S4E29: The Other Side, Part 2

'''Two ancient enemies. A man, at war with himself. The battlefield: a world scarred beyond repair from the flames of their long struggle. With nothing left to lose except his own life, Mr. Owl leads the Sayan Squad to a final showdown with Dr. X high above Dark Side. Their one unifying enemy to their separate goals: Owl fights to right the wrongs he unleashed upon Paa, and the Sayan Squad fight to escape and warn the rest of the Rebellion about the Sayans. But Dr. X has his own ideas, with a promise of a new career at the cost of a few simple heads. With his special "project" just about ready to go, X need only wait for the bounty to fall onto his waiting lap...'''

Plot Summary
Charging through legions of Dr. X's guard robots, Mr. Owl led the Sayan Squad and the other survivors to Dark Side's star port. Along the way, it was observed that Dr. X had fully lost control of the Shadow Beasts. Runless once more and free of X's magic, the beasts returned to their feral state, tearing apart Dark Side and engaging his guard robots. Saiyo had also lent her hand, beginning to get the hang of her blaster. Kanako used this to tease her, saying they should finish quickly so that she may show Ketsueki her appreciation.

The rebels commented on the status of Dark Side, and how Dr. X's control hinged on keeping the portal open, and why X thought it a good idea to send them all to something so sensitive, especially if his empire was built upon it. Kanako scoffed at the idea of X's power being centralized in the portal, but Violetta reminded him that that one single portal was enough to exterminate virtually all of humanity, save Owl. Saiyo reminded them that a woman was supposedly alive, Storm, but her fate remained unknown.

Arriving at the Star Port, the group divided. Saiyo asked if it was really a good idea for her to join Owl and the others in facing X, but Amadeus reassured her that they would need her special talent more than the rest. Saiyo was discomforted by his reasoning, prompting Jack to start yelling at Amadeus, asking if the latter only saw everyone as pawns. Unwilling to argue with Jack, he ordered Terminos and Kanako to hold him down, which Olyn assisted with. Once Jack was bound, Owl left the star port, and led Olyn, Oneiros, Arachnos, and Saiyo into a narrow corridor. Cutting his way into a shaft, Owl leaped down several levels, emerging out the bottom after the impact of his fall broke the floor, dumping him one level lower than anticipated. Owl said this worked just fine, as it was closer to their destination anyway.

The group emerged in a large city-sized chamber almost identical to the first, save for the rampant shadow beasts and destruction. Owl confirmed that they were in fact on the other side of the base, and that eight such chambers existed, highlighting the true size of Dark Side. All eight chambers were aligned around the central command tower, the top of which held X's control room. As they got closer to the tower entrance, however, the room went dim. Dr. X spoke to them through damaged speakers so that his voice was unclear and faded. Nevertheless, the hostility was clear, and he reminded them of what he was, and what he could do. In the darkness, ten Colossi began marching on the group.

Though they were without the protective shadow magic, there was virtually no way for the four of them to take on ten Colossi by themselves. Escape was their only option. Oneiros opened a portal to the other side of the door blocking the entrance, dumping them inside the ground floor of the tower. From within, they could see it was even taller than how it looked from the chamber, meaning they had a long climb ahead of them. With that, the four began their long ascent.

Meanwhile, the other team was busy taking on the auto-defense turrets and robots guarding the star port. It was a large ring filled with starships all facing a large window that showed the exterior. After taking care of the defenses for at least the section they were in, it was noted that The General's Head was absent. While pondering this, Kanako and Terminos went further around the star port to try and destroy all of the defenses. They soon discovered most of the defenses were already destroyed by a roaming pack of shadow beasts. One of the monsters spotted them, emitting a cry to alert the others. The others responded with cries of their own in turn, but the sound could be heard coming from behind Kanako and Terminos as well. This was then punctuated with the sound of blaster fire as the remaining survivors fought other members of the pack coming from the other side. Kanako rushed to assist them, and Jack eventually took his place beside Terminos.

The starport began to brighten, and even the shadow beasts took notice. Then, a beam of golden light pierced in through the windows, causing them to hiss and retreat. Terminos attempted to find the source of the beam, eventually finding that the sun had begun to break through the black atmosphere. Violetta was already in the sunbeam, releasing tears of joy, saying she was worried she'd never see the sun again. A pained scream suddenly shot through the star port, from beyond Dark Side.

