Earthbound: Time Reflux

The Encounter

Ness awoke in a small sweat. Throughout the night, he felt so many pulses from outside and felt a huge one right before he woke up. He wiped his forehead with a towel and got dressed. "What happened?" He thought. Ness went down the stairs still pondering about the pulses, almost bumping into his sister on the way down.

"Good morning Ness! Still tired? You almost knocked me over," Tracy chirped.

Ness replied, "Oh, sorry Tracy. I'm just...thinking." He continued to the kitchen. Tracy knew something was up with him but shrugged it off for the moment.

Ness' mom was preparing pancakes for the two this morning. They were almost done when Ness walked in.

"Good morning Mom!"

"Good morning Ness! Did you sleep well? His mom asked.

"Yeah, mostly..." Ness couldn't lie to his mom.

"What is it?" Ness' mom questioned.

"Half the night I felt these weird pulsations coming from outside, and it made it kinda hard to sleep." Ness explained.

"Oh my," She replied, and then leaned in towards Ness and whispered, "Hope it was puberty!" They both got a good laugh from that.

"But yeah, it has been bothering me somewhat," Ness stated getting up, "I'll go check it ou--"

"After you eat breakfast," Ness' mom interrupted. "Can't leave with an empty stomach!"

"True," Ness agreed, his stomach gurgling. He sat down at the table with Tracy. His mom brought in the plates. Ness' mouth watered as his mom placed delectably warm pancakes on his plate and decorated them with syrup and a single half strawberry.

"Looks good, huh?" Ness' mom smirked.

"It sure does!" Ness replied, excited.

"Delish!" Tracy cheered.

Ness was the first one finished and told his mom he loved the pancakes and they were filling. He then grabbed his backpack and hat and walked out the door.

"Have fun son! Be home before 8!" Ness' mom called out.

"Hope you find something out!" Tracy shouted.

"Thanks! I will!" Ness replied. He set out find where those pulsations might be coming from.

Ness started looking in the forest near his house. It seemed the pulses were coming from everywhere around him, but everywhere he looked, there was nothing. "There's gotta be something...I know there is!" He kept looking, only to find nothing. The one thing he did notice was a small ripple near a large oak tree. He ran to it, only to be too slow. Ness saw another, and ran to it. Another? Too slow. Another! So close! There's one more! Shoot. Missed it. But then Ness heard a low hum coming from a field ahead of him. As he walked closer, the hum began to waver. Then he saw it. It was the biggest ripple yet, almost looking like a bright bluish hole. Suddenly, something leaped out of the hole/ripple! Er...was thrown out. The figure landed on the floor, limp. Ness slowly walked over to it, examining it as he walked. It seemed to be a boy around his age. He was wearing a red cap with a blue brim, a yellow and blue striped shirt with a bandana around his neck, and some shorts and blue tennis shoes. He didn't seem to have any injuries. Ness tiptoed closer to the boy, and poked him. No movement. Ness shook him lightly. Still limp. Ness tried something else. "Lif-" *smack*

"Uggghhhh, my back..." the boy groaned.

Ness was backhanded by the boy as he woke up.

"Well that hurt!" Ness grumbled. This boy was strong for one thing. "Are you okay?" Ness asked. Now that he was awake, Ness needed to figure out what exactly happened to him. "Can you walk?" Ness began to help him up but the boy stopped him. "Huh?"

"I'm fine," the boy answered. He started to get up and groaned a bit as he did. "Where am I?" he asked, looking around confused. As he stood, he brushed himself off and turned his hat opposite to Ness'.

"Nice hat," Ness teasingly pointed out.

"Thanks," the boy said looking to Ness, "Your's is nice too." he replied but then paused. Ness had also paused.

"You look strangely familiar..." they both said at the same time. They both just now noticed the similarity in their faces.

"Who are you?" Ness asked, genuinely curious.