The Story of Ash, Chapter 3 - Let's Play Final Fantasy III

[Domochevsky]

Well, in our defense, they're in a section of posts no one ever looks because it's always the same text there. ("Re: ...") >_>

[The Dark Fiddler]

Well, in our defense, they're in a section of posts no one ever looks because it's always the same text there. ("Re: ...") >_>

Well not always the same text there, obviously.

Plus, you could have looked at the OP cause I have an index there.

I'm not upset or anything, they're not very good titles. I'm just surprised.

[Penguinator]

I remember noticing them in Monster Rancher, I can't remember if I did in Yellow...

[Draconi Redfir]

yeah i never noticed em either XD

so why DID you have Chris and Dohnut defend the whole time? were they only missing or something?

[Toric]

I missed Act 1. That's my excuse.

[The Dark Fiddler]

so why DID you have Chris and Dohnut defend the whole time? were they only missing or something?

Yes, in fact. They almost always missed and did crap damage when they hit. Not worth it, basically.

I missed Act 1. That's my excuse.

By Act 1 you mean the Yellow Let's Play? I've had a link in the OP for both the MR LP and this LP.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Having rescued the king of Argass Castle, we decided to go see him.

We walked back up through the castle, to the top floor that was previously abandoned.

"Please, your majesty, it was nothing. All part of the job of being the Warriors of Light." The king simply shook his head.
"Nonsense, no need to be humble. I owe you four everything, and the least I can do is to give you this." The king at this point picked up a strange box from on the table and handed it to us. "This box contains various blueprints and devices. They were designed by our royal engineers... to make the next greatest airship. I can only hope this gift is enough, and can come in handy in your travels. I believe if you take it to Cid of Canaan, he should be able to adjust your ship with these designs."
"Oh, Cid! I don't think we've seen him since we went to take on Bahamut, have we?" I thought for a moment at that... we'd gone up into the mountains and have been gone for several days, easily. Did everybody think we were dead?
"You're right, Holly! They must all think we're dead, after all this time!"
"Unlikely, rumors travel fast."
"Ah, so you already know Cid? That makes things much easier... I must thank you one last time, Warriors of Light. May your journey be favorable and may your great destiny be fulfilled." We all bowed to the king and left. We boarded our ship and sailed as quickly as possible (as in, as quickly as the currents and Holly's wind-based magic would allow) back to Canaan.

"By gods, ye're all still alive! After y'all went up to tha mountain... and didn't come back... well, th' rumors started flyin' an-"
"Do!"
"Don't worry, Cid, we're fine."
"Well o' course ye are, ye're the Warriors of Light... but why're you stopping in here? Don't y'all need to go an' fuffil yer destiny an' all?"
"We are, but... well, we rescued the King of Argass castle, and he gave us this." I held out the box to Cid, and he took it, opening it and pulling out the blueprints. His eyes went wide as he examined them. "He said to give them to you, because you'd be able to modify our ship with them."
"Ah... ah dunno, these are awfully complicated... but at the same time, they're downright beautiful! I'll do my best, kids, give me a few hours!"
"Only a few hours?" Cid didn't seem to hear Holly's disbelief, as he rushed out of the house, clutching the box under his arm. With nothing else to do but wait, we sat around and talked with his wife, who made us all tea. After waiting around, and discussing the finer points of housekeeping, Cid rushed back in covered in oil and soot.
"Hoo boy, that was certainly a challenge, but I got it up an runnin' fer ye guys! The only thin' ya need to remember is that it can still only land in water! I tried to fix that, but I guess I must be losin' mah touch..."
"Nonsense, honey. I doubt anybody but you could have even made the transformation in the first place," his wife said as she walked up and kisses him comfortingly on the forehead, despite the oil. Cid just chuckled.
"I don't know what I did to deserve someone like you... anyway, the ship's all ready to go whene'r ya'll are. Stay safe, kids..."
"Thank you for everything, Cid. Without your help, who knows where we would be?"
"Ah, get outta here before things get too sappy! I got a reputation to keep!" We all said our thanks to Cid and went out to see our newly modified ship. It didn't look very different at all when we first got there, but when we got on-board and pressed the button clearly labeled 'CHANGE'...

