CHAPTER XXIV: The journey to Magnet Hill
Ness sipped on a cup of coffee--with milk and sugar--as he listened to Poo tell about his mental and physical training. He had already told Poo of how HE had come into the trip, starting from the very beginning. Paula sat next to him, with Jeff on the other side. Poo had come into their midst with nothing but a bottle of water, a simple, leather pack, and a small, shiny stone, the symbol of currency in Dalaam.
"Before we go," Jeff said, after Poo had finished. "We should soak up some information on Scaraba. I mean, if we're going there--and to the Pyramid, as Monotoli wanted us to--then shouldn't we know a bit about the place?"
"I suppose so," Paula mused. "We should know a little about what we're going to face."
They trekked over to the Summers Museum, which had a large Scaraba Relics display. The four friends wandered in and out of the exhibits, looking at the strange relics (King Tut's Pencil Box, King Ra's Briefcase), but found nothing about what they'd be facing once they reached Scaraba.
They wandered upstairs, where a man wearing a blue robe and a turban stopped them.
"Sorry," he said. "But we're redecorating. There's some old Scarabian Prophecy on a stone tablet in there, and..."
"Did you say Scarabian Prophecy?" Ness asked.
"Yeah. We only let some fat, porky kid in there, because he gave me a rare, Scarabian coin. I collect rare stuff, you see. If you could give me something rare, I'd be happy to let you in."
"Give us a moment," Jeff said.
They huddled.
"All right, guys," Paula whispered. "Pool it!"
They all procured their possessions. The only things of rare value were Ness' Sound Stone, and Poo's crystal. The Sound Stone was out of the question, so Poo approached with the Dalaamese currency.
"Excuse me," He bowed, holding out the crystal. "Would this suffice?"
The man took the crystal, turning it over in his hand. "Very nicely," He smiled greedily. "This way, please!"
They entered reverently. In front of them, there was a large, stone block.
"Here's the kicker," Ness mumbled. "Can anybody read Scarabian?"
"I can," Poo smiled, stepping forward. He ran his hands along the surface, clearing his throat. "My extensive education included the Scarabian language."
He looked at it for a moment, and began to read.
"Know ye this," He intoned. "Ages ago, our race was besieged by a great evil: Giygasvormav. His minions rocked Scaraba with war and famine. We, the Scarabians, built the Great Pyramid as a defense against the darkness, in hopes that the Chosen would come and save our planet. We managed to drive off the darkness, but Giygasvormav, the Great Evil, made a vow to return every thousand years to wreak havoc on our world. The Chosen must read this tablet, and must know this information:
X
3 4
5 2
DANCE IN FRONT OF THE SPHINX!
Poo looked over the tablet again. "Hm," he mused. "Looks like this was intended for you, Ness. Wait...there's something else here...let's see...it says: 'let the Chosen use the Hawk Eye to light the eternal Darkness'...Hawk Eye?"
Ness held his chin in one hand. "Giygasvormav...that must be the ancient name of the Cosmic Destroyer Giygas."
Without warning, two caskets at the end of the room shattered outward. Two mummies staggered out, muttering horribly.
Paula immediately lifted her frying pan, but Ness held her back.
"No, Paula," He smiled. "I want to see how Poo fights. Let us take 'em out!" He reached out with his bat, knocking it against Poo's fist. "Let's go!"
Poo nodded, taking a defensive stance.
The first Shattered Man threw a massive punch towards Ness. The hero crouched low, putting one hand on the ground sweeping out with one foot. The enemy went down hard.
Poo dodged three swift punches, his lithe, muscular frame moving quickly. His arms folded, he leapt, kicking the other Shattered Man in the face. It went down along with the other.
Ness stood on his enemy's chest. "Why are you attacking us?" He crackled sharply.
The two mummies kept moaning two words. "Master..." They groaned "...Giygas!"
Ness felt Poo's Psychic strength building. He began gathering his own.
"PSI Freeze Gamma!"
"PSI Rockin' Beta!"
The two Shattered Men exploded into nothingness.
Ness nodded to Poo, and turned to his other two friends.
"Let's go," he smiled.
On their way out the door, the phone in the lobby rang. Nobody was around, so Ness took the liberty of answering.
"Hello?" He answered.
"Hello," A squeaky voice said. "This is Mr. Spoon, curator of the Fourside Museum of Natural History. This is Mr. Fork in Summers, right?"
"Um..." Ness began. "No, this is--"
"Don't toy with me, Fork!" The voice raged. "Just get down here! I found this weird place that I want you to see. It's giving off some strange telepathic waves. There's also some huge rat guarding the place! Come on, I want you to see this!"
>Click!<
Ness put down the phone, and quickly explained the situation to his three friends.
"Hm...telepathic waves?" Poo mused. "And a rat guardian?"
"Sounds like a Sanctuary to me," Paula nodded. "And the big rat must be the Guardian."
"I think we should go," Jeff decided, removing his glasses and polishing them. "If we don't collect the melodies from all eight Sanctuaries, we'll never beat Giygas."
Paula pounded one fist into her palm. "I think that's a good idea. What do you say, Ness?"
He nodded, smiling. "Great idea. Okay, everyone, let's go outside!"
They trekked outside, and linked arms. Ness cried out.
"PSI TELEPORT!"
Mr. Spoon, curator of the Fourside Museum of Natural History, adjusted his glasses in a confused manner, when a scruffy young man followed by three others strolled up to him.
"Excuse me," the young man began. "But my name is Ness, and we heard about something 'interesting' that you unearthed. Can we see it?"
