EB trilogy summaries: Mother 3, part 1/2
Feb. 14th, 2013 11:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dmxratedSet long after the events of Earthbound, Mother 3 takes place in the initially rural farming community of Tazmily Village, in a remote place called the Nowhere Islands, the only place left on Earth that is able to sustain life after the rest of the world was ruined by humanity itself. In a lot of ways, it is nothing like either of its prequels.
That point that Zerodius inferred about Earthbound? It would truly apply to this game. It has a lot more melancholy to them, and also shows much more of the bad guys' direct activities. On the flip side, while the first two games could be considered straightforward enough (items, enemies, sideline stuff, and contrived coincidences aside), there are things that play a direct role in the more lighthearted parts of the story that could not possibly be written into anything down-to-earth, such as a coffee table that acts like a horse, a man tall enough to ring a town bell without climbing up, Thomas's comical way of running around frantically, a refrigerator on top of a snowcapped mountain, male mermaids who help you breathe underwater by mouth-to-mouth contact, etc.
Just the other day, I have seen official novel adaptations of Mother 1 and 2, which, while written by someone other than Shigesato Itoi, and also darker and edgier than, do retain the same quirky humor that the games were known for. Unfortunately, I'm not so sure if that's something I'll be able to quite pull off with Starbound. Humor is neither my specialty nor Chelle's. Even though Jake does not like Lucky Star, he has written a comical adaptation of Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal, titled Johto: The Funne Version!!!, and said that he'd try, though even he can't make any promises.
That said, Starbound is most likely going to originate as something mostly straightforward, just like what Earthbound 199X is to Earthbound. If a game adaptation even is feasable enough after I complete the fic, I might consider hiring people to work on humor.
Prologue
While visiting his grandfather Alec's farm with his mother, Hinawa, and twin brother, Claus, Lucas is still asleep one morning as Claus knocks repeatedly on the bedroom door and begging him to wake up so they can play with the Dragos. He finally awakens, and heads downstairs to greet Hinawa.
After getting changed, Lucas heads outside to where Claus and the Dragos are pretend-fighting. He gets in on the fun, and so does a Mole Cricket who notices what they're doing.
Hinawa soon arrives to let the boys know that it's time to have lunch. They return to Alec's house and eat, before getting ready to return home.
Before leaving, Hinawa writes a letter to her husband, Flint, to be delivered by a carrier pigeon:
Dear Flint,
Just like you said they would, the children have been running around the mountains and fields tirelessly since the moment we arrived.
Claus is daring and full of energy as ever, while Lucas is still a bit coddled. But neither one seems tired of playing at all.
My father seems so sad to say goodbye to his grandchildren after seeing them for the first time in so long, but we should be home by this evening.
I had forgotten how nice and refreshing the mountain air is. You're always covered in the smell of sheep back in Tazmily Village, so I really wish you could have been here to take in this air.
The next time we visit, let's ask one of our neighbors to tend the sheep so we can all come up here as a family.
Claus, Lucas, and I were always thinking about you. When we get home this evening, I'll start cooking some of your favorite omelets* right away.
With love, your dearest Hinawa.
(*Actually, the food in question is whatever you enter for it before the game begins. Omelets, though, are the first "Don't care" choice.)
Just after the bird takes off, a mysterious object is heard flying just over the farm, playing some kind of melody.
-----
That night, the peaceful quiet in Sunshine Forest is broken by explosions. Deep within, a man steps outside his house to see what's going on. His son follows suit, but the man orders him back inside. Animals panic and run for their lives as two men in pig suits toss a pink bomb, which sets its surroundings on fire. And down in Tazmily, villagers emerge from their homes and businesses, wondering what's going on.
Chapter 1: Night of the Funeral
Thomas runs frantically through Tazmily Village to Flint's house, sounding off his siren, to alert him about the forest fire. Frantically, he knocks on the door, and even tries to open it outright, only for the knob to come off. Flint answers the door just then, and the two of them set off to investigate.
Along the way, the two of them stop to say a few prayers at the local shrine, where the name of the player is specified.
Along the way, the two of them find a man named Bronson lying on the ground, unable to get up after having breathed in too much smoke. He tells them to go save Lighter and Fuel further up north.
Not long afterwards, they spot a Pigmask soldier opening some kind of electronic box, which releases three odd bugs into the air. Further along the path still, they spot Lighter lying on the ground, who tells them that he tried to take the bugs on himself, but they just kept coming. Flint notices one of the insects also lying on the ground from the corner of his eye. Lighter tells them that whatever they are, they're contributing to the forest fire, but more importantly, that his son Fuel is still in his cabin. Thomas stays back to look after Lighter, and Flint picks up a piece of lumber that Lighter was previously wielding before being attacked by three Fireflies.
Upon reaching the cabin, Flint hears Fuel's plea for help, and rushes in, having to do battle with a bug-winged mouse before being able to proceed upstairs. Together, Flint and Fuel make haste out of the cabin, just before it collapses. They head back out of the forest, to find some villagers gathered around an injured Lighter. Some dialogue ensues, and then it begins to rain and the villagers bring Lighter to Yado Inn to continue healing up.
Some dialogue ensues in the room where Lighter continues to rest, and then Flint heads outside and is met by a man named Isaac. Isaac tells him that he caught sight of Hinawa up north, and then heard roars, supposedly from Dragos, followed by screams from presumably Hinawa and the kids. He then asks if they're okay, and Flint goes home to see if they made it back safely. He finds the carrier pigeon that Hinawa sent out earlier, and reads the letter it brought.
-----
Flint continues inside his house reading the letter over. Isaac and Fuel come inside, and offer to get the villagers to help search for them, since it's raining and they're still not back by that point. The three of them head outside, and Boney, the family dog, asks to come with Flint as well.
Somewhere along the way, a path is blocked by two trees that were snapped in half. A few villagers stand in shock and awe at such a sight, knowing that whatever caused it wasn't human, and one of them states that Hinawa and the kids might actually be stuck out there because of the situation.
Everyone then takes another path to go find them, but even it turns out to be a dead end near an earthen wall. Judging from the claw marks leading up, Jonel, one of the villagers, does infer that a Drago might have climbed its way up, but wonders why such peaceful creatures would leave such marks.
Flint turns back, but then Boney runs up to the wall and claws at it. He then turns back to Flint, and then turns around and howls towards the top of the wall. Bateau, another villager, then notices a scrap of Hinawa's dress caught on a leafless immature tree.
An old man named Wess arrives at the scene, but Jonel tells him that there's nothing he can do to help. Even though it is true that he himself can't do anything, he does offer to get his son, Duster, to help out, and gives Boney his scent in order to go find him back at Tazmily Village. Boney then runs all the way back through Sunshine Forest, through Tazmily Village, to find Duster asleep in the basement of his house. He then drags him back into the forest, and it's only partway through that he finally awakens and follows Boney back to the canyon.
As it turns out, Duster is a thief who had been training since childhood for situations like this and now has a chance to use them for real for the very first time. He whips out something called Wall Staples, in order to scale the cliff before them.
The rain stops after Duster makes it to the top. Flint and Boney climb the rungs that Duster pinned into the wall, and Flint claims the scrap of cloth caught in the tree.
Further down the path, the three of them come across several Pigmasks operating some kind of a machine, which then activates a cyborgified caribou resting on its pad. They battle the caribou, and then walk up to the Pigmasks, who then make a run for it. They then notice a notebook with a piggy-nose symbol lying on the ground, in which they read the intentions of whoever wrote in it, dubbed the "Fascinating Chimera Project".
The trio then pursue the Pigmasks, but are too late as they take off inside an odd aircraft with a piggy-nose-like door.
After they return to the forest, Jonel greets them, saying that he and the others have found Lucas and Claus, who apparently had fallen into a river and washed downstream. The fallen trees now out of the way, Flint and Duster head to a campfire where the kids are drying up while Jonel looks after Boney.
Bronson returns while everyone's gathered around the fire, to bring him a Drago fang that he found. Unfortunately, said fang turns out to have been retrieved from... Hinawa's chest. Flint goes berserk upon hearing that his wife is dead, picks up a stick from the fire, and beats the fire out before attacking everyone around him with it until Lighter knocks him out with his piece of lumber.
While unconscious, Flint has a flashback of the time that he said his farewell to Hinawa and the kids as they set off to Alec's house.
-----
By the following morning, Flint lies in jail. Bronson tells him among other things that he has the honor of being the first person ever locked up in Tazmily's prison. He then tells him to drop by his house to pick up the Drago Fang once he escapes, and then leaves.
Claus enters shortly afterwards, and gives Flint an apple. Upon eating it, it turns out that a nail file had been inside, which he then uses to saw the rusted cell lock open.
