Chapter Text
Normally, people wake up to the sound of their own alarm clock.
Even Pokey, who sleeps deeply every night. His younger brother has always been more of a scaredy cat, not being able to sleep because the sounds coming from outside kept him completely awake. The type of guy who thinks every shadow projected by the streetlights is some sinister, hostile creature.
Pokey always thought his brother was a bit of a coward. ‘Imagine being scared of the wind! Don’t be silly!’ Is a phrase he repeated multiple times, trying to ignore his brother’s genuine concern so he could rest well. Every night felt like a broken record, replaying the same things all the time.
That night seemed as normal as any other. It wasn’t unusual for the older sibling to be lost in his thoughts. Zooming out is something he likes to do, especially when he’s bored in class. Imagining worlds where he’s loved by everyone is both free and effortless. He never had friends apart from his brother and maybe his neighbor. When trying to sleep, some people zone out with the intention of dreaming about the things they planned in their heads.Or maybe that was just Pokey’s personal technique. Imagining scenarios is always fun anyway.
Too bad that fantasy didn’t last long.
CRASH!
That abrupt noise shattered in pieces the current scene he had in mind. It was so sudden that he thought the house was trembling for a second. Picky yelped, dragging his brother back to reality even faster.
“D-did you hear that just now!?” Picky cried out.
“Shut up, do I look like I know?”
Pokey may be immature, but that doesn’t mean he’s stupid. Logically, if you hear a loud sound outside, it may be just something that doesn’t affect you or your house directly, and based on Pokey’s logic, those are the only two things he cared about. It's not like he’s going to care about people who don’t even know him in the first place, right? Is not the first time something falls outside and wakes up his brother.
I think that was a meteorite... There are people outside! "
"Calm down, Picky. I’m pretty sure no one is going to die because of a loud sound. "
…Then he realized that if Picky said there were people outside, that meant it had to be loud enough to worry more people in that area. That means that his annoying brother could be onto something.
Curiosity… The loud sound kept replaying inside Pokey’s mind. The thought of what could be was twirling inside his thoughts, spiraling into different possibilities, all of which evolved into overthinking.
He tried to compose himself before dashing towards their wardrobe, his intentions being crystal clear. Picky knew exactly what he wanted to do. Only a loser would stay at home, especially after his younger brother mentioned the possibility of seeing a meteorite.
“Hey Pokey… It’s really late. You think our parents would allow us to go outside at this hour?”
“Come on, don’t be a coward.”
Even with that loud sound changing his plans of having a peaceful night, the cool breeze was more than enough for Pokey to go outside. A thing he hated about summer, is how infernal the weather is for a boy his size. During winter, he could always put on layers of clothes, and those are easy to remove. But summer? You can only go outside without sweating during the night.
Picky seemed to be the only one nervous of the two, fidgeting with his hands and standing behind his brother as much as possible.
He was wearing a black baggy shirt with his initial on it. ‘Tch, who does that? Only an idiot would get a shirt with their initial on it,’ Pokey thought to himself. He was not one to talk. At the age of 13, the teen was wearing a short, blue jumpsuit. Jumpsuits look childish. You would expect someone like him to at least own a few band T-shirts and some cool pants, but they didn’t have money for fancy clothes.
“You’re zooming out again.” Picky said, his blonde bangs hiding a frown.
“Oh yeah my bad… Wait, are those police cars!? It has to be serious! There’s police in there!”
His brother didn’t even have the chance to respond to that. Pokey sprinted and went all the way up to where they were located. He could sense a constant smell, like someone had burnt something. He could only ignore that distinct odor when it came from a BBQ grill. That confirms it: something happened.
He went directly to where the cops were located, just to learn what caused that loud sound.
A meteorite, of all things that could have happened. It was a damn meteorite.
Is the type of thing that happens in movies or TV. Something that you would never expect to happen. It seems like Picky was right for once.
Without thinking twice, he went directly to one of the policemen.
"Hey, hey! I want to see the meteorite! You old farts have no idea of how cool this is! " Pokey shouted.
He seemed agitated, but at the same time, his morbid curiosity was killing him. Not everyone gets to see a giant space rock fall near their house. That is the type of thing that you would say in class in front of everyone, as if it were a flex. For Pokey? That was a flex for sure. Not like he had too many friends in school anyway, except for his friend...
“Ness!? What are you doing here?”
“What are YOU doing here, Pokey? You’re like, the heaviest sleeper I know!”
