Mother X: Father

by Tatsurou

I'll Be Back

A quick Teleport later and the group found themselves back in Fourside just north of the museum. Entering from the front, Ness led the way to the front desk. The attendant there smiled kindly at the group. "The dinosaur museum doesn't have any actual dinosaurs," she observed thoughtfully. "They're all replicas, but I'm sure everyone knows that. If you still want to see the dinosaurs, it's $5 a piece for the entrance fee."

Ness frowned thoughtfully. "Actually, we were hoping to see Mr. Spoon. He works here, right?"

"He does," the attendant allowed. "Do you have an appointment?"

"Uh...no," Ness allowed.

"Well, he might be on the museum floor if his schedule is free," the attendant allowed, glancing through some papers. "I don't think there'd be a problem if you talked to him while in there as customers."

Ness stepped back from the counter and turned to the others. "Something tells me we won't be able to get an appointment," he admitted worriedly.

"Doubtful," Moondancer allowed. "He's probably keeping his schedule clear for Mr. Fork...who won't be calling."

"So we pay the entrance fee and hope he's there?" Jeff suggested thoughtfully. "I mean...it's just $25, right?"

"I'd like it if we could be sure he'd be there first," Paula countered with a frown. "However little it is compared to our resources, wasting money isn't a good habit to get into."

"And how are we to determine if he is there?" Poo asked curiously. "We do not even know what he looks like, so we cannot investigate without physically entering and asking around."

"We could ask about his discovery," Buzz Buzz suggested thoughtfully. "If he's made a fuss, this lady might know."

Blinking in surprise at that thought, Ness turned back to the attendant. "We'd heard Mr. Spoon had made some sort of fantastic discovery?" he asked curiously.

"Is that what all that fuss with the door in the back is about?" she asked in surprise. "He's been back there so much it's getting worrisome, but if he's researching something I guess it makes sense..."

"So if he's on the floor he'd be by the door in back?" Jeff pressed.

"Likely, yeah," the attendant allowed thoughtfully.

Poo took a glance through the entrance, narrowing his eyes as he let his essence sink into a memory of a creature once encountered. As his eyesight sharpened, he saw an older man with red hair and thick stubble in a lab coat, seemingly standing guard against the door that had been mentioned. "He's there," he observed as he slipped his mentality back into himself. While it was easier to use the Mirror technique to imitate a foe's abilities if the foe was there, using it to imitate from a memory allowed for more control if less effectiveness. Not useful when in combat, but effective otherwise.

"We'd like to see the exhibits," Ness confirmed happily, paying the entrance fee for the group.

"We hope you enjoy," the attendant replied happily, ushering them onward.

After stopping to make sure Poo was okay, the group made their way to the back of the museum floor. Once there, they approached the scientist. "We heard there was...something extraordinary?" Ness managed to get out.

The man - presumably Mr. Spoon - frowned and rubbed at his stubble. "You want to see something extraordinary, huh?" he asked rhetorically. He lowered his gaze as he thought in silence for a time before speaking up. "...you know, there's a new singer at the Topolla Theater named Venus. Could you bring me her autograph on an eraser? Or...anything, really. Doesn't have to be an eraser..." His breathing quickened slightly before he got himself under control. "If you bring me that, I could show you something extraordinary..."

"Maybe we should have split the party for this," Paula observed thoughtfully as they turned to leave, as it quickly became plain nothing else would budge the man.

"Wouldn't have done any good," Jeff pointed out as they made it out of the museum. "We didn't know we'd have a second objective."

"To the Topolla Theater, then," Ness allowed ruefully as they made their way there. "At least it's not too far away..." He frowned as a certain thought crossed his mind. "Do we still have the stuff we used to make Moondancer look like a therapy pet?"

"Oh don't you dare!" Moondancer snapped irritably. "Do you know how undignified that felt? I can just sit out one performance."

"But I don't want to leave you out here alone-" Ness began awkwardly.

"We can just split the group for this," Moondancer insisted. "There's six of us. Three and three should be fine, right?"