Just outside, Duster tells Flint that Hinawa's burial ended without incident, and offers him consolation. He mentions that Lucas has been crying at her grave ever since, and then offers to help him out if there's anything he can do for him.
Flint proceeds to Hinawa's grave to the northeast, where many of the villagers are gathered. Directly in front of the tombstone sits Lucas, with Alec just next to him. During an exchange between the three of them, Alec asks if Flint might have seen where Claus had gone, since he said he'd come back to the grave but never did. He then asks Lucas, who denies him having explained his intentions involving the Dragos. Alec then asks Lucas why he didn't stop Claus from going after the Drago, and he explains that he wanted to come along as well, but Claus insisted on going alone. Lucas then runs off in tears after being called out for just letting him go, but then Alec realizes that maybe he was a little too harsh on him, before advising Flint to gear up and hurry back to his place in the mountains to save Claus. Flint then heads to Bronson's house for the Drago fang, the only thing that can pierce a Drago's hide, and then sets foot for Mt. Oriander, where Alec and the Dragos live.
Alec speaks to Flint once he arrives at his house, and the two of them follow a series of Arrow Lizards to some friends of his, known as the Magypsies. Neither human nor beast, neither male nor female, they have been living for a very long time far away from civilization.
The two of them reach a conch-shaped hut sitting on a pond, with some stepping stones leading to the front door. Inside, all seven of them except one are gathered, and one of them, Ionia, introduces all of them to Flint. Flint then asks Aeolia, the leader, if they had seen Claus, and s/he replies that he took off spouting something about avenging his mother, and that s/he was feeling generous enough to give him a potent PK power (Love). Alec then rebukes him/her that by not stopping him, something bad might happen to him. Two of the other Magypsies, Mixolydia and Phrygia, snark about how humans worry so much about such short lives as they have compared to them, before Doria reigns them back in for such contempt as theirs. Alec then asks where Claus went, and Aeolia tells them that he went to the Drago Plateau.
Behind the house, Flint and Alec continue their pursuit of Claus into a cave leading to the Drago Plateau. After a narrow, winding path through the caves, they eventually climb a few vines out and onto the top of the plateau, just across a gap from where the Pigmasks' aircraft had previously taken off. They enter another, much smaller cave, inside which they find several more Pigmasks with a joystick and a laptop computer. The Pigmasks flee through the opposite exit of the cave, and take off in another aircraft.
Further up north, they spot a baby Drago with one of Claus' shoes. It roars at them the best it can, and then hops away.
Further along the way still, they spot Claus' other shoe near a rock formation. Flint examines it, and Alec shouts out for Claus. Just then, some loud footsteps can be heard as a fully-grown, cyborgified Drago emerges from behind the rock formation. Flint and Alec battle it, and all three of them are eventually KO'ed. Flint is the first one back up, followed by the Mecha Drago, and finally, Alec. The Mecha Drago trembles, and then collapses again. Flint pulls out the Drago Fang, but then the baby Drago comes to its parent's aid. Alec warns Flint not to kill it, as he will only put the baby through exactly what Lucas and Claus experienced.
Chapter 2: Thief Adventure
That night, Wess gives Duster his assignment: To infiltrate Osohe Castle to the north and steal a valuable artifact. He refuses to explain what exactly he's to look for, other than that it's... shiny. He then orders Duster to collect five more tools in the basement, before setting off on his mission.
Passing through Tazmily Square, Duster runs into a man in Saudi garb, accompanied by a monkey. The man apologizes for not paying attention, and continues on his way. The monkey then looks at Duster, and then drags its feet while following the Arab.
Just outside the square, he then notices a short, rotund man named Butch, looking at a burlap sack of some sort. Butch then notices Duster, yanks the bag up off the ground, and looks left and right, before speaking to him and letting him in on a secret: Inside the bag is something called "money", which he traded some pigs for with the aforementioned Arab. As it turns out, the people of Tazmily Village had no concept of money to this point.
Butch then leads Duster to the well in the middle of the square, and places the bag inside, believing that no one will know what it is and steal it from there, before leaving.
Just as he leaves town, Duster notices a helicopter shaped like a pig flying over Osohe Castle while playing the Pigmask March. The aircraft drops a few unidentified objects along its way.
Upon reaching the graveyard in front of Osohe Castle, three zombies emerge from the ground and surround Duster. The thief backs away, only for a fourth zombie to rise from behind him. He has no choice but to fight them.
And finally, upon reaching the castle, it turns out that the drawbridge is up. Duster backtracks and enters the gravedigger Nippolyte's shack. He discovers a secret passage behind a bookcase, and proceeds through.
The passage leads to the actual front yard of the castle. The front gate is locked, so Duster instead scales the wall with his wall staples, before proceeding inside through a secondary entrance.
Inside the castle are ghosts, spiders, and other creepy creatures. In one chamber, Duster trades rotten eclairs that he loots from defeated ghosts for various things, including a red snake that acts as a grappling hook.
Somewhere inside the castle, ghosts are having a party, and one of them offers Duster a rotten eclair. Duster then checks the kitchen, but isn't able to do anything there besides fight a few man-sized cockroaches and some living strawberry jelly. Backtracking a little, he applies some wall staples, and scales his way to a hallway above, where he gets to put the Rope Snake to use to cross a small gap as it gets a jawhold on a wall candle.
At a stairwell further along the way, Duster catches sight of a red-haired girl who drops in at the top, dropping something as she runs forward. Said object turns out to be a pendant of sorts.
Eventually, Duster comes across a ghost resembling Ludwig von Beethoven, who is conducting a song called Family Matters, 2nd Movement by having everything in the room move around. A battle ensues between Duster and Mr. Passion, and the former prevails and proceeds into the next room.
Inside is a golden-brown, shining, egg-shaped artifact. This is exactly what Duster was sent to look for!
Or is it?
Duster takes the prize, and heads all the way back down via a secret passage in the fireplace leading to the chamber adjacent to the lobby. He opens the gate, and exits, heading back home.
Outside, the sun is just rising. Duster talks to Nippolyte, the gravedigger, who then gives him the key to the drawbridge. Duster lowers the bridge, and continues his way back home.
Back at home, Duster shows Wess the Noble Spitoon that he claimed inside the castle. Wess at first sounds like he's about to praise him, but then tells him that he's epically more stupid than he ever thought, criticizing him for not being able to determine the value of a given treasure while shattering the artifact. Duster then shows him the pendant that he found from the red-haired girl, and Wess deduces that said pendant belonged to the castle's princess. Wess then accompanies Duster back to the castle.
As they return to the castle, they notice two tanks and a unit of seven Pigmasks cross the drawbridge. Heading further towards the castle, it turns out that Nippolyte had taken some kind of beating from the invading Pigmask unit.
As Duster and Wess step inside the castle, two Pigmasks electrically activate some sort of walking clay figure, which then proceeds to fight them. Upon defeat, the Pigmasks try to get the Clayman back on its feet, but fail, and give it a kick of frustration before leaving.
The two thieves eventually reach the chamber in which Duster got the Noble Spitoon. Wess notices something that Duster previously hadn't: A face-like entrance through the wall, and a mural on each side of it that depicts some kind of dance. The dance in question, as Wess performs it while asking Duster to look away, is... much faster and more comical than one would expect for such a purpose as opening the gate before them.
The mouth opens. Wess then criticizes Duster for not remembering to use it when he's stuck, after having taught it to him countless times.
Across the next chamber is a balcony, from which the courtyard is viewable. Some kind of metal, shining stake with three prongs can be seen in the distance.
In the bottom of the adjacent stairwell, Duster and Wess just barely dodge a shot of PK Freeze from the princess. Wess greets her and tells her how meeting her again brings back old memories. The girl then tells him that she got caught in some kind of trap, and was about to cut her foot off rather than let herself die. Wess undoes the trap and expresses relief that she's alright. She then notices her pendant on Duster, and claims it back. Wess then introduces him to her, and she introduces herself as Kumatora.
The three of them proceed, and eventually reach the chamber where the real treasure lies. Known as the Hummingbird Egg, or the Egg of Light, even Wess knows nothing about it, only that it's a ball of secrets within secrets inside even more secrets. Some discussion ensues between Wess and Kumatora about it, until the Pigmasks catch up and try to barge their way into the chamber with one of their Claymen. Kumatora then picks the egg up, lest the bad guys get their hands on it, and then Wess warns her too late that it was actually rigged. The next thing they know, all three of them fall down a trap door, down a shaft, and into a flooded catacomb, before ending up battling a giant sea serpent. They defeat the Osohe Snake, and then a door opens up and lets the water up.
