Ness and one of his classmates were talking during his algebra test. The teacher was passing back the tests. Ness was nervous, but he kept talking casually with his classmate, Steve.

"Heh, so he was like, ‘Yo! You pay?’ then I was like, ‘Yo yo yo! OH YEAH! ‘Ey man, if I didn’t pay, you can come to my house ‘an shoot me man!" explained Steve and his experience with this pay-phone call.

"Heh heh," chuckled Ness. Then the teacher slapped his test on his desk.

"Crapola! A, D-! I’m dead!" Ness failed his past two tests. Although this was an improvement, he knew he would be in trouble.

"Hey Ness!" said Steve rather loudly, "Whadya get?"

"Ugh….a D..minus."

"Ah man...I got a B-…it was a tough test though…"

"I guess…"

The bell rang. "See you later Ness!" Steve and the other kids ran out of the classroom. Ness also wanted to leave, but was stuck behind the crowd.

Just as he was about to leave, his teacher said, "NESS! I need to see you….about your tests…"

"Um, yeah?" The teacher’s name was Mrs. Comskin. Ness didn’t really like her. Especially when she inquired about his grades.

"You need to see me TODAY, after school. You are not doing very well in this class. I’m afraid you may ultimately fail if you don’t do better," she said very coldly.

"Yeah I know."

"Now, remember, you’ll have to come here today after school."

Ness just remembered about his baseball practice, "Huh? Today? But, but I have a really important practice I have to go to. It’s almost mandatory!"

"I’m sorry Ness, but if you don’t come in, I’ll have to notify your parents immediately. You’re lucky I’m offering you this anyway." Ness was very irritated.

"But…how about tomorrow? Or tomorrow morning? PLEASE?"

"I’m sorry Ness. Don’t try to bargain with me. I have very important meetings I have to attend.

"Ugh….alright…"

Ness left as fast as he could.

The rest of the day was miserable for Ness. He was given a lot of homework, and realized he had a whole report on sporadic mold, due by Monday. He was glad however, that it was Friday. After school he took all of his baseball equipment with him, so he could go right to practice from Algebra.

He entered the dreary room.

"Hello, Ness. Let’s get started."

Ness sat down across from her. She handed him a piece of paper with problems on it. Ness did them, and she criticized him too. After what seemed like 13 hours (which was actually only half an hour) he was able to leave.

"Um, thanks Mrs. Comskin," said Ness while he was at the door. She ignored him. Ness got angry and left to the baseball field. He ran all the way from his school, to the field, wearing all his equipment. He saw the player’s already practicing. They were throwing the baseball…without gloves. The coach loved this exercise.

"Soft hands!" yelled Coach Hannigan. Ness ran up to him.

"S-sorry <pant> I’m late. I-I had to stay after for Math."

"Oh, hello Ness."

"Okay…so, what’s the roster? What are the cuts and stuff?"

"Hey! Soft hands!…OH, um, we did it last week."

"What?!"

"There was a practice last week. And- Hey! I don’t care if your hands are bleeding! Soft hands!…OH, sorry…um..yeah, we did the roster last week. You missed that practice too."
The kids were whining about their hands in the background. Ness then asked, "But, I didn’t hear anything about the practice!"

"Well, it WAS in the school announcements."

The thing was, that the announcements in Ness’s class were terrible. He was given the announcements during his gym class. The sound echoed from the loud speaker, and was impossible to hear. And the paper bulletins were ripped down by delinquent kids.

"But, my announcements are horrible! I didn’t hear a thing…"

"Hey! You dropped the ball! Gimme 20! OH, sorry. Well Ness, it seems you’ll have to handle your responsibilities better. I’m not sure if I can get you in."

"Ugh….forget it."

Ness walked back home, as he heard the coach yell that annoying "Soft hands".

"This sucks…at least it’s the weekend. Maybe I can see Paula. Cool."

Ness walked in the house. He saw his mom hang up the phone.

"NESS!"

"AHHH! What? What?" Ness’s heart started beating like crazy.

"Your teacher just called me about your test scores…"

"What the-?! She said she wouldn’t call! That-!" thought Ness. Ness replied, "Oh, yeah…um that’s why I’m late sorry. I was getting help and stuff. I think it did help though…so I should do better."

"Hmmm…well…"

"I’m gonna go call Paula, Mom. I promise that I’ll-"

"OH no you don’t! You have to study NOW young man."
"What? It’s only Friday though!"
"I don’t care! I’m sure you have other things to do too. Now get moving."

"Ugh…" Ness trudged up the steps to his room.

He ripped off all the baseball equipment he had on him, and threw it in his closet. As he did this, he saw all of his old things from when he was younger.

