That was quick.

Dungeon Man is a man.

This weird place is filled with weak mobs from the Fourside Department Store and the desert outside. The goal is to follow the excessive sigh posts through three levels. The third rope is the only way forward, and the others lead to dead ends. There are more mobs in pits we can't get to because Brick Road (not dungeon boy) isn't good at his job. It's probably why he turned into this monstrosity. When you finally get to the top, we can see his human face in the rock. He congratulates us and then follows us around for a moment. He hits for 900 damage, but there's nothing worthwhile out there. Take him south.

He'll get stuck in the palm tree wall and accept this is where he'll die. Why is Earthbound so dark? We'll let our new friend die here and keep trekking southeast. There's a native here. He'll tell us that Deep Darkness is beyond the river, but we'll need a submarine to get there. Fortunately, Brick Road has one! Climb back up and go down the new hole he opened for us. After auto killing presents and inspecting Brick Road's antique collection, Jeff repairs the sub, and we set off!

We'll arrive in the jungle called Deep Darkness. It's inhabited by monkeys and researchers. The gimmick with this place is the deep water can harm your characters. There's no way around taking a swim, so suck it up. Go south of the "town" and use the Hawk Eye. It'll illuminate the rest of the dungeon. Watch out for the crocodiles that can easily do 300 damage. The only thing worse than them are the zap ells. Lightning is terrifying in this game, but why does it suck when I use it!? Fish men are also here, as are vileplumes. There are also some vomit piles. One in particular...

Barf has been reincarnated! He functions the same, though, and I might be overleveled. I was out of MP by the time I got here, so maybe I'm perfect? Regardless, just as Paula uses her last PP on Freeze 4, Poo comes back! He uses his new move, Starstorm, and finishes off the sick. Barf drops a Casey Bat, and I don't think I'll use it much with its 75% whiff rate.

So Poo is back on the team, and there is no fanfare. No one says, "Welcome back," and he doesn't say, "I've finished my training." I'm no fan of pomp and circumstance, but this was dumb and boring.

A bit north is a cave filled with more, I think, monkeys. But they're all shy... The tenda in the middle suggests there's a book to overcome shyness, but he doesn't know where it's at. The only extravert tells us there's a path forward, but the only tenda who can move the rock blocking the path is afraid. Guess we need to find that book!

As we leave the cave, Apple Kid calls us. He's working with Jeff's dad, but the doctor is gone. Suddenly, we hear a fight on the otherside of the line! Racing over to Dr. Andonut's lab reveals it empty. Only Apple's mouse friend is here, and it fills us in that he's been kidnapped and taken to Stonehenge Base. The mouse gives us Apple's new invention, the Eraser Eraser. It'll act like the Pencil Eraser and is just as literal.

The Stonehenge Base contains three types of enemies. A more powerful alien, mook, is here. The worst one is the atomic power robot because these guys explode on defeat, dealing 300 damage to the whole team. So lame... The other are the starmen! Remember the guy Buzzbuzz killed? These guys look like him. The grey variant is worthless, but the gold ones located in the factory section are very important. They can drop the only weapon for Poo, the Sword of Kings. But it's a 1/128 chance. They're the only mob that drops the sword, and they disappear when you beat the upcoming boss. I spent the next hour here, looking for that sword. Poo has great stats, but I'm finding they don't equate to battle production, so I'm gonna give him the edge he needs. The Starman Supers are surprisingly easy to sneak attack. Using the Casey Bat may actually make it an auto win. It would have been an easier harvest if the exploding robots weren't here! Make your way through the single path, a muted rainbow road, and into the cold steel world beneath Winters. You'll eventually reach a room with people trapped in tubes. We can recognize some of them as Tony, the doctor, a Mr. Saturn, Apple Kid, and a few nobodies. In the next room is Starman Deluxe!

Don't remove his shield. If you do, he'll hit you with Poo's spell, Starstruck. This hits for over 300 damage to everyone. His shield negates magic, so physically attack him. Have Paula boost everyone's attack. We have two healers if you need to go that route. I had zero problems once I stopped worrying about the shield. Our friends will be free. One tells us the shyness book was returned to Onett's library. So we'll head home for the first time in a long time...

...tomorrow!

I also need to conquer my past and beat up some dinosaurs.