S4E28: The Other Side, Part 1

'The Gawain safely in their grasp, Mr. Owl and the Sayan Squad lead the remaining survivors against Dark Side, the home base of Owl's long-time nemesis, Dr. X. But with Captain Hood and The General's Head'' by his side, X will make sure it's an uphill fight. The end is in sight, and the results will determine if the dry, dead world of Paa will ever see morning again...'''

So begins the final battle in the War of Light and Darkness.

Plot Summary
Preperations for the assault were being finalized. With the battle plan set, Mr. Owl led the Sayan Squad to Dark Side. Their mission was to breach Dr. X's fortress and then open a portal back to their hideout. The rest of the rebels would then follow them inside, where Owl would lead them to the lower levels to shut down the portal to the "Dark World," the source of X's shadow magic and his Shadow Beasts. With his supply cut off, the rebels' job would be made much easier as they only need to contend with X's machinery as they split up. One group would secure one of X's ships while the other group would move to take on X himself.

Before heading out, Ketsueki approached Saiyo, and gave her his blaster. He apologized for "falling in the same trap [her] brother did," and promised once they were off-world to give her more proper training in the blaster's use. He acknowledged that she was not someone to just be protected, and should be allowed to help the team in any way she could. Saiyo accepted the gift and the apology, leading to the other members of the Sayan Squad to poke fun at Ketsueki once more.

At Dark Side, they found the fortress sitting on the opposite end of a dried-up sea, the former seabed crawling with Shadow Beasts. Summoning the Gawain onto him, Owl declared a charge and the battle began. Now aware of the shadow beasts' weakness, the Sayan Squad was able to carve out a path through the horde with relative ease. Dark Side's own defenses also activated, adding their own fire to try and repel the invaders. Around this time, Captain Hood and The General's Head arrived above the battle. Hood deployed ground troops to apply pressure to the Squad from behind, forcing them to ignore the swarm as they rushed for the door. Cyem was also sent out, and he gained on them rapidly. Olyn erased the door from existence, allowing entry to the Sayan Squad, just as Cyem tore off one of Dark Side's turrets and fired.

Once inside, Ketsueki forced Saiyo to disengage from his Mimic where she had been riding, telling her that he had to join the rest of his squadmates. G Squadron's job was to hang around outside and keep Hood busy, especially in case he decided to turn against X. Meanwhile, Hood contacted X and warned him about this very thing, but X promised that Hood would have his targets soon. His "cargo" was nearly ready, and he needed only an hour or two more to prepare it. Hood relented, but sent Cyem in after them just to be safe.

The scale of the Dark Side's interior matched that of the exterior: a chamber that could fit an entire city filled with nothing but various machines of all kinds, none of them made of the same consistent metal. They also seemed to be built in defiance of physics, coming off the walls and bending at odd angles. Oneiros and Olyn opened the portal for the rest of the team to follow them in,and Olyn proceeded to buff several of the blasters to give them more reliability, much like how she had done so with Saiyo's blaster before the battle began. Oneiros also took on Olyn's form to do likewise. However, Amadeus warned them to refrain from giving away too much of their power, lest they be too weak on their own. All in all, roughly half of the Vulture crew were boosted with Nihility. Amadeus also had Saiyo hang near the back lines, saying they may require her "special ability."

Owl pointed to a specific set of buildings, saying they were most likely the Colossi factories. The factories had large pipes reaching up from the core of the base, where they were supplying shadow from the portal to use in the Colossi construction. Owl planned to have everyone enter the factories from above, and descend a few levels until they were close to the portal.

A group of small flying robots spotted the group, and Owl urged the rebels to destroy them as quickly as possible, warning that something worse was to come. The interior went on red alert, and from an elevator rose a very large mechanical beetle-like robot that proceeded to attack the Sayan Squad and Vulture crew. At around the same time, Cyem entered the same chamber, and began hunting down the Sayan Squad. Access to the Colossi facilities was made virtually impossible between the two behemoths, forcing the rebels to take them on.

