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dietaku · 5 years

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Amazing Quest 1: Chapter 2

The second chapter. I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 2: We’re in Toruble Now! The scene reopens in sepia with Lil’ Hiro and his sister, who retains the same sprite for this scene, talking in a field. Emilia: Alright, little brother, today, I will teach you the basics of sword fighting! Lil’ Hiro: Um. … Must I? Emilia: Yes. You’re the product of the Pudding Eugenics Program. Generations of selective breeding and dedication to the cause of finding the Pudding Savior have come down to just the two of us! Lil’ Hiro: I had no say in that, though! And it hurts when you hit me with the stick. Emilia: It’s not a stick. It’s a training sword. Lil’ Hiro: You’re missing the point. Emilia: Exactly, that’s what it’s a training sword. Lil’ Hiro: D’oh! Emilia winds up and bonks Lil’ Hiro, putting him on his back. Lil’ Hiro: Oooww… mommy! Emilia: *Sigh*. Maybe that’s enough for one day… The scene fades out and then back again as Hiro opens his eyes, lying on a bed somewhere in a small room. Hiro: Ow? A door opens and the huge woman we saw previously walks in. We get prompted to name her but I tend to stick with the defaults – this is Ozma. She’s the biggest party sprite in the game, towering over Hiro by a good head and a half (and several more in the front if you get my drift), her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. The catchy song playing during this scene is her theme, Merciful Heart. She walks over to the bed. Ozma: How are you feeling? Hiro: Like I just was blown up and hurled several miles through the air. Ozma: … Err… Hiro turns to face Ozma. Hiro: ! M-m’lady! Sweet Angel of Lul Invictus himself, I implore you, tell me your name or my life will surely come to its end! Ozma: Ah?! Ozma’s sprite lights up red here. Ozma: I-I… I’m Princess Ozma Zorus Toruble, good sir! I was the one who found you in the smoldering crater and brought you here to the hospital. Hiro: Ah. The Princess herself. Tales of your power and beauty spread far, even to my remote hamlet, but I see they do you no justice. Ozma: Kyaaa! You~! Ozma blushes, puts one hand to her beaming face, then socks Hiro a good one with the other. The sound clip that emits is much like a chicken squawking in mortal terror, leading to the bizarre, oft-repeated nonsense meme of “Chicken Hiro Sub”. Hiro falls back, doing his best impression of The Scream. Ozma: O-oh! I overdid it again! Shoot! At this point, we take control of Princess Ozma herself. If we inspect Hiro she says… Ozma: It was just a playful little bump to the shoulder, but there he lies, near death. I better find a doctor… We can then inspect our inventory. Ozma has no spells to start and begins at level 1. Not like she needs them, as even at level 1, her physical stats nearly eclipse Hiro’s. Ozma’s real weakness is her low magical offense… big effing whoop for the character who barely gets any. Early JRPGs and their sense of “balance” was always an odd relationship. Anyways, we head up to the throne room where we can speak with the king. King: My dear, where are you going? Ozma: I might have sort-of crippled a man just now. I’m going to get the doctor. He’s still at his house on the end of the lane? King: Erm… y-yes, that sounds about right. Ozma: … About right? You can then leave into the town, which is comprised of small, narrow roads and the open-air market. We have Hiro’s money and items, so we can upgrade right away to the Glass Knkls and Regal Gown for a small sum. However, we can’t leave town as the guards block the way. Guard: Yes, ma’am, Lady Ozma! We cannot lower the drawbridge right now! Ozma: Why? Because it’s before daybreak? You realize as the Princess of Toruble, I AM the embodiment of the law? Guard: No ma’am, it’s not that. We actually cannot. The only one who knows how to operate them is currently on the other side of the canal. Apparently we locked him outside last night. Ozma: … Guard: I swear we’ll have this straightened out in just a moment, m’lady! Please, just another event flag or two, I swear! Ozma: *SIGH*. We then go to the doctor’s house. Ozma will knock. Ozma: Doctor? Doctor! I already put the lime in the coconut and it didn’t help! … Doctor? Ozma knocks again. Ozma: Doctor?! … What the hell? Why isn’t he answering? This confounded American gamers. In the Japanese script, it’s made plainly clear no one is home, but in the English, Ozma makes it sound like he’s merely ignoring the door. The answer is to return to the throne room and speak to the King again. Ozma: Father, the Doctor is missing. King: Oooooh yeeeah. About THAT… I might sort-of kind-of banished his ass from the kingdom. Ozma: Father! Why would you DO THAT?! King: Have you