Chapter 1452 1370 — ZEPS 4 Experience: Bakudan Boys — TMNT

Thursday, 5 February 2002 — Night, ZAGE Tower.

It was already around 19:30 on the 21st floor of ZAGE Tower, and most of the employees who worked there had already gone home. The floor was much quieter than during the day, with only a handful of people still finishing overtime work in nearby sections. That naturally meant one thing for the Bakudan Boys.

The gaming room was theirs.

Almost every major floor inside ZAGE Tower had some form of recreation room, though the one on the 21st floor was particularly well equipped. Several large televisions lined the walls, each connected to different consoles, while one side of the room held high-end gaming PCs. Sofas, beanbags, small tables, vending machines, and shelves packed with games made the place look more like an expensive gaming lounge than something that belonged inside an office building. Since ZEPS 4 had launched, four units had also been installed there along with copies of every launch title.

And naturally, the Bakudan Boys were abusing that privilege.

Instead of simply sitting around one television and using local co-op like normal people, they had occupied four separate ZEPS 4 systems, each logged into his own ZAGE ID so they could play TMNT online together. Technically there was nothing wrong with it because nobody else was using the room, but seeing four employees consume four brand-new consoles just to play the same game together was still excessive even by ZAGE standards.

Sakaki dropped heavily onto one of the sofas and stretched both arms above his head. "Alright, let's fucking play. I'm tired as hell after today, so if I have to look at another report, I'm throwing myself out the window." Kumogi, sitting several seats away, yawned so widely that his entire face looked exhausted. "Why don't we just go home and play there? We all own ZEPS 4 now anyway. I'm tired." Before Sakaki could answer, Rikki immediately turned toward the tall man. "Because if you go home, you'll fall asleep in five minutes, you giant bastard. Old people can't stay awake at night."

Kumogi slowly looked toward him. "The fuck did you say?"

Rikki grinned. "I said you're old."

"We're different by two fucking years, you idiot!"

"Two important years. Your bones are already deteriorating."

Kumogi grabbed one of the sofa cushions and threw it directly at Rikki's head. Rikki ducked and laughed while Sakaki watched them with growing irritation. "Can both of you shut the hell up for five seconds? We haven't even started the game yet." Kumogi immediately looked toward him. "Nobody asked you, Sakaki." Rikki nodded. "Yeah. Fuck you too, Sakaki."

Sakaki stared at both of them. "Why am I suddenly involved!?"

From the farthest seat, Sawada calmly picked up his controller and sighed. "Anyway, let's continue the story before you three somehow start a real fight inside the gaming room." Sakaki pointed toward him. "See? Sawada understands." Sawada glanced over. "I didn't say I agreed with you. I just want to play." Rikki laughed. "Neutral bastard." Sawada shrugged. "It keeps my life peaceful."

The four finally loaded Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which they had been playing almost every night since ZEPS 4 launched. At first they had expected a straightforward co-op beat-em-up, mostly because the old TMNT games had always been fun in groups, but this new game had turned out to be dramatically more ambitious. The host controlled the actual story progression while the other three players joined as partners, and the campaign was always built around all four turtles being present: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo.

More importantly, the four turtles did not simply share the same combat system with different weapon animations.

Raphael was the brute-force fighter. His attacks hit harder than the others, and many of his abilities focused on breaking guards, staggering larger enemies, and physically grappling opponents. He could grab weaker Foot Clan soldiers, slam them into walls, throw them into other enemies, or hold certain targets long enough for another turtle to perform a combination attack. Kumogi had naturally liked Raphael during their first playthrough because, according to Rikki, "Big idiot likes big damage."

Kumogi had replied by nearly throwing another cushion at him.

Leonardo played almost completely differently. His dual swords were quick and precise, but his strongest mechanics revolved around timing. Perfect guards, counters, parries, and disciplined combo routes made him incredibly strong in the hands of someone patient enough to learn enemy attack patterns. Sawada had immediately become the best Leonardo player among them because he rarely panicked during fights. While Sakaki, Rikki, and Kumogi were screaming about whatever was happening on screen, Sawada would calmly wait for an enemy to swing, parry at the last possible moment, and punish them with a counter.

Michelangelo focused heavily on movement. His nunchaku attacks flowed between enemies quickly, his dodges covered more distance, and he had several acrobatic abilities that allowed him to bounce off walls, vault over enemies, and remain airborne longer than the other turtles. He also never stopped talking. Even during dangerous boss encounters, Michelangelo would throw out jokes, complain about hunger, or annoy Raphael.

Donatello was perhaps the strangest of the four because he mixed traditional staff combat with technology. His Bo Staff gave him excellent range, but many of his unique abilities involved gadgets: temporary electric traps, small drones, hacking tools, flash devices, and deployable support equipment that could control parts of the battlefield.

On top of each turtle's natural abilities, players could equip two additional pieces of Donatello-created equipment before missions. These functioned almost like secondary abilities or items. Thunder Shuriken could electrify groups of enemies, Smoke Bombs could break enemy vision during stealth sections, Healing Gel restored health during difficult encounters, while other equipment supported movement, defense, or crowd control. Since each player could only take two, the Bakudan Boys had gradually learned to coordinate their loadouts instead of all carrying the exact same thing.

