Anyway, I loved the game, but it really lacked in one way: Characters. The personalities of the main characters, well, didn't really exist. They were just a bunch of kids who saved the world! I like to take a spin on things, so I'm going to alter and flesh the story a bit. Not major stuff, so no worries hard core fans, I will leave it intact. You'll start to notice the differences right away, but I'm sure you'll enjoy them as the story progesses.
I'm basically using the original game as a template for this story.
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Earthbound
The Retelling
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-Chapter 1: Initial Contact-
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The year is 20XX and all is well in Onett. The early evening hours gave way to the darkness, allowing the street lights to shine. Very few people were out walking around, mainly the ones returning home from a long day of work.
Onett was a small town located in the mountainous section of Eagleland. While only a few homes resided on the cliff above, the town below was filled the hustle and bustle of day to day life. A drugstore, an arcade and a burger shop was all the kids of the town needed to get by. There was also a library, and a town hall, but they didn't draw as much attention as the other attractions.
A short distance away from the main roads, up on the hill, Ness's house sat on the path leading to the top. It was toward the back of town and got really dark during the evening hours, as compared to the rest of the city. Normally by the late night hours the lights would be out in the quaint country house, but tonight was different. Ness, his sister and his mother had been awoken by a large crack, then a bang, and finally a sizzle. "What was that," Ness asked no one as he sat up in his darkened room. Sliding his feet to the floor he made his way downstairs. The living room light was on and his mother was peering out the back window to see what was going on. "What are you doing?" he said with slight derision as he watched her balance a knee on the table to get some extra lift.
His mother had a bad habit of being a gossip. She was most likely trying to be the first to know what was going on, so she could call everyone she knew. It was the only status she had in such a secluded place, "I'm looking for what fell. Something crashed into the top of the hill...would you go look for me?" but she wasn't willing to expend te effort herself.
Ness groaned, "Come on, can't I check in the morning? It's dark and there's dogs wandering around."
"Bring Misty with you," she quickly suggested.
He looked down to the dog in question, chewing on the back of her leg, "She's useless."
The dog stopped, 'And I have feelings,' she thought.
"Here," she said and reached to her side, emerging with a baseball bat, "take this," and tossed it to him. "I thought someone was breaking in, so I brought it out with me."
Ness examined the bat, "There's a crack up the side," he said and balanced it on its tip on his middle finger, his mother didn't pick up on that.
"No one's going to attack you if you have that. You won't even have to swing at them," she said and began nudging him towards the door.
He skid his heels on the carpet, "Can I get dressed?"
With a shake of her head, she plopped a red cap on his head, "All the kids are wearing their pajamas out, go in that. Hurry before you miss it," she said and shoved him out onto the front stoop.
A chill wind blew by and Ness held his arms, "Can I get a coat?" he bellowed at the slammed front door. It opened briefly to allow a jacket to breeze past, but closed quickly once again. "Stupid..." he grumbled as he pulled the coat of his face and proceeded to put it on properly. Bat over his shoulder, he began the treacherous hike up the hill.
It only took him five minutes to reach the top, but he was nervous around every corner. While the path itself was nice and tidy, the dogs that roamed in from the surrounding forest were a little less than forgiving. As Ness came up to the police blockade, he saw a person poking their nose in where it didn't belong. Ness groaned, "Not this guy," he muttered. It was the annoying fat kid from next door, Pokey. They had grown up in Onett their whole lives, but he didn't really know him that well. All he knew was that the boy was worse than his mother when it came to gossip.
"Hey, Ness, don't be rubbernecking! You're getting in the cops, oops...I mean, officer's way." He began shooing Ness away. This was the other problem with Pokey, he interjected his importance in any situation he was faced with. "You can go home now," he proceeded to give Ness orders, "Tomorrow I, Pokey, will tell you more about the strange meteorite. I'm fine here, but you're bugging the officers!" he gave Ness one final push and turned his back to him.