Wess and Kumatora end up washed ashore back in Tazmily Village as the villagers gather in the square. Fuel notices them, and then gets Lighter to help bring them to Wess and Duster's house to recover. After Kumatora and Wess are both awake, Fuel tells them how lucky they are that Lighter was with him, or else he would've pretended not to notice. Wess asks Lighter if he's seen Duster anywhere, but he tells them it was only the two of them. Wess then says that Duster is in serious trouble once he finds him, and Lighter advises them to continue resting. Fuel and Lighter leave, and Kumatora decides that she and Wess should go out and look for Duster together.
Butch catches sight of the two as they arrive in Tazmily Square, and asks Wess where Duster is, explaining that he's the only person he told him about his money, which is now gone. Two women ask him where he put it in the first place and what money even is while Flint and Boney arrive at the scene. He tells the women to shut up, and then explains that Wess and Duster are both thieves, and the only reason they never stole anything was because there never was anything valuable enough to steal. Kumatora then gets in his face to talk back, and he backs away and uses someone else as a human shield, before asking if she's a friend of the thieves and orders her not to use violence. Flint then greets Wess, and then suggests that everyone calm down if they're to solve anything. He assures Wess that he and his fellow villagers believe he has done nothing wrong, and suggests they wait for Duster to return.
Chapter 3: The Suspicious Peddler
In Death Desert all the way to the east, a Pigmask ship lands, and some Pigmask soldiers emerge, along with two monkeys in their clutches. A man named Fassad comes to meet the Pigmasks, and is entrusted with the male monkey, Salsa, while the female monkey, Samba, is held hostage by the Pigmasks. Fassad then draws out a device and shows Salsa that the collar he's wearing is designed to electrocute him each time he presses the button. He then trains Salsa to do something each time he's given one of four cues. After the brief training session is over, the Pigmasks take off in their ship, with Samba on them, while Fassad sets foot across the desert with Salsa "leading".
The two of them eventually reach a small, dome-shaped structure, guarded by a Cactus Wolf. After defeating the wolf, they head inside what turns out to be the terminal for a hovering vehicle known as a Pork Bean. They fly it all the way through a secret passageway, and get off at the opposite terminal.
Climbing up a ladder from there, they emerge at the cemetery through a false grave. Nighttime has already fallen, and they head south into Tazmily Village to find a place to stay. Upon entering the village, they run into a hobbling man in a light-blue shirt and red pants. Fassad apologizes to him for not watching where he's going, while Salsa looks at him. Fassad tells Salsa to continue, and he drags his feet while following, turning around once to look at the man one more time before continuing.
The hobbling man then continues his own way to the north, but then notices a chubby man named Butch, who shows him his burlap sack and something called "money" inside.
Fassad hides on the opposite side of the well with Salsa as Butch places his bag of money inside. He then takes the money for himself, and brings it to Yado Inn. Upon asking how much it would cost to rent a room, Jackie, the receptionist and Betsy, one of the maids, tell him that they don't charge money. Fassad then suggests he take the entire bag anyway, and the woman says that it might make a good doorstopper.
-----
During the middle of the night, Fassad has left the room, and Salsa sees a chance to escape once and for all. Upon leaving the inn, he hears Fassad speaking to one of the Pigmasks on his walkie-talkie. From what Fassad is told, the Pigmasks have arrived at Osohe Castle, but saw someone else there as well. Since the person they're talking about is the only non-Pigmask present, he tells them to leave him be, assuming him to be just some random guy who got drunk and lost his way. The Pigmask on the other end describes him in more detail, and he says that he might have run into him earlier on, but assures them not to worry about him.
Fassad returns, and Salsa's chance of escape is gone.
-----
That night, Salsa can't help but remember how it all started that morning.
-----
The next morning, people gather in Tazmily Square as Fassad begins his advertising campaign for a new invention called the Happy Box, while Salsa is forced to perform various tricks to entertain potential customers and keep them around. While most of the villagers leave, four of them express interest in this new thing.
Fassad then sends Salsa off to fetch each of the four a Happy Box. As he delivers each one, two of the customers turn out to be married, and cancel their second order upon finding out that they both ordered one each.
Upon returning to their room at Yado Inn, Fassad is very displeased with Salsa for having taken so long, stating that he would have given him a special banana if he had taken under three minutes, and gives him an electroshock for having taken nearly half an hour.
They then head north to Osohe Castle, which at this point is has been invaded by the Pigmasks. Inside, Fassad spots two Pigmasks resting against a wall, and asks if they found something they're after. They tell him that some old guy and the same man that they previously described to Fassad beat them. He asks where they are at that point, and then warns them not to let them reach the treasure before they do. They then salute him and scramble after the thieves.
Fassad then receives a call, alerting him that the thieves fled into the basement. He and Salsa go there, and find a face-shaped entrance with some dance murals preceding it. Salsa reads the murals, and then dances in front of the gate. It opens, and Fassad "rewards" the monkey with yet another electroshock.
Deep within the basement is a lever, which Fassad orders Salsa to pull. As it turns out, the lever is meant to open a floodgate. as the water rushes out underneath Salsa and Fassad, Wess, Kumatora, Duster, and the Hummingbird Egg are seen being washed away with it. Two Pigmasks then rush to Fassad and tell him that the thieves have escaped with the artifact, and Fassad orders them to pursue them.
They then leave the castle to return to Yado Inn. Back at Tazmily Square, upon hearing the commotion about Butch's money, Fassadhe intervenes and, judging from everything said, says that the village truly is being corrupted, before continuing his way. Salsa looks at Kumatora, and Fassad turns around and asks if he's fond of the nice red-haired lady. He dangles yet another empty promise of lots of luxury bananas for later on, and Salsa continues with him... and receives yet another electroshock.
Back in the hotel room, Fassad administers another shock, and warns Salsa that Samba will be on the line if he ever pulls any stunts on him again, before hitting the sack.
-----
That night, Kumatora and Wess knock on the window, calling for Salsa. The monkey approaches the window, and escapes with the two of them into Tazmily Square. Salsa then explains that Fassad has a device with which to electrocute him, and Wess goes back to swipe it, accidentally stumbling and pressing it along the way back. He then places it in front of Salsa to crush once and for all, and the monkey takes just one last shock in the process.
Kumatora encourages Salsa to run off in his newly regained freedom, but Salsa hesitates. Kumatora then reads his mind, and realizes that his girlfriend had also been kidnapped. Fassad then walks in on them with some Pigmasks aiding him. Salsa, Wess, and Kumatora then run off to Sunshine Forest in an attempt to flee them.
The forest is crawling with Pigmask soldiers, tanks, and hoverbots. The trio realize that there's nowhere to run or hide, and have no choice but to battle one of their tanks. They destroy it, and then turn around and cause two Pigmasks behind them to back away. Fassad and his assisting Pigmasks then surround them, reinforced by another tank.
Just then, Lucas shows up, and whistles for a baby Drago to come along. The Drago then roars for its unmodified parent, who then makes short work of the the Pigmasks present, before both Dragos leave.
Wess commends him for having saved their lives, after having done nothing but cry since the day his mother died. He then fills him in on everything that's happened to this point, before going out to find Duster. Kumatora goes out to look for Samba, and they all hope that Claus returns one day.
Chapter 4: Club Titiboo
Three years later, the rustic farming way of life that once defined Tazmily Village is long gone. Houses have modernized. Roads of asphalt have replaced the cobblestone paths that once lined Tazmily Square, and in the well's place lies a small patch of grass. Thomas's Bazaar is now a store. Yado Inn is now a hotel. Where Wess and Duster's house once stood now stands a retirement home called Old Man's Paradise. South from there is now a Pigmask training facility. Between Tazmily Square and the cemetery is now a train station. And the economy now relies on money in the form of DP, or Dragon Points.
Lucas wakes up one morning, fixes himself up, and ventures outside his house. Mingled with the sheep whose stable was destroyed is Lucas' dog Boney, whom he takes for a walk. The two of them explore Tazmily Village for a bit, and then notice Jackie and Bronson come off a train at the train station. Bronson denies that someone called "Lucky" band could possibly be Duster, but Jackie argues that no one's seen Duster since he disappeared three years earlier. Bronson then notices Lucas, and tells him about Club Titiboo to the east, where a band called the Desperado Crash Mambo Combo play every night. He tells him that the band's bassist looks like Duster, and that Jackie is convinced that he actually is. Jackie suggests going to tell Wess, but Bronson turns the suggestion down, lest they disappoint him if it turns out to be false.
Back in Tazmily Square, Fassad continues to manipulate people into buying Happy Boxes. Wess comes along and tells him to stop corrupting the town any further than he already has. He mentions that there's something suspicious about the lightning that had been striking Tazmily Village. Fassad talks back to him, and then a Pigmask brings him back to Old Man's Paradise.
Lucas pays a visit to Old Man's Paradise, saying hi to his own grandfather Alec, before speaking with Wess and telling him about the rumor about Duster. Unable to go himself, Wess asks Lucas to see if "Lucky" really is Duster, and gives him a carrier pigeon to send back once he finds him.
