All That I Needed Was You

Ninten, Ana, and Lloyd head to Merrysville next, home of the world-famous Duncan Inc. flagship factory… which has recently shut down. Now the town is a shell of its former glory, run-down and overrun by local gangs. Well, just one gang, actually, but the biggest, baddest, meanest gang of them all… the Black Bloods! And when Lloyd accidentally runs afoul of one of their numbers, the Chosen three-out-of-four find themselves face to face with B.B. gang’s formidable leader…

Ladies and gentlemen... are you REDDY... for some TEEEEEEDDY?!!!

He's big as a whale, strong as an ox, mean as a weasel, and he has a lovely baritone voice. Now, Ninten has no choice but to square off with the ferocious Teddy in a good-old-fashioned no-holds-barred rumble. And wouldn't you know it, there's Arlene's Live House just across the street, as good a venue as any.

Will Ninten stand up to his friends against these nasty no-good B.B. bullies? Will he pull through in the bridge? And will they once and for all please stop picking on him already just because he has a subscription to the Economist (seriously, he only reads it for the articles! Sheesh...)? 

Find out on this week's episode of... The Podcast Against Giygas! No crying until the ending.

Transcript

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You’re listening to… The Podcast Against Giygas!

Episode five: All That I Needed Was You 

*

The ride to the very next stop on the Paradise Line from Youngtown was little more eventful than Ninten and Lloyd's first ride. Two hours had gone by before Lloyd looked out his window and spotted over the rushing trees and hills the semi-tall buildings from the modest skyline of their next destination.

—There it is! Merrysville.

Ana scooted beside him and took in the view, taking a sip through her glass bottle of soda pop she was still working on long after the other children finished their light lunch. It was a cherry cola. 

—We're always sending away grown-ups from there that want to expand in Youngtown. I can't imagine it, doing the same job over and over, getting barely enough to live on, and all that for your whole life.

Ninten snickered, just barely glancing up from his nose stuck in the tattered journal.

—That's what everyone else has to do. Why should you be any different? 

—Because we are different! When our parents disappeared, we didn't give up and cry about it. Well… we did cry for a little bit, but then we took care of ourselves. That's the way we are, we don't let bad things get us down. So why should we let the grown-ups ruin it for us?

Ana sighed and returned to her seat, next to Ninten. 

—I do miss my mom and dad. But I gotta keep my head up, you know? For when they come back. Why, for all I know, maybe they… just forgot where we live.

Ninten snickered even louder, which made Ana frown. 

—Hey! What’s so funny?

—I… I’m sorry, but… that’s ridiculous. How do you just forget where you live? And your spouse, too? 

—Maybe they got amnesia… at the same time. 

Ninten looked Ana over, and there was not a hint of self-consciousness in her to be found. She truly believed that her mother could have slipped on a banana peel and hit her head, and her father, wanting to be a good husband and help her back on her feet, also slipped on that same peel, and ever since they’ve spent their days muttering to themselves and each other who are we, where are we going…

—Anyway, it’s not impossible, and that gives me hope. There’s always hope.

—No… sometimes there’s no hope at all. 

—What do you mean by that?

—…nothing, forget it. Just a stupid thing I said.

Lloyd, who was still looking through the window, perked up at this point in the conversation. 

—It’s his mom. She ah-

Ninten looked up from the diary and shot Lloyd an icy glare that stopped his words in their tracks. 

—…what? What is it, Ninten?

He sighed and closed the book with a huff.

—My mom, well… she’s gone too. About two years ago. Only, she’s definitely not coming back. 

Ana’s lip quivered, and a stray tear formed in her eyes, as if Ninten had told her it was her mother who was never coming back.

—Oh… oh dear… I’m so sorry! That’s just terrible! Back in Youngtown, I said you should thank your mother for your name. I wouldn't have said that if...

—It’s alright. You couldn’t have possibly known at the time…

—Still, I feel just awful for it! You’ll forgive me, won’t you? Please-

—Okay! I forgive you. Now if you don’t mind, I really prefer we just stop talking about this now. 

