Time for an exposition chapter!
I guess I’ll also say that, while the chapters in these first few stories are very short, I make much longer chapters in later stories.
It’s one of the results of my improved writing and improved ideas.
XD Still though, these short chapters are a nice way to ease into the Gameverse, I think.
Chapter 5: Jirachi, the First Operative Nigel and Ava landed in GKND’s hangar after returning from Planet Flora.
“You know, I expected the Tallest to be a bit more… convincing.” said Nigel, having a hard time grasping them as the rulers of adult tyranny.
“Well, it just goes to show, you can’t always have high expectations.” replied Ava.
“Hey, I have to go do something.
I’ll see you later?” “How about we hang out tomorrow at lunch?” “Sounds great!
See ya!” With that, she ran off.
Numbuh 1 was about to head off as well, until he was confronted by Numbuhs Infinity and 74.239 (still in their Wisp forms).
“So, Numbuh 1, how was the mission?” asked Infinity.
“It went well.
Ava and I work pretty well together!” “Well, good.
Numbuh 256 will be happy to hear that.
She’s waiting to speak with you at the Star Sanctuary.” “Where?” “We’ll show you.” replied Gabe.
The Massive The Almighty Tallest were lounging around on a couch in their private chambers engulfing various snacks and watching T.V..
Orbot and Cubot came bursting through the doors.
“Sirs!” yelled Orbot.
“We just got a call from our undercover spy!
Nigel and Ava defeated King Croacus and blasted his broccoli mines!” Red spewed out some soda he was drinking, while Purple choked on some popcorn.
“WHAT?!” yelled Red.
“It’s true!” followed Cubot.
“Them there varmints made them mines explode like a teacher when some idjit cheats on a test.” “CRUD!
There goes our broccoli stocks!” replied an angered Red.
“Can’t say I’m surprised.” remarked Orbot.
“What was that?” “Uhhh, but all is not lost, it seems!
You see, according to our spy, Nigel and Ava have found one of the lost Star Pieces!” “You mean,” began Red, “one of the pieces that make up the Star Rod?” “That’s the one!” “Well, that’s perfect!” beamed Purple.
“That means we’re one step closer to making up the Star Rod!” “Only one problem,” began Red, “those stupid Galactic Kids Next Door have it, not us!” “Well, no problem!” said the wannabe cowboy.
“All we gotta do is find the rest of them there Stars before they do, and there ain’t no way they can stop us then!” “Maybe we could send Tak after them.” suggested Purple.
“She did recently take over Planet Secco, so maybe they’ll send Number 1 there to stop her?” “Yeah!
And if they do send him there, Tak could do away with him hands down!” “Ah beggin’ yer pardon, sire,” replied Cubot, “but y’all reckon Tak can squash them varmints?” “Yes,” replied Red, “Ah RECKON she can!
Orbot, where is his new voice chip?” “It’s still being repaired, I’m afraid.” “Well, tell those scientists to hurry up!
That cowboy thing’s getting annoying.” “Hey!” whined Purple.
“I like the cowboy voice!” “Well, I don’t!
It’s annoying!” “I told ya!” the two robots said to each other.
“Look, you two!” began Red.
“Just go get Tak and bring her here!
And try not to mess anything up, cowboy!” “Well, shoot!
Just gimme a jacket and call me a fat lady!
Y’all can count on us ta do this!” “Then go!” With that, the two robots saluted and took off.
The Tallest went back to enjoying their snacks and watching T.V..
“Hey, Red, that’s reminds me: didn’t that Nigel Uno kid seem a bit familiar to you?” “Yeah.
Now that you mention it, I do feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before.
But where?” “Hey, you don’t think…” Red stared at Purple, waiting for him to finish.
“You don’t think… he could be related to him, do you?” Star Haven The ship landed on a nearby star-shaped, blue island in the middle of space.
The two Wisps and Numbuh 1 stepped out with Numbuh 1 wearing his space helmet.
“Numbuh 1: welcome to Star Haven!
The most sacred place in all of Galaxia!” said Infinity.
Numbuh 1 gaped at the wondrous setting.
“Wow!
It’s beautiful!” “Well, you haven’t seen anything yet!