"Hmm…hey, it’s my first baseball glove. Ugh, that’s that nasty bottle I used to like and…AH, there’s a picture of me and the guys when we made that clubhouse. Awesome."

It was like a trip down nostalgia lane for Ness.

"Man…responsibilities…this really stinks…I wish I could go back to not having any of these ‘responsibilities’." Ness then remembered he had to STUDY. He THEN remembered about his report, and how he didn’t make the baseball team, and how he was failing Algebra.

"Ugh….man…."

Ness slammed the closet door shut. Some of his old stuff remained out, but he didn’t care. He was so stressed. He attempted to study, but he just couldn’t focus very well.

Later that evening, he finished much of his normal work. His mind was extremely tired. All of this stress exhausted him. He went right to sleep.

During the night, he had a horrible nightmare. He wasn’t exactly sure what it was about, but it had something to do with him failing in everything. Then, his PK powers started reacting. They made his own room very wavy, and a portal materialized. Ness then dreamt of one of his successes, which would be his defeat of Giygas, but then he thought of how Pokey was still around. He then thought of Paula, and Jeff. He suddenly woke up. He had an extremely bad headache.

"Oho…ugh…huh?" Ness saw what had happened to his room. He tried standing up, but it was very unstable. He saw the shimmering blue portal. He then thought of Paula again. He ended up being in HER room. The portal was next to her bed. It was taking her in!
"Paula! No!"
Paula woke up, "Wha-…huh? Ness? Ness?! AHHH! Help! What’s happening!" She was then drawn in, and the portal disappeared. Ness then appeared in Jeff’s dorm at Snow Wood. Again, the room was wavy and distorted. There was a green portal taking Jeff in.

"No! Jeff! Wake up! Get out of here!"

Jeff awoke. "Huh? Tony? What? Ness! You…ARGH!" The portal then took Jeff in. Once Jeff was taken in, Ness was thrown back to his home in his room.

"Okay…I’m going to get them…I won’t fail!" Ness jumped into the portal in his room. He was not conscious of what happened next.

Ness woke up to the sound of the birds outside. The sun shown warm on his face through the window.

"Whew…just another stupid dream…aw man…"

Ness just laid there. He then noticed something different about his room.

"Huh? What’s all my old stuff doing on the wall?" All of Ness’s childhood things were back where he remembered them.

"Hmm…maybe…maybe mom put them up while I was sleeping…yeah…" He then noticed that his BED was different. It had his old baseball sheets.

"What is this?! How did she put them on while I was sleeping? WHY did she put them on? And…MY OLD PAJAMAS?!"

Ness got up and jumped out of bed. He fell.
"Ow!" Ness was shocked. "What the-?! What’s with my voice!?" Ness’s voice was much higher. In fact, everything in his room was higher. He ran to the door and to the bathroom. The mirror was too high. He then remembered his old wooden stool that he used to see the mirror. He grabbed it, stood up and looked in the mirror.

"I’m…I’m a little kid! I look like I’m 7 years old! What happened?!"

"Nessy? Nessy! Do you want eggs for breakfast?"

"Um….okay, mom."
"O-kay!"
Ness went to his living room.

"Do you want to watch anything?"

"Okay.." replied Ness who was still dumbfounded by what was happening.

Ness’s mom put on the Super Mario Supershow, and left to the kitchen. When she left, Ness went back up stairs to change.

He went through the drawers.

"I can’t believe I can wear these." He put on his clothes, and his hat, which was the only thing that didn’t change. Except it looked newer, and was bigger of course.

Ness ran back downstairs to eat.

"What should I do? How did this happen? Did I want this to happen?"

"Mom, can I go…play, outside now?"

"Of course Ness, just don’t wander off too far. Only go as far as the library. O-kay?"

"Ok mom. I’ll be home soon."

As Ness was about to leave, he saw King. He was much more youthful.

"C’mon King! Let’s go outside." King got excited and started barking. They both left the house.

"Wow, I never noticed how much everything changed. The trees are smaller…I can’t believe I never noticed that."

They both walked to the clubhouse.

"Ah, I remember. We’re still building this thing. We finish in what? 3 years? Heh heh."

"Hey Ness!"

"Huh?"

Ness then realized it was his old friend…in fact, it was Steve, his classmate from school!

"Oh hi! How’s the club house going?"

"Well, I got Sam’s bigger brother to help us! He’s really big. I think he’s 11 years old! I can’t wait to get that old!"

"Hmm…neither can I…"

"C’mon, les start workin’ on it. OH! Hi King! Good dog!" Steve patted King. "Les go!"

They went through the trees to the very small clearing where they were making the club house. All they had was a crude framing for it. But the posts were planted in the ground quite nicely.

"Hey guys!" shouted Steve. Everyone else was older then them. But they still liked each other.