"Wow, Cid really did a great job... the ship can actually fly!"
"You know, I think this one is faster than the one we had before, and it wasn't even meant to fly!"
"So, where do we go now?"
"This is the floating continent... why don't we leave and go see what the surface world is like now, after all the natural disasters?"
"So... fly off the edge of the continent?"

"Why not? We're already there."
"Off the edge of the continent? You're kidding me, right? How is that even possible?"

"Well evidently it is, because we just did it."
"...water... water everywhere..." Everywhere around us, there was water. There was no land in sight, anywhere.
"Oh my god... what happened here?"
"Maybe there's an island somewhere, with someone who can explain what's happened?"
"M-maybe..." Chris was obviously distressed to find out the entire surface world was covered in water, but he lead us out into the sea and around the world, searching for any bit of land. For hours, it was a fruitless search, but eventually we found a small island on the horizon, and Chris readjusted the ship to go see it.

"Is that... a wrecked ship?" We landed and disembarked on the island, but it seemed the only thing there was the wrecked ship. With a bit of apprehension, we entered the wreckage.

"Who... who's there?" When we got to the bottom of the wrecked ship, we saw an old man standing there, as if he was guarding the passage behind him.
"Don't worry, sir, we're just the Warriors of Light. We came here to see what had happened to the surface world. We just arrived from the floating continent to see..."
"To see the whole world flooded."

"I am Elia, a maiden of the Water Crystal, and this man is the caretaker. I believe we are the only ones to have survived... the disaster that befell the surface world. You see... when the darkness struck... the Water Crystal was damaged... without the Water Crystal's power protecting the world, the water went rampant, flooding the world. I don't know how, but we survived, although we crashed here and have been stranded since."
"That's horrible!"
"Is there anything we can do?"
"Yes, there is... there is a a temple up north that may have survived the flooding. It contains a shard of the Water Crystal... if I can obtain that, and take it to the crystal itself, it should revive it."
"A bit of a long shot?"
"It may be a long shot, but it's the only chance we have! If it flooded as well, then the water crystal is cut off forever, and..."
"...don't worry, Elia, we'll go."
"Oh, thank you warriors of light!"
"But Elia..."
"Please, don't worry about me... I have to help the Warriors of Light; they're the world's last hope."
"...lady Elia..."
"If I don't return, know that you... were a wonderful caretaker." With that, Elia turned to leave the ship, motioning for us to follow her. "I know roughly where the temple is... as long as you have good transportation, it should be no problem to find it." And for the most part she did. Aside from the fact that it took a while to traverse the fast expanse of water, there was really no trouble finding it.

"This is it, the Temple of Water... and the crystal is in the mountains behind it. I'm happy to see this place is safe... getting the shard won't take long."

"That? That's the shard of the Water Crystal?"
"Indeed... can't you feel the energy radiating from it? It's amazing how much power this tiny shard holds... even after the crystal is gone..."
"Elia? We can't stay for too long, we have to hurry up and finish this job..."
"Oh, right. Sorry. Let's move on, to the mountains..." Elia gripped the crystal tight in her hand as we left, as if she was protecting it from the world around us.

"Don't worry, this cave isn't very complex... compared to what I've heard of the caves of the other crystals, the only thing to worry about here are the seals keeping people out, and I can easily undo them."

