E. Revolution

-=6^th Revolution=-

::Obscurity::

Ness was greatly surprised to find he was standing on the roof of a tall building, staring at the setting sun while the wind whipped at him from behind.

He had, of course, no idea why he was there or how he had arrived in the first place; a quick search of his short-term memory yielded no results. This could mean only one thing.

I’m dreaming.

This realization did little to surprise Ness, who had taken a few steps towards the edge of the roof unconsciously—or rather, consciously, given the nature of his dream. It was only after planting both feet on the very edge of the building and looking down at the empty street hundreds of meters below that he was shocked.

Well, empty except for four figures, one of which Ness could swear wore a red cap…

“Yo, Ness! Get up already!”

Ness’ eyes were jolted open, and he could see Jeff’s blurry outline shaking him gently.

“Jeff…what time is it?”

“Half-past late, that’s what time it is,” replied Jeff, who threw the covers onto the floor beside Ness’ bunk, grabbed his arm, and proceeded to haul him to a standing position. “I just got a call from Agent Poo. He says you’re being put on assignment next week and briefing starts now.”

Ness sighed discontentedly. “Figures.” Slowly and lazily he dragged his feet to the bathroom door, jerked it open gruffly, and disappeared into the small, white room. Seconds later the sound of running water echoed from inside.

Jeff, who had showered and dressed some time before, adjusted his glasses with one hand and looked himself over, and then headed for the door. He raised the other hand to open it when he noticed that his palm was flushed red. It was the same hand he had used to grab Ness earlier. The blonde teenager creased his forehead.

“It burns.”

Quickly, Jeff opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

Despite his earlier comment on the difficulty of finding one’s way inside the startling-white hallways of SANCTUARY, Jeff had little to no trouble finding his way to the hallway that lead to Paula’s room. He strode casually to the door and noted with very little excitement that the door was locked, something that was completely uncharacteristic of her from what he had heard from Ness and seen the day before. Slowly he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his ID card, which he slid down the reader to the right of the door, opening it.

He was greeted upon entry by the slow, mellow sound of solitary notes resonating from the piano in the right side of the room. Paula was sitting there, caressing notes experimentally while she bit her lower lip, apparently in frustration.

Jeff cleared his throat. “I noticed you locked your door.”

Paula stopped playing and looked up at Jeff blankly.

“I only do that when I compose. Otherwise I am unable to complete my pieces satisfactorily."

Jeff slipped off his green jacket and tossed it on the bed, his smiling eyes transfixed on Paula’s innocent-looking face. Without even uttering a word he approached the bench and sat down on it ceremoniously, sliding Paula to the side as he did so. The girl stared at him, apparently perplexed.

“What are you…”

She was silenced with a wave of the hand as Jeff read the scribbled partition showing the piece Paula had been working on. He went over each note carefully, making sure to learn every one by heart. Then, finally, he started playing.

It went slowly at first; he tapped each key only to get a feel for the music and its composer. With time, though, he began playing faster and with more confidence, hitting every chord, striking every note with precision until his hands took on a mind of their own. Then, he reached the end of the partition abruptly, and he stopped.

“It’s not finished yet. I…”

Paula never had a chance to finish. Jeff broke into a flourish and continued the melody, picking up where she had left off. With incredible skill he managed to compose the rest of the piece fluently and accurately; his mouth dropped open in concentration. Then he reached the end—the end he had created—and stopped playing. His eyes were tinged a light red and his breathing was ragged.

Paula’s eyes went wide and she hopped off the bench. She stared at Jeff with a mixture of confusion and awe, said the only thing she could think of then:

“How did you do that?”

Jeff’s mouth closed and his breathing normalized. With a snide smile he made his way to Paula’s bed and grabbed his jacket, which he slipped back on wordlessly. When he looked back at Paula his eyes had returned to their normal color and his face looked no different from how it had been when he walked in.

Paula took a tentative step towards Jeff. He, in turn, stepped quickly towards Paula until he was so close to her that their chests touched. He leaned his head forward; Paula’s eyes went wide as Jeff’s mouth brushed past her ear and he whispered:

“You have no idea who or what you are, do you?”

Before the girl could respond Jeff turned away and headed for the door. He stepped outside.

“That was fun,” he said. “We should do it again sometime.”

Then he left, and the girl in the room was silent.

