EarthBound
by Marshall
CHAPTER I: Giygas' Influence
Onett-one of the smallest towns in Eagleland. It was a humble burg nestled in the northwest corner of the country, and not many people stopped to look twice at it. Nobody knew that the world's greatest champion would be born there. The entire adventure began one calm night in the northern part of town...
Ness was a regular thirteen-year-old boy. He had black hair, dark brown eyes, and was a bit pudgy, but it was hardly noticeable. He was fairly athletic; baseball was his passion. He was sleeping one night, when a bursting sound woke him.
...BOOOOOOM!!!...
He sat up, his back straight as a ramrod.
"What the heck?!" he yelled.
Ness leapt out of bed, and pattered down the stairs in stocking feet. His mother was looking out the window with a worried look. Ness looked out as well.
"What in the name of Heaven is that?" Mom said. There was a sullen, rusty red glow from the northern hill.
"I dunno," Ness mumbled, staring stupidly at the glow. "Looks like a meteorite or somethin'."
Tracy, Ness' younger sister, tottered down the stairs on short little legs, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "What happened, bro?" She asked sleepily.
"I'm going to find out, that much is for sure," He said resolutely, fully intent on stalking into the night in his pajamas.
"Wait, Ness!" Mom called. "You are NOT going out there in your p.j.'s! You'll catch your death of cold! Your father would KILL me if you were sick when the recital rolls around!"
"Mo-THER," Ness mumbled impatiently.
"Don't you mo-THER me, young man. Go get into your baseball clothes. I don't want you dirtying any more laundry."
"All right..."
He flew down the stairs like black-haired lightning. He landed with a dull thump, and zipped out the door, ruffling Tracy's hair, and kissing his mom good-bye. He dusted off his blue-and-yellow striped shirt, hoisted his blue shorts, adjusted his red baseball hat on his head, and vanished into the night.
"Be careful, Ness..." Mom said quietly.
The stars glittered brightly as Ness made his way up the northern hill. He loved Onett at night. It was so beautiful that he wanted to sit down and compose Haiku. But time for that later, he thought. He dodged fussy policemen in blue suits as he climbed.
He passed by a slovenly shack on the way up. A rumpled, unshaven man sat in front of it. Ness knew him. His name was Lier X. Aggerate.
"Yo, Lier," Ness greeted him. "Do you know what happened up there?"
Lier looked up. "Hey, Ness," He said with a puffed up tone. He seemed to be thinking himself superior, but Ness sensed the superiority was not directed at him. "A huge meteorite crashed down. I didn't faint or anything, because I always eat garlic and work out."
"Meteorite, huh?" The young man thought aloud. "Pretty serious. Onett's nothin' but a laid-back burg. Stuff like this never happens here!"
He waved goodbye, and climbed further until he hit a police-guarded roadblock.
"Oh, shoot," He mumbled.
And there, amongst the officers was his next-door neighbor and fair-weather friend, identified easily by his tangled, yellow mop...Pokey Minch!
"Beat it, Ness," Pokey sneered in a plugged-nose voice. "A big rock slammed down up that hill. Tomorrow, I, Pokey, will tell you more about the strange meteorite. You're gettin' in the cops'...oops...I mean...the Officers' way! I'm fine here, but you're buggin' the officers!"
"Nice speech, Poker," Ness said. Whenever Pokey got that holier-than-thou attitude, Ness could deflate him by calling him Poker. One of the cops snickered.
"Hey, Ness," The cop whispered. "Get him OUTTA here, will 'ya? Your fun to have around, but this kid is about as funny as a marshmallow!"
Ness smiled, and turned back to walk down the hill.
"Zzzz..."
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!!!!
"Whaaaaaaah!"
Ness popped awake for the second time that night. This time, however, he was not awakened by a cataclysmic meteorite, but a simple (but VERY loud) knock at the door. He hopped out of the bed. He had slept in his baseball clothes, so he was prepared when Pokey let himself in.
"Pokey," Ness said incredulously. "What are you doing here?"