Ness, his friend... He was wearing that distinctive baseball hat of his everywhere, to the point that the thought of that kid sleeping with the hat on seemed possible.
"Come on, Ness, you’re annoying the cops- I mean the officer!"
"But-"
"I, Pokey Minch, will tell you what happened with the meteorite tomorrow. You should go back to sleep. I’ve never seen you look this tired! "
He puffed his chest, his big ego always showing in every move he did. He was right about something: Ness was tired. No one likes to wake up in the middle of the night, and he wasn’t an exception. Not wanting to fight back, he just went directly home.
"See ya later, stinky head!" That was the last thing he said, while he watched the kid wearing a hat go down the hill. However, after a few minutes passed, Pokey realized that those guys really didn’t want to let him pass.
He knew he had no chance against that number of policemen, and none of them gave him the green light on that "investigation of the meteorite" plan of his. Pokey’s ego is big, but his willpower isn’t. Unless it is something he planned beforehand. He wanted to know what happened, and that’s what he got.
Ness is not as much of a heavy sleeper as his neighbor. After getting back home, the boy just collapsed into his bed. It’s 2AM. It may not seem that late for some adults, but it really is late for him...
That is, until someone started knocking on the door.
He thought no one in their right mind would be knocking at their door at that hour.
It didn’t take long until all the meteorite memories flew back into his brain. Maybe that knocking made sense. Maybe... Just maybe, someone was in danger.
That anxiety of knowing someone may be at risk was what made him jump out of bed and sprint downstairs.
Ness grabbed the keys and tried to open the main entrance. He would’ve opened way faster if his hands weren’t shaking so fast. That knocking was getting to his nerves, to the point where Ness wasn’t sure if he wanted to open it to help the person behind it or to stop that annoying, repetitive sound.
“Ness! NESS! You have to help me dude! I can’t find Picky anywhere!”
Well. That slightly nasal voice could be recognized anywhere. Knowing Pokey was behind that door, his anxiety turned into irritance fast.
Ness opened it, looking even more tired than before. Maybe it was the contrast between the yellowish lights on his house and the moonlight. Maybe it was his messy hair and the fact that he was wearing his wrinkled pajamas. Maybe it was the fact that he had only an hour of sleep and his eyebags were visible. Pokey didn’t look tired in the slightest. He seemed completely awake, but for all the wrong reasons.
"Oh Ness! Remember that meteorite? Well, the cops didn’t let me get near it, but not too long after they told me to leave, they had to go after the Sharks. You know those guys, right? Everyone is talking about them lately, and-"
"Pokey, calm down. Just tell me what happened with Picky. "
"I can’t find him anywhere. My dad is going to kill me... I've got to do something Ness! "
The black-haired kid sighed. "Okay, let me change my clothes first, alright? I’ll help you. Meanwhile, just sit down somewhere. "
It was pretty obvious that the knocking would’ve woken up more people inside his friend's house. He heard Ness talk to his mom upstairs.
Ah, his mother... Sometimes, Pokey felt envious of him. Lardna Minch isn’t the best mother, to say the least. She’s not the worst either, but she’s nothing compared to his friend’s mom. Well, at least Lardna is not as terrible as Aloysius... The thought of having to hear him scream for hours because he couldn’t find Picky was terrifying. Knowing his father...
"Are you okay?"
Pokey jumped from his seat. He’s already prone to overthinking, but no one can really control their facial expressions while thinking. Ness seemed more awake now. That’s good.
"Of course I am. Have you seen yourself? " Pokey said smugly. It was pretty obvious he was putting on an act, so he didn’t seem that worried about the situation. Ness decided to ignore that Oscar worthy act completely.
"Alright, I’ll bring my dog King with us, if you don’t mind. "
Thank God Ness brought a baseball bat. Pokey never really liked dogs in the first place, but getting attacked by two or three of them seemed comical. King isn’t really that active, so he didn’t enter that category.
Maybe it was the anxiety of losing Picky for good, but he looked paler than usual. Hiding behind Ness didn’t only shield him but also avoided the awkward "Are you okay?" question. No one likes getting asked that, especially Pokey.
"HEY NESS! Are you trying to find your friend? "
They both turned to a man wearing sunglasses. That was exactly the type of information they needed!
"I heard some kid on the hilltop. I can’t go there right now though, I’m busy. "
"Thanks anyway!" Ness stated cheerfully. "Come on, Pokey, we’re almost there."
