Part 22: Update Twenty Two: Apple Kid Is The Fucking Bomb

Welcome back. Last time, on Earthbound, we destroyed a sentient circus tent. Today, we're finally going to get a solution to all the zombies in Threed.





After our shut-out against the Boogey Tent, I think our heroes deserve a rest.



Sure, it'll be $180, but that's actually kinda pocket change at this point.



Ooh, a Magic Butterfly! I may be going to regain all HP and PP, but c'mon, these things relax my party.



This was another moment where I thought my game had frozen, but I realized much quicker this time that it was probably the Receiver Phone.



: I just wanted to let you know that I finished a pretty unique invention. I'm not sure if it will help you or not... It's called "Zombie Paper," and it can be used to trap zombies. It works kind of like fly paper...

: Well, that might come in handy. How do you use it?

: All you need to do is place the paper on the floor of a tent or something. You've seen at least one tent around, right?... And then the zombies get stuck to the paper when they move around inside the tent. You can catch a lot of zombies this way... In fact, I bet you could get rid of all the zombies that are terrorizing the area with this paper!

: We can't get out of Threed to come pick up the Zombie Paper, because of the ghosts--

: Anyway, I just asked the Mach Pizza delivery man to deliver the Zombie Paper to you, Nass. You should get it pretty soon. I've never actually seen a zombie, but if there really are any, Zombie Paper would be very useful... I'll be calling you if I come up with anything else...



Well, since Apple Kid is a genius who just happened to invent the very thing that could be the most useful to us right now, but also a Goddamned dumbass for trusting a pizza guy to deliver it to us, we now have a bit of time to kill.



Beyond catching the Magic Butterfly, I'm not sure what else to do to kill time.



May as well wait outside the hotel.



Thankfully, the delivery guy doesn't take too long to arrive. I thought there was a three minute (real time) wait for pizza delivery. Maybe that's if you order an actual pizza and not this delivery man.



: He wanted me to deliver this to someone named Nass... who is wandering around Threed. No one else knows about this, right? Let's just pretend that you're Nass, and I'll give this to you.

: Well, uh, okay. I can be Nass.



: I made the decision that you're Nass, no matter what...



: *wink wink* I've done my duty and given you Apple Kid's thingamajig... Well, goodbye!...



And he is gone like a freight train. Well, with our new Zombie Paper, we can get rid of the zombies terrorizing this area. We just need a tent...



Well, ma'am, we just might have some Zombie Paper.





So, is the Zombie Paper sticky? I mean, it'd have to be, right? Can we just push this guy into it after we lay it down?



Well, if we can get 'em all in a single row, Kim would be able to wipe out the lot of them.



What do we have to lose at this point, right?



Jesus Christ, Apple Kid, which town's pizza place did you get to deliver this? Because if it's Threed's, I should kick your ass for not bringing it to me yourself.



Use the Zombie Paper anywhere in the tent and it gets laid down. It'll probably take all night for it to work.



And since my original plan was to go stay the night at the hotel, let's finally carry out that plan.



It fades to black...





...And the zombies are attracted to the paper.



And since those two have left, our path out of this town is now open.



The Zombie Paper is working like a charm. Well done, Apple Kid.



Next morning, everyone is all rested and feeling fresh. Let's go see exactly how well the Zombie Paper worked, shall we?



But first, a new headline for the papers. They change a lot, actually. If I remember, I'll snag as many as I can.





Yeah, but Nass and Kim recovered like champs. Thanks to Susan and his skill with Skyrunning.



Outside the tent, the Corps have gathered. It seems like the Zombie Paper was a success.



No, lady, I don't understand you saying that. Zombies are assholes.



: "Arrest" sounds strange, doesn't it...

Yeah, it does. Let's just execute the lot of them, yes?



: Ya ha! We taught those stupid zombies a lesson!

I like the cut of this man's jib. That'd probably be my exact reaction were I a member of the Corps.



Sweet merciful crap, that's a lot of zombies. And hey, Dickweed is still wandering around.



: me. I don't care what happens to anyone else, I just want to save my own skin.



: Oops, that wasn't a nice thing to say.

Well, I can see where he was coming from on that front.



And some of the zombies have things to say, too.





A lot of the zombies are assholes, too.





But, some of them are just...Kind of sad.





The rest have no response to us.



Since we can reach this ladder now, let's see what it has to offer us.



An underground path, similar to the one we went through when Susan rescued Nass and Kim.



But this one goes quite a bit deeper.



Usually, this room has some sort of enemy in it. I was surprised to see it empty. But, I'm more surprised to see a cross on that coffin. Did NoA miss this one?



