Well, it’s been a long time since I started this one. it got delayed by many things, mostly math class, editing my dad’s book, and the two other stories I started. (which should be up soon enough.) of course, the toughest part of writing this was getting around to the edit. This is my third Earthbound fiction, and i have to say that I currently have no plans for more. of course, that could, and probably will, change. anyway, I’m really glad I finished this. I will likely go spend the rest of the day updating my site and writing the other fictions. good luck, oh fans of mine. oh, and if you like this one, check out my website for more fiction, earthbound or otherwise. remember, if i write something it will get updated there before at starmen.net. then again, you're chances of cathcing it in the week or so (at most) it takes simonbob to update are kinda slim, unless you visit regularly, so do.

A Storm Of Stars

By Pyrite

The three Starman were cycling from side to side, making it hard to tell which was which. Not that it really mattered, but it still managed to confuse him, at least a little. Their shiny liquid metal forms reflected the bright sun into his eyes, and made them seem figures composed of molten flame. They advanced down the asphalt road, leaving trace amounts of their metal behind in the street, and though they moved their legs, they seemed to simply glide along the ground. Then, as one, they stopped, and held one tentacle-like hand towards him. From those metallic limbs rose the elements of the universe: fire, ice, and lighting. The three types of energy had melded and fused together into one beam of pure force by the time they got to him. They destroyed everything in that one space, and the sheer power of the forces unleashed blew pieces of the street high into the air. The energy traveled for a long ways, eventually dissipating near the tunnel leading out of this cook-pan of a desert. There was a loud bang as the air rushed in, to fill the void left behind.

It was a good thing that he wasn’t still there.

The Star master shook his head in disgust. Far too much power, but no idea how to direct it. And now they were completely defenseless as they waited for their internal generators to recharge them.

It also helped that he was gazing down at their molten heads while floating about 40 feet above the street. And that they thought that he was dead. They just stood there, as if he might reappear right in front of them so they could blast him again. Giygas might win this war if he had given his Soldiers brains to think with. It was sort of sad, really.

The Star Master raised his hands into the air and manifested his will. The universe opened to him, and he pinpointed the exact location of each of the Starmen. Their weakest points were the faceplate, which guarded their electronic eyes; the front panel, which held their “brain“; and the generator, located deep within the flowing metal, hidden somewhere near the back. The Star Master felt each of these things like it was one of his own limbs. He brought his hands down to point towards the three. He concentrated, pulling every bit of his mind into the conjuring. Not that he needed his entire mind. The star master could summon forth a Starstorm in his sleep. But, one of his main lessons was that if you were not careful enough, if you use less than you need to, mistakes can be made, and mistakes are what kill a warrior more often than not.

His hands started to get warm. This always happened. He was bringing life to miniature stars, there was bound to be some heat. He guided the stars down, into the vulnerable backs of the Starman. 11 globes of blinding bluish-white flame streaked from his fingers and into the air, instantly heating the already scorching desert to an almost unbearable temperature. The Starmen exploded violently, forcing the air around them away with amazing power. The Star Master rose into the air with the shockwave.

The devastating blast had reduced three areas around the Starmen to a mixture of sand, pieces of asphalt, and now superheated molten metal. The Star Master silently thanked whatever gods there were in the world that no people had been in the radius of that blast. He descended to the ground. The Starmen had most likely been after Talah Rama, the ever-mystical monk who lived with the monkeys because he “preferred them to human company.” Well, he would have probably been able to take care of these three as well. Talah Rama was not a fool, but it was a good thing that the Star Master had intervened, since Talah Rama would likely not even know of the attack until they began spelunking into his monkey caves. And by then a few monkeys, or humans, might have been hurt. The Star Master looked over the ruins of the Starmen, looking for anything important.

Finding nothing, he began flying down the street at an incredible speed. The wind whipped by his ears as he reached the speed of sound. His molecules began traveling so fast that he simply flew. he descended through the ground and transcended the universe, seeking the place he called home.

The moment that the star master finished teleporting, he was set upon from all sides. The space around him was filled with Starmen, mooks, robots, and UFOs. The landscape was one of floating stars in the distance, and blank space. The Star Master’s realm, his home, was being invaded en mass. Giygas was likely trying to keep him out of the fight with the four. The Star Master expected something like this, though he was still shocked. He should have been able to feel this invasion as it began. His Psi was intricately connected to this plane, and the fact that Giygas had somehow blocked that was indeed frightening.

He immediately threw up his shields and began forming his stars. He would have to make as many as he could this time, as many as his great but limited power would endure at once. The temperature rose and rose, and he picked his targets, connecting himself again with this part of his home. The stars flowed from his open palms, as sweat dripped down his wrinkled body. The first wave of attackers was taken down, but more moved in. There was no ground, and one moved by exerting ones will upon the terrain. The Star Master began forming more stars to strike down his enemies with as they fought against his shields. He had to keep them up as long as possible. The world seemed to be alight with the elements of matter. Raw energy struck against his shields again and again, often plowing through other troops to get to him. As he finished the stars, their heat nearly burning his hands, he threw them forth into his enemies, using them to seek out and destroy the most powerful among them.

