I'll try... calibrating the radar, but... detecting a strong weapon reading... First, go meet up with Neko and Daigo...
Hm. Could it be SECT11 causing this?
Maybe. ...I've got an odd feeling.
That's never a good thing.
I know. I'm not happy about it either.
Unlike last time we were here, there are monsters, but no Dragons at the moment. We've been to the path to SKY's pad before, in the Prologue, and all the chests are still opened, so here's what I ran into on the way to the next cutscene.
Big pigs and red apes. They're about the same as in the first game, albeit a bit tougher. Flushed Monkies can buff the enemy party and hurl Lavarock Toss to deal Fire damage and Burn, and Wild Boars can multi-target Rush and self-buff.
oops i got owned
Airgrass Nymphs can inflict Sleep and Paralysis, and Trash Golems have the Golem-standard all-target 2-hit Earthquake, a move that can deal serious damage. They're also oddly sturdy, so it's a good idea to focus them down.
Anyway,
We've been better.
Guchi: Couldn't be you dropped by because you were worried about us, could you?
Ino: Hey hey so you guys are really here, huh? Ever since that Fomalhaut chump showed up, we've all been hoping to meet up, and we've been really busting our asses and all, but like?
Guchi: With the Bloom goin' all bananas, and this frikkin' insane rain, this shit is totally way unfair!
Tell me about it, right?! Where's this jerk even get off?
That's enough chatter.
Hey, Daigo! Just the guy we were looking for.
...Been a while. Thanks for coming when we needed you. How's it been?
We've taken care of two Imperial Dragons thus far, but we've got a curious task on our hands. Where is Neko?
Back at the hideout. C'mon.
If it ain't my favorite ratty little lesbians and their mom and Richter!
Thank you, Neko.
How're things in Tokyo? We've been totally cut off here.
Well, buddy, I gotta say, it ain't great. You know about the rain, obvi, but we also had to deal with this big guy in this rift of hyperspace out at Tokyo Station, Kirino lost his arm, and we've got these hotshot American special forces who are trying to be the new you guys.
What? How do you mean? Charming and gorgeous?
No, needlessly obstructive.
Oh, that kind of the new us!
Yeah, but they don't have funny comedy routines like when you say something stupid and Daigo tells you to shut up. Instead they just make everyone really mad and shoot Koron with rocket launchers.
Weaksauce! These guys sound totally lame.
Huh. Well, our communications went haywire, monsters went apeshit. Only blessing is no Dragon down here. Me and Neko probably coulda gone out, but we'd be leaving everyone else if we did. Good thing you guys are here.
Unfortunately, we do have a bit of work to do in Shibuya beforehand.
Yeah, so, basically, Emille—that's Aitelle's sister, don't know if you know her—made this anti-Dragon weapon to try and take out Fomalhaut. Only problem is, when we were fighting with SECT11—that's the American guys—turns out it had just up and vanished. But it's in Shibuya now, apparently.
Anti-Dragon weapon up in smoke, huh? You ever see the son of a bitch that ran off with it?
You pulling my tail?! That did not happen! I carefully went through and inspected all that stuff! You think there's a goof, check yourself!
...I'm kidding. That was a joke. Anyway, of course we'll help you guys look.
Man. I really missed you kids.
It's a lot nicer having our loyal sidekicks around, huh?
This is just the mood-lifting we needed, I'd say.
The reading's coming from Dogenzaka! Please hurry and check out the scene!
Oh, Dogenzaka, huh~? Alrighty-roo, we'll take the underground route!
Everyone in SKY who's walking, move out! Follow me!
...Oh hey, Daigo, are the comms working? Can they hear me? HEY, CAN YOU HEAR ME?
Loud and clear, pal!
What's this thing look like?
Okay, explaining exactly the nature of this thing is kind of a long story that would be better served for when it happens, but if you see anything weird, uh—
Sumie, would I be wrong in assuming that there's a particular blue glow to the use of the ATL Code this weapon uses?
That's a good point actually. Yeah, if you see any weird blue glowy stuff, check that out.
Weird blue glowies, gotcha!
aww man, i love loot.
You can take those. We thought you might like 'em.
What's she taking?
The flashbangs and medicine.
Oh. Yeah, she goes gaga for that stuff, right?
LOO—
Chisa.
Go get in a fight yourself if you want to use them up!
Humph. Heef heef.
Oh, shit.
Is that—
It is!
HAMACHIIIIIIIIII
Hey! Glad to see you. What're you doing in Shibuya?
Hamachi: Got sent upstream when the Dragons hit, I did. But there's hardly any Dragons up here. That's kind of fishy, isn't it?
We're very glad to see you, Hamachi.
aw yiss. this is my kind of loot, baby.
