The first thing I notice is the pressure. I can feel an immense weight pushing against me from all directions. It's hard to move, trapped as I am, but eventually I'm able to climb to my knees. The weight is still there, pushing against my every move, but now I'm able to make out some dim light. I throw myself against the pressure again and it gives way. I find myself erupting out of a pile of rubble. Far above I can barely make out a hole in the ceiling, sending down light. The walls of this place are all burnished brown and burnt orange, not comforting.

With a start, I remember Sue. It takes only a moment of frantic searching to find the child sized Mimiga. She is lying at my feet, unconscious. I am able to make out a few bruises beneath her fur and there is a spot on her arm that is matted with blood, but I can also see that she's breathing. Crouching, I lift her up and carry her in my arms. I climb awkwardly over the rubble, searching for a way for us to escape. Instead, I find only a trembling pile of rubble.

Panic begins to well up in me as I try to juggle Sue's body while reaching for my gun. The struggle proves unnecessary, though, because Curly appears just as I whip out the Spur. Her hair is splayed across her face and her face is covered with dirt. Just by looking at her I can tell she's exhausted. A slight smile touches her lips as her eyes fall on me. "Quote…" she murmurs out. Curly stumbles forward a few feet, then seems to lose her balance. Without thought I drive the Spur back into its holster and dart forward to her.

I catch Curly with one arm and hold her tightly around the shoulders. I can feel that she's leaning on me completely. She has no strength left, none. "I shouldn't have left you there," I murmur into her ear, just inches away from my mouth. Curly chuckles softly and retorts, "Not like you… had a choice. Let's get outa' here." I nod and begin to look around. We're in a cavern, complete with solid stone walls and floors. I look back up at the hole longingly, but dismiss it. I don't think the booster would carry me up that high, let alone all three of us.

Sighing, I search for another way and my eyes soon fall upon a single passage poking out from a great stone wall. Looking into its depths, I can just make out the flickering light of a torch. Moving slowly, I haul Sue's body and Curly's barely conscious form in the direction of the tunnel. It seems to be miles away, but soon enough we've reached the mouth. My suspicions are confirmed as we stagger past a flickering torch. However, that's not the only thing that draws my attention. Sitting lazily in the center of the corridor is a spectral white dog.

It sits there, haphazardly blocking out path. After pausing to scratch its ear, the dog looks up at me with unmistakably sad eyes. Before I can say anything, a silvery voice fills the air. "Please, you have to help my master. You have to end this." The voice reverberates through the air and I can almost feel it. Before I can dismiss it as absurd, I know that the voice belongs to this dog. "End what? Who is your master?" My voice comes out gravelly and gruff. It disturbs me to hear myself speak like that, as if I haven't had a drink of water for years.

"Ballos…" the voice says sadly, "Ballos is my master, but he's fading now and you need to stop him… please, I'm asking you to kill my master." I swallow, trying vainly to wet my throat. "What do you mean?" is all I manage to cough out. "A long time ago he was a good man," the voice says softly, "He still is, really. He's just twisted. But something's happened and… he's killing the island. It will be destroyed and all of its inhabitants will die. Please…"

I look down at the furry Mimiga form clutched in my arm and I think. I think about the deserted village and the inhabitants we've been working so hard to save. If I allowed this to happen, it would all be for nothing. They would all die, probably us as well. There was only one thing to be done. I nod my head and say plainly, "I'll do it." The dog looks at me somberly and says, "Thank-you. Please, just put him out of his misery. You can leave your friends with me; I'll protect them as I can. My master is just farther down the corridor in the chamber. I've kept him in there this long… Just go."

I nod and lay Sue and Curly down gently against the stone walls of the tunnel. They're both out of it. I only know Sue is alive by the steady rise and fall of her chest, while Curly's eyes are moving faintly beneath their lids. Her mouth has opened slightly and it has lent her face a cool, serene look. Altogether she looks… pretty. At that thought I reach down and grab the Spur from its place. I'm not going to let anything happen to Curly, or the Mimiga, or anyone else. I'm going to stop this catastrophe.