"HI!" said a boy named John. He was about 10 years old. He had brown hair, and a round face. He was kind of short, but he was still taller then anyone. He was one of the oldest in the bunch. "Oh Ness, that was great how you got those post things in the ground like that."

"Huh? OH yeah. It’s no problem." The truth was, that Ness used his telepathy to grind them in the ground.

"Cool. We’re gonna make a time capsule too! This is going to be awesome!" Other then Steve, Ness and John, the other boys were Sam, Sean, and his friend Yuri.

John continued, "Oh, Sean and Yuri are gettin’ more wood and stuff from the store. We need more money though. My mom isn’t giving me enough allowance."

Ness dug in his pocket. He had 20 dollars.

"I have 20. Will that help?"

"Yah! Cool! We can get more posts and stuff now!"

Sam was in the corning nailing a piece of wood to the beam.

"Hey guys! I found this neat book on construction in the library. That’s what I’m using right now!"

"You and your books Sam, heh heh." Suddenly, there was a rustle through the trees.

"Dang! Who’s the lookout?!" shouted John. He was the main orchestrator of the entire clubhouse.

"Um, aren’t you John?" answered Steve.

"OH yeah. Ooops. OH well, it’s prolly just Sean and Yuri anyway."

Ness suddenly thought of something. Hmmm...why am I thinking about the Sharks...the Sharks...when did they form...OH NO! Ness remembered how the Sharks would always want their secret space. That is until the Arcade was built.

"Guys," said Ness, "Do you think it’s the Sharks?"

"OH no!" Shouted Sam, "I-I gotta go!" Sam ran off. Steve stood there nervous, but John replied, "Hmph! I doubt it. They’re only a little older then us. They prolly won’t want to bother us."

"But-but John!" stuttered Steve, "They took our stuff and wrecked it last time!"

"Yeah well, they prolly learned how stupid of them it was to do that."

Unfortunately, John was wrong. "Oh no!" shouted Steve. He hid behind a tree. John and Ness stood there.

"Hey! Who’s there!" shouted John.

"Heh heh," three figures came out from the trees. They were the Sharks all right. Three pre-teen delinquents.

"Heh, what’s this piece of crap that you call a house?"

"Hey! At least we HAVE a hang out!" retorted John.

"Hmph! Well...shut up *&^@*#!" Cussed the "leader". They all chuckled. Steve gasped.

One of the three other Sharks said, "Hey! You betta not mess wit’ us! *&#@! We’re gonna take this place! Y’ear!?"
"What?" asked John. He didn’t understand a word he said.

"Just move the ^%&$! outta here!" shouted the leader. He pushed John.

"HEY! Whatya think you’re doin’?!" shouted Ness. As he shouted, he pushed the leader. He suddenly realized he wasn’t as strong as he thought.

"Ooooo!" mocked the three. "Whatya think you can do?"
"Well, I-"

"Jims! Can’t we justa beat them, an’ take the spot?"

"Guess so. Get outta here! Or we’ll beat the crap outta ya!" Ness realized Steve was gone. John got back up.

As they pursued to John and Ness, Ness stood forward. "No, we’ll beat the crap out of YOU!"
"WHA-?!" said the Sharks in disbelief.

"Hey, Ness. Um, maybe you should stop. C’mon. I guess I was wrong about picking this place. We’ll find some place else..." said John.
"No way! I’m not scared of the losers!"

"You talk big kid!" retorted on of the Sharks.

"Man, you’re so dead!" the Leader of the group punched Ness.

"Nughh..." Ness went reeling back. "Aw....man...I can’t take these guys...they’re out of my league now...but...wait! My..ugh..PSI! Yeah! I still have that!"

Ness then used Life Up Alpha. Ness immediately got back up.

"Huh?!"

"That’s the best you can do?" taunted Ness.

"Huh?! Well...I...that was...I...I was going EASY on you! Yeah! C’mon guys! Let’s teach this &#^#$! what REALLY ain’t easy!"

All three of them grappled Ness.

"ERRR! ARGH! Let go!"

They all started pounding him.

"Ness!" shouted John. John tried to pull them away, but they pushed him back.

Ness then used PSI Rockin' Alpha. The colored rays of light filled the area.
"Whoa!" shouted John. He hid behind the trees.

The waves of energy hit them and they went reeling back into the trees.

"Ugh...what...what...what’s he doin’!" shouted the Leader.

"*Sniff* choke...whaaaa!" One of the Sharks ran away in pain.

"Nughh...ugh..."

"Larry! Let’s get outta here!"

"Ugh...yeah...yeah! You keep yur crummy play house! L...ugh...Later...ugh....Losers! moan." They left moaning and crying.

