On the other end of the tunnels was the darkest and dreariest town that Buzz Buzz, Tori, Gran and Leicra had ever seen. It reeked of dead bodies, though only Tori and Buzz Buzz caught the smell. The roads were untouched. Very odd. And walking these roads were one of the last things anyone would want to see - zombies. As well as ghosts and walking puppets.

“Great,” Tori moaned. “How are we gonna get past them? They’re everywhere.”

“Well, it looks like these odd humans have got the town under their control,” Leicra told the others. They looked at Tori and asked her, “Why do they look so odd?”

“They’re dead… but also not,” Tori explained, her eyes not moving away from the zombies wandering the town. “But they’re not ghosts… They still have their bodies. Stereotypically, they have a hunger for human brains and moan and groan a lot.”

“Yes…” After a twitch of his wings, Buzz Buzz added from Tori’s shoulder, “If I recall correctly, these zombies are capable of normal speech and are more sentient than the ones in fiction.”

A zombie a few meters away looked over at the four. Its red eyes glowed as it stared.

After a moment of silence, Tori murmured, “Ahhhhh crap.”

The zombie sprinted over to them, and was joined by another as it came closer. Tori fired a PK Fire Beta at the duo of zombies. The zombies took the blow silently, but were visibly in pain. Buzz Buzz set up a Shield Alpha for Tori, and Leicra followed up by attacking the zombies with PK Water. One zombie threw a punch at Tori, hitting her in the face. The other went for Gran, and went to hit her. Gran held her hands out defensively in front of her, which caused a burst of PK Freeze to surround the zombie and freeze it up. The zombie fell to the ground limply.

“Oh my goodness! Are you okay?” Gran asked the fallen zombie.

Tori kicked the zombie fighting her to the ground, then let loose a PK Fire Alpha. She then turned her head to look at Gran and exclaimed, “It’s UNDEAD,Gran!”

The zombie Gran had frozen started to push itself up from the ground, and Buzz Buzz gave Gran a Shield Alpha. Leicra fired a PK Beam Beta at the zombie, making it fall back to the ground before it turned to dust.

The zombie held down by Tori’s boot leaned up and grabbed her boot with both hands. Tori screamed, then used PK Thunder. A single lightning bolt hit the zombie, and it turned to dust under her foot.

Tori let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God that’s over.”

“That’s only one battle of many. We still need to keep our guards up,” Buzz Buzz warned, gesturing to the rest of the zombie infested town with one of his lower hands.

“Right, right,” Tori mumbled as she brushed her leg. After another moment, she led the others further into the town.

The zombies and the puppets were rather simple to take care of, though the ghosts roaming around were a lot tougher. In one of these many scuffles, Tori learned PK Thunder Beta after electrocuting one of the ghosts and nearly hitting another with a second bolt she didn’t mean to summon. As they ventured the left-most graveyard, the four were attacked by a Smelly Ghost and a Zombie Possessor.

One of the first things the Zombie Possessor did was phase through Tori, sending a chill through her entire body. Once the Zombie Possessor flipped back over to the Smelly Ghost, a Tiny Lil Ghost appeared, hovering next to Tori’s free shoulder.

And that Tiny Lil Ghost sure had a lot to say. “Hi! Beautiful weather we’re having, isn’t it? Don’t answer that, I know this weather sucks ass. Anyway, this fight sure is going bad for you already, huh? Want me to make it worse? I’m gonna make it worse either way! You have no choice! Hey, do yo-”

“Can you perhaps not possess me? Or shut up?” Tori questioned the Tiny Lil Ghost.

“Nope! I’m gonna be here making things worse for you and driving you up the wall with my non-stop talking whether you like it or not!”

Both Tori and Buzz Buzz groaned.

By now the Smelly Ghost was starting to get low on health in spite of its many uses of Lifeup Alpha on both itself and the Zombie Possessor. Leicra had done a lot of attacking, and was starting to run out of PP from their constant use of PK Water. Tori helped them out by unleashing a PK Fire Beta. It did enough damage to get rid of the Smelly Ghost, though the flame itself was weaker due to Tori’s focus being off thanks to the Tiny Lil Ghost yammering away in her ear. Leicra fired a PK Beam Alpha at the Zombie Possessor, which finally got rid of it. Unfortunately, the Tiny Lil Ghost didn’t disappear with it.

“So… is that little ghost going to… keep possessing you?” Gran asked.

“Yup!” the Tiny Lil Ghost replied.