Spoon looked at his watch. "Go ahead. The entrance is in the back. It's almost closing time, anyway..."
They four youths had ran towards the back room.
"Oh, wait!..." Spoon called. "There's a giant..."
But they were already gone.
"Oh, man," Jeff wheezed as they climbed down the ladder into the sewers. "It smells like a garbage disposal down here..."
Paula lightly hit Jeff, remembering the giant garbage disposal in Belch's Base.
"Calm down, Paula," Poo reprimanded. "He didn't mean anything by it..."
"Will you guys just be quiet?" Ness asked urgently, forming a light ball that circled his head. "We don't want to disturb the Guardian unless we absolutely have to."
The four friends slogged through the rank water, holding their shirts to their noses.
It's so dreary, Ness thought to himself. It sure could use some sprucing up. Without warning, a small, soft, cool hand slipped into his. He looked back to see Paula, her face shaded by the light ball, looking straight ahead, her hand clasping his. He smiled softly, then set his jaw, and trudged on.
It was barely noticeable, but Ness had learned never to disregard the unnoticeable. A small wave had rippled by his legs. A shock at the back of his neck really clued him in.
"Guys..." He mumbled. "WATCH OUT!"
Yanking Paula along with him, he leapt into the air, catching a pipe with his free hand. Jeff and Poo followed suit.
And just in time, too. A huge, moldy, gray rat rose from the murky deep. It looked up at them, and let out a deep, rumbling growl.
"I AM THE PLAUGE RAT OF DOOM! I AM THE GUARDIAN OF MAGNET HILL! TREMBLE BEFORE MY MIGHT!"
"Yeah, right!" Ness cried, hefting Paula up to the pipe so she could hang on. Drawing his bat, he dropped towards the Plague Rat.
He never quite got there. The Rat's huge, scaly tail whipped from the dark waters, striking him across the face, ending him plummeting into the dank liquid.
Jeff tried his hand next. Holding the pipe with one hand, he drew his gun with the other, and began firing. The shots bounced harmlessly off of the Rat's hide. The ugly beast looked up from the waters, and spit a great wad of slime towards the armed young man, knocking him clean off the pipe.
He landed in the water with a resounding splash. Poo leapt from the pipe, running along the wall, his body defying gravity as he tore across the side of the sewer, sideways. Crouching onto the wall for a moment, he heaved his body towards his foe, readying a devastating punch.
He went the way of Ness as that horrible tail caught him across the face. He also descended into the water.
Paula had dropped from the pipe, and was firing short bursts of energy. "PSI Freeze gamma!" She cried, over and over again.
As the bolts of ice streaked towards the Plague Rat of Doom, it laughed that same huge laugh, lifting Ness from the waters, it's tail wrapped around the young hero's throat. The psychic freeze blasts took him full in the chest, making him cry out, spitting dark sludge from his mouth.
Paula growled, the water around her sweeping away, leaving her standing in a sphere of dryness. She motioned her two companions to join her.
"Keep away from the water," She said quietly, then turning to Poo. "You can summon lightning, right?" She asked.
"Hai," Poo responded, nodding. "I believe that I know what you're thinking, as well!"
A grim smile played across the young woman's lips. "Good. On three," She began counting.
"One!"
The Plague Rat's tail wrapped tighter around Ness' neck. From behind them, Jeff was readying a Big Bottle Rocket.
"Two!"
Ness screamed as the Plague Rat punched at his unprotected back with its small, but powerful paws. He struggled for breath. Paula and Poo were glowing with yellow auras, and Jeff had a lighter to the Rocket.
"THREE!"
Poo and Paula shouted in unison. "PSI THUNDER GAMMA!"
Jeff waited for the rocket to light as the yellow lightning crackled through the water, the dark liquid conducting the electricity, sending it pouring towards the Plague Rat of Doom. Jeff released the Big Bottle Rocket, sending it screaming towards Ness' captor.
With a wail, the attacks hit it. The thing let out an unearthly scream as it sunk into the water, it's tail dissolving, dropping a near-unconscious Ness into the now-calm water.
"MASTER GIYGAS!" The Plague Rat of Doom screamed as it descended. "YOU PROMISED ME THAT I WOULD NEVER DIE! YOU PROMISED ME!"
Paula ran to the inert leader, hauling him out of the water, pumping the dark liquid from his body by pressing onto his chest.
"Ness," She whispered. "Wake up...please...?"
His eyes slowly opened. "Did...did we get 'em?" He asked wanly.
Smiling, Jeff rapped on his forehead. "We got 'im!" He declared cheerily.
"But you gave us a bit of a scare," Poo said, wiping his brow.
"Sorry, guys," He gasped weakly. "But the Melody is just ahead. Let's go..."
They trekked through the sewers until they came to another ladder. They climbed up, to see a small, metal pyramid, about five feet high. Ness held the Sound Stone forth, letting the continuing song flow through him. His weakness, his wounds, healed quickly.
"We've got another one..." Ness said quietly. "But where do you guys suppose the next one is?"
There was a collective silence. Jeff wandered off, looking around at the sacred place. The other three heard him shout to them
"Hey, guys! Come here!"
The ran over. Jeff was holding a very strange-looking key. It was flat at one end, and at the other, it was shaped like a carrot.
"Hm...it's a key," Ness said quietly. "But I wonder what it's used for..."
"I say that we go rest somewhere," Paula sighed, leaning her head on Ness' shoulder. "I'm so tired..."
"I second that motion," Poo sighed. "But where should we go to do so?"
Ness thought for a moment. "Hey...I've got a great idea! Everyone grab my hands...it's time for me to go home! PSI Teleport!"