Teenage Kuman

[Prof. Zam]

Chapter 1-A New Beginning

I awoke in my bedroom like on any ordinary day. I got up, slipped on my Pikachu slippers (that oddly enough still fit me since ten years ago) and proceed down the stairs. Like on every other ordinary day, my mom was in the kitchen making some of her village-wide famous chocolate chip waffles. Delicious! I sit down at the table like on any ordinary day and eat my fill of breakfast.
After eating, I headed outdoors like on any other ordinary day to train with my father. He teaches me how to defend myself in case anything bad or whatever should happen to me or the village. I am the one that the entire village will turn to when my parents can’t do anything about it. I know I can kick some serious butt, but I am still only in training. I was told that my dad had some psychic powers of some sort, and that my mother was basically the Tifa of this village. I didn’t know what that meant at first, but I fully understood it after seeing the movie we rented one time “Advent Children” which is a movie of Final Fantasy. So, scientifically speaking, I should be able to do both of those abilities with time. The problem is that I’m already eighteen, and my father got his powers unlocked when he was seventeen. So that kinda sucks…yeah…
Anyway, after the ordinary and usual hour of training self-defense with my dad, I go back inside to my mother who then teaches me offensive moves. I’m working on a Karate style twister kick, but to no avail, I suck. After that hour, I head back upstairs to my room to play on my video games. I guess you could say that I am spoiled with these objects. They did get me a Wii with three games when I saved the village from a bad infestation of Fuzzy’s, and that wasn’t even all that difficult. But, I must say, some of those games do help me out in real life.
In the Halo series, you need good reflexes and good strategic planning skills; in Super Smash Brothers Brawl you need insanely fast reflexes and superb thinking speed; on that one game who’s name always escapes me that I rented from a friend for a few days, you have to move things on a single plane to make the shadows on the wall behind it become like a pathway for your person who is a shadow himself. That helps the player with problem-solving skills. I am getting better at all of these games, so my brain should be about as fast as a supercomputer by the end of next year.
As usual, after five hours of video games, I go outside to play with some friends of mine. We go into the nearby forest to play a modified game of hide-and-seek that we created. Whoever is it, has to be the one to NOT get touched, or their out of the game. This game helps us all to improve our strategic planning skills as well as our speed and reaction time. I’m still the reigning champ at it.
After five more hours of playing, as per every ordinary day, we all get really tired and end up heading home. I head back to home and as each usual ordinary day I head upstairs after walking through the front door. As every other ordinary day, I play on the computer until dinner time which is usually an hour-and-a-half later.
But this day, was no ordinary day. I was about to find that out.

I finally managed to beat my personal best on Galaga! “Yes! Finally! Take THAT MasterChief07821! Take THAT! Beat yo score I did! Woo!” As I dance about, I see the clock and see the time. Normally, you see, my mother calls me down for dinner at 8:15. It was now 9:00!
“That can’t be right…” I say when I see the time. I turn to my computer and look at the bottom right of the screen, and sure enough, it was 9:00. “Something is very wrong here…”
I rush downstairs and into the kitchen. My mother isn’t anywhere to be seen. I look around carefully for anything suspicious, when I finally do see something strange. The pot was still on the stove. The stove was still on. I rushed over and turned it off before anything happened. Fires and other mishaps are sometimes caused by stuff like this.
I look in the pot. It was mothers’ usual Tuesday dinner. Hot dogs with all real beef and Macaroni and Cheese to go with it. I saw the chocolate milk sitting out too. I quickly put it away. That is what I drank with every meal on Tuesday. I called out for my mom as I walked into the front room.
“Hey! Mom! Where are ya?” I yell with a hand held up to the side of my mouth. No response came to me. I noticed that my dad wasn’t on the couch watching his basketball game. “Okay, now I know that something is very wrong…” I say to myself as I headed outside.
I looked around me and saw the horror. My entire village was burning down to the ground! I saw some of my friends lying on the ground outside their homes burnt down to their bones! I couldn’t scream. I was too terrified to. Nothing EVER went wrong in my village! NOTHING! I ran through the village looking for any survivors. I went all the way to the other edge of the village to the entrance. No one. Nobody anywhere. I stand at the entrance to my village, looking out, and my horror intensified by at least 1000! What I saw will haunt me for the rest of my life! The entire land itself, from Twilight Town to Rougeport to here, everything was burning! I saw a dark cloud swirling above the city of Rougeport. When I watched it, I could have sworn that I saw red eyes glaring at me from the center, and I was right. A few seconds later the eyes fell from the skies and came closer to me. They were right above my head when they started to speak.
“WELL, LOOK AT THIS, I MUST HAVE MISSED ONE!”
I gulp. “Who…who are y-you?” I manage to choke out.
“WHAT’S THAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU ABOVE THE ENTIRE LAND BURNING DOWN TO CINDERS!” It laughs maniacally.
I grab onto what bravery and courage I have left, and scream, “I said, who are you?!”
It looks down at me. “THAT DOESN’T MATTER TO A MERE MORTAL SUCH AS YOURSELF! BUT, IF YOU INSIST ON KNOWING MY NAME, THEN YOU SHALL KNOW ME AS SW.”
“SW? What does that stand for?”
“WELL, IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE MY SLAVE LIKE ALL OTHER MORTALS, THEN OTHER THAN MISTRESS AND MASTER, YOU SHALL CALL ME SHADOW WITCH.”
My mouth drops to the ground. “But-but I thought that you were destroyed by-“
“DESTROYED?! HA! HAHAHAHA! AS IF! YOU SEE, I WAS MERELY DEFEATED-NOT DESTROYED, DEFEATED. AND BY YOUR OWN FATHER NONETHELESS!”
I can’t believe what I am seeing! It has to be a dream! Wait, that’s it! It IS all just a dream! I can prove it too! I pinch my arm to wake up myself. I feel pain in my arm. I don’t wake up. Therefore, this is no dream. This MUST be real!
The red eyes begin laughing evilly again. “THIS IS NO DREAM! THIS, MY DEAR SLAVE, IS ALL…TOO…REAL…FOR YOU!” It produces a dark hand of shadows and sends it down to grab me! I manage to dodge and evade it for a while, but then, it finally succeeds. It lifts me up to the eyes in the sky.
“SAY YOUR PRAYERS MORTAL, FOR THIS HERE WILL BE YOUR FINAL MOMENTS IN THIS WORLD!”
“What?! What about becoming your slave?!”
“WELL, SINCE YOU ARE THE OFFSPRING OF THE ONE WHO DEFEATED ME, I FIGURED THAT IT’D BE SAFER TO SIMPLY KILL YOU KNOW RATHER THAN RISK BEING DEFEATED AGAIN!” The hand raises me higher and higher towards the eyes. When I get close enough, they vanish and a large fanged mouth takes it’s place! I get closer, and closer, and closer still, until…
“AAAAAAHHHHH!!!”
“waaake uuuppp…”
I’m in a void of pure darkness. I hear a voice from somewhere… it is very deep…
“waaake uuuppp…”
But why does it sound so familiar…?
“WAKE UP!”
I open my eyes and fling upwards in my room. I’m sweating, I’m breathing heavily, and I’m on the floor.
I look around. My dad is standing right next to me. I look at him in the eyes.
“Are you okay?” He asks me. “You looked like you were having one hell of a nightmare!”
I look at myself, feeling my body all around, making sure that I’m all there. Once I am sure that I am, I sigh in relief. “Yeah…yeah it was…”
“What was it about?” He says leaning down to my eye-level.
I shrug. “All I remember is a pair of deep blood-red eyes and a name…I can’t remember the entire name though…just the word Shadow or something like that…”
My dad looks me into the eyes. “Its alright now. It was just a dream.”
I nod. “I know. Its just that-well, it felt so real! I pinched myself in it but I didn’t wake up! Explain that one!”
He stays silent for some time before standing back up. “Well, I can’t fully explain that one, but I can assure you this-mom is almost done cooking here pancakes.” He says with a smile at the end. I smile back at him.
I stand up and remake my bed. Once finished, I turn to him, and say while dashing for the door “Race ya!”
Halfway down the stairs I thought I felt a breeze whip by my shoulder. I ignored it. Once I reached the table however, pops was already there sipping tea! He beat me again! I couldn’t believe it! I drooped my body in defeat jokingly.
I sit at my usual place at the table. My mom hands me my usual Saturday breakfast-her famous pancakes! “Yum!” I exclaim while digging into the breakfast of mine. Soon as I was finished, I went outside with my dad to train. I did better than usual, which was a little odd, but we seized the moment and managed to train for much longer than usual! It was so much longer that when we came back in it was two hours later than usual! Then I trained offense with my mom, and once again, I managed to go longer than I normally could! We trained all the way through until it was time for me to get on the games! However, as I was heading upstairs, my dad stopped me.
“Hang on Killer! Remember, your check-up with Mr. Merlanario is today.”
I nod. “I know.”
“And it is in about thirty minutes so we need to get going now.”
I sigh. “Oh, alright…” I say in reluctance.

Later, in Rougeport…

I sit quietly and still in the chair as the blue robed magician does his thing. His hands are going around me like he was actually scanning me or something. After he is done, he goes back to his book on the table next to the crystal ball, and opens it. He flips through a few pages and stops on another. He uses his fingers to scan through the different words on the page and says “Ah-ha!” when he finds what he was looking for. “Here it is!” He says.
We both ask what, me and my dad that is, to what the “it” he is referring to, actually is.
“Why, your boy’s power of course!”
We gasp softly, not really surprised but still in shock that I actually DO have a power, and ask what it is.
“Well, Mr. Koops, you say that your wife is a martial arts expert, am I right?”
My dad nods.
“And that you are a Psychic, correct?”
Again he nods.
“Then that explains it! His physical condition is so high due to his mother’s side, and his mental area, from yours.”
He nods again. “Go on…” He says while waving his arm in a circular motion.
“Well, unlike you in particular, his possesses psychic qualities. However!” He says this while raising his arm and pointing into the air for a dramatic effect. “His particular ability you say you have never had!”
Dad gasps and immediately asks what it is.
“My dear boy, you have a gift!” He leans down to my eye-level and continues. “You, my friend, are a Seer!”
I scoff. “A what?”
“A Seer! A psychic of particular quality that can’t attack with his or her power, because that power only works for seeing into the future. Do you understand that much?”
I grunt in annoyance. “Yep” I tell him with a slight anger in my voice. He simply chuckles.
My dad walks over to him and takes him into a corner for a private conversation. I can overhear them though.
“So” my dad starts off. “He can’t attack with his mind at all?”
“Not yet” the magician replies. “If he can develop his mind enough then maybe it could be possible in the future. But not right now.”
My dad sighs then returns to me. “Alright” he says, “let’s go home.”
I get up out of the chair and head out the door. My dad follows me soon after. We head home without another word to each other.

Later, back in Petalburg City…

I open the front door and shout “Lucy, I’m home!” and my mother comes rushing over from the kitchen. “Finally! Dinner is almost done! I was beginning to think you wouldn’t make it back in time!”
Dad chuckles softly and pats her on the back. “Now, hun, you know better than that. When have we ever missed your wonderful cooking?”
I sigh in disgust. I head upstairs while they continue to “schmooz” each other for a few minutes. I fiddle with my Rubik’s cube 5x5 toy while they continue on. I haven’t figured it out yet, but I am quite determined to solve this son of a beach.
My mother calls me down about five minutes later. “Killer! Time for dinner! Come on down before it gets cold!”
I smile and rush downstairs. Today was her hotdog and macaroni-and-cheese combination dinner! My favorite!
I slide into the kitchen and stylishly jump with a back-flip over the table and perfectly into my chair. Dad claps his hands sarcastically. “Bravo!” He says. “Nice one!” I shrug. Mom brings over our dinner. There is something I never understood about my dad and his odd foods. He is a human, like my mom, but he prefers Koopa Tea to normal tea and other odd things. Sometimes I think he is a Koopa…silly ain’t it?
Now that I think back, he didn’t eat nor act like a normal human being in some cases. He doesn’t eat normal foods, he doesn’t have the usual agility (he’s actually a lot better for his age and body shape) and most of all, he seems to stay up late every single night. I tried to stay up one time to see if he ever went to sleep, but I fell asleep before he did…
Well, at any rate, we live her peacefully. Just a semi-normal family of humans in a village of Koopas and a Bub-ulb living nearby. Although I do question my yellow skin…
“That was a good supper!”
My father complimenting my mother brought me back to reality. I finished my dinner already but I realized that I was just sitting there staring off into space.
“That was an exceptional performance me dear! You’ve outdone yourself!”
Mom blushes slightly. “Well, I did put extra love into it!” I facepalm.
I scoot out away from the table. “I’m full. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be upstairs in my room playing Halo against FloraGirl4521 on Xbox Live.” I walk up the stairs after putting my dishes into the dishwasher and turn on my Xbox. Halo 3 was already in it and loading. I put on my headset, turn their power on, and connect to Xbox Live.
Halfway into the war zone, I notice that the area around me was too quiet…I look around with my Battle Rifle out and cock it to a full load. I slowly walk into the area which is coincidentally perfect for an ambush, and about 10 yards into the canyon, I hear a cock of a Sniper. I sidestep just in time to dodge a Sniper Rifle bullet!
I quickly take cover behind a nearby boulder just tall enough to help me. I switch over to my Beam Rifle and take a deep breath. I come out of my safety boulder and take aim form where the bullet came from. I instantly see the Elite Red standing there and aiming and I let loose a lazer blast right to its head! He falls down from the canyon top to the bottom next to my feet; dead as a door nail. I hear a loud “NO!” from above my head and I take aim and shoot down another Elite of the Red team. He, too, is dead as a door nail.
I continue through the canyon, taking out snipers along the way, when I run out of ammo for my Beam Rifle. So, I switch it with one of the Sniper Rifles that the Red Team had. After all, they have a lot of ammo.
Once out of the canyon, I take cover behind a large boulder and wait. I knew that my rampage through the canyon would not go unnoticed. And sure enough, about three minutes later, I can see a squad of Red Elites running down from the hill up ahead. I wait until they go into the canyon when I sneak up behind the last one to go in and I stick a Plasma Grenade to his head. I then back up a bit. However, one of the squad members see me backing up, and tries to come after me. That’s when the grenade goes boom and they all get free flying lessons. With a deadly ending. I laugh at their carcasses and continue up the hill. I can see the team’s flag just ahead.
“This is just too easy!” I say over the microphone headset. Apparently their boss heard me. Next thing I know, I’m dead on the floor and it says that I was killed by a person knows as FloraGirl4521! Their team leader was there waiting for me to get there so she could sniper blast me from point blank range!
I toss the headset from my head to the floor. “DAMNIT!” I yell. I quit the Live scenario and pop out the disk. I put it up and start up my Wii for SSBB. I haven’t brawled anyone over Wi-Fi in a long while. But, once I started up the game, I noticed that it has been too quiet in my own house. I cursed, and my mother didn’t come up to tell me to watch what I say.
I pause the Brawl, head downstairs, and she isn’t there. My dad isn’t in the front room watching football either. I have a horrible feeling about my dream coming true.
I immediately run outside without a second thought and I see both my mother and my father panting heavily in front of my house. They both seem terribly beat up.
“Mom! Dad! What-“
“Shush!” My mother yells at me. That took me by surprise!
“But what’s going on?!” I yell.
Suddenly, a large booming noise is heard. Then another one. And another one. And another. I didn’t know what to make of this, but my parents apparently knew all too well what was going on.
“It can’t be…she can’t be alive!” My dad yells in fear. My mother looks over to him. “You mean…HER?” She says. There was so much emphasis on “her” that it was like she was actually scared! She’s never scared of anything! I’ve never seen her show fear before at least…
“I’m afraid so Rose. I know that power anywhere! It is undoubtedly her!”
“Who?” I ask.
“But wasn’t she buried beneath Rougeport forever?” my mom asks my dad with a bit more fear.
“What?” I ask louder.
“I thought she was…”
“WHAT is going on HERE!?” I scream. My parents look at me and then back towards Rougeport. The two of them stay silent.
“I said, what-“
“We heard you the first time” my dad snapped at me. I stayed quiet for a few more minutes when they took me back inside quickly.
They make me sit down at the kitchen table. They say they have something important to tell me.

