Post by Ghost on Aug 21, 2008 23:11:47 GMT -5
Chapter 25: For Old Time’s Sake
Deep in the heart of the Mother Planet, a portal opened in the air. As quickly as that portal had appeared, three bodies flew out of it in order. The first boy, Ness, began to skid along the ground till he tripped over a rock. Landing face-first in the dirt he jumped up, wiped his eyes, and looked behind him to see the others. The second boy, Lucas, flew out of the portal and landed on his rear. As he too slid along the ground he grimaced when his shorts began to fill with dirt. The last of the crew, Solid Snake, seemed to have dived out of the portal as it closed, landing hard on his stomach. Ness laughed nervously as Lucas and Snake began muttering to themselves.
Ness: “Sorry about that. It’s been awhile since I’ve needed to use PK Teleport and I’m a little rusty. At least I still have the hang of not needed to run to initiate it. The exit apparrantly needs work.”
Snake: “Obviously.”
Lucas: “Man, now I’ve got dirt in my underwear. This is an awesome feeling. Thanks!”
Snake: “So, where exactly is this place?”
Ness: “I told you I was taking you to the scene where we defeated Giygas. Here we are at the cave of ori…WHAT?”
As the three began to look around, they found themselves within a deep crater. The original ridges and cave stood no more. The wind blew the dirt around them as Ness stood dumbfounded. Snake pulled out his binoculars and began to look around the area for anything peculiar.
Lucas: “Cave, you were saying? You’re story gets weaker and weaker each minute. Please stop the charade. If you didn’t kill Giygas like you told everyone, then just admit it and I won’t bring it up anymore.”
Ness: “I swear to you, we defeated Giygas. How many times to I have to tell you? Ask the others, they’ll confirm it. Why would someone or something blow up the entire area?”
Snake: “Hey, There’s some sort of weird thing near that rock on the far end. Looks like some dark sphere. Is that normal for this weird place?”
Ness: “Not exactly, but let’s check it out.”
As Snake and Ness briskly walked over to the large rock across the crater, Lucas was tailing behind still trying to shake dirt from his garments. After climbing out of the crater, Ness and Lucas instantly figured out what this was. It was some form of portal, but this looked different from PSI. This portal was made by someone or something else. Ness reached out his arm and thrust it into the portal. He could feel a cold dampness on the other side, but it seemed safe. Jumping on through, Lucas and Snake looked at each other before inching their way closer. Suddenly two arms appeared through the portal and pulled both through. The other side of the portal was along the ceiling. Landing not very gracefully on the ground, they found themselves in a dark cave. Ness, who must have used his PSI powers to jump high enough to pull them in, was standing over both of them with a large grin on his face.
Snake: “What the hell?”
Ness: “Look, it’s the cave I was talking about. We’re inside the Cave of Origin, but I don’t know exactly how.”
Lucas: “Then why didn’t you just teleport us here?”
Ness: “I did, you should know that we can only teleport to places we’ve been before, duh. I teleported to the cave, yet it’s inside this portal.”
Snake: “You two look around in here, I’ll go search in the area outside.”
Lucas: “Shouldn’t we stick together in case something happens?”
Ness: “What’s this? You scared?”
Lucas: “Uh, NO of course not, not me, how stupid.”
Snake: “I prefer to be alone.”
With that, Snake flattened himself against the side of the cave wall, peered around the corner at the long winding path before him, and ran on into the darkness.
Ness: “Weird guy. See that machine over there Lucas? That’s the Devil’s Machine. That was where Giygas was; it was holding him within till he was released by Porky. Look, you can still see the indentions in the ground from Porky’s time pod. Actually, you can see them a little too well. Why isn’t there any rust on the machine? You’d think with all this moisture, it would rust quickly. It looks fairly new still.”
Ness and Lucas grew closer to the scene. The darkness of the cave combined with the silence and broken machinery gave a very creepy vibe.
Snake: “Hey!”
Snake’s silent approach and sudden outburst had startled both the boys. Lucas threw both hands into the air, screamed, and ran behind the broken machinery. Ness began to laugh hysterically while Snake smirked.
Lucas: “That was NOT funny! How’d you sneak up on us like that?”
Snake: “I have been trained in stealth; I’ve been on secret missions and in situations where I can’t even use weapons. Just sneaking around corners and staying unnoticed is how I’ve stayed alive.”
Ness: “That was priceless. What’s up?”
Snake: “There’s some primitive looking robots lying on the ground outside.”
Ness: “No, It can’t be. Snake, did they happen to resemble walking trash cans?”
Snake: “You got it.”
Lucas: “Why are robots a problem?”
Ness suddenly bolted for the opening of the cave. Quickly, Lucas and Snake followed. Ness ran until he came upon the scene he was hoping he wouldn’t see. There lying before him were four inanimate robots. He bent down to examine them.
