Part 9: Guardian Of The Furnace? Is Annin Too Fiery For Goku!?

Howdy, folks, and welcome back! Last time, on Attack of the Saiyans, Ox-King's castle began burning up, due to an influx of fire from Mount Five Element. Today, we're going to go see if we can't solve that problem, so let's head out.





It doesn't take long to get into a fight; we're not even into the dungeon proper yet!



And it's a sneak attack.



These little demon fellows aren't too threatening, but they also fall under the category of enemies that are annoying.



Not because of this. Plenty of enemies will shoot us in the face with laser beams. What makes these guys annoying is that they have an ability to raise their Evasion, and can even revive defeated enemies, which can prolong battles if they're spamming both. The revival technique isn't guaranteed, for a small bit of mercy.



The bigass Bats have some interesting attacks, including one where they send a swarm of their flying-rat brethren at you. It's a bunch of small, weak hits, but they can add up if you're not guarding against it.



No exact HP numbers on these guys, but Goku can drop either of these fellows in two physical attacks; a Combination or Kamehameha is just overkill for them.



They can use this multiple turns in a row, making them virtually impossible to hit. It seems to wear off in a few turns, though.





The bats can still drain HP and use their sonic wave on you; they're not too different from the last time we saw them. Not that any of their variations are that different.



Hey, we've got over 300 AP. Let's finally upgrade some skills!



What you're seeing here is exciting bottom-screen action.



Those two options all in "??????" are skills we haven't unlocked yet; we'll unlock those by upgrading the proper skills. This first tab is for active battle skills characters can use, like the Kamehameha or Wolf Fang Fist. Upgrading a skill will make it more powerful, if it's an attack, or make the effect last longer, like for abilities such as the After-Image Technique. Upgrading skills also increases their Ki cost and can increase other parameters about the skill as well. If we upgraded the After-Image Technique, not only would it boost Goku's Evasion more, but it would also last longer.



Ultimate Skills can only be used when the Rage Gauge is full, and they're usually fairly expensive. These are either learned through upgrading the proper battle skills, or by passing certain events in the story. Goku won't be getting either of his Ultimate Skills for a long time, but if you know anything about Dragon Ball, that's not really a surprise, is it? These are usually a character's big, fuck-off, signature attack, or a super-powered version of an already existing attack. Yamcha, for instance, will learn the Neo Wolf Fang Fist sooner or later.



Finally, there's Abilities to upgrade.



They're pretty much self-explanatory; Goku doesn't have any truly special ones, except for All Abilities Up. Different characters have different ones, but things like the HP and Ki Up are standard, but Krillin, for instance, gets a skill that increases the effectiveness of items when he uses them, and Yamcha has one that increases item drops.



For those of you know me or have seen how I like to do battle, you shouldn't be surprised I'm doing an Attack Up first. As for how much of a boost this is, I can't say exactly, but it will get pretty significant. Most of these will go up to Level 5.



I could have done the Kamehameha or Combination first, but I'll be rolling in AP before long, so it's not too big of a deal. I'll be getting those up sooner rather than later, though, as they unlock what I think is Goku's best normal skill.



In the field, Goku has the Kamehameha to clear obstacles in his path.



We clear those out to snag this, which is handy to have.



This game isn't shy with giving you items to use, and you can buy pretty much every recovery item, so there's not much reason to hoard these things. I know some of you Final Fantasy players out there, like myself, have a tendency to hold onto Ethers and Elixirs like you'll never get another one.





There are Ghost enemies here, too, and your energy attacks are still the most effective you have against them.



Sure, we could use physicals to take them out, but it would take a while, and we don't get big, satisfying numbers like that.





And that's not mentioning how these guys can lay the smackdown on you if they stick around too long.



The green ones seem stronger than the blue, but they all fall in a single Kamehameha, so it probably doesn't matter too much either way.



Nice sexy bit of EXP, though.



South of here is a piece of treasure.