Later…

“WHAT?!”
“Now, we know it may be difficult to comprehend this all at once…” my mother starts.
“Not that! I can’t believe that it all happened to you two! I didn’t know that you two had that grand adventure to begin with! Why didn’t you tell me any of it?!”
My dad sighs. “We didn’t want you to become a part of it. We didn’t want you to get involved with something beyond your power to control.”
I sigh. “But dad, if you would’ve told me about you being a Koopa to begin with, then I wouldn’t be so confused about my recent…well…”
“Recent what?” He asks me when I go silent.
“Well, to begin with, my yellow skin. Second, my sudden craving for Turtley leaves and their products. Lastly, my unusually high stamina. If my dad was a Koopa, then that explains everything!”
Dad clears his throat. “Yes, well, beside that point and back to the world being threatened one, we need you to understand that your mother and I may not come back. That is why I am sending you to an old friend of mine. You’ll like him! Trust me on this. It is for your own good.”
He gives me an address, a suitcase, a couple hundred coins, and even a few items. A Mushroom, a Super Mushroom, a few Syrups, and even a Life Shroom! I asked them how they managed to get their hands on it.
“Well,” my dad starts to explain, “my sister used to grow these. She gave me the recipe, in a way, to grow them just right. It took me a little while, but after a few years, I managed to get a few to bloom just right. The rest are for us. I only managed to get three to come out right and one is for you.”
I nod. “I understand.”
“Now, before I forget, take this Train Pass. I made sure to renew it every few years so it’ll work for you. I made sure of it. This pass will get you onto the train that will take you to a station between Rougeport and Poshley Heights. Its name escapes me…”
I nod again. “Got it.” I take the train pass and put it into my cargo shorts. I made sure to get as many compartments as possible that I could use for storing items and other stuff.
My mother walks up to me and my dad takes a few steps back. She hugs the life out of me and kisses me about 1,000 times. Nothing special or unusual from my family.
“Yes mom, I’ll be safe, and I will make sure to call you on my Shell Phone when I reach the train station.”
“Don’t bother” she tells me. “Use your ESi instead. My phone is at the shop being fixed. I have your fathers ESi with me so use that instead.” She hugs me again. “Just-promise me you’ll be safe.”
“I promise” I choke out.
“AND that you won’t try anything reckless or stupid!”
I stare at her. “Alright. I promise.” I say this with my fingers behind my back crossed. I turn away and start off towards the village gate. Once there, I make a mad bolt for the road ahead. I make it to the pipe and as I go down it I see my mother dragging my father behind her as she tries to give me one last hug. I wave goodbye as I twist and turn down into the sewers. I officially began my so-called epic journey!

[hydroxianchaos]

Silly Killer! The reason why you have yellow skin is because you've been watching the Simpsons too much! Now, we'll just pretend your father didn't tell you any of that.

[Prof. Zam]

lolz I am not using Killer for his referencing name. So far it is going to be Cody...

[hydroxianchaos]

Ahhh....

[Prof. Zam]

Chapter 2-A place to stay

After swirling about inside the green pipe, I find myself dropping into a large grey area. I land onto a moving platform. I hit it hard. I stand up, rub my backside a bit, and I look around myself. The entire area resembles something like ruins. Everything looked that way. I see a platform on one side of the moving platform and I jump over to it. I decide to walk straight until I either find someone or something.
I keep going. I jump over gaps, ride the floating platforms, and soon I make it to a large room. There is a very big door with red coloring and a golden trim. It has a very large hole in the center near the floor. I really don’t want to know what made that hole.
I decide to turn back and see if I passed something. Soon I run into another green pipe. I go up it and I come out in Rougeport’s east side near the wizard’s office that I was at earlier the same day. I go past it and into the main entrance to Rougeport near the pier. I see the noose swinging and I notice something. It seems to be very quiet around here, and that is very strange. Given this place is the largest port for thieves and crooks; you’d think it’d be bustling like never before, but instead it is quiet like a church mouse’s hole during the night.
I find the Inn and go inside. I find the bartender and I go over to the counter and take a seat.
“Sorry bub, but you are too young to get a drink here” he tells me.
“Hmm? Oh! No you got it wrong. I’m not here for a drink of that. If you have water or some kind of juice though…”
The bartender shrugs slightly at me and goes beneath the counter. A few seconds later he comes back up holding onto a bottle of some kind of juice. “I never thought someone would ask for something other than alcohol here” he says while shaking the bottle. “You’re the first to do so.”
I shrug while he hands me a glass of the juice. I take a sip and experience its flavor. Boy is it good! Apples, bananas, pineapples, and peaches, all blended together! Delicious!
“It's pretty good” I say solemnly.
“Just good?” He asks.
I nod.
“Well, tell me boy, why are you here?”
“Actually, I was about to ask you where everyone else was.”
The bartender stiffens a little. “You mean, you haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?” I say leaning in a little. He just got my attention.
He looks out the window behind me and checks to see if the door is locked. Then he leans in real close to me and whispers.
“Well, if you must know, they all booked it from town.”
“But why?” I whispered back. “I kinda figured that they left since it was so quiet…”
“Well, rumor is spreading about the Shadow Witch rising again.”
I gasp. This makes the bartender look back to the windows and doors. He is sweating and breathing heavily. He is obviously quite terrified.
“I heard that a young Koopa and his father managed to take her down and defeat her.”
I nod. “Yeah, I know this story. His name was Killer Keenan and his father was the mayor of a small village right?”
He nods. “That’s right.”
I smiled. I knew know that it was my father that it and that the story was quite true, but I didn’t tell that to him. I didn’t want him knowing I was that same Koopa’s son. It could cause some trouble that I wouldn’t want.
“Yeah, so from what I’ve heard, she is getting more power over time and is preparing an army to take control of the surface world. Our world.”
“Wow! I didn’t think that she was able to come out into the light though; I thought it hurt her.”
“It does! That’s why everyone left! They think that she has found a way to return and watch over her minions personally this time! I personally believe it too but I’m not about to leave this Inn unattended I can tell you that!”
I nod. “I can understand that. Speaking of which, I was wondering if I could rent a room for the night.”
He looks at me with slight surprise and anger.
“Just one night is all! I swear, after that night and a breakfast, I’ll head back out and be on my way.”
He looks at me for what seemed like an hour. Finally, he looks me over, and sighs. “Alright. Fine. One night, a breakfast, but that’s it! Do you hear me? That will be it!”
I nod. “Yeah that’s fine. All I need is a night and a meal.”
He sighs. “Well, the shops are all closed, and I’m not much of a chef…”
The door bursts open and the bartender dashes to under the counter and hides. I don’t even turn around. I hear footsteps approach the counter, then a seat turn around, then someone sitting.
“I’ll have what he’s having if you don’t mind.” I hear a female voice say.
The bartender slowly gets up, sees who it is, and sighs in relief. It was a little exaggerated.
“Oh thank god! It’s just you! I thought you left town along with everyone else Zess T.!”
I turn to my left to see a small toad with a red chef’s apron. She looks angry. She also has yellow spots in place of the natural green or red and she has a black shirt on under the apron.
“No! Of course I didn’t! My home and business are still here! As long as my home still stands, I’m not leaving it!” She says with some independence so emphasized that it is almost scary. Then again she LOOKS scary to begin with!
“Well then,” the bartender continues, “let me get you that drink.”
He walks over to where he set the bottle down and shakes it up a little more. He serves it to Zess T. in a small glass about the same size as mine.
“Thanks” she says. I could have sworn that she smiled for a slight instant when she said that. I must have imagined it though…
She drinks the whole thing in a single gulp. I finish mine with a few more gulps. She hiccups once. I snicker. Then I regret it with the look that she shoots at me. I then hide my face inside my shadow near my chest.
“Now, I heard you say that you needed a good chef” she says to the bartender. “Am I right?”
The bartender starts to argue that he didn’t say that, but seeing her look, he drops it. “Yeah. You got it right…” He sighs out.
Zess T. giggles. Yes actually giggled. As impossible as it sounds it is true. She then proceeds to jump behind the counter and opens a small door at the far right at the wall. It reveals a kitchen. I tell the bartender that I didn’t even know about that room.
“Neither did I” he responds. I look at him with a confused expression. He doesn’t notice it. He then turns to me a few minutes later and hands me a key.
“What’s this for?” I ask without thinking.
“It's for your room. There are a few beds upstairs and this here key unlocks the door to those beds. Its right up the stairs-you can’t miss it.”
I clutch the key in my hand and nod. “Thank you” I tell him as I get off the round counter chair. I head up the stairs and unlock the door. I open it halfway when I hear the two people downstairs talking. I can’t help but overhear them with my over sensitive hearing. I have my dad to thank for that genetic trait.
“Hey, Zess T., did you notice that boy’s odd traits?”
“Like what?” She asks.
“Well for one his yellow skin. It was as yellow as a Koopa!”
“So?”
“So?! How can you just say so to that?!”
“Well,” she pauses for a moment then continues, “I was a little too busy noticing his striking resemblances.”
I gulp. Was my identity discovered so easily?
“Really?” The bartender asks. “To whom?”
A long silence. Then she continues. “Well…I thought that he kind of looked like…him…”
The bartender gasps. “You mean THAT him?”
She must have nodded because he continued. “But, if that was true, then explain why he looks like a normal human!”
“Simple really. Remember Princess Rose of Sarasaland?”
“Yeah…”
“And how she fell in love with him?”
“Uh-huh…”
“And how he got a device to turn human so he could be in love with her so it could work?”
“Yeah…”
“So…put two and two together…and…what do you get?”
A long silence.
“Well?” she asks.
“So, you mean to say, that you think that boy is the offspring of Rose and Killer?”
“Yes! Exactly!”
“Pfft! Yeah right! I can’t believe that.”
“Suit yourself then…”
I hear the small kitchen door shut. Louder this time. The bartender sighs. I continue on into the bedrooms and see that there are only two beds. There is also a small lead in the ceiling that is dripping into a bucket near the stairs. I sigh and toss my stuff onto the closest bed and I get into the other bed. I quickly fall asleep in the comfortable bed. That is very surprising given the fact that…-yawn-…it is very…old and kinda…springy…too…Zzz…Zzz…Zzz…

