Getting into ultimate mode and getting a chance at awesome new rares on DCPSO was really really really a highlight of the whole series' career. Ult came soon enough that everyone was still utterly WILD about the game, and promised/delivered everything to make everyone just nuttier for it.

Pure frosting was what Ver 2 was. New looking monsters, ultra powerful ultra great looking gear to kill 'em with...higher level cap and outrageous quests made sure this thing was fantastic. It didn't have any of the flaws from GameCube such as the 'take forever to kill monsters' of Episode 2, or the tech happy enemies that were more annoying than fun. It also brought 2 new modes to keep people hooked for ages to come: Challenge and Battle, both of which will see plenty of action in coming comics.

Because you could transfer all your characters, and introduce them to a whole new level of fun while STILL having access to your familiar haunts, this version is really the highlight of PSO. The most spectacular arcs appear here, both good and bad--these were really the good times with heroes and villains at their peak.

This was a great one to do. I actually did most of it right around when ultimate was released. It was inked/fleshed out later to get it ready for posting. Color appears again, this time just for effect. I knew when I did the first page, that it needed that color, even back then. Plus, you can't really convey a great sunset without some color.

This is just an intro to what happened on the first day in ult. Getting used to the new monsters, how percentages on the weapons were what really ruled the day, and of course the surprise trip to the pole. I made the trip through ult forest in the game in about an hour and a half or so, with rather shoddy weapons at lvl 100.
It isn't particularly thrilling, but neither is ultimate forest once the new-ness of the sunset and monsters wears off, which is what I am trying to convey. EVERYthing knocks you down, only helping to drag the whole place out that much more. It wasn't lethal, but it was rough.

Anyone who's played this knows the giant mistake that's currently being made as well...can you figure it out?

The trip to the pole was shocking, but cool. The sky so full of stars and the Aurora Borealis (accurately described!) over the dark sky and darker water. Fighting the icy Sil Dragon among glaciers and icebergs was something no one seemed to get tired of.

Dance of Death With the Clowns From Hell

Finally, another action comic. With how relativly calm the current ones have been, it's good to get back into the fighting scene once more. On Ult, I basically stealthed my way through the caves, skipping every single monster that I could, to make better time. I'd previously been very thorough with the whole game, going to every room etc. so this was a big change. Caves wasn't really that eventful. It was a long haul/drag, yes, but nothing drastic happened.

The real action here is in the mines. Gillchiches are really awful when you're under-leveled and have only old style weapons with low percentages to throw at them. And they DO remind you of clowns. With that "Bozo" red flat fin thing of 'hair' and light-up clown noses. It is also wonderfully eerie to have them float around the room. Quite a good touch by SonicTeam.

The attack with knives (the only thing that really had % to Machine, at that time) looks like a dance. The Gillchiches 'dance' too, flailing their punches and whirling in the air, hence the title of the comic.

This is pretty much the only time that Jet had to retreat from anything. The Sinow Red was the problem, it's resta was SO powerful, that they basically got a full heal every time it did it, and I simply couldn't damage fast enough to get anywhere before it'd just do it again. Of course, the Chaos Calibur didn't REALLY break, but it did become useless from that point on (it's percentages aren't good enough) so it may as well have.

What was the weapon that the Canabine dropped?
You may already be able to guess it knowing the ult drops for Bluefull, but if not, it'll appear right away in the next story. (The PSO font says "SPECIAL WEAPON"--the words everyone loves to see!)

*As for the 'giant mistake' mentioned in the last write-up--- it's rushing OUT of the forest like that. The "Red Weapons" especially Red Handgun, were meant to drop fairly easily off of forest Ultimate monsters. The Red Gun was supposed to be the first thing you got that could cut through the ULT high DFP and EVP. They expected hunters to hang out in the forest until they stumbled onto anything. Because Jet raced through on minimums, he never got a Read Weapon to start with--hence the error.

His logic is that "more difficult monsters drop better prizes". He was not looking for a "Gimme Wep".

This comic is supposed to have a color splash-page so you can see what color Jet's new plating is. Coming soon.

Real Dawn

This is like a minor...transition comic. Not really a stand-alone but it doesn't really fit in with anything else and is largely fictitious/character interaction only. The 'fix' for Jet in the game only takes like...seconds, but here it can be assumed to take possibly an hour before he returns, giving the team time to check on the weapon. A rather standard dissapointment, going through sinow-hell only to get a cheezy force item. Canabines drop Twinkle Stars for Bluefull ID on ultimate. Still, it was extremely exciting to grab the box out from under the terrible sinows and dash up to the tekker with it.

