The following morning Geo is roused by a call from Goodall with his assignment: the Satella Police want him to investigate the school, Spica Mall, and WBG Studios in order to find the Noise Waves that Dealer's been using to move unseen. We're to then talk up the denizens inside to see if we can track down Joker's whereabouts. Well that should be entertaining, given their uh, unique grasp of spoken language. Geo says that this is his chance to be like the hard-boiled detective he saw on the TV show 'WRI: Wave Road Investigators'. Yeah, you go ahead and do that.
Goodall tells us to save the studios, where Joker was last seen, for last so let's check out the school first. Examining the statue of the founding principal in the main foyer reveals a new Noise Hole, and there's even a Noise Wizard in here! After we beat him back to normal the Wizard says that he went wild after picking up some data that a really tall man dropped. The data shows up in our inventory as “Noise Code 1” with a related pop-up on the touch screen, so obviously it's an access key and we have to collect the other two in the same manner.
After nabbing the HP + 200 that's in the Noise Hole it's off to Spica Mall which has a number of new Noise Holes to open. The first one is on a sale's poster, and inside is a Synch Hook 3, a Search Eye, and a Mal Wizard that Omega tries shaking down for information, gangster-style. The thug tells us to show him what we've got, but he's not looking for a fight – he just wants the common-as-dirt Cannon card, and in exchange hands over Noise Code 2. The second Noise Hole is inside a video game displayed at the candy shop and its loot is 2000z. The guy to talk to here is a Noism whose vocabulary revolves around the word “sup.” He gives us a rather...unique quiz:
- Q1: Which of these colors is my favorite? (yellow)
- Q2: Which of these items did Sonia Strumm have stolen from her at the beach? (an empty bag)
- Q3: How many times have I said “sup” since this quiz started? (7)
I actually guessed on that last one, heh. We're given Noise Code 4.
The final Noise Hole is in the lighting system at the mall's event area. Inside is a Noism who complains about all sorts of people, “big an' scary”, “short an' scary”, and “cute an' scary” traipsing all about like they own the Noise Wave. He gives us some trash “big an' scary” dropped, which is the final piece of the access key. Then we just have to grab the Black Ink card in here and we're done.
With this new key in hand we can unlock the tear that leads to Noise Wave 2 from the event stage area at the studio. This is where the Noise Wave starts getting really tricky to navigate, as it's made up of many thin pathways that more often than not end in dead ends. There's a new WE to find here, the Flash Band that can blind enemies. Heading to the west, the opposite direction of where you'd instinctively think to go we reach an exit that leads to a deary, bunker-like installation in the real world. Past some crates and scattered equipment is a giant door made to look like the King playing card which immediately screams “Dealer” to Geo and Omega. They get a hold of the Satella Police and then decide to do some investigating of their own before they arrive. It's noted that a lot of the scattered equipment that's lying around is pretty old – Omega notes that there's a fire extinguisher that dates back to 21XX. I don't think it's ever said exactly where or what Dealer's base is but it seems to me that King repurposed a giant bomb shelter or something similar. Makes me wonder if there was a giant war or something that went down at some point during the two-hundred years between Battle Network and Star Force. There's a Noise Hole coming out of a crate with a + Wood Panel ability inside, and examining some antique machinery yields an HP Memory 10.
Soon Ace, Sonia, and a squad of officers arrive and Ace gives a pep talk to everyone, the sort of “failure is not even in our minds” speech you'd expect him to give. Our Team emblem changes to show the Dealer emblem with a slash through it, and Ace finally gets his “Crush Dealer” purpose. We have to unlock the giant King door first, and luckily there's a Wave Station nearby so that we can reach the wave road, where there's a Merchant Hertz waiting:
- White Meteor – 6000z
- Windy Attack 2 – 4000z
- Paralyze Stage – 3600z
- Recovery 150 – 3000z
Just past him is a BMW containing the Dealer Key item, which will allow us to unlock any Cyber Core that the WAZA Key cannot. Speaking of the WAZA Key, we can use it to unlock an air duct's Cyber Core (inside's an Undershirt ability and another HP Memory 10) before accessing the door's Cyber Core. It's not a proper dungeon, just another enormous Cyber Core with the Reflect ability and a bunch of Noisms making creepy grinding noises. Deleting a Mal Wizard at a control panel unlocks the door and in the team goes.
