Part 83: The Spiral King, Enraged

Actually, Lordgenome and Gaioh are quite cordial - the Spiral King tells Gaioh he can "consider me a comrade of sorts." You see, Lordgenome knows of Gaioh, or at least, has heard of him. However, Gaioh turns down his offer to just explain everything directly. His memories are his own, and he'd really like to get them back himself. He just came to see if talking to Lordgenome could unlock some.
And he is beginning to remember, dimly, but he just can't reach them. Lordgenome gives him a clue: to go to the Moon. Gaioh says he's already spoken to the WILL up there (whoops, that's the other route), but no, says Lordgenome. "The other moon. There, you'll find the key to your past... though to be honest, I hope you never remember."
Gaioh growls, but he's not prepared to get his answers from Lordgenome by force. He wants to see Lordgenome fight first. Lordgenome warns him that if he wins, Gaioh will never get his memories back. "If you do, then we can have a round," chuckles Gaioh. "Nothing about my memories. Just for me."
But for Lordgenome, Gaioh's thirst for battle is the biggest sign of all that his memories are in his grasp. "Then I must destroy the spiral man. To defend this world... and this universe."

Chapter 44: The Spiral King, Enraged
(Dark Continent route)

Oh, just who I wanted to see.

Simon is still leading the charge; the capitol, Teppelin, is literally in sight. They just have to get through the final line of defense, but this is going to be the hardest part. Especially with not only Timp, claiming he always sees his contracts through to the end...

But Viral, who has been given a new, more powerful body that needs no rest. "I am more than beastman! And I'll take you to your grave, Simon!"
We've certainly got all the actors here for a good final battle...

The pattern here is the usual boss pattern: defeat Enkidudu (really?) to win, defeat him last for the SR Point. Or so it seems - I'm going to knock down Enkidudu pretty quickly, because despite what Viral may think, he doesn't end the map.

Making the charge - Simon and the Getter team taking the lead, of course.





Timp is kind of pathetic!





Viral actually puts up a fight! He's the rival and it's his best attack so here's a video.

I swear I upgraded these guys. Dammit, Timp.


Just gonna finish him. And no, Jiron literally has nothing to say to him before he beats the hell out of him.

He generously drops a Cartridge (?) and a lump of 30,000 Gs. Timp flees - "I'm used to it at this point," grumbles Jiron. Wonder what douchebags he'll hook up with by the next time we see him!




Viral is still a bit more of a challenge.

Banjou joins the ranks of pilots who can throw Valor around. I think we already had Simon, Kouji, Ryoma, Crowe, and Akagi (Soul).

Oh, wait, I can look it up. Yeah, we have five people capable of using Valor. It's an important Spirit!






Wow, Viral was pretty annoying.

He drops a Muscle Cylinder though. Wonder where he got that.

Oh, and Rossiu learns Valor.
This is not going to be healthy.



















Well, that looks like what Gurren-Lagann does! Kinon says the same thing: Lordgenome is emitting exactly the same readings the Gurren-Lagann does!

There's another Gurren-Lagann over there!
Unfazed, Nia demands to know why Lordgenome kills all humans on the surface. Lordgenome just laughs: "The danger of ignorance!"
He's laughing at us as well, he says. "You may believe you are on the side of right, but I am defending this planet. I, Lordgenome, am the true protector of humanity."
It sounds like bullshit, but Roger says he's completely convinced of what he's saying. Lordgenome continues: the only hope for humanity's survival is to live under his guidance. If our aim is to break down that structure, then for him to kill the GOONZ would be a mercy to humanity.
No one cares. We'll stop him by force! Again Lordgenome looks grim: we don't even know that the Spiral Power welling up within us will lead to the world's destruction. "But you are not the only ones who wield the Power of Spiral. I will show you its true might... through the Rasengann!"

It looks like Gaioh sent him a parting gift, too - though one he didn't ask for, by the sounds of it. Lordgenome refuses to tell us what he knows about Gaioh, but murmurs: "There was once a man who fought as you fight. He, too, didn't realize that his actions were dooming humanity."

Lordgenome is the actual endpoint of this chapter, so in this case, we are going to have to take out every enemy and then finish off the Rasengann. And that does include the Dinodamons.
I hate Dinodamons.
And because this is a very special arc boss...





Rasengann (Lordgenome)
Skills
Spiral Power L5
Perfection
Guard
Morale
Double Actions
Break Will Limit
Spirits
Mercy
Accel
Sense
Fury
Drive
Soul
Traits
HP Regen (M)
EN Regen (L)
Full Block
Spiral Drive
S-Adapter
Weapons
Full Drillize (20 EN, 120 Will, MAP, size)
Spinning Strikes (5 EN, Will down, size)
Ultimate Art: Clear Mind Spiral Spin (10 EN, 110 Will, Barrier, size)
Ace Bonus: Will limit +30.
Hoo fucking boy.
He has pretty much every awful boss skill except Prevail, his 20% HP regen is really 30% once his Spiral Drive kicks in, he can drain Will, and he has an Ace Bonus. Late game bosses gain Ace Bonuses on Hard - on lower difficulties, they begin with just a few kills shy. Lordgenome dares to have exactly the same bonus as Kamina did!
Plus he has nearly 100,000 HP, so the regeneration is measured in twenty or thirty thousands.
Oh, and of course, the S-Adapter gives him S ranks in all terrains with all weapons.
It's gonna be a bit of a fight.

At this stage, it might be a bit of a fight taking down all those Ganmen in time to crush those Dinodamons and Lordgenome, but it's only turn 2. I've got time.

