Main Story

*Note: This article contains heavy **spoilers**! Read with caution!*

The following page shows the main story of the Flash version of Phoenotopia, without considering side-quests such as Fran's or Aella's.

## Prologue: In the Beginning...

A narration explains that a Great War took place centuries ago in which the Earth was nearly destroyed. Humanity was able to win the war thanks to their latest creation, a weapon called the Phoenix. It is unknown who participated in the war, though the image in this narration depicts a couple giant-sized creatures -presumably aliens or robots- standing in an area full of burning and destroyed skyscrapers (presumably the Dread Lands). However, by the time the war was over, the world was rendered nearly uninhabitable.

In a bid for survival, some humans took shelter in underground vaults that could support them indefinitely, hoping that the Earth would recover someday. Another group of humans, though, thought the Earth would never recover, so they went away in great spaceships to look for a new home among the stars. The narration ends in a black screen with the words written "Since that ancient war, centuries have passed."

## Chapter I: A Shooting Star?

The first chapter opens in Panselo with Gale sleeping in a bed inside a dormitory, only to be woken up seconds later by a strange rumbling noise from outside. She exits the dormitory, where she finds Grandma Nana, the owner of the orphanage where Gale resides. Nana asks if Gale had a bad dream, then announces that she made pumpkin muffins and gives one to Gale. Nana then talks about her retirement and tells the girl to consider her request of having Gale take over the orphanage.

Gale then climbs up to talk with her brother, Kiter, who says he's on cook duty and tells Gale to go fetch the kids for dinner. After chatting with him a little more, Kiter reveals that he's making cooked toad legs for dinner, and gives Gale a cooked toad leg as a preview.Gale goes to fetch the kids and encounters Clem, who tells her that Alex rounded up the kids to look for a shooting star that recently landed in Duri Forest. Gale finds a wooden bat to open the town gates and heads into the woods.

In the forest, Gale finds the kids spread out the area. Some of them tell Gale that Alex went even deeper inside the woods. She finds Alex along with Ella and Shelby in front of a small chasm leading into Duri Forest Ruins. From here, they can also see their own town off in the distance. Alex asks Gale to jump the chasm and find the shooting star they were looking for. He then gives Gale his slingshot, which she uses to operate distant switches and stun enemies.

Gale ventures into the ruins, solves a few puzzles, and defeats the Century Toad before finally finding the the "shooting star", which turns out to actually be a golem’s head. She brings it to Alex, but as they're talking, another loud rumbling occurs and a giant spaceship descends over Panselo, shoots beams of light over the village, and leaves. Shocked and worried, all the children in the forest rush back to Panselo, with Gale following after them. They find out that the rest of the residents have disappeared, including the animals. Alex and Gale round up the kids and bring them into the orphanage to calm them down and maintain order.

After everyone else is asleep, Gale shows the golem’s head to Alex, who suspects that it is related to the giant spaceship that went over the village. Gale agrees to go look for answers the next morning by venturing outside of Panselo while Alex remains to look after everyone.

## Chapter II: A Long Journey Ahead

The next morning, Gale meets with Alex again, who tells her the nearest city is Atai to the west and she will need to travel through Sunflower Road to reach it. Gale crosses the Road and reaches the Atai Bridge, which she learns was destroyed by a gang called the Desert Dragon Bandits. She manages to make her way across the destroyed bridge and reach Atai. Upon entering the city, she finds out that the Bandits have been plaguing the town for quite a while now. She learns that they are a gang of men that train Sand Dragons and use them to cause disasters in the region for unknown reasons. One of the bandits had been captured, but interrogation has so far achieved nothing, and the Atai Mayor has set a bounty of 5000 Rai for the Bandit Boss.

While exploring the city, Gale meets Lisa, a friend who grew up at the same orphanage as Gale and left two years ago to make her fortune in the world. Lisa's plan failed miserably and she accrued a large debt and was forced to become indentured to the Mayor to pay it off. Gale offers to help her and goes to talk with the Mayor, but he pompously refuses to free Lisa unless her 5000 Rai debt is paid off. Gale returns to Lisa who tells her some information about Atai, including the location of Adar's House nearby.

Back at the city, Gale finds a Potioner selling a truth serum called the Talkinator Juice. Gale purchases it, sneaks into the jail, and tricks the captured bandit into drinking it. The bandit unwittingly divulges the location of the Bandits' Lair, as well as the fact that explosives are needed to enter it. Gale finds the Bombs at Adar's House and proceeds to search for the Bandits' Lair. She infiltrates the Lair and makes her way deeper inside until she confronts the Bandit Boss, who drops her into a pit to be killed by his fully grown Sand Dragon. After a tough fight, Gale manages to defeat the sand dragon and goes to confront the Bandit Boss once more. The Boss is amazed at her strength and tries to flee but is cornered. Gale beats him and and ties him in a sack before returning to Atai.

