Part 8: Episode 8: Oh My God, JC!

Last time on Let's Play Parasite Eve 2, this happened:




So now we have to deal with that.


I do like that Aya wields whatever you had equipped in scenes like this.




Jason's goofy cousin leaps off Rupert and pauses briefly in the center of the room.






Then he goes all Albert Wesker on our ass and super-jumps out the window.





: Well, that was weird.





: What the fuck, Rup?

: Man, I don't even know.




Translation: Rupert is not mortally wounded, but still too hurt to actually help you in any way. A better excuse than "Let's split up for no reason!" at least.


Sadly, that dork will be our primary antagonist for the duration. Yeah.

: I was going to ask you. Bastard jumped from the ceiling...





: I totally called it, by the way.






Aya's so disappointed to be hunting such an embarrassing foe. At least Eve had some class.




NOW it's an action movie!


Of course, Aya just waves him off cuz she gives no fucks



: Maybe that guy just now...


Well, this looks handy. If only we'd seen some sort of keyhole associated with the color red recently...


Rup needs some time to recover from the earlier buffoonery.


Scoping out the podium, we find the weirdest book I've ever encountered in a video game. It's in a church, named like a Bible verse, but it's actually just a collection of quotes from biologists and the like about parasites.

: "For the most part, parasites are unaware of their dependent role..." - "K. Fabin"

: "Parasites excel in finding suitable hosts." - "C. Sajita"

: "Parasites propagate and multiply." - "H. Seinger"

: "Parasites follow the basest of desires and thereby prosper." - "G. Roberts"

: "Parasites form colonies, yet if their host dies, they feed on each other." - "A. Morgan"

: "Parasites do not directly kill, yet eventual host death is unavoidable." - "R. Molchkov"

: "Is it not the providence of nature that parasites outnumber hosts?" - "W.A. Vasquez"

:: "Weak parasites torment weak hosts, ensuring mutual destruction." - "D.R. Tsao"


Yeah, that sure was...interesting, I guess. Still no idea why someone would write a whole book of just random quotes, or what it's doing in a chapel, but it sure was interesting! Almost.


Aya is a master botanist.


By the way, after various plot events, new batches of Hot Zones will crop up in the area. Sometimes, Hot Zones will appear in places we don't need to return to, but this time they basically lay out an easy path back to where we need to go. It doesn't really matter either way, because I'm determined to clean out every Hot Zone. Purge the NMCs


But before we can go on a full auto rampage, Aya hears a noise.


"madiga"? What, is someone playing Persona out there?


Aya sneakily creeps out the door into a neat little garden. This indoor shopping center seriously has more foliage than stores.




Hey, isn't that the SWAT guy that told us to go get eaten by save that lady?









: Well, that was some pretty good cryptic foreshadowing.



: My work here is done.


Let's go see what he was fiddling with. Probably something harmless, like mittens or a Gameboy Color or something.



: His achievements in genetics are arrogantly carved into the plate.




Aya really hates this dude for some reason.


Behind Aya's personal Voldemort is this odd blinking light. Also, apparently Firefox spell check recognizes Voldemort as a word. Neat!


Let's take a look at that blinking light...






On the upside, this means no bomb defusing puzzle!


Naturally, you can examine it a second time.

: I don't know how to defuse it...


This is the door our mysterious SWAT guy escaped through. We can't follow him, so we'll just have to go find Rupert and get the fuck outta Dodge.


By the way, do you see that tiny black thing at Aya's feet? I hope you do, because that's a very special item!


For the time being, and well into Disc 2, this Black Card is completely useless. We don't know where it came from or what it does, but trust me, if you forget it here, you will be kicking yourself later.


XX, eh?


Here's that Red Key from earlier, by the way. You can tell a bad guy was carrying it because it has a skull keychain.


Let's bounce before this whole place goes up in flames.


Wha?


Caterpies!


Luckily, guns are super effective against Grass Types. These little dudes can lunge at you, and I think they can poison you on occasion. But that's about it. Dodging them can be tricky in this narrow path, but not a big deal.




Next time, we'll talk about the wonders of having magic powers.










: Alright, just the one today? Let's get it over with. What's this? I don't need a script for this. Now be a sweetheart and get me a cigarette.


: Haha, I remember these guys. Fuckin' embarrassing. Y'know, at least Eve knew what she was up against. If she sent a bug at me, she had the decency to make it ten feet tall and covered in spikes and shit! These guys? They're goddamn caterpillars! The fuck they gonna do? I don't want to spoil anything for you, but later on, we get some answers for the weird horse-faced women and the fat guys. But the rats and moths and these things? No explanation. They're just there because back in the PS1 days, there was a law that you couldn't have a video game without at least one bug or rodent. True story.