I leave them behind, heading farther up the tunnel. As I progress, I can feel myself growing closer to something immense. There is a forcefulness in the air, and a malicious way in which it flows around me. There is something here, something terrible. Suddenly a tremor wracks the island and I'm thrown to my knees. The Spur almost slips from my grasp but I hang on consciously. Right by my hand I see a hairline crack beginning to form in the stone.

That's when I notice the man sitting in a nearby chair. Filled with shock I leap to my feet, holding tight to my weapon. "Are you… Ballos?" I ask. The man looks at me with dull grey eyes and stares for a moment. "I was, I am, but the question is whether I will be tomorrow." My hand tightens around the Spur and I feel a bead of sweat forming on my neck. That… immensity… it's coming from him, I know it. "Now will you be the one who will finally undo me? Or will you die?"

Impulsively I twitch my eyes and instantly realize we're not in the tunnel anymore. It has become more of a dome shaped cavern. A dome shaped cavern with no way in, and no way out. I look back to the man and find him glaring at me with bared teeth. "I am Ballos…" he said in a guttural tone, "Now, kill me! Or... I shall kill YOU!" As I'm still taking in the meaning of the phrase, Ballos launches himself toward me in a sudden tackle. I'm barely able to escape the attack by throwing myself to one side.

I climb to my feet quickly, questioning this old man's great speed. However, I almost immediately feel the floor begin to shift beneath me. My gaze falls downward and I realize I'm standing on a pile of old bones. There's no knowing how deep the pile goes, but that's the least of my problems as the bones surge upward and knock the Spur from my grasp. I'm toppled backward, but I roll and eventually land back on my feet. I regain my balance just in time to watch the Spur sink into the ocean of bones.

With a suddenly quickened pulse, I tear out the blade just in time to slice an attacking skull. It shatters and falls to the ground in a poof of grey dust. I fight off a spine, then a shinbone, a hand, then the skeletal remnants of a wing. Even as I destroy a bone, another jumps up in its place. There seem to be millions upon millions of new adversaries just waiting to take their shot at me. Sweat it pouring down my arms, trying to loosen my grip on the blade. I hang on though, literally for dear life. If I lose the blade now…

Then suddenly the onslaught stops. Feeling confused I look down and realize I'm standing on packed dirt and stone. No more bones, just the plain floor of a cave. I'm about to start celebrating when I hear a sharp crack cut through the air. Without thinking I throw myself out of the way and barely evade a bolt of searing lightning. I roll across the ground and escape the devastating explosions caused by two more bolts. I climb to my feet just as a third bolt is being launched at me. Instinct takes over and I strike at the bolt with the blade.

I cringe as it makes contact, but amazingly the bolt reverses its direction. The flare of lightning is sent directly toward Ballos. He has no time to evade the unexpected attack and it stabs into his chest with a crackling sound. He is thrown backward and I can smell something burning. However, the screaming sounds I hear tell me that this isn't over. They seem to be cries of rage, not pain or death. Ballos isn't done here. I can see him rolling about on the ground, clutching desperately at the point of impact.

His cries echo through the cavern, and I can feel it beginning to shake again. More violently this time. Large stones are beginning to fall from above us. Some as large as my fist, some as big as my head or even my whole torso. If any of these strike me I'll probably be done for. Suddenly a tremor wracks the chamber and a large rift opens out of the floor. Tongues of flame spew from the depths of the hole and do so sporadically. I turn my attention back to Ballos and find him on his knees. He is panting desperately.

The man spits out a wordless shriek and I see his body beginning to change. His skin is bulging, shifting. Ballos groans and I know it is from pain. There is a large scorched mark on his chest, and the flesh beneath seems to be undulating and bending. Suddenly the man is enveloped in a blinding flash of light. I can still hear him screaming while I shield my eyes. When I know the light has diminished, I look back toward Ballos and gape. The form of a man is gone, replaced by a massive boulder-like mass. The only recognizable part of Ballos is his snarling face melded into the stone.

