CHAPTER 5 -- An Encounter

	There was a feeling in the air of some sort of news-worthy event occurring in Alphed. People were sticking their heads out of windows or occupying their front porches to try and get a good view of the action, but the suburbs were too far removed from the school to shed any light on the horrendous noise that had awakened the neighborhood. The mumbling clouds above were glowing white from an unknown source further in town, and that was about all anyone could figure out. No one person in particular went to investigate, as sleep still fogged the collective consciousness and conversations between neighbors remained at whispers. People watched with dazed expressions as a teenager in a black shirt and beanie ran past at full tilt, breaking the muffled silence. Most of the suburb dwellers decided that tomorrow they would just watch what had occurred on TV and shuffled back to their respective beds.

	Dustin skidded to a halt and looked around at the unlit suburbia. An uneasy feeling had come over him suddenly, but after scanning his surroundings there was nothing unusual in sight. Turning slightly, a nondescript form huddled close to the ground caught his eye. It was that rancorous dog, the one that was usually barking it's head off at him on his way home from school. The mutt was far from it's usual self, scrunched up against the fencepost it was chained to, whimpering softly and shaking from tail to muzzle. Something about seeing it looking so pathetic hit Dustin with a shot of sympathy, and he bent down to murmur at it, "Now now, it's ok little guy, there's nothing to be afraid of."

	It looked up at him slightly and addressed him with big watery eyes. There was something that was freaking the dog out to no end, and the logical assumption was that it had to do with the recent noise. Dustin was reminded of how animals will typically be the first to know when a tornado or thunderstorm is about to hit, well before humans expect. 'What disaster is gonna hit this time, little fella?' he thought, reaching out to pet the dog in an attempt to calm it down.

	The dog froze suddenly, its ears back and down. A malicious glint entered it's eyes, and Dustin pulled away in surprise. It let out a growl that rattled like a saw on granite, then barked viciously at him. 'What the-?!' What had he done to make it angry? Without any warning, the dog snapped and lunged at Dustin with it's muzzle agape. He barely dove backwards in time to avoid the strike, and the chain cracking to it's full length on the dog's neck barely stopped the maddened dog from tearing into him. If the beast was any bigger, Dustin would have been seriously fearing for his life. It barked and thrashed in it's attempt to get to him, but the metal chain stopped it fast. Getting past his initial shock, Dustin hastily got to his feet and ran, heart racing.

	The streets of Alphed were eerily devoid of life at this hour of night, there were no cars on the road and scant few parked along it's side. Dustin kept on running until he reached the corner bakery, where he stopped to catch his breath. The only sounds accompanying his sprint was his own footsteps, the buzzing of the streetlights above him, and vague, afar-off sounds coming from the school. They spurred him on as he started to wonder why he had even bothered to come outside. 'Something really weird is going on, and I have to know what it is.' His short sprint had taken a lot out of him since he was unused to this kind of exertion, so almost a minute later he was still breathing heavily. The shops and stores lining the street were all dark, shadows looming large on their inner walls. Shaking off his fatigue and lingering nervousness, Dustin stood up and looked down the long street to the school.

	He was afforded a better view from this angle, but it was not enough to let him know exactly what was going on. He could clearly see that some sort of light was pointing nearly straight up into the sky, as if from multiple flood lights, but this had dimmed since when he'd first observed it from his window. It looked like there were other lights shedding an orange glow on the street and parking lot adjacent to the school. Dustin blinked, 'Fire?' he thought, dropping into a run once again. His curiosity was too piqued to turn back now.

	Minutes later he stood on the sidewalk facing the school. Or, at least, what was left of it.

	He stood before a collection of girders and bricks pointing upward at crazy angles amidst a field of stone and rubble. Fire was indeed burning at odd intervals, in a stack of computer paper or what remained of a teacher's desk. The smell of grit and gas was prominent, causing Dustin to wrinkle his nose and nearly sneeze. The dust from the destruction was still floating heavily amidst the wreckage, causing the prominent rays of light to be even more noticeable. They sat a distance away from him, toward the back of the school.

	His mind raced to try and think if any people would still be at the school this late. A teacher, perhaps, or a maintenance worker? If there was anyone still alive, then they would need help. Sirens had started blaring somewhere a few streets away, but from the sound of it the fire engines and emergency crews wouldn't arrive for another few minutes. Without another thought, Dustin jumped over an errant slab of masonry and made his way into the wreckage.

-----

	Starman B-7794 scanned the area of Sanctuary-0291 for signs of life. Advanced machinery pulsated and whirled inside of it's silver metallic frame as it carried out its orders with robotic efficiency.

