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Part I-The Argument Chapter I The Letter On one such of these weekends, Paula was hurrying to Onett as fast as she could, for she was already late. When she arrived, she was surprised, because apparently, Ness was, too. Paula started walking around, wondering how he could be later than her, since he lived closer. Suddenly, she heard a noise under her feet. She got angry at the thought of someone littering and stuffed the piece of paper she'd just found into her pocket to throw out when she got home. But then, she realized that it had writing on it. Thinking it might not be trash at all but a note from Ness, she began to read: Paula- Something's going to happen. I can feel it. If I'm not here when you arrive, it probably already has. It's hard to explain the feeling, but I know Pokey has something to do with it. As hard as it might be, you must remember our adventure and use your knowledge to your advantage. Good luck, you'll definitely need it. -Ness Chapter II The Help Paula jumped with a start at the thought of Pokey having something to do with Ness's absence. Even with he sudden anxiousness for her friend, Paula tried hard to calmly piece together what was going on. But calmness didn't come as she realized that Pokey had, in fact, kidnapped Ness, and it was up to her to find him. But she was not alone. Jeff was on his way to his lab in the basement of Snow Wood Boarding School when at the top of the steps he went into a kind of trance. He was hearing a voice inside his head, again, but this time he knew who it was. "Jeff," the voice said. "It's Paula. Something awful has happened! Come to the road between Onett and Twoson and I'll explain." Jeff snapped out of his trance and rushed back up to his room. He had to get ready to go to his dad's lab. Prince Poo was preparing for a trip to the Place of Nothingness. After completing his Mu training, the Prince of Dalaam often returned there for advice of the good of his country. Once he had gotten up to the top, though, it was not the Elemental's voice he heard, but a different one, one he hadn't heard for three months. "Poo! It's Paula! Something's wrong! It would take too long to explain it now, but I can if you come here. I'm at the road between Onett and Twoson. I'm counting on you!" The prince awoke from his trance and started immediately to concentrate on PSI Teleport b. -~@~- Paula was already at the meeting place by the time her two friends had arrived; Poo teleporting and Jeff making the trip in the Sky Runner(which, needless to say, crashed the moment it hit the ground.). They both rushed toward Paula and asked simultaneously, "What's going on?" then, "Where's Ness?" "That's what's going on," Paula answered. "He's missing. And I think Pokey has something to do with it!" She showed them the note she'd found. "Wow!" Jeff exclaimed. "So, what do you think we should do?" "I was just about to ask you that!" Paula said, then sighed and added glumly, "Great start..." "Perhaps we should go to the location where you found that note," Poo suggested. The other two agreed, and Jeff & Poo followed Paula to Giant Step in Onett. Chapter III The Portal When the three friends arrived at Giant Step, they were surprised to see that it's namesake was missing. Instead of a giant footprint, a huge hole was in the ground. They all stared at this scene for a while before Jeff spoke. "Well, Paula, you're the leader. What do we do?" "Excuse me?" Paula asked. "I said, 'Well, Paula you're the leader.' Do you have a problem with that?" "No, but...why?" Well," Jeff answered. "since Ness isn't here and you got us all together, I guess that puts you in charge. But only until we find him." "I knew there was a catch..." Paula said to herself. "Well, in that case, I say, let's go!" "Go where?" Poo asked. "Down the hole, of course." "WHAT?" Jeff cried. "Are you insane? Anything could be down there!" "First of all, Jeff, if you think I'm insane, why did you put me in charge? And secondly, I was just here a half-hour ago. No normal person could dig a hole this deep in that amount of time." "She's got a point there, Jeff," Poo said. "And Pokey's the least normal person I know." "All right, all right! So, then, leader, you'll lead us down there?" Jeff prompted. "Of course! Now, are you coming, or not?" And with that, the three dropped down the hole and began their search for their missing leader. Chapter IV The Fortress The tree heroes landed in a heap at the bottom of the hole, and even though it was broad daylight outside, no light dared enter the cavern. In fact, the place they'd dropped into had no light at all; it was pitch black. "Well, that was good," Jeff said sarcastically. "Where we are, no one knows, not to mention we can't see a thing." "Way ahead of you, Jeff!" Paula said as a beam of light protruded from the flashlight in her hands. "And you call yourself a genius." "Well, if I'd known why I had to go crash another one of my dad's machines in order to get here, I would have been more prepared!" Jeff said angrily. "But nooo! You had to go and be all secretive about it!" "Well-" "Well, if you two are quite finished," Poo interrupted. "and if you, Paula, would shine that light over here, I could figure out where we are." The argument ended abruptly and Paula handed over the flashlight. "We dropped into a cell of some kind. I'll see if the door's un-" "What do you think I am, stupid?" asked a familiar voice. Then it said, "Don't answer that!" "Pokey!" the three exclaimed at once. "Who else did you expect? I'm the only one who could've pulled this one off!" "Are you sure?" Paula asked in a voice that was sickeningly sweet. "Well...uh...of course I am!!!! Stop trying to trick me!" "But it's so easy," Jeff thought. "Let us out of here Pokey! And Ness, too!" Paula's yell echoed off the cell walls. "What makes you think I have Ness here? And as for letting you go, I will soon enough. But this victory is way too sweet to be rushed into." Although said, Pokey's last two sentences were never heard by the three captives. They were still dwelling on his first one. "What do you mean, Ness isn't here?" Poo asked angrily. "He's gotta