After Gale brings the Bandit Boss to jail, the soldiers imprison him and the Mayor sets Lisa free in place of the bounty. Lisa gives Gale a tight hug and thanks her with all her heart. She gives her farewells to the workers in the Mayor's Palace (and harshly insults her ex-boss) before returning to Panselo with Gale. The children are excited to see Lisa return and have her help around. Gale tells Alex that she wasn't able to find out more about the golem so Lisa suggests that she visit Thomas, another resident of Panselo who went out and became a famous scientist in Daea. Due to the Atai-Daea bridge being destroyed by the Bandits, Gale will have to cross Misty Gorge to get there. Lisa marks this location on her map.

## Chapter III: Suspicious Activity

At the Misty Gorge, Gale finds a shop full of gear and purchases a Floaty Donut that allows her to swim in the water, enabling her to cross the swamplands. After reaching the other side, she goes north of Daea to Thomas' Lab, which is disguised as a tailor’s shop. Searching around reveals secret rooms behind the shop, including one guarded by a security robot that attacks Gale. She manages to dismantle it and proceed to a hidden room where Thomas is working. The scientist doesn't recognize Gale and panics, thinking that she has come to "silence" him. Gale calms him down by explaining who she is, after which Thomas remembers her being a childhood friend and allows her to explain her situation. She shows Thomas the golem head and the scientist manages to fix it.

The golem head begins talking, calling itself Billy and expressing how relieved it is that it can now talk as it has been watching events with Gale the entire time without being able to say anything. Billy claims he using the golem to speak to them from the Earth’s orbit and wants to warn them that an alien army is coming to enslave Earth. He explains that he is on the humans' side and that he wants to help them prevent the catastrophe, but he needs an audience with the nation’s king to achieve this. This prompts the group to go to Daea, the capital city where the king resides.

At the king's palace, Thomas salutes the guards and asks for an audience. The soldiers immediately deny it, claiming that the palace is shut and no audiences are permitted. Thomas tries to convince them by boasting about his royal prestige as a scientist, but fails. Speaking with some of the citizens of Daea at any time will also reveal that the soldiers have been acting strangely and many have been transferred out of the city to other areas. Out of ideas, the group decides to rest for the night and think of a plan afterwards.

They go to rest at the city’s inn, but in the middle of the night, some guards break in and abduct Thomas, leaving the golem head behind with Gale. Billy uses it to alert Gale of Thomas's capture. She confronts a soldier at the city prison but he says that he cannot help and that she should see the king instead. The guards at the palace once more deny her entry, but a girl outside tells her that there are other ways into the palace and she should speak to Ruby, who works in the sewers. After a bit of tracking, Gale eventually finds Ruby doing her job in the sewers, which has now been unlocked.

Gale uses the sewers to reach the Daea dungeons. She fights through many Daea Guards and searches many prison cells, finding several imprisoned soldiers who tell her that they are being "replaced". Gale eventually learns that Thomas is being kept in Jail Block B and makes her way there. She fights a horde of guards, and then a strange wolf-like alien. She frees Thomas, who angrily asks Billy why the alien was there when he said the alien menace hadn't arrived on Earth yet. Billy explains that the wolf alien was not part of the group he had mentioned; rather, it was a Kobold Mercenary who had been hired by someone else to invade Daea.

After that, one of the soldiers approaches Gale and introduces himself as Sir Max, a knight who'd sworn to protect the royal family but had been subdued by the Kobolds. He informs Gale that the royal tower has been overrun by Kobolds and asks her to rescue Prince Leo, who is being held hostage at the top of the tower. Billy states that speaking with the Prince it is a matter of urgency, as he needs to speak to him, she agrees to rescue him.

Gale enters the Prince Tower through a secret passage in Jail Block A. She navigates up the tower, fighting her way through the Kobolds, their flying bombs, and the tower's booby traps. Near the top of the tower, Gale finds herself face-to-face with the Kobold General, and defeats him after a tough battle. She then finds Prince Leo crying in his room, and tells him that she is there to rescue him. Leo is surprised and at first ashamed that his rescuer is a girl, possibly younger than him, but quickly regains his composure and allows her to taking him to a safe place. They meet back in the prison where the soldiers and Thomas decide to hide the prince in Panselo, as it is far away from the capital and is a safe rural place with natural barriers. The chapter ends with Gale, Thomas, Max, and Leo reaching Panselo by night.