Through the door is some decidedly more modern machinery, starting with numerous Crimson-storing tanks and a giant generator of some sort. Acid analyzes the room and identifies the large device as a “Crimson machine” that's been compressing Noise down until it crystalizes. Ace orders it destroyed and officers take up position and start trying to shoot the thing with honest-to-goodness laser guns. Their peashooters have no effect and the machine's defense system retaliates with the class “deadly incomprehensible flash of light” attack, putting them out of commission. Ace and Sonia help evacuate the officers so it naturally falls to Geo to destroy the machine from within. Pulsing in to the Wave World first allows us to access a Crimson tank's Cyber Core with the Dealer Key (inside's an HP Memory 10 and + Ice Panel) and then the path loops back outside briefly (we can access a massive AC unit's Cyber Core for an HP + 100) and back into the factory where we can access a third Cyber Core within an analysis unit for a Drill Arm 3.
Finally, back to the matter at hand. The Noise coming off of the Crimson Machine is cutting off the wave road in several places and at each cut-off point is an ACCESS tab leading into the Crimson Machine Cyber Core. As we're on Dealer's home turf, the puzzle for the dungeon involves playing cards. At certain intervals there will be a small Noise specter blocking the path and to disperse it we have to walk over playing card tiles in order to flip them all over so that they're face-down. It's not to difficult though there are a few formations that are a little tough. We can reset the puzzle with the B button, and while the Noism that explains the puzzle hints that something bad happens if you reset too many times I've never gotten to that point. There are three areas in total, and in what may be a call back to the very first game, Battle Network 1, when Geo reaches each area's control panel he's beset by a trap that his allies break him out of. Sonia saves him from an energy cage in the first one, in the second the officers' Wizards hold off a horde of Noise Wizards, and while the final device, which is larger than the others, tries to drain Geo's energy and undo his Wave Change, and has the crest of Mu on it, appears to turn off on its own when we pulse out the camera briefly pans to show the Laplace sword stuck in the machine before dematerializing. Thanks Solo.
Now that the wave road's fully restored we can reach a second door that's on a landing that's otherwise inaccessible from ground level. Through the door is the long, casino-themed room where we've seen King at. Geo here is joined by Ace, who still hasn't Wave Changed and seems to still be hurting from the ordeal yesterday. He tells Geo to stay put and that he's going on ahead, but of course our heroes aren't going to allow that. Before we follow him though, we can access a Noise Hole that's inside a decorative poker chip for 2800z and a Smile Coin 2. When we reach the bottom of the steps that lead up to where King and Heartless have been Geo finds Ace crouched down on the ground. Ace shouts for him to get back before he Wave Changes into the berserk Acid Ace from the other day. Since he only just now transformed Geo realizes that stalling won't work this time, and he's got no choice but to fight his leader for real.
Acid Ace B
HP: 1200
Element: Normal
Attacks:
- Lock-On Sword – Acid Ace locks on to Geo and slashes his panel twice with a sword, dealing 80 damage per hit and breaking it.
- Ground Wave – Acid Ace unleashes a homing shockwave down the field towards Geo for 70 damage.
- Buzz Saw – Acid Ace shoots a bladed disk down one column for 70 damage. It'll take a right-angle turn to hit Geo.
- Dance Fire – Acid Ace shoots a flamethrower down one column for 70 Fire damage.
- Wide Wave – Acid Ace shoots a three-panel-wide blast of water down the field for 70 Aqua damage.
- Stealth Laser – Acid Ace shoots a volley of shots down one column for a total of 120 Elec damage.
- Squall – Acid Ace generates a tornado on one of Geo's panels for a total of 60 Wood damage.
- Wing Blade – Acid Ace dashes down one column with the energy from his jets hitting the adjacent columns for 100 damage.