Almost simultaneous with Jeff’s departure from Paula’s chambers was Ness’ arrival at a previously unknown wing of the SANCTUARY building. At the end of the hallway that served as the entrance to this new area were two big, transparent double doors that lead into what appeared to be a big network of offices. Standing in front of them was Professor Andonuts, who was tapping his good foot impatiently.

“I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come,” he said sternly. This caused Ness to shift his eyes uncomfortably.

The researcher took the awkward silence at face value. “Let us move on, then,” he said. “We have much to do and little time to do it in. Follow me.”

Andonuts did an about face and walked up to the double doors, which slid open compliantly. Ness followed.

This wing of the base seemed almost out of place when compared to the rest of the massive headquarters that surrounded it. There were no long hallways or endless walls of white; instead there was a rough, grey carpet, blue paint on the walls, and rows of cubicles where dozens of people worked diligently in front of desks, computers, and several pieces of equipment that Ness couldn’t even begin to identify. The entire place was bustling with activity, be it because of the dull drone of computers at work, the workers in ties running back and forth with stacks of papers in their hands, or the big screen displaying several different numbers and ciphers that Ness was unable to understand. The entire room felt somewhat cramped, and Ness found it very hard to enjoy the pleasant view of the valley from the wall-sized windows that occupied one side of the office.

Andonuts walked directly to a large, mahogany door. Unlike the other doors in the base, which were activated by ID cards, this one sported an old fashioned lock, and the researcher had to fumble with a ring of keys before he was able to open it and walk inside.

Professor Andonuts’ office was, for lack of a better term, large. The circular office was painted a dark blue, and a lone wooden desk was stationed on the far side. The back hemisphere, like in the office room before it, consisted of wall-sized windows that displayed a blurred view of the valley outside—a rushing waterfall served as a translucent curtain and filled the room with a soothing whisper. To Ness’ right was a shelf filled to the brim with thick books, all of which looked like they had seen more in their lifetime than he in his. To his left were several portraits—among them Ness was able to spot one of Jeff’s family—and one more door a quarter of the way around to the left. Oddly enough, this door had both an ID scanner and a physical lock attached to it.

Andonuts walked over to his desk, which looked just as old as he was, and sat down in the old leather chair behind it. After scraping off some loose sheets of paper and ordering them, he placed his elbows on the edge and clasped his hands together.

“Well?”

Ness tilted his head to the side. “Well…what?”

“Aren’t you going to ask me why I brought you here instead of the briefing hall?”

“Um…” Ness pursed his lips. “Because…you weren’t really going to give me a mission briefing?”

“Precisely. That was a lie elaborated by Agent Poo to get you here without raising suspicions from my nephew. I needed you here alone.”

The two staid there, Andonuts in his chair and Ness on his feet.

“I hope you’ll forgive my being so blunt, but it is a necessity right now.” The old man’s speech grew low and gritty, giving Ness the impression that Andonuts was either very tired or a heavy smoker.

Ness took off his cap and wrung it in his hands. “It’s okay,” he said. “I guess I deserve it for being late all the time.”

Andonuts smiled for the first time that day, and Ness remembered that he was talking to the kind old man that had taken care of him for some time. He let his shoulders droop to their normal posture, and his muscles relaxed.

“Now then, there is something I’ve wanted to ask you for a while now…something that had not been brought to my attention until only recently. Please, sit.”

Andonuts motioned to the small chair in front of his desk, and Ness took it.

“I want to ask you about your dreams.”

Ness’ brow furrowed. “What about them?”

“When my nephew was first brought to SANCTUARY I took him here, into my office, and we discussed several topics that I’m sure you would find very boring. He did, however, mention that before the attack on Fourside—much before—you had been having strange dreams about a girl.”

Ness nodded. “Paula…I had been dreaming about Paula.”

“Yes. Now, apart from those involving Paula, have you ever had any other prophetic dreams, before or after the attack?”

Ness scratched his chin in thought. “No. I had a weird dream last night, but that’s it.”

Professor Andonuts nodded, satisfied with Ness’ answer. He leaned back in his chair and twiddled his fingers, as if trying to find the most appropriate wording for his next question. In the meantime Ness sat there, looking at the red cap in his hands and trying to find somewhere to look to make it seem like he was doing anything except hanging on the old man’s every word.

After a moment of silence, Andonuts spoke again. “I’d like to know what you know about Giygas, now that you’ve had several encounters with it first hand.”

