Reverse City/Story

AreaStory

From an Old Walkie-Talkie

Before the Adversary could continue on their journey, Chief Legato asked them to return to Nameless Town. He showed them an old walkie-talkie emitting garbled sounds and static and explained that it had washed up on the riverbank from a nearby city. The Adversary recognized that the city didn't come from Maple World, though it looked familiar nevertheless. Legato told them that the flow of the river had been disrupted in the city and asked them to investigate. Upon entering the city, the Adversary realized that everything was upside-down, with even the ceiling having become the floor. A stranger with a computer screen face welcomed them to Reverse City and introduced himself as T-Boy, the most normal person in Reverse City. However, he added that no one would argue if he introduced himself as the city's most dangerous person and used his power to levitate the Adversary in mid-air before crushing them with strong gravitational force.

As his gauntlet began to overheat, the gravitational force increased in power, though T-Boy was completely unconcerned, merely claiming that there was something appealing about uncontrollable power. He told them that power and control weren't so important as something else, but before he could explain what it was, a girl named Rasol arrived and told T-Boy to leave. However, T-Boy merely laughed and asked what she planned to do in order to make him go, just as the gauntlet announced that it was about to overheat. As it began counting down, Rasol begged him to shut it down, though T-Boy only laughed as the countdown reached zero. At the last possible minute, T-Boy shut the gauntlet down and claimed that it had merely been a prank. As the Adversary fell unconscious, T-Boy declared that he saw great things in their future before leaving. After T-Boy left, Rasol carried the unconscious Adversary back to her town.

An Upside-down City

Upon awakening, the Adversary saw that the people in the town were all Erdas, though they had many more human features than the ones in the Vanishing Journey. A man named Alamo explained that one day, T-Boy had shown up out of the blue and had turned the entire city upside-down, forcing them to live like sewer rats in the subway tunnels, where they didn't get even a single ray of sunlight. Alamo then asked why the Adversary had come, and so the Adversary showed the townspeople the walkie-talkie that had washed up. Rasol realized that it belonged to Barr Granger, a man who had helped the people of Reverse City. Rasol began to escort the Adversary to Barr, explaining that he was an overworlder who had come from another world, though he had gotten trapped along with the city when it had been sucked into the Arcane River. Thanks to Barr, the people of the town had learned to survive after T-Boy had forced them into the subway tunnels. She showed them one of Barr's books, entitled “Surviving in the Jungle” with the author blurb as “What matters most to the survivor isn't skills or knowledge. It's the will to live.” On the way, they encountered Erda Rats, which Rasol explained were normal Erdas that had bumped into the rats in the tunnels. The Adversary wondered whether Rasol and the others in the town were also Erdas that had bumped into the humans from Friends World. Rasol asked them to hunt the Erda Rats for their Blue Rat Meat and Montos for their Purple Rat Meat in order to bring it to Barr. She then showed them a flickering screen that depicted a sunset, explaining that since she had been born in the tunnels, it was the closest thing that she had to seeing a real sunset.

Just then, Barr arrived and the Adversary showed him the walkie-talkie. However, Barr told them that he didn't need it anymore and refused to take it back. Suddenly, the tunnels began to shake and Rasol realized that it was T-Boy working on something. She asked Barr if she could borrow his map, but he refused to give it up. She and the Adversary then went into the tunnel system alone and found that it was a giant labyrinth. Rasol explained that Barr's map was the only thing that could help them navigate the area, adding that he was keeping it safe from T-Boy. Inside the trains, they found several machines that appeared to be part of a laboratory. Just then, a T-Drone detected their intrusion and summoned attack drones. Rasol was impressed by how easily the Adversary took down the drones and wondered why T-Boy had been able to defeat them if they were so strong.

Continuing on, they found several sensitive materials that the drones were attempting to wipe. The Adversary hunted down the drones and collected T-Boy's research notes. They then continued deeper into T-Boy's laboratory, where they found what appeared to be a gravity machine that burned Erda for fuel. According to the research notes, they learned that T-Boy planned to harvest Erda from the upstream of the Arcane River and use extinction accelerators to create more Erda upon depletion of the river. With the Erdas, he planned to concentrate gravity above the city in order to create a black hole. Just then, a T-Drone appeared and started a video call, showing T-Boy's computer face on its display. Rasol asked T-Boy why he was attempting to create a black hole, but he refused to answer and instead ordered the T-Drone to turn on the prototype extinction accelerator. T-Boy then sealed the doors and ended the video call, trapping them inside. The Adversary prepared to bust down the doors when Barr appeared and told them that the doors were specially reinforced. However, he explained that the train cars had manual door overrides and managed to open the door for them to escape before the extinction accelerator exploded.