"L-l-listen, Ness!" he said urgently. "I w-w-was up at the meteorite, and Picky, my little brother got lost when the Sharks came around! When my dad gets home, he'll KILL me! It's not my fault, you believe me, right?"
Ness shrugged. "Well, I'll help you. We'll probably have to bust up a few Sharks while we're down there, so I'll need my bat..."
Tracy was behind him with his yellow backpack and his cracked baseball bat. Here 'ya go, bro, I'm way ahead of 'ya!"
He put on the backpack, and slipped the bat through a heavily starched ring on the back. Tracy tucked a cookie in one of the pockets. "In case you get hungry."
"Thanks, Tracy. King, let's go!" He whistled to his black-and-white dog. The dog stood up.
"All right," King said. Ness had NO idea how he could understand his dog, but his mom said he bent his feeding spoon without touching it when he was a baby. Mom came down the stairs.
"I heard everything," She said. "Go ahead and go. Just remember, you're a natural born warrior, and a healthy, strong boy. You'll go far, remember that, too."
"Thanks, mom," Ness smiled briefly, and opened the door.
Pokey took the rear as they headed into the night once more.
The party of three made their way warily up the hill, eyes watching the bushes in case the Sharks attacked. Pokey broke the tentative silence.
"I hate this place at night," he said.
"Oh, stop it, Pokey," Ness sighed. "It won't kill you. We could go back home now, and get you grounded if that's what you want."
"Ah, no, that's okay...hey, look out!"
A crow had just launched itself from the bushes, it's beak thrust straight at Ness' eyes. He held up his arm defensively, and the bright blood flew as the beak hit his arm.
Ness sucked in his breath sharply, whipped his bat out, and clubbed the thing soundly. King leapt up with a woof, and bit the crow's tail-feathers.
It cawed wildly, and flew away.
Ness spun his bat in his hand a few times, and set it in the backpack ring. He smiled.
But he didn't smile for long.
A searing pain flashed through his head, and he screamed, falling to his knees and holding his burning cranium.
Pokey looked worried. "Ness, are you okay?"
The pain slowed, then stopped. Ness slowly stood. There was a whispering voice in his head, a voice that seemed to be teaching.
Pokey gasped as Ness' pupils vanished. The young man pointed a hand at his own wounded arm. There was a short, windy noise, and the blood slowly seeped back in as the skin healed over. Ness' pupils appeared again.
"GEEZ!" Pokey said unbelievably. "What was that?!"
"I don't know," Ness said, feeling his arm, his eyes wide. "I just willed my arm to heal, and..."
There was a sudden flash of headlights. Pokey tackled Ness and King, and threw them into the bushes. A car rolled past.
Pokey stood. "That was my parents' car," he said. "They're home! We have to find Picky!"
"Right," Ness nodded his agreement. The small party made their way up the hill.
They found Picky near the glowing meteorite. King perked up about five feet from it.
"A-WOOF!" He barked. "If I had known how scary it would've been, I wouldn't have come. I'm gettin' outta here!"
The black-and-white dog turned and bounded down the hill.
"Coward," Ness mumbled.
As they approached Picky (who was sleeping under a nearby tree), Ness thought about how much better behaved he was than Pokey. He knelt, and shook the young boy's shoulder.
"Ugh...umm...HUH?" Picky opened his eyes quickly. "Ness? Pokey? What happened?...oh, yeah, I remember..."
Pokey tried to silence him.
"You see, Ness, Pokey got scared and ran away."
"Shut UP!" Pokey squealed.
"Jeez," Picky shrank back sullenly. "Sometimes I wonder which one of us is REALLY the big brother..."
Ness chuckled quietly. "Let's get down this hill," He said, walking past the meteor.
The new party made their way past the glowing red rock. Suddenly, Pokey stopped them.
"Hey, Ness," He whispered. "Do you hear something? Like a bee?"
"No...your just hearing th-...now that you mention it, I do. It's kind of annoying."
Picky inhaled sharply. "Ness, look! The meteorite!"
The three kids jumped back as a thin, bright beam ascended from the starborn orb. It was a light like Ness had never seen, and it seemed to be slightly familiar.