## Chapter IV: In Pursuit of the Phoenix

The next day, Gale wakes up and meets Thomas and Billy’s golem in the orphanage common room. Thomas has been learning about the impending invasion from Billy and tells Gale to gather the other adults so Billy can explain what's going on. Along with these three, the meeting also includes: Alex, Sir Max, Lisa, and Prince Leo. (Aella is also present if her sidequest was completed)

Billy begins to explain the situation:
He tells the Earthlings that he is a Stellanite, an advanced race that belongs to one of the two main powers that govern the galaxy, the Free Space Confederacy. Unfortunately, their relationships with the other power, the Galactic Federation, are getting worse and tension grows between them. Earth lies within the Galactic Federation's territory but does not fit the Fedaration's technological standards, so the humans and resources on the planet are free for harvesting. This is the reason why spaceships have been seen abducting people all over Earth: they belong to the Collectors, a neutral race that collects endangered species for preservation. The Collectors are knowns as harbingers for the Federation's harvester ships which will arrive soon.

Thomas asks Billy if he can do anything to help, but he tells him that he is incapable of doing so because the Earth is Federation territory and the Stellanites are technically tresspassing to be there. Trying to defend Earth would spark a galactic war with casualties in the thousands of planets. Lisa then asks why he came at all if he cannot help Earth, and Billy answers that he knows a way the humans can defend Earth themselves: by recovering the Phoenix Weapons buried in the forbidden lands. Prince Leo is shocked by this, as the existence of the Phoenix Weapons were supposed a royal secret, so he questions Billy's intentions.

Billy reassures the humans that he is only interested in the fate of Earth. He then shows a hologram of himself: a tall, humananoid figure with bluish skin and pointy ears. He retells the story of the Great War and how Earth was practically destroyed. Many chose to wait in underground bunkers until the Earth recovered while others left for the stars. Billy reveals that the Stellanites are the descendants of those who traveled to the stars, and though they have had to perform many genetic modifications on themselves to survive harsh conditions, they all share the same blood as their ancestors.

Leo apologizes for doubting him and offers his key to the lab where the Phoenixes are stored, though clarifies that it is useless without first being reunited with the keys from the other nations as well. Billy explains that other golems have already collected the other keys and are awaiting the last one in the forbidden lands. Leo passes his key, the Artifact Shard, to Gale, and Max goes to the Great walls to inform the guards there that Gale will be allowed to cross the door to the forbidden lands. Thus begins Chapter IV.

Gale goes to the Walls, and the guards recognize her and allow her to pass. She proceeds through the forbidden lands starting with the Dread Lands, a post-apocalyptic area that never recovered from the Great War and lies in perpetual darkness. Buried mines and hostile robots haunt this area but Gale manages to overcome them and reach the Mul Cavern, a cave system filled with fluorescent life and exploding bugs. At the entrance of the Cavern, Billy detects a distress signal coming from somewhere deep inside. Gale ventures in and finds the wreck of a space shuttle from before the Great War. Among the wreck are the Rocket Boots, which are still in good condition and taken by Gale.

After navigating the rest of the Mul Cavern, Gale finally reaches the Ancient Crater, where the Phoenix Lab is located. The ancient security system in this area is still very much active, and Gale makes her way past deadly turrets and Ancient Sentry Towers. She finds the other Stellanite golems and reunite the keys to complete the the Artifact, which Gale can use to disable the Sentry Towers as well as activate the doors in the Phoenix Lab. One of the Stellanites warn Gale that the Phoenix storage room in the center of the lab is protected by a Computer Guardian which she will have to defeat.

Gale reaches the entrance to the lab and uses the Artifact to enter. Inside, she maneuvers through the lab's security defenses and fights off several strange mutant creatures on her way to the heart of the lab. Eventually, she reaches a room with a huge cage filled with water. Billy tells her that the creature inside is Adam, a very well-preserved alien being discovered by their ancestors and whose DNA was used to create the Phoenix Weapons.

Gale continues onward, and soon runs into the Computer Guardian. Unable to deactivate it, she is forced to fight it. The Guardian launches an assault with a variety of powerful weapons, but after a grueling battle, Gale manages to destroy the computer and goes ahead into the next room, which is filled of pods containing the Phoenix Weapons. With the Computer Guardian out of commission, Billy is able to reestablish communications with Gale through his golem head. He informs her that she succeeded in finding the Phoenixes. He then teleports himself into the room and hugs her. He says that he is thankful to her and calls some other Stellanites to join him.

As the Stellanites start opening a pod, Billy explains to Gale that the Phoenixes are really powerful but not dangerous, as they are made to obey the owner of a key that is in his possession. This key was kept in Billy’s family for generations, and when Billy got it, he felt that he was the one who was destined to come to Earth's aid.

