Chapter 9


	The Master Hand clenched itself in rage. Its orb in its chamber showed how Ness easily converted Paula back to his side. Worst of all, it showed that the boy was healing Nikana with a tiny bit of his PSI powers. Its own arch enemy that was almost killed in battle by its toughest soldier was being brought back to life.
	*NOOOO!* The Master Hand roared. *How dare that peep-squeak of a thirteen-year-old boy underestimate me?! No one screws with The Master Hand and gets away with it!*
	It paced around the room and began to think what else to do.
	*It seems as though that Nikana has trained that boy impressively.* The Master Hand said to itself, thinking out loud. *Very little of her fighters get a chance to go up against me. Most of them surrender before reaching the big challenge against me. No matter . . . I found little Ness' weakness, thanks to his girlfriend. I will crush him and his Earth with just one, small pinch!*
	With that, The Master Hand's hysterical laughter filled the entire chamber and it began to train for the real competition. 

	*		*		*		*		*		*

	After everyone was fully healed, the group headed into an elevator shaft and left the large storage room. The walls of the elevator were plain, dull gray with no colors on it other than some dull red stains which was perhaps old blood.
	"Isn't this a cheery place?" Paula mumbled and sat on the floor.
	"It's a long way up to our destination." Nikana announced to her friends as she pressed a red button. 
	"How long will we be there?" Jeff asked.
	"In about two minutes." 
	The elevator squeaked as it was operated and went up. Nikana leaned her body against the wall beside Poo, Ness sat beside Paula, and Jeff sat up against the wall on the other side of Paula and Ness. Nikana scanned the group and noticed how exhausted everyone was. It would have been morning on their Earth by now and the young teenagers had received hardly any sleep. It would be a big disadvantage for Ness to fight since he would not be alert to his surroundings, nor have enough energy or strength.
	"When are we going to rest?" Ness asked with a yawn.
	"That all depends if you win the battle against The Master Hand or not." Nikana replied. "If you do, you will rest in peace. If not, you will rest with agony."
	Paula rested her head on Ness' shoulder and closed her eyes. Then Ness said, "No, I meant when will we, not what happens after the battle. Is it ok if we rest in this elevator while you keep watch?"
	"I can try to do that," Nikana answered, "but if this elevator moves down or the doors suddenly open, I'm waking you up for a fight. I recommend that you rest now since we got a long way to go. You'll need it to help you fight."
	Ness showed a faint smile as he rested his head on the top of Paula's. Her hair was soft and warm like a pillow. He closed his eyes, laid his hand on top of Paula's and drifted off to sleep.


	The young boy later found himself standing in front of the burger stand in his hometown. Ness turned and saw some people walking down the street casually. He decided to visit his old school friends at the clubhouse and headed behind the Onett Public Library. A boy stood near the entrance of the clubhouse to keep a watch. As Ness approached, the boy frowned.
	"Hey Mike." Said Ness as his smile disappeared. "What's wrong?"
	"You mean you don't know or have you got past of your girlfriend's, Jeff's, and Poo's death?" Mike asked.
	"WHAT?!" Ness exclaimed. "What are you talking about?"
	"Are you feeling ok? Don't you recall a large glove killing them? You witnessed their death yourself!"
	Ness shook his head and decided to teleport to Threed. As he got there, he ran to the graveyard and spotted four new graves. One tombstone read, "Prince Poo dies with his country's honor." The next read, "R.I.P. Jeff Andonuts. Snow Wood would never forget your early successes in the past.". Another grave said, "In loving memory lies sweet Paula Polestar. May her soul watch over the young children."
	However, there was one grave that hasn't been dug up yet. There was an open casket in the hole, but no corpse was contained inside. In horror, Ness read it slowly:
	"Here lives Earth's hero, Ness. He will be the next to die after his friends."
	Ness heart leaped in fear. The graves were so realistic that he wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not. As the boy turned, The Master Hand was right behind him! It flicked him into the open casket and Ness yelped in surprise. He saw the casket closing, locking him inside.