	"No signs of life." it reported, and his Captain's voice crackled in his aural receptors,

	"Excellent. Deploy the Guardian and return to base."

	More machinery clicked inside the Starman as a square section on it's chest lifted away to reveal a small compartment. It reached in and removed a golden, crystalline ball from the web of wires strung through it's insides. The ball was hollow, but its contents were difficult to define, seeming to exist somewhere between white smoke and a burning liquid. The Starman carefully moved the crystal with one tentacle like arm so that it was positioned just before the entrance to the vale.

	Once activated, the crystal began to glow softly and support itself in midair when the Starman released it. It would remain so until the proximity of Sanctuary-0291 was breached, at which time the Guardian would deploy and eliminate the intruders. It was a strategy that should have worked during the War of Giygas, but the Chosen One was still able to defeat the previous Guardians and gain access to the Sanctuaries. As part of Precaution, a new batch of Guardians had been bred that were far enhanced past the abilities of the original Guardians. Statistically, if and when a new Chosen One appeared, he would stand no chance.

	His duties fulfilled, the Starman turned on a heel and made his way back from whence he had came. It was a few moments after that when Celeste remembered how to breathe.

-----

	Smoke assaulted Dustin's eyes the moment he stepped into the ruined school building. He coughed as the thick smog burned in his eyes and caught in his throat, causing him to throw an arm across his nose and mouth. Cracks riddled the linoleum beneath him, and large chunks of what had been the front door and offices were riddling the path before him. Still trying not to breathe too deeply, he forged on ahead and came out of the thickest part of the smoke to what had once been a hallway full of lockers. There were little personal knick-knacks everywhere, music players and tissue boxes and schoolbooks and papers, all spread haphazard before him. Dustin stopped and looked around, trying to listen for any people that might be nearby. Only the steady crackle of a nearby fire and the occasionally crumbling piece of masonry answered him.

	Seeing that one of the classroom doors was still standing, Dustin approached it and turned the handle, only to see the entire thing fall flat in front of him. "So much for that." he winced, stepping over the door and into the room. It had escaped a lot of whatever had decimated the main area, so a few desks were still upright and most of the windows had not been smashed. The room was empty.

	Running to the room across the hall yielded a similar sight; aside from a long, jagged rend in the far wall that looked out onto the side parking lot and playground, nothing stood out of the ordinary. 'What could possibly have caused this much damage?' he thought, returning to the hall and wading through the sea of junk. A sudden clattering from the gymnasium echoed out to him, and it was a few moments of struggling before Dustin had made it far enough to climb over a pile of ruined brick and through the double doors.

	What he saw inside was more than half of the tall metal roof caved in, with barely a quarter of lacquered floor still visible. A faint noise came to him from just ahead, and Dustin dodged around a fallen rafter to pursue it. He looked around, having lost the sound, when a feeble cough sounded from somewhere near his feet. Looking down in horror, Dustin saw a man in a blue jumpsuit trapped beneath a gigantic slab of metal roofing with only his left arm, upper body, and head still visible.

	'Maintenance.' was Dustin's first thought as he grimly knelt beside the wounded man. The piece of roofing was massive, and there was no way that Dustin would be lifting it off by himself, and probably not even if he had help. Feeling helpless, all he could do was grip the maintenance worker's gritty hand and feel a tiny grip in response. The man's eyes opened, watery blue, and fixed Dustin with an unfocused stare. He began to babble, obviously delirious, and Dustin was forced to kneel there and listen to him.

	"Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own two-" here he spasmed with a fit of coughing then winced and continued, "-with my own two eyes. All I was doing was sweeping off the gym floor, aghh... last thing I had to do for the night, wouldn't you know. There was a sound I thought what was an airplane flying overhead, paid it no heed. But the sound kept gettin' louder and louder until I didn't know what was going on. Suddenly I knew I was in real danger, so I started to run... but then the meteor crashed straight through the top there and buried itself toward the back of the building, fair as I can tell. Blast my luck I was still alive when I came to, moments later, but this little piece of roof had pinned me down." A weak smile crossed the man's face.

	Something about the man's words flicked a switch in Dustin's mind. 'A meteor? He says a meteor hit the school.' he thought, gripping the worker's hand tighter, saying, "Listen, I'm going to go get some help and you're going to be all right. I just need you-"

	"Then I heard another noise." said the helpless man, a strained tone entering his voice. He talked as if Dustin had not spoken, as if he weren't even there but what he had to say must be said before his death. "It sounded like footsteps, but it was all wrong. All wrong. The footsteps stopped, and when I looked I saw a monster. I wish I had been hallucinating, but there was- there was no doubt that I saw what I saw. It had three eyes, and was walking on all these tentacles when it came. I was terrified, it was all I could do to play dead and hope it didn't see me. It spoke, but the words were all jumbled. Too many consonants, or something. Ohh, there's no time. It's all happening again!" The man gave a hacking cough that caused a trickle of blood to stream from his mouth. Dustin sprang forward to try and lift the slab even a fraction to let the man breathe. It was useless.