The Stellanites succeed in opening a pod. Gale and Billy come over to take a look. A purple-haired humanoid lying inside the pod wakes up and looks around. Billy uses his key to command the Phoenix to obey. The Phoenix emanates an immense amount of energy and replies, declaring that he is Unit 0066 and that he is ready for Billy's first command. Billy then laughs victoriously. He gloats that finally he will be able to destroy the Galactic Federation with the help of the Phoenixes. Horrified by this, Gale argues that this was not what they agreed upon, and Billy replies that she is correct, as he had bent the truth back in Panselo. He explains that he couldn't tell the whole truth with Leo and Thomas scrutinizing him, as he felt they wouldn't understand the severity of this "destroy or be destroyed" situation.

As the Stellanites continue to open more pods, Gale confronts Billy and asserts that she won't let Billy get away with his scheme. Billy resolves to destroy her; he orders one of his soldiers to shoot Gale, and she falls down a pit and lands on the floor wounded. After Billy says goodbye and promises to tell her story to everyone in a dramatic and biased way, he orders Phoenix 66 to kill her. Gale stands up, but 66 blasts her with an incredibly powerful beam of energy, even vaporizing the iron wall behind her.

Billy laughs maliciously, presuming Gale to be dead. But suddenly, Gale emerges from the hole, flying and surrounded by an aura of energy, and punches 66, knocking him into the wall. A Stellanite reports that Gale is emitting a massive energy reading identical to that of a Phoenix, after which Billy commands 66 to get up. Gale tries to copy 66 and use an energy attack, but fails due to her not knowing how to use her powers. Billy orders 66 to finish the job, so Gale runs away through the hole made by 66's blast. At this time, the Kobolds have traced the warp signal produced by the Stellanites’ teleportation and have entered the Lab to attack them. A Stellanite alerts their arrival and Billy orders his soldiers to return fire.

Meanwhile, Gale tries to outrun 66 through the corridors, closing doors behind her to slow him down. She eventually makes it out of the lab and continues running but soon reaches a dead end while 66 catches up to her. With nowhere to run, Gale pulls out her bat and prepares to fight while he charges up another energy attack. Suddenly, a Collector ship comes out of nowhere and captures both of them in a tractor beam.

## Epilogue: The End?

Billy, along with all the Stellanites who survived the skirmish with the Kobolds, is seen walking through the area where Gale and 66 had been abducted. The ground is littered with Kobold corpses. A Stellanite informs Billy that Gale and 66 were caught by the Collector Ship. Billy shrugs it off, as Gale will be trapped forever there and 66 was only one of hundreds of other Phoenixes still at his command. Another Stellanite tells Billy that the Galactic Federation's harvest ships are on their way to Earth, and advises Billy to activate more Phoenixes to prepare a counterattack. Billy does not take the advice, as he believes it is better that the harvesters spread terror through the lands first. After that, he will make his appearance as a savior with his army of Phoenixes. This way, everyone will see him as a hero and beg him to become their king. Billy then laughs evilly at the thought of his idea.

Meanwhile, the Collectors comment on their latest two catches. They comment that one of captives is still struggling to stay awake, so they use a suspension beam to knock the captive out. The Collectors are happy with themselves as they can see that this captive is special. However, they dismiss the other captive as nothing special so they decide to toss that one with the others. Gale is shown dropping down unconscious into a metal cage, where it is revealed that Mika, Ruth, and Kiter are also there...

## Notes

* It is not compulsory to talk to Grandma Nana, though the game suggests the player to do so (Nana is the first NPC encountered, and the game shows an 'X' key symbol on the screen when approached). Also, Nana talks about her retirement the second time the player talks to her.
* In Chapter II, the player is able to learn the location of the Bandits' Lair before finding Lisa. The order of these events do not matter.
* After Gale frees Lisa, returning inside the Mayor's Palace before going back to Panselo will show a cutscene where Lisa insults her ex-boss. If the player talks to the Mayor after this scene has taken place, the Mayor will dismiss Lisa's insults and scoff at her.
* If Aella is rescued before the meeting with Billy in Panselo, she will attend the meeting as well without needing to be invited along the other adults.

## Trivia

* At first, the game was meant to be a parody of the "pauper saves the princess" formula, with the gender roles exchanged. Though this happens in the finished game, it does not cover the main plot.
* Originally, there was a stronger theme about seeking lost brothers and sisters in the game's plot.
	+ This theme still exists in the game but is greatly mitigated; in the first chapter of the game, Gale is sent to collect her siblings and bring them back to the orphanage for dinner. Returning Lisa, Thomas, and Aella to Panselo can also be considered elements of this theme.
* One of the children, Felix, secretly attends the meeting with Billy. He gets scared by Billy's apparition and the news of the invaders, which he confesses to Gale later.
* In the beginning, Gale can refuse to enter Duri Forest Ruins until Alex offers to give her his dessert. This is called back to after the meeting with Billy when Alex reminds Gale of that promise and gives her a Pumpkin Muffin, explaining that back then he was too scared of what happened to Panselo and selfishly held on to it.