Actually, every type of loot is my type of loot. I love burrowing through boxes and finding inexplicable valuables! It makes me so happy!
I know, Sumie.
At any rate, we headed back to take the path up to Dogenzaka from the Scramble.
...The call dropped.
Perhaps it's the weapon itself causing the EM jamming. Is that possible, Sumie?
That sounds possible... I mean, it could just be going off ambiently, altering the EM fields around here in subtle but important ways.
We should hurry, though.
How are your cats, Sumie?
The shelter in Shinjuku isn't in use anymore, so we ensured that the cats knew to go there in the case of something like this. We stopped in the day before the acid rain hit, and the ceiling was sturdy enough that I imagine it's held.
We should probably go check tonight, though.
Can we go check on my cats babe
Of course.
oh thank goodness thank you i was worried actually
The Leggingwear is physically-oriented general armor, but it's only +2 DEF over what we've got and -15 MDF, too. I don't give it to anyone.
WHOA BUG
Its pincers are quite large! Please be careful!
Hey, a new type of enemy! The Blazing Beetle isn't very sturdy, but it's got various physical attacks with decent modifiers, and can multi-target and inflict Burn. Notably, it's very fast for an enemy at this tier—it actually goes first here.
I think I won that exchange handily.
Also, Gold Rabis have been phased out for Gold Rabi DXes. They drop 500 Az each, so a much handier chunk of change, and have a 40% chance to drop Quality Fuel, and a 20% chance to drop Fabulous Fuel... which is for a later Baths upgrade, you understand.
gig guarantee makes money good
The weapon signal is somewhere nearby. Please... search everywhere you can find...
This might sound kinda weird to say, but... I missed Shibuya.
Despite the circumstances of its state, it is a truly lovely place. I understand that feeling, I believe.
Not just that. It's like...
I have really nice memories here, with you guys. We met and went right to City Hall, but Shibuya is where we all kinda... went on adventures together for the first time, you know? A lot of bad stuff happened too, obviously, but... The Shibuya Flowersea is a special place to me.
Even when everything's fixed, years from now... I kind of wish this place would stay this way. That we could leave Shibuya like this. Maybe clean it up a but, but leave the trees, the flowers, the grass.
Honestly, I feel like you wouldn't be alone in that. SKY would probably throttle any politician that tried to change it.
At the very least, you would have MP Ariake on your side.
Yeah, he'd never go against his darling daughter.
Then, as we continued talking—
We saw someone in a cloak, a flash of pink hair under a hood.
!!!!!
Wait! Come back! Please, don't run away!
Who do you suppose that was?
Whoever they were, we really should try and track them down.
C'mere, soldier, let's get you home.
Sumie. You look harried.
...
Wait, please! We're not trying to hurt you!
Guys, be quiet. Let me try and handle this, please.
Hey, don't be scared. We're not trying to hurt you.
It was a girl under the hood, likely not any older than sixteen. She didn't have on any shoes under that cloak, but she'd clearly been walking for some time. To say there was something odd about her was an understatement, but I felt something I didn't quite recognize.
My name's Sumie. I've been trying to find you for a bit.
I smelled you... in the tunnels. Are you nice? Or are you scary?
Well, I like to think I'm nice. Hey, listen—
!!!!!
Something startled the girl with the hood, and she darted off deeper into Dogenzaka.
Wait! Please, wait!
Do you know her, Sumie?
Not exactly. I mean, we've never met. But that girl...
She's important, huh?
Yeah. I...
Okay, actually? Let's just go back to the hideout. I think I've had enough time to prepare myself.
actually wait hold up
loot. ahhh this helps.
The Killer Band adds +25% crit rate to basic attacks. Anyway, let's head back to the Scramble.
Back in... gosh, I think it was December 2018? Some stuff happened, and I learned a lot. About myself, and... well, things I didn't really think were ever gonna come up again. And... it was kind of uncomfortable for me, and it's kinda hard for me to explain how?
It's like, even though I'm clearly not normal and never have been, talking about this kind of stuff puts it out there into the world in a way I wasn't ready for back then. I kind of decided I was just never going to talk about it ever again, or even think about it if I could help it, but I know that's not really healthy or anything.
I mean, it's like, it makes things complicated in this way I don't like... and until you guys I never really felt like anyone I knew would believe me, even. But I know I can't keep forcing myself to not talk about it, because now it's really directly relevant. And it sucks! You know? It sucks! It kind of sucks when you know that sooner or later you're going to have to come clean about things like this.
I donno, I'm rambling.
May I interject?
God, please, do anything to stop me talking.