The battle continued like this for hours, the mass of these soldiers in the army of Giygas against the will of one man who worked to hold the universe together, to keep his new home from falling into the hands of Giygas‘s insanity. Enough raw energy to create and destroy a planet was unleashed. And the star master developed new abilities even as he found new uses for his old ones. Stars in the background blackened, and others grew brighter. The star masters realm was being torn apart at the seams.

The Star Master realized that the armies arrayed against him were far too powerful. He knew what he had to do immediately, but he still hesitated. It would take him decades to build a new home for himself, but only seconds to destroy this one. Giving a godlike sigh, he concentrated, forcing his will back into every bit of this universe he had made. The Starmen, for that was all that was left, were pushing his shields to their limits. He felt himself connect with all that was existence in this place.

And he tore it apart.

The effect on his mind was immediate. It was more than cutting off your own limb; it was like destroying a huge part of you, a part you knew better than anything that was a part of you. a place you had created with years of effort and huge amounts of power. He was sent spiraling into darkness, and to save his mind, he forced his memories into the past. He had plenty of past to remember...

A star floated in space, much as stars normally do. But this star had reached the end of its life. It was going supernova. In a matter of seconds what had been for millennia, would, in a terrible, violent reaction, cease to be, leaving only echoes of its existence in the universe. In 10 seconds.

9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Or at least that is what would happen with most stars. This one was somehow different. It did explode, charring the nearby worlds and destroying an entire civilization. The flames charged outwards, like invading armies, filling all the space that they could. But then they suddenly contracted inwards, as if being sucked back into the center of what was the star. The entire star’s energy flowed into an area so ridiculously small it would have seemed laughable, if such great amounts of power had not been involved. The unleashed forces were concentrated into the form of a single consciousness.

A consciousness that was very surprised to be existing right then. It had no body, was connected to no brain. It just sort of floated there, as if in astral projection. It stayed there for ten years, and then it discovered that it could move. It floated forward a few miles, and then floated back. This was perfect, since it had just started to get bored of the scenery. It had seen the charred planet, and had been instantly curious. There were many strange, glistening things on this planet, things that the other charred planets in the area did not have and there was a feeling, terribly dim, but still a feeling.. The consciousness floated down to the planet, and little could have prepared it for what it encountered there.

The planet that the entity, which would eventually grow to become the star master, landed on was the one that had once belonged to the civilization destroyed by the supernova. Now this entity (as it will henceforth be named, since consciousness is too long of a word.) started intercepting something long before it entered the planets atmosphere. It was hard to even detect, and impossible to identify, but it was there. As the entity descended, this feeling multiplied exponentially. It was feeling the thoughts of the people of this planet! It tried desperately to sort them out, a task that threatened to frustrate it beyond belief at first. Over the course of years, it finally managed to identify when the thoughts had first begun. it began reading them, almost like a book, from the very beginning.

It had stumbled upon the devastated home world of a race of beings that called themselves “mooks,” and this planet “Blio.” They were tentacle-covered creatures with green skin and three eyes, as well as some slight psychic and psionic ability. Their history went back a millennium and a half before their sun had taken away the life it had once granted them. The entity received and interpreted it all, at the speed of these creatures thoughts at first, but then much quicker. It laughed with them. It cried with them. It hated and felt anger by their sides. It felt the delight of bringing new ideas, new creations, and even new life, through their senses. In the space of a year, its readings of the past approached the event horizon.

The entity had often wondered where these people had gone, and how this planet had changed so drastically from the images he saw from the mook’s thoughts. It was about to find out. On a normal day, like any other day in their world, which had reached a level of technology near that used in medieval times, the sky had erupted in flames. They had seen it coming for minutes before it hit, and this heightened their fear even more. Their world had descended into utter chaos before the sun’s wrath rained down upon them. They prayed to their gods and asked them why, but it did not stop the flames.

White-hot fires engulfed the planet. There was very little pain for those on the light side, but those on the dark side, where the explosion had not hit in full force, died horribly. None were spared the flames.

This collective image hit the entity with the force of a door slamming shut in its face. It can’t end. This can’t happen. How? How could they have died like this, so painfully, after all they have made and accomplished? How did this happen? Why did this flame come down from the sky?

The entity began looking frantically for the answer to this question. He found the remnants of the supernova, and traced them back to the sun. The explosion that had created him had killed these people whose lives he had come to know and love. At first it denied this, and later, when it was forced to accept it by its own intelligence, it sank into a deep depression. It dully watched the sky, as it shifted between its now tortured clouds streaked with toxins unleashed by the burrowing fires, and the almost clear skies at night, from which he could see the stars and other astral bodies. The beauty of the night sky was marred by his new outlook. He often contemplated destroying himself, as punishment for the horrors his birth had brought upon these people.

And with this thought it was given new strength. There was a way he could fix this tremendous wrong. He had the power. Power granted him by the sun that had charred this planet. He began his work. Using the memories of those who had come before, he began rebuilding the planet.