For a moment I think of attacking with the blade, but that's only a moment. Instead I reach for the heavy weapon strapped over my shoulder. I raise the long tube of a barrel and gaze through the mounted scope at Ballos. I fire a rocket, then a second, then another.

And another

And another

And another and another and another

Each successive missile flies toward him and bursts with savage ferocity, but only succeeds in marring him slightly. A barely visible crack here, and a loose stone there. I begin to aim for the cracks and as the next rocket makes contact, a large chunk of Ballos's mass falls away. Grinning to myself, I fire relentlessly at the boulder, aiming for the cracks whenever I am able. The result is tremendous. Ballos's main body is little more than a ravaged core while bits and pieces of his shell lay around the room. I'm about to fire what could be a killing shot when something slams into me with such massive force that I can feel the rocket launcher being torn from my viselike grasp as I fly backward.

Looking upon my assailant, I see an animated chunk of Ballos's shell. It is floating in the air and seems to have grown a large singular eye. As I watch, the smoldering heaps around the room begin to rise. I growl and look around, hoping to find something better than the blade to fight them with. However, there is nothing. It seems the rocket launcher and the Spur have completely disappeared. Too bad, I liked the Spur. I draw the blade and face the nearest of the eye-boulders. It charges forward and I shove the blade hilt deep into the eye.

The eye-boulder drops to the ground and I'm just barely able to withdraw the blade in time to face the next ones. I'm able to kill the next eye-boulder quickly in much the same way. However, after that I am faced with two, then three, and so on. The animated rubble crowds around me, trying desperately to smash me while I thrust and block with the Blade. Through luck and agility, I manage to escape grievous bodily harm for the most part. I find myself facing down the last eye-boulder, readying myself to attack or to receive its attack.

Something slams into me from my left side and I know something bad has happened. For just a moment my left arm flares up, then I suddenly can't feel it anymore. There's no time to contemplate the injury though, as I spin and stab the eye-boulder. After that I quickly dispatch the final one and examine my arm. The skin has been torn away, showing bone in some places and leaking a milky white fluid from the whole area. My entire left arm has become numb, and I'm grateful for that. I don't think I could keep going through that much pain.

I start to look back at Ballos, but the island starts to shake violently and I am thrown down to one knee. I look up with no little effort and find myself watching boulder-sized rocks come falling down from the ceiling. Where they land, the boulders tear through the floor like tissue paper and disappear. Cracks are spreading across the walls and in some places there is glowing magma leaking through. In others, fierce geysers burst through the brittle stone. Everything is going crazy now. I need to stop this. As I run toward Ballos, I can only hope the destruction is contained in this room and not spreading throughout the island.

Holding tightly to the blade, I leap into the air and activate the booster. I shoot through the air toward Ballos. He seems on the verge of death. As if just one more well placed blow would finish him off. As I near, I find just the place. Landing atop Ballos's crumbling head, I find myself staring at a spot of glowing, pulsating flesh among the scaly stone. Yes, this should finish him off. I raise the blade above my head, ready to drive it in.

Ballos shifts beneath me and I lose my balance. I go sliding down, struggling to find some kind of handhold. It's difficult with only one hand, but through desperate scrambling I finally catch myself. The only problem is that as I fell, I lost my grip on the blade. It is now balancing near me, ready to fall any moment. And I only have one hand. I think frantically about what weapons I have left in my backpack, and I realize that they won't be strong enough. I need the blade to finish Ballos off. So I leap and reach for the weapon.

I manage to wrap my fingers around the hilt, but I am unable to hold on to the stone surface. With two disabled arms, the most I can do is try to climb with my feet. However, it takes all of my strength just to keep from falling. But… wait… there's a toehold. A tiny one, but it exists. If I can just push off of that with enough strength, I might be able to get back on top. But if it breaks, there's a good chance that fall will kill me. I take that chance and leap.

