Chrono Cross Game Blog Part III: Revelations, Puns and Mojo

Okay, back for another blog post! OMG. The music is back. Must…resist…tranquil beauty…of song…

Whew. Made it back to Lizard Rock, which, if you recall correctly, is where we nabbed those Komodo Dragon Scales for Leena, AKA Spiteful Bitch. Sorry, still bitter. Allegedly, the enemies here are supposed to be tougher because we are in an alternate world, but not for me and my uber-party of Serge and…Poshul. *Shudder*

So we arrive back at Arni village, but no one seems to recognize Serge! What can this mean? Is he in Hell? Purgatory? Did he fly on Oceanic Airlines? Is Poshul really Hurley? How do I know so much about Lost and only have watched it once? Most of the people in Arni are the same, but there are some differences, like the tavern is now a flower shop. I wonder if Aeris works here? There is still a group of thieves calling themselves the Radical Dreamers causing some havoc in Termina, so some things are the same in both worlds.

A visit to Serge’s house shows that things are quite different here. The house is empty and Serge’s room is a junk room. Hmm. Mystery! As I exit, some guy who claims to live there tells me to get out. About time! I’ve always wondered how RPGs let people get away with walking into stranger’s homes and ransacking the pots and family treasure chests. Just seems kind of klepto-ish to me. Anyways, this dude says he has lived here for 5 years, which freaks even Poshul out. Trust me, a freaked out Poshul is not something you want to experience sober.

In a not-so-subtle twist, Poshul has a home here, which means there are two Poshuls in this world RIGHT NOW and yet the fabric of space-time seems stable. Odd. Apparently, I need to re-evaluate my quantum physics skills. Hey, Leena’s hanging out on the pier! (Again.) But she doesn’t recognize Serge, which another clue that something is staggeringly wrong here. Unless this is another trick of hers to get out of giving up the loving after I gave her that necklace she so coveted, something is seriously amiss. She mentions that Serge looks like the boy who used to live next to her, but he died! He drowned when he was very young, about 10 years ago.

Hey, remember when we found out that Serge was attacked by a panther demon back in Home World 10 years ago? Interesting…Oh, and in Another World, after Serge died, his mother died shortly after, so this is an all around feel-good kind of story. When I try to tell her that I’m Serge, she thinks it is some sort of cruel joke and I can’t really blame her for that. Guess I ruined my shot at some Leena Love in this world, too. Serge isn’t exactly known for his pimping skills, is he? The most tragic thing about this is that he might die a virgin.

Ha! Leena wonders what would have happened between the two of them if Serge hadn’t died. Let me answer that: NOT A WHOLE HELL OF A LOT! She tells me I should go visit the grave at Cape Howl. So I do. Sure enough, there is a marker there that says Serge died when he was 7.

But a voice from behind says, “So you must be Serge, the ghost of the boy who died 10 years ago.” Standing behind Serge are 3 warriors, who direct Serge to come with them. They kick Poshul off the cliff! Hells yeah! These guys rock! I am so going with them! The leader, Karsh, says that someone told them they would find Serge here. Odd, since everyone in this world thinks Serge is dead. Must be someone important and evil. After all, only someone truly sinister would kick a poor, defenseless and highly annoying pink dog off a cliff. Shades of Baxter from Anchorman. That’s how they roll. They attack! Big mistake, losers!

But before anyone can strike, a blonde girl appears behind them. Its the girl from the prologue of the game, when Serge was dreaming. She leaps to join Serge and the battle begins! This girl is feisty! She told Karsh she would kick his arse so hard he will kiss the moon. Not sure what that means, but it sounds pretty bad-ass coming from a petite blonde chick. The 3 enemies are named Solt, Peppor and Karsh. Puns. Gotta love em.

This is not really a tough battle, even if you don’t have New Game +. It’s another tutorial battle to explain the Elements in better detail. Thankfully, brute force overcomes all so I make short work of these punny guys. Get it? The losers flee, but Karsh seems especially mad. Judging from the fact that he is the only one without a food-related name, I think he’s the one to watch out for in the future.

The girl knows who Serge is and reveals her name to be Kid. Well, that’s catchy. She says she was passing by and saw Serge needed help, but I think we can all see through that one. She wants to join the party! I say yes, of course. Now, by allowing Kid to join, this means that Leena will refuse to join me, but screw her. Petty revenge is sometimes fun, isn’t it? Besides, it’s not like we will need her. Plus, I accidentally hit the wrong button instead of rejecting Kid like I wanted to. Oh, well. We head back to Arni to rest.

Kid suggests we go to Termina, since that’s the biggest city on the island. Poshul, who sadly survived his fall from the cliffs, agrees. I wonder if Termina has a kennel or something I can board him in. Kid also gives me a device to switch party members in the field, which is a handy thing to have. Poking around the village once more before I leave, I enter the house where the guy back in Home World gave me a Shark Tooth. In this world he is praying to what appears to be a giant scarecrow-like voodoo doll. He seems pretty fanatical about it. I give him the Shark Tooth and explain that it came from a different version of him, from a different world. To be honest, I am shocked that Serge is running around spouting off this kind of stuff. Didn’t he watch Life On Mars? The guy gets pissed, screaming there is no other version of him and yadda yadda yadda, runs off like a girl.

As I start to leave, the voodoo doll comes to life! He says his name is Mojo and he brings good luck to people. He wants to join me because he senses there is a purpose to what we are doing. How trite and vague. Welcome to JRPGs. The good news is that I now can kick Poshul’s pink ass out of the party and use Mojo and Kid instead.

Which is where we’ll leave it for now. Next week, we visit Termina, where all kinds of crazy stuff happens. Thanks for reading!