First came the skies. He removed the toxins and smoke and replaced what had been destroyed, changing them back to the dull emerald skies this planet had once enjoyed. Then he replaced a great deal of the land, changing the carbon left on the surface to the brilliant orange and violet plants and trees, and the good soil that had once been there. The land was a marvelous landscape of beauty, with all colors of the spectrum blending in a variety of shapes and textures. In some places there were deserts, and in others, rocky mountains that rose out of the ground like the teeth of some huge monster. in many places, a dry, yellow fungus rose from the ground, wavering slightly in the wind. lastly, he drew it into the orbit of another sun, bright red, like the previous one. The world was as it had been. Now came the hard part. Using the consciousness floating in the very air of the planet, the entity that had been born of the star that had brought these people their doom brought them back to life. They were confused at first, but soon they realized what had happened. Mooks are often noted for their intelligence. Their leader, a powerful psychic, read the area, and he saw the entity that had created them, and instantly understood. He instructed the rest to bow down (a tricky process involving splaying out all of their tentacles) and addressed the entity “Star Master. What has happened? We beg that you bring us enlightenment as to what we must do. Has Vildicua come?” This baffled the entity. It knew of the ancient legend of a “Star Master” from the thoughts he had read, but did not expect these creatures would think him to be this godlike being. He did the only thing that he could think of. He created for himself a body, resembling that of the mythical star master. It was little more than a robe encompassing a body made of light. Perhaps he was the star master of these creatures’ legends.

The star master gestured for the mooks to rise. They stood, and waited to hear his explanation. “The great goddess, Vildicua, brought about the end of your world in her death. In doing this, she also brought about my creation. I have revived your world, and brought you from death. I will help you rebuild what you once had.”

The star master showed these mooks how to gather food. He made sure that food and water were always available. The mooks gave him very small amounts of their psionic strength, which, though being as insignificant as drops of water in a lake, helped him regain some of what he had spent to remake this world. They lived well, and at first, there was no hate at all between them. The star master had brought many of the mooks back from the land of the dead, and they had begun a huge city. The land was worked. Buildings; houses, markets, and meeting halls were built. At the center of this great circle of mook buildings would be the temple and palace of the Star Master. There was so much colored glass in the building that it cast brilliant lights in every direction. The city was a place of beauty, and it became all that the mooks wanted it to be, and amazed even the artisans and artists who had created it. It rose high into the air, gazing over the tallest of trees. Near the temple of the star master, a crystalline fountain sprayed lines of brilliant, clear water high into the air. This fountain provided the people with clean, cold water. And, for a while, all was more than perfect. The mooks lived very happily, with no pressures on their lives. The problems of society, which had led to the great wars of the past, had been buried beneath, and no one expected them to resurface.

eventually, some small disputes began, and the star master was asked to resolve them. Simple problems were solved easily, but there were more complicated matters. Groups had risen among the youths of the mooks. They took control of different portions of the city, and as a force, maintained them. At first, this was good for the city, but the groups began competing. This only led to more fervor, as each group tried to make their own section of the city the best. It was not long before one young mook decided that the easy way to make his neighborhood better was to make someone else’s worse.

Vandalism began, as did protection against it. Fights were staged in the streets, and some had to be broken up by the star master himself. This troubled the star master greatly, as it was becoming harder and harder to keep these people from trying to hurt themselves. The art of using Psi for battle was being rediscovered, and the mooks were quite proficient at using it to freeze things. This was used both for vandalism and for fights between mooks. Then the event that everyone should have feared, but no one had foreseen, came to fruition.

It really began in the Headquarters of the Gitoris 9. This was a small group, which had personally put itself in charge of their neighborhood. Vandalism of the area to the east had become somewhat regular, and today, they were gathering to burn the walls of some buildings under control of the Heglati 7. 3 mooks left, heading through back allies and going long out of their way. When they arrived where they needed to be, they started burning the sides of the buildings with their Psi. One tried ripping the road up, and freezing the water that was left in cracks from the rain the day before. The plan was to get in, wreck the place, and then get out. Things don't always go to plan.

The Heglati 7 made a point of keeping their neighborhood very safe. 5 of them were on patrol, and they all saw these three going about their work. They advanced, sending forth tongues of flame to say hello for them. The three vandals had used much of their Psi in their systematic ruining of this section of town, so when 5 very angry mooks came at them wielding flame and cold, they ran. One of them, Greavidlis, the one who had been working on the streets, reacted slower. Greavidlis was hit full force with freezing cold, causing many of the membranes on his tentacles to freeze up. As he turned to run, he was hit by flame. This fire scored a black mark on his back, and dropped him to the ground. He lashed out with thunder, and struck the left tentacle of one of the five. He was hit on two sides with thunder and ice. He twitched one, and stopped moving.

The five Heglati 7 hesitated, fearing that he would lash out at them with another attack. Finally, one approached and checked for signs of life. Greavidlis was not breathing, and, besides the black scorch mark on his back, his body was quickly cooling. Nothing like this had ever happened. They couldn’t think what to do. They had killed Greavidlis, but it had been an accident. Had it? Had any of them really meant to kill him? if they had, they certainly did not now. After much bickering back and forth, they resolved to bring him to the star master.

