CHAPTER 6: EXTUS PART 3

CHAPTER 6 PART 3

With Gorosaurus and Kumonga defeated I was at the end of Extus. Before I fought Not-Ghidorah, there was something I had to do.

I wasn't expecting much from it, but for documentation's sake I took a look at the other TV Screen. This is what it was:



I don't think there ever was much reason behind the Tv Screens. If I were to guess, I'd say it's some random, uncontrolled manifestation of the cartridge's abilities. Or maybe all this makes perfect sense to the "game". Who knows. Anyway, Mr Faucet's theme was the Saturn music.

It was time for the opponent I had been dreading: Not-Ghidorah. Although I had gained courage with Solomon's combat advantages, I was still nervous. And when I started the fight, I was immediately confused:



My opponent was Not-Gezora. I defeated the imposter with a few strikes, and then Not-Moguera appeared. The it made sense; In order to get to Not-Ghidorah, I had to battle all the previous Replacements first.



And battle them I did.















I tore my way through them until I finally made it to Not-Ghidorah who was...a Dorat.



Once I stopped laughing, I destroyed him with only 2 slashes. The music stopped, and I thought I was going back to the board. But the battle wasn't over yet.





The real fight was against the Chimera, a monstrous hybrid of all the Replacement beasts. This was by far the most difficult boss yet, every attack of his would cut down whole life bars per use, while attacks against him were greatly weakened. Solomon's slash for example, was now lucky to take away 1/2 a life bar.

During this battle I gained a great appreciation for 2 things: The Boss Fight Time Limit, and the Heart Temple. Had it not been for those things, I might never have beaten this boss.

To take down this behemoth, I came up with a strategy. I would switch between Godzilla and Solomon, as one began to get dangerously low on health, I would take him through the Heart Temple, while fighting Chimera with the other. I should count my blessings that Chimera couldn't regain lost health.



A very interesting thing about Chimera was that the colored sections on his body corresponded to his different body parts, so each body part effectively had it's own life meter. The head was invincible as long as the other parts were present, and would always be the last part to be destroyed.



In addition to being difficult, it was also the longest fight so far. I tried to remember how many times I got taken out of the fight by the timer, but I lost count around 13.
Eventually I had destroyed all components but the head, which now flew around on it's own at an incredible speed.

Chimera fought well, but I was extremely determined and once he was reduced to a head, he no longer had the power to defeat Solomon, and I heat beamed him into oblivion.



And then Chimera was no more. I was exhausted after that drawn out fight, and worried that might affect my performance in the End-World chase level.

The Headquarters icon was replaced, but not by the Hell Beast Face. Instead, it was a crucifix.



I was completely stunned. I wasn't excited about seeing the Hell Beast icon again, but if there was only one good thing about those levels, it's that they were predictable. I had a basic idea of what to expect.

But now, here I was at the end and the icon was completely different. What did it mean? And why a crucifix? It made me very uneasy.

I attempted to start the level with Solomon, but couldn't. I got this notice that simply stated "SOLOMON CAN'T ENTER HERE".



It didn't say why. But I think maybe it has to do with Solomon's demonic appearance. Since Solomon was out of the question, I went with Godzilla instead.

Once I saw the level, the crucifix made sense - the level was a graveyard.



I was still on edge, thinking this was some kind of trick. The last level had always involved running from the demonic beast, and I wasn't going to be fooled into thinking this would be any different.

So I started out running, but after a minute without interruption, I slowed down. It was during this time that the music caught my attention. I knew it sounded familiar when I first heard it, but it took a while before I realized what it was - An 8 bit rendition of "Prayer For Peace", from the first Godzilla film. A very sad, powerful song, even in this form.

At 2 minutes into the level, I encountered something that I wasn't sure how to react to:



My first instinct was to run, but this blue statue-esque being simply floated in place.
And I felt compelled just to stare at it, for a time.

Since this was a grave, and it was floating over a chapel, I guessed that this was some kind of Angel, watching over the deceased.

It gave me a strange, but warm feeling. I wouldn't say "happy", but I felt that I was at peace, somehow. I had never seen this being before, yet it seemed very familiar to me.

Just as I was going to leave, The Hell Beast appeared, and it's presence warped the music into a terrifying discordant screeching and transformed the level, desecrating the tombstones as a new ground appeared, comprised of blood soaked bodies:



I could feel my heart now beating out of control, I had no chance of escape with the monster that close! It lunged for the kill, but the Angel got in it's way. The demon roared and started clawing through the Angel's leg, and tears of blood streamed from it's eyes.



I wanted to save the Angel, but there was nothing I could do. I had to honor it's sacrifice and run. And so I ran through the hellish landscape as fast I could. The beast soon caught up with me, still swallowing the body of the Angel, who's legs it had torn off.



And this sight made my terror change into anger. I now found myself hating this horrible monster. There was no doubt in my mind that it was pure evil, and I wanted it to die.

When I got to the end, I remembered how it responded to my insult in Trance, I spoke to it and said: "You're going to pay".

This was it's response;







I had no idea how I would follow up on that threat.

And nothing could have prepared me for the horrors of the final world - Zenith.