John got out from behind the tree.

"Whoa! Did you see that? What was that? Did..did YOU do that or somethin’?"

Ness replied, "Well I...um..I...I don’t know. But they’re gone. So that’s good."

"Heh heh. Yeah. Hmmm...where are Sean and Yuri?" Ness looked up. The sky was suddenly cloudy.

"Wow, it sure did get cloudy," noted John, "Looks like rain or something."

Eventually, they heard thunder.

"Uh oh, maybe we should go both go back home Ness."

"Yeah I guess. What about Yuri and Sean?"

"Well, they probably went back home or something. And-" John was cut off by someone yelling.

"AhhhhHHHHH!" it was Sean. He quickly ran up to Ness and John.

"Hey! Sean! What’s goin’ on?!" asked John.

"Yuri! <pant> they...<pant> chasing him! <pant pant>"

"Who’s chasing Yuri?" asked Ness.

"<pant> The SHARKS!"

"Whoa!" exclaimed John, "They were just here! What happened?"

"Well...we got back from the store. Then Yuri accidentally bumped into them. They kinda looked mad anyway. Well, um...they got REALLY mad at Yuri, and started chasing us! I hid, but they kept chasing Yuri. All the way to Twoson I think!"
"Twoson! Oh no! I think we should help him!"

"I wanna help too, but I know I’m not s’posed to."

"Well, I guess I’ll go and try to find him then!" John got on his bike and rode off.

"Ness! C’mon! It’s startin’ to rain! I’m goin’ home!"
"But-!" However, Sean was already gone.
"I guess I should go help John." Ness started running to Twoson. The clouds got darker, and the rain became heavier. There was lightning also.

Ness managed to run all way to the edge of Onett. He then saw John lying hurt on the grass!

"John! Are you alright?! What happened?"

"Ugh...." his body seemed entangled with his bike, "Ugh...the Sharks. I saw them chasing Yuri. I yelled at them. Three of them stopped, but the other um...I think 5 started chasing him. They pushed me down and broke my spokes. Nugh..."

"Here, let me help you." Ness helped him up and used Life Up alpha.

"Whew! I feel a lot better. You better go get Yuri! Who knows what the Sharks are doing to him! I think they wanted his money too."

"Ok! Whata 'bout you?"

"Me? Oh...Well it’s raining pretty hard now. My bike is real messed up. I’ll go tell Yuri’s parents! Bye!" John ran with his bike back to Yuri’s house. Meanwhile, Ness continued to run in the rain to Twoson. Ness saw Yuri running from a group of bigger kids. Yuri was pretty brave, but he knew he couldn’t out match these guys. Ness tried to run after them. He cut through the grass to get to them.

Suddenly, Yuri realized he was trapped. He was stuck in Burglin Park. Ness was behind one of the trees.

"Man! You’re dead! I can’t believe you bumped into me!"

"Hey! I said I was sorry!"

"Yeah well, some of your jerk @** friends hurt some of my crew!"

"Yeah!"

"He sucka punched me!"

"He didn’t even do anything to him!"

"That (@#$#@!"

"Les get’m!"
They all started hounding Yuri. Ness ran into them. The group of Sharks broke off. Ness and Yuri were surrounded by about 10 Sharks.

"Hey! You’re that kid at your *&#(*! clubhouse! You’re SO dead!"

The group descended on the two.

"Man Ness....sorry..."

"Uhh...."

Just as they were about to attack, they all heard a small voice.

"Hey you creeps!"

"Wha-?!"

They all turned around.

"You talkin’ to us?"

"Yeah! That’s right!" Out of the mist of the rain, there was a little blond haired girl. She was wearing a purple rain coat.

"HA HA HA HA! Look! That girl thinks she can stop us!"

They all started laughing hysterically.

Ness then thought, "Who is that? Is that...Paula?!"

The girl just stood there. Suddenly, one of the Sharks stopped laughing, "Whoa guys! Isn’t she that freak girl with those crazy powers?!"

"Man, Mack, you’re an idiot! Of course she isn’t! That was made up anyway! Ah HA HA HA!"

Again, they continued laughing. One of the bigger Sharks went up to the girl and said

"Lissen, YOU! We ain’t about to take orders from a wussy girl like you!" They all started laughing. He shoved her a little. Ness wanted to attack him, but he was surrounded.

"Errrr...." mumbled the girl.

"Ha ha! Get outta here shrimp! How ‘bout you go home an’ play with your dolls or somethin’? Hah hah hah!"

"Stop...making...FUN OF ME!" she yelled. Her face was Red. It looked as if she was concentrating on something.

"Hey! Whatareya doin’?! HA HA HA-Wh-huh?!"

