Part 6: What Really Killed The Dinosaurs

Music: Shooting Star (v2)







Today's update begins with our villains calling another team huddle.

That strange kid in blue once again interfered with our plans. His name is MegaMan! At this time, I still do not know his identity...



Oh good, they fixed the lights. No more permanent black screen!

Vega isn't interested at first, but when Hyde says that MegaMan is capable of EM Wave Changing she starts listening more closely.

And is he in possession of an Ancient Star Carrier as well?

Hyde reponds with a negative.

His would seem to be an altogether different EM Wave Change.

Then it is of no concern to us. There is no power on this planet able to surpass that of that ancient civilization.
_{Haha oh man, I never noticed that she said "this planet".}

Vega orders Hyde to destroy MegaMan if he should interfere again.



Hyde's profuse agreements get cut off by this fellow.



I know where the OOPArt is!

You found them quickly.

It was a simple task. You'll find the OOPArt in...

The......? It is sure to be well protected.

Vega offers Solo assistance.



Solo asks what he's looking at, and the robed figure responds that it is Kamikakushi, a matter transporter. It'll make stealing anything incredibly easy.

I'll pass. I've already told you. I have no intention of joining you. My blood would never allow it. I work alone.

And the reason why you came in and told her the location of this OOPArt thing is...?

Vega smirks that the Kamikakushi comes from the lost civilization.

There is a link between you and that civilization, no? What does your blood say about that?

......



Okay, back to the heroes.



Our heroes are watching a news report on their recent activities. Everyone's wondering just who this mysterious blue hero is.

A b-blue hero? Could they be talking about...

You got it! That's us they're talking about!

Geo, shy as ever, is incredibly embarassed about showing up on national TV.

You should be proud. If people think of you as a hero, then they won't mind if we cause some damage!

Cause damage? That's not very heroic, Mega!

Well, the people love us anyway.

Suddenly, Mega is struck with an idea: why not go outside and find out what Echo Ridge thinks of them? Geo would rather not, but Mega isn't taking no for an answer.



But before that, some e-mail. This is a message from the remains of (the remains of) Taurus Fire, who wants me to come to Foodtopia for a rematch.



Can't do that yet though.



Every resident of Echo Ridge is very impressed with MegaMan.

Wow... I'm as famous as Sonia is. That reminds me... I wonder what Sonia's been up to lately...?



Cut to Geo stating the obvious. The kid's perturbed by all of this, which confuses Mega. Shouldn't he be proud?

The fact that we're famous means that we're strong, doesn't it?

Sorry, but I don't see it like you do, Mega.

Mega dryly wonders what all of those NPCs would think if they knew their hero was such a wimp.



Before Geo can respond, somebody starts screaming for help. Geo recognizes the voice as Ken Suther, the owner of Big Wave, and dashes in.



Hey there, Geo!

Ken, what's going on?

Duuude! I was, like, getting out my, like, favorite board, man. It's a Matter Wave board. So I, like, go to materialize it and... Bam! Like all these bogus viruses came out with my board!

Well that's odd, but it's nothing Ken shouldn't be able to handle. Big Wave is a Battle Card store, and those were invented to allow any civilian to deal with viruses.

Dude, we gotta do something before they, like, go nuts in here.

(I want to pulse in so I can help him... But then Ken will know my secret identity.)

Whatcha gonna do, dude? It's, like, my store, so I gotta, like, deal with this.







Ken blacks out, giving Geo the freedom to pulse in.



After he blows all of his spare cards in this anyways.



Since there's no way to sell them, Card Traders are the only way you can get rid of spare cards. Just put in the required amount,



and a new card comes out. Exactly what you put in doesn't matter, it's all luck.



Oh, and if I put on the Visualizer this guy appears.



If I happen to have any Trader Tickets (which are found in mystery waves), I can exchange them in for slightly rarer cards.



This system is almost entirely transplanted from predecessor series Battle Network, but it's lost a lot of its use. Explaining why is complicated if you're not familiar with BN's game mechanics, but the gist of things is that SF has a significantly lower amount of battle card variety. You were much more likely to get something new or useful in BN.



I dumped probably a hundred cards into this thing and didn't get anything notable. Guess it's time to take down those viruses.



But first, you know the drill by now.



Wood Ninja is the game's final basic transformation, which is good timing since after this scenario I can start fusing them.