"Oh, and the Ropers. Watch out, their tentacles carry a potent venom that will paralyze you completely!"
We all sprung into action quickly, Holly and I moving to the back row as Chris completely shredded one of them with his two swords. Holly's air magic and my lightning magic took out two more, and Doughnut charged the last one with a headbutt. Although he managed to kill it, it got a few hits on him first, and he fell to the ground.
"Doughnut, no!" But then he got up, perfectly fine.
"Do!" He seemed perfectly happy, despite the quite violent lashing he'd just received.
"Your friend is quite resistant... I've never seen anybody resist a Roper's venom." We moved on, through the cave, with Elia occasionally unsealing doors that blocked our paths.

Eventually, we came across the crystal's room... it was similar to the two we'd seen before, with one major difference: everything was darker. There was no light in the room, and there was an air of emptiness. "Oh, the poor Water Crystal..."

Elia ran up to the crystal and knelt before it, the shard held out as she prayed. The light from the shard faded as the main crystal picked up a faint glow, slowly growing. Elia placed the shard on the ground in front of the crystal and stood up, turning back to us. "It may take a few minutes, but the Water Crystal should be... look out!"

Suddenly, without warning, Elia jumped at us, pushing us all back. She fell to the ground with a sickening thud, and an arrow stuck in her side.
"Elia!" Chris ran forward to pick her up, as there was a deep laughing coming from the side.
"So she gave her life for you? No matter... as soon as I destroy you, I can complete the mission that Zande gave to me... to destroy the crystal!" As Chris held Elia in his arms, the figure threw his robe to the side, revealing a strange, tentacled form. "Fight me, Warriors of Light, and fall to the Darkness!"

Boss Battle - Kraken


"Elia..." As soon as the fight ended, we all turned to Elia, as Chris ran up to her to again hold her in his arms.
"Warriors..." Elia's voice was quiet, and her breathing labored, as the color drained from her face. "I... thank you... you allowed me to revive... the Water Crystal... I'm sorry it had to end this way..."
"Elia, don't talk like that... I-I'm a healer, I can..."
"No, you can't... I'm not long for this world... I'm glad I could see the crystal restored to its former glory... my only regret is that I couldn't get to know you all better..." And with that, Elia fell limp in Chris's arms.
"That's... that's two people now... that died helping us."
"Hopefully she will be the last as well..." Our somber meditation was interrupted quite suddenly by a blinding flash of light from the crystal as everything began to shake violently.
"D-do!?" As the light faded, the shaking only got worse and worse... at some point during it, we all blacked out.

That was the last thing any of us remembered, the shaking.

Eventually, we all woke up in an inn. A young girl came in quite suddenly. "Oh, what great timing! You're finally awake!"
"W-where... where are we?" I looked around. Honestly, inns aren't usually very distinctive, at least in their bedrooms, but this inn seemed completely unfamiliar.

"Did... did your grandfather find anybody else?"
"No. Why, was there another person with you?"
"...so, how long ago were we found?"
"Oh, about three days ago!"
"We've been unconscious for three days?!"
"Yup! Sorry to be the bearer of bad news! Anyway, I'm glad you're up. You're welcome to stay in our town for as long as you need to, but for now we have some changes in clothes for you, free of charge! Your old clothes were awfully raggy and beat up... but we couldn't find perfect matches for all of them. I hope you don't mind these new ones!"

"I feel ridiculous..."
"Don't be a sourpuss, Ash. I think it looks cute on you!"
"Do!"
"It does seem to fit you very well."
"Bah, I feel like a clown in this getup... let's just get going, to find out more about what happened."
"Oh, before you go, Grandpa wants to see you! He lives in a house a bit to the south!"

