Butt-Ugly Martians: Mike's Answer

**Butt-Ugly Martians: Mike's Answer** is an expansion pack for the originally Mike's Journey saga, and serves as a finale for both Mike's Journey and the Butt-Ugly Martians saga. In addition to adding new story content and updated graphics, the expansion also adds one new fusible demon and a new Social Bond, the World.

## Prologue

*Before one can begin the new story, a save must be imported that meets the requirements of the true ending: reaching the maximum rank of every one of the Social Bonds available to Mike, otherwise only New Game+ is available.*

The new story of Mike's Answer begins shortly after the end of the original game, with the heroes having defeated Emperor Bog and ended the Martian Empire-Sol Alliance War. By the time of February, peace talks between Mars, Venus, and Earth have unexpectedly come to a gridlock, and many fear the war will begin again if neither side agrees to the other's heavy demands. The Alliance has pushed for Mars to dismantle its military and democratize, in contrast to its original demands for their military to simply be reduced. On the opposing end, Mars is demanding to keep Fifth Jerusalem as a colony for their Empire, despite earlier agreeing that it would remain neutral ground indefinitely.

On Earth, Mike and the Butt-Uglies have stopped being seen as celebrities, as the media focuses on the possibly of oncoming war, with many networks encouraging the people of the planet to enlist in the IPF Space Force. Though initially ignored, the heroes eventually realize that things aren't quite right, as both sides and the civilians of Earth wanted to see the war ended only a few weeks ago. Now, not only was war back on the table, it also seemed that many were fully willing to see fighting begin again. After making contact with various friends, including Bob, Koo Foo, and Snarl, the Butt-Uglies confirmed that this was the case across the solar system; the citizens of multiple planets who wished for peace had suddenly become hungry for revenge and a new war.

Finally, things were settled permanently when General Erection secretly contacted Cedric to inform him, Mike, and the Butt-Uglies that Alliance Command had begun planning for a new offensive to invade Mars, Fifth Jerusalem, and any planet past the Asteroid Belt that had helped Mars in any way. Erection seemed to be the only member of Command that wished to hold of on an invasion, but his voice was ignored during every briefing, as if he wasn't even there. In addition, despite having arranged for Mike to have a new private home in Canada, all his contacts that were working on the arrangement now didn't acknowledge it, instead asking why Mike wasn't preparing to fight with Mars.

After outlining all his issues, Erection ended with the most serious problem of all: he had managed to do some research on his own using a private backdoor into the Division's servers, and discovered urgent information: the International Peacekeeping Force was preparing to launch a raid in the next few days to arrest the Butt-Uglies, as well as all their friends and allies. With this information, B-Bop A-Luna was completely sure that someone or something was manipulating the people of the solar system, but they weren't sure what. And due to the limited amount of time before the IPF began purging them and their allies, the Butt-Uglies resolved to move out of New York immediately, regroup with Cedric, and attempt to find what was causing this mass distortion.

### First Plans

Upon meeting with Cedric in his secret underground facility located in New Mexico, the Revengeancers discussed the situation in order to try to plan what their next move should be. After initial discussions, B-Bop inquired upon Cedric's research into the gem that was retrieved from Emperor Bog after the latter's defeat on Fifth Jerusalem. Cedric pulled up several large files on his computer detailing his analysis of the gem's properties, including the discovery of a code of some sort engraved onto the gem itself, invisible to the naked eye.

The code had not been fully translated yet, but Cedric theorized that based on what he had gathered it was a list of coordinates on planet Earth, a statement which confused B-Bop as he didn't understand why Bog would possess an amulet which seemed to hold more importance to Earth than Mars. Cedric confessed that he didn't understand either, only that based on his research there were a total of three coordinates: one in upstate New York, one in Japan, and one somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, with each coordinate in order from most legible to least. While Cedric could determine the coordinates in New York with a high degree of accuracy, he required more time before he could reveal the location of the other two.

With no other option clear to them, B-Bop elected the group to go on a hunt in these locations, hoping that this gem held secrets that could unveil the truth behind the mysterious series of events that endangered the solar system. Cedric agreed to stay behind and continue researching the gem's secrets, while Mike and the Butt-Uglies sans Rem Lazar headed to New York aboard Cedric's custom-made Butt-Ugly-Jet, which was created for the purpose of their secret missions. Rem Lazar was not informed of the missions yet, as he was currently being interviewed by the Senate about the group's activities during the war.

Without Rem Lazar, the Revengeancers lacked both a support member and their only natural super-powered member. Despite this disadvantage, the group believed that they were in little danger as the IPF would not be searching for them in a smaller New York town. As Mike followed the group, time stopped around him and Aurora greeted him once more, congratulating him and his group on continuing to search for peace despite the universe standing in their way, but warned him that the path before them was much more perilous than any of them could know. Still, Aurora noted that she fully believed that the group could triumph over any odds, having faced the path of Judgement once already. Before disappearing and resuming time, Aurora informed Mike that she would later be able to provide some aid on his journey, by way of allowing him to re-summon demons he'd already collected on his journeys.