Ness was caught off guard by the request, but he answered to the best of his ability. “From what I’ve heard Giygas is something that can take any shape…like it has no shape in the first place. I don’t know where it comes from or what it wants, though.”

“It wants nothing more than to destroy, for it is Chaos itself,” replied Andonuts while waving a long, bony finger in the air, as if he was giving a lecture. “It demonstrates a great capacity for adaptation, as you have seen due to its repeated attacks. Giygas is, quite simply, a mindless force of sheer violence and disarray, not unlike a terrible virus or plague. It is for its destruction that SANCTUARY was built in the first place.”

Ness raised an eyebrow. “Really? I could’ve sworn…”

Andonuts leaned forward again. “Could’ve sworn what?”

“Well…” Ness shrugged. “Paula told me a couple of times how I had to ‘balance the forces’ of it or something…I can’t remember too well.”

The researcher looked away, and Ness shrunk back into his chair, afraid that he had just said something unsuitable.

“That is an interesting theory, but unfortunately incorrect. I have been conducting extensive research on Giygas for the past twelve years, and I am completely certain that the only thing the human race can do to it is destroy it. Do you understand that, Ness?”

The professor’s now-piercing stare shut Ness’ throat, and all he could do was nod feebly.

“Good.” Andonuts’ smile returned to normal. “Now, one more thing; it’s about Commander Strong…”

Ness looked down at the red cap resting in his lap. “I…heard he was a good guy…but somehow Giygas possessed him…”

“It’s alright if you are unwilling to talk about it,” said the old man. “It was, after all, only yesterday that this incident occurred…”

Ness shook his head and looked away. “It’s alright. It’s just…” He let out an involuntary sigh. “He almost got Paula…and Jeff, too. He almost strangled him.”

Andonuts cocked an eyebrow. “Oh? How’s that?”

“Well, before I stopped him Strong grabbed Jeff’s neck…he managed to hurt him a little, but it wasn’t too bad. I guess Poo didn’t tell you because it wasn’t that important.”

Andonuts’ brow furrowed and he leaned forward again, deep in thought. Ness was at a loss for words.

Suddenly the researcher rose and grabbed his cane. Ness watched curiously as the man went over to the shelf on the other side of the room and plucked a book from there. He rifled through the pages until he came to the one he was looking for, and began reading it aloud under his breath.

“Possession-type Giygas…takes over bodily functions…increased strength and heightened senses…can transmit itself via physical contact if necessary.”

Ness was startled as Andonuts dropped the book on the floor and his eyes grew distant. Almost as suddenly as he had risen the professor plopped himself clumsily on his desk and opened one of the bottom drawers, which turned out to have a keyboard and a fold-out screen. He typed a command into the computer and brought up the main directory, then immediately selected Poo’s private number.

Ness, uneasy now, rose from his seat. “Professor…what is it? What happened?”

Andonuts shook his head. “Giygas is still here…it is inside Jeff’s body.”

Just outside a lone worker spotted a blonde youth in a green jacket strolling past the double doors and looking around the room. Instinctively he spoke to him.

“Excuse me; you’re not supposed to be in he—”

He was cut off before he could finish, for the blonde teenager grabbed his neck and snapped it in two.

Another person approached him; he, in turn, dropped the limp figure and proceeded to throw the newcomer into the far wall, eliciting screams from the other workers in the room. All eyes were on him now, and he took the opportunity to adjust his glasses and point to a random person.

“You. Where’s the boss’ office?”

The frightened worker, a short, plump woman, pointed meekly to the mahogany door across the room.

“Thank you.”

The workers scrambled out of Jeff’s way and let him pass, too frightened to do anything else. Jeff strolled calmly up to the door, grabbed the doorknob with his right hand, and proceeded to rip the door off its hinges violently.

Ness took his gaze off Professor Andonuts and turned to see his best friend standing in what was left of the doorframe, with an innocent looking smile on his face.

“Hello, unc.” Jeff said those words in a very clear, condescending tone. “I hope I’m interrupting something.”

The aging researcher rose from his seat and slammed the computer screen down. “I am not your uncle,” he replied sternly. “Now get out of my nephew.”

Jeff’s smile actually broadened. “I don’t think you should talk to your own flesh and blood like that...” He took a step forward, and the other two people in the room winced, eliciting a chuckle from the blonde young man. “Now, now…you don’t think I’m going to hurt you, do you?”