"Ah, you must be the four I found in the Temple of Water, am I right?"
"We are, yes."
"Would I also be right in saying that you are the Warriors of Light?"
"Yes, we are."
"I told Goldor you had to be the Warriors of Light, but nooooo, he just had to chain down your ship so you couldn't leave!"
"What?!"
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Warriors of Light, I really am... the only way to continue from this point on is for you to go see Goldor to get him to undo the chains."
"Well no problem, we'll just go an-"
"His manor is to the south, protected by a bottomless swamp. If you fall in, you'll be lost forever."
"Well, how can we bypass it?"
"Simple... there is a witch that lives in this town's sewers, and she has boots that will allow you to get past, to his mansion. The sewer entrance is to the north-east of town. Good luck, as there are some fierce monsters in there."
"Thank you for your help, sir."
"Please, it is the least I could do for the Warriors of Light. But, before you go... tell me, I, and the rest of the village feels as though we just recently woke up from a long winded dream. That's why I went to investigate the crystal... did something happen?"
"...the... the world's been flooded. The only land that we could find was a small island nearly half a day's flight away, and the island the Temple and crystal were on..."
"That's very strange, because this town is quite far from the crystal, and the land didn't seem any more flooded that I could remember."
"Guys, I think the crystal fixed the world!"
"Hmm... thank for the explanation, Warriors. Please, go see the witch, and quick!" We all thanked the young girl's grandfather for saving us and left in a hurry for the sewers.

"Ugh, it smells horrible down here..."
"On the plus side, I doubt the witch lives very far away, and it should be a relatively quick journey."

"Unless we're attacked by monsters, of course." We were quick to take up our battle positions as the sickeningly-purple spider and frogs jumped out at us. They seemed to realize that we were strong, at least, as they tended to stay back. All the better for us, because then Holly and I could use our magic to incapacitate them without risking injuries. Holly used her air magic to knock the spider into the water, as I focused to gather up a bolt of lightning magic for the frogs. But... nothing happened.
"Guys, I... I can't cast my magic!" As if the frogs understood me, and suddenly realized their survival prospects looked a bit better, they charged at me. I managed to sidestep one, but only barely, but the other bounded into me, knocking me to the ground. Chris and Doughnut both moved to defend me, and managed to take out both of the frogs, but I was still winded, and now I couldn't even cast my magic!
"Ash, are you okay?"
"I... I guess, but without my magic, how am I going to be any use?"
"I'm sure it's just a phase, Ash. You'll be back to full strength soon."
"Right, but for now... let's keep moving."
"...Thanks, guys." And we did move on, through the smelly sewers. Thankfully, the monsters seems to stay away from us.

Until we came to a fast room in the sewers, with eight goblins surrounding a group of four old men, who were unsuccessfully trying to fight back. The goblins seemed to be taunting them; they didn't even have their daggers out.
"Look, somebody who can help us!"
"We don't need the help, we're the Warriors of Light!"
"I hate to disappoint you, but we're the Warriors of Light!" The goblins stopped immediately as soon as Holly finished her sentence, and charged at us instead. You'd think with their greater numbers, and my being useless, it'd have been a tough fight, but it wasn't. Even I managed to take out one of them. It seems like we'd come a long way since that first cave we first arrived in...
"Well, would you look at that... I guess we really aren't the Warriors of Light..." The old men we just saved were all looking at us. They were wearing very poorly made armor, either leather with holes in it or rusted metal. They didn't even seem to have weapons. What were they doing down here, with these tough monsters everywhere?
"I HAVE TO SAY I'M REALLY DISAPPOINTED. I REALLY WANTED TO SAVE THE WORLD..."
"Don't feel bad, guys... it's really difficult, being the Warriors of Light."
"It's definitely no cake walk..."
"I think we need to thank you, Warriors of Light... I guess you're here to see the witch?"
"She's right ahead, if you are... I guess we'll all go back to the village, and get out of your hair..." With their heads low in disappointment, the old men turned and went the other way, as we continued pushing forward, to find the witch.

"Hello, Warriors of Light... you must be here for the boots. Do not waste any time, as the state of the world is getting worse and worse... take these boots, and go where you need to. And good luck." Before any of us had a chance to speak, the witch conjured up four pairs of boots and cast another spell to teleport us out. The room spun as the teleportation spell worked its magic. I wondered where it was sending us...


----

Gonna try to get an update out every Saturday and Sunday, but no promises.