Lucas: “Ness, one of them has a hat similar to yours.”
Snake: “What’s going on? Don’t hold out on us.”
Ness: “Well, when we fought Giygas, we didn’t actually come here to fight him, really. We were going to, but the Phase Distorter 3 was the only thing in our grasp to transport us through time, and it had a dangerous drawback. The Phase Distorter 3 could not warp life through time. Life would get demolished in the process for some reason. I think it was just the haste in which the device needed to be made because, as we all know, Porky was able to travel into the past and on into the future. And you came here with part of your Island, Lucas. That still confuses me, but we’ll get to that later. Giygas still needed to be destroyed, so we placed our brain waves and spirits into these robots to travel back in time. We didn’t know if we could ever return to our bodies, but it needed to be done. Our bodies were kept in Saturn Valley while our minds and spirits pressed on. We arrived in the past, and fought Giygas in that cave, as you can see from the broken machine. After he was defeated, our minds and spirits returned to our bodies. It was just as if my mind has used PK Teleport to bring us back to our bodies.”
Snake: “Scientific expiramentation to stretch the means of humans beyond the realm of their normal body and life? That sounds so much like the horror stories Naomi told me of. I can’t believe it’s happening to children, in other worlds.”
Lucas: “These robots look new. You say they were sent into the past. If they had lain here for that long, they would not be shiney…which means…”
Ness: “Exactly what I was thinking. This portal went into the past, but how? What could have created a portal through time so effortlessly, and end up leaving it wide open? What if…no certainly not….could it?”
Snake: “Could it what?”
Ness: “What if Lucas was right. What if we thought we had destroyed Giygas, but in fact we hadn’t? I mean it’s kind of hard to know if something that no longer has a body is dead or not. If he somehow made us think he was dead, and then opened this portal. I mean, it was right above the Devil’s Machine. I’d never forgive myself.”
Ness placed both hands on the ground and began beating it; his mind racing with doubt. Lucas, who began to swell with pride as his potential correct assumption, had lowered his shoulders as he watched his hero in such turmoil. Snake stood stiff as a pillar staring down at the child. Clearing his throat, he addressed Ness once more.
Snake: “Come on, let’s get out of here. Enough weird things have been going on. I don’t want this portal to close and us be stuck here forever.”
Lucas: “It’s obvious that Giygas isn’t here if he is still alive. I’m betting he flew into that portal. Maybe it was even him who created the crater in your present time.”
Ness: “I just…I can’t believe that…”
Snake: “Worrying about the past only makes you weaker. Take your mistakes and learn from them. You obviously have great talents; I don’t want you weakening them. A soldier always keeps his mind on the present. It keeps you alive on the battlefield.”
Ness nodded his head and leaned over to his robotic clone. He lifted its hat and placed it into his pocket for a memento. Standing up, he joined Snake and Lucas as they walked back into the Cave of Origin. Together, the boys used their PSI to shove Snake into the overhead portal, and then together jumped high to follow. Actually landing on their feet for the first time, they looked at their surroundings more clearly. They did notice certain familiar features along the outskirts of the crater. Suddenly, the sound of a phone rang through the area. An ecstatic smile appeared across Snake’s face as he knelt down, one hand over his ear.
Snake: “This is Snake. Colonel, Mei Ling, Otacon, can you hear me? I repeat can you hear me? Answer me!”
The phone rang once again. Ness reached into his backpack and pulled out a large receiver phone. Snake lowered his head and exhaled slowly. He had hoped to speak with his commerades once more. Ness pushed a button on the receiver phone and placed it to his ear.
Ness: “Hello, Ness speaking”
Apple Kid: “Ness, it’s the Apple Kid. It’s about time you answered this phone, I’ve been trying to contact you for over thirty minutes. Where have you been?”
Ness: “Well, that’s a long story..”
Apple Kid: “There’s no time. Ness, things are going crazy all over the world. Matter is being distorted in weird places. Some there are just big holes in reality. We’re pretty sure they are time holes, because I just got off the phone with Orange Kid, but yet there’s an Orange Kid walking around outside the building. Zombies are appearing all over the place, as well as men in pig masks. I could have sworn I saw some guy in a golden hazmat suit with spikes. Jeff’s looking out the other window. He says there are weird things running around made from clay, a half robotic caribou, and a Master Belch. He said you’d know who that is.”
Ness: “WHAT? How can this be? All these guys should be dead or off in their own place. Pig Masks, Robotic caribou and clay people I don’t know.”
Lucas: “What about Pig Masks? That sounds like Porky’s Army, but we already defeated all them in the future. How would...whoever you are talking to...know anything about that?”
Ness: “Hold off, Lucas, I’ll tell you when I’m off the phone. Apple Kid, Jeff is there with you?”