It also lends the chance to see the human-level worrying they do, and his lack of concern for it, dragging his own dismembered arm home. The ability to recognize injury, then promptly 'turn off' pain is...handy. The real dissapointing element was that the loss of the arm and the sword...couldn't be made up for by having found something useful.

Red Sword

Finding the gang who was supported by hackers here was the real big breakthrough. Even though all the duping/etc is wrong, Jet is quite thoroughly the unrepentant criminal at this point. Why? Because otherwise it was NO FUN. Stuff like this, that was lifted on this first night, was stuff that the legits could hunt for, for WEEKS and still not get. Needless to say, finding these guys was absolutely awesome. It was totally amazing to see all that stuff right there on the floor, and I never regretted it for a minute. It DID make the game more fun. Did I still hunt the legit versions? Yes. Did I set aside the hax if I got one? Yes.

This game here marked the end of the real 'struggle/ninja-style' period on ult, and opened the place up for some real fun with friends. Interestingly, New Sunset, Dance of Death, Real Dawn, and Red Sword ALL took place on the SAME DAY of play in the game. This was the era when PSO was JUST THAT INTERESTING spawning stories left and right. Naturally, this makes it all take place in the same day of comic-timeline as well.

The Red team (curious they picked "red" what with all the in-continuity Rico-lore) was not that interesting personality-wise, and broke up before ever getting to ult falz--hence the comic having no real climactic battle. Instead, the end involves something rather common:

You can hear other people before you see them, so long as you're in game.
Jet isn't necisarily listening to them, but by the last panel they've set their own trap and fallen right into it. Rather raunchy conversations were common among humans and newman (and of course, still are) and these tend to confuse Jet who is quite innocent/clueless to them. The last page should be read twice, once with the speeches of the characters, and the other with what he's thinking...as he's inattentive to their conversation. (Which is made even more hilarious by the irony because among them Jet is the only one without any privates at all)

Red Swords:
Have a serious case of "TEH HUGE". Wider than your standard calibur, and with a larger photon glow, the things are totally anime-outrageous-big. Even on a massive character the thing was like swinging half a car around. (Airplane wing!) If you hadn't seen one before, amazement would ensue. Of course gunners couldn't be left out because some of the guns amounted to about the size of a jet-ski as well so its all in good fun.

Who Is Useful

This one stars Chibi ChuChu, but foreshadows a few things for the future.
At this time in the game, people were using those "Super Duper Spread Needles" to level up alt chars. That's what Eden's doing here, the hacked Needle killed any enemy in the game in about 2 hits, even if you were under levled for the area. (Which she was) As long as anyone else got to hit the enemies 1 time, they would get the exp...so casting a big spell like Razonde would hit everything, then the gun would kill it....getting exp for both characters as long as the caster could keep up. The dialogue is pretty true to what was said in the game for this one, till the interaction at the end. This isn't the first time Eden's shown up, nor will it be the last.

What does it foreshadow?
Jet's eventual entry into the battle arena, and the showdown with Eden. The hacked Needles did unbalance things, but they didn't make the game UNfun. They changed the challenge from 'kill stuff' to 'get the exp out of stuff'. Sure that's not everybody's bag, but I never particularly got bored of it.

The moral lesson at the end is sort of about play style. A FOnewearl makes a poor HUcast or RAmar, and because she likes Skyy & Jet so well, she wants to be like their class, but can't. (She's not going to block that thing's blade-arm) An underleveled FO is not a nuker/power-techer, and FO always had a different play style anyway. (CCC is relativly clumsy because my own style of play isn't force oriented, it's more tank/high damger/close fighter)

I think her mag's name (Marica) is a swear in some other language. It wouldn't pass the filter, though no one knew what it meant. In-game people just said Marcia. Yes just like how "Frozen Shooter" was censored because sHOOTER. Yeah....don't get offended now.

Long ears like that are some kind of handicap. If properly folded up, Jet will fit into the same large panel as CCC. His face is likely not 100% accurate. That paint job...the face was somewhat confusing & slightly unattractive/unfitting from a couple of angles so it's simplified a little here.

Dimenians:
No visible sensory organs, but always can find you in the room. No visible mouth but they do grunt/shout when you enter the room. Dark oriented, but they glow. The glow area on them (the whole front) had a 'chaser light' effect on it. When killed that front point would bend over sideways when they fell on it. Their 'stain' color was purple. The SO Dimenian seen here was the largest/highest HP of the 3 types.