Kanako and Olyn were stuck facing down Cyem, who was dead set on interrupting their attempts to ferry the crewmen to the drop zone. Oneiros and Terminos attempted to deal with the beetle machine, first by taking out its free-flying eyes. This blinded the machine, and sent it into a berserker state. It unleashed a missile storm across the chamber, destroying several machines and killing several crewmembers. Owl threw the Gawain at the robot, attempting to "hack" it; however, he needed it still in order to do so. Amadeus repeatedly asked Saiyo to use her "talent" at finding weaknesses, and after prodding, finally told Arachnos to aim for the underbelly. He did so, and the machine collapsed.

This allowed Owl to "hack" the machine (by ripping wires and cables out of it), shutting it down for good. However, the beetel's carapce rolled back, revealing a black amorphous blob in the center of the machine. This took Owl by surprise, as he had no idea what it possibly could have been; it was not something he predicted X to have done. He assumed that it was something X got from Captain Hood, and then attempted to destroy it. Saiyo stopped him, and with hestiation, revealed that it was a bomb. Terminos suggesting using the bomb to blow up Cyem. Jack was the first to agree, tryig to push the robot's carcass towards the Cimorian, of whom was still engaged with Kanako. His Invulnerability Generator had begun sparking for an unknown reason as Cyem prepared something.

However, he never got the chance to unleash it, as with the help of the Arachni, the four Sayan Squad members managed to move the bomb right next to Cyem. Jack then detonated it, and the explosion flung everyone, Cyem included, into walls or the far side of the room. Several more crewmembers died from impact with the steel walls. However, the blast managed to tear a hole down to the deeper levels. Owl hurried everyone down the hole, making a change in the plans.

Down in the darkened corridors of Dark Side, Owl led the rebels deeper into the abse, trying to find the portal. He admitted that he didn't know the exact layout of the base that far down, as it would depend on the shape and size of the portal. He did, however, add that once he did see it he would have a solid mental map of the area. As they walked through the corridors, Kanako attempted to wipe Saiyo's face clean of oil. Saiyo, however, told Kanako to leave her alone. The oil was her own, and she hated being reminded of what she is.

Jack came between Saiyo and Kanako, scolding the latter. He also condemned Amadeus for forcing her to use her abiity, which he guessed was something their father put into her. He said she was ashamed of what she was, and even more ashamed when people had to look at it straight on. This led to an argument, with Jack yet again condemning the other members of the Sayan Squad, using their near-death experience on Baur as leverage, as their wrongful arrest of Saiyo back on Equu. He was in return called selfish, to which he admitted fully to being as such. The conversation ended with Jack warning everyone to stay away from his sister when she wants to be alone.

Arachnos asked Owl how they were to close the portal, to which Owl replied that he'd need to see it before he could answer. He also said X would have most likely left a defense of some sort. X himself then appeared to answer what kind of defense: X's own magic. X had formed an apparition himself out of the darkness around them, taunting them. He was overjoyed at the fact that he was finally about to destroy his nemesis after 12 long years, and lamented that someone as mad as Owl somehow managed to stay alive and evade X's forces for that long.

Oneiros tried to turn that back on X, saying that no sane person would bathe the world in shadow and kill its populace. X countered by saying that he was perfectly sane; he just did what he always wanted to. Moreover, he was Owl's own dark side given form. Everything Owl ever suppressed, every tear he hid, every smile he forced, X was. He said Owl always tried to be the nicest person he could be, to a fault. Owl was unable to accept his own darkness, and so tried to forcibly remove it. In doing so, he was responsible for the ultimate destruction of Paa.

Owl remained silent and still throughout all of this. X went on to say that for several years he used to wonder about what he would do once Owl was gone. Endless recources and black magics at his disposal, but nothing to use them towards. He then hinted at his future employment with The General, saying that he had recently discovered a bright new future ahead of him.

With that, X vanished, and the Sayan Squad found themselves right near the portal. It was in a large chamber and surrounded by a strange alien substance later discovered to have originated from the Dark World itself. A series of large, thick pipes were stuck into the portal, absorbing the shadow and taking it to the upper levels of Dark Side for processing. Arachnos was confused; wondering why X would move them closer tot heir goal. Violetta eventually said that it may have been because if X was preparing to leave Paa, he wouldn't have need for the portal much longer. Kanako added that it was possible X beleived that killing the rebels with whatever was guarding the portal was worth risking the portal over.