The coffins are chests, by the way. Sorry, no vampire slaying action here, folks.



The DX version of the Skip Sandwich works almost exactly like its predecessor, but it lasts twice as long.





We're a pretty good distance underground, I think.



Oh, hey, finally we can fight some zombies!



Urban Zombies have 171 HP, with meh offense and defense.



Being a member of the undead in a video game, fire is the way to go to defeating the undead scourge.



PSI Fire Beta seriously has one of my favorite animations in the game.



The other Urban Zombie took 135 HP of damage. Zombies are also vulnerable to PSI Flash.





I'm not exactly sure what that mysterious action is supposed to actually do. I've never seen it work.



But, after a burst of flame, Susan and Nass can quickly finish off the zombies.



Not a bad bit of exp., but I'd like to snag a bit more from these fights.



After defeating the two remaining zombies, I crack open this casket.



An upgrade to the Copper Bracelet, I decide to give it to whoever had the lowest defense.



It was Susan, who had lower defense than Kim by a single point. I was a little surprised, actually.



I stepped through the door to the next room and was immediately mobbed by these guys. I didn't even have time to take a step before they were up in my grill.



Not a troublesome encounter. Oddly enough, the ghosts resist PSI Fire. Freeze is the route to take for them.



But, after the fight, Susan gained a level!

For this level, he gained +2 offense, +1 defense, +1 guts, +1 IQ, and +3 HP.



After battle, your characters blink for a little bit. I just happened to take this shot while they were all invisible, but left it in because of the ghost. Kim being possessed is going to be a pain in my ass.



Another ghost, another bit of exp. All in a day's work, really.



What in the hell is that thing?



Oh, you're going to regret that decision.





This little guy is a boss fight, and a gross one at that.





Yep, we're fighting a sentient pile of barf. Only Earthbound, folks.



Now, I made the mistake of thinking PSI Freeze was his weakness.



Kim was solidified by her possessor before she could act, so I didn't learn of his resistance to it until a bit later.



The Mini Barf has 616 HP at max, with good offense and pretty good defense. He's only got 10 speed, though, so chances are we'll be going before he does.





Yep, Susan was just puked on by a living pile of barf.



That Li'l Ghost is an asshole.





I felt like such an asshole after this. I could have sworn freezing him was the way to go.



But, hey, this was a stroke of fortune. I don't see this happen very often.



...I don't see this happen very often either. C'mon, he was frozen in place!



Nass gives him another good whack.



This is from the Li'l Ghost, by the way.



SMAAAAASH attacks frighten me sometimes.



I started play with Pray a bit, as I wanted to show off some of the Mini Barf's other attacks.



This woulda been better on Nass, but whatever. Right now, that Li'l Ghost is more of a threat than the Mini Barf.



Susan got puked on. Again.





He's got more things to do, I know he does.



Everyone got a tiny bit of HP restored here, like the equivalent of a friggin' cookie.



Hey, finally, something new!



Crying is the equivalent of blind in this game, but Susan takes no shit from it. Neither does PSI.



Susan finally gets an action off, as he was finally not puked on.



Another turn waster, another ineffective action against the Mini Barf.



It was here I decided, "Fuck it. This guy's going down."



I do not even want to imagine the stank that is coming from that Mini Barf right now.







If I had kept Susan's Big Bottle Rocket, this probably would have been the fight I would have used it on. The Mini Barf isn't exactly hard; he's more of a pain in the ass kind of fight.





And so ends that boss fight. Hell, it's kind of a stretch to call it that; if not for the special swirl, I wouldn't have known he was supposed to be anything beyond a slightly stronger enemy.



One nice thing is that the asshole drops a ton of exp. And remember, that's been divided up amongst the three party members.



And Nass gained a level!

For this level, he gained +2 offense, +1 luck, +3 HP and +2 PP.



Kim gained a level, too!

For this level, she gained +1 defense, +1 guts, +2 HP and +1 PP.



She can also increase one party member's offense now. Nass will make the best use of this, methinks, if I ever use it.



And Susan rounds out the entire party gaining a level.

For this level, he gained +1 offense, +1 guts, and +1 HP. Man, Susan's levels have seemed...Pretty lackluster for the most part.



Ah, Goddammit, did you have phrase it that way?



For some reason, "Gyorg" seems like the perfect thing to make a puddle of barf say. It's just disgusting enough.



Up this ladder...



...we come to our stopping point for this update.

Next time, on Earthbound, let's see where this path takes us. Stay tuned!



(Also, I've decided that I'm going to try doing the status shots every other update. Does that sound alright to you guys?)