Unable to afford a train ticket, Lucas and Boney walk through the man-made caverns through which the train passes. Inside are walking mushrooms, dogs with mushrooms on their heads, cyborgified moles, snakes with chicken heads, and mice with bug wings. These are just a few of the chimeras that now inhabit the Nowhere Islands, courtesy of King Porky and his henchmen.
Along the way, Lucas and Boney climb up a ladder leading to a hot spring. Quite by coincidence, they meet the Magypsy Ionia, who teaches Lucas about psionics, before helping him learn PK Lifeup, Healing, and... Love! Ionia is amazed that Lucas was able to learn PK Love, a power that even he and his fellow Magypsies don't have.
North of the other end of the railroad is a mining facility and a ropeway leading to Club Titiboo. Unfortunately, the ropeway is only available for workers of the Clayman Mine. Lucas applies for a position at the mine, signs the name of the player to a form, and gives a day's worth of work by bringing three worn-out Claymen to the facility to be recharged.
With a few bucks and a ropeway ticket in hand, Lucas and Boney ride the ropeway to Club Titiboo, only to be stopped at the door by a pair of bouncers. Lucas and Boney retreat, and Lucas dresses Boney up as a person and has him stand on his hind legs, but even then, they still have trouble getting inside until a girl named Violet emerges and invites them in. One of the bouncers demands Boney to "shake", which he manages to get right, and they're finally admitted in.
Inside the lobby, Violet whispers to Lucas that she is actually Kumatora, and promises to explain everything later. Lucas then goes into the auditorium to see the DCMC, and find a table to sit at with Boney. Violet comes in and requests his order, and he orders water. Thomas, who is also working here, snarks about ordering water of all things at a place like this, and orders a Fizzy Soda for Lucas and a Big City Cola for Boney. Violet fetches a glass of each, and then asks Lucas to meet her back in the lobby.
As it turns out, tonight's concert is almost over, and the band only has time for one more song. They play "King P's Theme," a blues remix of the marching song that plays whenever the Pigmasks march.
On their way back out, the hostess hands Lucas a pamphlet of the DCMC. Lucas and Boney then follow Kumatora through a secret underground passage from the right of the lobby, leading to her room. Kumatora is in the shower by the time they emerge. She comes out, and Lucas and Boney take a turn of their own to wash off, and then they fill each other in on the rescued monkey Salsa, the Hummingbird Egg, the Pigmask Army, everything that's happened since the events of three years earlier, and the fact that one member of the DCMC appears to be an amnesic Duster, everything that led both of them here at Club Titiboo. Violet tells Lucas that the only way they'll find out where the Hummingbird Egg is is by helping Duster regain his memory.
Kumatora then reveals a secret ladder to the attic, through which Lucas and Boney can reach the band's room without dealing with any guards, while she gets the band together and explains the situation to them. Lucas and Boney proceed through the attic, fighting their way through bats, mice, and live musical instruments, before coming back down where the band is gathered.
Lucas speaks to Duster, who had been living the past few years as "Lucky" and doesn't remember much about his real identity. Kumatora asks him to explain what he does remember, which at least does include protecting some kind of egg. He doesn't know anything about it, except that it's very important and he had to find a place to hide it. He remembers exactly where he hid it, and upon describing where, Kumatora specifies the place in question as Unknown Valley. Kumatora is determined to reclaim it, but Duster isn't quite sure, not knowing whether he's actually Lucky or Duster. If he's Lucky, then the DCMC will cease to exist, but if he's Duster, then the Hummingbird Egg had no real meaning to begin with. The other band members decide to "ask destiny", and each play jan-ken-bon with Lucas to determine the truth. Lucas wins against all five band members, and it's decided that Duster's role as Lucky no longer matters. Each band member gives him their farewell, and Duster and Kumatora both join Lucas and Boney before they all head out of Club Titiboo.
Just before leaving, Duster turns around, noticing the rest of the band back on the stage. They play a farewell song, and Duster reminisces as he watches from outside the door, about the good times they shared together. He leaves the afro that he wore as Lucky at the door, and finally meets up with the others outside.
Lucas sends the carrier pigeon back off to Wess, before the party heads for Unknown Valley.
Chapter 5: Tower of Thunder
Duster remembers hiding the Hummingbird Egg under a sleeping Clayman, and leads the party in the direction to where.
Along the way, Boney asks Lucas (in dog language) if he can revert back to being a regular dog, and takes off the clothes he was disguising himself as a kid with.
They then come to a hole in the ground, which Duster finds familiar enough. As it turns out, though, there are actually numerous holes around that look just like it, and they all lead into an underground passage built by moles.
After navigating the mole tunnels, the party reaches the spot where Duster hid the Hummingbird Egg, and Duster comes up to the Clayman resting on top.
Just then, a thunderbolt strikes, knocking Duster backwards. He gets back up, and reapproaches the Clayman, but then it gets up, fully recharged, and runs off with the egg.
Just past the spot, the party comes across a steel tower with an electrical sphere at the top, topped with an automated gun of some sort. So this is what's been shooting unnatural thunderbolts and destroying people's homes, such as Wess's and Alec's, who don't own a Happy Box.
The party continues their pursuit of the Clayman, and end up at some kind of factory. Inside, three Pigmasks are having a conversation before noticing Lucas and his friends. They mistake Lucas for their commander, and give him a proper uniform, along with some Pigmask uniforms for each of his friends. They look around inside the factory, and learn that when Claymen break down, they conveniently bring themselves out to be discarded.
They come out a back entrance, and notice the Clayman walking itself into a garbage truck with the help of a Pigmask. The Pigmask drives it off, and the party starts pursuing it on foot, until another Pigmask arrives in a Pork Bean and offers it to them. He tells them that the garbage dump is to the northeast.
No sooner than they take off does the Pork Bean slip on a banana peel and crash. Just then, another Pork Bean arrives, and out comes a very muscular Pigmask with horns on his helmet. He offers the party his own Pork Bean, but then recognizes Lucas and Boney from Club Titiboo. A battle ensues, but Lucas shows him the DCMC pamphlet that he got from the club, making him grow jealous and unable to fight. They win, and the Fierce Pork Trooper leaves on foot, slipping on another banana peel immediately upon.
The party borrows the still-intact Pork Bean, and continues their pursuit of the garbage truck. They eventually reach the landfill, and wind up fighting a broken down Clayman with some of its clay "flesh" stripped off, before finally claiming the Hummingbird Egg back.
Duster then remembers the time he, Wess, and Kumatora first obtained the egg from Osohe Castle. He realizes then that he always was Duster.
A Pigmask then stops by in its Pork Bean, noticing who he assumes to be his commander, and gives the party a ride straight to the Thunder Tower.
Somewhere up the tower, the Fierce Pork Trooper notices the party again, and has a rematch with them. Lucas's DCMC pamphlet comes in handy once again, affording the party an easy victory, but then Fassad spots them from behind, backed up by a couple of Pigmasks. He intends to get back at the party for his defeat in Sunshine Forest three years earlier, and the party has no choice but to climb further up the tower, through a scaffolding section and into Porky's recreation room.
Inside the rec room, the party notices among other things, the Friend's Yo-yo, presumably from Porky's time with Ness, before he became evil.
The party proceeds through another scaffolding section, and into the tower's generator chamber. Inside the top, they fight a robot called Mr. Generator, which they destroy. With him out of commission, the tower itself ceases to function. Fassad catches up with them, and the party heads towards an exit and climbs some rungs up the sphere. He corners them, and then eats a banana, tossing the peel aside. He then explains how he and Porky intend to end the party's lives by eliminating the Thunder Tower on a bang, while also communicating with the Pigmasks to get the Mother Porkship ready to pick him up. The ship arrives, but Fassad slips on his own banana peel and falls to his doom before he can begin to approach it. The party grabs onto its rope ladder with Duster's Rope Snake, and it takes off.
As they hang on for dear life, the real commander of the Pigmask Army, who looks like a kid but wears shades, a helmet, and a uniform just like what Lucas had earlier, appears at the door. Whoever is piloting the ship shakes it in an attempt to shake them off. Soon enough, the Rope Snake's jaw can't hold onto the rope ladder much longer, and the entire party falls down from midair.
Chapter 6: Sunflower Fields
Lucas wakes up alone in a field of sunflowers, and looks around. He explores for a bit, and then remembers his home from the past.
He hears a bark, and finds Boney hidden among the flowers.
The two of them catch sight of Hinawa's ghost walking in the direction they're facing. They follow her for a bit after she vanishes. Boney barks as she appears again, and runs off after her.
Lucas continues walking, until Hinawa appears a third time and turns around to face him. He edges up to her, and she continues her way forward and vanishes again.
Just then, he reaches the edge of the flowers, just near a cliff, off of which Hinawa floats.