This did the trick. Ana and Lloyd kept quiet for the short remainder of the train ride. The conversation, along with yet another asthma attack with perfect timing, made it all happen again. Ninten thought back to the day. It had been a hot day outside, and he wore a black suit that didn’t fit him right, thick black shoes that were a half a size too small, hair slicked into a shell on his head, his favorite red hat still at home. He spent the morning in a numb daze, taking up space in the world as it all went on around him, without him. His uncles and aunts, cousins, other adults he didn’t recognize, all approached him and told him how sorry they were, how awful it must be for him, how sad he must be. He said nothing to them back, and he never cried once. He didn’t even have to fight tears back, he was still far too bewildered. The world was telling him his mother was now just a big long wooden box, and strangers were lifting her up and placing her into a big hole in the wall. Soon enough, that box was gone, and now it was a nice porcelain urn. He couldn’t believe it even as it was happening. Only the week before, he sat beside her on the couch as they watched a trashy black and white horror movie. Only three days ago, he gave her a big hug before he headed off to school. And now, on the car ride back home with his dad, he was holding the entirety of her in a jar resting on his lap. 

The conductor, who was now an adult, shouted Merrysville, folks! Merrysville!, which made Ninten shake that memory off him like a rainy day. 

The children disembarked from the train and entered Merrysville, where they were greeted by… not much at all. While keeping careful not to tread on the plenty of litter strewn among the streets, their first sight was a billboard that said WELCOME TO MERRYSVILLE, with what used to be a smiling young woman motioning toward a futuristic city behind her, as if to say, this is the wonderful place in store for you, dear traveler. The parts of the sign that weren’t torn off, however, were vandalized beyond all hope, with that woman now sporting spray-painted cartoony boggle eyes and a huge mouth with jagged teeth. 

Time was just as unkind to the town of Merrysville as it was to the sign wishing one welcome. Buildings lied half-crumbling, which also sported plenty of ugly spray-painted graffiti, roads were pockmarked with potholes and cracks and covered with more trash and piles of electronic refuse, computers and keyboards and circuit boards and doodads, all emptied of batteries and lying dead on the ground. Just as prominent as the squalor was the presence of one person, the ubiquitous mascot of Duncan Home Electronics, Incorporated... 

The Apple Kid.

Thirty or forty years ago, anything that ran with electric power in an Eagleland household was most likely built by the Franklin Corporation, with of course their crowning technical achievement being those magical badges that repelled electricity, sworn by electricians all around the country. But now, the world ran on Duncan: personal computers, calculators, television sets, home appliances, even do-it-yourself radio-controlled vehicles, even personal robotics, just about anything that needed batteries or a plug. And every man, woman, or child who turned on a TV would be graced with the two boys who to this day fight a Manichean war for the hearts and minds of all electronics consumers: the nerdy, spindly-thin Orange Kid, whose color was an obvious nod to that competing company, and the Apple Kid, a portly, short, but whip-smart and lovable boy, who always chose Duncan and, spoiler alert, always made the right choice. I’m an Orange Kid, I’m toasting two slices of bread with this good-old fashioned toaster! I’m an Apple Kid, and I’m using a Duncan-issue toaster oven. Look, breakfast is ready for the whole family in two minutes flat! How are you doing back there? And cut to that poor hapless Orange Kid, fanning smoke away from his sooty face, looking helplessly to the camera amid his short-circuited and quite-on-fire toaster. Don’t be like me, folks, be an Apple Kid. 

Lloyd looked around the squalor, aghast. 

—I don’t understand… this was the flagship location for Duncan Inc. This place should be booming. 

—Duncan shut down the big factory here. I read about it in the Economist.

Lloyd and Ana stopped walking and gave Ninten a look of utter bewilderment. 

—Um, yeah… anyway, you know… it’s a pretty common occurrence, a big company like Duncan will always outsource their production to overseas if it helps their bottom line.

—Uh huh. Where did you say you read it?

—…the Economist.

—You have a subscription?

—Yes! 

—And how old are you?

—Look, I read it for the… the articles.  

Ana gave Lloyd a wistful look, he’s hopeless isn’t he, and Lloyd replied wordlessly yeah, well I eat lunch with him at school, I got it even worse than you do.

—You are a very strange boy, Ninten Elliott…

—Yeah okay, whatever! You hold full conversations in your head with elephants and birds, but I’m the big weirdo here!  

—…but you can talk to animals too, can’t you? You spoke to your dog that one time-

—Alright, enough!