Back in the tower, Owl, Oneiros, Arachnos, and Olyn heard the same cry. Owl revealed that it was probably the death scream of every shadow beast on their side of the planet burning to death as the sun began to peek through.

By this point, the five had managed to ascend roughly halfway through the tower, noticing consoles of various age and upkeep on their way up. Some were maintained by thinner, non-combat robots, which paid the team no mind as they continued on their way. Owl said they they were probably robots meant to make sure the systems in the control room were running smoothly at all times, and sometimes assisted X with carrying out complicated operations. By the amount of the operator robots deployed, Owl surmised they had just completed one such operation and were double-checking to make sure it all went off as planned. Though, as to the nature of this operation, Owl wasn't sure.

Saiyo noticed a portion of the wall that was different from the rest, and pointed it out to the others. Unlike the rest of the walls, which were smooth metal plating, this small section of the wall was tiled, and the stairs that touched it were unconnected from the steps that ran around the smooth tile, and after a certain point the stairs were just flat bridges. This also confused Owl, but before he could ponder it further, a crash from far below them caught everyone's attention.

One of the Colossi had managed to break in to the tower. The head module detached, and began rapidly ascending through the tower in pursuit of its targets, crashing through and destroying the landings and consoles as it did so. Olyn grabbed Saiyo (and Owl, who later escaped and fled on his own accord) while she flew upwards, Oneiros and Arachnos not long after. Olyn and Oneiros tried to attack the machine, and Arachnos asked Saiyo what the weakness was. She reluctantly confirmed it was between the eyes.

The higher they climbed, the narrower the tower became. Eventually, near the very top, it became too narrow for the head to continue pursuit, and it got stuck. This left it perfectly vulnerable for Olyn to finish off, where its electronic brain was blown out and it crashed onto its useless body miles below. Owl made rude gestures towards a small section of the wall, revealing a small camera X was watching them through. Olyn hurried him along, and all five climbed into a hatch on the ceiling, into what Owl said was the "command sphere," the very top of Dark Side. The control room proper was in the upper levels of the sphere, but that their journey was nearing its end.

In the star port, Jack lamented and ranted that he was still separated from Saiyo. He said he cared nothing for the war, saying he would have left if weeks ago if Saiyo hadn't "bought in" to what he described as their delusions of saving lives. Kanako and Terminos tried to remind him that they were saving the omniverse, which included him. Jack didn't seem to care, asking why bother fighting to prolong the omniverse when everything was going to end at some point anyway?

Kanako attempted to hold Terminos back, claiming Jack and his ilk weren't worth the effort. He described him as the type of person who only ever cared about themselves; who backed out whenever their own lives were in danger. Jack shot back, saying he personally didn't care if he lived or died; and that everything he did was for Saiyo's sake, his last remaining family member. Terminos turned this around, asking Jack why bother if everyone was going to die anyway?

Their argument was interrupted by a robotic voice announcing that the starport would undergo "transfiguration." The ring then split apart, separating into two halves that rotated around the building, finally reforming, vertically. The starport was now sideways, and the voice announced the "transfiguration" was complete, though intruders were still detected within. X came over the intercom, asking if anyone was conscious. Terminos demanded to know what X's game was, but all x could say was to reiterate that the moment they stepped inside his city, 'he' owned them. X then said he had to get ready for their friends, and sent his robots to "play" with the group.

From the floor-turned-wall, many hatches opened, and through them poured in hundreds upon hundreds of crab-like robots that quickly opened fire on the rebels. Kanako used the Pillars to summon a shield to protect the Vulture crew while Jack and Terminos assaulted the crabs directly. However, no matter how many they killed, a dozen more arrived to take their place. Terminos attempted to cause a shockwave to eliminate some of them, but instead cracked the windows they were instead standing on, endangering everyone. Kanako was able to pull up an air platform just in time, and was able to maintain it until the metal shutters closed the gap. The crabs then revealed that they could float, adding an additional hazard plus the ability to fire from any direction.

Jack rushed for one of the hatches, destroying it and closing off an access point for the crab robots. Terminos soon followed suit, and then Kanako joined in, firing from below. The crew covered Terminos and Jack, keeping the crabs off of them while they closed more of the hatches. When the last one had finally collapsed, Kanako summoned a vortex to rip many of the crabs off the wall, and destroy them with an energy beam. Terminos used his multiple arms to hack and slash at the remainders, with Jack and the crewmen lending their firepower over the stragglers as well.