He walks towards the cliff, and jumps for her, just barely unable to reach her.
-----
In Tazmily Village just below, Alec and Wess stand near a pile of straw, onto which Boney lands, followed by Lucas.
That point that Zerodius inferred about Earthbound? It would truly apply to this game. It has a lot more melancholy to them, and also shows much more of the bad guys' direct activities. On the flip side, while the first two games could be considered straightforward enough (items, enemies, sideline stuff, and contrived coincidences aside), there are things that play a direct role in the more lighthearted parts of the story that could not possibly be written into anything down-to-earth, such as a coffee table that acts like a horse, a man tall enough to ring a town bell without climbing up, Thomas's comical way of running around frantically, a refrigerator on top of a snowcapped mountain, male mermaids who help you breathe underwater by mouth-to-mouth contact, etc.
Just the other day, I have seen official novel adaptations of Mother 1 and 2, which, while written by someone other than Shigesato Itoi, and also darker and edgier than, do retain the same quirky humor that the games were known for. Unfortunately, I'm not so sure if that's something I'll be able to quite pull off with Starbound. Humor is neither my specialty nor Chelle's. Even though Jake does not like Lucky Star, he has written a comical adaptation of Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal, titled Johto: The Funne Version!!!, and said that he'd try, though even he can't make any promises.
That said, Starbound is most likely going to originate as something mostly straightforward, just like what Earthbound 199X is to Earthbound. If a game adaptation even is feasable enough after I complete the fic, I might consider hiring people to work on humor.
Prologue
While visiting his grandfather Alec's farm with his mother, Hinawa, and twin brother, Claus, Lucas is still asleep one morning as Claus knocks repeatedly on the bedroom door and begging him to wake up so they can play with the Dragos. He finally awakens, and heads downstairs to greet Hinawa.
After getting changed, Lucas heads outside to where Claus and the Dragos are pretend-fighting. He gets in on the fun, and so does a Mole Cricket who notices what they're doing.
Hinawa soon arrives to let the boys know that it's time to have lunch. They return to Alec's house and eat, before getting ready to return home.
Before leaving, Hinawa writes a letter to her husband, Flint, to be delivered by a carrier pigeon:
Dear Flint,
Just like you said they would, the children have been running around the mountains and fields tirelessly since the moment we arrived.
Claus is daring and full of energy as ever, while Lucas is still a bit coddled. But neither one seems tired of playing at all.
My father seems so sad to say goodbye to his grandchildren after seeing them for the first time in so long, but we should be home by this evening.
I had forgotten how nice and refreshing the mountain air is. You're always covered in the smell of sheep back in Tazmily Village, so I really wish you could have been here to take in this air.
The next time we visit, let's ask one of our neighbors to tend the sheep so we can all come up here as a family.
Claus, Lucas, and I were always thinking about you. When we get home this evening, I'll start cooking some of your favorite omelets* right away.
With love, your dearest Hinawa.
(*Actually, the food in question is whatever you enter for it before the game begins. Omelets, though, are the first "Don't care" choice.)
Just after the bird takes off, a mysterious object is heard flying just over the farm, playing some kind of melody.
-----
That night, the peaceful quiet in Sunshine Forest is broken by explosions. Deep within, a man steps outside his house to see what's going on. His son follows suit, but the man orders him back inside. Animals panic and run for their lives as two men in pig suits toss a pink bomb, which sets its surroundings on fire. And down in Tazmily, villagers emerge from their homes and businesses, wondering what's going on.
Chapter 1: Night of the Funeral
Thomas runs frantically through Tazmily Village to Flint's house, sounding off his siren, to alert him about the forest fire. Frantically, he knocks on the door, and even tries to open it outright, only for the knob to come off. Flint answers the door just then, and the two of them set off to investigate.
Along the way, the two of them stop to say a few prayers at the local shrine, where the name of the player is specified.
Along the way, the two of them find a man named Bronson lying on the ground, unable to get up after having breathed in too much smoke. He tells them to go save Lighter and Fuel further up north.
Not long afterwards, they spot a Pigmask soldier opening some kind of electronic box, which releases three odd bugs into the air. Further along the path still, they spot Lighter lying on the ground, who tells them that he tried to take the bugs on himself, but they just kept coming. Flint notices one of the insects also lying on the ground from the corner of his eye. Lighter tells them that whatever they are, they're contributing to the forest fire, but more importantly, that his son Fuel is still in his cabin. Thomas stays back to look after Lighter, and Flint picks up a piece of lumber that Lighter was previously wielding before being attacked by three Fireflies.
Upon reaching the cabin, Flint hears Fuel's plea for help, and rushes in, having to do battle with a bug-winged mouse before being able to proceed upstairs. Together, Flint and Fuel make haste out of the cabin, just before it collapses. They head back out of the forest, to find some villagers gathered around an injured Lighter. Some dialogue ensues, and then it begins to rain and the villagers bring Lighter to Yado Inn to continue healing up.
Some dialogue ensues in the room where Lighter continues to rest, and then Flint heads outside and is met by a man named Isaac. Isaac tells him that he caught sight of Hinawa up north, and then heard roars, supposedly from Dragos, followed by screams from presumably Hinawa and the kids. He then asks if they're okay, and Flint goes home to see if they made it back safely. He finds the carrier pigeon that Hinawa sent out earlier, and reads the letter it brought.
-----
Flint continues inside his house reading the letter over. Isaac and Fuel come inside, and offer to get the villagers to help search for them, since it's raining and they're still not back by that point. The three of them head outside, and Boney, the family dog, asks to come with Flint as well.
Somewhere along the way, a path is blocked by two trees that were snapped in half. A few villagers stand in shock and awe at such a sight, knowing that whatever caused it wasn't human, and one of them states that Hinawa and the kids might actually be stuck out there because of the situation.
Everyone then takes another path to go find them, but even it turns out to be a dead end near an earthen wall. Judging from the claw marks leading up, Jonel, one of the villagers, does infer that a Drago might have climbed its way up, but wonders why such peaceful creatures would leave such marks.
Flint turns back, but then Boney runs up to the wall and claws at it. He then turns back to Flint, and then turns around and howls towards the top of the wall. Bateau, another villager, then notices a scrap of Hinawa's dress caught on a leafless immature tree.
An old man named Wess arrives at the scene, but Jonel tells him that there's nothing he can do to help. Even though it is true that he himself can't do anything, he does offer to get his son, Duster, to help out, and gives Boney his scent in order to go find him back at Tazmily Village. Boney then runs all the way back through Sunshine Forest, through Tazmily Village, to find Duster asleep in the basement of his house. He then drags him back into the forest, and it's only partway through that he finally awakens and follows Boney back to the canyon.
As it turns out, Duster is a thief who had been training since childhood for situations like this and now has a chance to use them for real for the very first time. He whips out something called Wall Staples, in order to scale the cliff before them.
The rain stops after Duster makes it to the top. Flint and Boney climb the rungs that Duster pinned into the wall, and Flint claims the scrap of cloth caught in the tree.
Further down the path, the three of them come across several Pigmasks operating some kind of a machine, which then activates a cyborgified caribou resting on its pad. They battle the caribou, and then walk up to the Pigmasks, who then make a run for it. They then notice a notebook with a piggy-nose symbol lying on the ground, in which they read the intentions of whoever wrote in it, dubbed the "Fascinating Chimera Project".
The trio then pursue the Pigmasks, but are too late as they take off inside an odd aircraft with a piggy-nose-like door.
After they return to the forest, Jonel greets them, saying that he and the others have found Lucas and Claus, who apparently had fallen into a river and washed downstream. The fallen trees now out of the way, Flint and Duster head to a campfire where the kids are drying up while Jonel looks after Boney.
Bronson returns while everyone's gathered around the fire, to bring him a Drago fang that he found. Unfortunately, said fang turns out to have been retrieved from... Hinawa's chest. Flint goes berserk upon hearing that his wife is dead, picks up a stick from the fire, and beats the fire out before attacking everyone around him with it until Lighter knocks him out with his piece of lumber.
While unconscious, Flint has a flashback of the time that he said his farewell to Hinawa and the kids as they set off to Alec's house.
-----
By the following morning, Flint lies in jail. Bronson tells him among other things that he has the honor of being the first person ever locked up in Tazmily's prison. He then tells him to drop by his house to pick up the Drago Fang once he escapes, and then leaves.
Claus enters shortly afterwards, and gives Flint an apple. Upon eating it, it turns out that a nail file had been inside, which he then uses to saw the rusted cell lock open.
Just outside, Duster tells Flint that Hinawa's burial ended without incident, and offers him consolation. He mentions that Lucas has been crying at her grave ever since, and then offers to help him out if there's anything he can do for him.