Ness walked home, saddened that he was now going to have to face his mother with little to no information. All he saw while on top of the hill, was a large crater, with a strange glowing rock in in the middle. He wasn't saddened because he didn't find out, rather, now he was going to have to face the music of not getting the scoop on the impact zone. As he walked up the slope leading to his front door, he saw his mother standing there, a cigarette in one hand and a phone in the other, ready to make calls.
He gave her a reassuring smile as he shrugged, "I didn't get a chance to get a good look. The cops blocked me off. Besides, Pokey was there."
His mother sighed and butted her smoke, "If that's the case, everyone already knows. Let's go inside. I'll make you a sandwich and you can head off to bed."
Finally settled for the night, Ness pulled the blankets up to his chin and made his second attempt at sleep. Not even twenty minutes passed when there was an insistent rapping on the door. "Ness, dear! It's your friend Pokey!" said his mother from downstairs. It would seem she wasn't trying to get back to sleep at all.
Ness threw the covers off and stomped out of his room, not before getting dressed first this time. Passing by his sister's room, she cracked the door and peeked out. "Pokey? Tell him to go home," she said sleepily and closed her door again.
"I'll tell him more than that," Ness huffed and trotted down to the living room.
It was obvious he was quick to make himself at home. Ness saw his mother sitting at the table with him, drinking tea. "A meteor? How exotic!" she exclaimed as she stirred her drink.
"Yeah- oh, Ness. What took you so long? You need to come with me," he said and pushed his half finished tea aside.
"Do I now?" It seemed Ness was not only not allowed to get sleep, but he was also alleviated of his free will. Pokey was pulling him by the sleeve to the front door. "Stop! What do you want?"
Pokey hooked his thumb over his shoulder, "After I came back from the crash zone, Picky was gone. Mother said he went out looking for me but got lost along the way."
"He'll find his way home again," Ness tugged his shirt sleeve out of Pokey's grip, "he doesn't need my help."
"He's...not...right...right now," Pokey said with an awkward tone.
Ness rolled his eyes, "Of course he isn't," he said and turned to his mother, "I'll be back." He raised an eyebrow and shot a look at his dog, "You're coming with me this time." He was referring to the dog, Misty.
She yawned and stretched, 'Fine; I better get some bacon for this.'
The three set out to find Picky. Picky was a good guy, Ness had no problem with him. He was much more tolerable and less pushy than his younger brother. The only problem with him, which didn't bother Ness, was the smoking. There was a special plant that grew nearby that produced a euphoric state, one which Picky absolutely adored. He never revealed the location of where it grew and refused to share, so they never knew what it was. Ness suspected it may have been cannabis, but he never smelled that kind of smoke before, so he could never tell.
"He mentioned wanting to see the meteor, we should check there first," Pokey said and walked on ahead.
"Sure, let's climb the big hill a second time in the middle of the night," Ness said as he looked at his watch, "It's only three in the morning, who needs sleep?" he was being sarcastic.
"That's the spirit! Let's hurry, maybe we'll catch him at his stash." Pokey pumped his arms as he walked, his pudgy little arms swung awkwardly at his sides as did so. It seemed less like Picky was in trouble and more like Pokey wanted to be pokey.
Selfish as the reason may have been, now he had intrigued Ness with the hops of seeing Picky's stash. Ness wasn't interested in trying any, he only wanted to know what it was. Picky, as stated earlier, was a good guy; Ness didn't want him into anything that could hurt him. "I really don't want to be out here, huh girl?" he said and laid a pat on his companion's head as they walked.
'You don't want to be here? Why am I here? Why make me do something you aren't willing to do yourself? I should run away? I know a nice wolf who gave me a lusty eye the other day out back of the house.' She turned to face the grove where the wolf once stood, 'I could be running free with him. He was so handsome. Such a nice coat of fur...' Misty looked up to see her master walking away. 'Fine, walk away when I'm talking to you. No, that's fine...I BETTER GET SOME BACON!' she barked and caught up. It was a shame her pleas fell on deaf ears.