SEEN his rates?! Ozma: FATHER!!! King: It’s okay! I totally know where he went. He went to live in the Mountain of Outcasts. Ozma: … I’m not aware of any such place. King: It’s on the mountain behind the kingdom. It’s where everyone I’ve banished lives! Ozma: FATHEEEEEEEEEEER!!! You can then leave the castle, whereupon two castle guards go to Ozma. Guard 1: M’lady! We insist we accompany you! Guard 2: The denizens of the mountain will not be welcoming to a member of the Toruble House! Ozma: You’re the ones without faces, names, or legitimate backstories. Your funeral. Guards 1 and 2 join. Though I can’t fathom why, as Ozma grossly outclasses them both. You’re now free to leave the town and go to the world map, but a wild stampede of migratory sea sponges prevents Ozma from revisiting earlier cities Hiro was at prior, so for now, we can only venture to the mountain range behind Toruble City. We enter the foot of the mountain and begin up the winding trail. You’ll soon find Ozma leveling up while the guards are locked at level 5 permanently, meaning they’ll be the ones holding YOU back. On the bright side, you can equip the Earth Talisman on Ozma which will bolster her overall defense. About midway up, you’ll enter a cave with an eerie mist. Guard 1: Hm. This must be the dreaded Mountain Maze! Ozma: What’s so dreaded about it? It’s just a cave. Guard 1: Guard 2, why don’t you explain it? You always explain it so well. Guard 2: Thank you, Guard 1. The Dreaded Mountain Maze— Ozma: Wait, is that a part of its name or an adjective?! Guard 2: -- As I was saying, the dreaded Mountain Maze is a, well, a maze within the mountain. Ozma: Is it also dreaded? Guard 2: Sometimes! Ozma: I give up. The maze itself is hardly anything dangerous. The enemies are merely things like Blind Bats (which are strong but constantly suffering 50% hit rates), Mounted Munchkins (munchkins who ride atop mules for added stamina) or Portly Pigs, orc-like monsters who Ozma dismisses with a single punch. When you reach the end, the team fans out and looks around. Ozma: The maze comes to a dead end at every path! What do I need to do to get out here?! Ozma punches the wall in frustration which shakes the map. After a moment, there’s another, smaller shake as a boulder falls from the ceiling, taking Guard 2 down through the floor). Ozma: … Guard 1: NOOOOOOO! Not Guard 2! He was the finest mind of his generation! And two days from retirement! Ozma: Oops? Down one helper, we can leap down the hole the boulder made and walk out of the small cave there to the other side of the mountain road. You head around the long, curved strip which eventually goes up to a town nestled amidst the rocks. Ozma: Is this it? Guard 1: It appears so, m’lady! The Mountain of Outcasts! Ozma: Yeah. Try announcing that a little louder. I’m sure they’d all love the reminder! The camera pans down the road as several doors pop open and civilian sprites, dressed in their Sunday poorest, come out, various farming implements in tow. Guard 1: … This is about to turn ugly. Ozma: *Cracks knuckles* The people approach. Man: Whaddya want? We’re then given a prompt. 1) Hello, sir, have you heard the good word of Lul? 2) Pizza delivery! 3) OZMA SMASH!!! If you pick prompt 3, you just fight some weak mooks, which even the Guard 1 in our party could best. The others get varying responses. -Prompt 1- Man: We don’t take kindly to THAT kind ‘round these parts. You ain’t a Toruble, are you?! Ozma: Uh. No. I’m the OTHER giantess with the royal seal emblazoned on my armor that lives in the same city. Man: Well GOOD then! We got nothing to worry about. The villagers put their weapons away. Ozma: … Um. Right then… -Prompt 2- Man: About time! We ordered that thing like a month ago! Ozma: Uh. Yeah. It took me so long to get here I had to eat it to survive. So, no charge. Man: Awww… okay. Well, since you’re here, you might as well come in… Once you clear up who you are, you get to move around the town freely, with some slightly different flavor text through some NPCs. Head to the furthest back building to find the missing doctor. Ozma knocks. Ozma: OPEN THE DOOR OR LOSE IT! A click is heard and then the door pops open as a tall, skinny gentleman in a lab coat is there. Doctor: P-Princess Ozma?! What are you… I told that crowned buffoon that it wasn’t right OR possible but he wouldn’t listen!!! Ozma: Explanations can wait. I want you to help a guy who’s totally into me. So I hope you can understand why I’d prioritize that over your previous banishment. Doctor: I… what happened to him? Ozma: I might have kinda put his lights out. Doctor: … And he SURVIVED? Ozma: DOC! Doctor: Okay, okay! Here. Give him this. Ozma gets the Heal Herb key item! Ozma: Thanks! And I’ll see if I can’t get daddy – the King – to overturn your sentence! Doctor: I’d rather