Owl explained that X's magic was most likely an auto-defense spell, that acted indepently of X even if sustained by him. He went on to say that the magic acted as a "mask" for the portal, meaning that the magic would have to be dispelled before they could get at the portal itself.

The pipes retracted themselves from the portal, and another horde of Shadow Beasts began to move through it. These were different from the ones they had encountered before, however: they lacked the runes the others had, and were much more feral and vicious. Owl claimed that it was probably because X's taming magic hindered the beasts some.

The Shadow Beasts hounded the Sayan Squad and the Vulture crew unrelentlessly. Oneiros had suggested the split into groups. Soem would focus on the portal while the others would focus on the Beasts. As the portal was attacked, the room would violently shake, until the stream of beasts was cut off. The magic activated to deal with the threats directly, pulling everyone into the portal. There they then found themselves in the "Crossroads" between worlds. The magic (represented as a black eye) attacked the rebels, then, using magical attacks as well as letting in some natives of the Dark World: a group of large flying bug-like creatures.

Eventually the battlefield shifted to reflect the Dark World itself, showing a black landscape and mroe of the shadow beasts, along with mroe creatures yet unseen. The black gate was attempting to dispense them into the Dark World and let the hrode take care of them, but Owl shattered the false groun they were standing on before they could fully materialize within it.

They were then moved to a place Owl described as "literally everywhere but the crossroads," with the portal in plain view. The Sayan Squad kept up the pressure on the portal, however, and the minute the magic was dispelled the rebels were thrown either back in the portal chamber or into the Dark World. Terminos, Kanako, and Amadeus were of this latter group, facing down the same legion as before. Terminos volunteered to delay the horde as long as he could while the rest escaped back trhough the portal to safety. Kanako tried to stand and fight, but Amadeus denied him this. Amadeus wanted everyone through the portal, and beleived Terminos, an Anathemite, could survive on his own.

Terminos managed to successfully hold off the horde, but a far larger beast soon charged in. Terminos attempted to destroy its eye, only to learn it had many, many eyes. He retreated abckt ot eh portal after everyoen else, just barely managing to make it in time. Olyn tried to keep the mosnters at bay while Oneiros and Arachnos sealed up the portal, just as the same beast Terminos was engaged with tried to break through. It was knocked back into the crossroads, and the portal was sealed up.

There was scarcely time to rest, however, as the door to the portal area was being bashed down by another horde of Shadow Beasts, summoned by X. Even though the portal had been sealed, Owl said it would still be a few hours before the noxious gasses began to thin. At that point, the sun would peek through the atmosphere and roast all the Shadow Beasts still outside alive. Additionally, closing the portal meant that X could no longer get any more Shadow Beasts, isolating the ones left on Paa. His magic also cut off meant he would not be able to control the beasts much longer with said magic, and as such he was using what little time he had left of control to try and sic the horde on the rebels again.

Owl led the team to a hatch which went several levels up. At the top, Owl reminded everyone that they would be splitting up soon. One group would secure a starship, while the other group would confront X. They would need to, as the only way to lift the ship's lockdown and turn off Dark Side's outer defenses was from X's Central Command. At first Amadeus ordered the Sayan Squad to go with Owl while the Vulture crew would hold the line at the ship, but Terminos asked if that would be wise t leave them so undefended. Amadeus agreed, and ordered Terminos himself, Kanako, and Jack to stay behind. Jack was not pleased about this.

Nevertheless, Owl led them onwards, so that they begin their long climb...