So now that we have to fight him seriously now, Acid Ace's strategy is to basically pick you apart. Those card attacks of his really add up damage-wise and as he always uses a number of them in sequence if you get hit once, you're going to get hit again, and it's a good thing that I have Rogue Noise equipped, because if I had an elemental one good luck trying to maintain a decent Noise level. I found that he tended to use Wing Blade right after Lock-On Sword to ensure a hit, but thankfully you can block the energy that comes from his jets.
Winning gives us the Acid Ace card, which has him strike the nearest enemy with a piercing sword slash. If you hit A at just the right moment he'll follow up with a second slash for additional damage.
After the battle Ace grunts that that was sure one heck of a way to be woken up. His wave form is still all gray and red, but he does seem to be in control of himself at least...until he knocks Geo unconscious. So Omega calls him out on just pretending but Ace is not. He tells Omega to pass on a message to Geo: as the strongest person in the world it's now up to him to protect it and ensure a peaceful future that his children can grow up in. He flashes the Hero of Justice a thumbs up and ascends the stairs on his own. Omega quickly rouses Geo, explains what Ace is up to, and then we ascend the stairs ourselves.
At the top we find King, Heartless, Joker, and Ace who's apparently been beaten down by Joker to the point where he's lost his new paint job. Geo intervenes and the sight of Joker, after what he did to Luna and now Acid and Ace, makes him furious. He challenges Joker to a fight and the large man completely dismisses him as an emotional creature of self-sacrifice just like Ace and he'll die just like him too (from this point on the game largely stops using Never Say "Die"). King tells Joker that he may use his full power, and Joker declares that his true power, his Purpose, is to harness the strength of Meteor G itself. He calls out “Finalize!” and transforms into an armored form reminiscent of Laserman called Dread Joker.
Omega exclaims that that wasn't a Wave Change, in fact, he's no longer sure if Joker is even human! Dread Joker says that that is correct, he is not human at all, he is actually the most powerful Battle Wizard ever created, and both he and Acid are “brothers.” Both of them were originally created to harness the power of Noise Changing. However, the people in charge of the project canceled it because they were afraid of the power that they could unleash (and with good reason, given what I can do with it). Acid seems to have adjusted just fine, but Joker saw this as having his very reason for living being taken away from him, and so ended up joining Dealer as King's Wizard in exchange for being restored to his original state. It seems that Dealer continued the project, as while the game doesn't quite explain it from what I currently remember that's the only explanation for them having the Ace Program for Ace to steal. The Ace Program is supposed to have a companion, the Joker Program, which is what I assume Joker's using to transform. In the Red Joker version that's the program Ace gives Geo instead, so this scene wouldn't really make sense over there.
Omega accuses Dread Joker of...wanting to be human? I guess because he feels that Wizards shouldn't whine about the meaning of life? Dread Joker finds that idea absolutely hilarious and breaks into a peal of laughter before challenging our hero to show him who he really is, Wizard, human, or something else entirely. Geo is just concerned with taking him down once and for all.
Dread Joker
◊
HP: 1600
Element: Normal
Attacks:
- Gigaton Building – Dread Joker punches the ground, causing three metal blocks to appear randomly on the field for 60 damage. Two of the blocks will remain on the field temporarily.
- Gigant Swing – Dread Joker swipes Geo's row twice for 50 damage per hit as well as inflicting confusion.
- Destroy Missile – Dread Joker fires a massive volley of missiles down the field for 10 damage per hit.
- Break Time Bomb – A massive three-second time bomb is placed on the field before exploding for 100 damage.
- Million Kick – Dread Joker throws a barrage of kicks at Geo for a total of 120 damage.
- Dread Laser – Dread Joker charges up and fires a massive three-panel-wide, multi-hitting laser down the field that cracks all panels, deals a total of 130 damage, and inflicts an HP bug.