I wake up. My surroundings are very different than the Inn. I know that I’m somewhere else. Yet, I feel strange. Very strange. I look around me. I am in a place similar to a prison. I see different cells with different creatures inside them. I get up and walk ahead past the nearby cells. They contain Koopas, Goombas, some Bandits, and all of them seem like the crook or sailor types. I believe they are the residents of Rougeport.
I continue walking, and soon I trip over a bucket making a very loud sound! But, I don’t hear anything. I look back from my spot on the floor and the bucket hasn’t moved an inch! I got up and went over to it. I kicked it hard. I felt my foot contact it, but still it defied any movement! “This is very weird” I say to myself, my voice echoing.
I turn back around and head through the door. I go to grab the handle, but instead, I pass right through it! I’m like a ghost here! “Cool!” I exclaim.
I walk through the door and see a long hallway on both sides of me. The door was on the side of it. I hear a muffled voice from my left. I can’t help but to follow it.
I follow the sound to another room. I enter it through the door and I see something that makes me gasp with horror. My mom and dad are sitting there in a suspended cage hanging by a chain. They are arguing with each other about something. I call out for them.
“Dad! Hey dad! It’s me, Killer, can you hear me?!”
My mom doesn’t budge, but my dad seemed to have heard me. He tells her to shush for a moment. He looks around and when he gets to me, and smiles.
I look around me, not seeing anyone else around, and I put a finger to my chain and mouth the word “me?” to him. He nods. “So you can see me?” I ask him out loud. He nods again.
“What are you nodding at dear?” mom asks him. He looks at her and shakes his head. “You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you, but our son is projecting his mind to here in order to communicate with us.”
“I’m doing what now?” I ask quickly.
“Projecting your mind form your body. You are part Psychic, and apparently, this is how. You can go anywhere you set your mind to. I say that literally. If you were to think of Fiji before you use that ability, then you would go to Fiji. It is that simple.”
“Wow” I say putting a hand to my chest. “That’s…unbelievable!”
“Well believe it or not it’s what you’re doing.” He says this while slouching back into the cage. “And I bet you’re wondering how we got here.”
I nod.
“Well, you see, your mom and I went off to battle an evil being. It’s so evil that wherever it goes, it spreads darkness and shadows with it.”
“The Shadow Witch” I interrupt. He nods. “Yeah, I know. I already have some rumors about her returning, and even able to walk within the light of the sun.”
My father stays silent with a look of fear on his face. “Actually, now, she can.”
I yell in shock. “But how?!”
“It is too complicated for me to explain right now. Go, go and protect yourself. Your mother and I can figure a way out of here by ourselves. Now go!”
I try to argue, but his face of anger made me rethink my thoughts. I turn around and walk through the door again. There was a small problem with me going however…
“How do I get out of here?” I ask myself. Suddenly the ground starts to shake. It opens up and makes a large chasm that I fall into! I scream as I fall into the never-ending darkness to my doom, when…
I wake with a start in my bed. I’m panting heavily and sweating hard like last time. “Whew! It was just another dream” I say to myself. I look at the nearby wall clock and see it is already eight in the morning. “Guess I’d better head downstairs” I think out loud. I get up and head down the stairs after grabbing and heaving on my backpack with all my stuff in it.
When I reach the bottom of the stairs the bartender stops me. “Whoa man! Where’s the fire?”
I tell him about my dream and how I believe that it was real.
“Wow. That was some dream.” He says this while grabbing the bottle of juice and shaking it. Good thing it was just that-a dream.” He pours me a glass of juice and slides it down the counter. I grab it with a single hand like they do in the movies.
“Yeah but it seemed so real” I argue. I sip my juice a little bit. “I even did the pinching trick and I didn’t wake up. But this is the second time that this kind of dream has happened.” I take another sip of juice. “By the way, any word on breakfast?”
He turns and opens the small door to the hidden kitchen. “Hey! Zess T.! Ya done yet?” he yelled out. She almost instantly rushes out the door and almost tripped him. “I said that when I’m done I’ll let you know!” She almost screamed back. She rushes back into the small kitchen and slams the door. A few seconds later we hear the bell to the front door ring as it opens. The bartender jumps down to hide beneath the counter again.
Like last time, I hear footsteps approaching. I don’t even look over to who it is. The person took a seat at the counter right next to me and ordered the bartender for a drink of water.
The bartender slowly peeks over the counter and sighs in relief. “Oh. It’s just you. Welcome back!” He grabs a glass and fills it up with the water from the tap. It has a Pür water filter on it. He walks over to the person, who I assumed is female due to his or her voice, and placed the glass down. “So, what’ve you been up to recently? Still hunting treasure I suppose?”
The person nods. I see that from the corner of my eye. “Yeah. I’m still after that godforsaken artifact.”
“Still?” he asks. “How long has it been now-3, 4, 5 years?”
I raise my head a little towards her. Next thing I know I am looking at her eye-to-eye. I see her bright golden hair brushed into perfect straightness down her head both on back and over her left eye, her yellow skin, and even her clothes. They resembled very much to Lara Croft the Tomb Raider from those movies I rented.
“What?”
I shake my head back to reality. “Wha…?
“I said what?”
I notice that it’s her talking to me. “What is it?”
“You’ve been staring at me for about three minutes. Is there something on my face?”
I blush and quickly turn my head back down to the counter. “Ohsorryaboutthat” I say quickly.
I glance back at her and I see her smiling. “Well, what’s your name?”
I don’t believe it! A female, that I instantly liked, just asked me for my name! This must be the best day of my life!!!
“Uh……..”
“You do have a name, don’t you?”
“…….” I felt ashamed at myself. I froze up on the spot!
Zess T. comes out of the kitchen holding onto three or four large dishes with lids covering them to hold in the heat. “Breakfast is ready!”
She places the four dishes onto the counter and one by one she takes their lids off. The first one was a tall stack of blueberry pancakes smothered with butter and syrup, the second one was a plate full of bacon and ham, the third one was a bowl filled up with various meats and dairies-it was kinda like a breakfast bowl or something…-and the last one had a salad.
“Bon appetite!” She said with happy satisfaction.
The girl grabbed the salad instantly and dug in like she was starving! “I see that SHE has returned…” she said with a little anger. “Is she back to eat me out of house and home?”
“No” she said after swallowing about a third of the entire salad in one bite. “I’m here for supplies, provisions, and if at all possible, a partner.” I felt a surge of confidence and happiness when I heard that last part. She must have seen it in my eyes or something because she asked me a question almost immediately afterwards. “How about you Mr. Shy Guy?”
I look around me to all sides. Then I turned back to her. “Me?” I ask pointing to myself.
“Yes you!” She said with a smile. “You seem like the adventurous type. You also seem to be quite strong…” she deliberately paused for me to answer apparently.
“Well, I am pretty strong” I tell her.
“And tall…”
I stand up straight. “I am pretty tall I suppose.”
“And handsome…”
I brush back my hair. “Well I am…wait-what?” I look at her confused.
“Uh, um, I said handy in some.”
“Oh. Well I am quite useful…”
She holds out a hand. “Then are you coming with me or what?”
I blush a little. “Well, I had a friend of my dad’s I was supposed to meet over in Poshley Heights…”
She giggles a little. “Well! What a co-inky-dink! I’m going there to see my folks!”
I look at her with a little shock. “What?! Really?!”
She nods. “Yeah! So you can meet your friend when we get there!”
I pull out my train pass. “Well, let’s see, when does the next train leave?” I turn to the bartender to say the last half of the sentence.
He turns to a piece of paper on the back wall. “Well, today is Wednesday…so…around noon should be it.” He turns back to me. “Is that alright for you?”
I go to answer but the woman next to me beat me to it. “No! We need to leave right away!”
I look at her with surprise. “Immediately?! But-“
“Not enough time! We’ll take my ride!” She grabs me while she says this and dashes out the front door. I can see the bartender shaking his head as the door shuts.
Zess T. turns to the bartender and asks “Do you think he’ll be alright? He is with HER after all.”
He doesn’t answer. All he says is “May she have mercy on his soul.” Zess T. giggles at it.


END OF CHAPTER

[hydroxianchaos]

Wow. Big improvement! You left a good balance of dialouge and action. I'm actually a lot more interested now! A reccomendation: whatever you do, don't stop.

[Prof. Zam]

Thanks man! Here comes part three.

[Prof. Zam]

Chapter 3-An old friend. A REALLY old friend.

She drags me all the way to the west side of town. I still haven’t seen anybody around here besides the four of us. Maybe what the bartender said was true…
“Here we are!” She says after dragging me towards the train. Surprisingly, it’s still being run. Toads can be seen in its windows and aboard the train doing their jobs. “Wait, you’re ride, is the train?”
“What? No!” She grabs my head and turns it for me towards the blimp. “The blimp?”
She groans in frustration. “No! Past that! That Motorcycle!”
I look and I just barely see a Motorcycle tied up next to the blimp. It looks like a one-person machine. “And exactly how are WE going to be riding on it?” I ask her.
“Huh? Oh right! I have a foldable side-car!” She presses a button on her keys that she pulls out and we can see a side-car unfold and appear. My jaw drops.
“Alrighty then! Let us get going already!” She continues dragging me all the way to the vehicle. Through the green pipe and everything. She tosses me into the side-car, jumps into the main seat, turns the keys to the on position, and floors the gas! We take off like a rocket and in literally a few seconds we arrive at Poshley Heights! My face has flapped all the way to the sides of my head from the extreme speed. I get them fixed and I climb out of the side-car. She immediately re-folds it just as I am out of it. It was a close call because she almost did it too early. It grazed my jeans as I climbed out!
“Here we are!” She announces loud enough for everyone to hear. Everyone turns around to look at us.
“Um, say, what did you say your name was again?” I ask her as we walk towards my dad’s friends’ house.
“I didn’t” she responds. “And you won’t know until we get to my folks.”
I sigh. “Fine. But could we stop by my stop first?”
She looks at me with a quick turn and a glare. I freeze in my tracks. “Actually, I thought that we would go to MY stop first.” Her voice changed to almost demonic in tone. I gulped in response. “Uh-yeah that if alright with me! Let us go there first!”
She nods and instantly changes over to a cheery personality again. I think to myself that this chick is getting pretty weird…but I like it!
“Here it is!” She says it so suddenly with a stop that I actually end up bumping into her. I look to where she is pointing and I couldn’t believe my eyes. The address said 451 Poshley Heights. I take out the note card with my dad’s friends’ address and it said the same! Her folks are in the same house as my dad’s friend!
“Well? Are you coming in or not?” She says as she pulls out an electric guitar from her backpack. She reminds me of someone from some short anime show…I can’t put my finger on it though…
We walk up to the door and she strums a short note on her axe but holds it for a few seconds. The door opens up shortly afterwards. A black Yoshi is at the door.
“Well well well! Look at who came back!” He comes out of the shadows of his home and into the light. I see that he has a reddish saddle, all black skin/fur/whatever, and his spines are also a deep red color. He has a glazed eye and a few whiskers on his chin. I can tell that he is getting older with every passing day.
“Hi Uncle Wesley!” I hear the girl say. My jaw drops through the dirt and all the way to China.
“UNCLE Wesley?!” I say in disbelief.
He nods. “Yeah. It's what she calls me since we are so close friends.”
My jaw returns to my country and I sigh. “Ohhh…I was thinking-“
“No!” The girl yelled. “Of course not! Are you freaky in the brain?!”
I went to argue about how I was the way I am but decided that it wasn’t a good time to do so.
“Well nice to see you again Maria. And who is your friend here? He looks familiar…”
I make a pose to resemble my father. I put one hand above my head and I crouch slightly. I face upwards in an epic pose as if I had just defeated a tough enemy. A few seconds pass by before Wesley responds.
“…I’ve got nothing.”
I fall to the ground anime style.
Mario clears her throat. “I found him over in Rougeport at the Inn. He said that he was coming here to find a friend of his dad’s.”
Wesley puts a finger so his chin in thinking mode. “Wait” he says softly. “Would you father be…by any chance...Killer Keenan the Koopa?”
“Well not much of a Koopa anymore. He likes to be a human more often nowadays.”
He instantly grabs me and lifts me up with a smile. “So! You’re the offspring that he’s been telling all of us about!”
“Mr. Wesley…you’re…crushing…me!”
He puts me down and I take a deep breath. I exhale with a lot of force. He smiles.
“So what’s your name anyway?”
“It’s Killer.”
He sighs. “He named you after his own fighter’s name?” He sighs again. “Sorry bud. You need a better name than that. Your father changed his to Keenan when he first set out and when he won at the Glitz Pit with the name of Killer Keenan the Koopa, the name just stuck with him. You need a new name as well. It’s a good idea-trust me.”
“Why would that be a good idea?” I ask him.
“Well, if anyone can tell that you are the offspring of Princess Rose or Prince Killer Keenan the Koopa and they were sent out to find you or they just hate your parents, then they’ll be out to get you. It is much safer to use a code name or an alias of yours as your name when out in the world.”
I nod. “I understand that.” I think about a name while Maria goes on inside the house. Wesley shuts the door and takes a seat in a lawn chair on the porch. “To help ya out, maybe you could combine two or more of your favorite things together-like a video game and a family member’s name. As long as it fits you.”
I think harder. A video game, a movie, family, a friend, a whole bunch of things flood into my mind. Then, through the flurry of random names that form in my mind, one in particular sticks out the most.
“How about…”
“Banana Boy?”
The two of us quickly turn to the doorway where Maria is standing. I glare at her.
“What? I was just joking you know!”
“Pfft” is all I can think to say. She giggles.
“Now, on a more serious note, how does Cody sound?”
My eyes flash a little. “I like the sound of it, but I don’t think I’d be able to remember it that well…”
“Don’t worry! I can!”
I stare blankly at her. “Oookaaayyy…suit yourself. I’ll use Cody until I think of something else that sounds better to me.”
She simply shrugs. “So Cody it is!” She runs back inside and shuts the door. I turn to Wesley who also shrugs. “So, what exactly is the deal with her…you know…excessive energetic ways?”
Wesley snickers. “Well, if you must know-“
“UNCLE WESLEEEYYY!”
He turns to the door. “Gotta go. Why don’t you come on in? Make yourself comfortable!”
He gets up and opens the front door to reveal a pretty fancy home! Right when you walk in and to your left is a large flat screen 3D TV and is hooked up with an X-Box 360 white and also that new special edition Mario Red colored Wii with bonus games. I found my jaw on the ground when Maria looked back at me from the television. “Ever played Brawl?” She asks me. I simply nod. “Well then, you wanna see if you’re better than me?”
That’s when I knew what was happening here. She was a brawler and she knew I was too. A challenge had been thrown down and I couldn’t possibly back down from it. I accepted her challenge request almost instantly. I grabbed a nearby GC controller and plugged it into the P2 slot. I noticed that she too uses GC controllers for Brawl. She went straight to the group option and I saw that all the characters were unlocked already! I immediately chose Wolf O’Donnell and she chose Meta Knight. When she chose Meta Knight I heard from behind me a gasp. I turned around to see Wesley.
“Oh man! Meta Knight on the first match! She’s serious!” He ran to the kitchen and opened the fridge. He grabbed a bud light and quickly ran to the reclining chair by the front door to watch us fight. He seemed quite into the fight and was whooping for Meta Knight the entire time during said same fight.
So, as soon as she hit start to begin the brawl, she chose the Final Destination level. Wesley made a sound that seemed to mean “you are in big trouble now” when she chose it. It began by showing me appear and then her. The countdown initiated. 3…2…1…
FIGHT!