Apple Kid: “Yeah, and he’s not the only one. Dr. Andonuts, Mr. Saturn, Paula, and Poo are here as well. We’ll tell you more when you get here. Hurry, Fourside is getting worse by the second.”
Ness: “Be there in a PK Flash.”
Ness placed the receiver phone back into his backpack and turned to face Snake and Lucas.
Ness: “We’ve got to get to Fourside City. Something happened while we were in the past. Apparently time rifts are occurring and stuff from the past, and I’m guessing the future since you know about the pig guys, Lucas, are showing up everywhere. Creatures I even know to be dead.”
Lucas: “What are we waiting for?”
Snake: “A solider only finds meaning in battle.”
Ness: “Uhh, I’ll take that as a yes. Ok, here we go. I’ll try to make the landing a bit easier this time.”
Ness focused his PSI and opened a portal. The three ran into it on their way to aid Fourside City.
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The sun had just set behind the Castle Hyrule as Ganondorf, Skull Kid, and Link continued their journey. Tatl and Tael had hid themselves inside Skull Kid’s hat for the past view miles as their wings had become tired. Silently, Ganondorf pressed on from the Land of Termina. He made no mention of the local people or creatures in his home land as he tore through Hyrule Field disposing of useless beings along the way. He was determined as ever, replaying the deaths of the other Ganondorfs in his mind to fuel his anger. Link and Skull Kid lagged behind slightly fearing to disturb his thoughts. They continued on until Ganondorf stopped in the middle of a slightly wooded area. The castle walls were only a few yards behind them. Ganondorf surveyed the scene before speaking.
Ganondorf: “Stay here, I’m going to go get some firewood.”
Link: “Want me to..”
Ganondorf: “I needed your help in the long run, I’m not a complete invalid. I can do this on my own. You stay here and keep an eye on Skull Kid. Make sure he doesn’t wander off.”
Link nodded his head as he laid his hand on Skull Kid’s shoulder. Ganondorf grumbled as he made his way to a nearby tree. He stood there for several seconds before pulling back his hand. He shouted as he thrust the arm forward. Instantly, the trunk of the massive tree snapped clean in two. It tumbled to the ground landing only inches away from Link. Ganondorf continued to do the same to three other trees. Dragging them all to one area, he used his powerful punches to bust through the trunks. Before too long there was a large pile of wood in the center with four logs circling around it a short distance away. At that point it was obvious what Ganondorf had planned. He was simply making a large campfire to signal the others.
Ganondorf: “Done.”
Skull Kid: “So, what’s the point of this bonfire?”
Ganondorf: “Isn’t it obvious? Before we left, Link said we needed to warn the others about this. It’s not like I am in great speaking terms with Zelda and the Link here. So I’m building this bonfire to draw attention.”
Link: “But the castle is right there, wouldn’t that alert the guards?”
Ganondorf: “Let them come. They couldn’t have done anything to me before, and now that I’m more powerful than I have ever been, they don’t even stand a chance if they came at me all at once.”
Skull Kid: “More powerful than ever? What do you mean?”
Ganondorf: “Never mind that, I’ll explain later. Let’s just light this fire.”
Link: “Here, let me take care of that.”
Ganondorf looked down at the boy with slight confusion but crossed his arms and observed. Link pulled out his bow and arrow. He raised it and pointed it at the wood pile ahead of him. He squinted his eyes towards the end of the arrow, and suddenly it burst into flame. He released the arrow quickly as it soared into the wood and began catching it on fire. Link continued to do so around the circumference of the pile. After shooting six fire arrows into the pile, it began to ignite properly. Higher and higher the flames rose as smoke issued through the sky. Ganondorf lowered his arms with the first slight smile that had crossed his face in quite some time. He walked over to one of the four logs and sat upon it staring into the fire.
Link: “Now what?”
Ganondorf: “And now, we wait.”
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The Galleon was speeding through space at top speed, now that their captain had regained his morale. General Scales, no longer wandering aimlessly through space in search of Andross, now had a specific target and mission. He paced back and forth along the bridge impatiently. Pondering to himself, he wished to test the extent of his power. He felt he could pull off a proper portal if necessary, but these energy attacks Zankor had mentioned were a different matter. Suddenly, Scales looked ahead to see a nearby moon. He ran up to the door of his quarters, grabbed a large horn hanging from the doorframe, and blew on it. All the Shapclaws stopped what they were doing and looked his way. Lowering the horn he addressed them.
Scales: “Boys, I feel the need for a little recreation. See that moon over there? Head towards it but don’t land. I wanna try out these powers.”