Let’s go to the Star Sanctuary!” As the three were making their way to the shrine up ahead, Gabe stopped Numbuh 1 and said, “You know, you can take off your helmet.” “But won’t I die?” “No you won’t!
Trust me!” Hesitantly, Numbuh 1 reached and pulled off his helmet and began gasping for air, until he realized he was breathing just fine.
“The air… it’s so fresh!” “Well, of course it is!
This is a sacred place, after all.
Now, come on.
Dimentia’s waiting.” Entering the Star Sanctuary, Nigel was awestruck before large fountain in the center.
The fountain was producing a small amount of water which flowed outside the shrine.
There was a figure sitting on the pedestal in the fountain: an infant-sized being with a white body and gold star head.
At the top of the small staircase leading up to the fountain was his Supreme Galactic Leader, Numbuh 256 Dimentia, kneeling to the Star God as she sang: O great star that shines so bright Hear that which I plea Stop this cursed aging blight Turn back the tides of time And give me what once was mine What once was mine… As she finished her song, she stepped out of her shoes and slowly stepped into the fountain.
The fountain and Jirachi began to glow, and some water slid up Dimentia’s body and seeped into her skin.
Once she was finished, she turned her attention to the bald Earthling standing in the walkway.
“Ah, looks who’s here!” She stepped out of the fountain and walked up to Nigel.
Once she was down to him, she removed her jester hat, revealing her long, black and white hair.
Numbuh 1 stared at her silently for a moment.
Without her hat on, she actually looked somewhat… pretty.
Wait!
Why was he thinking this?
He just shook the thought off.
Dimentia smiled at his demeanor.
“Anything you’d like to say?” “N-No.” “Even so.
Ahem!
Number 1:” “Numbuh 1.” “Whatever.
It is, with great honor, that I introduce: JIRACHI!
The maker of wishes!” She gestured toward the young Star God, who, in turn, smiled.
“Maker of wishes?” “Yes.
And this fountain is the legendary Fountain of Dreams!” “Fountain of Dreams?” “Indeed.
Ever hear of ‘wishing upon a star’?” “Yeah, when I was little.
Now, I don’t really believe in that stuff, anymore.” “Well, you should!
Because this place is the source of it all!” Dimentia levitated into the air.
“You see Nigel, children throughout the universe, long ago, used to look up at the stars in the sky at night, making wishes to them.
Once the stars made those wishes come true, the magic they used became wishing energy, and that energy gets taken to this shrine and becomes dream water, which is used to bring life to all star beings in this starry kingdom, known as Galaxia!
And even today, children continue to make wishes to stars!
Of course, some kids like to make selfish wishes.
Like that Number 363 kid, for instance, making wishes like ‘I want Uno to suffer a horrible sickness’ or ‘I wish my sister would decommission Sector V.’ Wishes like those don’t get granted.” Numbuh 1 had a bit of trouble following along with this.
He never really believed in wishes very much ever since he lost his hair.
“But do these good wishes even get granted?” “Well, of course!
How do you think Hollywood actors got where they are, or how famous baseball players got so good?
They made wishes to the stars and those wishes came true!” Numbuh 1 still questioned the idea.
“But what does all this fairytale junk have to do with the Kids Next Door?” “I’m getting to that!
You see, this fountain used to flow much more than it does right now.
That’s because it used to be powered by a legendary wand, known as the Star Rod.
But many millenniums ago, seven adult stars, known as the Star Spirits, used the Star Rod’s power to create the first adults on Planet Irk.
You see, Planet Irk was once home to the Wisps you see around the base, but the adults took over and enslaved the Wisps to do their evil bidding.
And soon afterwards, they began to spread their accursed disease!
Once they began, the Star Spirits destroyed the Star Rod, so that the disease couldn’t be undone.” “And where does Jirachi come into play?” “Jirachi is a special child!
He’s been around since the beginning of time and hasn’t aged a bit!
That’s because he shares a special bond with the Star Rod and is the very cure we need to be rid of this disease!” This time, Jirachi spoke, “Those mean Star Spirits tried to keep me inside a stuffy old rock for 100 years, but thanks to Dimentia, I was saved, and now I get to play with Gabe and Jeremy for as long as I want!” Jirachi got off his pedestal and flew over to his two Wisp friends and smiled.