Zero just learned another incredibly important late game Spirit: Panic, which cuts the accuracy of all enemies in half for the entire round. I might have to start using it right away.

Anyway, that's two Cannon Gannons down to Photon Beam. Mazin go!

How good is Lordgenome? He can't miss Gurren-Lagann when it's evading.
















...that was defending.


And then he does it again.

I really hate Dinodamons.


All of GOONZ spends all of turn 3 dealing with them. Forget it.

Rossiu can help by using Alert, which combined with his Ace Bonus free Invincible, buffers Gurren-Lagann against two attacks. Which is good. Because Lordgenome has two attacks.

Should probably heal up to be safe though.

And draw Lordgenome back into GOONZ' formation (this will open me up to his MAP attack, but it'll help with the pile-on).

Or I guess he could just go after Crowe!
Jerk.











Oh, come on.


Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Okay, fine. Let's do this thing.

Panic is, of course, expensive, but now's as good a time as any to use it.

















This might be easier than previously thought. Not less dangerous, but not as long.






















Thank god for Alert.




























































































Lordgenome's not quite dead yet, which is fine. Honestly, I could have taken him down easily (with different ordering of attacks, to surround him faster, and use of Analyze, that's several thousand extra damage right there). There's a turn left, I have to knock out some Ganmen first anyway, and there are a few more conversations to have, too.

The downside, of course, is that he's likely to use is MAP attack, and it's likely to take down a few units. Also, he'll gain back another 30k or so HP, but that's actually fairly easy to deal with if I can keep a few super robots on their feet.


Yeah, stuff like this.







At least Roger's alive.
(And that was with Panic on him, of course. His accuracy was halved and he hit every target.)
G-good enemy turn?





















Okay, so, time for some housekeeping.

Finish those Ganmen...

Refill the boat...



Weaken the Spiral King a bit, of course.

And set up Courage for the finish!


WHEW. He drops his S-Adapter and a mountain of experience. (Yes, I had to post that move again.)

As, you know, always, Lordgenome has a bit of fight left him him. He declares that he is invincible and immortal and thus cannot be defeated! Simon refuses to give up, but the Spiral King is stronger, and Gurren-Lagann is drained just withstanding the assault...









































Goodbye, Lordgenome. And with all the beastmen commanders dead, the war is over. Nia allows herself a moment of grieving, but she knows that all of us have to look to humanity's future. The world isn't safe yet, but we can continue to fight.

And the Nirvash is expensive. Or would be, but for Negotiator.

First up on the list, the Frontier's discovered another Vajra hive. A hive sounds like serious trouble - mere clusters of them were bad enough - so Ohtsuka would like us to rendezvous with the Quarter and the Ptolemaios up in space. We'll get there through the base in Japan, he says, but Leeron figures s/he (?) can fix up the Great Gurren and its complement to be spaceworthy with a little time. They'll still have to do it at the Japan base, so that's where we're headed for now. The Great Gurren Gang can't believe they're really going past the sky, but hey, says Dayakka, Simon's drill really is going to take them straight through the heavens. Leeron is the only one worried about Lordgenome's last words, though. Once it's all over, s/he'll have to go through the ruins of Teppelin in search of a clue.

Ranka's paying a visit to Sheryl in San Fran, but her time off is getting increasingly precious; Eida's taking a break, and she, Ranka, is getting flooded with offers as a result. She asks how Sheryl's feeling, and Sheryl's sure she can make it to the show by next week.
Ranka's been invited to the show as wel, by Grace, who also asked her to see her personally for something important. Sheryl guesses that Grace is trying to take her for herself. See, Grace and Sheryl came to the Frontier on tour from the Galaxy, but since it was just the two of them that got warped, Grace may well intend to start up her own operation. Ranka's free to refuse the offer, of course, but Sheryl doesn't want to talk about that right now. She'd be glad if Ranka could come to the show, though!

Then Ribbons walks in and knocks out Ranka. He quickly does the same to Sheryl, quipping that he hates stubborn women.

He accuses Grace of having been able to carry this out herself. She doesn't deny it, but says she needed this to look like a break-in. That doesn't tell him why she asked for Ribbons by name.
Grace says she can't believe a cute, smart boy like Ribbons is working for a man like Alejandro; Ribbons says he owes the other man. Grace knows what a man he is; it was her who introduced him to the President's aide. She's been a big help to his master, and that's why he's helping her in return.
His next task is to get the girl to point XY 2039 - near that Vajra hive. Not to kill them, oh no - "they're my precious princesses." Quite the opposite - she's sending them with a guard. Though if she's right, the Vajra won't kill them - "one of them, at least. The other is an imitation."
It's not time for her to reveal what that means - not to him or us. "When the world is in your grasp," though, she smirks.

Gaioh doesn't seem to be coming back, and Carlos is curious about Cheval's burning loyalty to a man who destroyed his world. And the Archsabres, too, for all they're worth, given Margie's current state.
"Dame Marguerite," Cheval growls. Ooh, Carlos didn't expect him to take her side. Quite a change from his ruthless lectures, isn't it?

Shioni sends him away, still growling like a dog, on her authority as the acting commander of the Imperium in Gaioh's and Ime's absence. Then she rounds on Carlos and orders him to fucking bow in penance or she'll execute him. "The Imperium no longer needs you."

That was the Dark Continent! Next, we'll double back and spend a few chapters in space, fighting Zuul - and the dark WILL on the Moon.
I sure hope I can finish this before Z3 comes out!