A stream of energy seemed to come from her. Suddenly, the rain that was falling on the started to come down in ice pellets! The water was frozen.

"AHHHH! It’s...it’s startin’ to freeze on my skin! AHHHH!"

The whole group was going crazy. Running around trying to avoid the ice.

"Les get outta here!" One of them yelled. They ran around seeking for shelter, while slipping on the ice at the same time. Eventually, they left.

"Hmph! I can’t believe I used to put up with that kind of crap," said the girl.

She came up to us.

"Hi..um, are you two okay?"

Yuri answered, "Ugh...oh yeah. Did...did YOU do that?"

"Well...yeah, I did. But don’t tell anyone. The news people are after me and stuff."

"Oh yeah! You’re that girl in the papers. Don’t worry, I’ll keep it a secret. Thanks guys. See you guys later! I gotta go to a hockey practice!"

Yuri ran off. The rain started to reside. The girl and Ness were alone in the park now.

"Um...so..who are you? You...look awfully familiar...I don’t remember you though..."

Ness replied..."Are you...I mean, is your name, Paula?"

"Huh? Yeah! Did you read the papers too?"

"Paula! It’s me! Ness! Oh, wait. You don’t know me...yet."

"Ness! I’m so glad you’re here!"

"HUH?! How do you know me?!"

"Well, I’m your girlfriend silly." She winked. It was odd for Ness to see Paula as an seven year old.

"But...what happened!?"

"Well, I had this strange dream last night. I’m not sure if it is a dream or not but...well, I woke up, and I saw you. You looked pretty pale. Then I started getting sucked into something! I thought I saw you trying to save me, but it was too late. When I woke up, I realized I was only 7 years old!"

"So...it wasn’t a dream. The same thing happened to me! And...OH NO!"

"What? What is it?"

"Well, after I saw you get caught into the portal, I suddenly thought of Jeff. Then all of a sudden, I ended up in HIS room. And then HE got sucked in!"

"OH man!"

"So, Jeff is here to. But...WHERE is he? I mean, is he at Snow Wood or what?"

"I....don’t know."

"Well, we’ll have to worry about that later. I looks like it’ll rain again. Hey, thanks for savin’ us back there. Heh heh."

"Oh it was no problem. I wanted to get revenge on creeps like that since people like that made fun of me when I was younger."

"Oh....So...why did you come out here anyway?"
"Well, my parents said that the TV people were coming again. They couldn't leave the littler kids all alone, so they told me to leave the house for a bit. They’re like really annoying."

"Yeah...well...hey! You could come to my house!"

"Well, ok. No funny business though!"

"Hey, does it look like I’m even capable of that? heh heh."

"Hmm...well, I guess not," Paula smiled, "You sure do look cute in that goofy red hat of yours."

"Heh. Well, let’s go. My mom’s prolly goin’ outta her mind since I’ve been gone. Come on. I’ll teleport us out of here."

Ness started to teleport. Suddenly, they were surrounded by TV cameras and scientists! Ness and Paula crashed into them.

"Ugh..." moaned Ness.

"Hey! It’s that girl!" yelled a reported.

From the distance a voice yelled, "Paula! Hurry! Get out of there, honey!"
"MOM!"
They two sat on the wet ground. A group of scientists surrounded Paula. They had all sorts of mechanisms.

"Come with us now Paula. You’re very special, as you know. You’ll have to come with us again. We need to know what makes you special, darling. Okay?" said a Scientist as he tried to coax Paula to go with them.

"NO! Never! Never..EVER again! You’re slime!"

A scientist shouted from the background, "Hey! Government’s orders! You’re a threat to society!"
"H-huh?" Paula felt like crying.

"It’s okay Paula," continued the other Scientist, "We need to know more about you."

The news cameras were rolling and the cameras continued flashing.

"You...you’re horrible! I WON’T go along with this!"

"Well..then...Frank, the nueralizer please."

One scientist handed him an odd shaped device. It sort of looked like a gun. Except it had what looked like an long eyepiece on the end of the gun.

"Now Paula, we’re going to have to use this aga-"

"NO! Not that horrible thing! Where are my parents!?"

"Paula, you’re parents are okay. They want to help you too." Ness saw Paula’s dad struggling to get to her as men in black suits were keeping him back.

"Now come on Paula."

They took Paula by the arm. The cameras were still rolling the action.

"N-ness! Help!!!"

A sudden burst of fury overcame Ness. He couldn’t believe that THIS is what Paula had to put up with when she was younger. As they were all in the road, Ness got up and yelled, "Hey you @#*#$! Leave her alone!" Ness was extremely furious. He rarely swore.

One of the scientists turned around and said, "You’re a bold child, I’ll tell you that. Go home. Tell your parents that your friend will be helping us."

