New scenario, new villain scene. This time we're checking up on Solo, who I guess put himself into the Un-Dimension for a time-out after losing to Geo again or something. Hollow shows up to pay a visit, once again offering Solo the use of the Indie Proof item. The boy initially rebuffs the offer with his “I don't need help” shtick but does an about-face when Hollow says that he needs it if he truly despises Link Power. The Indie Proof will supposedly grant him extraordinary power, Hollow explains, but he'll have to give up his own Link Power to use it. Solo retorts that he has no Link Power to give up and uh, I guess absorbs the Proof (which looks kind of reminiscent of a Dark Chip, actually). The slab of metal is apparently a symbiote or something, 'cause Solo starts screaming in pain and Hollow mentions it'll take a while to fully “bond” with him. Or maybe he's suffering from cognitive dissonance – that would make sense too.
Back to Geo's room. Only one more friend is MIA, and he gets an excited call from Bud saying that he thinks he knows where Sonia is. Over at Bud's house he and Zack had been scouring the international TV news channels since that's worked out for them so far, and they recorded a news story that piqued their interest: aircraft have been breaking down after flying through a certain patch of sky, and the report is in interview with an affected pilot. Channeling Chesley Sullenberger, he was able to crash land his plane into Loch Mess, but before he lost control he claims that he saw “some young girl wearing pink clothes and just floating in the air!” That's enough for Zack and Bud to jump to “Sonia Strumm!”, and Geo decides to head over to Loch Mess to talk to the pilot and flesh out the information a bit.
Let's do another job sweep first though.
Wilshire Hills Job 8: Van Geaux
This man is a connoisseur of the fine arts and so far he's laid eyes upon ninety-nine masterpiece paintings and is looking for one more to make it an even hundred. We have to find that last painting, and thanks to conservation of detail the masterpiece is the only other painting in the game, which is the landscape hanging inside the Peak Hotel's suite. Informing the man as to its location nets us Plasma Gun 3.
Wilshire Hills Job 9: Carma Iffy
This girl's into something called Mega card reading. Makes me wonder how you'd divide the bosses up into arcana suits. Her fortune predicts horrible luck, so she wants to find a fortune teller named Mother Hills for advice. Mother Hills is within an entrance way that can only be reached by wave road. Somehow she can see Geo as Megaman and she already knows what he's here for. We have to deliver a good luck fortune to the girl, and we're rewarded with an HP Memory 10.
Wilshire Hills Job 10: Kaz Nova
The ladykiller-wannabe's heart has been captured by a new girl, and of course he wants us to bring her to him. He says she's at the base of IFL Tower but she's really on an outdoor viewing area that can only be reached from the museum. What follows is pretty funny. She asks questions about this guy, and you're supposed to provide flattering descriptions (such as saying he's handsome and muscular) but when she asks if he's manly instead of choosing the “right” answer (Like a lumberjack!) you're supposed to say no because, as she says, if he really was manly he'd ask her out himself! Telling that to the client convinces him to grow some cajones and he gives us a Radar Missile 3.
Wilshire Hills Job 11: Ruina Recker
This woman has a propensity to accidentally break stuff, no matter how major or minor. She thinks she's broken the guide board on the second floor of the shopping plaza, but Omega suspects a virus just jumped into it from her Star Carrier. Pulsing in and examining the board in question triggers a battle, and afterward we can claim our reward, an HP + 300.
Grizzly Peak Job 11: Meala DeVour
The self-proclaimed number one gourmand in the world returns, and once more there's a kind of food that she hasn't tried yet. It's called Soul Food, made by an old woman in Whazzap called the Soul Mother. She's in the second area of the Whazzap ruins and she gladly gives us a sample of her cooking to take back, and we end up getting an HP Memory 10 for our efforts.
While in Whazzap there're two new ES's to access, one in the Mu herald statue and the other in the ammonite fossil for the Titan Glove Mega Weapon (high power, very low speed and charge), a Merchant Hertz who's selling the White Breath Mega Weapon (Charge Shot may freeze enemies), another Blank Card, and an HP Memory 10. Terra Condor EX is located in the second area of the ruins, and his card has him randomly fire missiles down each column.
Grizzly Peak Job 12: Chatty Ditz
Oh boy, it's one of those RPG sidequests, the kind that has you backtrack all across the game world on a scavenger hunt. So, this girl has a treasure map that she can't make heads or tails of, and no wonder – it just says “ancient fish” on it! “Ancient fish” refers to a fossil at the museum, and examining it yields a new message, “four great wings catch the wind.” That's a reference to Mess Cove's windmill, and examining that offers the next hint, “the king of birds which has forgotten the sky.” That means the penguin fossil in Whazzap. That's the last place to hit, as there's a letter buried there addressed to our client. It's from her (presumably deceased) grandfather, but what's with the letter is apparently worthless since she lets us keep it. It's an ancient cellphone strap according to the item flavor text, and it's got a Cipher Code for a Synch Hook 3 *1.
