CHAPTER XXX: The Stonehenge Base
Ness dunked his shirt in the crystal clear river, scrubbing at it with a bar of soap before rinsing it off. His pants hung on a branch nearby, and he knelt near the stream wearing only his boxer shorts. Jeff and Poo were nearby as well, scrubbing their own clothes.
"Whew," Ness wiped his brow. "It's been so long since we had good clean clothes. Thank goodness we found this stream!"
They were situated on a small island in the middle of a river. The stream was very clean, and Jeff had examined it, and determined it safe to wash in. Paula was at the other end of the thickly forested islet, washing her own clothes. Ness boredly splashed a little water under his arms.
"Cleanliness is next to godliness," Poo observed sagely, hanging up his gi on a branch. "And we were pretty smelly, being teenage boys and all."
"Hey, Ness," Jeff grinned, nudging his friend's ribs slyly. "Let's go peek at Paula, eh?"
The young hero's ears began flaming. "Jeff!" he cried, trying to hide his embarrassment. "That is not cool!"
He laughed, glasses shining. "Just kidding, man," he chuckled. "I'm not a pervert, y'know."
Poo laughed, slapping his bare knee.
"Shut up, you two!" Ness growled, but couldn't help laughing as well.
Wearing clean clothes, they trekked through the swamp for almost a week, fighting off the monsters of Deep Darkness that dared to venture into the daylight. They slogged endlessly through the muck until they came across a cave with a small, demure sign in front of it. The sign read:
"Welcome to Tenda Village
(We're shy)"
Ness examined the sign, holding his chin in his hand. "'We're shy', huh? I wonder what that means? I mean...a village of shy people?"
The entered the cave, and descended the worn stone steps. Ness didn't even need to conjure the light ball, because small tallow candles lined the walls. The four friends walked slowly down the steps, ever watchful of dangers.
The stairs ended abruptly in a large, well-lit cavern. Small, blue-green men were walking around, avoiding each other. Ness assumed they were the Tendites, and walked over to one of them.
"Excuse me," he asked politely. "Is this Tenda Village?"
The little blue man blushed a little. "We're shy," he mumbled, and ran away.
The young hero rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh....kay...."
Another Tendite was leaning against the stone wall. "Hey," he whispered. "Don't bother talkin' to these dorks. They're all too shy for their own good. Awhile ago, we had some non-shy Tenda that went underground, following a weird music they heard, and they haven't come back since. I'm the only left."
"A weird music?" Jeff asked carefully.
"How did they get underground?" Poo cut to the chase.
"There's a cave around her somewhere," The non-shy Tenda said. "There's only one person who can lift the rock, but he's the shyest man in the village."
At that moment, the Receiver Phone began to ring.
"Hold on," Ness said, then picked it up. "Hello? Apple Kid?"
"Yeah!" the inventor's familiar voice crackled over the airwaves. "Ness, I just figured out about the whole stuff that's been happening. There's this huge intergalactic evil that's been attacking our planet, Ness! I just got finished deciphering an old piece of Scarabian prophecy. The alien's name is--"
"Giygasvormav," Ness finished. "I know, Apple Kid. I've known for almost a year now. Do you know where I am? I'm in Tenda Village, in Deep Darkness. This is pretty much at the end of the world, and the reason that my friends and I have been travelling is to stop Giygas from taking over the earth. Does that clear some things up, Apple Kid?"
Silence.
"Apple Kid?"
"Sorry, that just took me completely by surprise. I've come here to Dr. Andonuts' laboratory in Winters to try and work with him to stop the alien, but he's not here. I...what the? Hey! Who are you?! What are you...? NESS! HELP!"
There was a bunch of crashing on the other end of the line, and suddenly, the phone went dead.
"Hello?" Ness choked. "Hello?"
No answer.
"Oh, no!" Ness grabbed Paula's hand. "Come on, guys! Apple Kid is in trouble!"
"Ness?" Paula asked as she was dragged up the stairs. "What's going on?"
"No time to explain! PSI Teleport!"
He had leapt through the air, and was gone before he even touched the ground.
"The footprints lead right to Stonehenge,"
Jeff was examining the ground, where there were some strangely shaped prints. They had followed them from Dr. Andonuts' lab to the strange monument called Stonehenge. Ness looked up at the towering stones, the wind and snow whipping at the few locks of hair sticking out of the front of his baseball cap. He knelt in the snow, the frozen water chilling his knees through his jeans. He wiped away the snow around the place where the footprints ended, revealing a metal hatch under the whiteness.