Abandoned Train

After they escaped, Rasol asked Barr if he had already known about T-Boy's plan. Barr admitted that T-Boy sometimes visited to borrow his books and frequently talked to himself while doing so. He told them how T-Boy was the only one who read and appreciated his survival books, and that he had suggested that Barr's next book should be about how to survive a black hole, which was how he had indirectly revealed his plans. Upon learning what T-Boy was about to do, Barr had raised his gun at T-Boy, but had found that he was unable to muster the courage to pull the trigger. Rasol asked Barr how he could have let T-Boy walk away after learning that T-Boy was about to effectively trap them in the city forever. Barr told them that the surface wasn't as good as they believed, but Rasol was determined to stop T-Boy and headed back to the town. Barr then called the Adversary much braver than he was after learning that they were going to help Rasol. The Adversary gave Barr back the walkie-talkie and told him that they had heard human voices from it. The Adversary returned to the town and found the townspeople debating about whether they should stay or head to the surface. Many believed that they couldn't fight T-Boy without Barr's help, but Rasol told them about the Adversary's power and how they could help the town. Though Alamo told Rasol that she couldn't expect a stranger to fight for them, Rasol revealed she had grabbed some of the many Arcane Symbols in T-Boy's research lab and offered them as payment.

Just as the Adversary agreed to help, Barr arrived and offered his map of the subway. However, Barr told Rasol to stay out of the fight. He then told the Adversary that they could ignore the extinction accelerators, since the only thing that they needed to destroy in order to win was the gravity machine. Barr then told Rasol that he needed her help in order to defeat T-Boy. He taught her how to disable the extinction accelerators and gave her T-Boy's research notes and the map, asking her to also evacuate the townspeople before T-Boy found their refuge. The Adversary and Barr entered the train system, where they encountered a T-Drone and many combat bots. Barr explained that some of the bots even had their own anti-gravity units, powered by living creatures like the subway rats. From the T-Drone, T-Boy's computerized face appeared and told them that he had cut power to the train and switched the tracks to have the train crash. However, Barr revealed that he knew how to restore power, outwitting T-Boy once again. Barr asked the Adversary to collect drone parts in order to build his override. After obtaining the parts, the Adversary defended Barr while he continued building. As they continued onward, they found that it was nighttime on the surface. Barr told them that he and his friends used to watch the sunsets while the gate between the Arcane River and Friends World was still open. He explained that when the gate had first opened, he and his friends had worked together to find survivors and send them back to Friends World, and that they had planned to go back themselves after saving everyone. However, he told the Adversary that there had been an accident that had prevented him from returning along with them.

Just then, a T-Droid arrived and T-Boy laughed, telling Barr that the truth was that he had been left behind. He then told the Adversary that they and Barr were two of a kind, as the townspeople had abandoned them, just as Barr's friends had left him, asking whether the townspeople even cared about them. T-Boy claimed that while the townspeople called the Adversary a hero, they were simply using them. However, he reassured them that he understood both the Adversary and Barr, as all three of them were outsiders to their core, adding that it was lucky that they had found each other. Laughing that he had even brought them a gift, T-Boy summoned a wave of battle drones before disappearing.After fighting through the enemy drones, the pair began hopping to the next car when T-Boy himself arrived to confront them, explaining that he had only found the empty refuge after sending his drones to find the townspeople. Barr then revealed how the townspeople had already deactivated his extinction accelerators and escaped. Though T-Boy was surprised, he claimed that it would make no difference, as he would simply make more once he eliminated them both. Barr retorted that it wouldn't be easy to get rid of them both, to which T-Boy asked him what he meant by ‘both', and whether it was him trying to prove a point that he finally had a friend whom he could trust in the form of the Adversary. He laughed and claimed that it would simply end as it had before, with Barr being left alone and abandoned by his new so-called friend.

Sticking up for Barr, the Adversary retorted to T-Boy's provocations by pointing out that he kept going on and on about how they and Barr had no real friends, though the truth was that he was the real lonely one, adding that even if they and Barr were losers, it took one to know one. Stunning T-Boy into silence, the Adversary continued on that they were starting to understand his plan, explaining that if he were to turn the whole world upside-down, then that would mean that T-Boy would finally get to be the normal one. They then added that his plan was so childish that it was bordering on pathetic. Irritated, T-Boy decided to start up the gravity machine without supplying sufficient power, which would cause it to go critical and explode as if it were a giant extinction accelerator, resulting in the destruction of the entire city.