“...Maybe they’ll be useful,” Leicra tried to reassure the others, They looked at the Tiny Lil Ghost and asked, “What kind of things do you do in battle?”

“I make people freeze up for fun!”

Tori let a groan. “Is there any way to get you away?”

“We’re probably going to need an exorcist,” Buzz Buzz muttered.

A round, creamy thing stuck out from the trees nearby, and all four jumped slightly upon seeing it. The thing twitched twice, then more of it came out from the trees. A small, round something with two whiskers on each side of its face and thick black eyebrows had come out, wearing a red hood, however it did that. It stared at the four with its beady black eyes for a few moments.

“Is… Is it dangerous?” Tori whispered.

“I don’t think so…” Buzz Buzz murmured.

Tori cautiously approached the hooded thing, and Leicra and Gran followed her just as warily.

Once Tori, Leicra and Gran had approached the thing, it whispered cheerily, “Hi ho!”

Tori blinked.

“What… are you?” Leicra asked quietly.

“I Mr. Saturn!” the hooded thing, Mr. Saturn, replied. “It dangerous out here! Many zombies and ghosties. Br-r-r-r. You come with me? Can take you to safe place!”

The four exchanged glances, then Tori said, “Uh, sure.”

“Boing! Follow. We go through trees.” Mr. Saturn headed back into the trees, and the four followed.

Buzz Buzz dived into Tori’s pocket just before she squeezed past the trees. Once she, Leicra and Gran had gotten through, Mr. Saturn told them, “We sneak past zombies. They guard entrance, but we find way to get past. Zoom!”

Mr. Saturn then hopped down a ladder leading underground, and Tori, Leicra and Gran continued to follow. Mr. Saturn led them through the caves, which also had ghosts in them. Mr. Saturn had a solution for this - he pulled out a laser gun from his hood, which somehow managed to hide itself so well that no one had noticed he even had it. The ghosts were no match for Mr. Saturn’s gun.

“Wh-Where did you get that GUN?!” Tori questioned.

“Tall man give it to Mr. Saturns, zoom!” Mr. Saturn replied, looking up at Tori. “He had extra, so he give us one! For self defense.”

Tori nodded slowly. As she continued to follow Mr. Saturn, she said, “Another question for you; I don’t suppose you have anyone who can get rid of Smelly Talksalot yammering away right near me?”

Mr. Saturn turned to face Tori and looked up around her head. He soon saw the Tiny Lil Ghost, who had been talking away this whole time but ignored by all as best as possible.

“Yes. Doctor can get rid of ghostie, ding,” Mr. Saturn told her.

“Oh thank God.”

When Mr. Saturn and the four reemerged from the cave, they were in an area with a lake and many animals and zombies.

“Now…” Mr. Saturn told them, putting the gun back into his hood, “we zoom.”

Mr. Saturn dashed away, crying out, “ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!”

Tori, Leicra and Gran ran after him, chasing off the enemies which so desperately wanted to get at their throats. They caught up to Mr. Saturn in another cave, where he was catching his breath.

“Wow, little guy, you sure can run,” Tori told him.

Mr. Saturn nodded, then said, “We close. Follow.”

Mr. Saturn led them through the cave. Some roaches came to their feet and started yelling at them.

“If roachies give you trouble, just squish them, boing,” Mr. Saturn told them.

“Could you not also squish them…?” Leicra asked.

“No. Goes against morals.”

Thankfully, the roaches weren’t too much trouble, as Tori had scared them off with a show of fire from her fingertips as a warning. Before long, the four had arrived in a valley. The grass somehow kept its green colour in spite of all the horror Giygas had unleashed upon the world. Around the bend was a single pond and some houses whose roofs had rings around the edge, like Saturn’s rings, and a red bow at the top. Many caves, ladders and trees dotted the valley. More Mr. Saturns, though hoodless, ambled around, almost as if nothing was wrong.

“Welcome to Saturn Valley!” Mr. Saturn announced, pulling back his hood.

Buzz Buzz peeped out of Tori’s pocket and asked, “This… is where you live?”

“Ding ding! Correct!” Mr. Saturn replied. “Here, all are Mr. Saturn. Apart from Doctor Saturn. Doctor Saturn is Doctor.”

“Where is he?” Tori asked immediately, her eyes growing wide.

“I show you!”

< p>Mr. Saturn led the four to a yellow house. Inside, a Mr. Saturn inside a trash can sat.

“Your doctor… is in a trash can?” Gran asked.

