MoonBound: Chapter 14

By: nessdude15


"So, Ness how many kids are you and Paula going to have?" Picky snickered as he walked over towards Ness and Paula, who were hopping along, side by side. They had been traveling for a couple hours, and Ness took the opportunity to spend 'quality time' with Paula.

"Shaddup, Picky. You'll understand one day, I hope." Ness said to him.

"And I hope I never do." Picky replied. Paula laughed.

"So young, so naive." She thought. They group of six continued traveling for quite some time. Jeff estimated they had left the buildings three and one half hours ago.

"So, Picky, have you sensed anything yet?" Jeff asked.

Nope, not yet." Picky answered. Jeff sighed and kept moving. A short while later, Pippi spoke up.

"Guys, I'm getting kind of tired. Do you mind if we take a little rest?" Pippi asked.

"Fine with me." Picky answered. He picked out a spot a few yards to their left, and began walking towards it. He picked this particular location because there were lots of small moon rocks on which they could sit. Picky reached the spot and sat down on the rock nearest to him. The rest of the party followed closely behind. Jeff opted not to sit. He began scanning the area around them. Something caught his eye, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Eventually, he realized what he was looking at.

"Hey, guys, look at the formation these rocks are in." He said. "They're in a huge ring. With that giant fifty-foot rock in the center of the ring." He added, pointing towards the middle of the ring. The rest of the group turned around and looked.

"Hey, yea! That's pretty wierd!" Ness said.

"But what does it mean." Pippi thought.

"I think I know." Picky said, as he began wandering towards the giant boulder in the center of the rock ring. The ring was quite large. About twenty tards in diameter. It took Picky a while to reach the center.

"Here we go again." Pippi sighed as she followed behind Ness, Paula, Poo, and Jeff, who were already hopping towards the large rock where Picky was waiting. Shortly after, they made it to the boulder, and found Picky looking up to the top of it.

"I think I have to up to the top of this thing." Picky said.

"Well, here, have a boost!" Ness exclaimed as he grabbed Picky around the waist and hurled him up towards the top. He laughed as he heard Picky scream like a girl on his way up.

"Ow!" Picky exclaimed as he rammed into the side of the boulder, and began falling back down towards the ground. He then grabbed a small indentation in the rock, and scaled the rock the rest of the way. "Stupid Ness." He grumbled. "Throwing me into the side of the rock." He added as he began to search around on the summit of the boulder.

* * *

Pippi slapped Ness on the back of his helmet. "You could have hurt him, throwing him into the side of a rock like that!" She yelled.

"Hey, he recovered! And he had to get up there some how!" Ness replied. "Let's just wait and see what he finds up there."

* * *

Picky was now standing in the middle of the top of the boulder, looking straight down at the small glittery light below him.

"Well, I guess this is what I'm looking for." Picky thought, as he gazed at the small sparkling light. "I'm Picky the chosen one, and I've come to claim my sanctuary!" He yelled. The usual bright light followed. As the light was dimming away, Picky stepped forward to meet his opponent. Before he could react, he was struck in the helmet with a powerful fist. He flew off the side of the monstrous boulder, hurtling towards the ground below.

* * *

"Hey, what's that flying off the side of the boulder?" Paula asked

"It's Picky!" Pippi screamed. Ness was aobut to run after him to break his fall, but he was beaten to the punch by Poo, who leaped far up into the air, grabbed Picky by the arm, and pulled him back to the ground. They both landed in the dust with a thud, Picky on top of Poo.

"Thanks, Poo! I thought I was a goner!" Picky exclaimed as he climbed to his feet.

"It's the least I could do." Poo relpied as he hopped up. "I think we have other things to take care of right now."

"Right." Picky said as he and Poo hopped back over towards the boulder where the rest of the group was waiting.

"What the heck hit you!?" Ness asked Picky, as he and Poo arrived back at the base of the boulder.

