Boktai:
The Sun is in your Hand
Episode II- The Castle in the Mist
"This is it, Django! This is Fog Castle! The lair of your enemy, the Count of Ground-Soaking Blood!" Master Otenko says to me as we near the castle gates. Even from a distance, the castle is imposing. An impossibly black tower jutting out against an inky black sky...
"Come now! It's not much farther!" Otenko calls back to me. So we travel on.
A few minutes into our entrance, some birds fly at me, obviously trying to attack me. Fortunately for me, I have my trusty Gun Del Sol!
"EAT SOLAR ENERGY, YOU BEAKED FREAKS!" I shout as I fire blasts of pure, concentrated UV rays at the soon-to-be-Kentucky-Fried-Crows. Soon, the ground was littered with the smoldering remains of my avian enemies. I also realize that I am something of a poet, at least in my own mind. I'm not sure if that's healthy or not.
Master Otenko beams proudly at me, despite my somewhat... enthusiastic outburst. "Good work, Solar Boy! Now let's go!" So we hurry off again, but...
It hasn't even been a minute since we last started moving, when more creeps appear! Sheesh, gimme a break... but wait, something is different about these creeps, they aren't birds at all. This time, they're a little... undead? Yeah. That's the word. They have greenish flesh, glowing yellow eyes, and are wearing dusty, tattered garments, so what else could they be? They barely look human. "Sweet Sol! What the heck are those!" I blurt out. That was a bad decision. Upon hearing my voice, the ghoul-thingies (because what else would you call them) suddenly become alert!
"Quick!" Master Otenko whispers hoarsely, "Flatten yourself against the wall! Hurry!" Not wanting to be found by the ghoul-thingies, I immediately obey. The air is tense. My heart is racing at a million beats per minute as the ghoul-thingies draw ever nearer... but to my surprise, the ghouls make a sound of confusion, and then walk in the other direction. What? "Django, shoot them from behind with the Solar Gun!"
When I blast the ghouls in the back, they screech in surprise, and then appear to be...
"Stunned." Otenko says. "When shot from behind, Boks," Oh, so that's what they're called, "as well as other undeads become stunned. Hurry!" He says, gesturing towards the door with his... leaves, I guess. "Go inside, before they come to!" So I rush past the Boks and enter the castle.
Out of the frying pan, and into the fire. Upon entering the castle, more Boks appear. This time, they see me. Crud!
"Django! When a Bok spots you, it'll release a substance called Klorofolun! Klorofolun will drain your health when it touches you!" Master Otenko explains.
Double crud!
The Bok that spotted me releases the c stuff. It kinda spits it out. Gross. I guess the undead aren't much for table manners?
The Klorofolun itself looks like a little ball of flame, only it's a dark, reddish-black, and seems like it's made out of something sticky.
All of a sudden, it starts to attack me! "Use the Solar Gun to purify it!" Shouts Otenko. So I pull the trigger of the Gun Del Sol, and let loose some solar-powered justice! Holy mackerel! The Klorofolun just disappeared! I'm safe! I- Oh No. My little undead "pal" looks like he's going to spew some more of that crap out.
"Eat sunlight, you moss-colored cadaver!" I shout as I blast the ghoul several times until it's knocked out. Man, I wish this gun could actually KILL the undead! But that would be too convenient.
It looks like there are no Boks in the next room, so I go ahead into it. Yup, seems safe enough. I think I'll take this opportunity to look around... hey! "Master Otenko, what's that?" I say pointing to something that resembles a machine of some sort. It's green, box-shaped, and covered in markings. As I draw near, the markings glow.
"That?" replies Otenko. "That's a Solar Station! You can use it to withdraw energy when you need some sun! Go ahead, try it! Your Gun Del Sol looks like it could use some juice. Just stand in front of the station and pull the trigger!"
He's right; I'm almost out of energy. So I stand in front of the Solar Station and pull the trigger. Suddenly, a warm feeling comes over me, and as I look down at my Gun Del Sol, I see that it's fully charged! Sweet! That's an awfully convenient thing to have, a machine that charges solar-based weaponry! ... In the castle of a vampire. No, there's no time to question that logic. That way lies madness. At any rate, now I can head into the next room.
Well, I'm in the next room. There are more Boks. This sucks. There are too many of them, and all this stupid gun can do is stun! ...Hey, is that a treasure chest over in the corner there? I do my best to carefully sneak towards the corner, and no Boks spot me. Alright, time to see what crap is in this box- Hmm? It's some sort of frame or something. "Master Otenko, what's this?" I ask as I hold up the frame-thingy.
"Gasp!" gasps Master Otenko, his eyes getting all buggy. Man, that's freaky. And why did he feel the need to vocalize his gasp? "Django," he continues, "That is the Knight frame for the Gun Del Sol!" Knight frame? Whuzzat? "This frame will allow you to destroy the undead!" Destroy? Alriiiiiight! FINALLY. I take off the Fighter frame, stow it away in my pocket, and snap on the Knight frame. Okay, now to test it out!
I sneak up behind one of the little suckers, and pull the trigger of the Solar Gun. The ghoul glows yellow, lets out a shriek (which makes me think that Boks can't hear too well, 'cause the others didn't even twitch), and then dissolves into nothing! "YEAH, EAT THAT, SUCKA!"
The Boks turn towards me. They CAN hear, dammit! Me and my big mouth. I can't shoot them all at once! "Django, hold the trigger, and you can fire a solar spread!" Otenko tells me quickly. Hold the trigger, huh? Sounds good to me! "Eat this, you undead bastards! SOLAR SPREAD!" I say as the Boks all disintegrate. I know I really didn't need to say the name of my attack, but I mean, come on! I kicked butt! I rock! But still, I think I'll resolve not to shout out attack names anymore. At least, for ones I've already used.
As I progress through the castle, I learn a lot of new things, like sidling up against a wall, knocking on said wall to attract the enemy's attention, and blasting said enemy into oblivion. Stealth, thy name is Django! I feel like Solid Snake! Whoever he is.
We come to a long, winding staircase. Okay, so it really isn't all that long, and it's not really winding, but it's a staircase, nonetheless. After climbing the steps, we reach a door.
"This belongs to the Count..." says Master Otenko solemnly. He turns to me. "Django, we must be careful, it could be a trap." I nod, and slowly open the door...
ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF BOKTAI- Django encounters his first boss battle! Can he grasp the power of the sun in his hands and save the day? See ya next time in "Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hands- Episode III 'The Pile Driver'!"