This was sufficient to keep the peanut gallery quiet for a few minutes as they went deeper into not-so-Merrysville. Ninten’s already foul mood was exacerbated by the fact that he still had no idea what he was doing in the gloomy town in the first place. Where to go, what to do, who to speak to, anything. Meanwhile, Lloyd futzed around with his remote control device, tightening screws and soldering wires with his Duncan-issue pocket multitool. As small as the fixes may have been, it was nonetheless an activity better served by not being up and walking at the same time, because a spark popped on the thing, and in response a rocket launched out of Lloyd’s backpack. The boy looked on in horror as the rocket spun in loop-de-loops over their heads and sped all the way into a nearby alley, and exploded with a bang that made them all cringe. 

*

A minute later, a group of the meanest-looking teenage boys any of them had ever seen came out of the alley, scanning the street and immediately homing toward Ninten, Lloyd, and Ana. All black clothes and loose-fitting black balaclavas over their heads, with at least one red article somewhere, red fingerless gloves, red sneakers, or a red bandana around the head or neck, like the one Ninten was wearing.

All had an angry frown on their faces, but one of them, whose balaclava was tattered and showing a sooty black face and singed hair, had a far deeper frown than the others. 

—Which one of you kids threw that?

They all looked at Lloyd, who, if the severely nearsighted prescription in his thick glasses allowed it, would have looked wide-eyed in fear. Still holding the remote control, he sheepishly scanned the street, looking for even a single soul beside themselves and the young toughs before them.

—Say, who did… did any of you see who threw that… did you get the license plate from that ah…

He fooled none of the meanies, predictably enough. As they took a step or two toward the nerdy kid, as easy as any pickings were around here for the gang, Ninten stepped in front of him, bat at the ready.

—Get away from him.

—Where you goin with that big Gutsy bat, boy?

—Somewhere you’re in the way of. 

—…we don’t take kindly to strangers here, you know.

Ana chose this moment, of all times, to turn on her chipper personality and try to catch the ornery flies before her with some honey.

—Then let’s not be strangers, let’s be friends! I’m Pollyana, but you can call me Ana for short if you want to, and these are my friends Lloyd, and Ninten!

The toughs took a look at the boy giving them guff and threatening them with a weapon, and when they found out his name was “Ninten” they let out an uproarious laugh. 

—Bwahahahaha! Ninten?! What kind of a stupid name is that?!

—It’s my stupid name! What are you gonna do about it?

It wasn’t this defiance on Ninten’s part that made the ruffians back down, but a sharp whistle. It made them stop their advance, nervously look behind themselves, and then slightly back away, showing deference to an obvious leader in their midst.

Ninten saw a young man walking toward him with a cool, easygoing gait as he kept his eyes trained on Ninten, through dark red sunglasses he wore. His black hair was slicked and teased up into a little pompadour protruding before his head, he wore red sneakers, tight khaki jeans, and a lettermen jacket over a red sleeveless muscle shirt, for which he packed in plenty of muscles. 

The strange older boy looked Ninten up and down, as smoke from a nearly-spent cigarette wafted through clenched teeth. He let out a faint chuckle as he threw the butt away, then pointed to Ninten’s hat.

—It’s red.

—…yeah?

—But you’re not a true BB.

—No, I guess not.

—You a shark?

—I’m ah… a person, last I checked.

—You a cop?

—What? We don’t have time for this-

As Ninten started to move forward, the older boy stopped him with a hand to his shoulder. He looked down on Ninten and growled,

—I SAID… are you a cop?

—…yeah, buddy, I’m a cop. I’m on that special task force of fifteen year old boys.

At this, the other young man howled in laughter, and was joined by the others as he pointed to Ninten.

—You see? I told you, if you ask them if they’re a cop, they HAVE to tell you!

—Look, we're trying to get to... well, I don't really know, to be honest. But could you just let us be on our way? Or get to a point, at least? 

One of the other goons spoke up, this one the unfortunate lad standing in the path of Lloyd’s rocket, now with singed hair and a torn balaclava.

—You’re the ones who put your toe over the line in the sand, not us! Now you gotta answer to Teddy!

This elicited a chant of TED-DEE, TED-DEE, TED-DEE  from the gang, and their leader, apparently named Teddy, basked in the adulation and then graciously waved them down quiet.

—Is that true? You drew first blood, attacked one of my boys? 

—Ah yeah, we’re still trying to find the guy who did that…

—Again, fellas. I thought you were getting to a point-

—The POINT, boys and girls, is you’re on BB ground, committing BB crimes, and I’m the judge, jury, and executioner of all the BB gang. 