Meanwhile…

“I am telling you, I saw our son, and you can’t change that fact.”
“Have you gone insane?! He doesn’t have any psychic abilities! How could he have?!”
Killer sinks his head. “Because, I did, and according to the Wizard, he can have psychic abilities in the near future, and what if that ability is being a Seer? Wouldn’t he then be able to project his mind and/or body into other places? And if so, then wouldn’t I be able to tell whether he was there or not with my highly advanced psychic power in the first place? Did you ever consider that?! Did ya?!” He began to soften his tone after yelling that. “Just…believe me on this one, alright Rose? I know I’m not crazy, you know it, and by god even she knows it! Otherwise I wouldn’t be in here with you in the first place!”
Rose, silent, looks behind her for some time. “You’re right” she finally says. “I should’ve known. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t such a threat.” She sighs. “I just hope that he is doing alright without our guidance…”
Killer snaps his fingers all of a sudden. “Maybe…just maybe we still can!”
Rose turns to face Killer. “Elaborate” she says softly.
“Well,” he begins whispering, “If he can project himself without any practice, then maybe I can if I try hard enough. It’s a bit of a long shot, but I think it just may be possible.”
Rose stares at him almost blankly. “But, how will that affect your older body?”
He shrugs. “Like I said, it’s a long shot…”
Rose turns back to the wall. “However” he continues and Rose turns back to him. “If I can find the right frequency of mind-waves for him sleeping, then I might be able to copy how he is doing it by studying that same frequency. Hang on a moment.” He shuts his eyes and inhales deeply. Then an exhale. Finally he sits perfectly still in a meditation like pose.
Inside Killer’s mind, we see a few doors appear before him. The left one is a yellow one with a happy glow about it; the middle one is black with a red outlining and seems almost evil; the last one is blue like a Koopa shell and has a golden border. He approaches the yellow door and peeks inside. He sees him, Rose, and his son all laughing with each other at a picnic under the great tree in some far-off flowery world. This great tree is laughing along with them. It also has a door at its trunk. Killer shuts the door and continues on to the middle one.
He opens it just a smidge when he hears a loud ear-splitting scream come from inside it. He instantly slams it shut and runs over to the blue door. He opens it up and sees complete blackness. He enters and the door shuts itself slowly.
He keeps walking on until he sees a small white light up ahead. He runs to it and notices that it is like an orb. It has several “doors” set on it, floating about inside it, and one of them looks like his wife. He taps it and he sees himself meditating inside an air-suspended cage with Rose. He looks at himself and notices that he, like his son earlier, is a light blue and white color schemed figure. He calls out to Rose but to no avail.
He thinks about this and returns to the orb behind him. He touches the one that looks like Wesley, his friend from 20 years ago, and it reveals to him his new house. He enters it by walking through the front door, literally, and he sees his son playing on a video game with a girl. He smiles. Then he sees Wesley to his right. He seems to be staring right at him. With fear.
“You two keep on playing. I got to use the bathroom.” He gets up and walks into the hallway between the couch and the entrance to the kitchen but turns around. He motions a “come here” signal to Killer who points at himself asking me. He nods. Killer runs over and hides behind Wesley who then turns around to face him.
“Alright, now I do not know how you are doing this, but you could have been seen by opposing forces!”
“What are you talking about?” Killer asks him.
“I’m talking about this!” He pulls out a piece of paper that says WANTED on the bottom. The bounty is over a million coins and the outlaw is…Killer?!
“What is this?!” He yells out by mistake.
“Quiet down!” Wesley tells him.
Killer nods in agreement. “Right.”
“Why are you here anyway?” Wesley whispers.
He explains that he is here to see his son.
“I don’t know if he can-“
“I don’t care! I said that I’m here to see him, not here for him to talk to me.”
Wesley nods slowly after several long silent seconds. “Alright. I’ll go and flush the crapper so they’ll believe I actually did go to the bathroom. I’ll be back in there in a few seconds.”
Wesley turns around and goes into the second door on their right down the hall. Killer returns to the front room and goes over to his son. He sits down next to him. He watches the fights on the television screen as his son and his female friend fight each other. Soon, his body begins to fade slightly, and he loses control of himself. He sees himself zooming through forests and deserts all the way back to his cage where he wakes up with a start. Rose was watching over his body and they hug each other, happy that Killer was still safe, and he tells Rose what he witnessed. His son is in a safe place for now. He stretches his arms out, lies back, and begins to rest himself. Rose smiles at her husband and chuckles. Soon enough, she too lays back and rests herself.

Back at Wesley’s abode…

The toilet flushes and Wesley comes back into the living room. He seems to be looking for something.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him. He says nothing and sits back down into his recliner. I hear the announcer on the TV yell “GAME” and I whip around. It shows that the winner was Meta Knight. “That ain’t fair! I wasn’t looking!”
“You should have pressed pause then!” She smiles at me with some competitive evil laughter. I glare back at her. I was about to pick Lucario when Wesley suddenly shoots up from his chair. I turn around to see what he was doing.
“What is it?” I ask him.
He doesn’t move. He seems to be trying to hear something. Both Maria and I stay silent. His eyes are darting back and forth around the perimeter of his house. It looked like he was scanning the area even though he couldn’t see outside the house.
Maria became a little nervous herself. “Wesley, what is it? Someone coming?”
Wesley stands perfectly still for several seconds before dashing into the kitchen. I hear him rummaging through drawers and cupboards until he yells “Ah-ha!” and comes running into the living room. He is holding onto some kind of necklace. The pendant is in his hand so I can’t tell what it is besides just a chain. He motions us to follow him into the hallway beside the kitchen and towards the restroom. We follow him all the way down the hall to the wall at the end. He holds the chain and what was in his hand up to the wall. A small design starts to glow brightly with a blue color. “This is a little escape hatch I installed a few years back in case someone I knew wanted me erased.” The wall rises up and reveals a staircase downwards. He motions us to follow him down. Maria goes first and then I follow her.
We continue going down for about ten minutes without stopping. “Exactly where are you taking us?” I ask breaking the ominous silence.
“To safety” is all he says before he picks up speed. I have to run to stay with him. By the time I begin to pant from exhaustion a slight light comes into view. This gives me enough energy to reach the room from where it is coming from. When I reach the doorway, the light blinds me as I enter, so I shield my eyes. Soon as my eyes adjust to the room, I lower my arm, and I see what I believe is another living room. It resembles one at least. To my right is a recliner facing a television. The TV is a large 52” flat screen with built-in speakers on the borders of the screen itself. All four sides and corners of it. Between the recliner and TV is a couch for three. It is virtually the exact same as Wesley’s living room back up the stairs, only significant difference is that it is all in a cave system. There are cave entrances that lead to a restroom, another to the kitchen, four to separate bedrooms that can hold two in the bed, and one last cave entry-way that leads to a large computer room. It reminds me of the bat-cave on Batman: The Brave and The Bold a little bit. A large screen with several smaller screens on all sides except above it.
As I walk around inspecting my new surroundings, I hear Wesley ask me if I liked it.
“Of course I do! But why did you bring us down here in the first place?”
Wesley walks over and sits in the recliner. He leans back and the kick-stand flips up for him. He motions for me and Maria to gather around him.
“I heard something outside. Something that I heard about twenty years ago with your father Koops.” He says that as he looks over to me. Maria looks at me then back to Wesley who continues. “I heard that same sound back when I was at the train station between Poshley and Rougeport. The same sound of little feet marching. Marching towards their next target. Marching to find their target and apprehend it at all costs…”
I lean towards Wesley with interest. “You mean those bean-people? You don’t mean them do you?”
Wesley nods. “I do believe so. The sound is absolutely unmistakable. Granted my ears are going a little…out…but I am pretty sure that what I heard was what I just told you.”
“How sure are you, exactly?” I ask him.
“……I’d say about 65% sure.”
When he says that, a noise comes from the staircase. Wesley positions himself next to the doorway entrance to the side, ready to attack whoever comes in, as Maria and I hide behind the couch. I tell her that Wesley may need help and that she should stay back while Wesley and I take care of it.
She scoffs loudly. “I can take care of myself in a fight thank you very much” she says sarcastically. I roll my eyes.
“Well I’m not saying you can’t. I’m just saying that if it really is who Wesley says it could be then you could get hurt really-“
“They’re coming!” Wesley whispers over to us. I look back to Maria and nod my head. She reluctantly nods back slowly. We hear the footsteps get closer and closer. Eventually they reach the doorway. I use a nearby mirror to see towards the doorway. I only see a silhouette but can’t tell what it is or who. The mirror distorts it too much like a circus of fun house mirror. It approaches the couch, and when I jump out I grab the thing and pin it onto the ground. Wesley was sneaking up behind it and when I pin him he grabs his legs to stop the flailing. Maria comes out slowly and turns on a light. We see that who we have pinned down is actually a Dry Bones. Weird thing about it though, is that it is pink in color rather than tanned. Wesley gasps when its identity is revealed.
“Wait a minute! Is that you Charlie?”
He lets go of the Dry Bones’ legs and he gets me off of him. The Dry Bones gets back up and brushes the dust off of his full body tunic. It is a deep dark reddish burgundy which goes greatly with his
Somewhat dark pink bones. “Thanks a bunch for the tackle guys. I really needed it!”
I am still in awe at what I am witnessing. A Koopa skeleton is talking to me. Let alone the fact that it is even moving on its own!
Wesley must have seen my expression because he introduces me.
“By the way, Charlie, I’d like you to meet…um…well, I never learned his name.” He scratches his head on the back. “What did you say your name was again, kid?”
I shake my head slowly. “I…never…said…” I say as I continue to stare at the pinkness before me.
Charlie clears his throat and I quickly look up to his face. “What, exactly, are you looking at boy?”
I feel a slight surge of fear of him and I turn my head back towards Wesley. “Oh nothing…”
“Well, what is your name boy?”
“The name is Killer. It’s the name my dad gave me.”
Wesley sighs. “I knew he wasn’t very creative with names or anything, but naming you after his own Glitz Pit name? That’s just bad…”
I look at him confused. “What do you mean?”
“I mean” he continues “is that he named you after himself. You need a different name to protect you from his enemies. Any ideas?”
I think for a bit. “Well, I’d like to have one that means something, so how about Ichigo?”
“You want to be called strawberry in Japanese?” Maria asked with a slight sarcastic tone.
“No. That is Echigo. I said Ichigo. It means Protector.”
“I think that name is taken already” Wesley tells me. Charlie walks over to the couch and sits down.
“Well, you are a good game player, you are fast thinking, strong, agile, so do you have any names that could fit to those traits?” Maria asks me. Part of me didn’t want to know how she found all that out.
I think even longer. “Nope. I can’t think of anything.”
“Well that isn’t very important right now” the Dry Bones beside me said. “What IS important right now is the message I have for Wesley. That is why I am here. It is about…that.”
Wesley’s eyes widen when that was said. He takes Charlie over to one of the bedrooms and he shut the make-shift door made of wood. I turn to Maria, who turned to me, and then both of us look back to the room door.
After a few minutes, they return to the living room. Wesley’s eyes are wide and filled with fear. “I can’t believe it” he says as he sits down into his recliner. Maria runs over to him. “What’s wrong Uncle Wesley?” she says while putting one of her hands on his arm.
He looks to his side at Maria and puts a hand on hers. “I’m afraid that one of my best friends, one I treat and believe to be close enough as a brother, has been taken captive by the Shadow Witch.”
Maria gasps. “Who? Who was it?”
He stays silent. Whoever it was must be important or something. Finally, after several long silent minutes, “Killer Keenan” escapes his lips. Maria gasps even louder.
“But-but I thought that he was the only one who could possibly stop the Shadow Witch! This is terrible!”
“So it was her that captured my dad?” I ask Wesley.
Maria and Charlie both whip their heads around to me and they both have expressions of shock. Maria walks up to me. “So…you…are the child of Killer Keenan and Princess Rose Mario?”
I nod. “Yeah…why?”
“Then you have psychic powers?”
I shrug. “I think so. I only know that I can project my mind or something like that.”
Maria stares at me with an odd expression that seems to say “I don’t believe it!”
“You alright?” I ask her.
She turns slowly and heads to a bedroom. I start to go after her when Charlie stops me. “I have some questions too.”
I sigh and flop onto the couch next to him. “Fire away” I tell him.
“Alright. First off, are you really his son?”
I nod.
“Okay. Second, why do you look like a human but have the Koopa’s skin color?”
I explain about the gadget my dad got from E. Gadd twenty years ago.
“I see. Alright, last question.” He leans in closer to me. “You like Maria, don’t you?” He whispers.
I shoot up off the couch and stare at him with mouth agape.
“I thought so” he says. “I have lived long enough to know love when someone nearby has it. And you, my boy, absolutely reek of it!”
Wesley walks over. “Now that is a little extreme don’t you think?”
He shrugs. “Maybe a little bit…”
I whip back and forth between Charlie and Wesley. I can’t believe what is happening here! “Is any of this really important?!” I almost scream. Right when Charlie was about to answer, the room begins to shake. Wesley quickly goes to a little panel near the stairway doorway. He flips it open and it shows a little screen. I can’t tell what is on it because of his body being in the way but whatever it was must have been bad. The look on his face went from worry to serious. He tells me to go get Maria and prepare to either fight or leave.
I go and get Maria from the room she went in without thinking and I immediately have to shut my eyes and turn around shutting the door! I must have blushed so brightly that it cancelled out the lights on the roof of the cave.
“I’m terribly sorry!” I say through the door. I am stammering badly. “I didn’t know you were getting dressed…”
“It’s alright” she replies. “I probably should’ve locked the door anyway.” She finishes with a small giggle. “What did you need?”
I gulp down my throbbing heart and try to erase the image I saw from my mind. I still couldn’t believe it. She seemed to be exactly the same as me. “Uh, Wesley wanted me to come and get you because we either have to leave or fight. That is all he said.”
“I understand” she says after a few seconds. “I’ll be done in a moment.”
I slowly get off the wall from where I was leaning and head back into the living room of the cavern system. I tell Wesley what happened. Except for the embarrassing part of course.
“She said that she’ll be right out.” I tell him.
“Okay. By the way, why are you blushing?”
I stay silent for a few seconds. “What do you mean?” I could feel my heart trying to jump out of my throat again. Then a bang from up the stairs. I run over to the doorway of the stairs and gaze upwards into the darkness of the stairway. I can’t see anything.
“What is it?” I ask Wesley.
He tells me that some bean-shaped people break into my home through the security system I set up. They must know that you are here. Either that or they are after me. Either way, we are both in trouble.”
Charlie gets up off the couch and walks over. “Might I suggest something?”
He whispers a plan to us as I hear the door at the top of the stairs break off and bounce down the stairs. When we understand Charlie’s plan the door has finished bouncing through the doorway down here. Wesley and I run towards the room that Maria is in and Wesley dashes in just as she was coming out. I see some shadows approach the living room from the stairway. I can hear the people reach the bottom of the stairs and ask Charlie if anyone else was here.
“No. I’ve been living here a long time now. There used to be a black Yoshi that lived here, but from what I have heard, he’s moved out. That was about five years ago.”
The people say that they need to inspect the premises anyways. That’s when I notice that Maria is still outside in the hall. So I dash from my hiding place from behind the bed, grab her, and run back to behind the bed just as some bean person walks into the room. I am stuck up against the bed with my arm around Maria from grabbing her to bring her in before she was spotted. My other hand is against my own mouth to prevent my heavy breathing to be heard. I can see the small man’s shadow as he looks around the room. I begin to sweat a little bit around my face when I hear him approaching even closer. I can see his shadow growing larger as he gets even closer. I’m sure that we’ll be spotted! But then I hear something. A voice from the living room. I can’t tell what it said but it made the man leave. I release a sigh of relief and turn around to Maria who is looking downwards. I look where she is and I notice what it was. When I grabbed her around the waist to pull her in, my hand slipped upwards when I got us behind the bed. My hand was now on her chest. And in a very awkward position. I quickly tear it away and apologize again. This time she smiles at me. “It’s fine” she tells me. “It was merely an accident.”
We both stand up and go over to the closet where Wesley was hiding. He is watching the living room from his little miniature command center for his security system. We see the miniature army of bean-people talking to Charlie. He turns up the volume so we can all hear what is going on.
A small bean person that sticks out from the rest due to his blue scarf takes a few steps forward to Charlie. “We apologize for the inconvenience. We are looking for someone and haven’t been able to find them. Have you seen these two?” He holds up a paper with two photos on it. Wesley zooms in on it and it shows me and him on it. The reward was a whopping 500G coins each! That is 1M coins in total! Charlie shakes his head. “I’m afraid not. But with that much money for them I’ll be sure to let you know if I find anything.”
“Thank you very much sir” the blue scarfed one says. He turns around to everyone else, who by the way are all wearing red scarves, and tells them to forwards march. They all start marching back up the stairs. Wesley changes the monitor to camera 3 and we watch them as they emerge from the top of the stairs and march out the front door on camera 1. Then on camera 7 we watch as they leave Poshley Heights all together by getting on the train. We wait until the train starts up until we emerge from our hiding places.
Outside, in the living room, we meet back up with Charlie. “What was that about exactly?” Maria asks him. I’ve noticed that she seems much more serious now that she knows my father. I don’t know if that actually changes anything, but-
“HEY!”
I jump out of my skin. “What?!”
Wesley waves his hand in front of my face. “Are you alright there? You were spacing out.”
“I’m fine. I was just deep in thought.”
“I’d say so” I hear a somewhat ghostly voce say. I begin to look all around me and then I see a shadowy figure by the stairs. I tell the others to look and Wesley’s eyes seem to flash a little bit. “You see something there?” I ask him.
He nods. “Yeah. Your father.”


