Part 55

Chapter 45

Packing is boring, so here's an update.





So here we are, exploring the moon. First stop is to check in on our friends the Hummingways.




I'm sure that won't have any importance in this tale.



Then it just darted off by itself to wherever.



The moon has a lot of new enemies, like these guys.



Unsurprisingly, Fusoya and Golbez can easily nuke the shit out of them.



I have FF4's world map burned to memory, but considering there's three whole places of interest on the moon and you always have access to an airship, I don't have the layout memorized, so lo and behold, the one and only time that anyone anywhere will use the Sight spell. Bahamut's Cave is to the southwest of the Crystal Palace and Hummingway Abode.



Osmose is a valuable spell in this tale, at least when you find an enemy you can use it on. Golbez learns Osmose pretty early, and he should be your main offensive magically, so Osmose is huge. You know, when you find an enemy it works well on, like this Black Flan.



Now, I don't know if you actually need to go here first. There's no real reason to actually come here, and if this place is optional I'm going to be pissed that I spent so much time trying to beat this place. Then again, if this place is required to advance the plot, I'll be even more pissed because there's absolutely no plot reason to have this dungeon.






Sweet delicious damage.



Aura Staff gives a nice boost and casts Dispel as an item. Still kind of situational, but it's better than the crappy Protect Staff. I don't think that thing can even multi-target.



So remember the Behemoths that would pop up at chokepoints?



In this game, we're fighting Count Malboros, which are pretty much sturdier Malboros. They use Bile, Bad Breath, and devastating physical attacks.



They can also poison you to be a dick.

They're a major resource drain, so I had to keep Teleporting out, and at one point walk back to the Hummingways to restock, before I could beat this place.



And in case you're curious, yes, Fusoya still melts into a puddle of beard when he gets KOed.



Drain is just horrible. Seriously, it has such horrible power for the charge time it requires.



While taking a detour to restock on supplies, I run into this thing. Wary that it may be dangerous, I use Golbez's Pressure to stop the Gavel Worm. Pressure stops the creature for two or three turns, which is alright, but too brief to be effective. It's a poor man's Stop.



Two more Count Malboros later...





He's been petrified!
No. He's been chained in another dimension... Both his body and soul.
...
I am amazed that someone was capable of overpowering Bahamut himself.
But who could that be?



Right.

So the entire point of that dungeon was to tell us to go to another dungeon we already heard about. Wonderful. There was absolutely no point to going there, unless you really like free Dispels and an Ice Shield for fire resistance.



So the face on the moon has a huge pulsating zit.





Given the whole presentation of the moon, this seems a bit eerie. Having intentionally unsettling atmosphere is probably unintentional, of course.

Look at this!
There must have been a meteor strike here.

YOU JUST SAID A METEOR STRUCK HERE THREE IMAGES AGO FUCK



It is eating away at the land itself! Like a parasite!
This is no mere meteor.
What do you mean?
I can't say anything else beyond that for now. This has even me stumped.

Maybe you're just going senile, Fusoya.



The random encounters here are probably weaker even than Bahamut's Cave. Nothing that notable.



Though it's always funny when Bio's Sap effect kills an enemy.



This meteor's similar to the other one in that there are a lot of jumping puzzles and crappy loot.



Well, gee, I wonder who we'll be running into today?



What a shocker.





This is going to be so. much. fun.




Why do you want to know?
There should be eight more Crystals on this moon.
Eight more? What are you talking about?
...
No reply? Then don't expect one from us, either.
It makes no difference.
What?








Asura!
Why? Why are you summoning the Eidolons!?



Believe it or not, this fight is actually legitimate. Asura will alternate between healing M.G., casting Shell on her, and attacking.



Mysterious Girl will use -aga spells, among other attacks, though her magic does jack shit for damage.




Asura will avoid all attacks, so focus on the Mysterious Girl. Don't bother using Reflect, as you'll be hurting M.G. far more than Asura can heal her.



Golbez and Fusoya just need to spam magic on her Mary Sue ass. Once again, pure offense is the recipe for victory.





Sometimes the Mysterious Girl will use Binding Glare, an attack that hurts hard and inflict paralysis.




But just keep slinging spells, and you'll actually win.

Wait, what?



Hold up. Did Fusoya and Golbez just actually kill the Mysterious Girl?

Time-line wise, it's gotta be impossible. But she certainly looks pretty dead to me.

It was either her, or us.
This girl can't be just any normal summoner.
Do you think she was the one responsible for what happened to Bahamut?
It is possible.



Right.



Rather than just teleport out, going to the left leads to more useless shit you're never going to use.



It's not that bad an idea to let Golbez soak up the majority of the experience. He benfits from more levels much more than Fusoya does.



Finally out of this place. After restocking at Hummingway Abode, I check out the Lunar Tunnels.



There's no reason to bother with them. There's some rare enemy or something that shows up on a certain moon, but god knows I'm not wasting more time with that bullshit.



Next time, more stuff happens, including an actual revelation. I still wouldn't get excited.