Finally making their way to the barricade, they noticed the police were gone. "Strange...isn't this thing still hot?" Ness said, pointing to the glowing yellow rock.
"There you are!" Pokey exclaimed, disregarding Ness's observation.
"Huh?" the boy in question looked out from behind a nearby tree. "Yeah, I came up here to chill with the space rock. I keep hearing a buzzing though, it's throwing off my vibe," he said as he stood up, discreetly shoving something in his pocket. Immediately after getting up, a bee buzzed right in front of his face. "AH!" he yelled and clapped his hands together quickly, squashing the insect asunder. It swirled and twirled toward the ground and landed with a plop. "...the hell?" he said and leaned down, "This thing is talking."
Ness and Pokey gave each other a knowing glance and then went back to Picky, "Sure he is," Pokey began in a slowed tone, "let's just go back home and get you some food."
By now, Picky was ear to the ground with a disturbed look on his face. "He's screaming for you Ness..."
They paused in their attempt at collecting the potentially inebriated one to listen to him, out of sheer morbid curiosity. "That's creepy," Ness rubbed the back of his neck. He looked down to Misty who was falling asleep standing up.
"He said, Ness...you're our only hope. You have to stop Gig...the future...save them...then the insect went quiet." Picky poked the twitching critter.
Pokey proceeded to pick at his older brother, "We'll get on that."
Ness nodded and turned on his heel, "I want some sleep. I'm suppose to meet up with people at the arcade tomorrow." Misty happily began to walk along side him.
"Arcade?" Pokey exclaimed.
Ness halted his steps immediately. It was a good thing his back was turned, lest Pokey see the 'oh s**t' expression on his face. He never told Pokey when he was doing anything because if he did, the guy showed up and annoy everyone there. "I'm...meeting...a girl there. I'm going alone," he lied. He was actually meeting a few good school friends. But how would Pokey be able to tell? The guy seemed to accept his answer well enough, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are you guys just leaving? We've got to help him!" Picky pressed on the bug in an attempt to resuscitate him. "C-P-R," he said as he nudged the bug three times.
Pokey rolled his eyes, "Would you come on," as he said this, he walked over and stepped on the thing, making sure to twist as he squashed.
"NO! Buzz-buzz!"
"Buzz-buzz?" Pokey questioned.
Picky stood up and gave his brother a shove, "That was his name!"
Pokey calmed his brother down, "I'm sure there will be more Buzz-buzz for you to find tomorrow. Come on, mom's pissed enough as is."
They passed by Ness, arguing all the way. Ness walked up to the bug carcase and leaned down to look at it. He glanced from side to side, "...hey?" he asked as he poked the bug corpse, hoping it still had some life. Misty too looked at the bug, then tried to eat it. "Misty!" he said and pulled it from her mouth.
"Ness! What are you doing?" Pokey yelled from half-way down the sloping hill.
His eyes widened, "Looking at the meteor!" he said and trailed behind them with his dog. He was so preoccupied with the bug, he forgot to get a good look at the thing that fell from the sky. Ness found it odd that it was the only thing burning. He remembered from class that when something like this hit the earth, it was far more destructive. Coming back tomorrow alone seemed like a better idea, so he left the mysterious stone behind.
On the way home there wasn't a ounce of peace. Pokey kept accusing Picky of being high. Picky claimed that he hadn't had any in days, but his sibling refused to believe him. This went on until a large flash of light appeared in front of them and a gust of wisn knocked them all backwards. When their burned retinas focused, there was a seven foot tall being in front of them. He was clad in armor that was a brilliant silver that had no seams or joints. He moved like fluid.
Picky pointed a finger at the offending obelisk of a man that appeared from thin air and yelled, "Alright, if I'm high, explain him!"
"...contact high?" Misty suggested, but no one heard, so she began growling at the thing.
"I don't know," Pokey said, cowering in fear behind his big brother. Picky shot him an 'unamused' glance over his shoulder.