END OF CHAPTER

[Prof. Zam]

Chapter 4-The Mission


I walk up to the shadowy figure and begin to whisper. “Are you really my father?” I ask it. It nods. At least it looked like it.
“Yes I am” I hear it say. It is almost inaudible. It echoes like some ghostly voices do right before they actually say anything. It is similar to an echo before they speak. “I am here to tell you that your mother and I are doing fine” he continues. “We will be breaking out soon. Hopefully, if everything goes well, then sooner than that.”
I smile. “That’s good.”
“And we want to team up with you too.”
I look at the shadowy figure puzzled. “Team up? What are you talking about?”
“I figured you’d want to take out the Shadow Witch. Was I wrong?”
I don’t know what to say. I don’t really want to fight her, but I don’t want her to win either. My silence makes my father continue.
“Maybe we can meet up and talk about it then.”
I nod. “That sounds good. Where can we meet?”
The shadowy figure stays silent for a while. Then Wesley walks up to it. “Any idea of a safe place?”
“Well, there is one, but I don’t know about it…”
I ask where it was. “The Glitz Pit” is what he responds with. Wesley seems a little shocked and asks why he would even suggest that place.
“Well, given the fact that the Shadow Witch’s forces are taking over the majority of this land, I assumed that a place not part of the land itself would be safer.”
I nod. “That makes some sense…”
Maria walks up to us between me and Wesley right in front of my dad. “Exactly how are you guys talking to Killer anyway? Ya’ll psychics or what?”
I tell her that it is too difficult and long to explain at the time. “For now let’s just try to get to the GP.”
Wesley nods and says he agrees. Charlie says he will just stay behind and guard the fort. Maria gathers her things up and says she is ready to go.
After we all get our stuff gathered up, we all agree on setting out the next dawn. We get a well-deserved rest overnight and set out at dawn as planned. We head out for the Excess Express station and the train is waiting there for us. Us and all the other tourists and riders. When we get aboard, the Train Employee at the door yells to the engine “READY TO GO” so loudly that I had to cover my ears. Wesley, Maria and I go to our cabin. We got our own: I got number 5; Maria got number 4; and Wesley got number 3.
After we each put our stuff away, we met up in the dining car and ordered ourselves some breakfast.
After ordering, we decided to sit at the same table as one another. That is when we began to discuss our terms of what to do next.
“…Obviously. But all we really have to do is get to the GP. After that we just have to wait for my dad. That’s when we figure out what to do next.”
Wesley nods.
“True, but what about what we can do until we actually get there?”
Before I could answer, the train begins to coast to a stop. The chef, the waitress, everyone that works on the train, all of them seem confused as to why the train has halted. The chef walks over to us.
“Ooh, mon ami, any idea why ze train ‘as stopped in eetz tracks?”
I shake my head. “Sorry sir, but I don’t.”
He shrugs and walks over to the waitress. I turn to Wesley and ask him basically the same question that the chef asked me.
“I don’t. But, this did happen once before. It was when your father and I had gotten on this train to look for any ghosts, and later in the day, the train was attacked.”
“You’re saying that we might be attacked at any moment?!”
Wesley looks over to the waitress who is panicking. “No, I’m not saying that, but it is true.”
Maria and I stare at Wesley. “Did you have to say it that loud?” I ask him, pointing to a nearby Toad, whom is now panicking. Wesley rubs the back of his head and laughs nervously.
All of a sudden, the lights go out. It’s like as if the whole train just lost all power. Wesley tells us all that he is going to go check it out and that we should all stay here. Nobody can really argue with him, what with him being a 6’ tall Yoshi with the persuasive power af a pissed off Mr. T and all.
About five minutes later, Wesley returns through the hatch on the roof of the car, just like he left. He tells everyone that he didn’t find anything suspicious. I look in the direction of the engine car and I feel something. I can tell that something isn’t right. I tell this to Wesley and Maria.
“I don’t know what it is but something just doesn’t feel right…”
The two of them watch me with anticipation.
“I’m going to check it out myself.”
Wesley scoffs slightly. I tell him that just because he didn’t find anything doesn’t mean that there absolutely isn’t anything. “So I’m going to go double-check” I tell him.
He shrugs. “Suit yourself.”
I nod at him in a sarcastic manner and then head up through the opening to outside. Once there I notice that night has already fallen. The time flew by at a surprising rate!
I walk past the cars by rooftop and I reach the engine car. I run to take cover next to the doorway to the actual engine itself and peer in. I see the Toad driving the engine, but he isn’t moving an inch whatsoever. I slowly enter the room, staying hidden from view, and I slowly approach the driver. When I get close enough I notice that he isn’t really in his right mind. This becomes apparent when he looks over to me and I see his emotionless eyes. That and the fact that his pupils and irises are pure white in color. I almost gasp but manage to cover my mouth so as it doesn’t escape and alert him to my presence. I was still in cover when he looked over, and even thought it felt like we made perfect eye-contact, I don’t think he saw me, for he went back to staring out the window ahead of us at the tracks. I slowly exit from my cover and approach the driver. I tap his left shoulder and quickly move to his right. I await his reaction but nothing happens.
“This is weird” I say aloud to myself. When I wave my hand in front of the man’s eyes, he doesn’t even blink. He doesn’t even budge an inch! “Screw weird, this is creepy!” I say aloud once again.
I turn to leave the engine car, when suddenly the door slams shut to the roof. I try to open it, thinking that maybe the wind did it, but it doesn’t budge in either direction. “What the heck?” I say aloud yet again.
“I’M AFRAID I CAN NOT ALLOW YOU TO LEAVE, MR. KILLER.”
I whip around to see the train driver facing me. He looks really creepy with those perfectly white eyes. They make me shudder.
“NOW THAT YOU ARE HERE, I CAN NOT ALLOW YOU TO LEAVE. YOU WILL BE MY PRISONER SOONER OR LATER SO JUST GIVE YOURSELF UP NOW, WHILE YOU STILL HAVE YOUR BODY INTACT.”
I can’t help but wonder what he is talking about. And his voice sounds familiar…
“What do you mean with my body still intact?” I ask him.
“IN OTHER WORDS, WITH YOUR LIFE STILL WITHIN YOUR BODY!” he yells at me.
After hearing this, I prepare to fight him. I take my fighter stance, ready to take him on, when suddenly he just collapses. He falls forward flat on his face. All that was heard was a loud smacking sound. I wait several seconds, and when the body doesn’t move, I run over to inspect it. I notice that something is on the man’s neck; its hidden underneath the jacket at the back of the neck. It is shaped like an odd star. Its corners are rounded, it has two small beady black eyes, and it has a furious face on it. It somewhat resembles the Beanstar, but a little more creepier.
I see that this little thing has a red light flashing on it on the top star corner. I flick it and nothing happens. I try to yank the thing off the poor man’s neck, but to no avail. Then, when I try to pull it off by wedging my hand beneath it between the neck and the odd contraption, the hatch to the roof bursts open. I whirl around and see Maria jumping in, followed by Wesley. They see the contraption on the man’s neck and I explain what has happened so far.
“…and now I am trying to get it off him, but it is stuck tighter than green on a shamrock. Any ideas?”
Wesley snaps his fingers almost immediately and he walks over to the driver. He inspects the machine, takes out a measuring tape and takes measurements, then he takes out a monocle when he puts away the tape. He gets really close to the machine, then nods, and stands back up straight. He puts away the monocle and takes out a black sharpie, with which he marks a small X on a spot on the machine. After putting that up, he closes his eyes, focuses, takes a few deep breaths, and then Karate Chops the X on the little gizmo. Nothing happens. We turn to Wesley, Maria and I, and he holds up a hand when I go to object.
“Hang on a minute. It’ll work. Watch.”
We turn back to the machine. Still nothing happens. Then, we hear a low rumbling sound, followed by a low cracking noise. As time goes by, the sounds gradually get louder and louder, until the little mechanical object cracks perfectly in half! I gape at the remains in awe. “How did you do that?!” I ask surprised, turning around to face him.
He shrugs. “You pick up a few things through a life-time” is all he says on the matter. “Now maybe we should try to get this guy some medical attention.”
Maria and I nod and grab each side of the train driver. We carry him to the dining car where everyone else is still waiting for something to happen.
When we arrive, everyone helps us get the driver into the soft light of a lamp. I notice it was made from a flashlight and a small transparent bowl with a gemstone pattern on it. This causes the light to go out in the shapes of each gemstone lighting up the entire car.
We place the man right next to the lamp and the chef walks up to him and begins to inspect his body. After several seconds, the chef stands up and sighs. “He shall be okay. He haz suffered a considerable amount of pain, but ze shall be fine mon ami.”
I sigh in relief. “Good! ‘Cause I think he is the only one here that knows how to drive this thing.”
As everyone begins to talk and figure out what we should do now, I walk over to the driver and inspect his body myself. I don’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
“…uuuuuuuuuggghhh…”
I almost jump back when he says that! He’s coming to! I let the others know and they rush over right away. They surround the guy and I have to push them away from him. “Give him some air guys!”
Everyone takes a few steps back and he sits up. “What happened?” He asks us this as he rubs his head groaning. “And where am I?” He looks around. “Wait…I’m in the dining car…on the Excess Express…and I’m the driver. So why am I here? And why are the lights out? What happened to the power?!”
He stands up really fast and then stumbles back down to the floor. The chef quickly runs over and helps him up. “You, mon ami, are, how you say, too pooped out. Don’t stress your body too much.”
The driver sighs and sits back down. Then he lies down on his back. He uses his hat as a small pillow. I tell him that I will handle everything until help arrives. When I say that Wesley pulls out a mobile phone of some kind and dials a number. He talks on it for several minutes.
“Hello?” He says when whoever on the other end apparently answered. “Sup man. It’s Wesley. We are, well, heh-heh, in a little snag here, and I was sondering if we could, I dunno, get your help. Yeah. Yeah. We’re on the Double E train. No, I meant the Excess Express. Yeah. Yeah. So you will? Great! Thanks a lot man. Yeah. Uh-huh. Alright. Yeah, yeah, alright I’ll see you then. Uh-huh. Alright bye. Bye.” He shuts his flip phone shut and turns around to us. “We have some help on the way. We’ll get this train going again soon.”
Everyone sighs in relief. The chef waves a hand in the air and says “oh” over and over like he was in grade school.
“Uh, yes, you” Wesley says pointing at him. “You have a question?”
He nods. “How will ze train be moving again anyhow?”
Wesley explains that the help that is coming will be flying the train all the way to Riverside Station where we can resupply and get some rest.
“But then, how, exactly, will ze train be picked up?”
Wesley smiles. It was almost a playfully evil one by looks…
“Oh, you’ll see how it’ll be…picked up…when they get here.” He snickers a little. I begin to have my suspicions about how this is going to happen.