The group of Sharpclaws scrambled back to their chores as the Galleon was shifted slightly off course to the nearby moon. A large smile appeared on Scales' face the closer and closer they reached. As they reached orbit, Scales walked to starboard side and raised his arms into the air. Clenching his fists he lowers his arms slowly, gathering energy. He opened his eyes and began thrusting his arms perpetually towards the moon. With each motion, a small blast of energy was sent out. Faster and faster he moved his arms until the barrage of energy seemed as a machine gun. As quickly as he began attacking, he stopped. Scales raised his hands to his right side, one higher than the other. He gathered energy into a large ball and shot it towards the surface of the nearby moon. The ground exploded upon contact with the attack. Once the dust settled, Scales saw that his attack had produced a more than satisfactory crater. He followed with the same attack three more times. Scales was pleased with his power and thirsty for a chance to use it against something more challenging than an inanimate moon’s surface. That challenge came sooner than he had thought, as one of his Sharplaws with a telescope in his hand, shouted for him.
Sharpclaw: “General Scales, straight ahead, there seems to be a small starship of some sort.”
Scales: “Excellent. A moving target and the master did say to cause some destruction.”
Scales hopped up on the head of the giant dinosaur at the front of the ship. He reached forward his palm and unleashed a blast of energy towards the tiny ship in the distance. Quickly, the attack tore through space. Just as it was about to hit it’s target, the space ship swerved. Although it came as no big surprise, it slightly annoyed Scales as he attempted a second shot. Again the ship avoided the attack, but this time it seemed to increase its speed directly for the Galleon. Now firing two blasts simultaneously, Scales shouted as the ship once more avoided his attack. General Scales was reaching his breaking point as he unleashed a barrage of energy just as he had the moon. This proved more useful as the space ship could not avoid all the attacks. Small chunks of metal began to fly off as blast after blast hit its target.
Apparently realizing the danger, the ship began to shift direction slightly, but Scales was not going to allow that. With one hand he continued the barrage, but with the other he charged up a large blast. As shot after shot whittled away at the ship’s exterior, the large ball of dark energy was sent flying that way too. Closer and closer it sped through space. The ship kicked in it’s afterburners to avoid the attack, but it was too late. The attack struck the entire back end of the ship blowing it off. Metal chunks flew through space as the front began to spin out of control towards the nearby moon. As the deck of the Galleon became littered with small pieces of metal, a nearby Sharpclaw with a mop broke the handle in half and swore into the air as he stormed off below deck. Pleased with his attack on the random ship he looked down at the debris covering his own. One large piece of metal stood out amongst the rest. As he bent down to examine it, he read the inscription.
Scales: “Hmmm Hocotate? What a pathetic name for a pathetic ship. Boys, I have fulfilled my desires for the time being. Press onward to the planet as planned.”
The dragon head roared loudly as the Galleon Took off. Scales retired to his quarters to gloat in his pointless destruction of the Hocotate.
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Aboard what was left of the Hocotate, Captain Olimar was franticly pushing buttons. Surely there was some last chance mechanism to save him from becoming a bloody crater in some moon. The Hocotate was spinning closer and closer to the ground. Suddenly, Olimar pushed the correct button, as one parachute flew out of one side of the ship. It was not much, but it was enough to ensure their safe landing. Olimar looked around for his companions as the ship floated down upon the desolate moon. He ran to the open back of the ship, holding on to the sides. Fearing the worst, he looked into the skies for his traveling crew, but could see nothing but stars and sky. The Hocotate began to spin slightly more randomly as the parachute device began to tangle on one side. Barely holding on to the panels, he made his way back to the front of the ship. He sat back in the pilots seat, and heard a small noise beside him.
Olimar: “Shew, you guys scared me for a minute. I thought I had lost you. Glad you took cover in the floorboard.”
Olimar smiled as he looked down at his beloved pikmin. They were all huddled together holding each other. There were two blue, one red, one yellow, one purple, and one white pikmin looking up at him. Olimar held on to his seat as the ground grew closer and closer until the Hocotate slammed hard against the ground. Moon dust flew into the air for several feet from this impact. Looking down, he was glad to see none of his pikmin were harmed. Olimar jumped from his seat and hopped out of the back end to look at what remained of his beloved ship. It was an absolute wreck which brought tears to his eyes. The engine and all of the vital parts were gone. There would be no repairing the vessel. Luckily, the ship’s battery was still attached and fully intact. With a last ditch hope of surviving this incident, he hopped back into the ship, sat down in his seat, and started up the radio.
Olimar: “This is an S.O.S. call from the ship Hocotate. I have been shot down, I repeat, I have been shot down. I am on a desolate moon. I am sending coordinates. Please help!”
Olimar reached up and pushed a large green button on the console. Suddenly, a large satellite appeared from a compartment at the side and turned towards space. Looking down at his pikmin he tried to calm them.
Olimar: “It’ll be ok, guys. I have this thing set to send that message constantly till we get a reply. I just hope someone with adequate technology will show up. Don’t worry, it’ll all be ok.”