Unknown to them, the choice had been made for them. The star master appeared before them all, standing behind Greavidlis's head. Though he had no face to express it with, his form seemed to emanate anger. The five mook children immediately went to their knees, babbling apologies and explanations. The star master just stood there, motionless, seeming to glare down at them. He gestured for them to rise, and reluctantly, they did. He immersed himself into the thoughts of Greavidlis, what he had seen, and what he had felt. The star master flinched as he felt the last blows land, ending Greavidlis’s life. A nervous tension filled the scene. The star master rose one robed, glowing hand, and pointed it towards the leader of these five. The young mook nearly jumped out of his skin. “Explain.” Was the only word he uttered.

“Well, we-we were walking around the area, making sure that-- that vandals didn’t show up.” With that, he looked down at the body of the young mook, and cringed.

“That’s not all of it. Go on.” Ordered the star master tonelessly.

“Well, we came upon thi- him, and two more. They were tearing up the walls and he was ripping up the street. So we figured that we’d, well-- kinda scare ‘em so that they’d leave. And when we got here, he was just starting to go. I, well, I froze him, just to make sure he would, well, think twice about coming back, and he threw a lightning at Kligus there” he Gestured to another of the mooks “and then he and Vlihilla hit him with fire and ice. And he...” The leader of the group lowered his head, his eyes drooping.

“I see.” Intoned the star master emotionlessly. “Bring him to the temple.”

Wordlessly, the five Mooks hefted the lifeless body and carried it. Although it was the dead of night, this funeral procession gained quite a gathering. It was extremely rare for young mooks to die in the prime of their lives, as such, and many mooks were left in tears. In about one half hour, the strange procession, led by the star master hovering ominously ahead, reached the temple.

“Lay him upon the altar.” The star master said. The five complied, gently placing the body of the young mook on the block, its stone resembling marble, but rougher.

The star master moved to the young mooks head, and stared over him. Time seemed to drag on. Finally, unable to wait any longer, one mook, the one who had opened with ice, gathered up the courage to ask. “What now? Can you... bring him back?”

The star master’s head snapped up so suddenly that, had he had a neck, it would have broken. He just stared into the mook; the brightly glowing orb that served as the star masters eye filling the vision of the young mook who had spoken. “Yes, I am able. This was a mistake, and you shall be given a second chance.”

The mooks let loose a breath of air in relief.

“--But, after this, you get no more chances. The dead will remain dead, and there shall be no salvation from your guilt. Now watch, and remember this for the rest of your lives!”

The star master rose his hands above Greavidlis’s corpse, and concentrated. Slowly, a miniature, white-hot star came into being. The star grew, until it reached the size of Greavidlis’s head. The star master slowly lowered his hands, until the brightly glowing star was interposed with Greavidlis's head. There was a sudden start, as a breath of air was drawn into the alien’s lung. Greavidlis lay on the altar for a full minute, breathing hard, before collapsing into a deep sleep. The five mooks left standing there waited to be told what to do.

“Leave here, and repair the damages done. Never, ever, let this happen again.” The mooks left, feeling no end of guilt for what they had done. Now they only hoped for peace, but their hopes would not last long.

As they moved to leave the temples outer grounds, they were blocked. 7 mooks stood before them, their eyes blazing with anger.

“Move aside.”

“Well, why don’t you just kill me, murderer? You think you can just get away with killing our friend?”

“Greavidlis was just brought back to life. There is no one dead.”

“So, is that it? You just get the star master to fix it and wash you’re tentacles of the whole thing? Not likely!”

At this, the five mooks attempted to push their way through the close-packed ranks of their opposition. The seven resisted, and a struggle began.

No one ever knew who summoned the fire.

A psionic duel quickly began between the two sides, psychic energy nearly bouncing off of the walls. Three mooks were knocked out by the time the star master intervened. the mooks were forced against the walls, and the star master tried to force reason into them.

There were no more than a few injuries that night. Most thought the issue over. The star master knew that it would not end here, but he could do nothing besides try to prevent it. The city was quickly divided, and a people who had once lived together in harmony chose to hate their fellow mook. At first, it was just a general sentiment, like a pot of water coming to a boil. Soon the hatred had grown to such a proportion that there were riots in the streets. The star master did his best to calm the blazing emotions of his people, but was often unable to get there in time to stop any from being injured. In this war, the people prayed to the star master more fervently, not now out of gratitude, but in the hope that he would prevail on them and help their side defeat there enemies. Before that time, good and evil were two vague sides that did not really exist. Now, each side was convinced of its righteousness and of their enemies’ dark doings. This grew through the city like a cancer, until only the wisest were left wondering what the world had come to.

Of course, they were going down a road it would be hard to go back on. Each time the violence escalated, that became the new level. All it needed to become a true war was for someone to escalate it further. for a mook to kill another.