"NO!!" Ness rushed at them and started pounding on them. He then realized how weak he was.

"Um, GUS! Larry! Take this boy away from me. Come Paula."

"NESS~!" They continued to descend toward the truck.

The two men came up to Ness and said, "Get outta here kid. You’re makin’ us look bad. They shoved him slightly to get him to go home. They started to walk away.

"Jerks!" Ness then shot PSI Rockin’ Beta at them.

"Waaarrgghhh!" They both exclaimed. They went reeling back in opposite directions. Ness ran to the truck.

"Okay, now put her in and I’ll activate the neurali- Oh not you again! GUS! LARRY! Where are they!?"

A reporter then whispered, "...did you see that? That little boy right there seem to throw all those men!"

"Huh?" asked the head scientist. He continued to hold Paula into place.

"NESS!" cried Paula.

"Paula! Use a psychic shield!"

"I-AH! Stop! Leave me alone! Ness! I can’t concentrate..I’ll ARGH! Try!"
"Hey little boy! Get out of here! Yelled one of the scientists.

"ARGH! Psychic Shield alpha NOW!" Paula managed to summon a shield on herself. The scientist quickly put on some dark glasses and gloves. "THE NEURLIZER! THE NEURLIZER!" he shouted. The other scientists were dumbfounded, "She could never do anything like that before!"

"You guys are creeps!" yelled Ness, "AHHHH!" Ness then used PSI Flash Sigma!
"WAHHH!!!!" screamed everyone. Some of the cameras shattered and everyone was utterly confused. Some were numb, and some couldn’t even open their eyes, since they burned so much. The Flash was absorbed by Paula’s shield.

With all of the other reporters and scientists down, Ness ran to Paula.

"Let’s go Paula!" Ness grabbed her hand. As Ness was about to teloport, the scientists with the dark glasses, jumped in front of them. Ness collided with him.

"Arghh! Huh?"

The scientist took off his glasses. "In-incredible. So...Paula isn’t the only specimen. There are TWO that can obtain that energy!"

"Hey! We’re people!" Yelled Paula.

"No, you’re freaks of nature, to put it bluntly. But we will help you."

"Yeah RIGHT you will!" exclaimed Ness.

"Well, maybe you are right. But we still need to know about that energy. He pushed them both into the truck. People were still staggering around. Paula’s parents were gone.

"Ugh...Paula! Can’t you break open the wall?"
"I’ll try. PSI FREEZE Omega..NO-"

"OH NO YOU DON’T!" The scientist jumped into the back of the truck and pulled out the neuralizer.

"Ugh...I really shouldn’t announce what I’m about to do <sigh>."

The scientist fired the gun, and the beams made Ness and Paula go unconscious.

"That kid is amazing! I know, YOU, being one of the most world renowned scientists, MUST be able to help us!" explained a CEO of the Headquarters.

The doctor replied, "Oh I am not sure. This type of biology isn’t exactly my field. And...it does seem cruel to put a child at this age through so much. I do have a son of my own you know."

Another man came up and explained, "Listen, we need your advice. I can’t deny that. But, do you REALLY want to stay in that mangled lab your whole life and get nothing accomplished?"

"But...I’m working on something INCREDIBLE! Something that will allow someone to connect to time AND spa-"

"Listen! Are you with us or not? Because, you can easily be replaced."

"I...well...alright. I’ll go along with this."

"Excellent! Now, the specimen is on it’s way..."

"Specimen?"

"Yes, the girl. And-" Someone suddenly rushed into the large meeting room.

"S-sir!" stuttered the man, "An urgent message!" The small man handed the CEO the paper. He read it carefully. His eyes widened.

"Two....There’s TWO now?! Incredible! We must get to work right away!"

"....oh, man oh man...what a nightmare. Whew...I’m glad that’s over." Thought Ness. He opened his eyes. He was in a confined cell.

"WAHHH!! It wasn’t a dream!"

"Ness!"

Ness heard his name. It was very faint.

"Paula?!"

Ness thought he heard her use telepathy. Ness realized he hadn’t used that power in a LONG time. Ness used Telepathy.

Paula! Where are you?!

"Paula!"

Ness also forgot how to use telepathy.

"You know, I really wish you'd leave your son at the school."

"But I haven't seen him in years! He HAS to see what I do!"

"Well...alright...make sure he doesn't mess up anything."

"Oh he won't. He's very intelligent."

"Yes well...well, how about you go look at the specimens."

"The...oh, yeah. Ok." The CEO walked off down the large hall. The doctor sat down in a chair and ate some donuts and coffee.

Then, his son asked, "Dr. A...I mean, Dad? Who are the specimens?"

"Huh? OH, they are just some...um, kids...."

"Kids?! How old are they?"

