Part 43: Leaving Home (2)

It's time to catch up with Ionia, the Magypsie who first taught Lucas PSI and guided him on his current quest to pull all the needles.

Oh! It's so good to see you again!



You always struck me as a bit of a crybaby, but you've grown so strong.







Let's see... This slightly plain-looking fellow...What was it, again?



It's a pleasure to meet you, Duster. I know very well that your fate lies in helping vute li'l Lucas here.



I've watched you since you were very little, but this is the prettiest you've ever been now. You're absolutely fabulous. I know you might say, "Cut that crap out!" ...but it's the truth. *giggle*





Ooh! Fabulous! My absolute favorite! Yummy Pickles! You brought them all the way here for me? Thank you! These pickles will be the last thing I eat before I vanish... I'm going to realy enjoy them.



Aeolia, Doria, Lydia, Phrygia, and Mixy... *giggle* I mean, Mixolydia. They've all disappeared, now that "the time" has come... And now it's my turn. That leaves only my Needle in Chupichupyoi Temple, and the one missing Needle...



The temple is covered in vines frozen in time. You can't get inside with them as they are. You'll need to sprinkle these "Waters of Time" on them.



We can now take care of those vines and pull the next needle.



But considering every recent needle has had some sort of boss, we might as well heal up.





As a nice touch, we get this music upon waking up. I don't even know if it plays between Lucas first waking up in Chapter 4 and now.





Outside of Ionia's home is an ordinary person.







So that old badge of Flint's? It was actually a Franklin Badge, a rather unique item important in all three Mother games for its ability to reflect electricity off the wearer. This also applies to all lightning attacks in-battle, so it's always handy to hold on to, though we get this one much later than in the other two games.







That said, this Mr. Saturn doesn't really walk away. In fact, he has a lot of unique dialogue if you keep talking to him. Keep note that every new "line" (each new dot) is every time you talk to him, where after enough times he just repeats the "Potential!" line.







Hey guess what!!!



Yep, the Pigmasks are already here too, though at least this time we're the ones catching them off-guard.



At least they're not having much luck either.







Welp, so much for that plan.













This time, we're facing off against a Colonel and two Majors.



The Colonel has a shield, so of course we're going to snatch it.





He's also a pain, being able to damage three characters for big damage among other things.



I took out the Majors no problem, but Kumatora went down in the meantime.





No biggie, as Healing Gamma will revive her just fine.



Wall Staples work well, and from there I take him out with little problem. He has less than a thousand HP, so no biggie.

He also has a 3% chance of dropping the Awesome Cloak, a Lucas-only body equip with the same defense as the Pumice Charm but with resistance to fire, freeze, and lightning. Alright drop, but not really worth grinding for.



After that, the Pigmasks are done having their fun and retreat as usual.





The Masked Man, of course, doesn't scare so easily.





You know where this is going, right?





Yep, now the Masked Man is getting a taste of his own medicine.







This is it. This is the last boss of Chapter 7, and it's a doozy.





Meet the Masked Man. He has a whopping 5000HP and of course high offense and defense. And he starts off with a shield, of course.

The "official" strategy book says you really want Lucas at L50 for this fight, as that's when he learns Lifeup Omega, which heals the entire party. I'm around L47 and don't feel like grinding, plus it adds to the challenge.



For once, I'm not going to use shields since he can nullify them.



Which means I'm going to go with two stacks each of the Offense and Defense buffs and debuffs. Lucas will be doing the buffs, of course, Kumatora and Duster working on the debuffs, and Boney starting off with the Shield Snatcher.





The Masked Man attacks twice a round. A beam is his normal attack and does decent damage.



I pretty much relegate Kumatora to healing duty all fight. Maybe if she knew Thunder Gamma for this fight, I'd be more aggressive, but as is Lucas does more damage with his physicals than two Thunders would (assuming they even hit). Masked Man has high elemental defenses.





Sometimes instead of beams, the Masked Man will swipe his sword for weak damage. Consider this a breather.





When you see this, you better damn well be prepared.







As apparently he is the only other person in the world who knows the power of PK Love and will unleash Gamma on you for incredibly high damage. The next round has everyone healing themselves (more items being used!).



One other big thing is that, though it can be difficult to inflict it, the Masked Man is vulnerable to crying. A couple missed beams go a long way.





He'll also use regular Love Alpha, which hurts but is manageable.



The last one is a thunder-type attack that hits three characters for 100 damage each.





Of course, if it hits Lucas, who is the one holding the Franklin Badge, it'll bounce back and hit the Masked Man for that much damage.



I even use my PP restoratives! We're almost at the end of the game and you get tons of restoratives for free anyway, plus this fight is difficult, so why not?



Another Love Gamma.







Fortunately, Lucas immediately lands the finishing blow on this guy.





We did it. We defeated the Masked Man.





Of course, we're going to let him get away, but at least we won this one. The Needle is ours.











That was easier than just ramming into it repeatedly hoping eventually the vines would get bored and fall off.



Oh, time started flowing again for the vines...
Lucas. Let's go inside.







No more gotchas this time.



Magypsies have guarded the seven Needles for many generations since.



But the Needles will be pulled when "the time" comes. And that time is now.



And then something big will happen... Something big enough to recreate the entire world. Lucas.



To accomplish this, you can't lose or give in, no matter what... Duster. Boney. And Princess Kumatora. Without heartfelt help from you, his friends, he cannot accomplish this task.



This PSI is so dangerous that I never intended to teach it to you...but I'm going to teach it to you right here, right now. Master this dangerous PSI technique so that you can help Lucas! Are you prepared?





Well, I hope she was.





PK Starstorm is Kumatora's ultimate attack. For 48PP, she can do around 650 damage to all enemies. It's pretty sweet.

Now, Lucas gets control and can talk to his companions.

...That masked man, was he...? Oh, well. It doesn't matter.
Lucas... I'm going to help you from here on out, no matter what happens. I made up my mind just now.



Thanks for the pickles earlier. The dog drool was a bit disconcerting, though. *giggle*











And with that, we're 3-3 with the Masked Man.



And Lucas also learns his ultimate attack, PK Love Omega. 50PP, does over 800 damage to all enemies. Truly an attack worthy of Lucas at this point.





Locria, the final, missing Magypsy, is rapidly nearing the seventh Needle! That's what I'm sensing.



Oh! Just when I'm about to tell where it is...! Aaah! I'm sorry. I'm disappearing now. Before i go, here are final mementos of me. A razor and lipstick. Remember me sometimes, okay?









Lucas, honey. Little Boney. Adorable Duster. And Princess Kumatora.









A very nice, easy-to-miss detail is Kumatora looking solemnly down. All the people who raised her are now gone, and she's definitely not one to say how she really feels, but you can still tell despite it going unsaid.

So...now what?











END CHAPTER 7