Earthbound: Time Reflux

Unwelcome Intruder

Ness sat against the outside of the hospital, staring at the puffy, white clouds in the sky. A slow, calm breeze blew through his hair. The green grass swayed as the wind blew over it.

"Ness?" Ness looked over. It was his mom.

"Oh, Mom..." Ness looked back up.

"Ness, it wasn't your fault."

"Well not entirely, but I couldn't help him...and now he's in bad condition," Ness moped.

"You can't blame yourself for something you had no control over," Ness' mom tried to reassure him.

"I should've...I could've...I'm gonna take a walk," Ness concluded.

"That's fine son..." Ness' Mom agreed. Hopefully he would calm down a little more if he did.

Ness strode up the hill; the meteorite sat at the top. The meteorite had become a popular site after Lier X. Agerate made a billboard for it. It had been a while since Ness had scaled the mountain, this caused a nostalgic effect to creep up on him. When he neared the top of the mountain, the clouds slightly darkened, but he didn't notice. The breeze blew harder, and the air grew heavy. Ness peaked the mountain and caught sight of the meteorite. Memories flooded his mind from the beginning of his adventure... [insert flashback here]. Ness walked up to the meteorite; it was glowing ambiently. He put out a hand. Slowly, he reached out at it....

*click*

His hand was inches away...

*beep*

Centimeters...

*whirrr*

A beam bolted towards Ness and burned his leg. Ness yelped in pain and staggered back, away from the meteorite. A being struck Ness rapidly, so fast that Ness couldn't see it move. Ness received all the blows, smacked back and forth, up and down, left and right. The being jetted towards Ness. Before Ness could even begin to attack, it impaled his left arm. Ness wailed in agony. The being brought Ness close. Warmth radiated from its slender, metal head. It had a red hue and it glowed a soft maroon. It's shoulders had spiked, plated pads with a grey edge. It's arms were solid, yet they bent freely. It's chest was layered in several plates of metal, the edges of each visibly sharpened. On its chest lay a familiar symbol plated with gold. The symbol of the Starman.

"You have brought excessive trouble to our operations," the being stated mechanically. It spoke very clearly besides the metallic echo in its voice. "I have come to hinder your success in failing our mission."

"I...thought I scrapped you all...a long time ago..." Ness said in between grunts of pain. "How are you...still here?"

"We got...rebooted," the starman's voice deepened. It twisted its appendage in Ness' arm.

"ARRRGGGHHHH!!!" Ness cried out intensely. The starman seemed to enjoy his cries.

A small beep came from the starman's emblem. The emblem illuminated the starman's face. "It seems I must depart at this moment...but why hesitate to end you now?" The starman suplexed Ness over a ridge on the mountain. Ness flew through the air and landed roughly on the ground below. The starman hovered above him. "Bye, worst adversary." The starman charged intense energy. Ness flinched at the intense light. The energy radiating from the starman felt familiar to Ness. Then it hit him. The energy was the same as the pulsations he had felt from the ripples! Ness gasped in realization. "Oh no. Seems that was your last breath. Bye now." The beam blasted out and hurdled toward Ness. Ness closed his eyes and braced himself for impact...but felt nothing. "GRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Ness heard the starman yell. Opening his eyes, he saw he was enveloped in a shield.

"How...?" Half of the starman's armor was burnt; some had melted off. Ness saw not metal, but a flesh-like compound that was under the armor. "What the...?"

"Foolish child!" It clutched its unarmored spot, "I will return, and next time you will not have abundant luck!" In a bright flash the starman disappeared without any trace it was ever there...except for a small piece of metal that had come off when the blast hit it. Ness looked around curiously. He was suddenly covered in a warm green glow that he remembered seeing frequently during his adventure. His arm was fully healed, and all of his cuts and scrapes were gone. Ness smiled.

"Thanks buddy," Ness said sincerely, without looking back.

Ninten put out his hand. "No problem," Ninten smirked, "Now let's get back home. We have a new mystery to solve."