pretty badly beaten.  I had to enter Arcata's body and heal you using her Ti’Ana Magic."
X explained.  "For now, we must part.  I will see you later."  X stood and began to walk away.  Ness tried to stop him, but before he could speak, Paula stopped him.
    "No, we'll follow him.  He won't get very far."

    As soon as I was out of range of Ness and his friend's hearing range I teleported outside Twoson, and began to run towards my home, in the city of Threed.   I live near the Cemetery, nice huh?
    "Shhh, he'll hear us!"  I heard a whisper from behind me.  Paula?
    "Quiet!"  Lucky said.  They must be trying to follow me. I'll get them to follow me!
    "Hey!"  I screamed.  They froze.   "Taxi!"  I could hear them sigh with relief.  I opened the door, didn't get in, and closed the door.  Paula, Ness, and Lucky stood up.
    "I'm glad he didn't catch us, he would have..." Paula gasped.
    "Hi guys.  Trying to follow me?  Why?"
    "We just wanted to know what you...do..." Ness said.   "Honestly? We don't want to see you working with Neo Genesis."
    "Well, come on, we could go to my house, I guess."  I said.
    "We have some questions.  Why do you want to help us?"
    "I know of you background, and also that you need a fourth person, probably someone who knows the Ti'Ana magic of Thunder, right?
    "Yeah," said Paula.  "But why would you help us only sometimes?"
    "I haven't found the Ti'Ana shrine of Thunder, so I don't want to join you yet.  Also, Neo Genesis has been hassling me about joining them."
    "Do you know who Neo Genesis is?  Like, who are Arcata and Jackal?"
    "I know Arcata is a Starman Deluxe who found the Ti'Ana Shrine of Life.  She was just exploring one day, and found it.  Jackal contacted her to help destroy Kine.  Either way, I think she's evil.  Before Jackal brainwashed her, she worked for Kine.  Now she's trying to take over the world.  I just can't figure them out."
    "Do you know who Jackal was?"
    "I don't think he's working to destroy Kine voluntarily."
    "What do you mean?" asked Lucky.
    "I think Kine has something of his."
    "Interesting," said Paula.
    "Here's my home."  I said.  As they entered, Giygas teleported up next to them.
    "Hey!  Leave me alone back there, what's wrong with you?"

    Inside X's home, Ness found some weird stuff.  First of all, he had no furniture; it was just like an alley!
    "Um, X?"  Ness asked.  "Where should we sit?"
    "Anywhere is fine!"
    "Okay..." As Ness sat down, he realized something sparkling in the walls.  "Oh crap!  Starmen!"
Ness jumped up and got ready for a battle.  3 Starmen Assassins were waiting for them.
    "I'll take care of this."  As X stood up, 5 small black crystals fell from his arms.
    "X!  You use Black Essence?"  Giygas was stunned.
    "Well..."
    "Take care of them, Ness."  Giygas grabbed X and pulled him outside.  X dropped the crystals again.
    "PSI Firestorm Alpha - Final Heatray!"  Paula yelled.   A blast of fire swept through the room, destroying the Starmen.  "Wow, that was easy!"
    "Ha!  You're right," Lucky said.
    "Let's go get Giygas and check out Dr. Andonuts lab.  He might be able to help us out."
    "Giygas!"  Paula yelled.  "We're going to Dr. Andonut's Lab!"
    "Okay, I need to talk to X some more."
    Lucky, Ness, and Paula began walking towards the Lab.  When they finally reached it, they found that Dr. Andonuts wasn't there.  Instead his apprentice, Caveboy helped them.
    "Caveboy!  Where's Dr. Andonuts?"
    "Took...Sky Runner...Dallam," Caveboy muttered.
    "He must be going to see Poo.  Let's go!"  Ness said.  He and his party teleported to Dallam.
    "Hey!  Has anyone here seen an old guy with pointy hair?"  Lucky shouted.  A little boy pointed to the Rabbit cave.
    "He must be trying to find more Essence."  Paula thought out loud.
    Inside the cave, the group found Dr. Andonuts with a makeshift lab on Pink Cloud.  "Hey!"  Ness yelled.  "Dr. Andonuts!  What are you doing here"
    "Do you know about the ideas of Essence?"
    "Not really..."
    "Essence's are powerful crystals that ancient people used in their weapons and armor.  Each colored crystal used a different power.  Yellow gives you speed.  Green gives you Strength for stronger attacks.  Blue gives you Defense; Red gives you endurance to stay alive longer in battle.  Some people tried experimenting with them, by equipping certain combinations.  The most powerful weapons in the world, such as the Magenton, Exor, and even the Emerald Dagger use powerful combinations of Essence.
    "Magenton uses 4 Yellow and 1 Red Essence so that it has super fast powerful attacks, as well as lasting battles.  Exor is a powerful combination of 3 Blue Essence's and 2 Yellow Essences.  The battles with Exor are long and hard.   The Emerald Dagger uses the most powerful combination known to humans, 4 Green and 1 Black Essence."
    "Black Essence?"  Paula asked.  "What's that?"
    "It's a powerful Essence that should not be used."
    "Hey!  X was using Black Essence!"
    "What?  Someone you know is using Black Essence?  You should stay away from him."
    "Why?" Asked Lucky.
    "Black Essence used energy from Evil power.  It makes you evil over time."
    "Then X isn't on our side?"
    "I doubt it,"
    "What are you doing here, then?"
    "I'm working on an all new Essence that uses the power of Black Essence without the side effects.  It's going okay, I just need some more power than this world can provide!"
    "What?"  Ness, Paula and Lucky all said.
    "I need to go to the moon!"  Dr. Andonuts laughed.
    "Wow!  When's this going to happen?"  Ness asked.
    "Not for a while, I'm afraid."
    Ness and his friends bid the doctor farewell and walked out to the small city of Dallam.  Ness looked at the setting sun.  "Let's go back to Winters and find Giygas before X does something bad"