That someone was Greavidlis. Yes, the mook whose death had ignited this turmoil. His death had caused him to hate those who had killed him with a passion rivaling any in the city. At first he participated in the riots, but that wasn’t enough. He trained his Psi, until he could execute attacks that would allow him to kill with a thought. And then the day came.

The mooks were gathered, a group on each side of an empty street. They shouted vile curse words, and threw rocks, wood, and whatever else they could lay their tentacles on. Some mooks fell to the ground, only to be carried away by friends and fuel the hatred that each side felt for the other. This had gone on for weeks; riots just like this one bursting out seemingly at random. Somehow, the two sides had not killed yet. But this time, Greavidlis was ready.

Out of nowhere, great flames burst into being on the side that had once supported the five that had taken down Greavidlis. The wails of the dying filled the street. Some 20 mooks lay dead, and many more were injured. Instantly, the rest of the mooks cried in grief and rage and rushed into their enemies. The city streets had quickly become a war zone. Smoke rose up to mar the emerald sky.

At this time, the star master appeared, and paralyzed the mooks. He addressed them “stop this madness. Look upon those that lay there dead. They will not be brought back. You shall suffer the consequences of your actions. GO FROM HERE. And do not come to blows again.”

Eventually, one of the mooks gathered the nerve to ask “you brought back one of them! We should have one of ours brought back as well.”

This only seemed to anger the star master. “Don’t you understand? There is no ‘us.’ There is no ‘them.’ There are only the mooks. The first was brought back to life. The rest shall not be.”

Begrudgingly, the mooks left for their homes. Some wept over those who had fallen, either in the initial fire, or in the resulting fight. Despite the star master’s orders, the battle had just escalated.

Now, they were at war.

Mooks gathered again, this time, not with intentions to simply riot. At the first sight, thunder came down from the skies. Those struck, fell, only to be struck again. As the sides gained mass, the death rate increased. Once again the star master appeared, and once again, the mooks were stopped. “END THIS, YOU FOOLS. Your hatred accomplishes NOTHING.”

The mooks left, and once again, the dead were mourned. Those who fell became martyrs to the cause. They ignored the star master, and went on. The city was soon torn apart. Those who had once lived comfortably now had to make do with what was left of their homes. Those who had lost what they had envied those who still lived in the relative luxury of the past, and theft soon ran rampant. Soon this city, which had had a taste of utopian society, became a place of death. None knew why, and few would have cared.

In the midst of the darkest time ever visited upon these people; in the most painful, deadly battle, in which the sky was blackened by the smoke from the fires, and illuminated by the constant thunder that charged down from it. Mooks were dying everywhere. Some were left diamond statues, as some powerful mooks had discovered abilities that no mook had heard of before. As the star master appeared, so did the others.

Pearly off-white disks, with round spheres in the middle, descended. Beams of lasers rained from the sky. Many of them were caught in the lightning called by the mooks, and destroyed. The star master shot a handful down with his stars. All over the streets, strange, metallic creatures began to somehow appear. Each one was ten times as strong as a mook, and they had psionic abilities as well. They plowed through the mooks, disabling or killing all those in their path. The two sides, who had only minutes before concentrated solely on killing each other, united against this common threat, and despite the confusion, managed to fight back. The star master and the mooks would have had a chance, would have likely repelled the invaders, but this had just begun.

Nearly half of the mooks lost control of their bodies, and began fighting on the side of the strangers. The star master felt this, and found where this control emanated. it came from a single, small hole in reality, leading to another world He plunged into a small portal that had opened invisibly, just enough to let the power through.

He was plunged into darkness. Before long, a dull illumination filled the space, although it had no apparent source, and seemed to emanate from the very air. There were only two figures in the area. The star master, and, floating an infinity away, and yet occupying the same space,, a creature, Its skin was pale, the color of chalk, and it had four strange tentacles, in the places where arms and legs would be on a human. Upon its head lay two white, flesh covered horns. It was encased in a bubble of some glasslike substance.

somehow, despite it‘s lack of a mouth, it talked. the words seemed to emanate from the void surrounding them both, but the star master knew, knew, that it was this creature talking. the voice was harsh, but almost a whisper, though the words were completely clear “So, it seems I have an opposition here. You may call me Giegue. I will be taking these creatures you look after. Your puny abilities cannot stop me.”

“We shall see about that. You will have to overpower me to take Blio!”

And with that, the star master flew forward. In his hands he held a dozen burning white stars. He brought his arms forward, and the stars flew into Giegue, exploding harmlessly against his protective shield. A wave through reality rippled out from Giegue, blowing through the star master and forcing him back. This was followed by three more. Giegue slowly floated over to the star master, covering the nonexistent distance. The star master sped behind Giegue, and launched a volley of stars into his back. Giegue, without turning around, waved his arm, and the stars stopped. They shot back at the star master, moving even faster than the almost impossible speeds they had flown at before. The star master barely evaded most of his stars, and was hit with three that he could not dodge. While he recovered, another reality shockwave charged through him, followed by more. He was able to take the punishment, and do some minor damage of his own. The battle lasted an eternity, and was over in moments. The two were fighting in a timeless, spaceless place, created by Giegue. During the battle, Giegue proved his superiority, humbling the star master. In the end, he forced the star master out of his little reality bubble. The star master fought with everything he had to hold on, but was outmatched. He was sent spiraling out into nothingness.

