Part 36: Ten Years Ago
(Music: Intermission ~The Deepening of the "Night")
As much as you(or I!) don't want this game to end, the end is approaching anyway.
But now we have the chance to stop the root of this whole disaster - we can save Yomiel from (un)death, though how we'll manage that remains to be seen.
(Music: Four Minutes Before Death)
(Music: Four Minutes Before Death ~Variation)
: Give it up. Do you really think you can outrun me?
: Now, just calm down! And drop that weapon!
: S-Stay back! If you come any closer...I'll shoot her!
: Huh...? Oh, a kitten...shoo! You might get hurt.
(Music: PROVIDENCE)
: You're all right now. Are you hurt?
: I was just doing my job. The gods...they're the ones who saved you.
: What's your job, mister?: Me? I'm a police detective.
: It's...beautiful, looking at it from this angle...: It changed all of our fates completely.
: We can't stop Temsik from falling from the sky. But we might be able to protect you from that fragment and save your life.: ...!: .......I don't know...: What's the matter, Detective Jowd?: To be perfectly honest, I'm scared. If that meteorite fragment doesn't get him...I'm pretty sure I would've shot him!
: ......: We might not be able to change your fate of dying.: ......I can accept that.: ...!: What I did is inexcusable. No matter how the future might change, that fact will never go away.
: If my fate is to die here...then I accept that.: (This will be our last battle against fate...beyond that will be a new future!)
: Okay! Let's get started!(Music: Fate Updated ~ Variation)
: If Lynne would just wander off somewhere, that would solve everything.: When her sweet potato is almost ready? Ha. She's not gonna budge from that spot.: But, you know, it makes me wonder...A little girl, all alone in the park, listening to music and roasting a sweet potato...what kind of childhood did this girl have...?: Doesn't everybody have at least one day in their life like that?! Give her a break!: (Anyway, if Lynne won't budge from that spot...then we'll just have to have the fragment move, instead.)
Sissel can't reach anything at the start, and Missile has nothing to swap...but they can still talk to each other!
: Sure, she's happy. She's about to eat some sweet potato.: And that happiness is about to be shattered, in a single instant...when she drops her sweet potato!: (Uh, I don't think you're seeing the big picture...) Anyway, we have to keep our eyes peeled for a chance to make our move.: Right! We won't drop the ball or the sweet potato!
Once Yomiel grabs Lynne, we can finally start doing stuff. Like examine that sweet potato.
: Oh, boy. You even forgot what a sweet potato is? It's a roasted root vegetable. It's good.: There's nothing like them on a cold winter's day.: They're sweet and they smell delicious!: (These guys sure are making me want to try one.)And from there, there's nothing else we can reach...except for Lynne's headphones...
: What are you doing?! You're going to hurt poor Miss Lynne's ears!: I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking...: You really startled her. You even made her drop her sweet potato.: (I know how much this girl loves her food, too...) Anyway...at least her fate has changed, albeit ever so slightly!
No, we didn't sacrifice Lynne's hearing in vain - we now have a path to get Sissel over to the basket on the edge of the fountain! And we'd better do this fast, since time's almost up!
(Music: COUNT DOWN)
And from there, we can turn on the nozzle on this side of the fountain so that...
...we can slightly miss the potato.
: Hmm, that was kind of disappointing. (Maybe the timing was a little off?): Miss Lynne always says it's better to be early than late!As an aside, here's the interesting parts of what you get if you miss the potato completely:
: That's some pretty spirited water there...: That's what's known as a "fountain.": With that much force, I bet it could lift me right up into the air!
: Uh oh! We have to change the fragment's path somehow!: Hmm. It looks like both "paths" and "fates" can be difficult things to change...: (There HAS to be a way!): If we worked together, you and me...I thought we'd be able to do something!: ("Thought"? That's funny...I wonder why he's using the past tense?)Well, at this point there's jack shit we can do to change the situation, so...
Yup. Let's restart...and while we're at it, check out what Missile has to say after past-Yomiel holds past-Lynne hostage.
: I'm sorry...: If you're so sorry, then put her down!: All right, now, Missile...: I was really out of my head that day...: Well...we can talk about all of this later.Yes they can. Because now, it's time to get the timing right with the sweet potato!
(Yes, it's possible to screw up again by not getting Sissel back into the sweet potato in time.) And now the sweet potato is within reach of Mino. They also happen to be the same shape, which means Missile can swap them! But Missile can't reach Mino alone:
So it's still Sissel's turn. Have him Trick the main fountainhead, and...
Now Missile can reach Mino!
: That was quite a sight to see.: It looks like this park just got a new feature.
: Guess that's not surprising, seeing as even a meteorite didn't distract them.: Hey, it was a desperate situation! "Kill or be killed!": And Yomiel IS killed, right after this -- by the meteorite. (Well, now that the park has a new feature...can we use it to our advantage in any way?)Hmm. Well, Mino isn't in reach of anything Missile can swap with, and if we try to use the fountain again...
: Well, we can see why not!: (Yeah...the overwhelming presence of Mino there...if only we could use it to our advantage somehow...)And there is...if we rewind time and go back to when Missile originally swapped Mino and the sweet potato.