you not, frankly. If anyone asks, you didn’t get that from me! Ozma: Huh? … Well, if you insist! Doctor: Good. Now, kindly leave, if you’d be so good. Take the road here next to my house and you’ll find the shortcut. Good day, little Princess. We can then access the road (as the fence there moves out of the way) and allows us to return back and forth freely, now that the road through the mountain is one-way. We return to Toruble City and suddenly find it slightly darker and overrun by punks on skateboards. Ozma: What in the world?! Guard 1: The city is under attack by ruffians!!! HOLD THE FORT, MY LIEGE! I AM ON MY WAY! Ozma: No, wait! The Guard runs off screen, only to get kicked back onto it, on his back. Guard 1: N-no! I… I was… just… ONE… day… from… retirement… ugh. Two skateboard punks walk on screen. Skateboard Punk 1: The Dark Puddings gave us run of this drab city and now we run it the way we want! Skateboard Punk 2: Like a giant SKATE PARK! Ozma: Punching you is going to feel a little TOO good. We then deal with some Skate Punks to clear out the path. We can hurry back into the castle and go straight to Hiro now. Ozma: Let’s see… what does the label say? “Warning: may cause underwritten romance”? Well, this is a JeffCom game, that ship has sailed. Ozma gives Hiro the Heal Herb which, in the western release claims “Ozma nursed Hiro to health”. In the Japanese, it said “Crammed it in his mouth”. The scene fades then reopens with Hiro on his feet again. Hiro: My lady, you have saved my life. Uh, again. I’ll ignore you were the one who endangered it, really. Ozma: Right, but unfortunately we have more pressing matters at hand. Hiro: Then allow me to help you. It’s the least I, Hiro, can do! Ozma: Then let’s go, Hiro! Hiro and Ozma reformed the party! Next, we’ll want to leave the castle and head out. On top of random encounters, there’s also set ones, with Skate Punks terrorizing the locals. This not only nets us some nice items from the populace (including a Skateboard Hiro uses as a shield), it also helps make up any difference in level the two may have had. Once we’ve done everything, we can go to the castle throne room, where the King is cowering in a corner. The skate punks zoom around the room as one in particular is perched on the throne. Skate Punk: Man, 90s skater culture will NEVER DIE! Ozma: Yeah, it will certainly never replaced by… hell, NASCAR, beanie babies, or some other cultural flotsam. Skaters: *GASP!!* King Skater: Aha! The prodigal daughter of the recently-dethroned Toruble! While you were out, I have claimed this kingdom for our OWN amusement! The Dark Puddings will reign forever and SKATING WILL NEVER DIE! Ozma: Bastard! Hiro: Now, now, Ozma, maybe we should give them the chance to explain their policies. King Skater: Huh? Hiro: Yeah. As king, surely you must have a bold new vision. After all, you don’t overthrow a monarchy purely for the pursuit of trivial temporary athletic competition. King Skater: … Hiro: Oh God, you really did. Ozma: Can we start punching him until he stops living now? Hiro: Sounds good to me. -Boss Fight!- King Skater x1 LP: 2300 MP: 120 Skate Punks x 5 LP: 750 MP: 0 This fight opens with the message “Haha! You can’t reach me!” and is, unfortunately, true, as so long as even a single Skate Punk remains in the way, Hiro and Ozma cannot target the King Skater. Using Rice Pudding is completely useless, by the way, as the Skate Punks and King Skater keep letting into him, which takes its toll when you’re the punching bag. After a few rounds of impotently killing Skate Punks, Hiro kneels. Hiro: Nnngh! It’s no use. Every time I try to act, they strike as one. Ozma: Hiro! Are you alright?! Hiro: (Pudding Eugenics program… looks like selective breeding lost the bet on that gamble. I will be bested not by the Dark Puddings themselves, but mere children…) Hiro falls flat. Hiro: Nnngh! Ozma: No! Hiro! Don’t tell me your wounds are flaring up again?! Hiro: (Sister… Ozma… forgive me. But so long as I hold the Earth Talisman… the Dark Pudding’s ignoble ambition will still end…) A flash of a huge, red monster eye staring right at the player, followed by a black screen. A moment passes and then a text box appears on screen, with the faint silhouette of a strange, tiny creature appears on-screen. ?: Do you want to live? To experience life to its maximum potential? 