	Panting heavily, starting to feel a sense of foreboding, Dustin thought to ask, "What's happening again? What are you talking about?"

	The maintenance worker seemed to notice Dustin for the first time, and his eyes bugged nearly out of their sockets as he whispered with an intensity that could not have been matched if he had screamed at the top of his lungs,

	"Giygas. Just like four years ago. The aliens have returned."

	A chill swept down Dustin's spine, and he stood up out of reflex. Before he could think or act, a metallic sound echoed out of the hallway. Then again, and again. Footsteps.

	Suddenly afraid, Dustin looked back down at the man, who had passed out. The steps rang out with an unnatural clatter, like that of machinery, and they were moving closer to him down the main hallway. A quick look around told Dustin that there were no other exits, and he wasn't about to press his luck by climbing up onto the remains of the roof. Suddenly the footsteps stopped, and Dustin thought that he heard the subtle whir of a computer just past the gym wall.

	Right when he thought that he was safe, the air a few yards in front of him shimmered, and a tall silvery shape materialized. Dustin blinked once or twice in case his eyes were being fooled, or if he was dead and this was a dream, or anything to explain what he was seeing. His first thought was that is was a man in some kind of futuristic spacesuit, but the exterior of the suit was one solid silver color, no breaks or joints. In fact the only features it had were those of a reflective strip where eyes would be, and markings resembling a badge on it's chest.

	It stood regarding him silently, it's slender hands resting on it's hips. Clicks and whirrs emitted from it, belying the machinery that must have been powering it. 'A robot?' thought Dustin incredulously, but this was like no robot he had ever seen before.

-----

	Their feet pounded the rocky tunnel floor as the pair of heroes rushed for the exit. Jeff's weapons were jostling against each other with clicks and clacks that accompanied their loud footfalls and heavy, masked breathing. Ness followed close behind, trying to escape the feeling of malevolence that filled the tunnel and crawled under his skin. Moment by moment a sinister presence was inexplicably welling up in the cave beneath them that caused them both to try and increase their speed up the incline. When they finally came through the crack into the main dig site, both heroes were nearly exhausted with fright.

	Knowing that every second counted in their escape, they ran to the elevator and slammed the mesh door shut. Jeff pounded the button and it sprang into motion, leaving the abandoned dig below them in a matter of seconds.

	They both slid to the ground and panted for air, trying to recover in the moment of rest the elevator afforded. Ness had to gasp a few times before he was able to say, "That signal, who do you think it was sent to?"

	"Or what." replied Jeff cryptically. He wiped the sweat from his brow before answering fully, "Since it was the Devil's Machine that sent it, we can only assume the worst. Perhaps Giygas had countermeasures for if it was ever defeated, and we've mistakenly activated them. Or maybe it kept a stock of monsters hidden away somewhere which the signal activated. It's impossible to know fully until we get back to the lab."

	The possibilities were endless, and endlessly chilling. As they sat in the rapidly ascending elevator, cities could be under attack, people could be in danger, Giygas could already be extending it's corrupting influence over the world. 'Is it really possible? He's returned, and I've never felt more powerless.' When imagining rounding up the other two of the Chosen Four to fight Giygas yet again, Ness felt an almost physical pain. He doubted that even he would be able to find the courage for another war.

	Light was growing in the tunnel, and Ness straightened up quickly. They would have to teleport as soon as possible once they reached the top, so Ness cleared his mind and readied the teleportation. When the elevator slowed and finally came to a stop, both Jeff and Ness found that the dig site was no longer unpopulated. Row upon row of silver and gold bodies stood between them and freedom.

	Jeff muffled a shocked curse and whipped his hand to a weapon at his side. At least thirty Starmen were clustered near the hole, the typical silver type interspersed with the upgraded Starman Supers. The clicking and whirring of all their machinery combined resembled the sound of a swarm of devouring insects.

	Ness' mind raced for how best to deal with all of these enemies. 'How did they even get here? I haven't seen a single Starman for the past four years and now this many show up all at once?' His brain was working as fast as his heart was beating, thudding painfully in his chest, but the thoughts were just hitting brick walls of panic. Escape was out of the question, with a deep pit behind them and a mass of enemies before them. 'Fight or flight.' thought Ness grimly.