## New York

A day later, the Butt-Ugly-Jet had finally arrived in the estimated destination Cedric had pointed them to in upstate New York. The plane touched down, with Mike being the first to step outside, viewing the scenery of Niagara county, a tranquil landscape untouched by the brutality of war. The Martians followed behind him, with 2T Fru-T attempting to rig up a device for detecting anomalous objects while B-Bop, Shaboom, and Do-Wah kept watch. Initially, nothing stood out to them, until Mike suddenly had a gut feeling and ran off to a forested area to the north. The Martians followed close by, confused as to where their leader had planned.

Mike himself was not sure where he intended to lead his friends, though something about their surroundings seemed familiar, something the Martians sans Shaboom also noticed. Eventually, they followed a patch leading to a patch of land that lacked any trees, in its center a shallow crater almost unnoticeable from the moss covering it. Suddenly, it became clear for the group what the location meant to them all. Over twenty years ago, Ben-Tucci shot his M1911A1 into the sky, piercing the veil of space itself and opening an entrance for B-Bop, Do-Wah, and 2T Fru-T to arrive on Earth. The bullet shortly returned and hit Mike, and due to this a psychic connection was formed between Mike and the three Martians, which when released became the first BKM. The BKM was extremely dangerous, but fortunately Ben was trained well in the ways of martial arts, and parried the vicious blows of the Martians until Mike recovered, and the rush of rage for the trio ended.

A year after summoning the Martians, Ben-Gucci met Mike in the same spot, who gunned him down with his own M1911A1. Even now, Mike wasn't sure why he'd killed Ben, and this action had haunted the Butt-Uglies for years to come, causing retaliations from Ben's adoptive son Seinfeld and a long quest for vengeance by Ben-Gucci, a clone of the original. Mike's memory was muddled, and looking back it felt as if his actions were not his own. Unconsciously, Mike began to dig through the mossy crater, tearing away large clumps of greenery for several minutes. The other Martians tried to help, but there seemed to be no end to the overgrowth.

After half an hour, Shaboom stood up to complain that there probably wasn't anything important here, before suddenly she caught a whiff of something strange, a zesty smell coming from the forest. She looked through the trees and saw nothing, but upon hearing a whizzing through the air she instinctively pushed Mike down to the ground, before she was suddenly impaled by a small object at high speeds. Whatever the projectile was, it stung at her side and paralyzed her, putting her out of any potential fight.

### An Assassin

Mike and the others quickly formed a perimeter on four sides, attempting to find their would-be assassin, but could not identify the threat without Rem there to use Hypnos as support. A few moments later, their enemy revealed himself, climbing down from a large tree, and spoke to the group. He revealed his name was Garlice, and he was an assassin for hire employed to eliminate all the Revengeancers. Immediately, he shot from his palms dozens of rotten garlic cloves, their putrid stench overwhelming the group and breaking their focus so they could not summon their guardians.

Without the ability to coordinate, the party was put at a glaring advantage and could not counter Garlice's assault. In absence of being able to call forth Prometheus, Mike instinctively reached for his M1911A1, but quickly remembered he'd lost it during his fight with Ben-Gucci on Fifth Jerusalem. Do-Wah Diddy quickly pulled out his plasma rifle and shot at Garlice, grazing the assassin who leaped away upon seeing the weapon drawn. Garlice commended the Martian's quick response, but informed him that it was too late for the group to counterattack as he held the upper hand. After his boast, Garlice unleashed his signature attack: ***Bewildering Alicin***, which clouded the area in a mist of pungent garlic gas. Mike and the Martians could barely see each other, and could not see where Garlice was as he continued taunting them. What shots the Martians fired quickly dissipated, while the group became more and more weary from the continued inhalation of garlic fumes.

Within a few minutes, the four heroes were each struck by cloves of garlic, and fell to their knees in defeat. From the safety of the fumes, Garlice taunted the party as being insignificant even in comparison to his own power, and that they never would have stood a chance against his own master. B-Bop attempted to taunt Garlice into revealing said master, but Garlice easily resisted any temptation. Mike and the Martians began to lose consciousness while Garlice cackled at their feeble attempts to resist. Just as Garlice announced he was going to strike a killing blow to Mike, a familiar voice rang out from the forest, taunting the assassin.

The stranger called Garlice a coward, enraging the villain, who demanded he step forward and reveal himself. Suddenly, a pair of snake-like eyes shone red from the fumes, and the stranger announced that Garlice would be the one to be revealed. Upon seeing the glowing eyes, Mike was suddenly hit with a wave of déjà vu, before realizing who the stranger was. Garlice prepared to attack, before a screeching sound came from the direction of the eyes, and a massive force of wind was released. The wind blew throughout the forest, blowing Garlice out of the tree he hid in and completely dispersing the fog. Suddenly, both the mysterious stranger and the source of the wind were revealed to Mike and the Martians, as well as Garlice.

