Part 46: Episode XLII: Sunset

Whoa... I think... I think we may have found the end of the Dead Sea...


The three spectral children from earlier are happily trotting around waiting for our arrival. The red-haired kid seems to be sitting above some manner of inscription.


Woo boy... Buckle up kids. I believe we are in for some heavy shit. Chrono Cross had sort of been slacking on the whole "sequel" front up until now. It is time to correct that.

Music: Prisoners of Fate


"We... No... Everyone worked to save the planet's future for nothing... It's all because of you! You killed it! You...!!! So many lives were supposed to be saved... This planet was to be healed with love, hope, and dreams...!"


"It's all your fault that the world is going to end up like this! It's all you fault, Serge!!!"


"Murderer!!!"

The three ghosts vanish...


"It'z Serge's fault zat ze world will end up like zis...?"
"Dude...what is this crap? I just want my body back so I can crawl back into bed and forget this mess... Causing the apocalypse is way the hell too much effort."

???: "Don't let it bother you. It's just a distant echo from ones far gone... It's just an illusion."


"Welcome..."


"It's been a while, Serge. ...But...I guess you don't remember who I am."
"Uhh... Sorry, pops... Not ringing any bells. Though, you're pretty well informed to be the only jerk not to immediately assume I'm friggin' Lynx."
"I don't blame you. You were only a little child back then. I'm Miguel. A friend of your father. According to the time outside it's been about 14 years since the night of the storm..."

Fourteen years earlier...


"I don't know...but I don't think we're supposed to know about it..."



???: "That wounded child... Bring him to me..."

"W-What was that...? Who's there!?"


"There's no way we can set sail again in this storm. We don't have a second to waste... Or else...Serge will..."
"BUT...!!!"
"I don't care what lies ahead of us... I'm going. There's no way I'll allow my son to die without a fight! I'd appreciate it if you waited for me here. Thank you for coming tonight, Miguel... Thank you."


"No! Wait! WAZUKI!!!"


"It wasn't like this when I got here, though... An incident that occurred 10 years ago, transformed it into the Dead Sea."
"Oh come on! You're not pinning this one on me too!"
"Don't you know...? There's nothing in the world as ruthless or impartial as death. All living matter ages over time and eventually dies... No matter how mighty or tiny its life force... So being alive means you're creeping closer to death with every second... But there's none of that here. No one and nothing ages. Nothing wastes away. This quiet, boundless, and beautiful world... An ideal world, straight out of a fairy tale, isn't it? A place and time that belongs to no one..."
"..."
"Res nullius... It's because this is a future that was eliminated!!! History is composed of choices and divergences. Each choice you make creates a new world and brings forth a new future. But at the same time you're eliminating a different future with the choices you didn't make. A future denied of all existence because of a change in the past... A future that was destroyed before it was born rests here...condensed into the Dead Sea."
"How is that possible?"
"I am *so* confused right now..."


"Fate knows all and controls all. No one can run from fate... Even your presence here was predestined... long, long ago. Wouldn't you all like to become one with this world? To be a part of eternity? How about it, Serge? You need no longer struggle alone, nor fear an uncertain tomorrow."


"Eh... That doesn't sound too bad."
"Serge!? You cannot be serious!?"
"We can't just let ourselvez die here!"
"Huh...? What? Die? Who said anything about dying? I thought he meant like chilling out for a bit and watching the sunset?"
"I meant eternity."
"Oh...well, then forget that noise! I'll be bored out of my mind by like the end of the day. Err...figuratively speakin'... The heck have you been doing for 14 years anyway?! I mean...it's a pretty sunset and all. Paint a picture or something and move on...sheesh..."


"I take it you're trying to restore the dimensional distortion? If you defeat me and liberate this place, the distortion will return to the way it was."
"How the hell does that even work?"
"If it is fate...then it will be so..."
"Shoulda seen that answer coming..."
"I guess this is it... Just as there are times of peace, there are times of war... You don't have to hold back. Attack me with all your soul if you wish to live. Let fate take its course...!!!"

The music continues during the battle...




Time to face the infamous Miguel. Despite looking like a ginger yodeler that got lost hiking, he is far and away the strongest enemy in Chrono Cross thus far. The guy could take Garai and assrape him so hard it would break the nine-foot tall bastard in half. And that is while he was wearing his plate armor.


Now, I'm not going to deny Miguel is strong as fuck. The jorts wearing joker can just mildly slap people for around 75 HP of damage. He's got defenses against magic coming out of the ass, comes equipped with nearly 2000 HP worth of health, and can outright cheat by using multiple elements in a row. The guy is a right bastard.

But... He's not that hard... At least, not if you stick to one very important tactic:


Only use physical attacks against him! That's it. That's his secret. Miguel will flip the fuck out and viciously violate you if you piss him off and start spamming magic. But, if you just stick to physical strikes he actually has a very reasonable pattern that is easily defeated.


Miguel is a White innate enemy which makes him not at all a friend of Lynx and Harle. Indeed, Harle is a very, very poor choice to bring to this fight and can easily get one-shotted by a few of Miguel's attacks. But fuck it...I like the kid.

Being a very powerful White innate warrior, he really, really fucking hates Black innates. Indeed, he begins the fight by locking one of the three character's Black elements. It is okay to remedy this attack as it can be annoying. Especially if you've got a bunch of Nostrum equipped (high level consumable healing potions.)


After that, he'll boost his magic defense with StrongMinded. Do not make any attempt to counter this. The guy likes his magic defense. Don't fuck with it. He will get royally pissed if you try any status effect fuckery on him and wreck your shit. What you VERY MUCH need to do at this point is to use any element but white to break up the field effect.


That is because the next round Miguel will either cast WeakMinded (lowers magic defense) or TurnBlack (switches innate to Black.)




Being a cheating bastard, he will immediately follow-up on the same character with Holy Dragon Sword. This is Miguel's ultimate attack and it hits from White innate damage of the ballpark of 275-350. This is a huge ass problem at the party's current level and can easily one-shot anyone not at full health. God help you if it critical as that poor sucker is just straight up dead.

The reason you DO NOT want to piss off Miguel with elements is because he will get pissed and start spamming this attack and that is a very bad thing.


Whoever gets waxed with Holy Dragon Sword needs to be healed up immediately as Miguel follows up with a physical attack for a good 50-80 HP of damage afterwords. That is very likely to kill the person who suffered getting reamed with his tech last round if they're unlucky to be targeted again for a follow-up strike. Said character should be healed to full ASAP after that.


Next Miguel likes to cast WeakMinded/TurnBlack and blast someone with a PhotonRay for a good 150+ HP of damage. Even more if you haven't been breaking up the field effect with non-White elements. Miguel might get frisky after that and throw in another physical attack for flavor. But, his pattern loops back around to the beginning with StrongMinded after that.


The thing to really watch out for is to be caught with your pants down when Miguel's health dips down to around 400 HP and he goes into critical status. At that point he panics and flips the fuck out with spamming high end elements like MeteorShower and HolyLight one after another and can quickly kick your entire party's ass if unprepared.


At this point, it's time to immediately bring the pain with all the high end elements you've been holding off until now since he's already taken off the kid's gloves. It's a very satisfying way to conclude things, really.




And that is it for Miguel. No sweat, kiddos.






Miguel Boss Battle




Miguel Detailed Portrait


Wazuki Detailed Portrait