Like the other two Tribes, it can charge up non-time freezing attack cards. Doing so will initiate a Mega Attack on the closest enemy, regardless of whether the enemy is actually in range to be locked on.



Ninja's also packing an innate Anti Damage; by pressing Up + Y, MegaMan will enter this stance for a second. If he gets hit by an attack,



he'll counter attack with a Wood elemental slash. The basic Shield is much, much easier to use though, so I never bother with this.

More important is Ninja's passive ability: +20 to all Wood cards. This is much better than Saurian's Fire +30 or Zerker's Elec +20, since there's a multiple-hit Wood card that benefits greatly from the boost.



Ninja's charge shot is the Shinobi Star, which is kind of crappy since all of the stars have to land to deal full damage. If the enemy moves out of the way fast enough, they can avoid damage. It does a bit more damage than the other two though, so that's something for it.



Finally, its Big Bang is the Demon Flurry.



Besides the one that Ken attacked, there are two other Mettennas in the store. After they're all cleaned up,



Geo decides to check on Ken while still pulsed in for whatever reason.



And wouldn't you know it, he's in the Visible Zone again.

I never thought that story was, like, true or anything. Thanks for, like, saving my store, man!

D-Don't mention it.

No this is not going to mean a discount. This entire scene was pointless.



Ken finally notices Geo is gone, and wonders if the viruses got him. MegaMan stammers that Geo ran away to safety.

I think I kinda know you from somewhere...

Then Ken takes a good look at MegaMan.

I don't think so. I have to go now!

Wait up, dude! I haven't even thanked you yet!

Don't worry about it!

MegaMan runs away.



Just tell everyone, kid! Let 'em all know we're the blue hero. No doubt they'll all be kissing up to us. And then they'll do whatever we tell 'em to. Heh, heh...

Cut it out, Mega! I'm trying to avoid attracting attention!

Geez, there are reluctant heroes, then there's you.

That's enough from you.



Geo decides to head home, but a familiar voice stops him.

What!? Hey! What are you...!?

??: Are you always this surprised to see someone?



Sonia Strumm is Geo's first and pretty much only actual friend, mostly because the two have had similar lives.

It's been awhile since I last saw you. What are you doing?

Doing? Well... I kinda thought I wanted to see you. Is that bad?

Huh? N-N-No! That's not bad at all! Ha, ha, ha...



This includes having an EM Being as a friend.

Lyra! Bah!

Lyra and Mega aren't on as good terms as Sonia and Geo though.

Ohhh... Is that any way to greet an old friend? You and I are both FM-ians after all. We should at least try to get along. Ha-ha-ha.

I'm an AM-ian. I only lived on your planet. We are NOT the same.



Anyways, Sonia didn't come just to see Geo. She wants to go to Wilshire Hills with him.

Sure, but why this sudden urge to travel?

I've been inside working on songs for so long I've forgotten what fresh air tastes like! I also want to go shopping and eat at a nice restaurant.

And then I thought, there's only one boy I'd like to do all those things with.

Wh-Wh-Wh-What!? Me? Ha, ha, ha...

(I wonder what the Prez would do if she got a load of this.)



Before I go to Wilshire Hills, I've got to do a few things to do. Talking to Claud here will unlock Cancer Bubble for battle at Bunny Slopes.



Big Wave's open too, so I also blow all of my cash on this.



The final task on the Echo Ridge checklist is to raid Bud and Zack's houses.







Now for Grizzly Peak. As he promised, Taurus Fire is waiting for me here.



Taurus Fire EX to be more specific.



Still a chump.



However, once I beat him...



I can randomly encounter Taurus Fire SP in Foodtopia.



Even with 3750 HP, he's still a chump.



So let's kick it up a notch. Thanks to this Wave Command card, Taurus Fire SP is now


Watch the fight!

Taurus Fire DX.



Taurus Fire DX is supposed to have 5500 HP. If it weren't for Hard mode, I'd have killed him about two minutes into that video. And if I had gotten luckier with my Brother roulettes, I would have won anyways even though I'm using an early-game folder.

What I'm saying is that Taurus Fire is a chump.



Cancer Bubble is also here. I'll go over him when he isn't a chump. (Optional bosses increase in power the further I am in the story.)



Next, Yeti Blizzard EX is hanging around Black Diamond Run. Beating him, like with Taurus Fire EX, will unlock Yeti Blizzard SP/DX. I'm not in the mood for more bosses at the moment though.



And finally, there's an Indy Frag in this broken ski lift's ER.