"Well, about your age."

"Can I go see them?"

"Well, they're different. We'll see them later. They're down that all over there."

"Oh okay."

Ness continued to sit in his cell. Then, he heard Paula's Cell door open.

"Come now, Paula. We have work to do."
Ness heard her scream again.

"PAULA!"

The three scientists dragged her down the hall.

"URGGH! I gotta get outta here!" Ness started pounding the walls. He tried to use PSI, but he still couldn't concentrate.

"What about that other kid?" asked one of the scientists.

"That one is special. I think...the doctor will handle him." They walked off.

"I'm...'special'? Ugh..."

The three scientists walked to the doctor, who was sitting at a table eating donuts. Paula was still struggling. His son sat on the floor next to him. Him and Paula stared at each other. The boy looked at Paula with extreme interest.

"Doctor! I think it's time for you to examine the other specimen now."

He swallowed the donut, "You mean the boy?"

"Yes. The boy. He's in section 7-A. Room 11-B. The code is 10890"

"Oh...okay. I'm on my way."

Him and his son walked down the halls.

"Hmm....where was it again?" The doctor wandered off.

"I gotta find him" thought his son. He went in the opposite direction. He managed to find the cell where Ness was.

"What was the code again?" The boy remembered what his father wrote down about the code. He jumped, and typed the code on the keypad. The door opened.

Ness was sitting down quietly, when his cell door quickly flew open. He got up immediately. He then saw a boy about his "age" and size. He had glasses and blond hair.

Ness was puzzled. "Who...who are you?"

"Are you....Ness?" asked the boy.

"Yeah. What's it to you? You sure do look familiar...."

"Ness! It's me Jeff! I woke up today, and found myself at my dad's lab, AND I was only 8 years old! Oh...you probably don't know me though...yet."
"Of course I know you Jeff!"

"Whoa! So the same thing happened to you?"

"Yep. And...Paula too."

"Wow...so I assume they have Paula then."

"Yeah. They were after her at first anyway."

"Yeah."
"Is this the last time you saw your dad Jeff?"

"Yeah. You see, if I didn't have the mind I have now, I wouldn't have gone with him. A lot of people were trying to discourage me from going with him, but I insisted."

"I see."

"I had no idea my dad was ever involved in this..."
"Well..hey! We gotta save Paula!"

"Right! Let's go!"

The two left the room.

"Where is she?"
"Oh, I have no idea. My dad is looking for you anyway."

"You mean he wants to dissect me?!"
"Huh?! No! NO no no no! Well...I don't think so. He wouldn't do that anyway...In fact, I think he SAVES Paula anyway!"

"Huh?"
"Well, it's not that important now. Let's find Dr. Andonuts and get out of here."
"You mean, your dad."
"Yeah, I said that."
They walked down the hall. Then they saw the confused Dr. Andonuts.

"Jeff!" he shouted.

"I'm here!"
"Who...is this?"

"This is Ness...the...experiment."
"Oh dear! Hello, Ness. I am Dr. Andonuts. Trust me, I won't hurt you. As I went walking through all these halls, I've seen all the horrible stuff they are trying to perform. But, that girl is their main objective right now."

"You mean Paula?" asked Ness.

"Yes! Exactly! Let's go!"

They all ran down the halls. It looked like a very large hospital. Then they reached a security checkpoint. Dr. Andonuts slid his card through, and they all entered.

"She should be around here somewhere. She is probably in that room...that's where they examine."
Dr. Andonuts slid his card through the checkpoint.
ACCESS DENIED. Exclaimed an electronic voice.

"Blast! I don't have a high enough level."
Ness then realized he was conscious of all his PSI powers.

"Hey! I'll break down this door with PK power!"

"Huh?" asked Dr. Andonuts.

Jeff took his father further down the hall.

"Go for it, Ness!" Shouted Jeff.

Ness then used PSI Rockin' Omega! The energy was incredible, and the security door blew open. There, Ness found, three power enraged Scientists examining Paula.

"Paula!" shouted Ness.

"Ack! Ness...help."

"Huh?! The other specimen escaped! Quickly! Get 2 c-k's of tranquilizer and the Neurlizer!
"No way! Not this time!" Ness blasted them with PSI Flash Omega. They were all blinded, and some fell unconscious.

Ness attended to Paula. She had electric probes attached to her head. She was strapped down to the examining board.

"Are you alright?" asked

"Yes...I think so." Ness unstrapped her. Jeff and Dr. Andonuts came into the room.

"Dr. Andonuts! You came for me...again."
"Quickly! I know the way out of here! Follow me!"

They all followed Dr. Andonuts. Of course, alarms were blaring, but they were able to leave the facility.

"Where should we go?!" exclaimed Paula.