It's funny how things work out, isn't it? (No, it isn't, actually...).

Does anybody want an explanation? It's not a very good one, so I'd imagine you don't.

I'm really sorry I let this sit for a month, guys. All I can say is procrastination is my greatest enemy... hopefully I can still get out one update a week, but... I have no clue, honestly.

To make up for the time it took me to get this out, though, have an extra-long update. It took me over three hours to write (yes, I'm slow), so enjoy.

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Oh, and remember the Kraken? The boss that was near impossible to beat without near perfect class set ups? Well that boss has a power boost now, and you have to have perfect class set ups to beat him.

You lying liar who lies.

[Sucrose]

It lives!

I've been lurking this LP for a while, and I'm delighted to see that it's reactivated.

Dark_Fiddler, you do very good work. I've read through all of Ash's story, and have to say that your tale is among the most epic LPs on this forum!

[Draconi Redfir]

it returns! huzzah!


cant wait for ash to summon his first FF3 pokemon :P

[XiaoTie]

Woooo, finally an update mr Fiddler :D and a cool one at that :o

[The Dark Fiddler]

Woooo, finally an update mr Fiddler :D and a cool one at that :o

it returns! huzzah!
cant wait for ash to summon his first FF3 pokemon :P

It lives!
I've been lurking this LP for a while, and I'm delighted to see that it's reactivated.
Dark_Fiddler, you do very good work. I've read through all of Ash's story, and have to say that your tale is among the most epic LPs on this forum!

I have to say that it's quite an ego-booster that a 1-month absence, completely unwarned, hasn't kept people from enjoying this still.

[Domochevsky]

"I'm a healer, i can help you!"
"No, you can't!" *Hurk*

[Sucrose]

In fairness, FF5 has shown us that plot has the inexplicable ability to nullify even resurrection magic, and she was untreated while the party had to fight the Kraken.

[The Dark Fiddler]

"I'm a healer, i can help you!"
"No, you can't!" *Hurk*

In fairness, FF5 has shown us that plot has the inexplicable ability to nullify even resurrection magic, and she was untreated while the party had to fight the Kraken.

And also to be fair, Kraken specifically stated it was a cursed arrow, and was a fast killer. Though I conveniently left this out of the update. Oops.

[The Dark Fiddler]

...that was honestly a bit anticlimactic. But it makes sense, at least. Without further delay, we traveled to the south and around the mountains to Goldor's mansion, to confront him.

"Is this the bottomless swamp?"
"It has to be... I can only imagine what challenges wait within..."

"..."
"So much for danger."
"Plenty more to come. No need to jinx ourselves." With the dangers of the bottomless swamp behind us, we approached Goldor's mansion. It was huge, and glittered in the sun. As we got closer, it was evident that the mansion was either made of, or plated in gold.
"I have the feeling that this Goldor guy is the king of Hedonism."

"The insides are made of gold too..."
"Man, if we could just take a tiny bit of this place and sell it, we'd be set for life."
"We would indeed."
"What practical reason does this even serve? Intimidation?"
"You'd think that all the people coming to try and take a piece of your house would counter that in the end, wouldn't it?"

"...guys, am I high, or are those bears made of gold?"
"...no, I think they really are made of gold."
The fight wasn't as hard as you'd expect a fight with a bear to be. It seemed that whatever process turned them into gold hadn't exactly granted them mobility enough to make use of that. Still, they were gold. Ever tried punching gold? Not fun. But we beat them and moved on, past the dozens of other golden enemies in the castle, including birds and horses.

And eventually we came across a line of chests... filled with golden swords.
"What the hell is wrong with the guy?"
"Whatever it is, it's paying to restock our supplies. That's all I know."

"...wow..."
"He even wears golden armor..."
"Do you mock me, the mighty Goldor? Silly Warriors of Light..."
"Say, is that... the Earth Crystal behind you?"
"Whu- yes, yes it is! But you shan't be allowed near it! Die!"

