Part 39: 2 Days Left: Stride
Two Days Left: Stride
: The scramble!? Another day has passed?
: Aww... HELL no! This can't be happenin', man! What day is it?: Hey, calm down!
Beat is a little disturbed by this.
: Hey, we don't have time for nervous breakdowns!
: Yo, I'm only human! If the Iron Maiden was tellin' the truth, today's the day I get ghost for real, man!
: ...We still have to try.: Yeah?: Let's go see Mr. Hanekoma.
: Where-- Oh! Duh! Cat Street.: We haven't looked around there yet.
: Aight, sweet! Ironface is gonna be there. : I feel it, yo! I ain't goin' without a fight! C'mon!
: find out for sure he's not the Composer. But how do I ask him THAT?
Yeah, let's go and not do what we're supposed to and explo-
Oh fuck off!
Oh god, it's the top tier of Shrew. The bombs they place are the leading cause of death on Ultimate. I hate these shrews.
All sorts of NPCs from earlier in the game have been affected.
And... Shadow Ramen is open again?
: Oh! I know you. You ate here a while back.: Yeah... sort of? He remembers me?: Circumstances forced me to close shop for a while. But today we reopen for business! Why not eat before you go?: Woah! This guy is a chameleon...
Shadow Ramen is only open if you refuse to play Reaper Creeper in W3D3. The only item currently is this ramen, which requires a full day's bytes but gives a ton of HP. Still worse than Royal Jelly or the Tatsumi Burger. Still, it's the only thing to buy for friendship with Makoto.
Eh, I'll buy it from Mind & Body Foods for yen if I need it.
Oh, hey there!
Yeah, there's food that even boosts drop rate.
Too bad it requires a whole Dark Matter, huh?
For Shadow Matter. Bleh.
How do you have that?
...And that?
Buying 9 of the Shadow Steak Ramen puts the friendship level at 90%. I'll have to wait for tomorrow, have Beat eat one, then buy the tenth.
So what happens then?
Makoto flips out.
He's a little concerned Neku is here for reasons other than ramen.
That does not stop me from confirming his suspicions.
Very few people haven't been caught by the... whatever's going around, and taboo noise are everywhere. What's happening to Shibuya?
No time for that, there are drakes! And the top tier of Corehog!
A 65% efficiency psyche, it hits multiple times against stationary foes.
Sure it's stronger than Lolita Skull, and inflicts Defense Break, but it's 25% efficiency as opposed to Lolita Skull's 40%. Worth it?
Fuck no, it's Force Rounds.
The best Stellar Flurry pin! That's not saying much. Despite having one more attack than Lolita Emblem its 30% efficiency prevents that from translating into more damage. Funny, huh?
Thunderbolt is still bugged, so it still sucks.
Strongest Apport C pin, and it's not half bad if you can draw circles anywhere near reliably. I can't.
Attack and Defense Breaks can be dangerous, especially Defense Break deep into a chain. It's the same as Bear Leisure, but Lapin Angelique may be more useful than Sheep Heavenly.
Still Thunderbolt. Still bad.
I have never used this pin to do anything, I guess I just suck at it. 42% efficiency prevents it from ever amounting to much.
From 2-step Boomers, this pin has the most uses of any Cure Drink pin at 5. You'll actually see me use it.
Thanx is strictly worse that Monkey Leisure in every case but brand, however.
This triggers when scanning but not starting a battle.
: Yo, this is creepy... Everybody's tuned into the same channel!: Shibuya's... solidifying? But this town's supposed to be about conflict. I know that now. I was afraid to clash, afraid to change. I didn't want to hear it. But Mr. H woke me up... and this is not Shibuya!
: Yo! You aight?: Huh? ...Yeah.: We gotta move!
Unreal, bro...
Why yes ma'am I am a 16 year old boy and I would like this $3878.09 dress.
Thanks!!
The two Pegaso stores in the Dept. Store require millions of yen to get to max friendship. I will have so many watches and bags by the end of it all.
Oh N-Neku-chan...
Sucks to be a bad Pegaso pin, huh?
The hauls from fights aren't bad at all. Noise pins sell for a lot.
I kinda like Splash Core even though it's utterly mediocre. No idea why.
Pegaso's only non-negative psyche is in the Knights' psychokinesis S.
Flinging an SUV with this would lead to tons of damage.
Yes, I have a favorite brand. Why do you ask?
The fights are huge and full of all sorts noise. Given all these guys give 4-6 PP, chains could lead to hundreds or even thousands of PP! Not to mention all the swag.