Teddy whipped his arm around, and in one motion ripped off his jacket and shirt and faced his back to the others. He revealed an elaborate tattoo, letters rendered in old gothic script, big black capital letters that spelled out BLA, BLA. He waited for Ninten to be impressed, and got a little self-conscious when that was a long time coming.

—That’s what BB stands for? The Bla-Bla gang? Cause I just want to be clear, a minute ago you were all saying my name was stupid…

—We are the Black Bloods. The meanest, toughest gang in Merrysville. The ONLY gang in Merrysville, in fact. That’s because we’re so mean and tough that all the others ones are too scared to show their faces now.

—Then why didn’t you get that tattooed on your back instead?

—It’s a shorter version of it, easier to say…like, that thing when you take a word and then you take off a buncha letters and everyone still knows what it means…

A long silence followed, which Lloyd broke by offering up a suggestion.

—Do you mean an abbreviation?

—Yes! That’s exactly what I mean. Cause sometimes you’re busy, you don’t have time to say the whole thing.

—It looks more to me like you tried to get a full tattoo but couldn’t handle the pain, and that’s just what you’re stuck with now.

—No! It is a full tattoo! This is exactly the tattoo I wanted, and the one I wanted is the one I got! It’s like your little friend said, it’s just an abomination.

—Welp, ah… that’s good for you, then. You’re gonna go far with that. See you round, Mr. Teddy blah-blah. Come on, guys, let’s get out of here.

As Ninten tried to walk past once more, once again Teddy’s big hand restrained his way.

—Ignorance of the law is no excuse. You’ve committed BB crimes, and we want that hard BB satisfaction.

Teddy cracked a mean grin and cracked his knuckles too, for good measure. Ninten produced his own bat and looked straight in Teddy’s eyes, unafraid.

—Fine. You want a rumble, I’m game.

Ana tiptoed to Ninten and tapped him on the shoulder.

—Um, Ninten? Maybe we shouldn’t pick a, a fight, with…

—It’s alright. Sometimes the native population doesn’t understand anything else except their own language.

Teddy clapped his hands once, and pumped his fists in the air. Ninten raised his bat, keeping a wary eye on his opponent, as if he were really up to bat and squaring off against a pitcher.

—Yes! A rumble it shall be, stranger in a strange land! I’m answering the call, I’m JUMPIN IN!! And it’ll be a deep sound of wartime comin out from BB ground, a feast for the eyes for all the boys and girls in Valhalla! There will be whammina, there will be bammina, and don’t you dare forget the thank-you-ma’ammina. And what luck, there’s a karaoke joint right across the street!

—A… a what?

This made Ninten raise an eyebrow and lower his bat just a little bit. But no, he didn’t hear wrong, Teddy was actually pointing across the street to a run-down bar and music hall. 

—Ladies and gentlemen… IT’S A SING-OFF!!!

As Teddy let out a war whoop of glee, his gang mates broke out into a chant of SING-OFF, SING-OFF, SING-OFF…

The next thing Ninten knew, the scary gang of Merrysville and its formidable leader led him and his two friends into the bar across the street, which a neon sign declared was called Arlene's Live House. Teddy swung open the doors of the place like a cowboy entering a saloon and made his way in with the same bravado, looking down his red shades and grinning at the homely older woman working the bar.  

—Heya babe. Gimme a brewski, leave the bottle.

The woman met Teddy's charm with an unchanged stone face. 

—We've been over this a million times, bub. You're not twenty-one yet and you know it. 

It was true, there were big black X's in magic marker just as prominently drawn on his hands as there were for Ninten, Lloyd, and Ana. Teddy kept his posture on the bar, not letting the rebuff throw off his rhythm. 

—A sarsaparilla, then. Hey buddy, can I offer you a last sarsaparilla before I grind you into the dirt?

—Um... no thank you.

The woman finally regarded Ninten, Lloyd, and Ana, sticking out like sore thumbs in the dark and lonely music hall and licensed premises, full of patrons leaning into their mugs feeling about as "merry" as the rest of Merrysville. 

—Let me guess... sing-off?

—I guess so, missus ah...

The woman pointed a thumb out near the front door. 

—Did you see a sign out there that says "Arlene's?" Well, I'm Arlene, pleased as punch. You wanna have a little song, plunk a few quarters in the jukebox and sing whatever you picked into the microphone upstage. 