A buzzing voice addressed them.
"A bee I am...not..."
The light beam dissipated, revealing a bee...well, what looked like a bee.
"Ness, you must listen to me. You are the chosen one, the one to save this planet..."
The young boy could only stare stupidly at the talking insect.
"Ness, are you listening?"
"Wow, a talking bee!"
There was a sudden trail of light that headed directly for the stupefied boy. The sound of ripping flesh split the air, and Ness fell back with a bleeding forehead.
"Ow!"
"Stop whining," The bee said cruelly. "You have the power to heal yourself."
"Oh, yeah...now, how did it go again?"
"Will yourself to heal, and say 'PSI Lifeup'."
"Why do I have to say that?" Ness asked, holding his wounded head. Blood was seeping between his fingers.
"Don't you know anything about Psychic Powers?" The bee said impatiently. "If you say the name of the ability, it becomes stronger."
"Okay...PSI Lifeup..."
His forehead instantly healed.
"Now...what's this about chosen ones?" Ness asked. "And saving planets?"
"This meteorite is a curse," The talking bee stated. "An evil entity, the Cosmic Destroyer Giygas, has come here through this meteor. I am from ten years in the future. I am Buzz Buzz. In the future, all is devastation. Giygas has slain nearly all. I am the sole survivor of the Buzz Tribe."
"What's all this got to do with me?" Ness asked.
Buzz Buzz cleared his throat and spoke. "When the Chosen Boy reaches point, he will find the Light," he said. "The passage of time will shatter the Nightmare Rock, and will reveal the path of Light."
"......oh."
"YOU are that chosen boy, Ness. YOU must defeat Giygas! YOU must journey into the heart of evil and save this planet. The prophecy tells of three boys and a girl who will combat this evil. Will you go?"
Ness felt a vast touch on his mind. It seemed to sweep away all hesitation and doubt.
"Of course I will!"
Buzz Buzz buzzed with delight. "You are as exceptional as I thought you to be. Now, we must go and return these two..." he gestured at Pokey and Picky with a multijointed leg. "Home, and begin the journey."
Picky and Pokey followed them down the hill, being careful to stay away from the time-traveling bee.
"Now, Ness," Buzz Buzz said as they rounded the corner towards Pokey's house. "Three things are of the utmost importance; Courage, Friendship, and Wisdom. Without these, you will surely fail."
"Courage, friend-...LOOK OUT!" Ness cried.
A beam of light descended in front of them. A large, shiny, gray, man-looking thing stepped out.
"StarMan Junior," Buzz Buzz said with a hint of fear.
"Buzz Buzz," StarMan Jr. said smugly. "It's been awhile."
Picky and Pokey clung to each other in fright. Ness brought his bat out. "Who is this guy, Buzz Buzz?" He said.
"One of Giygas' henchmen. He's here to keep you from defeating his master."
StarMan Jr.'s voice had a hollow, robotic cast to it. "I decided to kill you while you were young and ripe, not suitable to be a warrior."
"You've got another thing coming," Ness declared valiantly, then added. "You bad sci-fi movie reject!"
"You shouldn't have said that! Now die! PSI Fire!"
A bright trail of flame descended on the party. Buzz Buzz flew to the front.
"PSI Shield Sigma!" He buzzed angrily. The fire bounced off of his tiny body, and flew into the air. Seeing his chance, Ness leapt at the StarMan Jr., and slugged the side of its metallic head, cracking the bat even further.
StarMan Jr. dashed forward, but struck Buzz Buzz's shield. Picky leapt forth and tried to strike with his fists while Pokey hid behind Ness. Buzz Buzz charged forward, making three neat cuts on the metallic man's chest. Ness marveled at how deep that tiny stinger cut. The little bee must be enormously strong, he thought.
Finally, Ness twirled his bat a few times, leapt high into the air, and slammed StarMan Jr.'s head again. This time, the head exploded, throwing Ness and his friends back several feet.
Ness got to his feet, smiling as StarMan Jr. was defeated.