When equipped, this lets your Rage Gauge increase faster. It's...Eh, it's something to equip. Goku currently has the Energy Ring and Fighter's Crest equipped, since the Rage Gauge is literally useless to him at the moment.





Man, those guys there are having shitty days.





I still have all the Fruits we've collected so far. Not that we have a ton, but I have a tentative plan of giving them all to Goku. There's one other character I'd consider using them on, but we'll get there when we get there.



Goku is not only our main character, but he's pretty much our strongest fighter for the duration of the game. It's hard not to want to make him as powerful as we can, no?



Someone suggested I do everything I can to make Krillin our strongest fighter, and I've gotta tell you, I just can't do it. Not that Krillin is a bad character, but because of his stat growths. I can't fix those.



However, he's still one of my favorite people to have in the party, as he's very useful.



But, enough of that. We're heading into the mouth of the beast, so we should probably focus on that.





We can't get up this ladder yet. See, there's a big rock in the way; never mind that we're jumping up the ladder and not actually climbing or that Goku can fucking fly. That rock is just too much of an imposition.



In anger, let's beat up some poor shnook.



This here is the Gogyo Majin. He's a demon, which there are a lot of in Dragon Ball.



Being a demon, he's a giant prick.



Who is just delaying his inevitable demise.



He's got a really cool attack, though.



Seriously, how goddamn metal is it to summon a bunch of swords to fling at your opponent?



These are also a bunch of smaller, weaker, hits, but they look far cooler than a swarm of bats attacking.





AP isn't hard to gain; I spent 300 earlier on the Attack Up and I've already got over 200. Some of those abilities get really expensive, though, costing upwards of 2,000 AP.





Here's another accessory I'll probably pawn off as soon as I can. It gives you a chance to avoid an instant-kill attack. There aren't too many of those around to begin with, so this isn't a huge boon.





This thing, however, is cooler than shit.



Equipping it adds +2 to all of your parameters. That's about equal to an extra level of stats. The Fighter's Crest is popped off for now, since I think this Ring is more useful.



It looks more effective already! This is enough to kill a bat in one hit, too.





Before moving too much further, Goku pops into a lawn chair and relaxes for a moment.





I clear the rock out of the way and go grab the chest over here.



Alright, some are coming, but so is a boss fight.



Well, now, isn't that interesting.



Can't imagine what else it would be, Goku.



: Annin! You there?



Someone with a major favor to ask.



: Are you Annin?

: Annin...I haven't heard anyone call me by that in a while. But yes...Yes, I am Annin!

: Listen, there's something I need you to do! Put out the furnace's fire for me!



Pictured: a normal reaction to such a request.



: Daddy...? Who're you, anyway?

: My name's Chi-Chi, daughter of the Ox-King...

: ...The Ox-King lives on Fire Mountain? Hmm...That's the mountain behind this one, isn't it? That must mean there's a hole or something at the bottom of the furnace.

: Please! You've got to put out the fire!

: I can't do that.

: Why not!?

: Shutting down the furnace would cause chaos both here and in the Other World. Do you want that? It'd certainly be interesting, to say the least, but...

: It'd cause chaos...?

: Please! We need to put out the furnace before it's too late!



And here's why it's not that easy to just shut it down.



Granted, the Ox-King will die a horrible death, but what about all the other chaos that would be caused if the furnace is shut down?



They say the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few...



However, does that justify saving Ox-King's life?



Goku doesn't know, and neither do I.



In fact, since it's Dragon Ball, ain't nobody thinking about that. Also, Keeshhound, I can hear you formulating a response already.

Stop it. Bad Keesh. Bad!



: You wanna shut the furnace down? Just turn that knob over there all the way down! That'll put it out for sure, I guarantee it!



Like it'd really be that simple, right, folks? You know the drill if you want to see a video of the boss fight!



So, Annin is pretty tough, befitting being a guardian of a magic, gigantic furnace. She's got the ability to slash your face open with her guan-dao, which hurts if you don't Guard it.