“Of course, I have to sit here and grant wishes for hours, but whatever helps get rid of this disease!” “You see,” began Dimentia, “I was lucky enough to find Gabe, Jeremy, and Jirachi stranded and abandoned.
I discovered Jirachi’s amazing gift and wanted to share it with the rest of the children of the universe!
So, I gathered a few of my acquaintances, along with a few rescued Wisps and created what is now known as the Galactic Kids Next Door!
Together, we traveled the universe, saving children from the evil adults before the disease could catch on!
Our efforts inspired them to create their own adult fighting organizations, and fight off the accursed disease!
But despite all their efforts, the disease always seemed to catch on whenever children became the age of 13.
That’s when I introduced a process, which you now know as decommissioning, to erase the memories of operatives and have them banished from the Kids Next Door.
You see, as the disease catches on, children slowly become slaves to the adult mind, and that’s why we don’t allow teens in the KND, so to avoid risking other operatives catching the disease quicker.
The process became a good way of stopping teens and adults from spreading the disease to others faster!
It really worked well against that Grandfather of yours!
And he had it bad!” Numbuh 1 then just realized she had a point.
If it wasn’t for decommissioning, Grandfather’s curse might’ve never been stopped.
And his curse did spread fast like some disease.
Maybe it WAS real?
He was still unsure, though.
“Anyway,” continued Dimentia, “because of the decommissioning process, future generations of operatives slowly forgot about adulthood being a disease and forgot about the Kids Next Door’s very origins.
Mainly the KND of your planet.
After a while, we decided that just me, Jirachi, and the Wisps needed a bit more help ridding this disease for good, so Jirachi used his magic to transform Numbers Infinity and 74.239 into the forms of aliens from the planets and had them sent to those planets to find an operative worthy of joining GKND and being a representative of that planet.
Huff, excuse me.” Dimentia took a drink from the fountain, feeling dry after that long sentence.
“Ahem, I happily introduced those operatives to Jirachi and this marvelous fountain and gave them eternal youth, so that they’d never have to be decommissioned and continue to work hard to fight the disease!” “Hold on a second!
Does that mean…” “You are currently the only operative here UNDER the age of 13!
And since the disease hasn’t fully caught on to you yet, you haven’t had to make constant trips to the fountain to have Jirachi give you a little of his magic!” “But how do you plan to get rid of this ‘disease,’ anyway?” “And here we come to our main objective!
You see, when the Star Spirits shattered the Star Rod, it broke into seven different pieces and those pieces scattered across the universe.
You and Ava found one of those pieces in the Floro Broccoli Mines!
If you keep up that pace, we’ll have the Star Rod fixed in no time, and be able to use its ultimate power to rid the cosmos of this disease forever!
And as a loyal operative to the Kids Next Door, YOU’RE going to help us… won’t you?
Doing this for us would really help the KND greatly.” Processing the full tale, he finally understood the purpose of all this.
And as a loyal operative, he would do anything he could to help.
“Yes.
I will.” Dimentia slowly landed on the floor in front of him.
“That’s good to hear!
Now then: you probably had a long day, so you can head on back to the base!” And with that, the galactic operative headed back to H.Q.
to get some rest for his upcoming journey.
However, something in his gut told him that Dimentia wasn’t telling the whole story.
But he decided not to think about it right now.
So, he headed off.
Once he left, Dimentia turned to the two Wisps and Jirachi.
“You three can head back, too.
I’d like to… pontificate alone for a bit.” The three nodded as Jirachi teleported them away.
Once they had left, Dimentia flew outside the shrine and made sure no one was around the area.
When she was finished, she pulled out a long stick, stuck it into Jirachi’s pedestal, and tilted it.
The fountain slid open, revealing a dark stairwell.
Three black, bubbly creatures came flying out of the chamber.
One had red eyes and hands, one had blue, while the other had yellow.
“So, Magiblots, how are our guests doing?” “Just like you left ’em!” said the Blue Magiblot in a male voice.
“Hey, how long do we have to watch over these guys?
You know we can’t stand filthy adults!” “Patience, Blue.
We’ll do away with them, soon enough.
Let’s return to base for now.” The passage resealed as the four flew from the haven.
…The ghostly being hiding in the shadows headed out as well.
The Magiblots come from Paper Mario.