Ness placed his cap back on his head. “Jeff, listen to me,” he pleaded. “We know what’s going on. You’ve gotta fight it, okay? We’re here for you.”

Jeff took a few steps forward. The smile did not fade from his face. “Why, thank you, Ness,” he said. “I appreciate the sentiment…”

As he said those last words he reached Ness, and with a quick burst of movement he grabbed Ness by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up.

“Too bad that sentiment’s what’s going to get you killed.”

With a heave Ness was thrown into the bookshelf, knocking most of the books to the floor and shaking the very foundations of the circular room. Then, without even changing the expression on his face, Jeff strolled up to the other door, the one that was kept closed by all manner of security countermeasures.

Jeff rapped on the door with his knuckles tentatively, oblivious to the struggling teenager behind him and the feeble old man fiddling with a locked drawer in his desk. He reared his fist back slowly, ready to smash the door open, when he heard a very audible click from the desk.

“Step away from that door.” Andonuts held a small pistol in his trembling hand and pointed it threateningly at Jeff. The weapon did little to impress him.

“You don’t have the guts to shoot me,” said the possessed boy. “You’re too afraid of doing any real damage.”

The researcher shook his head, and tightened the grip on his gun resolutely. “You may look and talk like my nephew, but I know far better.”

“I know.” Jeff took a step back. “Why do you think I entered this weak, pathetic body in the first place? I knew I’d be able to get close to you like this.”

Apparently he had hit a nerve, for Andonuts recoiled, and he dropped his arm slightly. He smiled. “What’s the matter? Is the mindless, violent force of sheer destruction acting too intelligently for you?”

With those words Jeff shot his fist forward and slammed it into the door, blowing clear off its hinges and well into the next room. He was about to enter when a loud bang resonated through the air. Jeff suddenly found it hard to move; upon closer inspection he felt a sharp, stinging pain in his leg where Professor Andonuts had shot him.

Jeff’s eyes flashed red and widened. “You…actually shot me. You shot your own nephew…”

Andonuts switched the gun to his other hand. “You are not my nephew.”

The two stood there, silent, for a long time. It was only the sound of Ness coming to that broke the stalemate. When the boy came to, still dizzy, and saw the situation laid out before him, he nearly fell unconscious again.

“What’s…going on here?”

The momentary lapse that Ness’ words caused in Andonuts’ attention was all Jeff needed. He took off running, injured leg and all, down the hallway behind the now-ripped door.

Andonuts cursed. “Ness! Do not let him reach the next room!”

Ness was startled, but he accepted the order and took off in pursuit of his best friend.

The blonde had a head start on him, but Jeff’s injured leg barred him from running too fast, even with the augmented physical prowess that his possession offered him. Ness was gaining on him with each stride, his quick, nimble footsteps barely resonating within the small, cramped, metal corridor, whereas Jeff’s leg thumped clumsily against the floor.

That didn’t matter, though; he was able to reach the door on the other end of the hallway before Ness could stop him. With a gut-wrenching heave the metal door was ripped off its hinges and cast aside, leaving Jeff to contemplate what was on the other side. A wicked smile crossed his face, and for a moment the whole world melted away. He took a few steps inside.

Hundreds of stone tablets and papyri hung from the walls of the room. There were two catwalks, one above the other, circling its perimeter, with metal ladders to connect them to the floor and to each other, obviously put there to facilitate the observation of the items stored there. The artifacts that were neither tablet nor papyrus were placed on podiums that littered the floor, each with a plaque explaining the artifact’s nature and purpose.

All of that was unimportant to Jeff, who had already spotted what he was really looking for.

The green stone glowed eerily inside its glass casing in the center of the room. It was exhibited much like a museum piece, placed on a red carpet and surrounded by a barrier. There was no plaque to describe it or the tablet in which it was incrusted.

Jeff cast the barrier aside easily and smashed the protective glass casing open with his hand, spraying crystal shards everywhere. The world was still on hold for him, and when he reached out to touch the stone he didn’t even notice an invisible force grabbing him from behind and slamming him against the wall.

Ness held his outstretched hand in front of him, his palm trained on Jeff. A bead of sweat was running down the left side of his face.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Jeff…just stop it right now.”