I was going to try and show off what a boost Attack Water can be; it's as good a time as any, and it seems to be about a doubling for the attack its used with.



However, Annin has a few tricks up her sleeve. Despite looking like it, those aren't insect antenna on her head; they're feathers, and she'll jab them into your eyes, which inflicts Blindness.



Blindness sucks all kinds of ass.





This could have done so much damage...



It would have been at least 350. The Attack Water only boosts your next attack, so ours was wasted due to Annin being a tricky pain in the ass.



She's got 1600 HP, so this takes some time to get done. But, keep your health high and hit her with your strongest attacks.



She's got some odd timings to hit the proper Advance Guard, so stay on your toes.



I've had better fights with her; the one I used here and for the video aren't my best showings.



Don't be afraid to use some of your healing items; they're there for a reason, and it's better to burn some than to eat a game over.



Seriously, make sure you hit your Advance Guards. Annin will fuck you up if you don't.





I figured I'd give this a shot to both show it off and to try and miss some damage.





...Well, wasn't that just fucking great.



But, that's pretty much the fight. Annin is a tough lady, but as long as you're level 9 or above, you should have what it takes to fight her and come out on top.



Goku snags himself a level after the fight.





: Do you see all the steam rising up from it?

: Yeah.

: That steam turns to fog and settles at the top of the mountain! And that's where the problem lies here, Goku!

: What...? The fog...?

: Uh-huh. If the furnace shuts down, that fog's gonna disappear, too!

: So what?

: That fog's actually the portal between here and the Other World! Everyone that dies in this world goes through the fog to the Other World...And people in the Other World can come back at times to see their kids and so on.

: .........

: But with the furnace off, the fog's going to lift...The souls of the dead or visiting won't be able to make it to the Other World anymore. The world will be filled with wandering, vengeful souls!



Well, that definitely isn't good. But neither is Ox-King burning to death.



But Chi-Chi has a solution!

: Just enough to keep the steam from going completely away?

: Sorry, no dice!

: Why not!?



...Well, that's pretty good reasoning...



: Well, how can we keep the flames from shooting out of the furnace? C'mon, you gotta help us! There has to be some way!

: Well...There is one method. Have you ever seen one of these before?



Hey, it's the Ban--



Dammit, Goku, that's what I was saying!



Goku, you're startlingly good with words.



'course, it gets better.



Someone from anime filler that a lot of readers don't remember/didn't know existed?





For all evidence that Goku has no tact, look no further than the next screenshot.







: ...You little brat!! There are some things better left unsaid, you know!



Oh, great, she's storming off. At least the fan is still there.



Just grab it and--



--Great. Way to go, Goku.



Chi-Chi, you don't want to chime in here? Try and defuse this situation?



No? Alright, Goku, let's get down to business.



...Oh. Well, maybe she's just trying to scare us.



: You'll need more than the Bansho Fan to put the furnace out...You'll also need something to plug the hole at the bottom of the furnace.

: Oh...What, is that it? Well, I'll go fetch whatever you need!

: I'm afraid what we need is not so easily obtainable...

: It's not?

: So...What is it, then?

: The bottom of the furnace is made from the shells of the eggs laid by the fire-eater bird!



Great, where the hell are we going to find one of those?



...Do you have any idea how many goddamned beehives there are in the world!? How the fuck am I supposed to track down an octagonal one before the Ox-King is horrifically killed!?



Can Goku even count to eight? We know he can do seven, because there's seven Dragon Balls, but can he do eight?





: And as for the honey...Er...

: As for the honey?







Dammit, Roshi, when won't you be useful?



...How many men do you know named Roshi, Goku?



Oh, whatever, let's just go and do it.



: We'll need those two things before we can do anything else!



Away we go!



To the place where I'll end on a cliffhanger, before asking Roshi where to find the honey of an octagonal beehive!

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Let's Play Attack Of The Saiyans!