"I have no idea. But it was really strong, and had a really big fist." Picky replied. Right then, he saw a dark figure hop down from the summit of the boulder, and land nimbly a few yards away. "Look over there, guys." Picky said as he pointed at the dark figure that was slowly making its way towards them. As the figure got closer, its features became clearer. It was about six feet tall, and it's muscular body was pitch black. It had giant red fists in the shape of punching gloves. It's piercing red eyes were the only visible features on its round face.

"Wow, this thing looks tough." Ness said. The figure was now nearing striking distance, and it took the fighting stance of a boxer. Ness slowly drew his bat from the pack on his back.

"Be careful, Ness!" Paula said, as Ness and the shrouded enemy began circling each other. Ness was the first to strike. The moon's lack of gravity prevented him from swinging quickly, and the figure easily dodged to the side. It then charged Ness, and puched him hard in the stomach. Ness keeled over, but didn't give up.

"Man, this guy is pretty quick he thought as he dropped his bat to the ground. "PSI Rockin Gamma!" he yelled. Psycic energy flowed through Ness's body, and was then released in an onslaught of rainbow-colored energy. It hurtled slowly at the foe, but it had no problem dodging the attack. Ness turned towards the strange enemy. "Too slow." he thought. "PSI Rockin Gamma!" he yelled again. The same colored energy flowed from him, but he had no more luck. The figure hopped behind him, and slugged him in the kidney before Ness could even react. Ness fell to the ground, and was out for the count.

Poo was next to face off againt the shadowy fiend. He drew his sword, and crouched into a ninja stance. Poo was by far the quickest member of the party, so when he sliced with his sword, he connected. The figure was slashed vertically across its chest. It's black skin ripped, and peeled away, and the wound began to leak florescent red blood. It fell onto one knee, and grabbed it's wound. But it wouldn't be defeated. Not yet. Poo charged in an attempt to finish it off. The foe lifted its free hand, and released a powerful, invisible energy. It knocked Poo backwards into the boulder. Poo got up off the ground, holding his right arm. He was forced to drop his sword, and continue the fight. He lifted his left arm, and unleashed his most powerful Starstorm attack. Hundreds of stars fell from the sky, striking the wounded figure. It fell to the ground, seemingly defeated. The attack sucked all of Poo's energy. He also fell to the ground, exausted a few yards away from the shrouded enemy.

"I guess Poo beat him." Picky said, walking over to the fallen figure. Behind him, Pippi ran over to help Poo, and Jeff and Paula over to Ness. Picky kneeled down to examine his foe. Suddenly, its eyes flew open in rage. It kicked Picky's stomach, knocking the breath out of him, and sending him stumbling backwards. "Guys." Picky whispered, holding his stomach. "A little help." Pippi, Paula, and Poo all turned around, and abandoned Ness and Poo. They all quickly made their way to help Picky out.

"Okay, this guy isn't going to go down very easily." Jeff said. "We need strategy." he added, appearing deep in thought. "Okay guys, I know what to do." He said, shortly later. "We're going to surround him. Pippi and I will approach from the east and west sides, while Paula and Pippi will approach from the north and south sides."

"Sounds good to me." Picky said, as he took his place on the south side of the black enemy. Paula hopped around its right side towards the north, and Pippi, and Jeff took their places. They began to close in on it. Jeff was the first to strike. He fired his Gaia Beam directly at the figure's wound. As it made contact, the foe let out a blood-curtling scream, (which was especially strange due to the fact that it had no mouth). It was now infuriated. It charged Jeff, tripped him, and slammed his fist into his stomach, knocking Jeff into the ground.

Pippi began rapidly firing her Bionic Slingshot. Laser-guided pellets continually connected with the enemy's head. It turned towards Pippi, and unleashed it's invisible energy wave. Pippi was sent flying back, and crashed against one of the rocks that made up the ring on the outside. The figure began to advance on Picky

"PK Beam Beta!" Picky yelled. Large yellow beams began rapidly firing out of his hands. They all connected with the figure, but didn't seem to do much damage. It kept advancing on Picky, getting closer every second.