“You are strong, and you will likely survive this. But know that if you interfere with me again, you are nothing to me, and I WILL destroy you!” Were the last words he heard from the creature named Giegue.

Almost a year later, the star master felt something. He opened his eye, and saw.

The first thing he noticed was that he seemed to be incased in ice. This ice extended out an enormous distance, likely a half-mile in all. Outside, stars, planets, and other astral bodies crawled by. Judging by their distance, the ball of ice was traveling at great speeds. The star master tried to teleport back to Blio, but when he searched for the place with his mind, he was blocked. His scrying was met by a vision of Giegue’s face, glaring at him. When he opened his eyes and brought his concentration back to the situation at hand, he was amazed. He and the ice comet were speeding toward a small blue, green, and brown planet. He was already so close that the planet encompassed most of his view. This planet amazed him; it was the most beautiful thing he had seen since Blio. As he stared at this world, he forgot that he was quickly coming to visit it.

As he came to his senses, he realized that his ice comet was on a collision course with a towering mountain. He tried to teleport away, but his body was held too closely to move. The comet was positioned directly above the mountain, and was going to collide at extreme speed. The ice around him was quickly melting away, releasing its hard grip on him. He teleported away in a flash, just as the ice collided with the rocky cliff. It cleared a section of rock straight down the cliff face. The star master hovered yards above the giant ball of ice and water and stone. Eventually it reached the bottom, digging a huge crater, it’s meltoff forming a lake around the great ball of ice.

The star master rose in midair, rotating back towards the cliff. As he rose, he saw the small village based on this cliff. The creatures here had pinkish skin, covered with some form of garment. They each had four limbs and a head, upon which their two eyes and mouth were based. Those that had left their houses to see what the (literally) earth-shattering noise was, stared in slack-jawed amazement at the star master.

He rose slowly through the air, eventually coming to a complete stop. He then floated forward to a single, small, plateau. He landed upon it, left with barely enough room to stand. The star master left his feet and took on a meditative stance. He retreated into his mind, and concentrated on drawing some of this planet’s power to him through the stone beneath him. Projecting his consciousness outward, the star master once again sought Blio.

He was greeted with an image of blank space. Where the planet should have been, there only stood a few small asteroids. Then the space around him seemed to ripple-

The star master opened his eyes in shock. He had been forced back to his body. His energy had been horribly depleted. He collapsed on the one point of earth, 70 feet above the ground in one way and a mile in the other. He tried desperately to breathe. Brio, the planet he had remade, the only home he had known, was gone. Torn apart by a creature so powerful that it had taken no more than a cosmic wave of his hand to send the star master back to his mortal form.

When the star master awoke, he had been roughly thrown over the shoulder of a very large man, descending a knotted rope that had been tossed over the peak. He had the power to level this mountain, but had been reduced to being carried by one of these creatures. He was brought to the ground, and settled down onto the grass. He sent his mind seeking answers to what this place was.

This world he had landed on was named.... Earth... Strange, the place had been mentioned somewhere in the mook prophecies. In the vaguest ones, which no one, not even him, had ever quite understood. He sought more answers, and found that these people were called humans, and this place, where he was, was called Dallam. He interpreted the language these humans used, rose to his “feet”, and spoke

“Do not worry. I am not here to harm you. I am the star master. I was driven from the world Blio, my home, from a creature calling itself Giegue. He possesses great power, barely within my comprehension. And it is likely he will soon come here.”

These words struck the people like a fist. The star master gave it a few seconds for it to sink in. “what... what shall... what can we do against one such as this?” Asked the man who had brought him down from the rock. He had an oriental look to him, just like all the others. His hair was in a topknot, and a small, sharp beard graced his face. On his back, he had latched a pair of small, Samari style swords. “What chance have we of... survival?”

At this the star master rose from the ground, his flowing robe almost a foot above the grass. “I have a score to settle with this one. I will protect you, as much as I can. But, when the time comes, I may be unable to defeat him, so, when he comes, you had best make peace with your gods.”

At this, the man nearly fell, his legs weakened by fear. “Can we do nothing against him? Are you our only chance?”

“Yes. You would not stand any chance against him, and unless he is horribly weakened when he arrives, or I am joined with some other force, I will likely fall before him. I will do all I can, but I will likely die trying to help you.”

“Why? Why would you do this for us? People you have never met, on a place that is not your home?”

“I have two reasons. The first is that I failed to protect my last home, and the home of those under my protection. I wish to have a second chance.”

“And the second?”

The star master smiled, well, as much as an amorphous ball of light can smile “I hoped I might be able to make this place my home.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The star master became an enigmatic being in Dallamese society. Apparently, he had been mentioned in legends on earth as well, although these legends were much older and more ambiguous.

The star master spent much of his time training. The time he didn’t train he spend with the Dallamese, or constructing a subdimentional home for himself. This way, he might be able to drag Giegue into it, and there he would have a much greater chance of defending himself.