“Yes. It personal choice. We no mind,” Mr. Saturn told her. He then looked over at Dr. Saturn and said, “Hi ho Doctor! I come with visitors! One has ghostie possessing her, can you get rid of, zoom?”

“Of course!” Dr. Saturn replied. “Which one possessed by ghostie, boing?”

Tori shuffled over to Dr. Saturn.

“Kay-o. Hold still, ding.”

There was a beat before the Tiny Lil Ghost ceased to be, its pleas fading away as it was removed from the mortal realm.

“There! You allllll fixed up!”

“...Thanks.” Tori turned to Leicra and Gran and murmured to them, “I thought that was going to be a lot worse.”

With the Tiny Lil Ghost gone, Buzz Buzz returned to his perch of Tori’s shoulder.

“Now can go explore! Boing!” Mr. Saturn told the four, then exited the house. The four did the same.

The other Mr. Saturns gave the four very warm welcomes. Their cheery faces hadn’t faltered even during Giygas’ rein. But even still, Buzz Buzz sensed an air of melancholy that the Mr. Saturns hadn’t addressed yet.

As Tori gushed over a trio of Mr. Saturns with Leicra and Gran, Buzz Buzz buzzed over to what he assumed was an older Mr. Saturn. The older Mr. Saturn leaned on a tree stump and watched over the rest of the valley.

Buzz Buzz landed softly on the Mr. Saturn’s head, gaining his attention, and quietly asked him, “Excuse me, Mr. Saturn? Has anything out of the ordinary happened here recently?”

The Mr. Saturn closed his eyes and contemplated something quietly, then replied, “It is story for you and friends. Get them to come up here?”

Buzz Buzz nodded, then darted over to Tori, Leicra and Gran.

“It seems something’s happened here recently, and all of us need to hear it,” Buzz Buzz told them. “The Mr. Saturn who’ll tell us about it is just up by that tree stump.”

“Okay, but can we take these Mr. Saturns with us?” Tori asked.

Buzz Buzz was silent for a moment as he stared at Tori, then let out a reluctant sigh. “Okay, you can take them up.”

Tori let out a squeak of delight, then scooped up one of the Mr. Saturns in front of her into her arms. Leicra let another sit on their head, and the third was held under Gran’s right arm. Buzz Buzz led the other three, Mr. Saturns in hand, up to the older Mr. Saturn by the tree stump.

“Goodie, you bring friends,” the older Mr. Saturn said once Buzz Buzz had returned with Tori, Leicra and Gran. “Now I tell you of baddie bad things that happen here, zoom.”

“Saturn Valley was once full. But now very empty, ding. Baddy baddy barf man called Belch take some Mr. Saturns to make fly honey, but tall man get them back. We thankful for tall man. He leave us laser gun to protect us with before he leave, boing, but gun could no protect us from second baddy bad.

Big and scary spider person come to valley. He take lots of Mr. Saturns. They no come back yet. We sad. But try to stay happy. They come back someday, boing. Surely.”

A sadness filled the air around them, and everyone was silent for a minute.

“But, can sense music stone! I know of place to charge it,” the older Mr. Saturn added. “It just north of here, through cave behind tree stump. Be careful there. Monsters.”

“Right. Will do,” Tori said, standing up.

Buzz Buzz stared at her before asking, “You’re not going to bring the Mr. Saturn with you, are you?”

Tori stood still with a look of conflict. After a few moments, she set down the Mr. Saturn she was holding. Gran did the same, and the Mr. Saturn on Leicra’s head simply jumped off. He stuck the landing, too.

“Nice landing!” Leicra said to the Mr. Saturn that was on their head.

“Thank you boing!”

“Now, let’s go find this Sanctuary and charge the Sound Stone,” Gran said.

The journey to the Sanctuary was rough, but Tori found humour in the name of one of the species living there. The others, not so much, but they were glad that she found something to laugh about after the depressing tale the older Mr. Saturn told them. The Sanctuary was a pond of light pink water with a rock sitting in the middle. Tori couldn’t help but point out how she thought it looked like a butt before holding up the Sound Stone to charge it. Gran thought it looked more like a love heart. The name of the Sanctuary whispered into their minds as the Sound Stone charged: Milky Well.

On the way back to Saturn Valley, Tori looked at the Sound Stone.

“We’ve been to how many Sanctuaries, now?” she asked Buzz Buzz.

“There was Pink Cloud, Magnet Hill, Milky Well just now…” He looked up from his gloved hands and told Tori, “Three.”

