Hero's Resolve: Part I of III
by Ninten1

A girl stands before her father’s grave. This girl's father died nearly five years ago, several months before the girl was ever born. Although she is young, she understands her father's importance, not only to her, but also to the entire world. Her father was a hero; a man of courage, wisdom, and friendship. This is the story of his final trial and how he, for the second time, saved Earth.
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Paula could see her three friends slowly approach the giant cylinder of metal that protruded from the center of Saturn Valley. As she stood and watched from the distance she couldn't help but think how precious the last four years had been.

Four years of peace separated the last fight with Giygas and this one she was about to witness. He had returned as Pokey promised. In response, the four heroes were stronger than ever.

Ness' PSI took a powerful turn. His Hypnosis gamma could put his enemies into a seemingly endless coma, and his Paralysis gamma left his target diamondized.

Jeff, with the help of his father, created a myriad of new inventions, including an impressive arsenal of weapons that improved upon his Gaia beam and heavy bazooka.

Poo's focus on teleportation revealed the gamma variation, which allowed him to teleport wherever he wished without any motion whatsoever and despite his surroundings. He also developed the powerful single blast forms of Starstorm, which he named Beta and Gamma.

And finally, Paula began fusing her elemental PSI to form new techniques. PSI Burst released a powerful blast of steam after combining Fire and Freeze; PSI Plasma fired a wave of extreme heat and electricity after combining Freeze and Thunder; and PSI Ray combined Thunder and Fire to form a concentrated beam of raw energy. Her telepathy also developed faster than ever before. She could now read old thoughts that still resonated within an area and was able to envision the past as it happened based upon the thoughts she intercepted.

So there they were, many levels stronger than before when they first met Giygas. Paula stood in the distance trying to read Giygas while Ness, Jeff, and Poo continued their slow approach. The space vessel crashed in the center of Saturn Valley earlier that morning. It killed many of the small villagers in the process, but there was no time to mourn.

Paula noticed the three stop and read that they heard a noise from within the vessel. She could sense their bodies tensing, preparing to attack. Then, she saw a door slide open, seconds before it did.

"Here he comes." she warned them telepathically. She instantly regretted doing so.

Poo leaped into the air towards the open door, provoked by Paula's warning, Sword of Kings in hand. He slashed, but hit a powerful shield that violently deflected him away. He landed with a thud at Paula's feet. Paula drew her attention to her friend, but instantly sensed her other friends were in danger. Their attention too had been diverted leaving an opening for Giygas' attack. They turned back to the vessel as an enormous wave of red light erupted and consumed them.

There was a massive explosion and Paula sensed no more thought other than the chaotic nonsense that was Giygas. Enraged, she raised her hands and began conjuring her PSI, but Poo grabbed her wrist and looked into her eyes. For a moment, she sensed extreme guilt within Poo's mind and let her PSI fade. Poo turned to face the spreading cloud of dust as he and Paula faded away; Teleport gamma.
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Paula woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. She had the same vision every night. Not sleeping was her only escape, but being awake wasn't much help either.

She stepped into the main lab and found Dr. Andonuts and Poo staring at a monitor. They were discussing going to Eagleland and this piqued Paula's interest.

"How can we get to Eagleland?" she asked.

Slightly startled, Poo turned to her. "The cloud seems to have faded. By tomorrow, it should all be gone, even over Saturn Valley."

"I'll go get ready." Paula said, sensing that Poo wished to go search the area.

Several minutes later, Paula and Poo were in Twoson. Paula hadn't been there in over a year. She tried not to concentrate on anything in particular as Poo explained that he'd be searching Onett and that he'd return for her in twenty minutes.

All the while he talked, Paula felt his guilt, the same guilt she felt whenever she saw him in her nightmare. She reminded herself, no matter how hard it was, that the nightmare was real and seeing Twoson helped her in remembering.

The town was a wasteland. Many of the houses were leveled; the streets were littered with trash, wrecked cars, and old corpses. The corpses in particular were a painful reminder to Paula. It wasn't that she knew them before they died; it was that their memories and thoughts remained with them and Paula had no control over them as they entered her mind. All of them were the same; scared and confused.

She staggered around her old hometown, trying to concentrate on her breath and not the hundreds of people screaming in her mind. She slowly found her way to her house. She knew that she shouldn't go in, but something beckoned her to enter. She felt it was like picking a scab; it hurts and it won't heal that way, but you still do it, and you even come to enjoy it.

There was silence for a few moments as she entered the Polestar Preschool. The other voices left her, but she began to hear whispers. They were of the children that her mother taught. Many of them were wishing that Paula was there with them, that she would save them like she had before. A lone tear fell down Paula's cheek as she walked into the living room.