When the battle was finally over, Pete tried to thank Jack and "prove" that he was a vital component to the team. Jack instead used this as an opportunity to insult everybody, claiming they were "beyond help" if they never thought to attack the hatches themselves. No one was willing to argue with Jack again, so they remained quiet.

The starport then began to rotate once again, now along its axis. Like a giant, slow-moving hamster wheel, the starport team was brought to a large door where they could hear strange noises coming from behind. These belonged to Cyem, trying and failing to open the door manually, cursing, and then breaking it down.

Meanwhile, Owl and the X team were nearing ever closer to their destination. They could also observe through the windows that the Head was absent. Hopeful, Saiyo wondered if he had given up and left, though Arachnos and Olyn doubted it. Olyn on the grounds that she wouldn't know her Hood to have done that. Arachnos asked if "her" Hood would have made a deal with a multiversal tyrant with goals of omniversal annihilation, which she denied. She tried to justify Captain Hood's actions, saying there had to have been a reason. Saiyo said that her mother told her the same people in different universes can fundamentally be separate, which Olyn couldn't deny. Arachnos observed that they knew a lot about her and the Greenspan siblings father, but not much about her mother. Saiyo said she used to follow her mother as she traveled the multiverse, but then one day said she couldn't follow any more. Not long after, Dr. Greenspan adopted her.

Arachnos promised to find Dr. Greenspan and get him to tell where her mother had gone, assuming he knew where she was. He then quickly added that he hoped he didn't. As they walked along, Saiyo could be heard humming the same song that she had been singing when they first found her.

Owl led the group through the twisting maze of the command sphere, which terminated in a keyhole-shaped room, the elevator to the control room in the center of the rounded part. However, it was guarded by two special shadow beasts that Owl claimed X managed to tame without magic, using them as guard dogs instead. Owl, Olyn, Arachnos, and Oneiros engaged the shadow beasts, but had difficulties in bringing them down. Saiyo, watching this, went to war within herself, torn between her desire to help and to not use her special ability. However, her practical combat abilities were low, and as the monsters continued to fight her friends, she, with great reluctance, finally gave in. She reported that the weakness of the monsters was piercing their eye sockets with a solid, bladed weapon and then burning them.

With the monsters defeated, the X team went to the elevator, riding it up. Olyn tried to check on Saiyo, but the latter wasn't telling on anything. As the elevator rose, it slowly spun around, and the walls lit up with X's face. He taunted the group, once again reiterating that just by being in Dark Side he was in Captain Hood's hands. He asked why they had not gotten rid of Owl yet despite his incompetence, as he had failed to inform the team of his suspicions that it was all a trap. Oneiros and Olyn defended Owl, saying that though he could be lacking in common sense at times, he was far from incompetent.

They arrived in the control room, where control consoles could be seen on the wall as well as the floor. X himself greeted them while inside a pod mounted to a wall-track. He once again repeated they had fallen into their trap, and contacted Hood. He told Hood that his "cargo" was finally ready, and that Hood should open the hangar doors. With that, X pressed another button, and the entirety of Dark Side violently shook. Ketsueki, in a panic, reported to everyone that Dark Side was flying. X then revealed the true nature of Dark Side: It was, in fact, a massive ship in its own right. Apparently The General had requested to see X's finest feat of engineering, so X planned to take it with him to Eden (revealing that "Eden" was the name of The General's headquarters on Earth Triple Zero). As they spoke, Dark Side was on its way to dock with the Head in orbit, where Captain Hood would take them all to see The General. At the same time, Amadeus reported in from the starport, informing the X Team that Cyem had them pinned to the wall, having lost several more crewmen to the Emperor. In addition, Cyem was also destroying the escape ships.

Owl said he could possibly redirect Dark Side's heading, but he would need access to X's control panel. With that, the battle began. X used the pod's track to great effect, swinging around the room to avoid being hit as he used the control room itself against the team. He changed gravity, utilized a strange teleported that summoned in robots and shadow beasts, and shot at the group with bullets and lasers, but ultimately the pod was destroyed and he was dislodged. Owl scolded the rebels for damaging the pod, but said he may have been able to fix it, if given enough time.

At that moment, the lights dimmed and when they returned, X was in a thick set of metallic armor. He then engaged the rest of the team, using dark versions of Owl's own attacks while they tried to fend him off, and keep him from Owl. Owl himself requested that they keep X alive, as he had some questions to ask once they were done.