At least they'll never argue again...
I guess, I like having tons of Puck Power.
Why not?
Uh, sorry man but I'm here for the pants that the main NP store won't sell.
Did I mention I got in a rematch with this guy? Who needs Joshua suddenly developing lasers when I got Lightning Rooks!
: Whoever it was headed for Cat Street.: Then it musta been the H-Man. ...Returnin' to his lair!: Look, stop imagining things. It's pointless. Once we talk to him, this will all clear right up.: Aight, man. But le's hurry.
I am going to eat people unless they stop selling things that need shadow matter.
I guess the cocktail gown broke is flow.
: Who redecorated? This place is trashed, yo. You think Coffee Man did this?: Why would he wreck his own shop? Maybe he was attacked.
: Man, I don't get none a' this!: This place is deserted...: I'm so sick a' this! I mean, what's goin' on, yo?: The wall-breaker was after Mr. H.: Ironface? You think she smashed it up?: No. She said she would stay in one place all week. If she was here, she couldn't have smashed those other walls.: Who, then?
: ...Of course! The camera!:What, that thing you used yesterday? What is it?
:...Two days ago, the Miyashita Park wall was still up. Which means whatever happened here took place-: Yo, lemme snap somethin'!
: Huh? Hey-- Wait, don't-- STOP!
: ...The camera only works three times a day.: Huh? Wait, so that means--: Three pictures a day.: Bwaaah! Say somethin' sooner, man!: Yeah, 'cause I had all that time to react.: Maaan... I didn't get nothin'. What a waste of- : WHOA! Yo, Neku, check it!
: What's he doin'? Hidin' somethin'?: Let's check over there.
: I ain't never seen this one before, man.: Well, we've already checked everywhere... except one place!
: She picked a wall we couldn't break! I knew she was sneaky, yo!
: "Staying alive in this Shibuya boils down to one simple trick: Enjoy the moment with all your might... whether it's gloomy, whether it's bright!" ...Well, it's pretty damn gloomy right now. Mr. H....: Yo, he left us the letter an' keypin for a reason. He wants us to go to the River, huh?: ......: Aight, then! Hoooooo! What are we waitin' for? Le's find Ironface, rescue Rhyme, and knock the Composer flat!: Go to the River? It's more than that. Why does Mr. H even have the key? What does he want me to do with it? Is he sending me to the River... or calling me there?
Well, let's trek back to the highway underpass.
I mean it's not like anything strange has happened or appeared.
: The hell is that heap of garbage!?
I stand corrected.
First, I get Pegaso to the top of brand rankings, with D+B up there.
Next, I put on this confused mess of a deck.
: What's this junk doing back-
: You hollow-skulled hectopascal!
: Hecto-whatcha-huh? What language is this guy speakin'?: You're ALIVE?
: Zetta duh! I've been calculating this from square one. That attack I used to bake your partner, I used for a reason.: Your... your body!: Hmph, this? This is my latest masterpiece.
: Punk's turned himself Taboo, yo!: The attack I used erased me, yes...: But you're back...: But I was refactored, through the refinery sigil, into...this! This body, this power... all through the magic of Taboo psycho-animation!: So YOU made those burn marks.: And now, this number-cruncher is back... 
: You gotta be jokin'! That's why you Tabooed yourself up? Have some sense, yo...: Sense is garbage! CRUNCH! I'll add it to the heap! All that matters is MY beauty. Being reborn from the sigil was part of my equation. This..."Tabooing myself up" was unexpected. ...But it works. I'll make an imposing new Composer!: Wait... You went to WildKat!: Yeah. That set was empty, though. Rrgh... Where'd he run off to? You know, don't you! Tell me!: We have no idea!: In that case... who needs you? Attention, 000s! It's time for you to die 4 a cause...
Boss Battle: Taboo Minamimoto5926 HP, Taboo defenses, incredible damage, and teleports a lot. The game lets you lose this battle and still progress.
I win on Hard while down 50 levels. Why on Hard?
Why, the Dark Matter of course.
: I'd say that's about enough calibration... This time, Composer... You fail!: Yo, where you goin'!? C'mon, man, we gotta go after him! What if he beats us there?: Don't worry. He doesn't know where "there" is.
: Aight, then. But man... That punk was TOUGH.: Well, we better deal. He said his power rivals the Composer's. What does that tell you about the Composer?: Yo, that's nuts. ...You really think he's that tough? We better be able to win, yo.: You gonna give up if we can't?: Hells no! I'm goin'..
: I better be ready for what I find.