Soundtrack

 * 1) Opening - Dream a Dream (Pop It Don't Drop It edit)
 * 2) In Preperation - Heroes of Old, James McCloud and Peppy Hare (Star Fox Command)
 * 3) Tighter Bonds - Oriental Sentinels (Rockman ZX Advent Tunes)
 * 4) The Attack Begins - Illusion (GP Legend ver. X remix)
 * 5) Breaking In - Crazy Call at Cry (F-Zero X Guitar Arrange)
 * 6) Hood's Warning - DarkBlade (The Enigma TNG)
 * 7) Dark Side - Rezopolis (Gex: Enter the Gecko)
 * 8) Fork - Moo Shoo Pork (Gex: Enter the Gecko)
 * 9) Depths of Dark Side - Circuit Central pt. 2 (Gex: Enter the Gecko)
 * 10) The Nature of Inner Demons - Inner Sanctum (Gex: Enter the Gecko)
 * 11) Dark Side Core - Circuit Central (Gex: Enter the Gecko)
 * 12) Feral Swarm - Ing Battle (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)
 * 13) Vs. The Black Gate - Quadraxis (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)
 * 14) Fresh Blood - Dark Trooper Battle (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)
 * 15) Temporary Relief - Item Room (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)
 * 16) Wrath of the Dark - Dark Trooper Battle (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)
 * 17) End of Shadow - Sanctuary Fortress Depths (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)
 * 18) Ending - Dream a Dream (Pop It Don't Drop It edit)

Trivia

 * This episode was a bi-interrupted broadcast.
 * The second part was run a week after the first, and the third a day after the second.
 * SDM had notable difficulty keeping track of his characters this episode, as well as frequently forgetting to change his name when letting another character speak.
 * "Oriental Sentinels," Ketsueki's personal theme song, was used for the first time in a Season 4 episode (not counting solos).
 * A remix of Illusion, the song used during Hood's assault on the War Fortress III, plays here when the heroes begin their own assault on Dark Side.
 * Dark Side's overall design was changed from a generic high-tech fortress to a pastiche of various different scrap metals with mildly eldritch geometry during the planning of this episode.
 * Much of this episode, plot-wise and soundtrack-wise, was ad-libbed:
 * The use of DarkBlade, Hood's theme, was added on the spur-of-the-moment when SDM realized the convesation would be taking longer due to the incoming split.
 * The entire battle against the robot beetle and Cyem simultaneously was not in the original outline. It was to instead be a swarm of robots, but SDM changed this at the last minute once he realized he made the group's ultimate destination, the factories, too far away. In fact, SDM planned to keep Cyem until the next episode, but changed his decision at the very last moment.
 * As such, the song used for this sequence was not originally slated to appear, but SDM grabbed it when he realized Rezopolis was no longer fitting.
 * Likewise, the entire existence of the bomb and its resulting destruction was similarly made up on the spot.
 * Dr. X's speech about his origins and the nature of Dark Sides was ad-libbed and made up entirely on the spot after prodding from Arachnos.
 * This speech inspired Arachnos to write a "parody" of Aesthetic Perfection song The Dark Half based on X and his speech.
 * An entire segment dealing with Colossi was cut last-minute. SDM claims this was, in fact, not due to time constraints, but rather because of the previous unplanned psuedo-boss battle. It was to be set between the main chamber and Dark Side Core sections, in the depths. X's taunts were originally to be about the Colossi, but since that was cut, the subject was changed.
 * The segment was where several members of the Vulture's crew were originally supposed to die, but the previous Cyem/Beetle section did that already, making it redundant.
 * SDM has said the segment will be moved to the next episode, along with its accompanying music.
 * The Black Gate was originally to be entitled the "Eye of Darkness" and was to be more of a gatekeeper-type enemy, summoning waves of enemies or singular, tougher enemies in between being directly attacked itself. SDM decided to change this after witnessing the build-up of Arachnos' and Kanako's expectations for X's defenses
 * "Item Room" was not originally slated, but was added in when SDM realized "Sanctuary Fortress Depths" was too light-hearted for the battle.
 * The second use of "Dark Trooper Battle" was unplanned, and added when SDM had the idea of X throwing the Shadow Beasts at the group one last time to scare the players after the intense battle they had gone through.
 * SDM claims to have wanted to use Quadraxis' theme "for a long time."
 * Just as the normal Shadow Beasts are modelled after the creatures of the same name from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the larger shadow creatures are modelled after the Ing from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, another game with heavy light-and-dark themes.
 * Terminos' near-sacrifice at the end of the episode was almost complete. Arachnos debated between allowing him to be left behind, and SDM was willing to let it happen. However, Arachnos relied on the rebel characters to decide his fate, and mostly in part thanks to Kanako, they waited for Terminos to return.