The game was completely different from the TMNT game Zaboru remembered from his previous life. He had taken the basic idea of a fast-moving 3D TMNT action game and rebuilt almost everything around it. Combat now supported proper launchers, aerial attacks, cancels, dodges, parries, grapples, gadgets, environmental attacks, and most importantly, Team Combos.

If two or more turtles met the correct conditions, they could combine their abilities into completely different attacks. Raphael could throw an enemy toward Leonardo, who would cut through them midair. Donatello could launch several Foot soldiers upward using an electrical trap before Michelangelo spun through them with his nunchaku. Even all four turtles could combine during certain circumstances, creating spectacular coordinated attacks that looked like something straight from a highly animated fight scene.

Sakaki still remembered the first time they accidentally triggered one. He had screamed, "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?" while Sawada calmly replied, "Apparently we can do team attacks." Rikki had immediately shouted, "DO IT AGAIN!" and Kumogi had responded, "Maybe learn how we activated it first, you horny idiot." Rikki had stared at him. "What does being horny have to do with this!?" Kumogi shrugged. "Everything with you somehow becomes related eventually."

The campaign also refused to make every level a simple sequence of fights. Several missions focused more heavily on traversal, wall-running, rooftops, platforming, and stealth. Some stealth missions became almost like four-player coordination puzzles because one careless player could alert an entire building. Leonardo could quietly eliminate certain enemies, Donatello could disable cameras or electronics, Michelangelo could reach unusual paths through acrobatics, while Raphael could handle situations where subtlety had already completely failed.

The Bakudan Boys had learned that lesson painfully.

During one mission two nights earlier, Rikki had ignored everyone and jumped directly through a window because he thought he saw a collectible.

The alarm immediately activated.

Every enemy in the area rushed toward them.

The mission failed less than thirty seconds later.

Kumogi had spent the next five minutes calling him a fucking idiot.

Rikki still insisted the collectible had been worth checking.

Now, three days after they first started playing, the Bakudan Boys had already completed the normal campaign and entered New Game+, where additional characters, harder encounters, upgraded equipment, alternate challenges, and secret unlockables became available. Several characters could be earned simply by completing specific objectives, while others required in-game currency collected across repeat playthroughs.

By now they had already unlocked Casey Jones, Kim Possible, Po, and Kamen Rider Black.

Rikki leaned back while looking at the character-select screen. Several empty silhouettes still remained. "So if they're following the old ZEPS 1 roster, ZABO-man should be the last original one, right? But why the hell are there another two character slots highlighted after him?" Sakaki rested his controller against one knee and thought about it. "No idea. ZABO-man says he unlocks after beating the highest difficulty. Those other two only become purchasable after that, apparently." Kumogi frowned at the screen. "So basically we beat this bastard on the hardest mode just to unlock three characters." Rikki immediately grinned. "It's worth it if one of them is a hot woman."

Kumogi slowly turned his head.

"There it is."

"What?"

"You always fucking do this."

"I'm just being honest!"

Sakaki sighed. "Can we please start before Rikki asks if the Foot Clan has sexy kunoichi?"

Rikki paused.

Everyone looked at him.

"…Do they?"

Kumogi immediately shouted, "FOR FUCK'S SAKE!"

Sawada calmly selected his character. "I'm starting the lobby."

For their hardest-difficulty run, Sakaki selected Casey Jones, mostly because he found the entire concept hilarious. Casey was just a completely normal guy wearing a hockey mask who somehow stood beside mutants, superheroes, martial artists, and Kamen Riders without caring. He used hockey sticks, baseball bats, golf clubs, and whatever sports equipment he could get his hands on. His style focused heavily on improvised weapons, charged strikes, and switching between different sports gear. Sakaki grinned when Casey pulled out a hockey stick. "I like this guy. Everyone else has powers and this asshole just shows up with sporting equipment."

Kumogi replied, "That explains why you identify with him. Both of you are idiots."

"Fuck you."

Rikki laughed. "For once I agree with the giant."

Sakaki immediately looked toward him. "Nobody asked you either."

Sawada, meanwhile, selected Kamen Rider Black without hesitation. He had been a Kamen Rider fan since childhood and had already spent far too much time testing the character. Black was a straightforward but extremely satisfying fighter built around strong martial arts fundamentals. Rider Punch and Rider Kick served as his signature finishers, but he also had several unique abilities tied to his transformation and could even summon his motorcycle during certain attacks or traversal sections.

Sawada smiled faintly. "I'm keeping Black."

Rikki grinned. "You always pick him."

"Yes."

"That's boring."

"I like him."

"…Fair."

Rikki naturally selected Kim Possible.

Kumogi noticed immediately. "Of fucking course."

Rikki looked offended. "What!? She's good!"

"You didn't pick her because she's good."

"She's agile!"

"You didn't pick her because she's agile."

"She has gadgets!"