Now back to your scheduled plot.

I think it's always crowded here...

Oh... There're families too...

Sonia...

Sorry... It just makes me think about my mom.

Sonia started singing in order to make her sickly mom more happy.

......

But you know what? Whenever I think about that and feel sad, I remember what you said.

What I said...?



That's what you said. When I recall that, I feel at peace.

......

I'll always treasure those things you said to me. I don't think this will come out right, but you gave me something that I could never replace! Thanks!

You don't have to thank me.

But I have to. You changed me!

By her first appearance in SF1, Sonia was really jaded about singing due to an exploitative manager.

I'm happy that I was able to be of help.

You'd think Geo would say more than this, like how Sonia helped him too or how important his BB with her was, but nope.



The conversation just ends there.



First stop is a cafe. Geo doesn't know what to order, so Sonia picks the "Everest Ice Cream Sundae" for him.

It was true to its name, that's for sure.

Geo's stomach isn't doing too well, but Sonia on the other hand devoured the whole thing.

I could eat another! I love desserts!

......(She must have a garbage disposal for a stomach!)



Then Sonia changes the topic to the news.

No. Maybe. I don't know.

Don't try hiding it! I know you too well for that! Tell me! It's you, right?

Well... I don't know...

Geo!

OK, OK, it's me!

Sonia thinks it's really cool that Geo's the talk of the nation. Geo agrees.

(Yeah, and before you hated the idea.)



Then an advertisement pops up. Geo's interested, and Sonia's fine with checking it out too.



But before I can go, I need to talk to Sonia here. Geo's got a question that's been bugging him.

What made you want to take up singing again? Was there a particular reason?

Yes, actually there is. When I hung up my microphone, it gave me some time to think about what I wanted to do with my life.

What do you want to do?

Well, it's not just about what I want to do, but about what I can do. It took me awhile to figure it out. Then it hit me...

I like how, even though Sonia isn't running around as a superhero, she's still running into the same problems as Geo.



I wanted to make music for them. I know what it's like to lose your parents, so I wanted to make songs that would try to heal that pain...

Sonia... You're awesome to think that way... I'm nowhere near being able to do something like that.

That's not true. You go far beyond anything I can do.

Huh? What do you mean?



That made me want to help other people.

Wait, what? MegaMan only appeared on the news after IFL Tower. And at that point, Sonia had already started singing again.

I didn't think I was that inspiring.

Geo, you're a hero, and I'm a singer. Together we can help people!



As soon as Geo steps into the museum,



a familiar face walks up to him. It's Gredy Miser again.

There were some problems during the run for Ghost Crisis. And people started to think the theater was haunted by real ghosts.

(That was Hyde's doing.)

We had to stop showing the movie, and we lost a lot of money on it. And so I lost my job as a movie producer...

Sorry to hear that.

Gredy tells Geo not to feel bad; now he's producing exhibits for the museum, like the Lost Civilization one going on right now.



And since Geo helped so much with Ghost Crisis, Gredy gives him free passes again.



This means I get this guy for free too.



The tour starts off with Mu, an ancient civilization that was so incredibly advanced



it had Star Carriers. Geo and Mega recognize this as the tool Hyde used, and Mega decides to take a closer look.



This triggers the anti-theft system. Gredy shuts it off when Geo claims he just touched the exhibit by accident.



Anyways, the exhibit. Its name is "Lost Civilizations" for a reason; Mu isn't the only one on feature.



There's also the Saurian, who are literally dinosaurs,



the Zerker, some sort of warrior tribe,



and the Ninja. Guess what they are.

These three "Lost Tribes" were incredibly powerful, but all suddenly vanished one day.



The reason why is because they weren't good enough friends (Academics call this the "Precursor to Ruin"). Each tribe prospered greatly, and somehow this led to infighting on such a scale that each tribe fell apart.

I'm not sure how advanced these three tribes were. On display in the Zerker/Ninja exhibits is some decidedly unfuturistic equipment, but what's coming up implies they were all just as advanced as the Mu.


_{If this was Zerker version, this would be a giant sword. Ninja version has a supersized shuriken.}

The final exhibit is an Out Of Place Artifact belonging to the Saurian. Analysis of it concludes that it's a super ancient Matter Wave.

H-Hey, kid! This thing is off the hook!

Geo puts on his Visualizer to check,



and the thing is glowing with EM Waves. Mega adds that these aren't your standard waves either; the stuff coming out is intense.