Two hours later…

The chef, doing some crossword puzzles, suddenly throws his arms up and groans loudly. “Zis eez taking WAY too long! When are zay getting ‘ere?!” He yells this to Wesley as he stomps over.
“Be patient, young chef-walker, for arrive here soon they will.”
“Cut ze Yoda crap! I ‘ave ‘ad eet with you! Why, I bet my hat zat nobody eez coming at all!”
At that moment the train begins to move. We all begin to cheer, even the chef, for the movement. But then I realize something. The E.E. is in fact moving, but not forward. Upwards is more like it. I notice this when I see the sunrise outside one of the dining car windows as the cliffs and other landmarks move downward. I run over to the window and I can hear the sound of wings flapping. I rush over to the rooftop hatch and open it while everyone else is still dancing with glee. I look around after popping my head out and I gasp at what I am witnessing. ParaTroopas. At least fifty of them for each car. All of them able to lift the train together. I find this fascinating. Maria popped her head out too a few seconds later.
“Whacha doin’?” She asks me with a sing-songy tone. Then she sees the ParaTroopas too and gasps. “Oh-ho-ho! Now THAT is cool!”
After a few more seconds, I decide to walk out onto the roof, and Maria decides to join me. When I lend her my hand to help her up and out, she grabs it slowly, and I pull her out with ease. When she is all the way out she stumbles and we crash into each other. I blush.
“Gee, why are you blushing?” She asks me. I stay silent. She gets off of me, helps me up, and I smile at her. She smiles back. I look around and I see the gorgeous sunrise. It is as beautiful as a Double Rainbow. I gasp in awe when I see it and this causes Maria to look over as well. When she sees it she too gasps in awe. “How beautiful is that?!” She almost screams. I shrug. “It is absolutely beautiful. It’s the second most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” I tell her this as I turn to face her. She turns to me. “Then what was the first?” She asks me.
The words get caught in my throat. “Well…” I begin to say. I can feel the sweat running down my forehead as I try to think of what to say. “You see…it…was…” I look back up and I see her looking at me in such a way that it made my knees turn to jelly. Like that really squishy jelly that is incredibly easy to spread because it is so…whatever that texture is. She scoots over closer to me as the train passes another mountain. I lose my footing and slip. I land right on my backside and blush. That was so embarrassing!
She giggles a little bit and she jumps down into a sitting position right next to me. Her passionate look hasn’t changed a bit. I begin to tap my two forefingers together trying to think of something to say.
“uh-uh-erm-um-erm-eh-uhm-em” I say as I tried to say something. Then she put a finger to my lips stopping me. “You don’t have to say anything” she says as she gets even closer to me with that passionate look on her face. I started looking around me desperately for any escape route but nothing came to mind. She got ever closer, and closer, and with each one I scooted farther and farther away from her, until I hit the end of the car. As she corners me, I realize that I want to like-like her, but I don’t know what to do or say!
She approaches me even closer and then I try to evade her kiss attack. She still manages to get my cheek as I side-stepped her. She smiles playfully at me and at the same time seemingly upset. She stands up, turns around, and leaves back through the hatch.
“Phew” I say while wiping sweat off my face. “Too close.”
“Psst.”
I hear something. I turn around and see nothing. I shrug.
“Psssst.”
I quickly turn around to see nothing behind me. I look all around me and still see nothing anywhere. I shrug it off again.
“UP HERE YOU MORON!”
The raised voice level makes me jump and instantly look straight upward towards the ParaTroopa there. “Me?” I ask it. It looks right at me with a face that seems furious. I shrink back from it.
“Yes you! Now listen up!”
His voice reminds me of a drill sergeant at a boot camp for the Marines! I immediately stand up straight up and salute him. “Yes sir! What is it sir!” I yell back.
“At ease boy!” He yells back. I lower my hand and relax my body, but I remain standing and staring with determined eye-contact. “Okay. What do you want? What did I do to you?”
He sighs in frustration. You brought back a terrible memory-that’s what!”
I stare at him confused. He clears his throat and continues on.
“You see boy, I was once in your position before, and I didn’t grab the opportunity. My girl left me because I never sucked up enough courage and talk to her about going out or anything at all. As punishment for that, she left and we never saw or spoke to each other again after that…
He stops flapping for a minute and comes down to me. The rope he was holding on to for moving the train is now right by him, completely limp, and unmoving. He wipes the sweat from his work off his forehead. “Man this is hard work” he says. “Now where was I? Oh yeah! We never saw or spoke to each other again after that. She left my life forever and I regret that every single Hoover Dam day of my life. Now you, my dear boy, still have a chance with her, but not much time. Especially if she is anything like my girl all those years ago.
“You see kid, the subject her is Love. That’s right, I said it, Love. Now I lost my chance at it, and look at me now. I work at a friggin’ Wal-Mart as those guys who put up the carts, I live in a one bedroom and bathroom apartment with my male room-mate, and I have to work an extra job as a cashier person at Dillons on the night shift. Now do you want to have that kind of life? Do you? DO YA?!”
I shrink back from his yelling and gulp down my fear. I stand up straight, salute him, and yell “SIR NO SIR!”
“Then get you your assignment down there and don’t lose that girl! ABOUT FACE!” I turn around towards the hatch. “FORWARD MARCH!” I run towards the hatch and jump down into it. Everyone is still celebrating. All except for Wesley and Maria who are talking to each other. When she sees me she turns around and walks off towards one of the cabins in the next car. She walks right past me and I see her passionate look directed towards me and I gulp.
I run over to Wesley and ask what they were talking about.
“If you must know, it was about you.”
“Me?”
He nods.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, that whatever happened up there, is still between you two alone. But from what I can gather, and from decoding her little my friend has a problem talk, that you tried to dodge a kiss from her.”
I raise a hand to object, freeze in my spot, then drop my jaw till it dongs against the floor. I pull it up and put it back into place. “Yeah, kinda, but-“
“But nothing” he stops me. “She likes you, you like her, so why not let it happen?”
I try to answer but no words come. He chuckles. “You’re too shy.”
I can’t say a word.
“I see. Well, how about-“
The train suddenly starts shaking around violently. Then Wesley’s phone rings with the Benny Hill theme song. He quickly answers it and I can hear a voice on the other end yelling above something else from the other end.
“What do you mean we’re under attack?!” Wesley yells into phone’s speak hole. I can hear the other end say the next sentence.
“I mean that we are under fudging attack! Get your arse out here and help us fend them off! We have to keep hold of these ropes or you all die from a big drop!”
Wesley gasps. “I’m on my way! Hang on!” He runs over and out of the hatch and I can hear guns being shot! I rush over to the hatch when another passenger grabs my leg.
“Wait! Don’t go! What if they get in?”
I think it over. “Alright. Go get Maria. She can help to protect you all. I am going out there and helping Wesley.” I manage to pry my leg free of his grip and proceed out the hatch. I have to duck a wave of bullets of an odd sort just as my head peers out. Soon as the wave is gone I quickly jump out and shut the hatch shut. I run over to Wesley who has a whole snowball barrage sized pile of eggs with blue spots. I haven’t ever seen that kind before. I see him toss an egg towards some fast flying thing and it manages to hit it with a large and fiery explosion! So that’s what the blue eggs do!
I run over to Wesley’s side and ask what is going on. “We’re under attack by the Shadow Witch’s henchmen-THAT’S what’s happening!”
I gasp and look around me. I see that the quick blurs of things around us are indeed bean-shaped people. I don’t know how but they managed to acquire jet-packs. I have to dodge their blasts from their weapons which I figured out were lasers when they try to zap me. I managed to dodge them with difficulty. I know that I won’t last long. When I get cornered between five different jet-pack beans, I notice that somehow they seem to be moving slower. When the five shoot at me, the laser blasts seem to also be moving slower! I dodge the five blasts which ricochet off each other and hit each of the five bean people! The bangs that occurred were also slow motioned! I look at my arm as I wave it around me face, and it is moving at normal speed, which I find odd.
That’s when I realize it. My mother is a Ninja, so I must have inherited some of those abilities! I must be moving faster rather than them moving slower! I find this opportunity as a good one and I begin to jump towards one bean person. He doesn’t see me until I am already a single foot away from him. I smile almost evilly. I punch him right where the jet-pack straps are at and he plummets down to the lake below us. I laugh evilly and I use the jet-pack like a hover board and I rush over to another bean person. I jump off my hover board and kick the bean person on top of the head as I land. I use the momentum to jump over to the next one, and the next, and the next, until I land on the final one. I kick him downwards like Snake does in Brawl as a mid-air attack and send him spiraling downwards like a rocket. I use the time of contact to jump back onto the train. I land right next to Wesley and snap my fingers. When I look around me as the bean people fall down to their dooms, I notice that their speed is increasing. I am slowing back down to normal speed. When time has returned to normal, all the bean people have plummeted and Wesley is staring at me. I simply shrug at him and smile. Then I sing.
“GO NINJA GO NINJA GO! GO NINJA GO NINJA GO! GO NINJA! GO NINJA! GO, GO, GO NINJA!”
Wesley continues to stare at me while I do a little dance. I smile and then chuckle. I stop dancing and start laughing. “Hoo-boy! That was sure fun!”
Wesley shakes his head and asks me how I did that. I shrug. “No clue! It just started to happen and I seized the opportunity. Time began to slow and that is when I took my chance to defeat them all.”
“So how many did you defeat?”
I start doing numbers with my finger in front of me in the air. “According to my calculations, about…exactly 20.”
Wesley looks a little worried. “Huh. ‘Cause I only got 29. One’s missing.”
I hear the sound of a jet-pack and I turn around to see a bean person rocketing away into the distant horizon. “Yeah you better run” I yell at it. Both os us laugh and we head back inside the dining car via rooftop hatch. I look around and notice that something is missing. “Where is Maria?”
The chef walks up to me panting heavily. “Ze mistress…eez…gone…mon…ami…”
“Gone? What do you mean gone? Gone where?”
He pants more heavily and holds up a hand to say wait a minute. When he lowers it he continues talking. “With ze…bean guy…mon ami…She is gone…”
I look quickly over to Wesley who’s face is filled with horror. “You mean that last bean-guy with a jet-pack took her away?!” My voice intensified as the sentence climbed to a finish. The chef toad nods. Then the chef toad faints. Then the chef toad snores. Then I shake my head. Then I turn back to Wesley. Then I tell him that we need to help Maria. Then he tells me that he knows. Then I realized that I need to start speaking in better grammar and not start every sentence with the word then. Then I knew that I was right.
Wesley goes up top to talk to the ParaTroopas about changing course. He returns saying that they can’t change course now because they are about five minutes away from the Riverside Station. I nod and say that it’s fine.
A few minutes later we arrive at the station. The ParaTroopas put the train back down onto the tracks nice and easily. Soon as it’s safe enough everyone gets off the train and heads inside the station. Wesley and I follow them.
When everyone is inside the station we sit down in the main hallway. We all agree that something must be done.
“Well sir, I personally believe that you must go after her. Go, go and retrieve your lover!”
I stare at the chef blushing. “We are not lovers” I tell him in a monotone. He only shrugs. “Whatever you say” he says while doing so. My blushing slowly goes away while we continue talking.
“Well, we did have plans to go to the GP to meet your father. Maybe he would know where they took her or where their base is located.”
Everyone else agrees with doing that. “It sounds good” the waitress says to us. I reluctantly agree.
“Then it’s settled! We are going to the GP!” Wesley says this while standing up and picking me up to make me stand with him. “You ready to go now kid?”
I nod. “Let’s go.”
Wesley and I exit the station and Wesley flips open his phone and makes a call. I hear a phone ringing nearby. I turn around to see the same ParaTroopa from before bring out his cell phone and answer it. I turn back to Wesley and listen in. “I need you to help get me and one passenger to The Glitz Pit. Can you handle it Mr. Pain?”
I turn back to the ParaTroopa who nods while saying yes. I can tell this by reading his mouth or lips or whatever. I turn back to Wesley who nods and thanks him. The ParaTroops nods and says no problem. He hangs up and so does Wesley. I see the ParaTroopa get a few friends and they find a nearby barrel. Then another one. The grab them both and use their ropes from before to tie them together. Three ropes still go out and away from them so they can carry us. I walk over to Wesley and ask him a question.
“Yeah what is it?”
I fiddle my fingers together. “Well, if we are going there, then statistically speaking we may have to fight. Your name I think is obvious but what about mine?”
“You mean your fighter name?”
I nod.
He puts a finger to his chin and seems to think. “That may be a tough one to answer. Now, let’s see, you like games, you are fast, you are very agile, you are a little cocky, and you know how to fight in han-to-hand combat very well. How about…”
He stays silent while the ParaTroopas bring over the two large barrels. I climb in one and he climbs into the other one. They are large enough for us to sit down and get comfortable in but short enough to see where we are going. There is a series of holes in each side so Wesley and I can see each other and speak to each other. We take off towards the GP and Wesley is still thinking for a name.