Ness thought about that for a time, then frowned. For a moment it had almost felt like something had pressed against his mind, but it was already gone. It hadn't felt hostile, but it had felt...odd. Almost like something was trying to get a mental look at him...though he wasn't entirely certain it had even happened. "Look, we'll just see if they still insist on the 'no pets' thing," he decided firmly. "Maybe they'll see you as a person this time instead, like Paula's Dad did."

Moondancer frowned a trifle petulantly. "...maybe..." she allowed uncertainly.

As they entered the theater, Ness noticed the person behind the counter looking a little glass-eyed, as though he were only half awake. "$30 group ticket charge," he droned in a bored monotone.

Shrugging, Ness handed over the cash and took the ticket he was offered before presenting it to the person blocking entrance.

"Thank you," the man replied as he stepped aside. "Please hurry, the show is about to start."

"Uh...okay," Ness allowed uncertainly as the group made their way into the theater proper.

As soon as they were through the door, the lights dimmed, freezing them in place. A strained male voice immediately began announcing the entertainment. "Oh baby, baby, baaabyyy! Don't make me hurt so bad! These guys are all stone cold gone for you... Ow! You cute, sexy thing you... Baby, sing to me! Sing to me only! ...Baby! Venus! Just sing and I can die a happy man! I want to hold-" The mic clicked off seemingly of its own accord.

The spotlight came on on the stage, illuminating the blonde woman the group had seen on stage with the Runaway Five at their last performance, though she had her back to the audience as a smooth jazz number began. Her blonde hair hung more than halfway down her back, parting just enough to show where the back of her dress stopped just above the small of her back. It clung to her curves as she swayed back and forth to the music, not yet singing. Both dress and hair sparkled in the light as her heels audibly clicked against the stage with each step, though the sound quickly muffled by the rising music. She slowly turned around, revealing how the dress hung off her upper arms, leaving her shoulders and a good amount of decolletage exposed. Her face was flawless, her lips gentle yet full, and her eyes a glimmering gold surrounded by the silver dusting her lashes. There was something almost unearthly about her beauty.

As she opened her mouth and began to sing, none of the group could quite make out what the words were, and yet somehow they seemed to carry the sense of an unutterable longing, a loneliness that seemed to define a person's being, and an ancient wound to the very soul desperate to be healed. And yet despite the emotion that seemed bound up in the song to the point it seemed to pierce the soul of the listener without bothering to pass through ears or mind, her face showed only bemused curiosity as she danced and swayed to the music.

Part way through the song, a man actually clambered up onto the stage, plainly seeking to do something to the performer. However, though she turned to look at him and backed away, her expression remained almost clinically detached, watching him less like he was a threat or a crazed fan and more like he was a lab animal exhibiting odd behavior. She showed no fear or hurry as she backed away and her guards dashed in from either side of the stage to drag the interloper off. Shortly thereafter, the song ended and she calmly made her way to the back of the stage, the spotlight cutting as the music did. When the lights came up, she was gone.

The entire group shook themselves out of the daze the experience had left them in. Ness and Moondancer were the first to recover, and helped the others recover as well. "Let's see about getting that autograph," Jeff observed calmly as they all recovered.

"Agreed!" Ness replied eagerly...a trifle too eagerly, if the look on Paula's face was anything to judge by. Poo merely smiled at that but said nothing.

Making their way across to where the entrance to the dressing room was, they found a young-seeming man standing guard. As they approached, he glanced at Moondancer before stepping aside. "Miss Venus wishes to see your group whenever you come," he stated calmly. "Hurry, before the other fans notice you."

Before the others could react, Moondancer all but bum-rushed them into the room. Once inside, they found the room almost empty except for Venus herself, who was standing next to a chair and gazing out a window. As they approached, she turned to them. Though she continued to show no expression as she looked over the group, for a moment it looked like a smile briefly touched her face as she looked at Moondancer, though it was gone too quick to be certain. "You came for an autograph?" she asked calmly as she reached over into a cupboard. "Let's see what I can give it to you on."