Flint proceeds to Hinawa's grave to the northeast, where many of the villagers are gathered. Directly in front of the tombstone sits Lucas, with Alec just next to him. During an exchange between the three of them, Alec asks if Flint might have seen where Claus had gone, since he said he'd come back to the grave but never did. He then asks Lucas, who denies him having explained his intentions involving the Dragos. Alec then asks Lucas why he didn't stop Claus from going after the Drago, and he explains that he wanted to come along as well, but Claus insisted on going alone. Lucas then runs off in tears after being called out for just letting him go, but then Alec realizes that maybe he was a little too harsh on him, before advising Flint to gear up and hurry back to his place in the mountains to save Claus. Flint then heads to Bronson's house for the Drago fang, the only thing that can pierce a Drago's hide, and then sets foot for Mt. Oriander, where Alec and the Dragos live.
Alec speaks to Flint once he arrives at his house, and the two of them follow a series of Arrow Lizards to some friends of his, known as the Magypsies. Neither human nor beast, neither male nor female, they have been living for a very long time far away from civilization.
The two of them reach a conch-shaped hut sitting on a pond, with some stepping stones leading to the front door. Inside, all seven of them except one are gathered, and one of them, Ionia, introduces all of them to Flint. Flint then asks Aeolia, the leader, if they had seen Claus, and s/he replies that he took off spouting something about avenging his mother, and that s/he was feeling generous enough to give him a potent PK power (Love). Alec then rebukes him/her that by not stopping him, something bad might happen to him. Two of the other Magypsies, Mixolydia and Phrygia, snark about how humans worry so much about such short lives as they have compared to them, before Doria reigns them back in for such contempt as theirs. Alec then asks where Claus went, and Aeolia tells them that he went to the Drago Plateau.
Behind the house, Flint and Alec continue their pursuit of Claus into a cave leading to the Drago Plateau. After a narrow, winding path through the caves, they eventually climb a few vines out and onto the top of the plateau, just across a gap from where the Pigmasks' aircraft had previously taken off. They enter another, much smaller cave, inside which they find several more Pigmasks with a joystick and a laptop computer. The Pigmasks flee through the opposite exit of the cave, and take off in another aircraft.
Further up north, they spot a baby Drago with one of Claus' shoes. It roars at them the best it can, and then hops away.
Further along the way still, they spot Claus' other shoe near a rock formation. Flint examines it, and Alec shouts out for Claus. Just then, some loud footsteps can be heard as a fully-grown, cyborgified Drago emerges from behind the rock formation. Flint and Alec battle it, and all three of them are eventually KO'ed. Flint is the first one back up, followed by the Mecha Drago, and finally, Alec. The Mecha Drago trembles, and then collapses again. Flint pulls out the Drago Fang, but then the baby Drago comes to its parent's aid. Alec warns Flint not to kill it, as he will only put the baby through exactly what Lucas and Claus experienced.
Chapter 2: Thief Adventure
That night, Wess gives Duster his assignment: To infiltrate Osohe Castle to the north and steal a valuable artifact. He refuses to explain what exactly he's to look for, other than that it's... shiny. He then orders Duster to collect five more tools in the basement, before setting off on his mission.
Passing through Tazmily Square, Duster runs into a man in Saudi garb, accompanied by a monkey. The man apologizes for not paying attention, and continues on his way. The monkey then looks at Duster, and then drags its feet while following the Arab.
Just outside the square, he then notices a short, rotund man named Butch, looking at a burlap sack of some sort. Butch then notices Duster, yanks the bag up off the ground, and looks left and right, before speaking to him and letting him in on a secret: Inside the bag is something called "money", which he traded some pigs for with the aforementioned Arab. As it turns out, the people of Tazmily Village had no concept of money to this point.
Butch then leads Duster to the well in the middle of the square, and places the bag inside, believing that no one will know what it is and steal it from there, before leaving.
Just as he leaves town, Duster notices a helicopter shaped like a pig flying over Osohe Castle while playing the Pigmask March. The aircraft drops a few unidentified objects along its way.
Upon reaching the graveyard in front of Osohe Castle, three zombies emerge from the ground and surround Duster. The thief backs away, only for a fourth zombie to rise from behind him. He has no choice but to fight them.
And finally, upon reaching the castle, it turns out that the drawbridge is up. Duster backtracks and enters the gravedigger Nippolyte's shack. He discovers a secret passage behind a bookcase, and proceeds through.
The passage leads to the actual front yard of the castle. The front gate is locked, so Duster instead scales the wall with his wall staples, before proceeding inside through a secondary entrance.
Inside the castle are ghosts, spiders, and other creepy creatures. In one chamber, Duster trades rotten eclairs that he loots from defeated ghosts for various things, including a red snake that acts as a grappling hook.
Somewhere inside the castle, ghosts are having a party, and one of them offers Duster a rotten eclair. Duster then checks the kitchen, but isn't able to do anything there besides fight a few man-sized cockroaches and some living strawberry jelly. Backtracking a little, he applies some wall staples, and scales his way to a hallway above, where he gets to put the Rope Snake to use to cross a small gap as it gets a jawhold on a wall candle.
At a stairwell further along the way, Duster catches sight of a red-haired girl who drops in at the top, dropping something as she runs forward. Said object turns out to be a pendant of sorts.
Eventually, Duster comes across a ghost resembling Ludwig von Beethoven, who is conducting a song called Family Matters, 2nd Movement by having everything in the room move around. A battle ensues between Duster and Mr. Passion, and the former prevails and proceeds into the next room.
Inside is a golden-brown, shining, egg-shaped artifact. This is exactly what Duster was sent to look for!
Or is it?
Duster takes the prize, and heads all the way back down via a secret passage in the fireplace leading to the chamber adjacent to the lobby. He opens the gate, and exits, heading back home.
Outside, the sun is just rising. Duster talks to Nippolyte, the gravedigger, who then gives him the key to the drawbridge. Duster lowers the bridge, and continues his way back home.
Back at home, Duster shows Wess the Noble Spitoon that he claimed inside the castle. Wess at first sounds like he's about to praise him, but then tells him that he's epically more stupid than he ever thought, criticizing him for not being able to determine the value of a given treasure while shattering the artifact. Duster then shows him the pendant that he found from the red-haired girl, and Wess deduces that said pendant belonged to the castle's princess. Wess then accompanies Duster back to the castle.
As they return to the castle, they notice two tanks and a unit of seven Pigmasks cross the drawbridge. Heading further towards the castle, it turns out that Nippolyte had taken some kind of beating from the invading Pigmask unit.
As Duster and Wess step inside the castle, two Pigmasks electrically activate some sort of walking clay figure, which then proceeds to fight them. Upon defeat, the Pigmasks try to get the Clayman back on its feet, but fail, and give it a kick of frustration before leaving.
The two thieves eventually reach the chamber in which Duster got the Noble Spitoon. Wess notices something that Duster previously hadn't: A face-like entrance through the wall, and a mural on each side of it that depicts some kind of dance. The dance in question, as Wess performs it while asking Duster to look away, is... much faster and more comical than one would expect for such a purpose as opening the gate before them.
The mouth opens. Wess then criticizes Duster for not remembering to use it when he's stuck, after having taught it to him countless times.
Across the next chamber is a balcony, from which the courtyard is viewable. Some kind of metal, shining stake with three prongs can be seen in the distance.
In the bottom of the adjacent stairwell, Duster and Wess just barely dodge a shot of PK Freeze from the princess. Wess greets her and tells her how meeting her again brings back old memories. The girl then tells him that she got caught in some kind of trap, and was about to cut her foot off rather than let herself die. Wess undoes the trap and expresses relief that she's alright. She then notices her pendant on Duster, and claims it back. Wess then introduces him to her, and she introduces herself as Kumatora.
The three of them proceed, and eventually reach the chamber where the real treasure lies. Known as the Hummingbird Egg, or the Egg of Light, even Wess knows nothing about it, only that it's a ball of secrets within secrets inside even more secrets. Some discussion ensues between Wess and Kumatora about it, until the Pigmasks catch up and try to barge their way into the chamber with one of their Claymen. Kumatora then picks the egg up, lest the bad guys get their hands on it, and then Wess warns her too late that it was actually rigged. The next thing they know, all three of them fall down a trap door, down a shaft, and into a flooded catacomb, before ending up battling a giant sea serpent. They defeat the Osohe Snake, and then a door opens up and lets the water up.
Wess and Kumatora end up washed ashore back in Tazmily Village as the villagers gather in the square. Fuel notices them, and then gets Lighter to help bring them to Wess and Duster's house to recover. After Kumatora and Wess are both awake, Fuel tells them how lucky they are that Lighter was with him, or else he would've pretended not to notice. Wess asks Lighter if he's seen Duster anywhere, but he tells them it was only the two of them. Wess then says that Duster is in serious trouble once he finds him, and Lighter advises them to continue resting. Fuel and Lighter leave, and Kumatora decides that she and Wess should go out and look for Duster together.