X's armor was extremely durable, able to resist even Nihility-based attacks. Saiyo once again used her ability, revealing that the armor's weakness was the face. With that information, they were able to turn the tide against X (even if it meant going a little overboard in the process). X was soundly defeated, his armor breaking as he hit the floor. Owl said he had good news and bad news: the bad news was that the controls were too damaged for him to undo X's autopilot, meaning Dark Side was still en-route to the Head. The good news was that he was able to disengage the auto-defense systems and remove the lockdown from the starport.

Owl then approached X, and asked where Storm was. X mocked Owl, taunting him and claiming he killed her, describing her death in detail. Owl called him a liar, and repeatedly demanded X tell the truth. X stuck to his story, and Owl tried to literally shake the truth out of his nemesis. Angered, X punched Owl to the other side of the room, and berated him. He reminded Owl that the sorry state of Paa was all his fault, as he was too afraid to acknowledge his own inner darkness. He would always retreat to his fortresses to hide, not from women as he claimed, but from himself; the truth that he was just as capable of monstrous acts as anyone else. That Owl was a coward who refused to accept reality, even when that reality was his own true feelings. That every time Owl his behind a mask, he only ever fed X more power.

Oneiros continually tried to punch Dr. X, whose cruelty reminded him of Hellgate, but Olyn held him back, believing Owl needed to hear what X had to say. Arachnos could only watch on in sad silence. Owl finally got up, and admitted that everything Dr. X said was true. That he was a coward who destroyed the world because he refused to acknowledge the monster growing inside him. But Owl revealed that even tearing away his dark side didn't cleanse him of his negative emotions; he still felt them. Brewing yet another Dr. X. But, he added, he would do it no more. He would finally face who he really was, and deal with it as it came. But his old dark side would need to be dealt with first.

At that moment, Dark Side began to level out. Owl said that they had to have reached orbit, and that soon Dark Side would dock with the Head. He urged everyone to hurry back to the starport and help their friends fend off Cyem, and re-secure a starship they could use to escape. Owl promised he'd catch up; but first, he had to take care of X. The other agreed, leaving the room and returning to the starport, leaving Owl and X alone.

The remaining four made their way through an even more ruined Dark Side, with nearly all the robots destroyed or fighting off the surviving Shadow Beasts. They returned to where the teams had split, originally, however they found that the star port was missing. Oneiros ventured out into space to discover its new orientation and placement, as well as an alternate entrance. Oneiros led the group to a freight elevator in a storage room that took them up to the starport.

Since Dark Side had re-aligned itself, the sideways ring that was the Starport was upside-right once again. Above them, the Head could be observed with massive mechanical clamps getting ready to grab Dark Side. On the other side of the starport, visible through the former doors now acting as windows, Cyem could be seen fighting the rest of the team. They quickly joined to help, and Amadeus reported that the captain, the chief medical examiner, and a few former engineers of the Vulture died at Cyem's hands.

Oneiros screamed at Cyem, calling him a coward for using his invulnerability generator. Cyem turned this back on Oneiros, claiming that Oneiros was mad simply because he could not steamroll Cyem as he had other opponents (namely the Nihilius Clan). Oneiros was eventually driven into a blind frenzy by those allegations and unleashed a barrage of all-out attacks on Cyem, which failed to even faze the Cimorian and wasted a lot of the Anathemite's energy. Finally resigning himself to the impossibility of the task, Oneiros asked what was even inside the Generator, to which Amadeus replied it was Force Crystals. He also added that Force Crystals were necessary to create the special counter-weapon, hence why they were so scarce. The Rebellion lacked the processing facilities The General had to refine the Force Crystals into something usable, so any they could get their hands on was treated like a precious jewel. As such, the blasters were only taken when it was believed they would be necessary; rather than carry one with them at all times.

Oneiros continued to argue with Cyem, being joined shortly by Terminos and Arachnos. Cyem (fruitlessly) tried to get them to see things in a different light, as opposed to everything being simply black-and-white, clear-cut good-and-evil. However, Cyem's words and metaphors fell on deaf ears, as the Arachni were set in their ways and utterly refused to even consider the possibility that they were not heroes of justice. They completely denied Cyem's allegations that he and them were very much the same: fighting for survival (though in Cyem's case, it's under threat).