Deep in the heart of the Mother Planet, a portal opened in the air. As quickly as that portal had appeared, three bodies flew out of it in order. The first boy, Ness, began to skid along the ground till he tripped over a rock. Landing face-first in the dirt he jumped up, wiped his eyes, and looked behind him to see the others. The second boy, Lucas, flew out of the portal and landed on his rear. As he too slid along the ground he grimaced when his shorts began to fill with dirt. The last of the crew, Solid Snake, seemed to have dived out of the portal as it closed, landing hard on his stomach. Ness laughed nervously as Lucas and Snake began muttering to themselves.
Ness: “Sorry about that. It’s been awhile since I’ve needed to use PK Teleport and I’m a little rusty. At least I still have the hang of not needed to run to initiate it. The exit apparrantly needs work.”
Snake: “Obviously.”
Lucas: “Man, now I’ve got dirt in my underwear. This is an awesome feeling. Thanks!”
Snake: “So, where exactly is this place?”
Ness: “I told you I was taking you to the scene where we defeated Giygas. Here we are at the cave of ori…WHAT?”
As the three began to look around, they found themselves within a deep crater. The original ridges and cave stood no more. The wind blew the dirt around them as Ness stood dumbfounded. Snake pulled out his binoculars and began to look around the area for anything peculiar.
Lucas: “Cave, you were saying? You’re story gets weaker and weaker each minute. Please stop the charade. If you didn’t kill Giygas like you told everyone, then just admit it and I won’t bring it up anymore.”
Ness: “I swear to you, we defeated Giygas. How many times to I have to tell you? Ask the others, they’ll confirm it. Why would someone or something blow up the entire area?”
Snake: “Hey, There’s some sort of weird thing near that rock on the far end. Looks like some dark sphere. Is that normal for this weird place?”
Ness: “Not exactly, but let’s check it out.”
As Snake and Ness briskly walked over to the large rock across the crater, Lucas was tailing behind still trying to shake dirt from his garments. After climbing out of the crater, Ness and Lucas instantly figured out what this was. It was some form of portal, but this looked different from PSI. This portal was made by someone or something else. Ness reached out his arm and thrust it into the portal. He could feel a cold dampness on the other side, but it seemed safe. Jumping on through, Lucas and Snake looked at each other before inching their way closer. Suddenly two arms appeared through the portal and pulled both through. The other side of the portal was along the ceiling. Landing not very gracefully on the ground, they found themselves in a dark cave. Ness, who must have used his PSI powers to jump high enough to pull them in, was standing over both of them with a large grin on his face.
Snake: “What the hell?”
Ness: “Look, it’s the cave I was talking about. We’re inside the Cave of Origin, but I don’t know exactly how.”
Lucas: “Then why didn’t you just teleport us here?”
Ness: “I did, you should know that we can only teleport to places we’ve been before, duh. I teleported to the cave, yet it’s inside this portal.”
Snake: “You two look around in here, I’ll go search in the area outside.”
Lucas: “Shouldn’t we stick together in case something happens?”
Ness: “What’s this? You scared?”
Lucas: “Uh, NO of course not, not me, how stupid.”
Snake: “I prefer to be alone.”
With that, Snake flattened himself against the side of the cave wall, peered around the corner at the long winding path before him, and ran on into the darkness.
Ness: “Weird guy. See that machine over there Lucas? That’s the Devil’s Machine. That was where Giygas was; it was holding him within till he was released by Porky. Look, you can still see the indentions in the ground from Porky’s time pod. Actually, you can see them a little too well. Why isn’t there any rust on the machine? You’d think with all this moisture, it would rust quickly. It looks fairly new still.”
Ness and Lucas grew closer to the scene. The darkness of the cave combined with the silence and broken machinery gave a very creepy vibe.
Snake: “Hey!”
Snake’s silent approach and sudden outburst had startled both the boys. Lucas threw both hands into the air, screamed, and ran behind the broken machinery. Ness began to laugh hysterically while Snake smirked.
Lucas: “That was NOT funny! How’d you sneak up on us like that?”
Snake: “I have been trained in stealth; I’ve been on secret missions and in situations where I can’t even use weapons. Just sneaking around corners and staying unnoticed is how I’ve stayed alive.”
Ness: “That was priceless. What’s up?”
Snake: “There’s some primitive looking robots lying on the ground outside.”
Ness: “No, It can’t be. Snake, did they happen to resemble walking trash cans?”
Snake: “You got it.”
Lucas: “Why are robots a problem?”
Ness suddenly bolted for the opening of the cave. Quickly, Lucas and Snake followed. Ness ran until he came upon the scene he was hoping he wouldn’t see. There lying before him were four inanimate robots. He bent down to examine them.
Lucas: “Ness, one of them has a hat similar to yours.”