While Mino is still in the air, we have to swap it with that lamp.
: Oh, look! The lamp post is bending!: But it hasn't broken yet!: It really is a wonder it hasn't snapped. It just might hold out for a little while longer!: (If I recall...the Temsik fragment smashed through the glass lantern on its way down.): But if Mino sits firmly in its way...: Then fate should change!And now all we can do is wait, until...
: Don't worry, Missile! I think we're ready for it. Look what's right in the fragment's path.: Oh, okay! That giant sweet potato! If anything can get in the way, that ugly monster can!: (Ouch.) Anyway...now the fragment's path ought to change!And as the fragment zooms down...
: Look! The fragment's course! It changed a little!: Now Yomiel's fate should really change!: ...wait a minute. Take another look at the fragment's trajectory. Now that it's changed, what's in its path?: In its path...? (N-Nooo...!)
: Detective Jowd! (The Temsik fragment shot through his leg!): What?!
: C'mon, put it down...: Huh?: Jowd, put the gun down...now! If you don't...you're going to shoot him!: (I don't know if it's his detective training or what, but even though he's shaking from the pain, the gun doesn't waver.): Put the gun down!
: I knew it. This is my true fate...in the end...I stole his life away with my own hands...
: Missile! (The bullet is stopped in midair!): I'm here, inside the bullet! Now let's swap it with something!: Wh-what?! With what...?!: Detective Jowd...the meteorite fragment is what made you pull the trigger. We won't let you become a murderer!: ...!: (We have to prove that murder isn't the detective's "true fate"...and to do that, we have to stop this bullet!)Okay, where's the closest hard hat?
...though I suppose this roasted sweet potato will do too.
...maybe we should have just let him get shot.
: (...but we still couldn't save him!): That's not true.: ...!: My fate of getting pierced through the back might not have changed...but I'm still alive.: What?!: I'm not dead. I'm just unconcious!: Okay, so your fate of death has changed...but, still! (This fate is just too painful to watch -- in every sense.): I don't think so. As long as I'm alive, that's good enough for me.
(Music: DEADLINE)
: Dammit! My leg won't work!
: Miss Lynne!!!
: But there isn't anything else to swap with!: Why don't we just let it play out, and then try to find another way next time? Even if she dies, all you have to do is possess her corpse...and then you can redo her last four minutes as many times as it takes.: No. I won't do that!: Why not?: Sure, the fact of her death would be erased...but the memory of it would remain, like a scar on her psyche.: ...!: I won't let that happen, not if I can help it!: But what can we do now? Even if we work together...?!: ......I think there might be something that can be done.: What is it?! What can Sissel and I do?: Don't forget. I'm here too.: ...!: With three kinds of powers among us, we ought to be able to fight this battle. This battle against the fate of death!(Music: Dead Afterimage)
: Y-Yomiel!: Sissel, your power is manipulating objects.
("This" being the lefttmost fountain nozzle, which is highlighted for a moment that didn't get caught in the screenshot.)
: Huh? I don't get it...: Just trust me. Let's go!: ...! (All right. I'll try to move there!)
: (Uh, I'm dead, though...): In that case...make it spray as though your death depended on it! Give it your all! And remember, you'll only have a split-second. Okay...now, DO IT!: Got it!
: What? Um, me? But what can I do?!: I think you know the answer to that.: Okay. Got it!: You can swap them! (That hunk of concrete will go back to its original position!): But...! Even if I swap them, it's still right above Miss Lynne!: Don't worry.: ...! Okay, I'll do it! I'll swap them!
: It's no use! We can't stop that horrible Mino!: What can we do now?! I don't see how gaining a second or two helped!: Oh, it helped all right. Those few seconds are exactly what I wanted.
: Your turn...?
: You know what my power is, right? I can manipulate living creatures.: Wait a minute! You mean...?: That's right. I'm going to save that little girl. Save her by manipulating my own, unconcious body!
(Music: Informing About the Parting)
: Hey, mister! Is your knee okay?: Huh? Oh, it'll be fine. It's just a scrape. I'm lucky it wasn't a fatal hit. But the main thing is that you're not hurt.: Y-you...saved me, mister?: I was just doing my job. The gods...they're the ones who saved you.: What's your job, mister?: Me? I'm a police detective.
: Do you think you could go call the police for me? I think you could do it quicker than I could.: B-but...!
: What's that?: This is a detective's badge. We give them to kids who've been very brave.: A detective's badge...?
: Okay, you know what to do, little detective!
: Are you alive...?: Yeah...sadly...: Hang on. Help is coming. What made you do such a reckless thing?: ......to be perfectly honest, I don't really know. When I came to, my body was already moving all by itself. It's as if somebody else was controlling me.: I see...: But, you know...: ...I'm glad it happened.
: Come to think of it...I just saw it a few minutes ago. It's probably a stray.
: It's kind of limp. Is it okay...?: I don't know. I think it's unconcious. That's funny. It doesn't look like it's injured or anything...: Poor little kitty...: How about I take it to my house and look after it? Would you like to come home with me, little kitten?
: ...it looks like HIS fate just changed in a big way.: Whose fate?: That kitten's, of course.
Video
Four Minutes Before Yomiel's Death
Saving Yomiel