The toehold snaps and I fall. However, at that same moment I feel something close around my other hand and I look up to find Curly Brace trying to pull me back up. "Heheh, I guess you… need my… help… after all…" she groans while struggling. I feel a huge weight lift off of my shoulders as Curly helps me back up and we crawl toward Ballos's weak spot. Curly's okay, and I'm okay, this is all going to be okay. That's what I'm thinking as we both climb desperately to our feet. We both lock our hands around the blade's hilt, and with a twin pair of desperate roars, we drive the blade into Ballos's skull.

We have little time for reuniting or celebrating as Ballos falls out of the air. The best I can do is to release the blade and dive toward Curly. I wrap myself around her and activate the booster. Together we're heavy, and it strains to lift us, but we fall slowly to the ground. Ballos is slammed against the ground and he shatters, throwing rubble throughout the chamber. Curly and I collapse to the ground with a pair of stupid grins.

"I guess it's over," I say tiredly.

"Yeah, I guess it is," she sighs back.

Before I can think to say anything else, Sue comes running in and hugs me. With her face pressed into my stomach, the little girl sobs and mirrors my statement.

It's over. It's finally over.

But somehow it isn't. With a roaring sound, the walls of the chamber begin to collapse. Boulders are falling everywhere, and the destruction from before has returned in full power. I just know we'll die now, but I'm too tired to do anything. I just lay back down and wait…

"Hey, you're here! Come on! Unless you wanna get smashed or somethin'!" a familiar voice shouts. I look up and find myself staring at Balrog. He has a wide grin plastered on his face and is reaching one hand down toward me. I grin back weakly and murmur a tired thanks, then reach for his hand. "Hold on, Sue, and Curly…" I mutter. I feel Sue hug herself around me and Curly intertwines her fingers with mine.

The jolt of Balrog's leap shocks me into full alert. I can feel the wind flying past us like a hurricane while I struggle to hold onto Curly. Then suddenly we're in daylight and the air is calm. We're standing on ground, and no one's trying to kill us, so that's a plus.

Looking around I find Doctor Booster and Sue's mom standing near a helicopter. The two of them have grins just as big as Balrog's and I don't blame them. It's over now, all over.

"Thank you, thank you both for stopping the Doctor." Sue's mom says, "I know we couldn't have done it without you."

I can't think of anything to say, so I just smile like the rest of them.

"Come on Sue," she says, "We'll have to get going. Me and Dr. Booster were able to get this helicopter working."

Sue looks at her mom, then back at us and says, "Thank you, thank you so much."

I grin and mutter that it was "no problem."

Sue hugs me, then she hugs Curly, and then she even hugs an obviously embarrassed Balrog, before saying goodbye and joining her mother and Dr. Booster.

We watch them fly away and disappear from the island.

"So what now?" I say finally, "Will you be going back to the Colons?"

Curly surprises me by shaking her head and saying, "No, I talked to that dog a little before going off after you. Now that Ballos is gone, there won't be any more monsters, so they won't need me. So I don't know, probably find a nice place with a view, settle down."

"That does sound good," I say with a slight grin, "I think I've had enough excitement for two lifetimes."

From the corner of my eye I see Curly blush slightly and say, "Well, then maybe you'd… I don't know… come with me? I guess I… I've grown… fond of you, and I think we should stick together."

I feel a blush starting to sneak onto my face as I say, "I'd like that. I've grown… fond… of you too."

I can't think of another word to say, but the hand slowly slipping into mine tells me I've said enough.

I feel my stomach do a backflip as Balrog's loud voice blares out, reminding me of his presence. I can't believe we just said all that in front of him.

"Hey, uh…" he says awkwardly, "since I used to live in that tower," he points at the mountain of rubble on the far side of the island, "I guess I'm kinda, uh, homeless now. So, well, I don't suppose there's, uh, room for one more?"

Curly and I exchange a look and laugh, "Sure," we say together.

Balrog lets out a big laugh and picks each of us up in one of his huge hands. Leaping into the air, he jets off toward the horizon. "So, where ya' wanna go?" he asks.

Curly chuckles and shouts happily, "Anywhere!"

I can't help but smile and look over at Curly, then up at Balrog, then back at Curly. It's over, all over. Now its just the three of us with all the time in the world to be happy. No one to save, no evil to fight, just us.