There’s no one to be found. Only the fences they put on the hilltop so no one could get that close to the meteorite. A warm light seemed to get more and more intense while the two kids were getting closer to the space rock. Apart from that meteorite, things looked the same as always. Both Ness and Pokey could feel a weird intensity from the rock.
‘Well, maybe that’s just me being nervous.' The blonde teen didn’t want to express his current feelings.
Ness acted as always, maybe more sleep deprived, but still the same Ness he knows.
But Pokey isn’t the type of guy to act all scared and cry, right? That image he had of himself. That image of someone strong, charming, and cool. With his bangs hiding his eyes, not because he wants to hide from visual contact, but because they make him more intimidating... Or at least that’s what he thought of that haircut. A lot of rock stars have bangs, right?
“Hey King, come back!”
Both of the kids observed as the dog ran away from the place. That confirms it; he’s not the only one feeling that way. Even Ness’s dog knows something is up.
After getting closer to the meteorite, Ness seemed happier than before, getting pretty close to the rock. It is the type of thing you see on a movie or even in the news, but not that close to your own house!
Pokey didn’t get it though. If a meteorite falling from the sky is so rare, then why does it look so boring? For him, it was just some burning rock. His expectations were too high in the first place, but that's something he does constantly.
He chose to leave his friend with the warm rock and explore the tophill. There are a few trees, and none of them got hit by the space rock. He thought that was oddly satisfying.
After getting closer to one of the trees for further inspection, he saw those characteristic straight, blonde bangs, with a slight shine from moonlight. The black t-shirt with that massive "P" which contrasted with a blinding white tone that could be seen kilometers away from there. That was Picky for sure.
"Picky, wake up!" Pokey said a little too loudly.
"... Pokey? Oh, I’ve been looking all over for you! I’ve been looking for you everywhere...
Ness got closer to the siblings with a look of relief on his face. "Well? Mission completed, Pokey! We found him. "
"My brother and I should go back home now." I bet Mom and Dad are worried about us. "
The thought of having to go back to their house and having to deal with his father made him feel sick. There’s a big chance they’re still awake, even if it’s really late. Only thinking about it could make his head hurt... Or maybe that was caused by something else. The sound of some bug flying around was getting to his head. It was annoying enough for him to ask Ness about it.
Now that you mention it, I think I can hear something. These have to be mosquitoes. "
Little did they know that they would get an answer to that. And it was an unexpected one.
Their conversation was fully interrupted by a beam of light coming from the meteorite. That made that space rock ten times cooler. At least Pokey thought it was only cooler because there was light coming from it.
In an impressive entrance, a small bug appeared from that gigantic source of light. The buzzing came from only one bug. The whole situation felt like a scene from a sci-fi movie, where humans get to see an alien for the first time. The three of them were shocked, looking at that peculiar insect.
"A bee… I am not. I’m from 10 years in the future. "
Well, the fact that they could understand what that bug was saying was already weird enough by itself. Pokey always thought being scared of monsters or aliens was dumb. They’re not real! And he always laughed every time his little brother seemed scared about anything as unrealistic as an alien. But nothing in life prepares you for this.
"Giygas, the universal cosmic destroyer, sent all to the horror of eternal darkness."
After that statement, most of the things that one insect said felt less shocking. The existence of some godly being destroying everything puts your shock standards too high. Even higher than usual for Pokey.
He talked about a prophecy and about a chosen boy. Then, that small dot with wings got closer to Ness.
"You see, I believe that boy is you, Ness. "
"Giygas's monstrous plan must have been set in motion somewhere on Earth..."
"The legends from ancient times tell of three boys and a girl who will defeat Giygas."
None of these things made sense. Is any of that real? Is his brain messing up with him? He said three boys and one girl...
"You are as exceptional as I expected you to be, Ness."
Pokey looked at his friend's face. He did seem to understand everything. Any of the things that bug said made no sense, and he still listened to all of them. Not only that, he’s involved in that prophecy. How can someone keep their cool after all of that? There's a bug talking in front of them!
"Pokey, are you okay?"
His sibling seemed concerned about him, asking that damn question he always hated to hear. ‘Nothing of this can be real. This makes no sense. Am I in danger? ’ He thought. Even if his brain couldn’t shut up, only one thing came out of his mouth.
"Three boys... Am I one of them? Because this isn’t my thing, at all. "