So here we are at our Climax Boss. His main attack, Gigaton Building, can be a bit of a doozy because you're not given much warning as to which of your panels the blocks will appear on, he usually uses the attack several times in sequence, and you're always going to have one of your panels blocked off for a little bit. His other “look out for this” attack is Destroy Missile. Unlike the Giga card version, his version of the attack has him fire a whole barrage of missiles. As you can see above they don't do much damage by themselves, but the thing is they don't inflict Mercy Invincibility and are clustered close enough that you're looking at a good 70-80 damage if you get hit once. They're destructible, but you'll need a good WE equipped to keep up with their rate of fire. If one of the blocks from Gigaton Building are still on the field they can by used as shields.
His final big attack, Dread Laser, isn't as much of a problem as the above since he doesn't use it as much and you get sufficient warning, but it can still hurt. It's like Le Mu's Mu Thunder attack in that you need to have pixel-perfect timing in order to block all the hits but you fortunately can bait him to the side to give yourself a column of breathing room. The HP bug isn't anything to worry about unless you have low HP, though two/three cracked panels can be troublesome without Float Shoes or Air Shoes.
Winning (or S-ranking I guess, since I got lucky with my Finalized folder) gives us the Dread Joker card, which has him attack with Gigaton Building. Since one of the blocks is guaranteed to hit an enemy, if you're positioned so that Dread Joker's right in front of the enemy they'll get hit twice, once from the block, once from his fist.
The series's hero theme flares up as Joker loses his transformation and goes down on one knee. Ace congratulates Geo and says that he's the strongest hero around, and Sonia finally catches up with the others. It seems that things are finally over for King, as it seems the only trick he has left is to activate an energy platform to lift himself and Heartless out of the others' reach. Geo heads over to confront them but a voice tells him to wait. The camera pans to show that Jack and Tia have arrived in the room as well. I guess they must have escaped Satella Police custody...at some point unknown...with no one knowing. Hrm.
Their arrival causes King to chuckle once more and ask his good, loyal children to take everyone out, but instead the pair tell King to hand all of his Crimson over to them now that Dealer's finished. He asks if they're going to turn their backs on their father and in response the two tell him to never dare to presume himself their father. King just laughs at being betrayed and says that he still hasn't lost yet. Joker starts flashing red and Ace recognizes that he's about to self-destruct while King and Heartless rise up on the platform and out of sight.
With no time left to do anything, Ace jumps forward onto Joker and the two begin to grapple, Joker helpfully explaining that Ace's plan is to absorb the explosive energy that he's emitting, an action that will destroy the both of them. Ace says that he can't think of a better way to go out and then sad music starts playing as we go into one of those Newtype voids you see in Gundam a lot where Ace tells Tia that his wish, his reason for leaving Dealer, was to see her smile again. She insists that she never asked for him to do that and that if he'd really wanted to make her happy he would've stayed in Dealer and helped her and Jack grant their own wish. He admits that that probably wouldn't be so bad but the past can't be changed, so he tells her to be happy, that he loves her, and then their conversation is interrupted by the sound of an explosion and Geo shouting Ace's name.
All that's left where Ace and Joker were is a large mass of Crimson. King commends the two for their contribution to his efforts and says that in death this “gift” more than makes up for his betrayal.
Virus Listing
- Raid
- These spidery robots crawl up to the front of the field and smash a hammer down on a 3 x 2 area. The shockwave can be blocked, but not the hammer itself as it's break attribute.
- Arachnid
- These spider viruses usually hang above the field out of sight but will occasionally drop down to spit some webs down their column. Stronger version will occasionally drop dummy spiders that'll scuttle towards Geo.
- Scorcher
- These robots attack with the Megaman-standard three-panel-long flamethrower. Uniquely, their flames can be pushed back by attacks to temporarily stagger the virus.
- Shock Mummy
- These electrified mummies attack by shoving a hand up through one of Geo's panels, dealing heavy damage and paralyzing him. They'll slowly regenerate HP when damaged.
Soundtrack
- Dealer's Base
- I think this song sounds like something from the Megaman Zero series. It makes me think of Phoenix Magnion's stage in particular, which also happened to be a factory.
- Crimson Machine Cyber Core
- My second-favorite track in the game. You're up against some very nasty customers, but this song is so peaceful and encouraging.
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