There, she heard a woman sobbing. Eventually, a man joined in with her. She could feel him trying to hold his sadness and fear back, but he couldn't. He was never very brave. Paula quickly left the room, and the house, preferring to hear the screams of the people of Twoson rather than the children and her parents anymore.

She didn't get far from her house before she fell to her knees and began crying. It was too much for her. She lost Ness, Jeff, her family, and all of Eagleland one year ago to Giygas who still remained in Saturn Valley hidden within his violent cloud of dust. Now that it was fading she was finally going to receive the opportunity to exact her revenge, but she wondered if she was strong enough.

As she knelt there, crying, she felt a presence nearby. The voices began to fade away and she looked up and wiped her eyes. No one was there, but the voices had all gone. Still, she could feel a familiar presence; two in fact. She stood up and turned around. She let out a heartfelt gasp.

Standing before her on the road was Ness.

His clothes were ragged and torn, his hair was dirty and down to his shoulders. His skin was blackened in places and his eyes were hidden by his long bangs. His thoughts began pouring into Paula's mind, but she could not understand them.

They were nonsensical and chaotic,

like Giygas.'

Ness was trying to tell her something, he was purposely forcing his thoughts into Paula's mind, but she could not understand. They were the same as Giygas' thoughts; composed of many different sounds like static from a TV, massive car crashes, howling monkeys, children wailing, and guns firing. 'Chaos' was the single word that she could think of to describe it.

The whole time Ness' thoughts assaulted Paula's mind, he just stood there emotionless. His mouth was totally relaxed showing no mood or expression. Paula began to tremble, not sure what was happening.

An image brought on by Paula's advanced telepathy began projecting itself out of Ness. It appeared to be a deep red creature of some kind trying to pull itself free from Ness' body; specifically, his head. The creature struggled for a few moments before stopping to notice Paula, tears streaming down her cheeks.

The creature reached out with its red, jagged arms for her, but suddenly jerked back before disappearing completely. A second later, Ness vanished as well and Paula fell to the ground, emotionally exhausted.

As she hit the pavement of the road, Poo's presence was made known to her, and moments later, he appeared before her asking what happened.

"Just take me back to Winters." she said softly, hugging her knees.

Poo looked at her for a moment, his guilt once again filling her mind, then teleported them back to Winters.

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Poo tried to clear his mind and make sense of what Paula was saying. The thought of Ness being alive hit him hard for a number of reasons.

"Are you sure it wasn't an image created by your telepathy?" Poo asked. He wanted to believe Paula, but it seemed too impossible.

"I told you, I can discern from reality and my visions. He was real, but that...thing," Paula explained, "It was a projection."

"Then what does this mean?" Poo asked.

"Possession?" mused Andonuts.

Poo noticed that Paula seemed offended by this. "Ness is stronger than that."

"Don't underestimate Giygas." Andonuts quickly responded. After hearing his own words, he diverted his gaze to the cold floor of his lab, but Poo didn't notice. Andonuts spoke before he thought about how his words would affect Poo. A deep hatred for himself and his lack of self-discipline flared within Poo. The flare was soon followed by a calm, deep voice that didn't belong to him. It was the spirit of Mu guiding him from within.

After a short, awkward silence, Poo spoke. "He's right. It might be possible."

Paula sighed and looked about the room. Poo began wondering about Jeff and whether or not he was alive and under Giygas' control as well. He couldn't find the words to voice this question in a way that wouldn't upset Dr. Andonuts. He noticed then that Paula was looking at him, then to Dr. Andonuts.

Paula suddenly spoke. "He had no PSI to protect his mind to the point of possession.” she said softly. Poo realized this was true and silently thanked Paula for answering his question without continuing on about Jeff.

There was another awkward silence before Dr. Andonuts looked up and spoke. "So you believe it's a possibility?"

Poo could see Paula propose the idea in her head. Could Ness be alive and under Giygas' control? "I suppose it's possible." she relented.

"So what do we do?" Poo asked. He found himself getting excited, slowly forgetting his guilt.

"First," said Dr. Andonuts, "we find him."
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Dusty Dunes Desert, Paula had detected a brief flash of Giygas' chaos after several hours of telepathic searching. Poo teleported them there instantly.

"Remember," Poo said, "tell me as soon as you find him. We can't risk you breaking down again." Paula felt slightly insulted but brushed it off. She drew her focus to the massive fog of hot sand before her. Ness was in there somewhere.

The chaos pulsed in and out of her mind faintly as she raised a thin shield to protect her eyes from the sand. Poo did the same. He entered the storm at a much faster pace than Paula. She could sense his anxiety. It was slowly taking control of him. She could feel his heart pumping madly as his mind posed dozens of questions.

The constant chaos kept her from reaching further into Poo's mind. The pulsating thoughts of Ness, or rather Giygas Paula thought, grew stronger with each step until finally it was all she heard.