Butch catches sight of the two as they arrive in Tazmily Square, and asks Wess where Duster is, explaining that he's the only person he told him about his money, which is now gone. Two women ask him where he put it in the first place and what money even is while Flint and Boney arrive at the scene. He tells the women to shut up, and then explains that Wess and Duster are both thieves, and the only reason they never stole anything was because there never was anything valuable enough to steal. Kumatora then gets in his face to talk back, and he backs away and uses someone else as a human shield, before asking if she's a friend of the thieves and orders her not to use violence. Flint then greets Wess, and then suggests that everyone calm down if they're to solve anything. He assures Wess that he and his fellow villagers believe he has done nothing wrong, and suggests they wait for Duster to return.
Chapter 3: The Suspicious Peddler
In Death Desert all the way to the east, a Pigmask ship lands, and some Pigmask soldiers emerge, along with two monkeys in their clutches. A man named Fassad comes to meet the Pigmasks, and is entrusted with the male monkey, Salsa, while the female monkey, Samba, is held hostage by the Pigmasks. Fassad then draws out a device and shows Salsa that the collar he's wearing is designed to electrocute him each time he presses the button. He then trains Salsa to do something each time he's given one of four cues. After the brief training session is over, the Pigmasks take off in their ship, with Samba on them, while Fassad sets foot across the desert with Salsa "leading".
The two of them eventually reach a small, dome-shaped structure, guarded by a Cactus Wolf. After defeating the wolf, they head inside what turns out to be the terminal for a hovering vehicle known as a Pork Bean. They fly it all the way through a secret passageway, and get off at the opposite terminal.
Climbing up a ladder from there, they emerge at the cemetery through a false grave. Nighttime has already fallen, and they head south into Tazmily Village to find a place to stay. Upon entering the village, they run into a hobbling man in a light-blue shirt and red pants. Fassad apologizes to him for not watching where he's going, while Salsa looks at him. Fassad tells Salsa to continue, and he drags his feet while following, turning around once to look at the man one more time before continuing.
The hobbling man then continues his own way to the north, but then notices a chubby man named Butch, who shows him his burlap sack and something called "money" inside.
Fassad hides on the opposite side of the well with Salsa as Butch places his bag of money inside. He then takes the money for himself, and brings it to Yado Inn. Upon asking how much it would cost to rent a room, Jackie, the receptionist and Betsy, one of the maids, tell him that they don't charge money. Fassad then suggests he take the entire bag anyway, and the woman says that it might make a good doorstopper.
-----
During the middle of the night, Fassad has left the room, and Salsa sees a chance to escape once and for all. Upon leaving the inn, he hears Fassad speaking to one of the Pigmasks on his walkie-talkie. From what Fassad is told, the Pigmasks have arrived at Osohe Castle, but saw someone else there as well. Since the person they're talking about is the only non-Pigmask present, he tells them to leave him be, assuming him to be just some random guy who got drunk and lost his way. The Pigmask on the other end describes him in more detail, and he says that he might have run into him earlier on, but assures them not to worry about him.
Fassad returns, and Salsa's chance of escape is gone.
-----
That night, Salsa can't help but remember how it all started that morning.
-----
The next morning, people gather in Tazmily Square as Fassad begins his advertising campaign for a new invention called the Happy Box, while Salsa is forced to perform various tricks to entertain potential customers and keep them around. While most of the villagers leave, four of them express interest in this new thing.
Fassad then sends Salsa off to fetch each of the four a Happy Box. As he delivers each one, two of the customers turn out to be married, and cancel their second order upon finding out that they both ordered one each.
Upon returning to their room at Yado Inn, Fassad is very displeased with Salsa for having taken so long, stating that he would have given him a special banana if he had taken under three minutes, and gives him an electroshock for having taken nearly half an hour.
They then head north to Osohe Castle, which at this point is has been invaded by the Pigmasks. Inside, Fassad spots two Pigmasks resting against a wall, and asks if they found something they're after. They tell him that some old guy and the same man that they previously described to Fassad beat them. He asks where they are at that point, and then warns them not to let them reach the treasure before they do. They then salute him and scramble after the thieves.
Fassad then receives a call, alerting him that the thieves fled into the basement. He and Salsa go there, and find a face-shaped entrance with some dance murals preceding it. Salsa reads the murals, and then dances in front of the gate. It opens, and Fassad "rewards" the monkey with yet another electroshock.
Deep within the basement is a lever, which Fassad orders Salsa to pull. As it turns out, the lever is meant to open a floodgate. as the water rushes out underneath Salsa and Fassad, Wess, Kumatora, Duster, and the Hummingbird Egg are seen being washed away with it. Two Pigmasks then rush to Fassad and tell him that the thieves have escaped with the artifact, and Fassad orders them to pursue them.
They then leave the castle to return to Yado Inn. Back at Tazmily Square, upon hearing the commotion about Butch's money, Fassadhe intervenes and, judging from everything said, says that the village truly is being corrupted, before continuing his way. Salsa looks at Kumatora, and Fassad turns around and asks if he's fond of the nice red-haired lady. He dangles yet another empty promise of lots of luxury bananas for later on, and Salsa continues with him... and receives yet another electroshock.
Back in the hotel room, Fassad administers another shock, and warns Salsa that Samba will be on the line if he ever pulls any stunts on him again, before hitting the sack.
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That night, Kumatora and Wess knock on the window, calling for Salsa. The monkey approaches the window, and escapes with the two of them into Tazmily Square. Salsa then explains that Fassad has a device with which to electrocute him, and Wess goes back to swipe it, accidentally stumbling and pressing it along the way back. He then places it in front of Salsa to crush once and for all, and the monkey takes just one last shock in the process.
Kumatora encourages Salsa to run off in his newly regained freedom, but Salsa hesitates. Kumatora then reads his mind, and realizes that his girlfriend had also been kidnapped. Fassad then walks in on them with some Pigmasks aiding him. Salsa, Wess, and Kumatora then run off to Sunshine Forest in an attempt to flee them.
The forest is crawling with Pigmask soldiers, tanks, and hoverbots. The trio realize that there's nowhere to run or hide, and have no choice but to battle one of their tanks. They destroy it, and then turn around and cause two Pigmasks behind them to back away. Fassad and his assisting Pigmasks then surround them, reinforced by another tank.
Just then, Lucas shows up, and whistles for a baby Drago to come along. The Drago then roars for its unmodified parent, who then makes short work of the the Pigmasks present, before both Dragos leave.
Wess commends him for having saved their lives, after having done nothing but cry since the day his mother died. He then fills him in on everything that's happened to this point, before going out to find Duster. Kumatora goes out to look for Samba, and they all hope that Claus returns one day.
Chapter 4: Club Titiboo
Three years later, the rustic farming way of life that once defined Tazmily Village is long gone. Houses have modernized. Roads of asphalt have replaced the cobblestone paths that once lined Tazmily Square, and in the well's place lies a small patch of grass. Thomas's Bazaar is now a store. Yado Inn is now a hotel. Where Wess and Duster's house once stood now stands a retirement home called Old Man's Paradise. South from there is now a Pigmask training facility. Between Tazmily Square and the cemetery is now a train station. And the economy now relies on money in the form of DP, or Dragon Points.
Lucas wakes up one morning, fixes himself up, and ventures outside his house. Mingled with the sheep whose stable was destroyed is Lucas' dog Boney, whom he takes for a walk. The two of them explore Tazmily Village for a bit, and then notice Jackie and Bronson come off a train at the train station. Bronson denies that someone called "Lucky" band could possibly be Duster, but Jackie argues that no one's seen Duster since he disappeared three years earlier. Bronson then notices Lucas, and tells him about Club Titiboo to the east, where a band called the Desperado Crash Mambo Combo play every night. He tells him that the band's bassist looks like Duster, and that Jackie is convinced that he actually is. Jackie suggests going to tell Wess, but Bronson turns the suggestion down, lest they disappoint him if it turns out to be false.
Back in Tazmily Square, Fassad continues to manipulate people into buying Happy Boxes. Wess comes along and tells him to stop corrupting the town any further than he already has. He mentions that there's something suspicious about the lightning that had been striking Tazmily Village. Fassad talks back to him, and then a Pigmask brings him back to Old Man's Paradise.
Lucas pays a visit to Old Man's Paradise, saying hi to his own grandfather Alec, before speaking with Wess and telling him about the rumor about Duster. Unable to go himself, Wess asks Lucas to see if "Lucky" really is Duster, and gives him a carrier pigeon to send back once he finds him.
Unable to afford a train ticket, Lucas and Boney walk through the man-made caverns through which the train passes. Inside are walking mushrooms, dogs with mushrooms on their heads, cyborgified moles, snakes with chicken heads, and mice with bug wings. These are just a few of the chimeras that now inhabit the Nowhere Islands, courtesy of King Porky and his henchmen.