Ness nodded to his friends, and pulled open the hatch. A gust of air whooshed from beneath, smelling of well-oiled metal. Ness leapt into the hatch, followed by Paula, Jeff, and Poo.
He landed easily, rolling forward. His friends followed easily, weapons drawn.
"Okay," Jeff whispered. "No psychic skills. The enemies may have PSI monitors, plus, we can't go tearing down the place until we save Apple Kid. Got it, guys?"
"Right," they whispered in unison.
Ness ran behind a chunk of metal. The walls gave off a warm, luminous, dull glow. It lit the tunnel well enough, and they stalked down the hall, using cover and stealth as much as possible.
"Shhh..." Ness quieted his friends. "Someone's coming."
What came around the corner made the young man's breath catch in his throat. It was the StarMan Jr., the robot he had fought so long ago, back in Onett. Another one came out, speaking in a monotone, level voice.
"Greetings, StarMan 12," the second said. "How fares Deluxe?"
"Hello, StarMan 172," the first responded. "He still senses the Chosen's presence. The Apple of Enlightenment foretold their destruction of Giygas, and if we let that come to pass, we will be scrapped."
"We could bring the girl to the Organic Units," 172 said with a robotic laugh. "Knowing their needs, they could have a lot of fun!"
Ness clenched his teeth, his psy-rage trying to flare up. One hand balled into a fist, his nails cutting into his palm. He squinted his eyes closed, growling.
"Easy," Poo warned. "We have to use stealth, remember?"
"GRRRRRR...." Ness couldn't hold back anymore. "RRRRREEEEAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!!!"
He leapt from his hiding place, rage powering his motions. He cut through the first one before it could even turn around, clubbing it messily in half. The other one didn't get off so easy. Ness progressively ripped it's appendages off one by one before taking off it's shiny metal head.
"NESS!" Jeff shouted, coming out from behind the metal. "What the heck do you think you're doing?!"
Silence from the hero.
"He ticked me off," He finally mumbled, before moving along.
They slid through the base, taking care not to be seen. They came across a division of StarMen, training under a larger, golden StarMan. The others referred to him as StarMan Super. The thing was big and rounded, with a long katana sword strapped to it's back. Poo gasped.
"The Sword of Kings!" He whispered loudly. "My Sensei told me that a golden warrior stole it from the palace at Dalaam--that must be it!"
He leapt from his hiding place, launching a sideways kick at it's head. The StarMan Super crumpled under the blow, and Poo suddenly had a grip on the shiny blade of the Sword of Kings. And then, the StarMen were upon them.
Ness weaved in and out, striking them down left and right, his baseball bat arcing through the air, crumpling them one by one. Paula elbowed her way through, cracking them down with her frying pan, leaving massive dents and cuts in her foes. The constant blasting of Jeff's gun became routine, craters appearing in the skin of the StarMen. Lasers were flying from the enemy's eyes, frying the walls. A stray beam struck Ness in the chest, and he flew back.
The StarMan that had hit him towered over him, preparing the final blow. Without warning, it's head flew cleanly off, and Poo landed some distance away, catlike grace dominating his movements. Ness grinned, saluted with his bat, and stood up.
"C'mon!" Paula shouted. "We can get away in the confusion!"
"She's right!" Ness yelled. "We don't have time for this! We have to get to Apple Kid!"
They slipped out of the battle, snickering up their sleeves as the StarMan brigade continued to slaughter each other. They ran over to a ladder that lead even deeper into the base. An explosion from above rained StarMan parts on the four friends, and they shielded their heads with their arms. A long-barreled, broken gun fell on Jeff's head. He picked it up.
"What's that, Jeff?" Poo asked.
"It's a blaster," He mused. "I'd better save it. I might be able to fix it, and then I'll have a more powerful gun."
"Forget that," Ness reprimanded, holding his bat defensively. "We've got to keep pressing on until we find Apple Kid! He's bound to be able to help us find the Melodies. He even found out that Giygas is trying to take over the world--without anyone telling him! This kid is ultra-smart, and a good friend to boot."
They ran down the pulsing, glowing hallway, until they reached a huge, ugly metal door. A sign next to it said in bold, metallic letters: StarMan Deluxe; Inner Sanctum and Holding Facility.
Ness growled. "This is it!" He yelled, the raw wailing of his mind tearing the door of it's hinges. The huge metal flew inward like paper. Dust and smoke rose, boiling from the floor, pouring outward. When the debris cleared, the four got a good view of the room.