While giving the children the lay of the land, she slid a cold bottle to Teddy, who grabbed it and unscrewed the cap with his teeth in one motion, then, spitting the cap out into a tin bucket behind the bar like a wad of tobacco into a spittoon, he drank the whole thing in one gulp. He then flipped a few quarters into Arlene's hands, who caught them with a bored readiness. 

—You don't gotta tell me twice! Put on my favorite, babydoll, you know the one!  

While shaking her head, Arlene ambled to the jukebox and selected a song, as Teddy strutted to the stage and grabbed the mic, bouncing on his heels in anticipation. The machine whirred, the needle fell on the record with a pop. The opening riff rang out, and Ninten's jaw dropped in shock. 

For the song Teddy selected was one he knew very well. None other than "Paradise Line," by his favorite current rock and roll band, the Runaway Five.

The Paradise Special's pullin' into the station

Hurry up gotta get on board

Adventure is the ticket to our destination

Come on, now don't be slow

Here we go, on down the track

Paradise Special movin' down the track!

Half the fun of travel's just the journey there

lighten up and enjoy the show

We're gonna make it now with hours to spare

Hey don't you hear that whistle blow

Moanin' low, the wheels talk back

Raisin' a racket like a yakity yak!

Now we're goin' in style

Let's start wearin' a smile

Life keeps gettin' better all the time

So much better

Takin' the Paradise Line!

Now the locomotive's steamin' like a runaway

So come on, let's rock and roll

And by this time tomorrow we'll be so far away

If there's one thing that I know

Then I know we won't be back

Paradise Special never comin' back

Just relax for a while

Watch the world goin' by

Just as long as we're together we'll be fine

We'll be fine

Takin' the Paradise Line

Well, so Teddy and Ninten liked the same music, if there was any good news, that was it. The bad news was, Teddy was... a good singer. A fantastic one, actually. It was obvious who his main influence was, that very same King of Rock and Roll who made Ninten's parents and so many others their age dance their youths away, but with a hard rock edge and a modern-day savvy to keep up with what the kids today were listening to on the radio. He seemed as comfortable on that stage as he was strutting like a peacock around the town he owned along with his gang. He really should have been a rockstar, and in another world and time, under very different circumstances, he could have been one. 

Wave your troubles goodbye

Leave your sadness behind

We can ride away forever you and I

Yeah forever

Takin' the Paradise Line

Takin' the Paradise Line

Takin' the Paradise Line

*

Ninten paced around the jukebox with Ana and Lloyd. He wasn't even this terrified out of his mind when he was up against a real alien back in Youngtown.

—Oh man, I can't believe this is happening... 

—Why on earth were you so aggressive with that boy in the first place?

—I just thought it would be the fastest way to get them to leave us alone.

—By picking a fight with them? He's three time your size, and he had a bunch of his friends with him. They outnumbered you seven to one!

—Yeah, but I have psionic power, and they don't. 

Ana silently gasped, her eyes wide open in shock. 

—Oh come on, you know what I mean. I wasn't gonna like, you know, make their heads explode or anything, just a little zap on the rear end or something, just to get them out of our hair... 

After a while Ana eventually recovered from her abject horror at the idea of Ninten using his powers on innocent(ish) human beings, and perused the jukebox. 

—Well, let's just make the most out of a tough situation. Hey, isn't it nice that we get to sing instead of fight? Singing's fun!

—Speak for yourself. I don't sing. 

—Really?

—Don't sing, don't dance. Never have, never will. 

—Never? Now that can't be true!

—You might as well just pick a song at random, I'm gonna butcher every single one of them. It's hopeless...

Never sang? Never danced? Ana didn't believe those words the very half-a-second they left Ninten's lips. Well, she'd have to see about that. Her eyes suddenly went flat white and the faintest ring chimed so quietly that only she could hear it in her own mind. She raised her index finger and gently touched Ninten's head, just at the opening in the back of his red baseball cap where a tuft of his long shaggy black hair poked out. 

This startled Ninten out of his despondency, he sharply turned to face Ana.

—Hey. What are you doing?

—Oh, sorry, um... there was a fly in your hair. Don't worry, I got it out... Anyway, lemme pick a song for you!

Ana made a giddy hop to the jukebox and plunked in some quarters, then making a big show of it pushed a single button. 

—What did you pick?

—It's a surprise! Don't worry, you'll know it when you hear it. Come on, where's Lloyd?