She shouted for Poo, not able to hear her own voice. She searched for his mind through the ever-growing chaos and found it. It was furious.

He was in the air. Paula spread her shield so that it created a window within the sand. Through it she saw, hundreds of feet in the air, an unstable mass of silvery light glowing in Poo's hands raised above his head; Starstorm beta.

Poo heaved the energy to the earth. It hurtled to the ground at several hundred miles per hour, almost instantly creating a massive explosion. Paula tightened her shield as sand blew past her. The sand disintegrated as it made contact with her shield and revealed a crater in the desert where the attack had landed. Inside was a figure shrouded in a cloud of sand.

Poo landed at the edge of the crater with his index fingers placed upon his forehead. "Brainshock!" he shouted. The figure in the crater suddenly recoiled violently and then stood still. Two minds were clashing.

The familiar chaos had been halved in volume as another voice began to emerge. Paula's knees buckled. It was Ness, the true Ness.

He wasn't scared, or confused. He was almost blind with rage and fury. Paula suddenly felt guilt, more than she had ever sensed from Poo. Ness was filled with it. It made his body tremble as well as Paula's. It was then that he spoke.

"Kill me."

Paula shuddered, as did Poo. "I can't." Poo said. "I won't..." He dropped his arms and the Brainshock dissipated. Ness' voice was silenced yet again by chaos as he leapt out of the crater towards Poo, bat drawn.

Poo met Ness' Gutsy Bat with his Sword of Kings and was driven back several feet by the encounter. Both of them, close friends, stood staring furiously at the other. Poo's mind was a complex mixture of emotions.

All of Poo's feelings became part of Paula. She felt extreme hatred, but she wasn't sure where it was directed. At times it felt as though the hate was more for Poo than it was for Giygas, and that lead yet again to the guilt. It was stronger than ever, but Paula couldn't help but remember the guilt she sensed in Ness. Compared to his, Poo's was nothing. She wondered what Ness had to feel so incredibly guilty for.

Ness and Poo traded hits, but it was obvious Poo was at a disadvantage. Each blow Ness landed echoed enormous pain throughout Poo's body. Poo stopped striking back and focused on deflecting the Gutsy Bat.

Each parried attack left Poo weaker and made Ness seemingly stronger. Poo could feel the fury of Giygas in Ness' attacks, but he saw the familiar compassion of his friend in Ness' eyes.

When the assault became too much for him to handle, Poo dropped his sword and raised a shield. The Gutsy Bat crashed down upon it not a second later resulting in a loud burst of static.

Paula looked on as Poo's shield steadily grew weaker. She was an emotional wreck. Her only "escape" was to concentrate on either Ness or Poo's minds, neither of which offered much console. Ness' chaos was just a reminder of what she was doing, crying in the desert whereas Poo's overwhelming conflict left her mentally exhausted.

"I wish I was dead too." she whispered to herself. She felt the world's noise drowning out as her eyes became heavy. Just as she was about to lose consciousness she heard the shattering of energy. Poo's shield had been breached, but Paula sensed a sudden calmness.

She opened her eyes and saw Poo with his fingers to his head once again. He prevented Ness' attack again with Brainshock. Ness' voice was once again in Paula's mind.

As Ness stood dumfounded, bat still raised high above his head ready to strike, he began talking again. "You have to kill me. It's the only way."

"Ness!" Poo shouted through bated breath and the powerful sandstorm. "We're going to save you!"

"There's no time, Poo!" Ness shouted back. "When the cloud subsides completely, Giygas will kill you all! Kill me now and you'll halve his power!"

Poo was silent.

The howling of sand was a mere backdrop to the static of chaos, cries of guilt, and the intense desperation both Ness and Poo felt, all of which were splitting Paula's mind in two. She felt there was no escape as she lied there in torture. She closed her stinging eyes and saw Giygas. She was remembering their first fight with Giygas.

She was scared then too, filled with her own desperation. As she saw it in her mind, she unconsciously clasped her hands together and prayed along with her memory.

To her surprise, the wailing emotions began to subside, at least in her mind, and all that remained was a soft, comforting voice. It sang a song she had only heard once before, a song that she found deep within Ness' mind several years ago.

As the final note was sung, she opened her eyes. The storm had subsided, Poo was on his knees gasping for air,

and Ness was on his back, not moving.

Paula, renewed with energy, rushed over to Ness, sensing that Poo wasn't badly injured.

She pushed Ness' long bangs aside to see his closed eyes. There was no chaos, but peace, at least for the moment. Ness was alive and rid of Giygas' influence.

"Let's take him back home." Poo said with a groan as he forced himself to his feet. Paula silently nodded without drawing her gaze away from Ness. Poo lightly rested his hand on Paula's shoulder and the three were gone; Teleport gamma.

End, Part I
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