Later…

It has been about three hours according to my wrist watch and Wesley still hasn’t said anything. All that I could think about is Maria. I tried to get her out of my head by thinking about something else, like the GP, but she always comes back. Then I hear the Drill Sargeant say something.
“GP is now incoming! ETA is about 10 minutes! Repeat: ETA to Glitz Pit is 10 minutes!”
I can barely contain my excitement. I am about to burst I am so excited. Pah.
I peek out my barrel and see the GP approaching us. I knew that we were going to find my father there somewhere. That’s when something occurred to me. How will he know that we have arrived?

END OF CHAPTER

[Prof. Zam]

Chapter 5-An unexpected snag



The Glitz Pit is coming up on us. As we jump out of the barrels, we land on the platform to the GP.
I walk towards Wesley’s location which happens to be smack in the center of the platform.
“Well? Where is he?”
Wesley shrugs. “I don’t know. Come to think of it, how is he going to get here in the first place?”
I shrug back. I didn’t know how he was going to but he said that he was going to. “I guess we should just wait for him.”
Wesley sighs. “I was afraid of that…”
I ask him why. “Because, the only place to stay on this mechanical monstrosity, is the GP fighter’s locker rooms. If we want to stay here overnight then we have to sign up as fighters.”
I am both excited and a little disappointed. “That’s…um…”
“You wanted to fight anyway didn’t you?”
I quickly nod. “Yes I did, but I also didn’t.”
He looks at me confused. I explain it further. “I want to fight, because it sounds and looks like fun, but I didn’t want to because of how long it would take and because I may get so into it that I may never come back. If you know what I mean.”
Wesley nods. I sigh in relief. I didn’t really want to attempt to simplify that.
Wesley leads me to the manager’s office. A man in a janitor outfit, I think he was the janitor here, was removing a tablet near the golden door. It said Jolene. Then he put a new one in. This new one’s name made us gasp. Apparently, just recently too, Jolene has been replaced by a new guy. A new manager here at the Glitz Pit. The new guy was, none other than, a Mr. Fred. I didn’t know who it was, but I recall the name from the story of my dad’s adventure. It was a guy that helped out my dad and his friends but somehow disappeared from everyone’s sight during the battle with Jeweltail.
“I don’t believe it” Wesley said out loud. “HE is the new manager here? HE is the new boss?”
I notice that Wesley is a little uncomfortable with this tidbit of news. I start to ask him why, but the door opening stops me. We see a small bean-like person wearing a red tunic that seems a little bit more like a cape. He turns around and locks his door, then puts the keys in a pocket on the front of his tunic, then he turns around and sees us. First he sees Wesley and his expression changes to shock. “Wesley? Is that really you?”
“Fred? The Fawful Clone Fred?”
“Wesley? So it is you! Welcome back to the Glitz Pit! Are you here to fight again? We still have your name reserved an everything is set up for your return.”
Wesley waves a hand in front of him. “No, no I’m not here for that. I’m here to get some accommodations for me and my friend here. We made plans to meet Killer Keenan the Koopa here but we got here a little too early.”
Fred nods. “I understand. Well, you know the rules, you have to fight to get any rooms.”
Wesley nods. “Yes I know the rules…”
“However, for you my dear old friend, you may stay here in my quarters for free. No fighting required! It’s the least I could do for you and your friends helping me realize the truth of my position twenty years ago. Please, make yourselves comfortable, and let me know when Killer gets here. I want to see him too. We haven’t been kept in contact with each other ever since twenty years ago. I would like very much to catch up with him.”
Wesley salutes him. “Will do.” He puts his hand back down. Fred unlocks the door and allows us in. After we enter, he shuts the door, and we can hear him walk off. I survey the room and it is nothing like I saw on that interview with Jolene on the television ten years ago. Fred must have already redecorated it to his liking.
To my right is the first wall with an airconditioning vent near the ceiling. It looks very identical to how it was before only that the color scheme has been changed around a bit. The brown desk was replaced with a black one, the wallpaper has been changed to a dark red, and…all in all, it was an awesome kick-ass looking room! It had basically all black with red highlights! It was very similar to a color scheme resembling Shadow the Hedgehog from those Sonic games I would play back home!
I check the place out while Wesley inspects the desk for anything suspicious. Or so he says so.
I am inspecting the wall opposite the desk, checking out the wallpaper, when I notice something awry. There is this one spot in the wallpaper that looks like it could unfold. I peel at it and a small grabable object is revealed. I pull on it and it unfolds into a large bed! There is another one next to it too! Two beds are available! This way both Wesley and I could rest up and sleep through the nights easily!
Wesley looks over at me as the beds unfold themselves and can’t help but be surprised. He walks over and inspects the beds. At that time Fred comes back in the room. “As I said, please, make yourselves at home. I can gladly sleep anywhere else. But again, please let me know when your friend gets here.”
“Sure thing” I tell him. Then he starts to stare at me. “What?”
He walks right up to me and starts circling me like a vulture. “You…seem…very familiar” he says slowly. I could tell he was inspecting me. “Well, trust me, we haven’t met before. You may have met someone that I know, but we haven’t met each other face-to-face.”
“Oh?” He replies and then pauses for a second. “And who was it that I met?”
I pause for effect. “My dad” I finally say.
He looks at me puzzled. “Your father? And who would that be?”
I smile. “He named me after him. You know Killer?”
Fred gasps. “YOU are his offspring?!”
I nod.
His jaw drops to the ground with a loud dong. “I don’t believe it! He, and Rose, actually…”
I nod.
“Amazing” he says as he sits on the far bed from the door. I walk over and sit on it next to him. He turns to me. “I just didn’t see your father able to do that.”
Wesley clears his throat. Fred and I turn towards him. “Wouldn’t you rather be asking his father about that instead of his son? It seems a little awkward this way.”
Fred stays silent. Then, “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry about that, um, what did you say your name was?”
I look at Fred with a slightly puzzled look. He must have noticed it. “Let me guess, like your father, you are going to change your name too?”
Before I could answer, some kind of a bell goes off very loudly. I jump almost out of my skin. Fred calmly gets up and walks over to the door and opens it up a crack so that we can’t be seen. “Yes? Oh it’s you again. What is it?”
I can’t hear who is talking to him. The door is masking not only the person’s view but their voice as well.
“I see. Alright, I’ll be down there in a minute, just tell them to hang on a moment and I’ll be right there.”
I can hear a very faint “yes sir” come from the door’s opposing side. Then the person shuts the door for Fred, who sighs.
“I’m afraid that I’ll have to be gone for a little while. Can you stay here until I return?”
I go to say that we were going to go outside to wait for my dad but Wesley answers Fred before I get a chance.
“Yeah we can. Go on, do your thing, we’ll be here when you return.”
Fred smiles at him. “Thank you dear old friend, and thank you for understanding.”
“No problem Freddy!” He says with a playfully sarcastic tone. Fred smiles back even wider.
“Ha-ha Westly, very funny.” And with that, he leaves. I was about to question the name changes, when I remembered something.
“Hey Wesley?”
He turns around to me. “Hmm?”
“He doesn’t seem like the Fred I was told about. He seems…different somehow.”
“So you noticed it too?” He asks me.
I nod.
“Then it wasn’t just my imagination. He shouldn’t be THAT friendly, even to me, heck, not even to your father. Something is up and I’m going to figure out what it is.”
He was grabbing the door handle when I got up and said “wait up! I’m going with you!”
He nods with a slight smile and opens the door for us both to depart. When I went to shut the door, I thought I saw something in the air duct on the right side wall. I thought I saw a flash of some king. I shrugged it off and shut the door all the way and ran to catch up with Wesley.

Meanwhile…

Alarms are going off in a large control room like room. We come up to an average looking man like those from FMA in Central with the security cameras. Tall, about 6’3; brown hair, a little messy or bedhead styled; broad shoulders; long limbs, both arms and legs; and strong seely eyes. He tells this much larger man, in both ways-wide and tall-to come over. He is wearing a grey uniform with some small badges over his right breast area, he has a scar over one eye, and one eye is brown while the other is a greenish color. He has white hair and a deep General like voice.
“Sir! We have a problem.”
The larger man walks over. “What is it Johnson? What’s the matter?”
As Johnson turns back to his screen as the larger man reaches him he points to the screen. It shows a black Yoshi and a human with yellow skin. “They’ve left Fred’s room. They’re on the loose. What do we do?” He turns to his right where the larger man is now leaning down on Johnson’s chair to see the screen for himself. “Well then, if you’re not too busy, get them back in there!”
Johnson’s tone changes to almost fearful but still strong. “But sir, we can’t do that, we don’t have his permission.”
“DAMNIT” he yells while pounding his left fist on the computer showing the two wanderers. “I HATE working for this guy!”
Suddenly, another man that looks exactly like the one at the monitor walks in through the doors. He salutes at the person in charge and begins to report to him. “The black aliens have taken control of most of Westopolis. We have unconfirmed reports of a black hedgehog in the vicinity as well and-“
Then another guy that looks like him walks over to him quickly and whispers something. The man’s eyes widen and his face begins to blush. “…Oops…” is all he says. “Sorry, my mind was elsewhere…”
“That’s alright soldier. Now continue.”
The soldier clears his throat and salutes again. “My apologies sir! I have unconfirmed reports that one of our intruders may be the offspring of…him.”
The larger man’s face changes from anger to slightly scared, then to surprise, then finally to evil happiness. “Perfect. Johnson!”
Johnson quickly turns around. “Y-y-yes sir?” he stammers.
“I need for you to do something for me. Gather as much intelligence as possible about our…guests…and then report back to me. Understand?”
Johnson nods. “I understand sir.”
“Then get going!” The larger man yells.
Johnson meeps in fear and takes off out the main doors after grabbing his jacket off the coatrack next to the door.
“I have you now Killer. This time, you’re mine.” The larger man says almost evilly while clenching his fist. He stretches the second sentence to say it slow and dramatic.
Behind him are two soldiers guarding the door. The left one says to the other “ya think he has been playing too much SEGA games?”
The other one snickers and nods. They immediately straighten up when the General guy turns around to see them. But soon as he turns back around they continue snickering.

Meanwhile, again…

“Do you have any idea where you are going?”
“Trust me. I used to be the champion here. I know the building’s layout like the back of my hand.” Wesley says this as he looks at the back of his hand. “Wait a minute, this is new…” BAM! “Ow!”
I snicker as I witness Wesley walk right into a wall while he was staring at his hand. He glares back at me. I stop laughing.
I pull out a small rectangular device and hit the on button. A holographic image pops up and a red dot is blipping. “Alright, now here we are” I say pointing at the red blipping dot. “Now where are you trying to go?”
Wesley walks over to the map and points to a small room. “Here. This is a secret room. It is hidden inside the closet of the Janitor. I remember discovering it during my first years here working on my solo work.”
I nod. “Alright. So we are here,” I say pointing to the blip, “and we want to go here,” I point at a small room with only one door, “so we need to go this way” I say as I trace a path. As I do so a small path of dotted lines appear as I trace our route. Once I finish the path the path begins to blink. Then the map shrinks into only a blinking arrow. It has become our compass.
Wesley nods and leads the way. We pass by some fighters as we go. One was a Koopa with a black shell and a bandana. He called himself Bane. He had three other Koopas with the exact same style behind him, only one was red, another was yellow, and the last one was green. They seemed familiar somehow…
I shrug it off as we reach the closet. Wesley tries the doorknob and pulls but it doesn’t budge. He struggles with it for five minutes before I ask if I could try it. He sarcastically says “go ahead He-Man, open it up!” I walk over, twist the doorknob, and push it open with ease. I smile over to Wesley who’s eye is twitching. “I have the power!” I say as I enter the door. Wesley only tells me to shut up. I chuckle after that.
Wesley shuts the door behind us and the room is completely dark. I feel for a light switch, but to no avail. Wesley pulls a small chain and alight bulb attached to the chain turns on. “They never bothered to upgrade the janitor’s closet” he explains.
“So where is the secret room?” I ask him. He tells me that there is some kind of lever. As we look for it I swear I could hear something. I tell that to Wesley who stops to listen. He says that he does hear something. He puts his head up to the left-side wall and listens more.
After a few seconds he tells me that he can hear voices. He begins to say what he hears. He even changes his voice to match different people.
With a deep voice he says “What do you mean you can’t find them!?”
With a somewhat scared softer voice he says “I mean I can’t find them on radar or camera!”
Back with the deep voice, “Ugh! You are useless! What good is a friggin’ spy if he can’t spy on someone without needing a friggin’ camera?!”
Then with the softer voice, “I don’t need them, I just use them to find them first. After that I-“
“I DON’T WANT YOUR EXCUSES!”
-meep!-
I snicker when Wesley makes the meep sound. He tells me to shut up. He puts his head back onto the wall but doesn’t say anything. “I lost them.”
I sigh and hit my head against the wall in frustration. This makes a broom fall, which makes a slight tapping sound. Then a small door opens up right next to me which I fall into. I rub my head as Wesley says “that’s what I call using your head!” I tell him to shut up.
I get back up and we head down the corridor. We can’t see anything ahead of us that is over 0.5 inches. We keep going until I bump into something. Wesley doesn’t see this and keeps walking right into me. This makes the wall that I bump into fall forwards. When I open my eyes I see a lot of people that look the same staring at me. All of them were the exact same except for one with white hair. “Oh crap” Wesley says when he sees the man in the grey uniform.
Then something hits me on the head. “Ow! That hurt you Andy Dick!”
I hear someone behind me say sorry. “I was trying to knock you out.”
“You were wha-“
Something hits me again. I black out.