Ana dragged the other two boys up to the stage as they waited for the song to start. Ninten looked down at the audience, it being Teddy's gang calling out rude jeers that blended into each other, Teddy himself, who kept silent and his eyes up stage as if looking forward to the performance, and mostly sad grown-ups drinking or smoking. The revolting, grown-up smells of stale beer and tobacco made him just as sick as the tense situation, his breathing became labored, his hands began to shake. 

At least he knew what do for this. He took his inhaler out of his pocket and breathed in the life-saving medicine. It calmed his nerves as much as it did his inflamed lungs. And then, the song started. 

Ana said he'd know it when he heard it, and of course he did. Everyone knew about the Runaway Five's first and so-far biggest hit, the three-minute rock and roll gem that put them on the map. Ninten took his place on stage on Ana’s left side, as Lloyd stood on the right, and then he awaited the inevitable. The opening riff would only last a few seconds, and then, he'd have to sing, in front of strangers. True, he had his companions with him, and true, most of the adults weren't really listening anyway, but if he choked? If he lost? He'd have to answer to this big dumb burly gang leader. Was his psionic power enough for that?

Lloyd and Ana took up most of the slack, even doing a little dance too. Even if she wasn't a professional yet, Ana was a singer through and through, if that first meeting with her at the zoo was any indication. Lloyd kind of just tried to ape whatever moves Ana pulled off, not really caring that his voice sounded only a little better than Boris the capuchin monkey. Ninten, however, mumbled the words and barely swayed his body to the beat. He was utterly out of his depth, and he looked as terrified on stage as he was in his heart.  

I used to think I was so smart

I couldn't hide the hole in my heart

Sad as it seems, none of my dreams

Ever came true

I used to walk the avenue

All by myself with nothin' to do

Kickin' at cans, half of a man

Till I met you, and I knew...

I've looked for you all of my life, round every corner

Wishin' on stars like some kind of fool, ooh ooh

But now I see the stars in your eyes, those days are over

I took one look 

And I was hooked

I found heaven in you

 And though my dream was overdue

My prayer was answered out of the blue

And now I know, I know it's true

All that I needed was you!

It seemed like the sing-off was Teddy's to win. Until, after the first chorus, and just before the bridge, something strange happened. Ninten grabbed his mic with both hands and closed his eyes. And then, something came out of him. 

For it transpired that Ana's hunch was correct after all. There was indeed a time in his life that Ninten sang and danced. It was very long ago, and probably shoved so far deep down into his subconscious that he honestly wouldn't have remembered if you asked him, but it was there all the same. You see, when "Gorgeous" Donald Walters and "Lucky" Decker Hagen debuted their eponymous album, with only four members on its cover due to their rhythm guitarist backing out at the last minute, and with that song as its leading single, Ninten Elliott was six years old. And when his mother bought that record, and played it on the turntable in the living room, and sang it to herself while she made dinner, or gave Rink a bath, or did just about any little old thing around the house, or turned it way way up on the radio whenever they were in the car, Ninten fell just as hard in love with the song as his mother. And when Ana used her telepathy, ever-so-gently, just to see if what Ninten had told her was true, there he was, the big fat liar, at seven years old, getting ready for first grade, singing and dancing alongside his mother to "All That I Needed Was You" by the Runaway Five. 

The bridge was approaching. Ninten took in a few deep breaths and thought about, if not that moment just before the bus ride to first grade all those years ago, then one of the countless other moments in his life he enjoyed that song. He wore it like a coat, filled himself up with it like a warm mug of cocoa. And then, he sang. 

I was lost, anyone could tell

Just tossing dimes in wishing wells

Out of money and down on luck

Was I surprised when lightnin' struck

And suddenly, you were sent to me

My destiny. it was meant to be

I didn't know before

What I was living for

But now I know for sure

I have been waiting for you

Ana and Lloyd were visibly stunned by the sea change Ninten underwent in only a couple minutes, and let him handle that entire bridge alone before joining in for the second verse and chorus. 

I never knew what I had missed

Until the moment that we kissed

Angel divine, now you are mine

I feel brand new

And now at last my life's complete

Baby, your love's the missing piece

Here in my arms, here in my heart

All that I needed was you

I've looked for you all of my life, round every corner

Wishin' on stars like some kind of fool, ooh ooh

But now I see the stars in your eyes, those days are over

I took one look 

And I was hooked

I found heaven in you

And though my dream was overdue

My prayer was answered out of the blue

And now I know. I know it's true

All that I needed was you!