	Ness snapped awake and began to gasp for air. He startled Paula as she blinked her blue eyes open. Nikana stood from the elevator floor and pushed a button on the control panel. The door swung open and revealed a hallway. 
	"It's time to go." She said as she helped Jeff and the others to their feet. "You've slept for three hours which should be plenty enough."
	"Already?" Ness yawned as he stretched his legs and arms out.
	"This cannot wait any longer or The Master Hand will easily defeat you. It is time to save the world and the universe, Ness."
	"Well isn't that a response what my mother should say to me for now on." Ness mumbled as he pulled himself up from the floor, helped Paula to her feet, and walked out of the elevator with his friends.
	There was a hallway that stretched endlessly from left to right. The walls, even the floor and the ceiling of the hallway was clean white. On the ends of the hallway, the room on the right was pitch black as the left showed a royal blue room.
	"Which way do we go?" Paula asked.
	"We will take the left as Ness will proceed to the right."
	Jeff, Paula, and Poo turned and shot a stunned look at her.
	"Why can't I go with Ness?" Paula whined. 
	"That's the reason why we came with you and Ness." Jeff replied. "We want to help and watch the battle."
	"Ness has asked me a favor and we had made a back up plan." Nikana said. "I'm sorry, but you all except for Ness must come with me. If anything were to happen him, it could certainly happen to all of you. If Ness fails, you all would automatically become slaves. He has asked me to help you all flee from your Earth and this place if anything were to go wrong."
	"I'm not leaving Ness." Paula said with determination. "If he goes, then I go with him."
	"No Paula," Ness said. "You must . . . go with Nikana. That's the best thing you can do for me. It's also the best thing for every one of my friends to do as a favor of mine."
	Paula shot a horrified look at Ness, not believing what he said. Poo shook his head and said "I'm going with Ness and help defeat The Master Hand."
	"Poo, just do-" Ness said but was rudely interrupted.
	"No Ness," Poo said with confidence. "I am going with you and to help battle The Master Hand on the behalf of my country. I cannot run away and not do anything to help defend the world and the land I rule on. Dalaam is my responsibility and I cannot allow it to be destroyed, and the same goes for the world."
	Everyone was silent at Poo's point. Finally, Nikana said, "Ok, I respect the excuse, Poo. That I can't have control over and you know what you must do. You may go with Ness. Jeff, Paula, you must come with me into The Master Hand's chamber."
	Nikana turned to Ness and stared at the boy. She offered a hand as Ness took it and shook it.
	"Good luck, Ness." The girl wished him and slowly cracked a rare smile. "I will promise to do the best to help destroy The Master Hand for you. Don't you ever feel easily discouraged while fighting."
	"Thanks," he replied and turned toward Paula. 
	Her eyes grew more sadden than Nikana's as she stared at Ness. The boy slipped his backpack off and opened it. Paula watched him curiously as he pulled out an old, dirty baseball.
	"Here's a small present from me." Ness said as he handed the ball to Paula. "You keep it in case I don't return. Go with Nikana and help me fight that Dirt Bag."
	Paula nodded as she hugged him a farewell. The boy hugged back and whispered, "Wish me luck."
	"I will . . ." Paula whispered back as they released each other.
	Nikana, Paula, and Jeff turned and headed down the hallway to the left as Ness and Poo walked the opposite direction. Ness and Paula glanced back at each other as they headed toward their separate ways. Nikana comfortably placed a cold hand on top of Paula's shoulder and urged her to not look back. Poo suddenly stopped and looked around. Ness glanced at the young prince with a confused look.
	"Something isn't right here." Poo said and stared back at Nikana, Paula, and Jeff.
	*Indeed you are correct, Prince Poo of Dalaam.* Said and evil, taunting, telepathic voice.
	Nikana, Jeff, and Paula quickly turned and shot an alarmed look at Poo and Ness. The white hallway faded as if it were a hologram and the floor they stood on was a levitated platform, with a deep, dark pit below it.
	"The whole thing was a trap!" Nikana shouted in shock. "D*** you, Master Hand! D*** you straight to Hell!"
	Suddenly, purple glass shoots up from the ground and surrounded Jeff, Paula and Nikana. Paula shrieked with fear as Jeff yelped with surprised. The glass caged the three young teenagers as captive prisoners.
	Ness and Poo ran to the glass cage frantically to help free their friends, but something slammed them in the back. The boys fell face flat on the floor. Ness heard Paula screamed in the cage and he quickly picked himself up. He helped Poo up and then turned to find who had shoved them. An enormous, white, floating object that had five fingers stood before the fighters. It was Ness' challenger, The Master Hand itself.
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