Snake: “What’s going on? Don’t hold out on us.”
Ness: “Well, when we fought Giygas, we didn’t actually come here to fight him, really. We were going to, but the Phase Distorter 3 was the only thing in our grasp to transport us through time, and it had a dangerous drawback. The Phase Distorter 3 could not warp life through time. Life would get demolished in the process for some reason. I think it was just the haste in which the device needed to be made because, as we all know, Porky was able to travel into the past and on into the future. And you came here with part of your Island, Lucas. That still confuses me, but we’ll get to that later. Giygas still needed to be destroyed, so we placed our brain waves and spirits into these robots to travel back in time. We didn’t know if we could ever return to our bodies, but it needed to be done. Our bodies were kept in Saturn Valley while our minds and spirits pressed on. We arrived in the past, and fought Giygas in that cave, as you can see from the broken machine. After he was defeated, our minds and spirits returned to our bodies. It was just as if my mind has used PK Teleport to bring us back to our bodies.”
Snake: “Scientific expiramentation to stretch the means of humans beyond the realm of their normal body and life? That sounds so much like the horror stories Naomi told me of. I can’t believe it’s happening to children, in other worlds.”
Lucas: “These robots look new. You say they were sent into the past. If they had lain here for that long, they would not be shiney…which means…”
Ness: “Exactly what I was thinking. This portal went into the past, but how? What could have created a portal through time so effortlessly, and end up leaving it wide open? What if…no certainly not….could it?”
Snake: “Could it what?”
Ness: “What if Lucas was right. What if we thought we had destroyed Giygas, but in fact we hadn’t? I mean it’s kind of hard to know if something that no longer has a body is dead or not. If he somehow made us think he was dead, and then opened this portal. I mean, it was right above the Devil’s Machine. I’d never forgive myself.”
Ness placed both hands on the ground and began beating it; his mind racing with doubt. Lucas, who began to swell with pride as his potential correct assumption, had lowered his shoulders as he watched his hero in such turmoil. Snake stood stiff as a pillar staring down at the child. Clearing his throat, he addressed Ness once more.
Snake: “Come on, let’s get out of here. Enough weird things have been going on. I don’t want this portal to close and us be stuck here forever.”
Lucas: “It’s obvious that Giygas isn’t here if he is still alive. I’m betting he flew into that portal. Maybe it was even him who created the crater in your present time.”
Ness: “I just…I can’t believe that…”
Snake: “Worrying about the past only makes you weaker. Take your mistakes and learn from them. You obviously have great talents; I don’t want you weakening them. A soldier always keeps his mind on the present. It keeps you alive on the battlefield.”
Ness nodded his head and leaned over to his robotic clone. He lifted its hat and placed it into his pocket for a memento. Standing up, he joined Snake and Lucas as they walked back into the Cave of Origin. Together, the boys used their PSI to shove Snake into the overhead portal, and then together jumped high to follow. Actually landing on their feet for the first time, they looked at their surroundings more clearly. They did notice certain familiar features along the outskirts of the crater. Suddenly, the sound of a phone rang through the area. An ecstatic smile appeared across Snake’s face as he knelt down, one hand over his ear.
Snake: “This is Snake. Colonel, Mei Ling, Otacon, can you hear me? I repeat can you hear me? Answer me!”
The phone rang once again. Ness reached into his backpack and pulled out a large receiver phone. Snake lowered his head and exhaled slowly. He had hoped to speak with his commerades once more. Ness pushed a button on the receiver phone and placed it to his ear.
Ness: “Hello, Ness speaking”
Apple Kid: “Ness, it’s the Apple Kid. It’s about time you answered this phone, I’ve been trying to contact you for over thirty minutes. Where have you been?”
Ness: “Well, that’s a long story..”
Apple Kid: “There’s no time. Ness, things are going crazy all over the world. Matter is being distorted in weird places. Some there are just big holes in reality. We’re pretty sure they are time holes, because I just got off the phone with Orange Kid, but yet there’s an Orange Kid walking around outside the building. Zombies are appearing all over the place, as well as men in pig masks. I could have sworn I saw some guy in a golden hazmat suit with spikes. Jeff’s looking out the other window. He says there are weird things running around made from clay, a half robotic caribou, and a Master Belch. He said you’d know who that is.”
Ness: “WHAT? How can this be? All these guys should be dead or off in their own place. Pig Masks, Robotic caribou and clay people I don’t know.”
Lucas: “What about Pig Masks? That sounds like Porky’s Army, but we already defeated all them in the future. How would...whoever you are talking to...know anything about that?”
Ness: “Hold off, Lucas, I’ll tell you when I’m off the phone. Apple Kid, Jeff is there with you?”
