Encounter

'''With his brother in hand at last, Jack can return to ERAC. But during a sudden detour, they meet a sinister enemy...'''

Background
Written by SDM, Encounter directly follows after Isolation. Like Isolation, it is from Jack Greenspan's perspective

Synopsis
Now that Jack has found his brother, he leads the two of them back to ERAC HQ. Jack cannot help but feel down since he had defended a monster, but was glad that the Sayan's own acting had led him to his goal all along. Despite this, Jack cannot see to get James to divulge any information about his travels, much less speak at all, and must constantly check to make sure James is still with him.

In the distance, a strange glow attracts Jack's attention. His curiosity outweighs his desire to bring James home quickly, and the two of them go in search of the glow, quickly finding themselves at the pod site again. The two of them have a moment of silence next to the pod, then Jack begins searching for the strange glow he saw. Their search leads them beyond the pods and past some underbrush until they come upon the source: Saiyo, or the alien disguised as Saiyo, watching them from within the forest and wearing a wicked smile.

the fake Saiyo begins mocking Jack, questioning the ability of his "pea-shooter" (the arm cannon), then questioning Jack's fondness for Saiyo and wondering if any incestuous undercurrents are involved. Enraged, Jack both yells and attempts to shut the creature up with his cannon, but can only stare in shock and surprise when all he hears is the clicking sound of an empty barrel.

Laughing harshly at Jack's misfortune, the alien stars mocking his attitude and personality of trying to be a hero with a hard edge but also a heart of gold. Jack suddenly realizes that he can't even move now, and the alien explains that he's in its world now, and its ready to see what's left after everything that drives Jack is gone.

The alien proceeds to use the face and voice of everyone Jack had ever known to tell him that he had fucked up big time. The voices ran from screaming to being told off to calm assessment, and each one carried the same message of him being a screw-up. The alien finishes with the face of his father, saying how Jack would always scream the loudest when it wasn't him on the table. The alien expresses disappointment when that voice only nets a low growl, but a concussive force over Jack's body that also managed to hit James makes him scream. the alien mockingly yells what Jack was planning on yelling at her while wearing Jack's own face, to the latter's annoyance. Jack finally asks why the creature hadn't killed him yet, and the alien replies that it is simply because it likes to play with its food.

A sudden roar to jack's right wakes him up and pushes him to his feet. He had apparently been staring at a wooden post at the pod site as a shadowy creature escapes into the night, and somehow ended up on the ground. Though the post could be explained as an illusion to set up a flank from the Sayan, he couldn't explain how he had been on the ground. That concern was ignored in favor of searching for his brother. Yet when he arrives at the location he saw James get thrown to, all he finds was another pony skeleton, clearly telling him that James had been an illusion as well.

Jack realizes that some kind of trap or mind bomb had been placed in his head, leading him to the village, the sudden river, and then to the silent James. It also explained the headache and his immobilization. Though Jack is thankful that he woke when he did, he has no answers to when such a trap had been planted in his head in the first place. Even so, this even couldn't be used as proof of Saiyo's innocence, so Jack heads back the way he came to see if the town really was real. And if it was, he'd find out just what parts of his trip through it were true.

Tracklist

 * 1) Phantom ~ UNKNOWN ~ Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies
 * 2) Hellgate 2 Part III Soundtrack 36 - Stranded