Overall, he involved himself little in the lives of the Dallamese. They did not see things this way, however, and worshipped him daily, in huge, towering, marble temples. This lent the star master power, which he channeled into his realm. Life went on like this for decades, and, after 30 years, things started to fall apart.

After 30 years of nothing happening, the Dallamese began to doubt the star master’s original words. Although he took nothing from them, demanding only that they help when the time came, imagined conspiracies began to form in the minds of the people.

But one day, when the star master had come to the rock he had gone to those 3 decades ago, now called meditation point, he concentrated, and the universe was laid out before him. Immediately, he could see the ships, heading at a nonstop pace straight for earth.

The star master arose from meditation point, knowing what had to be done. He spoke, and though he used an average voice, every person in Dallam heard it. “Giegue comes. We have little time.”

The panic in the next few days nearly was the undoing of the Dallamese. The star master’s cold calm exterior was the only thing that kept them together.

Then Giegue's army came. Dallam was attacked last, out of all the world, but it was attacked hard. After days of endless, seemingly pointless waiting, a fleet of UFOs rose on the horizon. Arrows were knocked to Dallamese bows, and countless UFOs were brought, flaming, to the ground. The star master stood atop meditation point, and rained miniature stars upon his foes. It seemed that Giegue's men stood no chance, that the Dallamese archers would carry the day without casualties.

This was before the Starmen appeared.

Their flowing metal bodies seemed to suddenly warp into existence. Almost half of the archers were taken down before they knew what was happening. The swordsmen went in, drawing their long, thin, curved blades, and driving them into the metallic creatures. The one who had helped the star master struck the greatest defeats in the enemy, taking down at least ten. The field was chaos. The star master rose from his place on meditation point, and brought his arms out from himself. A pink vapor, charged with blistering energy, flowed from his extended hands. This vapor, when it touched the enemy, forced them to teleport away. UFOs sped away from Dallam at great speed, some crashing to the ground. After destroying the starman army, the cloud surrounded Dallam, a thick veil of mist, like a shield. The star master knew it was only a temporary solution, and that it could not stop Giegue. But it could weaken him, and if he could draw him into his star realm, he might actually have a chance.

The Dallamese went back to their worship with a new fervor. They had been saved. The star master spent his nights and days on meditation point, watching, waiting, wondering when Giegue would make his move. He saw four entities of great power, and nearly infinite potential. They had the chance to be as powerful as him! These four went against Giegue, and near the end all seemed lost. But the star master heard, resonating through space, a song. A simple tune, but sung with perfect pitch. This seemed to cut into Giegue's very mind, tearing apart the fragile sanity that had held him together, allowed him to take countless worlds as his own. Giegue fled, and the four returned to their homes. The star master was amazed. The four did not stand a chance against Giegue, or at least would not have without that song. Had he allied himself with these four, Giegue might have been defeated with this strange tune, rather than simply driven away.

The star master knew not if Giegue would ever come back. The damage to his mind had been extensive, but he did not really need to recover from it to attack again. The star master was worried.

The star master prepared more, which confused the people, thinking that the alien invader had been destroyed. Life went back to normal for a dozen years. life was good, and Dallam grew, those who had been children became adults. the village grew, and a palace was built. The star master was offered the crown, but refused, and so they gave it to the one who had brought him from the hill. as his son grew into a young man, he became known as the master, as the new prince, aptly named Poo due to his early years, and his mothers sense of humor, began to take control of more of the governmental issues. the boy was good hearted, and strong willed. he would make a great king.

Then, one night, while the star master flew through his realm, he was hit with a sensation like he had never felt before. Giegue was back, and with him, his armies. The star master tried to draw him to Dallam, where he could defeat him, but Giegue would not move. He stayed in a place apart from the world, left thousands of years in the past. The star master followed him there. As he journeyed down the dark corridors, destroying the minions with little effort, he felt Giegue's thoughts. as he read the disjointed ramblings from the alien, he came a conclusion. This creature has gone completely insane.

As he rounded another dark, neon lit corridor, he found himself standing on some kind of organic material. He realized, to his horror, that he was standing on the creature, on some part of his body. He traveled up the strange, tentacle like substance, until he found himself staring into a giant eye. And in the center of that eye was... his face.

Thoroughly disgusted, the star master brought his hands before him. At his fingers, stars formed. He formed a huge number, their heat piercing his soul. With one motion, he dropped his hands and flew back, as the stars flew straight into the great eye.

As each star hit, it left no mark on the creature. The giant balls of whitefire seemed absorbed into the eye. The star master wondered about this, but ceased thinking as he was hit. It felt as if he were being buffeted with the stars he had thrown; the place they had gone into his image in the eye coinciding with where he felt them. He was left gasping for breath.

“F-f-fool. I am g--- g--- giygiygiygiygiygiy--- Giygas! You are noth... ... noth...ing to me.”

With that, reality around the star master was warped. He let loose a horrible scream as his body was thrashed. Rather than the single, pure, perfect ripple caused by Giegue previously, this one was warped and distorted, affecting reality like a storm affects the sea. The star master’s body was mostly destroyed, and his consciousness fled. The last message he received from Giygas was “ I am... H.a.p.p.y.”