Apple Kid: “Yeah, and he’s not the only one. Dr. Andonuts, Mr. Saturn, Paula, and Poo are here as well. We’ll tell you more when you get here. Hurry, Fourside is getting worse by the second.”
Ness: “Be there in a PK Flash.”
Ness placed the receiver phone back into his backpack and turned to face Snake and Lucas.
Ness: “We’ve got to get to Fourside City. Something happened while we were in the past. Apparently time rifts are occurring and stuff from the past, and I’m guessing the future since you know about the pig guys, Lucas, are showing up everywhere. Creatures I even know to be dead.”
Lucas: “What are we waiting for?”
Snake: “A solider only finds meaning in battle.”
Ness: “Uhh, I’ll take that as a yes. Ok, here we go. I’ll try to make the landing a bit easier this time.”
Ness focused his PSI and opened a portal. The three ran into it on their way to aid Fourside City.
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The sun had just set behind the Castle Hyrule as Ganondorf, Skull Kid, and Link continued their journey. Tatl and Tael had hid themselves inside Skull Kid’s hat for the past view miles as their wings had become tired. Silently, Ganondorf pressed on from the Land of Termina. He made no mention of the local people or creatures in his home land as he tore through Hyrule Field disposing of useless beings along the way. He was determined as ever, replaying the deaths of the other Ganondorfs in his mind to fuel his anger. Link and Skull Kid lagged behind slightly fearing to disturb his thoughts. They continued on until Ganondorf stopped in the middle of a slightly wooded area. The castle walls were only a few yards behind them. Ganondorf surveyed the scene before speaking.
Ganondorf: “Stay here, I’m going to go get some firewood.”
Link: “Want me to..”
Ganondorf: “I needed your help in the long run, I’m not a complete invalid. I can do this on my own. You stay here and keep an eye on Skull Kid. Make sure he doesn’t wander off.”
Link nodded his head as he laid his hand on Skull Kid’s shoulder. Ganondorf grumbled as he made his way to a nearby tree. He stood there for several seconds before pulling back his hand. He shouted as he thrust the arm forward. Instantly, the trunk of the massive tree snapped clean in two. It tumbled to the ground landing only inches away from Link. Ganondorf continued to do the same to three other trees. Dragging them all to one area, he used his powerful punches to bust through the trunks. Before too long there was a large pile of wood in the center with four logs circling around it a short distance away. At that point it was obvious what Ganondorf had planned. He was simply making a large campfire to signal the others.
Ganondorf: “Done.”
Skull Kid: “So, what’s the point of this bonfire?”
Ganondorf: “Isn’t it obvious? Before we left, Link said we needed to warn the others about this. It’s not like I am in great speaking terms with Zelda and the Link here. So I’m building this bonfire to draw attention.”
Link: “But the castle is right there, wouldn’t that alert the guards?”
Ganondorf: “Let them come. They couldn’t have done anything to me before, and now that I’m more powerful than I have ever been, they don’t even stand a chance if they came at me all at once.”
Skull Kid: “More powerful than ever? What do you mean?”
Ganondorf: “Never mind that, I’ll explain later. Let’s just light this fire.”
Link: “Here, let me take care of that.”
Ganondorf looked down at the boy with slight confusion but crossed his arms and observed. Link pulled out his bow and arrow. He raised it and pointed it at the wood pile ahead of him. He squinted his eyes towards the end of the arrow, and suddenly it burst into flame. He released the arrow quickly as it soared into the wood and began catching it on fire. Link continued to do so around the circumference of the pile. After shooting six fire arrows into the pile, it began to ignite properly. Higher and higher the flames rose as smoke issued through the sky. Ganondorf lowered his arms with the first slight smile that had crossed his face in quite some time. He walked over to one of the four logs and sat upon it staring into the fire.
Link: “Now what?”
Ganondorf: “And now, we wait.”
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The Galleon was speeding through space at top speed, now that their captain had regained his morale. General Scales, no longer wandering aimlessly through space in search of Andross, now had a specific target and mission. He paced back and forth along the bridge impatiently. Pondering to himself, he wished to test the extent of his power. He felt he could pull off a proper portal if necessary, but these energy attacks Zankor had mentioned were a different matter. Suddenly, Scales looked ahead to see a nearby moon. He ran up to the door of his quarters, grabbed a large horn hanging from the doorframe, and blew on it. All the Shapclaws stopped what they were doing and looked his way. Lowering the horn he addressed them.
Scales: “Boys, I feel the need for a little recreation. See that moon over there? Head towards it but don’t land. I wanna try out these powers.”
