Part 39: Update Thirty Eight: On A Silver Platter

Welcome back! Last time, on Earthbound, we bought a fucking house. Today, we're going to make our way back to Winters and I'm going to get my ass kicked again. So, let's get started.



Before we go too far, though, let's visit Tracy.



Talking to her in person, she acts as another Escargo Express store/check-out area.



I've got some other shit to throw in there, too; the pair of dirty socks, secret herb, laser gun, counter-PSI unit, broken tube, the cup of lifenoodles, and the croissant.



Now, with the mention of getting my ass kicked, guess which two items I should have held on to.



We're going to call Dad real quick, too.



We're going to need all that cash soon. You'll see in a future update why we need it.



Before we go, though, let's pop into Pokey's house.







It's empty? What in the hell?



Picky! Where the hell are your parents? I understand Pokey not being here, since he's a dickbag, but what about Aloysius and Lardna?



That's...Great, kid, really. I'm...So sorry, Picky.



Alright, let's scoot back to Threed.



Just gotta make that sharp turn...



OW WHAT THE FUCK



Runaway Dog!



Now, I know I said we're going to Threed, but Kim does have a weapon upgrade here. I may have just forgotten about it temporarily.



The Coin of Silence isn't an upgrade for her, so we don't have to worry about that.



A ten point boost to offense isn't too bad.



Alright, now we're back to where we need to be.



As I'm sure all of you guessed, we came back here for the Skyrunner.



It's still where it crash landed, so we don't have any sort of hunting around to do for it.



Head down these steps...



Holy crap, they fixed it. How did you do that? Susan couldn't even fix it!



A-Are you shitting me? A friggin' coat of paint fixed the terrestrial flying saucer?



Don't worry about that part, chief. We've got it covered.



: Thanks for every little ol' thing.

We cleared zombies and other ghoulies out of your town, and it was just a "little ol' thing"? What the fuck kind of place is Threed really like?



Susan spots something interesting on the Sky Runner!



Then why didn't you fix it sooner?

: Hang on for a second or two...



We hear the sounds of a power drill. I can believe Susan kept one in there. Or has one in his pocket. He's gotta repair that broken shit somehow, right?



I can't imagine what you did, Susan, but I'm going to assume it was -ey as hell.



Susan, we can teleport there. We just did it, like, eight minutes ago.



If Winters is Britain, then Summers is the Earthbound world's Europe.



: I'll have to figure it out myself. Anyways, let's go back to the lab in Winters. ...That's it...

Once again, as I am not an asshole, there's a video of the trip.



Besides, I'm pretty sure I can't manage to make interesting enough commentary to keep readers all throughout the trip.



: knot... Honey, don't just stand there with your mouth open, say hello!)



I never imagined talking with a monkey would be awkward.



: what's inside? Can't seem to stop thinking about it! We're going to get out of here. We're still newlyweds, you know... Bye-bye!)





And Bubble Monkey runs off.



His new wife follows, but shoots us a final glance before going.



The Cave Boy in here functions as a shop.



Bottles of DX Water recover around 20 PP. They're nice, yes, but they'll be better soon. You'll see just how much better.



Yeah, but we're still hungry.



Let's go explore that cave, then. If you'll recall, there was a Sanctuary spot in there.



But first, let's make a quick pit-stop. But, what could we be going to buy in Fourside?



Oh, just some... Supplies. I won't be shooting all of these off at once, because I don't want to cheese boss fights for you guys. I ended up buying a half-dozen, so Susan is set on ass-kicking potential for a while.



When we teleport back to Winters, we come here, instead of Andonut's Lab.



But, hey, we've got a way back. So, let's get to it.



Eh? What the hell are those?





Oh, Christ. If I remember right, we're not supposed to encounter these guys until later.



Their defense isn't anything special, but they have access to Freeze Alpha and Freeze Beta. They've also got Hypnosis, and one other ability I'll be showing off later.



With only 401 HP, it's easy enough to take them down. They're weak to Fire, but I'm not a fan of using entire row attacks on a single enemy.



This hit Nass for 166 HP of damage, which is still enough to frighten me. And pretty much one-shot Kim or Susan.



Nass repays the damage in kind, though.



Another couple of attacks and the Lesser Mook falls.



He drops a very nice amount of exp. for a single enemy. And don't forget, experience is being divvied up three ways again.



It was still enough to level Susan up, though!

For this level, he gained +2 HP.

...



Okay, just an extra enemy. Nothing we can't handle.



It's cohort is a Wooly Shambler, and these guys can be assholes.



They have no weaknesses, but Freeze Beta works pretty well on them.



This is his main form of attack; he also has Flash Alpha and Shield Alpha. He also has a 1/64 chance to drop a Multi-Bottle Rocket. I won't say any more about those now, but just know, they're extraordinarily fucking badass.



He can dish out a fair amount of damage, too.



But, Kim can do the same to him, so it all evens out, right?



Dammit, Nass.



A Freeze Alpha from the Lesser Mook threatens to knock Kim out of the fight.



And she's solidifed. Wonderful.



And since I still have all this text to go through, Kim's chances of survival are not good. Since her guts are so low, her health rolls down faster than the others. And she's fast enough, she'll outpace Nass, and if the Shambler goes first again...



I tried to flee, like a coward. Kim's death was a foregone conclusion as soon as it happened.



Nass is still immune to Flash, thanks to that Night Pendant. Susan starts crying uncontrollably here.



Oh, shit. This is not good, no matter who it hits.



Alright, Susan will survive, though, with 1 HP.



Nass is going to Bacon Beta, while Susan is going to blow that Lesser Mook straight to Hell with a Big Bottle Rocket.



Oh, shit, please no.



Goddammit. Susan is now effectively dead. And I have no way to heal him.





Alright, that's one down. Granted, maybe I shouldn't have so casually whipped--









In hindsight, if I hadn't tried to run, I probably could have scrounged up a victory here. Susan should have Big Bottle Rocketed that Lesser Mook to start with, while Kim used Freeze Gamma on the Shambler.



But, was it my own carelessness that lost me that fight, or simple bad luck? Personally, I believe it was my carelessness, but I think a good argument could be made for bad luck, too.



We get to keep all the exp. we gained, but lose half of our on-hand cash. I lost about $5,000, which isn't too much to worry about.



Good luck!

Sorry 'bout that guys. I was hoping I would never have to show you guys this screen.





Thankfully, we appear in the good doctor's lab, so there's no risk of running into those two (for now). Also, Diamondization remains after fight, and the character's sprite just slides along behind.



Dr. Andonuts made a hell of a machine here. It cures everything, restores HP and PP to full, and is free to use.

We're going to leave off here, too. Sure, it was a bit of a short update, but the next one should be a touch longer, and we'll even snag another Sanctuary spot! Stay tuned!