1) Yes 2) No -If No- ?: Think REALLY hard about this decision one more time. Because if you say no, you kind of die. -If you select No 128 times- ?: I… really? Seriously? Well… okay. Be that way. Jerk. You then get the game over and “The Era of War never ended…” message for this too. -If Yes- ?: Ask yourself this – why DOES Pudding conform to the shape of its container? Is Pudding solid or liquid? Or is it BOTH?! Hiro: Uh…? ?: You must be as malleable as the Pudding from which you derive your name! You must be both sweet and tangy; both filling and light! Do you understand? Hiro: Not a word. ?: EXCELLENT! Then let me say it another way: when one flavor fails to satisfy, what then must the Pudding do? Hiro: Uh. Open another snack cup? ?: PRECISELY! You understand your own base nature! When two flavors become as one, a new powerful flavor is born! As such, you must discover which flavor best complements your own! Embrace this change and evolve eternally upward! HIRO! Hiro! Hiro?! Hiro: Wha--? The screen goes white, as Hiro gets up, back in the fight. Ozma: Hiro! Are you alright?! Hiro: I felt… something awaken just now. Ozma, do you trust me? Ozma: The script says I do, completely! Without an iota of hesitation! Hiro: Then let’s go! Under Hiro’s skill list is a new Pudding morph: Swirl. Swirl is a catch-all that, when you meet specific requirements, lets Hiro fuse with one other party member. Ozma’s fusion is given to us as of this battle, giving us Chocolate-Raspberry Swirl. Hiro and Ozma become an entirely new entity, carrying an enormous, stone axe and has physical stats so high the Skate Punks will struggle to deal 1 damage to it. One blow will send each Skate Punk packing. Once you take out two or three, you get the new message “Skate Punks are terrified!” and they’ll flee, in turn, until nothing stands between you and the Skate King. Skate King: I-I-I’M N-N-N-NOT A-A-AFRAID OF Y-Y-YOU!!! At this point it becomes a slam-bang contest to the finish. Chocolate-Raspberry Pudding has no skills to its name, but it’s still a little game-breaking-ish… but then again, so are ALL the Swirl (and eventual triple and party swirl morphs) modes. Just send this guy packing. -Boss Fight!- Ozma: Wh-what WAS that power?! Hiro: I don’t know. But when I activated it, my P-Centage begin skyrocketing… I have no idea… Ozma: Daddy! Ozma rushes to her cowering father, who immediately rushes back to the throne and reclaims his crown. King: *AHEM* Yes, indeed. That was a difficult trial, but I was so confident you had it all under control, I simply stood in the corner and awaited the obvious outcome! Hiro & Ozma: … King: YES. So… this is a trying time for us all. I must thereby request you, Leroy— Hiro: Hiro. King: Hiro, to go west from here and crush the Dark Pudding’s stranglehold on the drawbridge which links my fair nation to the next! Hiro: Alright. I can’t think of anything better to do. King: EXCELLENT! Ozma: … (I want to ask all about what Doctor was saying but… I get the feeling I’ll just get stonewalled, as usual.) Father, I will accompany Hiro. In order to ensure that his mission succeeds and the welfare of Toruble is maintained, of course. King: Good. Great. Perfect! I await news of your success! Ozma: Come, Hiro. Let us depart now. We then return through the town one last time, as the citizenry thanks us profusely for our efforts, then we head a short trek west. With the sea sponges safely in their new homes, we can go to the drawbridge encampment. When we enter, the rules change a bit. We have three ways of going about this – sneaking by everyone patiently, killing them all hastily, or sneaking up behind them and systematically knocking them out. That last one is only available here and pretty much nowhere else in the franchise, so the fact it’s even an option is a surprise to most until they deliberately TRY to get into a fight, then realize stealth kills yield no exp. The real prize is when we find their storage tent and load up from their losses. Next to it is their prison tent, where a curvaceous ninja girl is holed up in a cardboard box, animated with a “HELP!” balloon over it. Hiro: Um. Are you alright? Voice: No! Please, get me out of this prison! It’s hell! I can’t see! Hiro shrugs, then cuts the tape. Voice: *GASP* The girl climbs out quickly, panting with surprisingly well-rendered jiggle physics. Hiro: Who are you?! Girl: I’m Kimyawa. Enemy to the Dark Pudding’s evil ambition! And you are— Hiro: I’m Hiro. This is Ozma. Kimyawa: Hiro-nii-chan! We must escape immediately! Across the bridge and some ways in, we’ll find Loyroll! Hiro: Who is… Kimyawa: My nii-san! Hiro: Sure, whatever. That totally makes sense to me with all my English speaking and all. Kimyawa: Let’s hurry! We then get to stealth our way through the camp’s remainder to the drawbridge. If you came here without Kimyawa, Hiro would stop and mention he felt like they needed to look around first. Now that the gang’s all here, Ozma runs to the chain and shatters them with her hand, dropping the bridge like a lead weight into place. Ozma: C’mon! Hiro: W-wow! Such brute strength! Such primal beauty! Kimyawa: Later, nii-chan! Let’s go!

#Adventure #fiction #fantasy #science fantasy #writing #Amazing Quest

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