“So we’ve almost got half of them!” Leicra chimed in.

“Yeah!” Tori looked back at the Sound Stone and gazed at it for a moment. “It really has changed colour, hasn’t it?”

Buzz Buzz leaned closer to the Sound Stone as Tori said, “It’s actually noticeably blue now.”

“A light blue… But definitely blue,” Buzz Buzz added.

Before the four knew it, they were back in Saturn Valley. The older Mr. Saturn, as well as the Mr. Saturns that accompanied Tori, Leicra and Gran.

“You charge music stone?” the older Mr. Saturn asked.

“We sure did!” Tori grinned.

“Goody! We prepare Saturn Coffee for you? Drink before go?”

After talking to themselves for a brief moment, Tori said, “Yeah, why not.”

“Kay-o! Sit down at tree stump! Coffee is already there.”

The four sat themselves down, Buzz Buzz opting to sit on the tree stump itself. Four mugs sat on the tree stump, steam still coming from it.

“Um… How are Gran and I going to drink it?” Leicra asked the older Mr. Saturn.

“...Oh. I no think of that, zoom,” the older Mr. Saturn said. “We just make four mugs because there four of you. Did not factor in no mouths or small body.”

There was a brief moment of silence before one of the other Mr. Saturns chirped, “Pour it on head!”

Gran blinked at him, and Leicra just stared. Leicra looked back to one of the mugs, then said, “I’ll try it.”

They picked up a mug and held in their hands for a couple of moments, staring at the pink-ish liquid inside. They then looked over at Gran and told her, “Gran, make sure you take your hat off before pouring it on your head.”

“I will!”

Tori had spent a few moments blowing on her coffee to try cool it off, to no success. Buzz Buzz had fluttered up to the top of another mug and had been staring at the coffee inside for a while, trying to figure out how to drink it without falling in. Gran then picked up her mug and held it, waiting for everyone else to be ready.

“Saturn Coffee no cool, ding. Takes away special flavour,” the older Mr. Saturn told Tori.

“Thanks,” Tori said breathlessly.

“Are we all ready?” Buzz Buzz asked, nervousness on his face from the possibility of falling into his mug.

The other three chorused their readiness, then Buzz Buzz counted down from three. Tori and Buzz Buzz took a sip of their coffee while Leicra and Gran poured it on their heads.

As they did, the older Mr. Saturn chirped, “Bottoms up!”

---

You’re all very far from home… The bonds of space-time may be broken, but that has caused you all to be here in this moment.

Do you remember how the war began? The Pigmasks came from another time to this one, seeking to defeat Giygas. There is no heroic drive behind this, only more evil. But the four of you may be able to put an end to this.

And yet, there are those who see the light at the end of the tunnel. The remaining citizens of Stormin, that mysterious man you met in that town as well, the Mr. Saturns… and the four of you. You have shared many moments together, both highs and lows. There will be more of these in the very near future, but I know you will be able to handle it.

You all have each other in this quest to alter fate. Buzz, the insectoid from afar, wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Tori. Gran, while not the most keen fighter, has made herself a member of your ragtag crew. And Leicra called out to you while in Autumns to tell you of how to alter this twisted timeline.

You still have a long way to go on this quest, and it will certainly be full of ups and downs. It will be scary to face, but keep your courage, humour and drive, and know that in the end, it will all be worth it. I am positive you will succeed. When two evils battle, do you believe that the clouds that cover the sky will have a silver lining? Do you believe that good will show itself in time?

You may come to suspect things about the others around you, but one thing to remember is who you can trust. Know your allies, know your enemies, and only then will you know where you stand. The difficult times ahead will try to lead you astray, but as long as you keep your goal in mind, you will not fall victim to the enemies’ temptations.

When you have finished this cup of coffee, your quest will resume. Next, you must head east, and through the town of Twoson you must find Happy-Happy Village.

Buzz…

          Tori…

                    Gran…

                              Leicra…

I wish you luck…

---

The four sat in wide-eyed silence.

“Did- Did you guys- Did you… hear that? See that? Hear-see whatever that was?” Tori asked Leicra and Gran.

Leicra and Gran nodded.

“That…” Buzz Buzz looked over at the Mr. Saturns and asked them, “What did you put in this?!”

“That secret, ding,” the older Mr. Saturn told him. The other three Mr. Saturns added in a simultaneous “shhh!”

“But at least we know where to go next,” Tori said. “But I think we should maybe… take a few moments. To just… recover from whatever the hell that coffee was.”

And the other three agreed.