	Mere seconds had passed since the two of them had stepped from the elevator, and none of the Starmen had yet moved. All it took for the two heroes to know their plan was a brief meeting of eyes. Just like on their journey, the two could synchronize their attacks for the maximum effectiveness without having to speak a single word; after enough battles it had become like a reflex. The message passed between them in a moment, and Jeff pulled a gun with a pair of antennae mounted on the muzzle off his back and into his hands. In the same instant, Ness gathered his mental energy for a long overdue flexing of his psychic muscle.

	'One blast is all it will take.' he thought, feeling the power build up inside. It flowed until he felt like a miniature sun for all of the heat and light radiating from him. As the two heroes readied their assault, the Starmen at the front line stepped back slightly in fear, seeming to reconsider whether a full frontal attack was the best option. A devilish grin split Ness' face as he raised one arm to point at the horde. A click came from Jeff's gun, and a thick spark of energy pulsed between the antennae. As if he were on top of a steep hill standing behind a colossal boulder, Ness pushed against the throbbing mass of energy in his mind to discharge it in a devastating wave.

	Then, suddenly, as if a great metal sluice had crashed down between him and his reservoir of psychic power, the energy was gone. The sudden severance felt as if an arm had been chopped off; something that was a deeply rooted part of his psyche had been completely cut off from him in an instant. The hollowness in his mind rang like a tuning fork.

	Astonished, Ness' power clouded vision snapped into focus. He saw a lone Starman that had teleported right in front of him and was standing with it's arm's outstretched. He became aware of something coldly metallic encircling his head, and in that moment he understood. Horror filled his mind where power had once resided.

	"Ness!!" shouted Jeff, leveling the Gaia Beam and discharging it at the single Starman. The effect was instantaneous, and the silver robot was blown to smithereens in the wake of a bolt of pure energy. As if this were the cue, the rest of the Starman began their advance. "Ness, what happened?! Ness!!"

	Jeff's voice became further and further away as the Chosen One felt himself falling down, down, down through the ground, and up into the sky.

-----

	The silvery space being standing before Dustin had not moved from it's perch on top of a ruined tangle of metal and stone. Dustin tried to fathom how it had come to be here in his little backwoods town, where the most interesting occurrences ranged from so-and-so's marriage to whats-his-face's new car purchase. Invasions by sentient robots was definitely low on the list of uncommon events.

	"Greetings life form." said the Starman in a monotone. Dustin was at a loss as to what kind of response that prompted. "You will not be harmed at this time, you will be collected as a specimen for the glory of Lord Giygas." Hearing the name come from this unknown being confirmed the dying workman's words, and Dustin felt himself shiver with the realization. This was obviously a servant under the command of the Universal Cosmic Destroyer. Dustin slowly started to back away toward the exit, since all he wanted to do was get out of this maddeningly surreal situation. Maybe he would just wake up in his bed, and the school would still be in one piece, and he wouldn't be being threatened by a silver spaceman.

	Said spaceman remained unmoved. "If you attempt to resist, there will be no question of your immediate termination." it said in a dead monotone.

	Dustin froze, and suddenly remembered the weight settled in the back pocket of his jeans. His eyes flicked unconsciously to where his weapon rested. 'My knife... would it really work on this thing?' Seeing the Starman still standing as if waiting to see Dustin's reaction, he knew that he had little chance of escaping it. It had just teleported straight through a solid wall, after all. Determination set into Dustin's eyes as he dropped his hands to his sides. 'Whatever happens, I have to try and fight this thing.'

	"Alright, I give up. Just... don't hurt me, please." He tried his best to sound pathetic, but his stubborn will made it difficult to simper at a machine. The point got across, as after a few beeps and clicks the spaceman started walking toward him. It moved with a fluid, measured pace, it's construction masking any machinery moving under the surface. 'The technology is so advanced, where did this thing come from?'

	It's steps brought it within five steps of where Dustin stood, moving at the same methodic pace over the rubble. When it reached that point, after shooting a desperate prayer to whomever was listening, he dropped into a crouch, whipped the butterfly knife out of his pocket and exposed the blade in one swift motion. In the next moment, he sprang directly at his enemy. As the robot was in midstep, it was too slow to react as Dustin came at it and slashed directly across it's chest. He felt the blade cut into the thing's metal skin, and when the blow was finished it was left with a gaping tear that flashed with sparks and electricity.