Misty growled and made an attempt at a lunge but Ness grabbed her, "No Misty! Down," he instructed as he watched the strange silver being eye him and his pet with great intent. "What's up?" Ness said casually as he brought himself to his feet.
"...you know not of the future one? Then all is going as planned." He said and raised a long, shimmering, tentacle-like arm and tried to touch Ness's forehead. In a flash, Misty bit on to the intruder's arm.
It did not phase him. "How dare you! Do you think you can handle a 'Starman'?" He flung the dog to the side and into a bush, where she lay silent.
"Misty!" Ness cried, but before he could take a step the other arm of this creature was wrapped around his neck.
"I cannot chance you becoming a nuisance in the future," he said and touched the boy's forehead with his free arm. A light glow lit up his head and died out quickly. He released Ness and the boy crumpled to the ground. He looked over to the two cowering passersby. "Must conserve resources, no need to annihilate," he hummed and a bright light hit the them. In another flash, he was gone, along with either of their memories.
After collecting morning dew, Ness came back to the rest of the world. Judging by the temperature in the air, the moisture on his skin and surrounding grass, and the budding light of the sun that he was in a lot of trouble. He shot up and looked around having no clue of what time it was or how long he was out. Ness could see his mother standing in the doorway with her arms crossed, no cigarette in hand and tapping her foot wildly. The middle aged woman leaned against the door frame, making eye contact with her son as soon as she could see the whites of his eyes. Why hadn't she taken him into the house? She could see him from the front door. And now Pokey and Picky were nowhere to be seen. 'It figures. First sign of trouble and he's gone.'
"What were you doing out there?" were the first words out of his mothers mouth.
He raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking," he sounded slightly offended that she didn't want to know if he was alright. Ness tried to begin the story about that night in his head, but could find the 'not crazy sounding' words to describe it. It was then he realized why his mother was so mad at him, she hadn't seen it, and he left the house to hang out with someone who used. "...we got jumped by some guy on the way back. He knocked me out." 'An alien teleported in front of us and tried to kill us' probably wouldn't sound convincing if said out loud.
"Really?" she began, "Then why do your clothes smell like smoke?" It was true, his clothes did smell burnt. That must have happened when that thing grabbed him. The metal suit reeked of charcoal and sulfur; the same smell as matches. "I couldn't carry you, and you wouldn't wake up. But you kept talking in your sleep, 'Aliens are coming!' You sounded ridiculous, so I left you there. Get in the house and I'll make you breakfast when you're ready to come clean."
Ness hung his head. That was going to be impossible. How does one tell a parent that they were accosted by an alien? "Seriously," he said and held his head. "The guy had me around the neck," as he said this, he tugged down the collar of his shirt, revealing some red marking.
She examined the mark, "I told you to bring that bat," she hugged him close. "I'm sorry. I thought since you were out with those boys you were experimenting with...you know-" she trailed off.
He shook his head, "No. Besides, Picky made it clear he doesn't share."
She rolled her eyes and led Ness to sit down at the table, "That's a relief," she said sarcastically, "What did this guy look like? I'll put a report in with the police."
Ness panicked inside, "You don't need to do that! I-uh, couldn't make him out, he was black-wearing black...clothes" Quick save on his part.
"That could mean the Sharks." A local street gang. "I'm going to tell them that at least. The mayor needs to get off his fat rear and do something about these Sharks. We'll have to go down to the station later today. You should get some sleep first."
He sighed, "Do we really have to? I have plans. I'm going to the arcade." Ness also really didn't want to look like a rat. It wasn't comforting to accuse the sharks of a crime, report it and then immediately go to the location of their main hang-out.
"Yes. If more people come forward, the better chance we have of it being taken seriously. It won't take long, you can walk right over afterward." She gave him a pat on the shoulder, "I'll make you some hot-chocolate, but then it's off to sleep for a couple more hours." She walked off to boil the water.
Ness sighed and slumped down in his chair. He wished he just stayed in bed.