While the Arachni kept Cyem distracted, Amadeus called in support from G Squadron. On his command, the Sayan Squad held themselves in tight, as well as holding the non-empowered crewmen down, while Ketsueki smashed through the windows into the starport. The rush of air pulled Cyem out into space, sparing them from continuing the hopeless battle.

Dr. X's voice came over the intercom, and he told the rebels he had no intention of letting them leave. His voice was hoarse and he was wheezing (remnants of the wounds sustained in The Duel). However, he still attempted to claim that Owl had been "dealt with," only for the man himself to appear seconds later. Owl was noticeably distressed, and very clearly angered. He told everyone that, while he had beaten X, X managed to get away at the last moment, denying Owl his revenge. Owl would not stand for being scolded by his friends over it, showing anger when done so.

X threatened the rebels that he was not going to let them escape. An empty pod of X's appeared in the center of the starport ring, assembling into a giant robot called the Final Smasher. Controlling it remotely, X used it as a last-ditch effort to kill the rebels and stop them from escaping. Owl, seeing this coming before it had fully built, warned the non-empowered crewmen and Kanako to hurry on board one of the starships, giving them 3/5 of a pass-code to do so. Cyem had destroyed most of the ships, but a few were operational. The rebels were able to board one just in time as the Final Smasher tore open a hole in the starport leading out to space. Thus the battle began. Like the first battle the Sayan Squad had against Dr. X and his Super Smasher, the Final Smasher also took on different forms as it was progressively weakened, until Olyn and Arachnos managed to land the killing blow.

Back inside the starport, everyone rushed to join their comrades on the escape vessel, sans Owl. Owl remained behind, torn between his desire to hunt down X and make him tell Owl where Storm was, and their pressing need to escape. With Jack's urging, Owl gave in, and started activating it. While doing so, he asked for a bottle of champagne to be created, which both Oneiros and Olyn provided. He smashed the bottle against the control panel, christening the vessel the Storm. The Storm then blasted out of the starport, and rushed for deep space.

The General's Head opened fire, soon joined by Dark Side and Cyem as they all tried to gun down the escaping ship. Owl needed time to warm up the hyperdrive, leaving a very tired and wounded Oneiros to pull up as much defensive shielding as he could for the vessel. Oneiros admitted that he had made a poor decision wasting so much energy against the invulnerable Cyem (which led Jack to slap him), but persisted to the best of his ability. Kanako, Olyn and Terminos added their power to his, making their own barriers to suffer the heavy blasts of the Head. Just before the jump, Owl opened the cramped hangar bay doors, of which was only just big enough to fit G Squadron's Mimics. Once everyone was aboard, Owl punched it and the ship jumped into hyperspace while Oneiros lost consciousness.

The ship was awash with the cries of victory. Saiyo hugged Ketsueki in joy, and the two shared a moment, leading to Jack glaring at them yet more. As soon as the Storm returned to realspace, however, Amadeus had Owl jump right away again. He cited that with Dr. X working for Hood, he would be able to know exactly where they were with Owl at the helm. Thus, Amadeus was going to have Owl take the Storm in random directions to hide their trail, as X should not have been able to predict what Amadeus would do. Meanwhile, Pete explained that with the hyperdrive as it was, it would take them about a month to reach the other side of the galaxy, where the subspace relay they were trying to get to was.

Arachnos said that there was no way they could return before The General's Sayan project was unleashed, which Amadeus was aware of but he reminded Arachnos they had little other choice. He then asked about food. Owl said that X would have packed food, though only for one. They would have to ration it very thinly, and suggested a possibility for stopping to get some supplies along the way.

With that, Pete starting directing Owl, and the Storm began taking the Sayan Squad and the other Vulture crewmen on their long journey home...