	From nowhere, a force blasted Dustin back, and he was barely able to keep his feet. A bubble of nearly transparent energy had surrounded the robot, which staggered briefly from it's wound. It's right arm hung limp at it's side, disabled, and sparks continued to jump from the exposed circuitry. "Now you will die, human." it said dispassionately, removing the shield and raising it's fully functional left arm. A beam of white light shot out and tore through the air straight at Dustin.

	Without thinking, on pure reflex, Dustin's mind cleared as suddenly as if a light had turned on in a dark room, as if a raindrop had caused a ripple in a placid mountain lake. He moved his free hand in a sweep toward the beam, and with a flash the deadly ray reflected itself to crash into the wall with a brief explosion. If a robot could show astonishment, then the spaceman's sudden backstep and frenzied internal whirring belied it.

	His mind still transparently clear, Dustin moved his hand again. This time, the massive slab of stone and metal pinning the worker to the ground lifted as quietly and easily as if it weighed no more than a pencil. Or a salt shaker.

	"Impossible." the robot intoned, attempting to activate it's teleporter to escape. With one final gesture, Dustin sent the slab flying through the air like a bullet. The robot was blasted off it's feet and crushed against the floor in a shower of sparks and shrapnel as the broken piece of masonry skidded to a heavy halt.

	Moments passed before even a blip of thought swept through Dustin's mind. He blinked, then lowered his arms to find he was shaking from head to toe. Having come within a hairsbreadth of death caused him to fall suddenly on his knees. 'What did I just do?' he asked himself, running the events of the past few moments through his head. 
It felt like remembering a scene from a movie more than recalling something he had been directly involved in. 'I moved it myself? But... how?'

	While the pendulum of Dustin swung back and forth between disbelief and a numb sort of awe, a sound was rising from somewhere beneath the school. It's muffled tone was indistinguishable at first, but after a few repetitions revealed itself as the low wailing of a siren. Dustin was in too much shock to take notice of it, until a much more immediate sound broke him from his reverie. Metallic footsteps. Hundreds of them.

	A Starman that to all appearances was exactly the same make as his previous opponent teleported into view at the other end of the room, like it had stepped straight through the wall. The furious whizzing and crackling of it's insides reached Dustin all the way across the gym. "Intruder has felled Starman B-7781. Eliminate. Eliminate." it buzzed, starting to move forward.

	Dustin willed his body to move, to stand and face his new opponent, but his body felt drained of all willpower. So he sat mutely on the floor and watched the robot approaching him. To his faint surprise, another spaceman stepped through the far wall and began it's advance. It was followed by another. And another.

	In a matter of moments a crowd of robots was advancing on Dustin, their whirring and clicking playing a miniature melody of impending doom. 'Looks like this is it.' thought Dustin, who had somehow found the strength to rise to his feet. The foremost robot lifted its arm and readied to fire. Dustin flinched to brace against the pain by closing his eyes tightly shut.

	A deafening crack filled the room with sound that shook the floor at Dustin's feet. There was a frenzied series of alarmed robotic outcries, followed immediately the hideous noise of a tin can being torn completely in two. In the next few seconds there was only clash after rending clash, underscored by sharp fizzes and pops, and what sounded like the air itself being cut to ribbons. Dustin ventured to open his eyes just a crack, and saw a space robot's torso completely separate from it's lower body in a spray of sparks and wires. Something flashed briefly from behind it, obviously that which had wreaked the damage. Dustin opened his eyes fully to try and see what it was.

	Standing in the midst of a graveyard of scrap metal and sparks was a bronzed god whose hair was pulled back into a tight black tail. A black and silver cloak billowed as his body finally came to rest, and the instrument of destruction, a shining sword, rested easily in one hand. He flipped it to point down, then slid it into its sheath with a clean snap. The warrior walked past the wreckage to stand before a dazed and confused Dustin.
	"So you're him." he said, and his voice was silk. Dustin had to blink in total disbelief, as this man had come out of nowhere and completely decimated at least fifteen deadly robots without so much as breaking a sweat. At a loss for words, the boy merely stood and looked up at the older man blankly. He was obviously foreign, with slightly slanted eyes, tan skin, and raven black hair. Even his clothes were exotic, a silver and black vest lay open on his chest, while baggy white leggings and black slippers covered his lower half.
	"I believe that thanks are in order, since I have just saved your life." This rather comical phrase was spoken without a hint of movement on the man's stoic face.
	Dustin remained completely dumbstruck. The mysterious man sighed, and shifted his weight slightly. A barely perceptible smirk thinned his lips. "At least tell me your name."
	"Dustin." he managed.
	"Then it is a pleasure to meet you, Chosen One."