"I need to go back to my lab. I have to notify the Science Alliance about what is happening," Explained Dr. Andounts
"Alright!" said Ness, "I'll teleport us there. Hold on...."
Ness then teleported to Dr. Andonut's Lab in Winters.

They all arrived safely, and were resting in the lab. Dr. Andonuts notified the Alliance, and the facility was shut down for good.

Ness, Paula, and Jeff were talking in a seperate room upstairs.

"Paula, you mean, you've KNOWN Dr. Andonuts?"

"Yes. You see, I was supposed to come here anyway, if you showed up or not. Well, that's when Dr. Andonuts rescued me. And he shut them down, so they left me alone. You see, THAT'S how I knew how to tell Jeff where to go, when we were stuck in that grave in Threed."
"Ah, I see," said Ness.

"Yeah," said Jeff, "My dad said something like, 'Oh, that girl Paula must have sensed I was here.' She knew if my dad could help her, he could help me. If it wasn't for Paula, I'd probably never see my dad again."

"Thanks Jeff. But....WHY ARE WE HERE! Why are we this age?!"

"Well," explained Jeff, "This could be Ness's fault."
"HEY!" exclaimed Ness.

"I didn't mean it like that...but...Ness...what happened to YOU before you ended up here?"

"Well, I was really stressed out. Then I saw you guys. Then in the night, I saw a portal. Then it sucked you and Paula in! So I decided to go in to help. Then I woke up and found I was young."
"Hmm...well, I guess your emotions mixed with your PSI. You see, you're feelings must have been so strong, that it wanted to get away from what was bothering you. And obviously, you have the ability to do so! I guess you're mind's way of doing that, was to go back to what you remember...when you were eight years old. And as for Paula and I, well, I guess we are strong images in your mind." Jeff hypothesized.

"That could make sense. I just felt like a failure."
"Oh."
"Oh, Ness, you aren't a failure! You stood by me that whole time! And you fought those dirty Sharks to protect yourself!"
"And the clubhouse..."
"Really? Great! See, you HAVE succeeded!"
"Yeah...Yeah! I guess I did! But...how do we get back?! Jeff! Any ideas?"
"Hmmm...well, seeing that you truely feel you have succeeded, and that you want to go back, your emotions will EVENTUALLY, want to go back to the future."
"But how long will that take?!"
"I don't know. Could be a day, or a couple years."

"Years?!"

"Yeah...but these were good times weren't they?"

"Yeah, but ALL those hard things, I'll have to do over again."
"Well, I wouldn't worry about it. Let's get some rest now. My dad has some cots down stairs."
"Ok!" said Paula, "I better call my parents! They'll be so relieved!"
"Man!" exclaimed Ness, "MY parents! My mom's prolly goin' crazy!"
"I wouldn't worry though Ness," said Jeff.

"Huh? Why?"

"Once we all go back, it won't really matter. Unlike a time machine, what we're experiencing right now are just A LOT of memories of all the people of the world."

"Whoa..."

"So, don't worry about it too much. I'm going to bed."

Ness stood there for a couple minutes, then decided to also go to bed.

Ness woke up in the middle of the night. He was still in the lab, as a child. Paula, Jeff, and Dr. Andonuts were sleeping in the other cots.
"We gotta get out of here." Ness materialized a very large portal without thinking.

YES! Paula! Jeff! Wake up!

"Wha-?" said Jeff groggily.

"What is it?" asked Paula.

"Look! I made the portal! Let's go in!"

"Well, alright," said Paula hesitantly.

They walked inside the mysterious arrays of colors. There, they saw the OLDER "versions" of themselves.
"Maybe if we walk through 'ourselves', everything will go back to normal," said Ness.

The three walked in. Then they all fell in seperate directions.

Ness woke up. The sun was warm, and the birds were singing. He was back home/

"Ohh.....!!...HEY! My voice is normal!" Ness jumped out of his bed, and looked in the mirror. "I'm back to normal! OH, but all that homework. Man..." Ness went over too his books. He leafed through them. His eyes widened, "What the-?!" EVERYTHING was complete. "And...it's like I...I remember doing this...hmmm...Maybe, that experience I had gave me the ability to do all this. I must have done this telekineticly. Heh, I should do that more often. Hmmm..."

He also saw the roster list on his desk. There was a note from the coach that said "Five of the other players quit due to fractured hands. I also got you first in the line up, AND first base! Practice starts today at 2." Ness was relieved and amazed at all this. Ness ran to the phone and was about to call Jeff and Paula, to see if they also had that experience. But he put down the phone. "Maybe it's best I don't find out. Some things probably weren't meant to be understood, or answered." He smiled to himself and walked back to his room. Ness felt his courage, and experience was complete.