Boss Battle - Goldor


As Holly knelt down to revive Chris and tend to his wound, Goldor stumbled backwards, towards the crystal.
"You... you will never get this crystal! I swear this!"

With his dying breath, Goldor swung his sword at the crystal, which exploded into a shower of glittering dust. A rebellious smirk crossed his face before he collapsed, slowly being covered by the dust as it settled.
"Did... did he just..."
"Do?"
"...that's it, this is all over... we're screwed!"
"Not... not the crystal..." Chris coughed out, having just barely regained his consciousness in time to see the event that just transpired.
"I think he might be right... that dust looks..."
"Gold."
"This'd come in pretty handy if we were to run into any Cybermen..." The dust from the fake crystal finally settled, and in the middle of the pile sitting at the front of the room was a key. Surprisingly, it was made of bronze.

"Well, I guess that's that then?"
"Time to go wreck some local economy with all this gold crap we found!"

----
Alright, so another update down... I'm gonna take this time to advertise the unofficial GitP IRC. It's a pretty fun place when it's active, though the activity does tend to rise and fall pretty randomly. Still, it's a great place to see local legends like me Fax Celestis, Domochevsky, and Flickerdart.

[Cute_Riolu]

Bah, fine, I'll get on your stupid Ai Arr Sees.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Having sold the swords we found in Goldor's mansion (and having made quite a pretty penny off of them) we left the town and scurried off to our next stop.

Upon stopping in the town, we went to visit the magician... we'd made it a point to do so in every town since we arrived in this world. Usually they hadn't given us anything of great importance, a way to improve a spell or to cast it a bit quicker. This time... was different, however.
"You... you have lost touch with your magic." The magician didn't even need to look up, but he was able to point directly at me. "That is because all this time you have been using the wrong type of magic... your encounter with the Crystal of Water reconfigured your powers... your new magic is much more suited to you, the summoning and controlling of creatures." He must have been able to sense my surprise, because he laughed. "It is far more suiting, no? I trust that you, knowing this now, shall be able to access your magic again. You should find it even easier than your previous powers... although the creatures may be a bit unruly at first. Oh, and when you leave, there is somebody who wishes to speak to you in a grove to the east of here. I trust you to go visit them, as I believe their subject is quite important." Before we could even speak, the magician cast a spell and pushed us from his store and home.
"O...kay...?"
"I guess we should go see that guy he told us about?"
"Probably, yeah." So, of course, we went to the grove.

"I was waiting here for you, Warriors of Light. I wish to tell you that... somebody is summoning the Darkness to this world. It is not coming by accident. That somebody thinks they are doing well for the World of Darkness, but they aren't. If the Darkness engulfs this world, it will turn on itself... both worlds will fall into the void. Warriors, your task is vital not only to our world, but to the entire existence. I wish you luck on your journey..."
"...was that supposed to make us feel better?"
"It was merely meant to make sure you knew the full gravity of your task, nothing more. Hopefully it will encourage you, but that was not the intention. I would love to speak with you more, but your job... it calls to you. Go now, and finish your quest!"

That was two people now who wanted us to hurry up with our mission. Okay, universe, we get it. We got back on our airship and moved on again.

We passed over a large kingdom, by far the largest we'd seen yet. It looked calm, and peaceful. If we weren't apparently in a hurry, I-
"Incoming cannonball!" Oh.

Big explosion, our airship was wrecked now. And after all the work Cid put into it... we fell through the air, somehow landing safely on the ground.

Right between two armies at a standstill. The armies were both made up of almost identical units, and neither seemed like the wanted to be there. Not knowing exactly what to do, we turned and left, escaping into the kingdom.

Entering a tavern, we found four guys harassing another, who was dressed quite royally. The four guys picking on him get saying stuff about princes, but we didn't get to hear much more because when we walked in they stopped and turned to stare at us.