As the crew teleported into the landscape in front of Winters Boarding School, they saw Giygas and X preparing to fight to the death. Both were armed to the teeth, weapons leveled.

Ness ran in-between the two. "Stop! You can’t do this!"

"Ness! Get out of the way! X is working with Neo Genesis!" Giygas shouted.

Arcata appeared behind him. "This is true… X has been working with us since the beginning, and now that we know where Dr. Andonuts is, we can begin searching for the fourth Ti’Ana Shrine!"

"So then X is the master of PSI Thunder?"

"No, PSI Earth," X said quickly. "Ness… Have you not figured out where you own Ti’Ana Shrine is? Lucky has found PSI Freeze, and Paula Fire. Thunder is still around, plus the elusive unknown shrine. Ness… You need us. We don’t want to fight you. Let us help you!"

"Wait! Earth? I thought Jackal was Earth?"

"Jackal is Death… Arcata is Life…"

"How convenient"

Lucky leaned over and whispered something softly into Ness’ ear. Ness looked at Paula and Giygas and nodded. "Neo Genesis will never join forces with the enemies of Kine."

Jackal appeared behind Arcata and X. "I guess the forces of PSI are split then. Two forces working with each other for the same goal, and yet fighting against each other for the glory…"

"Apparently. Are we going to do this or not?" Paula said fiercely.

"PSI Artic Beta – Frozen Sun!" Lucky shouted. Paula and Ness looked confused. When had he learned this? The sun was suddenly covered with a bright blue object; it looked almost like a shield. Lucky held his hands high and the sun’s light slowly poked out from the giant ice block. A single ray of light shone down onto Neo Genesis. A rumbling announced the arrival of the Frozen Sun.

The ice shard smashed into the ground with such force it almost knocked Ness, Giygas, and Paula off their feet. Arcata flew backwards and X was knocked out of the way. Jackal took the brunt of the attack, sending him to the ground. Arcata quickly stood up and raised her hands to the sky.

"PSI Healing Omega – Angelic Chorus!" Light shone from the sky onto Jackal’s fallen body. Slowly his body stirred, and Jackal jumped up.

"No! PSI Firestorm Omega – Vengeance!" Paula shouted.

"Paula! What are you doing?" Once again, a rumbling shook the parties to their feet. Paula closed her eyes as a huge wave of flame approached from the horizon. The group of people began to scatter, but it was too late.

As they watched in horror, the flames grew tall, covering the entire sky, until suddenly the disappeared. Paula spun to face Arcata. She held her hands out, and as the group watched, Arcata was hit by a huge blast of fire. He flew back, reeling.

Paula was not done yet, though. She opened her eyes and stared at her. For the third time that day, the rumbling returned. This time an invisible force was approaching. Arcata realized she had no chance and fell to her knees.

The noise was deafening. As the terrified Neo Genesis watched, Arcata was lifted off her feet and shot straight into the air. Paula collapsed. Jackal and X stared at them. "We aren’t finished here…" X said.

"PSI Living Earth Gamma – Serpent Trench!" Water flooded the ground by the Snow Wood Boarding school. A huge whirlpool formed around Paula. Slowly, she began to fade away.