The group of Sharpclaws scrambled back to their chores as the Galleon was shifted slightly off course to the nearby moon. A large smile appeared on Scales' face the closer and closer they reached. As they reached orbit, Scales walked to starboard side and raised his arms into the air. Clenching his fists he lowers his arms slowly, gathering energy. He opened his eyes and began thrusting his arms perpetually towards the moon. With each motion, a small blast of energy was sent out. Faster and faster he moved his arms until the barrage of energy seemed as a machine gun. As quickly as he began attacking, he stopped. Scales raised his hands to his right side, one higher than the other. He gathered energy into a large ball and shot it towards the surface of the nearby moon. The ground exploded upon contact with the attack. Once the dust settled, Scales saw that his attack had produced a more than satisfactory crater. He followed with the same attack three more times. Scales was pleased with his power and thirsty for a chance to use it against something more challenging than an inanimate moon’s surface. That challenge came sooner than he had thought, as one of his Sharplaws with a telescope in his hand, shouted for him.
Sharpclaw: “General Scales, straight ahead, there seems to be a small starship of some sort.”
Scales: “Excellent. A moving target and the master did say to cause some destruction.”
Scales hopped up on the head of the giant dinosaur at the front of the ship. He reached forward his palm and unleashed a blast of energy towards the tiny ship in the distance. Quickly, the attack tore through space. Just as it was about to hit it’s target, the space ship swerved. Although it came as no big surprise, it slightly annoyed Scales as he attempted a second shot. Again the ship avoided the attack, but this time it seemed to increase its speed directly for the Galleon. Now firing two blasts simultaneously, Scales shouted as the ship once more avoided his attack. General Scales was reaching his breaking point as he unleashed a barrage of energy just as he had the moon. This proved more useful as the space ship could not avoid all the attacks. Small chunks of metal began to fly off as blast after blast hit its target.
Apparently realizing the danger, the ship began to shift direction slightly, but Scales was not going to allow that. With one hand he continued the barrage, but with the other he charged up a large blast. As shot after shot whittled away at the ship’s exterior, the large ball of dark energy was sent flying that way too. Closer and closer it sped through space. The ship kicked in it’s afterburners to avoid the attack, but it was too late. The attack struck the entire back end of the ship blowing it off. Metal chunks flew through space as the front began to spin out of control towards the nearby moon. As the deck of the Galleon became littered with small pieces of metal, a nearby Sharpclaw with a mop broke the handle in half and swore into the air as he stormed off below deck. Pleased with his attack on the random ship he looked down at the debris covering his own. One large piece of metal stood out amongst the rest. As he bent down to examine it, he read the inscription.
Scales: “Hmmm Hocotate? What a pathetic name for a pathetic ship. Boys, I have fulfilled my desires for the time being. Press onward to the planet as planned.”
The dragon head roared loudly as the Galleon Took off. Scales retired to his quarters to gloat in his pointless destruction of the Hocotate.
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Aboard what was left of the Hocotate, Captain Olimar was franticly pushing buttons. Surely there was some last chance mechanism to save him from becoming a bloody crater in some moon. The Hocotate was spinning closer and closer to the ground. Suddenly, Olimar pushed the correct button, as one parachute flew out of one side of the ship. It was not much, but it was enough to ensure their safe landing. Olimar looked around for his companions as the ship floated down upon the desolate moon. He ran to the open back of the ship, holding on to the sides. Fearing the worst, he looked into the skies for his traveling crew, but could see nothing but stars and sky. The Hocotate began to spin slightly more randomly as the parachute device began to tangle on one side. Barely holding on to the panels, he made his way back to the front of the ship. He sat back in the pilots seat, and heard a small noise beside him.
Olimar: “Shew, you guys scared me for a minute. I thought I had lost you. Glad you took cover in the floorboard.”
Olimar smiled as he looked down at his beloved pikmin. They were all huddled together holding each other. There were two blue, one red, one yellow, one purple, and one white pikmin looking up at him. Olimar held on to his seat as the ground grew closer and closer until the Hocotate slammed hard against the ground. Moon dust flew into the air for several feet from this impact. Looking down, he was glad to see none of his pikmin were harmed. Olimar jumped from his seat and hopped out of the back end to look at what remained of his beloved ship. It was an absolute wreck which brought tears to his eyes. The engine and all of the vital parts were gone. There would be no repairing the vessel. Luckily, the ship’s battery was still attached and fully intact. With a last ditch hope of surviving this incident, he hopped back into the ship, sat down in his seat, and started up the radio.
Olimar: “This is an S.O.S. call from the ship Hocotate. I have been shot down, I repeat, I have been shot down. I am on a desolate moon. I am sending coordinates. Please help!”
Olimar reached up and pushed a large green button on the console. Suddenly, a large satellite appeared from a compartment at the side and turned towards space. Looking down at his pikmin he tried to calm them.
Olimar: “It’ll be ok, guys. I have this thing set to send that message constantly till we get a reply. I just hope someone with adequate technology will show up. Don’t worry, it’ll all be ok.”
I assume you meant a large smile.
[M:-5]