Jeff rose from the floor and stared at Ness evilly. His head was cocked to the side, and he looked confident as he strode towards his old target once more. “You won’t hurt me,“ he said. “After all, I’m your best friend.”

Ness’ brow furrowed. “Sometimes I’m not so sure.”

The blonde lunged and reached for Ness’ neck, but Ness deflected his body with a blast of psychokinetic energy and smashed him into the far wall, breaking several of the stone tablets hanging there. Jeff rose once more, apparently nonplussed.

“You’ll have to do better than that.”

Jeff got down on all fours and rushed at Ness like some sort of animal. He was moving too fast for Ness to stop him this time, though, and soon the possessed boy was on him. He pounced on Ness and drove him into the floor, clawing mercilessly at Ness’ face. The latter was too dazzled and feeling too much pain to muster up enough concentration to blast his opponent psychically, and he struggled to swat Jeff’s hands away, with little success. Eventually he was able to knee Jeff in the stomach, and he took advantage of the window that gave him by punching Jeff in the jaw and throwing him off his body. The two teens rose again, bloodied and bruised; Ness’ cap had been thrown off during the scuffle, and his left eye was covered in the blood from a wound in his forehead. Jeff, on the other hand, remained on all fours, close to the floor. His eyes were an even deeper shade of crimson than the blood that flowed from his mouth.

Ness tried to speak again, to reason with Jeff, but the other youth never gave him the chance; he grabbed a stone tablet from the floor and hurled it at Ness. While Ness swatted the stone away with his mind Jeff lunged once more. However, Ness was ready this time, and he purposely threw himself backwards and blasted Jeff once more as he soared overhead. The other boy flew towards a wall, but he recovered in mid-air and was able to land on it, using it as a platform to lunge again. He succeeded in hitting Ness this time, and they both skidded across the floor, with Jeff on top. His bony fingers closed around Ness’ neck and began squeezing. Ness, in turn, could only struggle helplessly as he felt the world around him fade slowly. The two staid there for several seconds.

Then, for some reason, a droplet of water fell on Ness’ cheek. In oxygen-less stupor, Ness looked up to see tears flowing from Jeff’s eyes.

“Ness…kill me…please, kill me…”

Jeff’s grip loosened, and Ness breathed in deep to try and get more oxygen in his system. Despite his near strangulation he was still able to whisper a soft, “Jeff…”

Jeff wept softly. “I can’t…do this, man…you have to kill me, before I kill you…”

Ness gasped for more air. “It’s okay, Jeff…I’ll help you, I swear…”

“No one can help me.” Another tear fell, this time on Ness’ bruised eye. “They’re all gone…my family’s dead…I can’t do this…”

Ness’s breathing was almost back to normal by now. “Jeff…no…”

“Just kill me!!” Jeff’s grip suddenly became strong again, and Ness’ eyes bulged. He reached out and, in a last ditch effort, grabbed Jeff’s face and pushed it away. To his surprise, there was a soft sizzling sound, and tendrils of smoke appeared on the spots where Ness’ hand made contact with Jeff’s flesh. The latter pulled away and covered his face with his hands, screaming in agony. Ness scrambled away, terrified, and watched his friend squirming, heard his painful wails.

Ness’ breathing was ragged by now, but his resolve had never been stronger. He ran back up to Jeff and grabbed his face with both hands, eliciting a piercing shriek from the blonde. The screams only made his grip tighter and tighter, until it looked like Ness was smothering the other boy.

While his hands were on Jeff’s face, Ness sent several ripples of psychic energy into Jeff’s body in an attempt to probe Jeff’s mind for the Giygas inside him. He managed to find an unwelcome presence with great difficulty, but another psychic ripple ripped it from its place in Jeff’s mind and eliminated it.

Once the deed was done, both teens fell to the floor. Ness stood again, but only barely.

Wordlessly Ness looked around. The room was in shambles; countless priceless artifacts had been permanently and irreparably damaged, and the glass casing housing the tablet with the green stone on it was almost gone.

The stone…

For some reason Ness felt immediately drawn to it since the moment he laid eyes on it. Jeff had been after it too, but now Ness felt like he at least had to touch it, even if only for a moment…

Professor Andonuts limped into the room just in time to see Ness’ hand close around the stone. He feebly held out a hand to stop him. “Ness! No!”

It was too late. At the very moment Ness grasped the stone, everything went black.