The song ended, the children dramatically froze in place and politely waited for applause, half-expecting some even in a gloomy place like Arlene's Live House. Predictably, the grown-ups ignored the performance and kept working on their mugs and ashing their cigarettes. The gang members also looked upon the stage in silence, and it was only Teddy himself who broke the long silence by rising to his feet and giving the children a long, slow, thunderous clap. 

The children beat a hasty retreat from the stage of Arlene’s Live House after their apparent victory, and made it to the end of the block before they allowed the exhilaration from their performance to truly take over. Ana and Lloyd giggled and patted Ninten on the back, who let them do it. 

—You were amazing! I haven’t even heard Mrs. Laura sing like that before! And you said you didn’t sing…

—You just picked a good song, that’s all. I didn’t know you liked the Runaway Five.

—Oh, I just love them! Christy Venus is my all-time favorite of course, but they’re a close second. I love their first album, it’s loud and messy and just so much fun! Well, you do know what that means?

—…what?

—We have something in common!

—I dunno about that… they’re alright, don’t get me wrong-

—Nonsense! You like them just as much as I do, or you wouldn’t have sang like that.

—Ugh! Fine, we have something in common. Let’s go ahead and get married now, and then I’ll build you a big house in the suburbs where we can raise our twenty children together. 

—That’s very kind of you, but you don’t have to build it, we can just buy one. And twenty is far too many, maybe just one or two…

It seemed like no matter how pleasant the circumstances might be, Ana could sour them in seconds flat. Already miffed by the reminder that he was destined to live happily ever after with this kooky tag-along, he was even more miffed by a sight he wished he’d never see again. There was Teddy and his gang sauntering up the block to the other three kids. Letting out a groan, Ninten faced the gang as they arrived and kept his bat at the ready.

—What do you idiots want now?

Teddy stepped forward and took in a deep breath, as if would be difficult for him to say what he had to say, before he spoke.

—You sang well. Like a true BB-man.

—Well, thanks. See ya. 

—Wait!

The force of Teddy’s voice made Ninten stop in his tracks. 

—We got a rulie-row around here, for when a stranger-man beats a true-BB.

One of Teddy’s goons piped up from behind him.

—Yeah! We slam-bam! We do the man-a-man dance!

—No! That’s the bad-bad thing! And do we EVER do the bad-bad thing?!

The goon behind him looked embarrassed for speaking up, sighed and looked down to his shoes.

—Erm… no, we don’t do the bad-bad-thing.

—That’s right. Now, the rulie-row is this, the Big-BB doesn’t stomp BB-town anymore, now the Big-BB stomps on the stranger-man land.

Teddy put his fists together and gave Ninten a solemn bow, while the latter looked on utterly confused. As Teddy rose his head, he only now seemed to be aware that his words and actions were strange.

—Oh, sorry. Uh… so it’s like this. Because you beat me in single combat, I’m your man. I go where you go, I do what you tell me to do. 

—Anything I say, huh?

—Anything. 

—Fine. Get out of here and leave us alone.

—Anything except that.

—…you can’t be serious.

—It’s the law of the land. 

—No, it’s not! It’s a stupid thing you and your stupid friends made up-

They were interrupted by, of all things, the pleasant voice of a kindly woman chiming directly in their minds. 

Wonderful! The Chosen Four united at long last! Now, children, I am waiting for you in my court, and we have much to discuss! Follow the God’s Tail and answer its riddle, only then will you be able to enter Magicant! 

As suddenly as the voice appeared it dissipated in their minds. Ninten grumbled and yelled to the sky.

—HIM?! You gotta be kidding me!

*

You’ve been listening to The Podcast Against Giygas. The Podcast Against Giygas is an audiobook written and performed by me, Garrett McMahon, based on Mother, the 1989 video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System directed by Shigesato Itoi. With production by William Pawlowski, additional musical production for this episode by Maxwell Phillips, thumbnail design and art direction by David Peters, and musical selections from the recent Earthbound Beginnings remake hack, with arrangements by livvy94, Snyderman, Bluestone, Pinci, and Mary Strawberry.

This podcast is a guaranteed masterpiece! It is also a fan-made project affiliated in no way whatsoever with the Nintendo Corporation or Mr. Itoi. This podcast is free to listen to, ad-free, and always will be. I hope you enjoyed today’s episode, and if you did, a rating and review on your podcast service of choice is always appreciated. Well, I’ll see you back next Monday, but until then, no crying till the ending!