"PSI Freeze Gamma!" Paula yelled. A few large ice chunks flew from her body and hit the black figure solidly on the back. It stumbled forward a bit, and then turned around and faced Paula. It was now quickly advancing on her. Picky saw her danger, and hopped onto the feind's back. It shoved its elbow into Picky's stomach fiercly. Picky was sent flying off, and landed a few yards away. The enemy resumed his advance on Paula. Paula panicked, and her muscles locked up. This time, Picky was too late to save his friend. The evil, shrouded figure gave Puala a hard puch, right in the stomach. She wavered for a second, groaned, and finally fell face first on the ground.

"Didn't you mother ever teach you to never hit girls?" Picky said as he hopped to his feet. He charged his foe, yo-yo flying. The figure easily dodged every blow, stepped back, and blasted Picky with his invisible enery wave. Picky flew backwards, and slammed into the boulder. He fell to his knees, and felt like giving up. About that time, a familiar, but mysterious voice popped into his helmet.

"The power is inside you, Picky! Let it out!" The voice said urgently.

"Starmaster..." Picky said to himself. "He's right, I can do this!" Picky closed his eyes, and cleared his mind. Little did he know, his foe began to charge him again. Milliseconds before he would heve been struck, he opened his eyes with fury, and he screamed. "PK Beam Gamma!" He yelled. His arms began to glow. Then, huge spiraling yellow beams began rapidly firing from his hands. They hit the shrouded enemy squarely. The first wave knocked it to the ground. As soon as it got back on its feet, a second wave knocked him down again. It got up slower the next time, with huge red gashes in its body.

"One more time." Picky thought. He then fired the strongest wave of beams yet. The first set of beams blasted its arms off. The second set blasted a hole straight through its torso, and the third connected with its head, disintegrating it. The remains of its body fell to the ground.

About that time, Ness came to. He saw Picky standing over the fallen body of the strange figure. Next, the remains of the body disappeared in the same way the previous sanctuary bosses had. Then he saw Picky's head jerk upwards. Picky was then shot up to the top of the giant boulder. At the summit, he was barely visible. Ness saw a faint blue light emitting from the top of the boulder. And the force. The force not mistakeable. It was more intense than ever this time. It grew so intense, that the boulder was crushed under the sheer force. Picky then floated down to the ground, still emitting that same pale blue light. Pikcy had absorbed the power of his latest sanctuary; Moon Mountain.

Picky walked over to Ness, and offered his hand. Ness took it. He immmediately felt a rush of energy flow through his body. In an instant, the wounds inflicted by the strange sanctuary boss disappeared. Ness immediately hopped over to where his unconcious friends were laying, and revived them with PSI Healing Omega. Once everyone had been revived, they gathered on the outside of the ring of rocks where they had entered.

"Wow, Picky, you sure are taking to this hero thing quickly." Ness said.

"I couldn't have done it with out your help." Picky replied.

"Humility too!?" Pippi exclaimed. "You sure aren't the same rude Picky Minch I met so long ago."

"Yea, that's great and all, but I think we should get going." Jeff said. "We'll head back to the abandoned alien buildings to get more oxygen canisters." So with Jeff in the lead, the group began to make the long journey back towards the old abandoned alien buildings. Some hours later, they were finally in sight of the buildings. But there was more. Jeff put his hand back, motioning for the rest of the group to halt. He pulled out his scanning device, and walked forward a few yards. He turned a knob on the side, causing the device to zoom in on the buildings. A few minutes later, Jeff walked back to the group with a grim look on his face.

"Bad news guys." he said, "The aliens have returned, and are making use of their facilities again. I saw thousands of enemy starmen, mooks, octobots, and any other enemy unit you can think of. They're lined up in single file lines, boarding large spaceships. It looks like an invasion." The rest of the group was silent. Jeff looked around at them, making eye contact with each of them. "We have to get the rest of these sanctuaries, and we have to get them NOW."