The shocked Adversary retorted that T-Boy was insane, as the explosion would kill him too, to which T-Boy merely laughed that it sounded like a fun time, adding that the three of them were about to have a real blast. The Adversary realized that they needed to take T-Boy out immediately, but Barr replied that it wouldn't help, and that they needed to dismantle the gravity machine. T-Boy then laughed that they ought to hurry to the tower and offered to help by causing the train to speed up to three times its original velocity. As the T-Drone issued a warning to decelerate in order to avoid derailing from the impending track curvature, T-Boy claimed that according to his calculations, they would crash straight into M Tower. Barr immediately told the Adversary to grab seat cushions to lessen the impact, as they had no time to stop the train. T-Boy then told them that he had told them before that power and control didn't matter, as the only thing that was important was sending a message. The Adversary asked him what he was talking about, to which T-Boy told them that he was telling them to remember his name, adding that he was T-Boy, and that he was the one who was about to turn their whole world upside-down.

At Long Last

After the train crashed into M Tower, the Adversary struggled to stand up, just as an injured T-Boy appeared and used his gauntlet to begin crushing them like when they had first met. Suddenly, Barr appeared and pointed his gun at T-Boy, claiming that he had realized that T-Boy wasn't really there, and that the person standing before them was just another drone, while his real body was somewhere safe and far away, which would explain why T-Boy wasn't being affected by the city's reversed gravity. Barr then called T-Boy a coward, claiming that T-Boy didn't even have the guts to face real danger with his life on the line. After a pause, T-Boy, with his damaged vocoder, asked him what difference it made, to which Barr explained that it meant that he wouldn't feel any guilt about pulling the trigger, now that he knew that he was only shooting a drone. Barr then shot T-Boy in the face, shattering his computerized helmet. As the Adversary recovered from T-Boy's attack, Barr came over to check on them, explaining that the real T-Boy was never in Reverse City to begin with, which was why he had been so unconcerned about destroying the place. The Adversary noted that it was easy to play the daredevil from the comfort of one's secret lair, after which they headed off to destroy the gravity machine.

Meanwhile, a wounded T-Boy addressed Barr and told him that it wouldn't change anything, as the gravity wouldn't come back, and the sun wouldn't rise, with the entire city going up in flames. However, he claimed that he could still help, revealing that there was a personal teleporter in his chest compartment that had enough power to send one person back to Friends World. Barr asked T-Boy why he would make such an offer, to which T-Boy told him that he had seen footage of the day when Barr's friends had left, and that he had learned that Barr had chosen not to go back home because of the overwhelmingly negative reviews that his survival books had received. T-Boy laughed at Barr's indecision, claiming that even though he now finally had a way back home, there was no one there who wanted him back. Meanwhile, the Adversary reached the gravity machine and managed to destroy it. However, they were surprised to find that the countdown had not stopped. T-Boy then laughed and asked if they had really thought that attacking the machine would be enough to stop it.

To T-Boy's surprise, however, Barr chose to help the Adversary, rather than go home, because Rasol had managed to contact him and had helped him to conquer his fears, reminding him that even if his friends didn't like his books, they must still like him as a person, adding that it took courage to open up to others. Barr had then recalled the advice that the Adversary had given him about being brave, after which he had decided to go back and help them. Barr told the Adversary that he would take the machine and jump, and with the city being upside-down, he would reach the sky, so that the machine would be high enough that the explosion wouldn't kill anyone. As he jumped off with the machine, he heard the voices of his friends speaking to him through the walkie-talkie, telling him that they were still awaiting his return. Just as the machine exploded, he used the teleporter to return back to Friends World. With the explosion of the gravity machine, the dimensional gate to Friends World opened up once again. Some time later, the townspeople found a newspaper that had washed ashore, which showed that Barr had returned safely back to Friends World, and that his new survival book on Reverse City was poised to become a bestseller. Because of this, even his earlier works were beginning to get noticed and Barr was growing famous.

Though the city remained upside-down, Rasol was relieved that Barr had managed to return home. She also added that with T-Boy's defeat, they could safely view the sunset. She then gave the Adversary her Arcane Symbols as payment for their help, though she added that T-Boy's robot body had gone missing. She also explained that she had found a broken piece of his mask stained with blood, causing them to realize that T-Boy had been there in person all along. Elsewhere, T-Boy was escaping in his spaceship when he was contacted by his sister, Senya Angler. He warned her not to tell their father about his failure, though Senya merely laughed and told him that she would consider keeping his secret. Senya then told him to take off his mask, which she found ridiculous, revealing T-Boy's wounded face from Barr's gunshot. Senya asked T-Boy what he thought of the Alliance's pet hero, to which T-Boy told her that he believed that they'd be able to use the Adversary.