"Oh, thank you! Are you... are you the Warriors of Light I have heard about?"
"Indeed we are!"
"Oh, joyous day! Warriors, you must help me... I am Prince Allus, and my father... he has started a civil war within our glorious kingdom, and banished me! I wish to confront him, but I fear for my safety... could you please escort me to see my father?"
"Of course we could!"

With the Prince leading the way, we traveled to the castle of the kingdom. Hopefully... hopefully things would turn out better than the last two times we traveled with somebody. We passed the guards without much trouble, and we were lead to a room to wait for the king to come. We sat on the beds and talked a bit to pass the time.

Eventually, the king entered, and Prince Alus jumped up and began to demand an explanation for his father's actions. He seemed much different now than a few minutes ago. Before he could even finish a thought, though, his father pulled a knife out of his robes and raised it as if to stab Alus. However, he stopped just short. "N...no..."

Another man entered the room behind him. "What are you doing, King Gorn? Kill your son as I commanded!"
"G-Gigameth? What is this about?"
[COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]"Hahaha... you wouldn't[ understand, prince Alus. I won't bother to explain... so I say again, King Gorn, kill your son."/COLOR]
"N...no... I'd rather... take my own life than.... take my son's!" With these words, the king took his dagger and stabbed himself right in the stomach, collapsing on top of his weapon.
"Father, no!"
"Sigh. I suppose I'll have to finish this myself then... Garuda, I summon thee!" Gigameth put his hands up in the air, and there was a great shaking. A portal opened from the wall, and out came a giant bird. "Kill the young prince."
"Not so fast, Gigameth!" We all jumped up off the bed and took a stanc in front of Alus.
"Oh ho ho... the Warriors of Light? I suppose then we'll have to take out you four as well... Garuda, the Warriors!"

Boss Battle - Garuda



----

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...so, any suggestions?

[Deme]

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As I see it, you have two options:
A: Hack/Cheat temporarily. Just for this one fight.
B: Have Ash wake up in another LP, uncertain if that happened or if it was a dream.

[The Dark Fiddler]

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As I see it, you have two options:
A: Hack/Cheat temporarily. Just for this one fight.
B: Have Ash wake up in another LP, uncertain if that happened or if it was a dream.

I'd considered both of those. I'm not to fond of A cause... well, that just doesn't seem right for an LP. As for B, that seems kind of cheap.

I'd also considered (white-texted) restarting and going through the entire thing again but that'd be so much work <.<

[Sucrose]

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Do you know for a fact that you can't beat this guy? Do you have any items that can decrease lightning damage? It seems as though all he does is spam Thunder, so you might be able to survive if you use such an item, then constantly use Cure 2 until the fight ends... I dunno, I've never played FFIII.

[Deme]

I'd considered both of those. I'm not to fond of A cause... well, that just doesn't seem right for an LP. As for B, that seems kind of cheap.

I'd accept B...Provided the whole topic wasn't abandoned, and the question B raises was used, I'd be fine, personally. Still, I see what you mean.

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The story can't (for a certain value of "can't") just end. That would be unfitting.
You can't just use your option in white, that's too expensive.
You can't use my spoilerbox options, they're too cheap.
Ooh, this is a dillemna.

[Pie Guy]

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Oh just cheat on this one boss and remember to save more later.

[The Dark Fiddler]

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Do you know for a fact that you can't beat this guy? Do you have any items that can decrease lightning damage? It seems as though all he does is spam Thunder, so you might be able to survive if you use such an item, then constantly use Cure 2 until the fight ends... I dunno, I've never played FFIII.

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Technically speaking I'm not sure, but that was generally my best attempt so far out of maybe 20, and the thing supposedly has 5000 HP. I have 1 TURTLESHEL which decreases damage... but only on one person.

I'd accept B...Provided the whole topic wasn't abandoned, and the question B raises was used, I'd be fine, personally. Still, I see what you mean.