“Ooohhh…did anyone get the tag of what hit me?”
As I come to, I ask this question. I hear Wesley near-by moving around. He must have been caught off guard of my coming-to or something.
“It was some guy with a pan. His nametag said Paul.”
I groan in pain. “Smart-ass.” I hear him “eh” as I go to sit up. I was lying on my back on some hard object. I rub my head as it pounds Axel F on a heightened tempo. “Was the friggin’ pan made of steel?”
“Looked like it” Wesley says in a smart-ass tone. I simply glare in the voice’s direction. Then I get an idea. I reach for my backpack and try to find my flashlight. Luckily they let me keep my backpack. I finally find it and switch it on. I look around. I am in a cell that seems to be decaying and breaking down. It resembles a dungeon more than anything else. I move the beam of light towards Wesley’s direction and a wall is there. He must be in a separate cell. I was about to ask him how we got here but then I hear a door opening up nearby. I quickly shut off the light and put it away. I hear a few footsteps and then the place floods with a deep red and amber light from some torches. I move to the bars after putting my backpack back on and I see the man in grey walking towards my cell. I ask him where we are when he reaches my cell’s door.
“That isn’t important right now. What is important is whether or not you are the offspring of Killer Koopa. Is this true?”
He seems rather calm when he is asking me this. “No I’m not.”
“Then explain your Koopa yellow skin on your Human-shaped body. Rose’s human body trait and your father’s skin color trait combined to create your physical being. Am I correct?”
I shake my head. “No. I don’t even know those people. I am from a different place than this one. I was on a visit to Rougeport when I heard about the spectacular fights at the Glitz Pit and I ran into that Yoshi guy when I arrived. He and I found out we had a lot in common and became instant friends. Did you know that he used to be the champion at the Glitz Pit?”
The man’s expression grows fierce and angry. “I will ask you again. Are you the offspring of Killer Keenan the Koopa and his spouse Princess Rose Mario of Sarasaland?”
I make a confused expression. “I’ve never heard of them.” I say this while shrugging for added effect. The man bangs on the bars and this makes me jump back a few inches. “Jeez! Don’t scare me like that!”
The man stares at me for a long time. I look behind me from either direction and then back to him. Then I look at my watch. “Am I really that fascinating to you?”
The man blinks. “I don’t know if you are what you say you are.”
“Then run a background check!” I say to him. He blinks again.
“For the time being, you and your friend will stay here. Don’t worry, you will have some freedom, but only in this room. I will unlock the cells so you can move around more. But you are forbidden to leave this room. Am I clear, Mr.-“
“Please, cut the formalities. The name’s Cody.”
He blows his hair up without moving his face. “Fine. Am I clear, Cody?”
I nod. “Transparently” I say with a hint of friendly happiness. The man stand up straighter and nods at me slowly. He unlocks our cells and leaves the room. He locks it from the outside. I come out of my cell and turn around to Wesley. “If we are forbidden to leave the room, then why bother locking the door?”
Wesley smiles and looks towards the door. A few seconds later I hear footsteps lead away from the door. Wesley sneaks over and puts his head up to the door. “…It is clear” he finally says. “But there may be guards outside the door.” As he says this, for some reason, my eyelids are growing very heavy, which is odd since I am not tired. “So we should stay quiet and whisper. Alright, Cody?” He turns around to me. He sees me fall down onto my knees, and then completely collapse. I hear him call out my new name as I begin to drift out into darkness.

When I come to, I am in some odd void of floating rocks and spinning platforms. All around me are flying strings of different colors. Yellow ones that move like electricity, green ones with leaves following them, blue ones that leave a white mist in their wake, and red ones that light up their vicinities. I stand up from my lying down position and I look around me closer. Rocks make up platforms and almost shrine-like areas farther off. It reminds me of a game with a purple dragon I played before, but I can’t put my finger on its name…
I walk around, surveying my surroundings, when I hear a deep voice similar to Sean Connery. “Welcome, young one, to-“
“Where the hell am I?!” I scream towards the voice in the sky. “And who the hell are you? Sean Connery?”
The voice stammers and clears his throat. “Uh, no, I’m not Sean Connery.”
“Huh, you sound just like him.”
“Well I’m not him.”
“Whatever…”
“Ah-hem…as I was saying, welcome young one to your ancestor’s training ground.”
I look around me at the almost empty void. “Training ground?”
“Yes. Your ancestors, the Psychic Protectors, would come here when they came of age to train their powers and abilities. Tell me, young Killer, what is your abilities?”
I hear my jaw dong on the stone I am standing on. “T-training…g-g-ground?”
“That is correct.”
“…Cool! My power is…well…I don’t remember what it was called, but sometimes when I fall asleep or rest long enough I am sent to other places of either my choosing or something else. I seemed to be able to see the possible futures, the present, and that’s about it.”
The voice doesn’t respond.
“Hello? Mr. Connery, are you still there?”
“The name is not Sean Connery. You may know me as the Scribe.”
“Scribe huh? Alright.”
“Your power seems to be that of a Seer. When fully unlocked, you will be able to se the possible futures at will. You will also be able to see anyplace at anytime you want. Say, like what is happening at home while you are on a vacation, for example.”
“So, what about seeing what is ahead some hallways when you are trying to escape from somewhere?”
“Yes, that too is possible.”
“Then let us begin my training!” I make a Karate starting pose. “I’m ready!”
“Now now young Psychic Protector, it is never that simple. You must hone your strengths and practice them for years before total mastery is acquired.”
I shrug. “So? I’ve got time.”
“Not as much as you think I’m afraid.” A portal opens up before me and shows the chamber where Wesley and my unconscious body are. Then we zoom out the doors and down some hallways to see the man in grey coming down them with a large machine. The portal then closes. “You will have to awaken before he arrives if your tale is to be believed. You must leave for now and come back some other time. Go! Now! Before it is too late!”
“Okay, I understand that, but one last question.”
“Shoot.”
“How the hell do I leave?!”
“Leave that to me.” Another portal opens up, this time only showing the chamber, and he tells me to jump in. I do so and I find myself in the same position as when I visited my dad. My body is blue and white. I walk over to my body and I see Wesley trying to wake me up. I lean down on top of my body and get into the same position as it and I swear that I saw Wesley watching me rather than my body. When I shut my eyes after getting into the correct position, a few seconds pass by and I open my eyes to see Wesley standing above me and watching me. I look at my right hand and it is yellow. “Good” I say without thinking. “I’m back.”
“Back from where?” Wesley asks me.
I look back at him. “It’s a little difficult to explain, but-“
That’s when I hear the doorknob turning. I quicky get back into a lying down position but change it so that I look like I’m lounging. Arms behind my head, hands keeping up my head, and legs crossed with the top one kicking out. Wesley moved over to his cell and goes back inside it. He lies down and pretends to sleep. Then the doors open after hearing the locks unlock. Twas kinda funny since he forgot to unlock the doors before opening them.
The doors open to reveal the Man In Grey and some type of a machine. It has some kinds of wires to some sticky pad thingies like people wear in the hospital to measure brainwaves and heartbeats. They roll it over to me and they put the sticky thingies on my head and chest. The scientist with the MIG explains that what these do is measure my heartbeat and brainwaves to measure probability of false statements. I nod saying that I understand.
They hook me up to this machine and the MIG pulls up a chair and sits in it. The scientist with him pulls up one for me to sit in. Then they drag a table over from a corner of the chamber and place the machine on it.
“Alright” the MIG says after everything is hooked up. “Time to see if you are being truthful or not.”
I shrug with an “eh” like it was as if I didn’t even care. I really didn’t either.
“To begin, what is your name?”
I shrug. “Which one?”
“You have more than one first name?”
I nod.
“Talking will measure truths more accurately.”
“Yes I do have more than one first name.”
He quickly turns to the needle and it isn’t moving the considerate amount to say I’m lying. “Alright, let’s go with the name that you use the most.”
“Cody.”
The MIG turns again to the needle which doesn’t say lie. “Alright, Cody, where are you from?”
“Isn’t that a little too private?”
“I’m afraid not Cody. We need to know everything that we need to know from you, and that includes your hometown.”
“Hometown eh? Which one? The one where I grew up or the one where I was born?”
“Grew up will work.”
“Petalburg Village.”
The MIG doesn’t hear the needle speeding up so he continues on without looking at it. “Alright. Now, your age?”
“18.”
“Your father’s name?”
“He also has two of them. Which one do you want?”
“The one he uses at public events and such things.”
“Oh. His name is Carl.”
The needle moves slightly but not enough for it to be saying that I’m lying. “Hmm. Alright, so it’s Carl?”
“Uh-huh. Carl von Koopa IV if you must know.”
Again only slight movement. The MIO finds this a little suspicious. “Fine. So he is royalty?”
“He descended from it anyway. He gave up the throne to his brother, Cale von Koopa, so he could be with his love.”
“And this love of his, it is his-“
“Spouse? Yes.”
“What is her name?”
“Pfft. Is that one important? I mean,, you know my dad’s name, and it ain’t what you said it was before, so why do you need to know my mother’s?”
“Because we do.”
“Fine. Her name was Rosalina.”
“What do you mean by was?”
“She is deceased. Her name can’e currently be Rosalina if she is dead and doesn’t exist any longer now can it?”
“He has a point” says the scientist. The MIG shoots a glare at him and he shuts up.
“Anyway, was your mother royalty?”
“Do you think she would be if my father had to give up the throne to be with her?”
The MIG nods. “True…alright. How about this. Was your mother or father, in any possible way, a Psychic?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I never asked them.”
“So you don’t either?”
“Again, I don’t know. I might.”
The needle begins to move a little more than last time. “Are you lying?”
I put my pinky to my lips. “May-be” I say a little stretched out. The needle moves slightly faster. “I have some kind of an ability, but if it is a psychic one, then I don’t know.”
“What is this ability?”
“I talked to my local doctor about it, and he called it, being a Seer.” We hear Wesley snort in his “sleep” from his cell.
“A Seer huh? That is a Psychic ability.”
“I’m a psychic? SWEET!” I yell. This surprises the scientist and the MIG a little. It “wakes up” Wesley. “What happened?” He says.
“I’m being interrogated” I tell him. “Go back to sleep.”
“Nah. I need to get up anyway.” He gets up and stretches, yawns, and scratches his back. “By no means should you stop questioning on my account.”
The MIG stares at Wesley for a little while and then returns his gaze to me. “So you are a Psychic. That much is known. Now, how about this one? Do you have a girlfriend?”
I stiffen and he noticed it. “Ah! So you do? What is her name?”
“Well, I don’t know if we are…that far…yet…but her name is Maria.”
“Maria?”
“Yes. Maria.”
“Does she have yellow skin like you do?”
I can’t belive these questions! Does he know her? “Yes she does. Why does that-“
“And does she seem like the adventurous type?”
Holy crap! He’s hitting the nail on the head! “Ye-yeah I guess so, but-“
“And is it true, that you, Cody, are in love with her?”
I stand up immediately when he says that. “That’s not important!” I scream. Wesley turns around to look at the scene being created before him.
“Now that’s strange. Because, if I recall correctly, a Mr. Killer Koopa the Second also loves this same Maria person.”
My whole body stiffens even more than before. “Well, if he does-“
“And he does” the man interrupts me.
“Then I have some competition.”
The MIG smiles. “Ha! You wouldn’t stand a chance against him! He’d kill you on the spot! Have tyou not heard how ruthless he is? He’s the one that would hurt a fly rather than not; he’s the one that would kill a Goomba for stealing his lunch money five years ago; he’s the one standing before me in this very room.” When he says that I sit back down. “And he is the very same one that would like to kill me. Am I not mistaken, Mr. Cody?”
I don’t say a word. I just sit there glaring at him. I couldn’t think of anything that needed saying that I wouldn’t regret saying later.
“I’ve heard enough. Johnson, unplug him from the machine.”
“Right away sir” he says as he does so. “Crap! Uh, sir, this one on his scalp is a little stuck to his hair. It may take a little while to-“
“Just get it. I’ll be waiting outside. I can’t stand the smell of this room much longer.” He walks outside and Johnson makes sure that he is before working on the last sticky thingamajigger. While doing so he starts to whisper to me.
“I know you are really the one we are looking for, but I don’t want you to get captured. You have to escape before it is too late! You must escape before HE arrives to pick you up!”
Still a little shocked at what he is doing, I ask who HE was.
“You’ll find out if you are unlucky enough. Now this is a map of the area. You can escape through the ventilation system here,” he says this while pointing to a nearby vent and then continues. “And it’ll take you to this room.” He points out a room on the holographic map. “From there, you can follow the trail I left for you. You’ll know it when you see it.”
“But why are you helping us?”
He smiles and yanks the thing off my head. “To be honest: he continues, “I want to see the Shadow Witch taken down for good!” He runs out the door before I could ask him about said Shadow Witch. “So she is back” I softly say aloud. “I don’t believe it.”


END OF CHAPTER