Now when Geo enters Loch Mess for the first time during this scenario the scene quickly shifts to Vega's hideout where Hollow's reporting that he's having their new assistant investigate the area east of Whazzap where Mu supposedly lies. He's brought 'em under their sway because she's a “pure, kindhearted girl” who, he adds ominously, “doesn't have a choice.”
Subtle this game is not.
Anyway, the pilot's easy to find. He's over in Mess Cove and is the only generic NPC to be given a custom accessory (a pilot's cap). He's also got the very unfortunate name of Tayle Spinn. Upon being asked about the girl he saw he says that the plane's black box should've recorded everything, but it's at the bottom of the loch at the moment. Despite all the passengers and crew surviving the splashdown the plane is all in pieces somehow. So into the drink, where the black box is at the bottommost part of the second area. There's a fallen Hertz there with Indie Frag 5 too.
Even though we have the black box, we still need a way to play the recording that's in it. That just calls for borrowing the projector Matter Wave Projecto Snoot from the TV cameraman that's Brothers with Zack. When we do play back the video it's mostly static due to the plane's instruments getting messed up, but there is a clear shot of Harp Note towards the middle. Geo asks the pilot where he was when the plane started to malfunction, and he replies that he was in the airspace of the Bermuda Maze, naturally east of Whazzap. So wait, his plane conked out over there yet he crash landed in Loch Mess? That would make sense if the Bermuda Maze had dimension-altering aspects to it like what is sometimes claimed of the Bermuda Triangle, but I have to assume that it doesn't because nothing like that's mentioned. In any case, since it's adjacent to Whazzap Geo figures that he should take the Sky Wave and see if he can't reach.
Whazzap Job 1: Y'Gat Riddem
This request is sort of like the infamous whiskey rap-off from Battle Network 2, only not as entertaining. This boy's beatboxing, and we just have to repeat what he says correctly. The reward is a Silver Meteor.
Whazzap Job 2: Wazafowonwon
Time to match wits with the Quiz Queen!
- Q1: Whazz the name of this village's savior? (Budicus)
- Q2: Which tasty food can be found at Whazzap Lines? (nutritious eggs)
- Q3: Of Fire Ring 1, Dance Fire 1, and Kilo Bomb 1, which card has the lowest attack power? (Fire Ring 1 for sure!)
- Q4: The cards I just named were Fire Ring 1, Kilo Bomb 1, … (and Dance Fire 1.)
- Q5: Whazzap?! Whazzap! Whazzap?? Whazzap! Whazzap? Whazzap?! How many “?” did you just see? (He, he, he, “5.”)
- Q6: Whazzap?? Whazzap!! Whazzap Whazzap??! Whazzap? Whazzap!! Which one of the following is not in Echo Ridge? A mailbox, a vending machine, or a pool? (A vending machine.)
- Q7: A mailbox, a doghouse, a vase, a bed of flowers, and a beach ball. By the way, what number question are we on? (...question 7?)
- Q8: What is the name of the prehistoric fish at the museum in Electopia? (Mackrelfilletychius!)
- Q9: What tree is there only one of at the Grizzly Peak Resort? (A Christmas Tree?)
- Q10: What special attack does the virus riding a carpet possess? (Rolling out the carpet!)
The prize is an HP Memory 20.
Whazzap Job 3: Kyanaigotu
This boy wants to travel around the world to places like Electopia, Sharo, and Choina and eat their cuisine. But he's going to run away to do so, which is a bad idea. We convince him otherwise by answering his questions about the world:
- Q1: Whazz the name of that tall tower in your country? (IFL Tower)
- Q2: Whazz the name of that famous skiier in your country? (Amy Gelande)
- Q3: Which animals roam the Messie countryside? (sheep)
- Q4: Whazz the name of the TV program popular around the world? (World Mysteries)
After Geo warns the kid that a lot of the stuff on World Mysteries is fake he's given the Run-Away item, a guide to, well, running away. It's got the Cipher Code for a Radar Missile 3. Why do these quest rewards keep repeating?
The other two jobs in Whazzap that are currently available require really high Link Power (400 and 500), so for now it's on with the story. The security door leading to the Bermuda Maze entrance is easily forced through because someone already broke it down once before. The Bermuda Maze is a collection of wave roads shrouded by an eerie fog. And as soon as Geo steps out of the teleporter, there's Sonia in her wave form, standing a little ahead. But their reunion does not go very well. She tells Geo to leave her alone as she's not coming back, and continues to insist that she doesn't care when he tries to get what's wrong out of her. Finally she gets fed up with him and, in an Ironic Echo from the first game, deletes their Brotherband to prove that she really means it. And then attacks him for good measure. So much for friendship I suppose.