What exactly is this thing?

...A weapon. It's definitely a weapon that uses EM Waves.

How did they make such a thing?



As always, Geo is interrupted.

Did you hear something?

Oh nooo!



Strange black holes are absorbing all of the exhibits.



And security can't do anything about it. Gredy starts to melt down again, so Sonia recommends a hero help out.

No, I'm not a hero, I tell ya.

Believe in yourself! Everyone here is counting on MegaMan to save them.

...!

And personally... I'd love to see MegaMan in action myself!

Geo gives in and starts to look for a wave hole.

(Wow. I've never seen you so eager before. You must really like this girl, eh kid?)

(N-No... I wanna help people.)

(Heh, sure kid. You know I don't care as long as I get to tear loose on something.)



There's a secret passage over here that leads to a wave road.

EM Wave Change! Sonia Strumm, On The Air!



Also, Sonia isn't just going to sit on her ass and do nothing like the rest of Geo's friends.

Ta-daaa! Hope you play nice this time, Mega.

Hmph. Just don't get in my way, ya hear?

Oh, you wound me. Have you forgotten the power that we wield when Sonia and I form Harp Note? I should hope not.

Lyra's japanese name was "Harp", so that's why her combined form is called Harp Note. You'd think they'd change it to Lyra Note, but .



Geo and Sonia quickly spot the source of the problem.



There are two new viruses here.



Boom's move in front of MegaMan and punch him. They drop Heat Upper cards, which have MegaMan uppercut whatever's in front of him for a good chunk of damage.



Dark Reapers throw scythes at MegaMan. These projectiles block attacks and can turn once to try and home in on MegaMan. Once they get under half HP the Reapers will go berserk and move twice as fast. They drop Scythe cards, which have MegaMan release a spinning scythe that hits the area in front of him repeatedly.



This place's gimmick are these holes.



I need to press the displayed button fast,



or get sucked into here. You'd think Geo would take the time to rescue the artifacts, but too much work I guess.



Hanging out in a BMW is my first Mega Weapon. These things affect the stats of the Mega Buster, with Attack determining base damage, Rapid the speed of the shot, and Charge the time it takes to charge.



And with that explained, I can finally go over this Wave Command card from the first update. By now you should be able to understand everything on this card but Gauge, and what that does is increase the speed of the Custom Gauge.

While there are over 80 Power Up codes, only three are worth anything. The one I'm using now, which provides the biggest HP/Giga boost as well as Super Armor,



OLFHTR, which gives the biggest Mega/Gauge boost,



and SLNDPC. This maxes the buster, gives the biggest Gauge boost, provides three abilities, and changes me into the special Rogue form (which I'll go over later).

I'm going to be sticking with the one I was already using because Giga +3 is idiotically good.



The eye runs away once MegaMan and Harp Note get too close.



Or to be more exact it goes for the prize. Mega cuts in at this point with a request.

I hate to say this... But I really like that OOPArt! I gotta have it!

What the heck's come over you?

That OOPArt is a powerful weapon. I must have it for myself!

B-But... How do you know for sure that it's a weapon?

I just know, OK? I know it'll give me incredible power!

Geo stammers that Mega's strong enough already.

And you don't think that extra power like that might come in handy? What if we ran into Hyde again? I'd wanna be able to send him packing!

I can already do that though.

I understand that... But you just want this for yourself so you can go wild.

Well, that's kinda true.

Geo puts his foot down: Mega can't have the OOPArt. It's Gredy's after all. Mega scoffs that Geo's just a coward, then notes that Geo should at least make sure the artifact doesn't get stolen.



As soon as he says that, the OOPArt starts to sink into the hole.



Nothing to worry about as long as Mega's here though.

You're biting it? What are you thinking?

Kid, just concentrate on pulling me back!



I'll go handle whatever that nasty thing over there is. I think if I beat it, the black hole will disappear!

Thanks, Sonia!!

Come on, Lyra! Pulse Song!





The explosion fills the room with light,



and once it dims the OOPArt's gone.

But the eye didn't get it.



Mega did.

------


Sonia's mom. I think she only appears in the anime.


Sonia's concept art. She was envisioned as "the kind of friend who encourages Geo and gives him a nudge in the right direction whenever he needs one."


Lyra's concept art. She was purposefully given a different design from the usual "energy being covered with armor" mold in order to make her look more like a harp.


The many original designs of Harp Note.