The star master recoiled at the absolute madness that enveloped this creature. It seemed all that held the thing together. He did not see how they could possibly defeat such a creature.

As he reached Dallam, he changed. The image of himself from Blio would not suffice. He formed himself a body, roughly human, though hidden within the folds of his robe. Its face was wrinkled, and it’s eyes seemed to hold billions of stars within their depths. The star master ventured back to the star realm, to watch and to wait.

Once again, four of great power and potential stood against the invader. Earth seemed in no lack of people such as this. But it was obvious that these four children had no chance against one such as Giygas. Heeding the advice of a creature, who had come from a future in which the earth had been lost to Giygas‘s evil. They traveled to points about the earth, gathering power from these focal points of life. At each, they gathered a melody into a small stone. These places seemed to heal their wounds, and renew their will to fight. The star master was amazed when they arrived at Dallam, seeking out the pink cloud he had created, going through an ancient cave, said to hold the gods of the storm. He noted that these four were not very different from the last. One of them was the prince of Dallam, Poo. The boy had a great mind, but no battle experience at first. As they approached the end, seeking out secrets unknown to the world, almost strong enough to stand against Giygas, the star master had taken that one, Prince Poo, away, to teach him how to form the stars with his mind. these lessons had been hard on the boy, but he did indeed learn, and as soon able to concentrate all of his Psi into a single star. this left him exhausted, but he learned how to make them smaller, to stretch his psionic abilities to their limits. the star master had also succeeded in bringing the barriers that the prince had erected between himself and the world a little, making him a little less introspective. Poo’s biggest problem was that he never told others of his problems, but saw it as a weakness to allow others to intervene in his life. he could never be truly effective in his team if he would not talk to them, and he would never really be one of them, just off by himself, leaving them to wonder if they could really depend on him.

At the end of Poo’s training, and after he had left, the four had gone on, into the deep darkness, to seek the land below the earth. there, they had found the fiery springs, a volcanic area, near the center of the earth, and the last point of power that they sought. the sound stone, the device they had used to record the notes at the previous places, saw that it would not be a weapon against Giygas, due to the fact that he was already insane. Ness, the one who led them, had seen, in llumine hall, the dark thoughts at the edge of his consciousness. Giygas had seen his power, and had been trying to affect his mind, driving every bit of his considerable corrupting force into his mind. the sound stone played the full melody, and hearing it sent Ness deep into his mind, into a place he made, a great metaphor of ideas and ideals and memories, named Magicant. the star master had gone into the boys mind, to tell him of what he had come into his mind to accomplish. outside of this place loomed the evil Giygas had brought into his mind, and at it’s center, it was concentrated in the form of the Mani Mani statue. the star master had detected a disturbance in the Dusty Dunes Desert, and had gone to investigate it.

The star master’s eyes opened. He was standing on a beach, on earth, in a place he had never seen before. He gazed upon the water, roiling uncontrollably, although with no wind. As the water reached new heights, the star master searched for what might be disturbing it.

He found a great battle brewing between the four and Giygas. Somehow, they were standing against him, Although barely. One of them lay in a hunk of metal, metal on one of the monster’s tentacles. The girl, Paula, was praying devotedly for someone, anyone, to help them overcome this monster. Ness had run up to the thing, now a chaotic jumble of thoughts and ideas, and beaten it (uselessly) with his baseball bat. rather than the flesh and blood bodies they had once had, they inhabited metal cases, robots, which somehow held their consciousnesses. they had certainly lost none of their heart to the transfer, though they were beginning to succumb to despair.

Paula, having gotten no response this time, prayed again, this time more desperately. “Please, if anyone is left, anyone at all, I beg you, help us!”

The star master snapped out of his amazement and focused his will. He sent his prayer, with a great deal of his power, to those four desperate souls, battling for the future of their race. The Star Master’s prayer was all that was needed, and Giygas crumbled. As he fell, the universe about him warped and rippled, as if someone had thrown a boulder into a lake. Ness, the stalwart warrior with the quick mind; Paula, the sensitive girl with the control over the elements; Jeff, the genius, his mind expanded by his journey, discovering the existence of things that he had previously thought impossible; and Poo, the prince of a faraway country, practically a stranger to these four he had known for more than a month, talking less than even Ness, were all scrapped into pieces. As the star master watched, their consciousnesses rose from the metal shells that had held them. Rather than dissipating, however, they sought out their still living bodies. Combining their raw power, they opened a rift in time and traveled through, appearing in Saturn Valley. Dr. Andonuts nearly fainted as his four patients awoke.

The star master smiled. Giegue, now known as Giygas, was gone. The mooks, the first race he had known, were free of his corrupting influence. He would gather them up, and help them carve a civilization out of this planet, so different from theirs, and yet so similar. The mooks and the humans, once enemies, could live together. He would see to it.

The star master dissipated, and spread across the world. Such plans would be done in good time, but for now, he needed to rest.