Soundtrack

 * 1) Opening - Dream a Dream  (Pop It Don't Drop It edit)
 * 2) All-Out Attack - Mount Vesuvius (Ducktales: Remastered)
 * 3) Inward Path - Rezopolis (Gex: Enter the Gecko)
 * 4) The Colossi - Wily Machine 10 (MM7 Remix)
 * 5) Take 'Em Out - Mount Vesuvius (Ducktales: Remastered)
 * 6) Feral Shadows - Space Pirate Battle (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)
 * 7) The Long Climb - Rezopolis pt. 2 (Gex: Enter the Gecko)
 * 8) Persistent Machinery - Wily Machine 9 (MM7 Remix)
 * 9) Jack's Lament - Strange People (Gyakuten Kenji 2 / Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations: Prosecutor's Path)
 * 10) The Threat of X - Inner Sanctum (Gex: Enter the Gecko)
 * 11) Small Enemy Crabs - Target Chaser (Rockman ZX Tunes)
 * 12) Cyem's Arrival - Intro (Doom 64)
 * 13) Ascending For the Final - Rezopolis pt. 3 (Gex: Enter the Gecko)
 * 14) Dark Elevator - Channel Z (Gex: Enter the Gecko)
 * 15) The Rise - Suitable Opponent (Sonic Adventure 2)
 * 16) Vs. Dr. X phase 1 - Final Battle (Ape Escape)
 * 17) Rise to Power - Inner Sanctum (Gex: Enter the Gecko)
 * 18) Vs. Dr. X phase 2 - Rez (Gex: Enter the Gecko)
 * 19) The Doom - Bomber Barbara (Megadrive remix)
 * 20) Battle in the Starport - Main Theme (Playstation Doom)
 * 21) Swift Rescue - Main Theme (Star Wars: Rogue Leader)
 * 22) Breach of Contract - Inner Sanctum (Gex: Enter the Gecko)
 * 23) Construction - Channel Z (Gex: Enter the Gecko)
 * 24) Vs. Final Smasher - Final Zone (Sonic 1 Special Version)
 * 25) The Choice - Anything But Tangerines (Earthworm Jim 2)
 * 26) Final Flight - Final Dreadnought 1 (Freedom Planet)
 * 27) Free At Last - Main Theme (Star Wars: Rebel Strike)
 * 28) Ending Theme - Main Theme (Sonic: Time Attacked)

Trivia

 * This episode was a bit-interrupted broadcast.
 * Together, both parts of "The Other Side" took over a month and a half to complete.
 * This makes "The Other Side" the longest continuous story chain in the Xat RP.
 * Part 2 also holds the distinction of being the longest episode, period.
 * Numerous references are made to Gravity and Planet of Shadows, the episodes first introducing the Paa miniarc.
 * The music played during Dark Side's ascension to orbit is a remix of the song that played when the Vulture first crash-landed onto Paa.
 * The final fight against the Final Smasher is a call-back to the fight against the Super Smasher from the Sayan Squad's first battle against Dr. X, even using the same music.
 * Also like that fight, the machine took on various forms inspired by the Sonic franchise, this time focusing exclusively on final bosses. In order, the bosses are the Giant Eggman Mech (S3&K), Metal Sonic Kai (Knuckles' Chaotix), the Death Egg Robot (Sonic 2), the Egg-Nega Wisp (Sonic Colors), and the Big Arm / Doomsday Zone boss (Sonic 3/ Sonic 3 & Knuckles, respectively)
 * During the confrontation with Dr. X, X preforms Dr. Wily's infamous eyebrow-wiggle.
 * An interquel solo named The Duel, detailing the final showdown between Mr. Owl and Dr. X, was released between the second and third broadcasts.
 * Much of this episode's soundtrack were songs SDM had wanted to use for a long time. These included Final Dreadnought 1, Mount Vesuvius, Special Version's Final Zone, Ape's Escape's Final Battle, and the Rezopolis themes.
 * This episode changed the most out of this arc between the planning stages and the actual run. The original draft was much shorter and primarily contained the tower climb and only two fights against X, one in the control room and one in the starport. However, as SDM restructured the miniarc, he included the concept of Dark Side itself being a ship, and from there continually built up Dr. X, leading to a much larger episode that doubles as the finale to The War of Light and Darkness.
 * Much to SDM's dismay, his friend Storm (of whom shares the same name as her character) was unable to join for this miniarc.
 * The massive increase in this episode's weight led to problems with the next one in line, entitled "Invasion.". Specifically, two very heavy episodes were placed right next to each other. As such, SDM requested that "Invasion" be allowed to be pushed back a week and a much more laid-back episode to take its place in the same vein as "Beyond the Stars, part 1."
 * The outline for this episode, post-expansion, was nearly as long as the outlines for the rest of the miniarc put together.
 * SDM paused the episode between Cyem and Oneiros' argument to make sure he wasn't actually confusing Arachnos (the player).
 * This episode marks the first time the Time Attacked theme has been played since "Planet of Shadows." Now that the return to SDM's old RP is finished and Owl will be taking on a much smaller role, SDM feels no need to keep using only Dream a Dream anymore.