Along the way, Lucas and Boney climb up a ladder leading to a hot spring. Quite by coincidence, they meet the Magypsy Ionia, who teaches Lucas about psionics, before helping him learn PK Lifeup, Healing, and... Love! Ionia is amazed that Lucas was able to learn PK Love, a power that even he and his fellow Magypsies don't have.
North of the other end of the railroad is a mining facility and a ropeway leading to Club Titiboo. Unfortunately, the ropeway is only available for workers of the Clayman Mine. Lucas applies for a position at the mine, signs the name of the player to a form, and gives a day's worth of work by bringing three worn-out Claymen to the facility to be recharged.
With a few bucks and a ropeway ticket in hand, Lucas and Boney ride the ropeway to Club Titiboo, only to be stopped at the door by a pair of bouncers. Lucas and Boney retreat, and Lucas dresses Boney up as a person and has him stand on his hind legs, but even then, they still have trouble getting inside until a girl named Violet emerges and invites them in. One of the bouncers demands Boney to "shake", which he manages to get right, and they're finally admitted in.
Inside the lobby, Violet whispers to Lucas that she is actually Kumatora, and promises to explain everything later. Lucas then goes into the auditorium to see the DCMC, and find a table to sit at with Boney. Violet comes in and requests his order, and he orders water. Thomas, who is also working here, snarks about ordering water of all things at a place like this, and orders a Fizzy Soda for Lucas and a Big City Cola for Boney. Violet fetches a glass of each, and then asks Lucas to meet her back in the lobby.
As it turns out, tonight's concert is almost over, and the band only has time for one more song. They play "King P's Theme," a blues remix of the marching song that plays whenever the Pigmasks march.
On their way back out, the hostess hands Lucas a pamphlet of the DCMC. Lucas and Boney then follow Kumatora through a secret underground passage from the right of the lobby, leading to her room. Kumatora is in the shower by the time they emerge. She comes out, and Lucas and Boney take a turn of their own to wash off, and then they fill each other in on the rescued monkey Salsa, the Hummingbird Egg, the Pigmask Army, everything that's happened since the events of three years earlier, and the fact that one member of the DCMC appears to be an amnesic Duster, everything that led both of them here at Club Titiboo. Violet tells Lucas that the only way they'll find out where the Hummingbird Egg is is by helping Duster regain his memory.
Kumatora then reveals a secret ladder to the attic, through which Lucas and Boney can reach the band's room without dealing with any guards, while she gets the band together and explains the situation to them. Lucas and Boney proceed through the attic, fighting their way through bats, mice, and live musical instruments, before coming back down where the band is gathered.
Lucas speaks to Duster, who had been living the past few years as "Lucky" and doesn't remember much about his real identity. Kumatora asks him to explain what he does remember, which at least does include protecting some kind of egg. He doesn't know anything about it, except that it's very important and he had to find a place to hide it. He remembers exactly where he hid it, and upon describing where, Kumatora specifies the place in question as Unknown Valley. Kumatora is determined to reclaim it, but Duster isn't quite sure, not knowing whether he's actually Lucky or Duster. If he's Lucky, then the DCMC will cease to exist, but if he's Duster, then the Hummingbird Egg had no real meaning to begin with. The other band members decide to "ask destiny", and each play jan-ken-bon with Lucas to determine the truth. Lucas wins against all five band members, and it's decided that Duster's role as Lucky no longer matters. Each band member gives him their farewell, and Duster and Kumatora both join Lucas and Boney before they all head out of Club Titiboo.
Just before leaving, Duster turns around, noticing the rest of the band back on the stage. They play a farewell song, and Duster reminisces as he watches from outside the door, about the good times they shared together. He leaves the afro that he wore as Lucky at the door, and finally meets up with the others outside.
Lucas sends the carrier pigeon back off to Wess, before the party heads for Unknown Valley.
Chapter 5: Tower of Thunder
Duster remembers hiding the Hummingbird Egg under a sleeping Clayman, and leads the party in the direction to where.
Along the way, Boney asks Lucas (in dog language) if he can revert back to being a regular dog, and takes off the clothes he was disguising himself as a kid with.
They then come to a hole in the ground, which Duster finds familiar enough. As it turns out, though, there are actually numerous holes around that look just like it, and they all lead into an underground passage built by moles.
After navigating the mole tunnels, the party reaches the spot where Duster hid the Hummingbird Egg, and Duster comes up to the Clayman resting on top.
Just then, a thunderbolt strikes, knocking Duster backwards. He gets back up, and reapproaches the Clayman, but then it gets up, fully recharged, and runs off with the egg.
Just past the spot, the party comes across a steel tower with an electrical sphere at the top, topped with an automated gun of some sort. So this is what's been shooting unnatural thunderbolts and destroying people's homes, such as Wess's and Alec's, who don't own a Happy Box.
The party continues their pursuit of the Clayman, and end up at some kind of factory. Inside, three Pigmasks are having a conversation before noticing Lucas and his friends. They mistake Lucas for their commander, and give him a proper uniform, along with some Pigmask uniforms for each of his friends. They look around inside the factory, and learn that when Claymen break down, they conveniently bring themselves out to be discarded.
They come out a back entrance, and notice the Clayman walking itself into a garbage truck with the help of a Pigmask. The Pigmask drives it off, and the party starts pursuing it on foot, until another Pigmask arrives in a Pork Bean and offers it to them. He tells them that the garbage dump is to the northeast.
No sooner than they take off does the Pork Bean slip on a banana peel and crash. Just then, another Pork Bean arrives, and out comes a very muscular Pigmask with horns on his helmet. He offers the party his own Pork Bean, but then recognizes Lucas and Boney from Club Titiboo. A battle ensues, but Lucas shows him the DCMC pamphlet that he got from the club, making him grow jealous and unable to fight. They win, and the Fierce Pork Trooper leaves on foot, slipping on another banana peel immediately upon.
The party borrows the still-intact Pork Bean, and continues their pursuit of the garbage truck. They eventually reach the landfill, and wind up fighting a broken down Clayman with some of its clay "flesh" stripped off, before finally claiming the Hummingbird Egg back.
Duster then remembers the time he, Wess, and Kumatora first obtained the egg from Osohe Castle. He realizes then that he always was Duster.
A Pigmask then stops by in its Pork Bean, noticing who he assumes to be his commander, and gives the party a ride straight to the Thunder Tower.
Somewhere up the tower, the Fierce Pork Trooper notices the party again, and has a rematch with them. Lucas's DCMC pamphlet comes in handy once again, affording the party an easy victory, but then Fassad spots them from behind, backed up by a couple of Pigmasks. He intends to get back at the party for his defeat in Sunshine Forest three years earlier, and the party has no choice but to climb further up the tower, through a scaffolding section and into Porky's recreation room.
Inside the rec room, the party notices among other things, the Friend's Yo-yo, presumably from Porky's time with Ness, before he became evil.
The party proceeds through another scaffolding section, and into the tower's generator chamber. Inside the top, they fight a robot called Mr. Generator, which they destroy. With him out of commission, the tower itself ceases to function. Fassad catches up with them, and the party heads towards an exit and climbs some rungs up the sphere. He corners them, and then eats a banana, tossing the peel aside. He then explains how he and Porky intend to end the party's lives by eliminating the Thunder Tower on a bang, while also communicating with the Pigmasks to get the Mother Porkship ready to pick him up. The ship arrives, but Fassad slips on his own banana peel and falls to his doom before he can begin to approach it. The party grabs onto its rope ladder with Duster's Rope Snake, and it takes off.
As they hang on for dear life, the real commander of the Pigmask Army, who looks like a kid but wears shades, a helmet, and a uniform just like what Lucas had earlier, appears at the door. Whoever is piloting the ship shakes it in an attempt to shake them off. Soon enough, the Rope Snake's jaw can't hold onto the rope ladder much longer, and the entire party falls down from midair.
Chapter 6: Sunflower Fields
Lucas wakes up alone in a field of sunflowers, and looks around. He explores for a bit, and then remembers his home from the past.
He hears a bark, and finds Boney hidden among the flowers.
The two of them catch sight of Hinawa's ghost walking in the direction they're facing. They follow her for a bit after she vanishes. Boney barks as she appears again, and runs off after her.
Lucas continues walking, until Hinawa appears a third time and turns around to face him. He edges up to her, and she continues her way forward and vanishes again.
Just then, he reaches the edge of the flowers, just near a cliff, off of which Hinawa floats.
He walks towards the cliff, and jumps for her, just barely unable to reach her.
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In Tazmily Village just below, Alec and Wess stand near a pile of straw, onto which Boney lands, followed by Lucas.