At one end, there was another, smaller door. To the left was a wall full of huge glass capsules. So huge, in fact that people were inside. Apple Kid, one of the Tessie Watching Club, Dr. Andonuts, a Mr. Saturn, a few civilians, and even Jeff's best friend, Tony.
Jeff knocked on the glass. "Tony?" He asked, knocking on the glass. "Wake up!"
Tony's blue eyes opened slowly. He looked sluggish, not all there.
"C...can't," He stuttered drowsily. "Can't breathe..."
"Tony!" he was banging on the glass with all his might. "Crap...it must be a one-way mirror. We can see in, but he can't see out."
"StarMan Deluxe must be the leader of this base," Paula thought aloud. "If we beat him, we may be able to free Tony and the others. Shall we go?"
"We shall!" Ness yelled, kicking down the next door. The hurling scrap of metal was cleaved in half almost in midair, by a huge, silver StarMan with spikes protruding from it's shoulders. It eyed them with it's one, long optical sensor, a red light flashing briefly across it. It spoke in a raspy, clicking voice.
"The...whiiiiir!...chosen ones, eh? I will destroy...whiiiir!...you all for Master Giygas! I will prove the Apple of Enlightenment...whiiiir...completely wrong!"
"You think so, do you?" Poo drew the Sword of Kings, stepping forward. "Well, we don't"
With a flash, the young prince had dashed across the room, cleaving the arm off of StarMan Deluxe. He landed gracefully, but a swift kick from the metal man sent him sprawling across the room. Paula tried her hand next, giving it a good clock upside the head with her frying pan. A loud "cong" echoed in the room, and the thing whirled, slugging the young woman once in the gut, and once in the jaw. She fell to hr knees, coughing a few times.
Jeff loaded a charge into his laser, and let loose several blasts at the smooth metal monstrosity. The blasts bounced back to the bespectacled young genius, striking him in the chest, and knocking him into the wall. Ness viewed the opening, and charged, baseball bat held backwards. He glided across the room, and was just preparing for a swing, when Deluxe's hand gripped his throat in a death grip.
"I will...whiiiir...destroy you now!"
Ness' hand came up, his vision blurring. His hand wrapped around the wrist of StarMan Deluxe, squeezing with every ounce of waning strength in his body. He choked, squeezing even harder. With an unearthly wail, he ripped Deluxe's other arm off, tossing it aside, taking a deep breath.
And suddenly, Poo was there. He cut across the room like a dart, severing his foe's head. The chunk of metal and circuits went flying across the room, hitting the wall with a hollow noise.
Ness fell to his knees, drawing in another breath. Poo landed easily, sheathing his sword.
"You okay, Ness?" Jeff asked, helping him to his feet.
"Yeah," he panted, holding his throat. "Just a bit winded."
A metallic voice crackled over the announcer. "StarMan 12657, Deluxe, has been deactivated," It moaned. "Canceling organic biological testing---locks one, two, and three have been shut down--releasing bio-test subjects."
"That must be Apple Kid and the others!" Paula grinned. "Let's go!"
They ran to the next room, Ness skidding to a halt in front of a soaked-but-happy Apple Kid. Ness clapped him on the shoulder, while Jeff ran to embrace his father and friend.
"Good," Ness grinned. "When we beat that ugly jerk, it released the prisoners."
"Exactly," Apple Kid laughed. "Now, I think we're all a bit tired, so let's head back to Dr. Andonuts' lab and get caught up, shall we?"
He sat next to Paula on a makeshift couch, sipping a cup of hot chocolate. Paula had a small cup of tea, and she had a brown blanket wrapped about her shoulders. Ness shivered lightly, leaning his baseball bat in the corner, leaning way back.
"So, at least we know where we stand," Jeff was saying. The other prisoners were grouped here and there in the room, shivering and recovering from their bout of fear. "We don't know where to go from here. The Tendite said that a tribe of Tenda went underground after a strange song--now, we can assume that it's one of the Melodies, but we can't move the rock that leads to it, because the Tenda who can is really shy..."
Apple Kid perked up. "Did you say 'shy'?" he asked. "I just rented a book from the Onett Library called 'Overcoming Shyness'. If that will help, I can loan it to you."
"That'd be great!" Ness cried, standing, nearly spilling his scalding drink. "If he got the Tendites to read that book, we'll be able to get to the next Melody!"
Apple Kid dug a brown-bound book from his backpack, and handed it to Ness.
"Here 'ya go!"
"All right...let's go, guys. We're off to Tenda Village."