Dyne tells Vyse to call him “Captain,” not “Dad.” I imagine this will be a running joke throughout the game, that is, if Dyne lives longer than the average RPG hero’s parents.
Fruity greets Vyse and Pippi as they emerge from a room with a treasure chest. He’s up on a higher level, and his Vice Captain of Exposition is holding the girl from the first scene over his shoulder. She’s still unconscious, obviously. Vyse demands to know who she is, and there’s the usual insulting dialogue between the good guys and the bad guys. Guess what? Fruity is busy and isn’t about to tell Vyse anything. Shocker.
It looks like Vyse and Pippi actually beat the soldiers for good this time. Of course Fruity and the VCoE ran off while the two Ass Pirates were otherwise engaged, so it’s time to go look for him.
Treasure chests, flashing red lights, corridors, and random battles. There, I summed up the next several minutes. I wonder if the flashing red lights were the seizure-inducing lights we were warned about earlier.
Vyse and Pippi meet up with Fruity again, who is still too busy to deal with the two of them, and tells them they can have the ship if they want it that badly. But of course Vyse and Pippi have to rescue the girl, so it’s time to keep going.
More treasure chests, more flashing red lights, more corridors, and more random battles. Then, a door leads to the outside of the ship. It looks pretty cool. See, even among all the sarcasm and negativity, I still have time for compliments. After Vyse and Pippi descend a ladder and re-enter the ship, the scene cuts to Fruity and the VCoE. Fruity is opening the big front door of the ship. I don’t know what the proper name is, but it looks like a giant drawbridge.
VCoE announces that he has readied their escape. Fruity replies that he has also finished his plan, which is to dispose of a traitor. Turns out that Fruity is going to throw VCoE, who, incidentally, is innocent, overboard and blame the whole “getting attacked by Ass Pirates” thing on him. Fruity is a bad, bad man. Sure enough, after announcing the whole plan, he throws VCoE overboard. I sure hope there will be another character who can fulfill the purpose of explaining what is going on. Fruity then continues obnoxiously talking to himself out loud (about his plans, of course) until the two Ass Pirates show up to thwart him.
It sounds like some big burly guy he met at the “bar”.
Vyse announces that they will be taking the girl with them, and that he has one more thing to do. “After seeing you kill an unarmed man in cold blood, I can’t allow you to walk away from this. Draw your blade, [Fruity]!” Go Vyse! Fruity flips his hair and says that the Ass Pirates aren’t worth the effort. In other words, he’s a scared little man. He sends his “pet” Antonio out to battle them. Antonio is not a man that Fruity met in a bar, as I first surmised. He is actually a big, bull-like creature in full armor. And he’s pissed. I would be too if I were an animal and someone put armor on me. It’s like when I put my dog’s sweater on her. Not happy.
Antonio has big horns. I could make a “horny” joke, but I won’t. Fruity says that Antonio is his personal war beast. I want a personal war beast. It sounds cool and evil. Not stupid and evil, like Fruity. Since Antonio is the first boss, he is slightly tougher to beat than the wussy soldiers that Vyse and Pippi have been fighting thus far. The battle still doesn’t last too long, due to Vyse’s “Cutlass Fury” attack. How appropriate that they are ASS pirates and the name of the attack is “CutlASS Fury.” See? I’m good at this. The characters yell out the name of the attacks. How anime.
Fruity recalls some of the lines he memorized out of his “Big Book of Bad Guy Catchphrases” and spouts out, “Bah! Perhaps there is more to you than meets the eye. Well, Vyse of the Blue Rogues…You will rue this day…the day you stood against the Valuan Empire. We shall meet again.” And with that, he takes off on his little bad guy escape ship. Vyse and Pippi are pissed, but they’re happy to have the gold, of course.
They look at the girl, whose pretty little theme starts playing, and wonder where she’s from. Her clothes are odd, according to them. At least her skirt is long enough so that her ass isn’t hanging out. I think Pippi’s outfit is a lot weirder. So the girl is likely a Member of an Ancient Race, most likely magical, and probably not much of a fighter. Just hazarding a guess here.
It’s like my old dorm room…only bigger.
The scene cuts to a room with a few pieces of futuristic furniture. There’s a teddy bear on the table and a flashing screen on the wall. Not a very cozy room, but at least there’s a big screen TV. There’s some “voiceover” stuff about home. Then, a glowing figure between two other glowy torch things says “Fina…You…replace…Rami…the…Moon…” There’s a moon named Rami? Well, I guess Fina is the unconscious girl. The glowing figure, who I guess is an Elder (my big clue was someone’s “voice” addressing him as “Elder”), continues, “However, watch yourself. Do not allow trust.” There’s more ellipses in there, but I don’t feel like writing them all out.
A very disturbing awakening.
The screen goes black after the “dream sequence” and now Pippi is talking, asking Vyse how Fina is. Maybe she should be asking Fina, because she’s waking up. We see Fina’s point of view, and as she opens her eyes, Vyse and Pippi are leaning over her. It’s a scary sight, probably even more so for someone who came from a land of stark dorm rooms and glowy elders. The camera shifts, and we see Fina sitting up in bed. She asks “Where am I?” because she has read the “Damsel in a Strange Place Handbook.” Vyse tells her she’ll be safe. Pippi adds that the Blue Rogues are always there to help people. Ah, see, they’re GOOD pirates. Get it?
Oh Vyse, you big stud.
Introductions are made, and I have the choice of making Vyse say “That’s a great name,” “That’s a strange name,” or “So where are you from, exactly?” Of course you know that I want to pick the second one, just to be an ass. But once again, being nice and all actually matters in this game, so I pick the first. There’s a bit of banter as Vyse tries to compliment Fina by saying “It’s a great name…it’s so…so feminine.” Wow, way to go there, Casanova. Fina is confused, and Pippi gives Vyse a bad time over his lack of skill with women. Hehe!
Fina innocently asks what an Ass Pirate is, just so that we can be treated to some exposition. Vyse and Pippi are surprised that there’s someone who wouldn’t know what Ass Pirates are. Please tell us, Vyse and Pippi. And my wish is granted. “Basically, Ass Pirates are sailors that attack other ships and steal their cargo,” Vyse explains. Fina is alarmed. Pippi adds that there’s no need to be afraid. There are good pirates and bad pirates. Blue Rogues are good because they only steal from armed ships and rich people. Ah, so they’re like Robin Hood. The Black Pirates, however, are bad and evil because they’ll attack anyone, including unarmed ships. Oh, so there’s certain situations in which stealing is okay, kind of like when you are an RPG hero and you find items in people’s houses. Robin Vyse says, “We rob from the rich and keep the gold. But, we use the gold to save people that need our help.”