"Hey!" Giygas screamed. "PSI Storm Gamma – Sky Wave!" A huge crackle of electricity licked at the water, and the entire group fell over. Jackal and X leapt up and disappeared. The water slowly disappeared and Paula faded back to reality.

"When did you learn that?" Paula asked.

"Long ago! You couldn’t grasp my attacks before, remember?" Giygas said slyly.

"Yeah…" Ness said carefully.

"And there’s why!" Giygas laughed.

"What do we do now?"

"Didn’t we want to go to the moon to complete the Phase Destroyer?"

"That’s right! Where’s Dr. Andonuts, Giygas?" asked Paula.

"He went looking for something inside the ruins of Snow Wood! We have to go save him!" The group ran to the ruins just as the doctor was coming out. They grabbed him.

"Hey! Dr. Andonuts! When are we leaving?"

"I have some information for you about the Phase Destroyer. I believe that with it, you should be able to destroy the actual dimension where Kine is hiding! The only problem is that all four of you must use it at the same time, concentrating the power of the Ti’Ana Shrine’s into the White Essence, which we must find on the moon! The Mr. Saturn has already finished out Spaceship, so we can leave when you’re ready…"

"We’re going now!" Ness said. Immediately the five teleported to Saturn Valley.

Arriving softly, Ness saw the giant rocket looming over the party. "Wow…" was all he could say. The Saturn informed him that they could leave right away.

"Okay! Let’s go!" said Paula. "I can’t believe we’re going to the moon!"

"BoiNG! RocKeT ReADY! PlEaSe wATCH step! BOING!" Mr. Saturn said. The rocket made a silent launch and headed directly towards the moon.

Paula, Ness, Lucky, Giygas, and the good doctor watched the moon approach after almost two days of flying. The landing, like take-off was silent. Outside, the moon glistened with a soft white glow. Dr. Andonuts was ecstatic. The entire moon was covered with the material he needed to construct the White Essence.

Ness was the first person out of the ship. He stared out of his faceplate to the black sky around them. Looking at the ground, he felt at home, like he had been here before…

The others climbed from the ship to meet Ness.

Ness ignored them. Paula suddenly screamed. "Look! It’s Neo Genesis! With Jackal!"

"Ah, Paula. Your little fire tricks can’t help you up here; there is no oxygen to burn! And Lucky… Ah, Lucky! Our suits have warmers so we can stand on the cold side of the moon. You ice will melt on contact! Giygas, your lighting has nothing to conduct with here! We are invincible!" Jackal laughed. "Now you’ll never complete the Phase Destroyer! Kine is safe!"

"Jackal! What are you saying?" X shouted.

"Do you really think I could turn down all that power? All the glory… Giygas, you were worthless to me! The Apple of Enlightenment always said that Giygas’ only assistant would rule!"

With that, Jackal turned to Arcata and X, holding his hands out. "PSI Death Omega – Black Plague."

Arcata slowly began to fall to the ground. She grabbed her neck, coughing out. "Ness! Stop him!"

X collapsed to the ground and didn’t move. "Ah! Now it’s time for you, Paula. Try your little tricks, nothing will work against me, ruler of your world, protector of Kine!"

Giygas’ eyes grew wide. "P…Pokey?"

"Very perceptive! Now you get it… Kine will prevail!" Pokey shouted. "PSI Death Gamma – Primordial Revenge!" The ground rumbled and a huge skeleton popped from the soft soil. The skeleton wielded a sword, bent on their destruction. He swung, nearly missing Paula.

"Not so fast, Pokey!" Ness shouted from behind Paula. Pokey stopped laughing. "PSI Lunar Omega – Lunar Flare!" Ness stared Pokey right in the eye as the sun seemed to grow behind the moon. Pokey shielded his eyes and turned to run, but it was too late. The ground beneath him pulled up and seemed to swallow Pokey whole. The sun receded and Pokey’s screams eventually died.

"Ness! How did you do that?"

"I found my talent. It just took a while…" Ness said calmly.

"Ness!"

The skeleton lunged up behind Ness. With its last ounce of Energy, it lunged forward with its sword. Ness’s eyes widened as he felt the sword pierce his stomach. He fell to his knees, gripping the huge weapon.

"Ness! Please! Don’t give up!" Paula shouted. "Giygas! Help him!" Giygas averted his eyes.