Back to Vega's hideout again, but the only real purpose of this scene is to establish, in order, that the Bermuda Maze is a maze, and that Vega's not happy with Hyde for failing so many times, so the honor of retrieving the OOP Art is now passed on to Hollow. Just as well, he's the only henchman we haven't fought yet. On to Geo's room, where he's back to being mopey, though here it's more justified I'll give him. He gets a call from his friends saying that they're coming over to check on him, but he says to Omega that he's not in the mood for them and he doesn't even know how to break the news of Sonia's about-face to them. And since our Brotherband with Sonia is no more our Link Power has dropped, so at this point the game makes you reshuffle your ability load-out if you're over the limit.
So, Geo's ducking out on his friends and going somewhere. If Vista Point were accessible in this game it would probably be there, but as it stands the player isn't given any indication at first where to go, and even hitting L for advice doesn't help because Omega doesn't have a clue what's on Geo's mind either! The plot only progresses when you examine the bus stop as if to go somewhere, at which point the game quickly updates you on Solo's status (still in the Un-Dimension) and then fades back in to show that Geo went to Wilshire Hills. Once again, there's no indication of what you're supposed to do here; you can wander around the whole place without triggering a new scene.
What you're supposed to do here, and I don't know how the player is expected to figure this out other than mashing A at everything in a loss, is examine the screen that's playing the drink advertisement that's starring Sonia. This triggers a flashback to when the two became Brothers and promised to find new selves, and it was apparently quite a long one for when we fade back in on the present night has fallen. Omega finally asks Geo what's on his mind and he's basically just feeling down that the first person he could call a friend has turned on him like this.
His thoughts are interrupted by the ground shaking and Hollow appearing on top of a building spire. The people of Wilshire Hills immediately start freaking out at his appearance and he summons a bunch of Murian Warriors to draw out Megaman. Geo seems to somewhat reluctantly agree to fight them, and the Warriors are different now. Now they have elemental affinities, indicated by what color they are in battle. After clearing them out Hollow asks for the OOPArt, Geo naturally refuses, the same old song and dance occurs...but then the screen dims a bit and Hollow comments that Solo has “awakened.” He rises up out of another one of those black holes and without a word Wave Changes into Rogue. Now he's sporting an aura emanating from his feet and a new, foward-facing mugshot. Omega says that since they beat him last time they can take him again, but when Geo charges he's repelled by some kind of circular barrier. He tries his buster, but that's blocked too.
Hollow explains that this EM wave barrier is the power bestowed by the Indie Proof. It's a passive, automatic power, symbolic of how Solo has forsaken any and all bonds or ties with other people. Rogue speaks up to say that the barrier's proof of how he doesn't need friends or bonds and that Geo's belief in them makes him weak, blah blah same old spiel. Of course he oh-so-conveniently ignores the fact that this power isn't technically his. The only reason he has it at all is because he...you know...accepted help from someone. Anyway, fight time.
Rogue EX
HP: 1200
Element: Normal
Attacks:
- Rogue Arts – Rogue attacks Geo with a series of punches and ends with a flipkick that deals 30 damage per hit.
- Rogue Burst – Rogue fires off a two-column-wide shockwave for 60 damage.
- Rogue Knuckle – Rogue randomly fires a volley of energy fists down the field for 80 damage per hit.
- Mu Rejection – An automatic barrier defends Rogue from all damage.
Hopeless Boss Fight. Rogue doesn't take any damage and the fight ends after a few turns.
Rogue's about the strike a decisive blow when Geo finds himself whisked all the way back to Echo Ridge (it's apparently also morning now). His savior is Sonia and he takes it as a sign that she's regained her senses but she still insists that that's not the case and that she won't guarantee that there'll be a next time. She does at least speak of what's happened this time, that she's now working for Vega's group, surprise surprise. Geo jumps to the reasonable conclusion of brainwashing or coercion and of course she bullshits that she's doing this freely. Well whatever. She teleports away and we're stuck with nothing to do but go home. It's only here that Hope takes note of her son's absences and forces him to go straight to bed. Not much point with the sun already out, but okay then.
To Bermuda Maze for our regularly-scheduled nap cutscene. Surprise surprise, Sonia's helping out Hollow solve the Bermuda Maze with her abilities in exchange for them leaving Geo alone. To bad for her Hollow's pulled a Darth Vader and claims that they'll only do so after taking the OOPArt. Oh, and he's well aware that she saved Geo at Wilshire Hills. He says that if she ever does something like that again she and Megaman “will never see each other again” and then warps away, leaving her alone in the eerie fog.
Virus Listing
- Lampis
- These fireflies will either try to blind Geo with a flash of light or simply kick him in the face.
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