be!" "He's bluffing!" Jeff accused. "He couldn't have been captured by anyone else. Giygas is dead! There is no one else!" "Ha-ha!" I'll leave you three alone to think about what I've said," Pokey laughed evilly, then left. "you know, maybe he's not bluffing. I mean, he did say, 'What makes you think I have him here.' He could be imprisoned elsewhere," Poo suggested. "That's gotta be it!" Paula exclaimed. "It fits." After agreeing on that, our three heroes then had to figure out how to get out to find him. They didn't have to wait for that, either, because Poo realized they had enough room to teleport. They were soon on their way to Winters to ask Dr. Andonuts's advice. Chapter V The Fake "My advice," said Dr. Andonuts when they'd arrived at the lab. "My advice is to search all of Eagleland for anything out of place. Search from Onett's video arcade to the flaming depths of the Fire Springs, from Happy-Happy Village to the Tenda's hideaway in Deep Darkness. Leave no corner over-looked and keep your eyes peeled for any sign of Ness. He is a shrewd warrior, but anyone is easily overtaken if not on guard. You must remember that, for you could be next." His last sentence made them all shudder. "Thanks, Dad, we-" Jeff started to say. But Dr. Andonuts wasn't finished with his advice, not yet. "And don't forget to go beneath Stonehenge. I've been getting some strange signals from there lately." The three eyed each other, because this news seemed promising. -~@~- "Promising my foot!" Paula exclaimed. "There's nothing here!" They'd walked to nearly the end of the Stonehenge maze and were now two rooms from the end. "There's no point," Jeff said glumly. "No one was here guarding the maze. Face it, he's not here." "You heard what your dad said!" Paula disagreed. "Search every corner! Leave no spot over-looked!" "But-" "But nothing! Don't appoint me leader, Jeff, if you're not going to listen to me. Now, we are going to the last two rooms whether you like it or not. Now move!" She didn't hear Poo sigh as she pushed her two companions into the next room. "Ah-hah!" Paula gave a triumphant cry as she sighted Ness in one of the capsules. "Now all we have to do is beat what ever's guarding this place in the last room and we're done!" "Show off," Jeff muttered as he followed her into yet another room. But this time, the room was empty. "The idiots left the entire place unguarded! All we have to do is break that glass!" Paula cried, rushing back to the previous room. Paula concentrated on PSI Thunder g and the glass shattered. Ness fell limply to the floor. "We're too late! That's why it was unguarded. He's already dead!" Paula said, horrified. "Not so fast," Jeff said. "Look." He took out a pocket-knife and, with Paula urging him not to, sliced through the flesh which turned out to be no more than wax. "You know, Paula," Jeff said. "if wax were ever alive, I'd be full of pity." Chapter VI The Separation During the next week, the three heroes looked in every square-inch of Eagleland, and, finding nothing, became disappointed. Or angry. Or both. "You know, Jeff, this is all your fault," Paula said accusingly. "If you had been better prepared-" "Better prepared? Better prepared? It's your fault I wasn't 'better prepared'! If you had been more open about what the heck was going on, maybe I would be 'better prepared'! But no! All you said was, 'Jeff, something happened! I need your help!' " That's not what I said!" "Is so! And you gave Poo the same message you gave me, right? So he can clear this up. Poo-Where is he?" Jeff cried, looking around. "This is all your fault!" "My fault?" "Yeah, you started the argument, so-" "Wait!" Paula exclaimed. "There's a note here!" Paula and Jeff- I would have gone crazy had I stayed one more moment with you two fighting. I'm sick of being the only sensible one there. See how you fare without me. You're on your own. -Poo Chapter VII The Captives "This is all your fault!" the two exclaimed at once. "That's it! I'm not going to take this anymore!" Jeff yelled. "I'm going to Fourside to look, and you'd better not follow me!" "Why would I follow you?" Paula cried. "An ant would be a better guide than you!" And so, the two former friends walked opposite ways from the Dusty Dunes Desert where they'd been previously searching; he going east to Fourside, she going west to Threed. It was just getting dark when Paula reached Threed, and she reluctantly checked into the hotel. That night, she was visited by a strange dream. In the dream, she, Jeff, and Poo were all standing in front of a cell with Ness inside. Poo held a key, but just as he was about to unlock it, echoes of Paula and Jeff's fights shattered the key. Paula awoke to find herself crying. -~@~- When Morning came, Paula rushed to the spot where she believed Ness was being held: the dungeon underneath the graveyard. She had no sooner gotten down the first ladder when she was grabbed from behind and shoved the rest of the way toward the prison at the end of the maze. Paula was pushed through the door, and, as she fell, heard it lock behind her. She had landed with her hand on someone's foot. "Ness?" she called out, quietly, but hopefully. "You wish and so do I," came Jeff's voice. "Jeff? You won't believe how happy I am to see you! But before I tell you my news," Paula said. "I want to tell you how sorry I am, you know, about blaming you for everything." "Accepted, and ditto. Now, what's your news? Do you know where Ness is?" "No, but I have to tell you about a dream I had last night. I think it might give us a clue," Paula said, and proceeded to tell him about her dream. When she'd finished, Jeff sighed. "The dream obviously means that we should stop fighting. It also means that because Poo had the key, we need his help." "I guess I could contact him," Paula suggested, then shook her head. "but he'd never come. We'd just be proving his point." Their talk turned from how to get help to how to break out of their prison. "Paula, we've got to get out of here, and fast. Hit it with everything you've got! Something should do it." Paula concentrated on PSI Fire W and they were soon free.
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