As she rummaged through, Jeff blinked in surprise. "You...knew why we were coming? How?"

"The stars told me," she replied rather airily as she pulled out a banana peel of all things before putting her signature on it. "If it was for all of you, I'd use something a bit more permanent...but for anyone else, best it's on something that will decay and not leave evidence soon."

As everyone was left rather confused by this assertion, Paula struggled to get a handle on the situation. "So you're into astrology, then?" she asked curiously.

"In a manner of speaking," Venus answered mysteriously before handing the autographed banana peel to Ness before kneeling down in front of Moondancer. "It did lead to my choice of stage name." She rested her hand briefly, affectionately in the unicorn's mane before standing upright, leaving Moondancer confused. "But for now you all should hurry. You have someone to catch up to once you finish this side trip, don't you?"

"R-right!" Ness responded immediately, turning to lead the group out.

"But why Venus?" Poo asked curiously as they reached the door.

"It was my second choice," Venus explained calmly. "My agents told me my first choice would be seen as too masculine, for some reason."

"What was your first choice?" Moondancer found herself asking, uncertain why.

For a brief moment, Venus' eyes were sad, and she gave Moondancer a significant look. "Mercury." As Moondancer gasped in shock but before anyone else could say anything, she closed the door, leaving them outside the dressing room.

Comments

[CaioCoia]

LE GASP. OH MY GOD. WHAT A TWIST.

[Chrome Masquerade]

As she opened her mouth and began to sing, none of the group could quite make out what the words were, and yet somehow they seemed to carry the sense of an unutterable longing, a loneliness that seemed to define a person's being, and an ancient wound to the very soul desperate to be healed. And yet despite the emotion that seemed bound up in the song to the point it seemed to pierce the soul of the listener without bothering to pass through ears or mind, her face showed only bemused curiosity as she danced and swayed to the music.

That should be a red flag right there.

[ShadwSonic]

10454604
If this was supposed to be obvious from the story alone, I don't remember. Been too long since the last reread.

[Level Dasher]

10454604
Are you being sarcastic? Genuinely asking— I don't know the majority of the source material. I only know that Mercury is a male god...

And like 10454686 said, if it's from something mentioned previously in the story, I'm ashamed to say I don't remember it.

[CaioCoia]

10454691
10454686

No, it was genuine, I was so shocked because I forgot about Mercury, and now it's on this chapter. It was truly a gasp to me.

[Tatsurou]

10454686
10454691
Look back at the part of the story that took place on Mercury to get what it's referencing/implying.

[Level Dasher]

10454855
...When was that exactly? It's been a while.

[ShadwSonic]

10454869
Found it in "Broken Family"...
Oh.

Oooohhh...
Yeah, this was a very gasp worthy reveal for Moondancer here.

[Orphan]

Someone spell it out for me, please?

[Dirty Bit]

This continuity nod far into the story reminds me of the Venture Bros.

[F14m3rz]

She slowly turned around, revealing how the dress hung off her upper arms, leaving her shoulders and a good amount of decolletage exposed. Her face was flawless, her lips gentle yet full, and her eyes a glimmering gold surrounded by the silver dusting her lashes. There was something almost unearthly about her beauty.

As she opened her mouth and began to sing, none of the group could quite make out what the words were, and yet somehow they seemed to carry the sense of an unutterable longing, a loneliness that seemed to define a person's being, and an ancient wound to the very soul desperate to be healed.

Hmmm... Venus is Cerue, isn't she?

"But why Venus?" Poo asked curiously as they reached the door.

"It was my second choice," Venus explained calmly. "My agents told me my first choice would be seen as too masculine, for some reason."

"What was your first choice?" Moondancer found herself asking, uncertain why.

For a brief moment, Venus' eyes were sad, and she gave Moondancer a significant look. "Mercury." As Moondancer gasped in shock but before anyone else could say anything, she closed the door, leaving them outside the dressing room.

Called it. I guess that means she's not gonna pursue that nude modeling career in the post-game, lol.