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The story can't (for a certain value of "can't") just end. That would be unfitting.
You can't just use your option in white, that's too expensive.
You can't use my spoilerbox options, they're too cheap.
Ooh, this is a dillemna.

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Well, I can use the option in white... it's just awfully inconvenient and time consuming. But yes, it certainly is a dilemma.

[Deme]

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Technically speaking I'm not sure, but that was generally my best attempt so far out of maybe 20, and the thing supposedly has 5000 HP. I have 1 TURTLESHEL which decreases damage... but only on one person.

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Well, I can use the option in white... it's just awfully inconvenient and time consuming. But yes, it certainly is a dilemma.

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Well, yes, but you can also use the other options. "Can't" in this case means "Don't want to, or, it would be terribly inconvienent or clumsy."
There's a variation of idea B, where you admit this game's failed... And can start Ash (possibly and co) in a new game, or re-start the game on-screen, leaving them all to question how they got stuck in this unfortunate situation.
...
How are they dead but still alive? What happened to that world? How did they get to where they are? That sort of thing is a pretty good story hook.

Still, it's not wholly satisfying... I'm stumped for a fully satisfying solution.

[Draconi Redfir]

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this is the boss were you basically need to be all Dragoons to beat right? Why not have them wake up in a hospital or something, saying the creature blew them out a window, and thinking them dead, didn’t peruse them.

Then have one of the guys in the inn or something mention how he heard legends of an old sect of the army called the Dragoons who could defeat the boss. Then have the four characters decide to temporarily abandon their current classes, and take up life as a Dragoon and Train for several months until they are strong enough to beat the creature. Maybe throw in how they need to stay in hiding and how the kingdom is collapsing or something.

Is the Dragoon tower in this version? it was in the GBA version, so maybe they could set that up as their base of operations and train as dragoons in there for awhile.

[Toric]

What ^ said. It's grind-tastic, but better than completely re-starting the chapter/game. Garuda's another one of those bosses, which was pretty much designed to be killer unless you used a jumptastic all-dragoon party.

[Domochevsky]

Didn't he say that his savestate is right before the boss, so that he can't do jack about it? This is rather inconvenient. >_>

You got destroyed by that thing! How the hell did that happen? The other bosses looked challenging but overall workable.

(Cheating seems apropriate. Let them draw on a hidden power or somesuch when all seems lost mayhaps. A secret technique of Donut, summoner memories of Ash, a rousing speech of Hollie. You can probably think of something.)

[Penguinator]

FF games (at least, the couple I have played) seem to be bad about this.
I know the walkthrough I'm reading for FFIV DS Recommended using multiple save slots, so I was ready for one of these.
...It's a shame that this inconvenience has occured. Whatever you do, I'm pretty sure we'll keep reading. It's just a minor setback.

[T.G. Oskar]

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Fiddler, don't you have one of those strong magic items?

I recall that boss in FF3DS, and I recall not having all characters as Dragoons (only one of the four, which was the Knight/Dark Knight/melee kind of character). I think I tried the all-Dragoon option and it failed because as he pulled Thunder, I got beaten.

I recall I beat him with a Scholar/Red Mage/Dragoon/something else (quite probably Geomancer or Bard) and using Items with the Scholar to pound Garuda into submission. I think I defeated him when the Dragoon was on the air, or I think he landed once before the guy was just beaten into submission.

Took me about 3-4 tries.

Also; that teaches you to do save-stating or actual saving in steps: one save-state, then a different save-state, then a different save-state than the other two, and then return to the first one, in a cycle.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Also; that teaches you to do save-stating or actual saving in steps: one save-state, then a different save-state, then a different save-state than the other two, and then return to the first one, in a cycle.

You think I'd have learned when I lost my Mother file halfway through the games, but noooo. Curse you, myself!

Anyway, thanks for the input, everyone... I think I've decided on what I want to do. I just hope I can work it into the narrative in a way that doesn't leave a bad taste in anybody's mouth.