Ben-Gucci stood among the trees, and in front of him was Quetzalcoatl, who Gucci then recalled after the attack had ended. Garlice quickly recovered, reaching for another garlic bulb with which to attack, but the bulb was shot away by Gucci in a flurry of bullets: in one hand Gucci held Tucci's original M1911A1 and in the other he held his own M1911A2. In the chaos, Shaboom had recovered her paralysis and managed to call forth Diana to heal the party, but succumbed to the injuries she incurred and passed out. Mike, B-Bop, and Do-Wah climbed up and readied themselves for battle, summoning Prometheus, Apollo, and Minerva respectively. Ben-Gucci walked up to the group, ordering them to prepare for battle and worry about explanations later. Mike nodded, and the four readied themselves as Garlice ran towards them with cloves of garlic swirling rapidly around them.

### Boss Battle: Garlice

Upon beginning combat, Garlice opens the battle by using Garlic Shredder, slicing several garlic cloves in the blink of an eye with his sharpened fingernails and sending them flying haphazardly. Mike manages to avoid the blow, while B-Bop and Do-Wah are hit and inflicted with a poison which begins to spread throughout their bodies. Gucci's Quetzalcoatl manages to blow away the slices headed for him, and counterattacks with Garudyne, blowing Garlice away. Mike prepares to switch his active Demon in order to heal the party, but Gucci orders him to attack while Garlice is stunned. Still not trusting his years-long rival, Mike ignores the advice and switches to Cybele in order to cast Dis-Poison. Mike manages to cure Do-Wah while Garlice recovers, but his attempt to do the same for B-Bop is interrupted by multiple clove shots from their opponent.

One of the cloves hits Mike, inflicting him with Paralysis, and Garlice gloats that they won't be doing any more healing now. Ben-Gucci chides Mike for his thoughtless actions, before informing Garlice that Mike isn't the only fighter capable of healing. Suddenly, Gucci calls forth Quetzalcoatl and disperses the demon into a swirl of dark energy, before it reforms as a water-like serpent, shocking Garlice and the party alike. Gucci calls out the name Mizuchi, and the serpent responds by releasing droplets of energy from itself that heal Do-Wah, Mike, and B-Bop in addition to curing their ailments.

While Garlice attempts to analyze Ben-Gucci, B-Bop quickly takes advantage of the bewildered assassin and summons Apollo, who lands a direct hit on the opponent with an arrow of light. This stuns Garlice for a moment, giving Mike's Cybele and B-Bop's Apollo the chance to cast the Fusion Spell ***Myriad Arrows***, raining down dozens of piercing blows onto Garlice. Now weakened heavily by the sudden turn of events, Garlice prepares to cast ***Bewildering Alicin*** once more to escape, but is quickly gunned down by several shots from Ben-Gucci's GUNs, falling down onto the ground while he bleeds out.

B-Bop quickly runs and kneels down to Garlice in order to interrogate him, but finds the assassin is too wounded to speak. Suddenly, he feebly manages to put his hands on his head, causing Gucci to prepare to fire once more, but Mike halts his execution on a gut feeling. Garlice's hands reach his bulb-shaped head, before pulling it off and revealing it to be a mask, under which is a human's face. The masked assassin is still unable to speak, but in his last moments he manages to look at Mike and smile, before closing his eyes and fading away.

### Friend or Foe?

Following the battle, Gucci prepares to go down to where the party was searching, before Mike and B-Bop stand in front of him to stop him, demanding answers. Gucci states plainly that he doesn't have any intent to stand against Mike or the Butt-Uglies anymore, and wants to uncover the truth of his life and Ben-Tucci's death. That being said, he also states that he doesn't intend to play the role of a noble hero, and just wants to help Mike get to the bottom of this mystery and move on. Mike and B-Bop still hold their suspicions, but agree to work together for the moment. At the bottom of the mossy pit, Shaboom has recovered consciousness once more, and is healing herself with Diana's powers while the non-powered 2T Fru-T stands by her side.

Upon seeing Gucci's face, 2T and Shaboom both prepare to attack, but are stopped by B-Bop moving in between them and simply stating that Gucci was an ally for the moment. The two Martians were clearly suspicious of this development, but deferred to B-Bop's leadership as usual for now. With the group once more staring at the undergrowth below, they speculated how long this would take, before Gucci summoned Quetzalcoatl and had him summon a burst of wind from the ground, blowing growth up into the air. B-Bop snapped at him, telling the man that he risked destroying whatever they came here to find, but Mike suddenly became transfixed on something at the bottom.

Mike knelt down and reached down into the moss, before pulling something out. In between Mike's index finger and thumb was a small, rusted clump of metal. Upon seeing it, it became clear immediately what it was to Mike and the male Martians: it was the bullet Ben-Tucci used to summon the Butt-Uglies to Earth so many years ago.