"You didn't pick her because of the gadgets."

Rikki sighed dramatically. "Fine. She's sexy. Happy?"

Kumogi threw his hands up. "THERE!"

Kim was actually one of the most technical characters in the entire bonus roster. Her fighting style mixed martial arts with gymnastics and acrobatics, giving her extremely quick movement, wall flips, handsprings, evasive rolls, and aerial kicks. She could use a grappling device to pull herself toward ledges or enemies, throw compact utility gadgets to stun opponents, and use her Kimmunicator to temporarily reveal enemy positions and certain environmental interactions. Her damage was not particularly high compared with Raphael or Casey, but her mobility was absurd.

Rikki had discovered that almost accidentally because he had originally selected her for much simpler reasons.

Now he genuinely liked playing her.

Kumogi selected Po, mostly because Po looked hilarious standing beside everyone else. Despite his large body, Po was surprisingly mobile and fought using a mixture of traditional kung fu, awkward-looking improvisation, and attacks that took advantage of his weight. He could belly-bounce enemies away, absorb certain impacts better than lighter characters, perform surprisingly technical counters, and occasionally stumble into attacks that looked accidental but were completely intentional.

Rikki looked toward Kumogi's screen and laughed. "Perfect character for you."

Kumogi narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"You're both huge."

"I'm tall, not fat!"

"Same category."

Kumogi immediately stood up.

Rikki raised both hands. "Whoa! Sit down, Po!"

"COME HERE, YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

Sawada sighed while Sakaki laughed. "Can we finish the fucking game before Kumogi murders Rikki?"

Kumogi sat back down reluctantly. "After the game."

Rikki pointed toward him. "Threat recorded."

"You deserve it."

The four continued playing for several more hours. The hardest difficulty dramatically increased enemy aggression, introduced additional attack patterns to bosses, and made careless play much more dangerous. They were forced to coordinate Team Combos properly instead of simply attacking whatever moved. Casey controlled groups with wide weapon swings, Kamen Rider Black handled dangerous targets with powerful finishers, Kim moved rapidly around the battlefield disabling troublesome enemies, while Po disrupted groups and absorbed punishment whenever things became chaotic.

Their conversations never stopped.

"Rikki, get the guy on the left!"

"I'm busy!"

"You're literally running in circles!"

"I'm repositioning!"

"You're staring at Kim's animation, you pervert!"

"IT'S CALLED APPRECIATING ANIMATION QUALITY!"

"Sakaki, revive me!"

"Why me!?"

"Because you're standing next to me, dumbass!"

Sawada calmly interrupted, "Boss attack incoming."

Everyone immediately stopped arguing.

"WHERE!?"

Three seconds later the entire screen exploded.

"FUCK!"

Sawada sighed. "I warned you."

Eventually, after several failed attempts at the final section, countless insults, two arguments over equipment loadouts, and one moment where Kumogi nearly unplugged Rikki's controller out of pure irritation, they finally defeated the campaign on its highest difficulty.

The victory screen appeared.

For several seconds nobody said anything.

Then Sakaki raised both arms. "FINALLY!"

Rikki dropped backward against his seat. "Holy shit…"

Kumogi exhaled. "Thank God."

Sawada simply smiled. "That was fun."

All three looked toward him.

Sakaki frowned. "Fun? That last boss kicked our asses six times."

Sawada shrugged. "Still fun."

Kumogi shook his head. "You're too calm."

Then the unlock notification appeared.

NEW CHARACTER UNLOCKED — ZABO-MAN

The four immediately leaned toward their screens.

This version of ZABO-man was clearly designed specifically for TMNT. He wore a black-and-silver martial-arts Gi over lightweight armor, while the familiar white helmet covered his entire head. A glowing blue visor stretched across the eyes, and the iconic Z remained clearly visible across the helmet.

Sakaki laughed. "Oh, this one is definitely martial-arts ZABO-man."

Rikki rotated the character model. "He actually looks pretty damn cool."

Kumogi nodded. "For once I agree with you."

Rikki immediately looked toward him. "Did hell freeze?"

"Don't ruin it."

Sawada checked the abilities. "Looks like he has counters, stance changes, and energy strikes. Probably another technical character."

Sakaki grinned. "We're testing him tomorrow."

Rikki looked toward the clock in the corner of the interface.

His eyes widened.

"Uh… guys."

Nobody answered.

"Guys."

Kumogi looked at him. "What?"

Rikki pointed.

It was already extremely late.

For several seconds the four stared at the time in complete silence.

Sakaki slowly lowered his controller. "We're fucking idiots."

Kumogi nodded. "Yep."

Sawada calmly stood up. "We should go home."

Rikki sighed. "Wait, wait. Before that, the other two characters should be visible now, right?"

The four immediately forgot about going home.

They opened the in-game shop.

Two previously hidden silhouettes were now completely revealed.

The Bakudan Boys stared at the screen.

Sakaki's tired expression disappeared instantly.

Then he grinned.

"Ain't no way… I thought ZAGE forgot about my goat..!"

To be continued.