"I’m sorry, there isn’t anything I can do. Pokey summoned that monster from death, and it’s going to claim a soul before it leaves… Ness… will die…"

"No… Ness, I’m sorry… Ness…" Paula’s tears streaked the inside of her facemask as she leaned over Ness’ body, sobbing.

"Paula, we have to leave. We’re running out of air…"

"Leave Ness here. He would want it this way. He’ll want to be in his element… I hope,"

So Paula, Giygas, Dr. Andonuts, and Lucky launched themselves from the moon. As Lucky, Giygas, and Dr. Andonuts busied themselves with the Phase Destroyer, Pal watched the moon recede. Ness lay somewhere on it’s surface. Paula couldn’t bear with the loss, but she knew she had to find and destroy Kine for what he had done to her…

"Paula, we have to go now! The Phase Destroyer is charged up!" Giygas shouted to Paula. "Quickly!"

"It won’t work without Ness." Paula said sharply.

"We have to try!"

"Fine!" Paula grabbed the side of the massive machine. Slowly it began to heat up. Paula opened her eyes wide as she saw the air in front of the machine slowly turn bright red, and then blue. It shimmered with light, as though there was another light behind it.

The world behind theirs was breaking through. All at once, a huge blue arm reached forward and pulled the three through it. The trio fell through the void, floating softly surrounded by swirling colors. There was no direction. Soon, Paula was reminded of Ness. She saw Ness’ face through the jail bars when he rescued her from Carpainter.

She saw his face in the Tunnel to the Past.

She saw his face when they were fighting X for the first time.

And now Paula saw Ness standing before her.

Paula became aware of PSI Forever! She suddenly had renewed strength, and just in time. They ended they’re fall with a crash as she landed in front of what she assumed was Kine.

"Lucky… Giygas… Paula… You must never prevail…" a voice echoed through the cavern. No, through their very minds.

And so the battle began. Paula, Giygas, and Lucky threw all their skills at the huge beast in front of them. Paula using her skills in fire, Lucky in Freeze, and Giygas in Lightning. The entire time, Kine didn’t retaliate, although it didn’t appear their attacks were dealing any damage.

"Paula… Return to me… Ness is waiting…" An invisible wave of sound pounded Paula, and she fell, nearly passing out. The sounds of the battle raged on without her. She had no strength left.

"Paula!" Giygas shouted.

"Giygas!" Lucky said. "We have to concentrate on Kine! We can save her later!"

"Lucky… Giygas… This world is not stable enough to take this abuse… You will destroy yourselves to kill me… Save yourself! If I die, you are going with me!"

"You took my friends, my life, my very essence just to destroy someplace you had never even seen! I refuse to let you win this battle!" Lucky shouted.

"I fought for you! You tossed me away like a doll when I was of no use to you! You destroyed the only people I ever cared about!" Giygas howled.

They both fought with all their heart, only to be brought down by a single shot. Kine was too powerful to the warriors of good… The world would be Kine’s…

"Arcata! Pokey! X! Rise for me… Present yourself!" Kine shouted. "Now you will serve me… Prepare to conquer the world!"

"Yes, Kine…" Pokey said. The blackness around Kine slowly became a view of the Earth.

"Ness will never prevail. He destroyed Giygas, took my highest warrior…" Kine said calmly.

"And now he will take your very life!" Paula shouted. "PSI Forever!" Paula began to glow with a soft white light. She closed her eyes, as the light seemed to heal her. It surrounded her friends and brought them up behind her. "Kine, you will never take any more away from me…"

"Kine! You shall feel the pain of millions of souls! Forever!" The light flowed around Kine and his followers… He jerked back quickly.

"No! What is this?" Kine howled. Slowly, he began to fall, his power drained.

"Paula! We’re leaving!"

Paula turned to her friends, then back to Kine. "This is the final act…"

"Just remember Ness for me…" Kine mumbled.

"I will, Kine…"

Paula slowly faded away, just as Kine’s world ended in one final explosion. To the rest of the world, it would become another star in the night sky.

Paula sat in her room at Polestar Preschool. It had been three months since the loss of ness and the fall of Kine. She kept in touch with Giygas and Lucky, but she found herself drifting away from her friends. She spent her nights staring at the stars. That night would be special.

Looking up, Paula stared up at the night sky. A small white star in the sky slowly grew in size until it turned a bright blue. Paula smiled. She saw the star twinkle and it reminded her of Ness. He might be gone, but now she could rest. Paula retired to her room.

The forces of PSI were at rest again. The Ti’Ana shrines lay unused and drained. Paula was sure she hadn’t seen the last of Ness… And now, only three knew of their wonderful adventure.