The Sumie I know isn't any less real even if there are factors about her I don't know. If I were that unconfident in you I wouldn't be dating you.
man you have such a way with words babe
If this shit's actually that complicated for you it'll probably be better to have her know. She's pretty smart.
It's true! I'm brilliant.
Trust me when I say I know all about keeping quiet about complicated stuff you'd rather not think about because actually telling people about it is its own can of worms you don't want to deal with.
Is this an appropriate time to say, 'I'm here for you'? It feels inappropriate but I'm not entirely sure why.
Yeah it's not really the right time for that but I appreciate the sentiment, chief
Chisa, say something.
...Chisa?
...It's coming.
And then,
there was a rumble, and a garbled transmission from Jeanne.
-------------------
A great and terrible energy coalesced upon the Scramble Crossing in Shibuya,
and the earth quaked beneath our feet,
Ino: Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!
Guchi: W-what the hell's this?!
and an unmistakable shrill cry pierced the air.
—!! That screech!
Uhhhh. Is that a wormhole in front of 109?
Chisa, should we be scared?
...Fine, then. Come at me.
I think that's a 'yes'.
From the depths of the pitch-black pit did our next opponent crawl,
eager to take vengeance upon us for its previous loss.
Oh, you've gotta be fucking kidding me!
The Sleepy Hollow?!
Hey, Chisa! Some heads up would be appreciated next time we're fighting a goddamn necromancer!
This is bad! We aren't adequately prepared for this Dragon's tendencies!
What do we do?!
Survive!
Surpriiiise! The triangle bug is back as a zombie!
This isn't the real fight—we just have to survive for three turns. That's... actually harder than you might expect, this time around. For the first turn, we go on the defensive.
Ow! What does this one do?
It's preparing for a flyover already?!
Is that when I do this?
And here's why! As in the first game, Madness Flight has a 100% chance to inflict Chaos, which—if it needs reiteration—is like Confusion but you only hit your own allies, and Sleepy Hollow starts this fight by firing it off on Turn 2.
I'll kill you! Bastard!
Oh god! Oh god, what am I doing with this?! I don't know how to use a knife!
TUUUUUUUUUURURURURURURURURURURU
...so yeah, I survive with things this close to death this try.
Shut up, Neko. There's a lot more Dragons coming. We gotta tell everyone to hide.
But that bastard butterfly—!
You can kill the damn butterfly later! We gotta join up with Unit 13!
Yeah, yeah, I know!
Mio, please snap out of it!
Wah! What? Huh?
I've got Sumie and Chisa! Let's get going!
Well, Mio, now you know what that one does.
Wish I didn't. Ow. My head hurts.
Yeah, that's normal.
What do you mean Fomalhaut can resurrect dead Imperials?!
It's not something that really comes up often! He can only resurrect them when there's pre-existing terraforming to use as a basis for the information, and that doesn't happen often! I forgot to mention it!
Shit! We're jammed!
We'll have to get out the long way.
The Dragons have already infested the area?!
I'll carve a path through them!
Dramselflies aren't sturdy at all and have weaknesses to Fire and Aerial, but have an innate 30% evasion rate and can inflict Confusion and Sleep.
Please do!
Argh, damn!
Alright, got it!
Almost there!
Yeah, when I said not sturdy I really meant it.
Two more over there!
No problem! These guys are small time.
We can't let ourselves be overwhelmed!
You got it!
Great shot, you two!
Alright, that one's about dead!
Oh, no! Please wake up, you three!
Argh, damn it!
Sorry, I think we got a bit overwhelmed.
Just don't let it happen again.
OW, WHAT
Oh, yes, they can do that.
One more good shot should do it!
Single!
Double!
Triple!
Home run!
Okay, back to serious mode!
What're you doing around here, Tao?
Tao: Are we really gonna stop to shoot the breeze?! I'm running! I mean, you know, isn't all this hallucination super-confusion stuff way too much? I know you guys are strong, but—okay, maybe you guys and us should just get in a big battle royale with these guys, and watch for the baby Dragons after, or something, they like attacking while we're sleeping!
You're rambling.
Tao: Treasure! Just take it!
That's a new breed.
It'll be a dead breed in a moment!
Stabdragons have a very good name. They're physical-oriented Dragons with the ability to inflict Paralysis.
SHUNK
Sumie, a double, if you would?
I love doubles!
Burn!
Tch! It's nimble.
Scratching Post is a self-buff that largely serves to annoy me when a Stabdragon does it instead of an attack that it can use to run into Youka's face.
Die!
Man, of course we had to get a zombie dragon right when I'm having a moment, right?
I get a pre-emptive attack, so this one just sorta dies.
Daigo!
This way!
See? We were able to naturally make use of our supplies.
Pow.
Next time, well, uh, we'll still be running out of Shibuya!
