Elan and Thog come up with a plan to get back to Azure City.
Cast[]
- Roy Greenhilt ◀ ▶
- Elan ◀ ▶ (also as Nale ◀ ▶ and Locke Cole)
- Thog (also as Mog) ◀ ▶
- Members of the party from Final Fantasy VI
Transcript[]
- Panel 1, Page 1
Thog: but thog misses thog's axe! thog's axe had senitmental[sic] value.
Elan: I know, Thog, but there's like a bajillion guards around the equipment locker. We'll need to get new stuff.
- Panel 2, Page 1
Elan: And if I've learned anything from stories where the hero is falsely accused, it's that the first thing you have to do after your daring escape is change your look.
- Panel 3, Page 1
Their voices come from inside a shop marked "CLOTHING" with a smashed window on the front door.
Thog: what not-nale think of this one?
Elan: Oh, sure, if you think you have the figure to pull it off.
Thog: *sigh*
Thog: thog never get anything pretty.
- Panel 4, Page 1
A note pinned to the shop reads:
| “ |
Dear Shopkeeper, |
” |
| — ELAN |
- Panel 5, Page 1
The duo have shed their prison clothes for new costumes.
Elan: OK, so we've got clothes and 5 copper pieces from the "Leave a penny, take a penny," thing. Where can we... go...
- Panel 6, Page 1
Elan: ...next.
Elan: Wait here
A sign on a barber shop reads: Warm shave 5 cp.
- Panel 7, Page 1
Thog blows a bubble gum bubble.
- Panel 8, Page 1
Elan returns clean-shaven.
Thog: ooooo! not-nale smooth as baby butt.
Elan: He got the beard off, though he said I'd never be able to grow facial hair again because of the goo Nale used.
- Panel 9, Page 1
Elan: But now what? Think, Elan, think!
Elan: What would Roy say if HE were here?
- Panel 10, Page 1
Cut to Elan's imagined image of Roy talking to him.
Roy: OK, gang, we need to get to Azure City fast, but we don't have anyone to cast Teleport and traveling by boat or horse will take weeks.
Roy: What we need is an alternate mode of transport.
- Panel 11, Page 1
Roy: Also, you're my best friend in the whole world, Elan, and I'm happy to serve as your surrogate big brother, considering how your own father wasn't there for you growing up.
Roy: Wanna go bowling?
- Panel 12, Page 1
Cut back to the streets of Cliffport.
Elan: Not right now, Roy.
Elan: Roy's right, though. We are going to have to find some alternate means of transport.
Elan: But where are we—
- Panel 13, Page 1
Beat. A "whuppa whuppa whuppa whuppa" sound is heard
- Panel 14, Page 1
A large airship eclipses the sun above, "whuppa whuppa whuppa whuppa".
- Panel 1, Page 2
Thog: thog believe thog can fly.
Elan: Of course! Cliffport's famous airship docks MUST have a ship bound for Azure City!
Elan: Quick, follow me!
- Panel 2, Page 2
Thog: why we running away from ship?
Elan: Because they'll never let us on without tickets. Luckily, I have a cunning plan!
Thog: not-nale so smart!
- Panel 3, Page 2
The note on the shop is amended in red ink:
| “ |
Dear Shopkeeper, |
” |
| — ELAN |
- Panel 4, Page 2
A parade of characters boards an airship, the "Blackjack".
Setzer Gabbiani: All aboard for Azure City! All aboard!
Cyan Garamonde: So there I was, with just three options: Fight, Run, or Item.
Celes Chere: No Magic?
Cyan: Nah, it was still the first half of the story.
Relm Arrowny: But Grampa, I don't WANNA go to Pratt!
Strago Magus: Don't sass me, brat, or I'll Aqua Rake you into next week.
Elan and Thog arrive in costume as Locke Cole and Mog, respectively.
Elan: With these clever disguises, we're sure to get aboard!
Thog: thog not get references.
- Panel 5, Page 2
Setzer: Tickets, please?
Elan: What? Don't you recognize us? I'm the famous Treasure Hunter, and this is my marketable (but ultimately useless) recurring mascot character!
Thog: kupo!
- Panel 6, Page 2
Setzer: Oh, terribly sorry, sir. Welcome aboard.
Elan: I should hope so, we're both playable characters, you know.
- Panel 7, Page 2
Elan: This is great Thog! We'll zoom down to the South lickety split! I just hope we get there before I have to figure out a way to resurrect all my friends.
- Panel 8, Page 2
Terra Branford: "Resurrect"? What's that?
Edgar Roni Figaro: Don't you mean "Fenix Down"?
Thog: what's a "fenix"?
- Panel 9, Page 2
beat. Terra and Edgar glare while Elan gives a sheepish grin.
- Panel 10, Page 2
Elan and Thog, the head pieces of their costumes removed, fall through the air.
D&D Context[]
- The D&D spell to bring a character back to life is Resurrection (or Raise Dead, among others). But in Final Fantasy VI a character can be returned to life with Phoenix Down (feathers), also referred to as Fenix Down.
Trivia[]
- The existence of airships at Cliffport seems inspired by their prominent use in the Final Fantasy series of video games, though they certainly exist in other fantasy settings as well as historically. All of the characters getting on the airship are playable characters from Final Fantasy VI, as are the characters Elan and Thog cosplay as. The name of the ship is the same as one of the two airships in FF VI, the Blackjack.
- "Kupo" is the only word that moogles can say, except Mog who can speak with humans.
- Aqua Rake is one of Strago's spells, which deals water-elemental damage.
- That Elan can never grow a beard now conveniently distinguishes him from Nale.
- The title is a play on the intro to Star Trek and the references to Final Fantasy.
- In the first panel of the second page, Thog references the 1996 hit song I Believe I Can Fly, by R. Kelly.
- This is the only appearance of the cast of Final Fantasy VI: Celes Chere, Cyan Garamonde, Edgar Roni Figaro, Locke Cole, Mog, Relm Arrowny, Setzer Gabbiani, Strago Magus, and Terra Branford.
- O'aka XXIII from Final Fantasy X shows up much later in #1201.