Lesuka and Da Cider are in Don Harumage's chamber. Don Harumage first
chews them out for thier many failures, then Da Cider attempts to alleviate
the situation by showing Don a booklet detailing the plans to defeat Lamune
once and for all. Don grabs the book and opens to find nothing but blank
pages. A traditional Da Cider bad joke follows, and Don gives him shock
therapy. Lesuka calls him an idiot.
Da Cider then appeals to Don Harumage for a better weapon to fight Lamuness
with; a mecha that can counter King Scassher. Don Harumage informs Da Cider
that he's already taken care of that little detail. A flash goes over Da
Cider, and a yellow snake with flaming red hair appears. She states her
name, Heavy Metal-Ko, and her duty to Da Cider as his advisor robot. Heavy
Metal-ko also immediatly shows her dislike for Lesuka and insults her.
After that is said and done, Heavy Metal-Ko replaces Da Cider's old duds
with a new, meaner looking outfit (reminiscent of a heavy metal singer.
Go figure.) Don Harumage then sends them off to Hara-Hara world's version
of the Old West. (Reviewer's note: This sequence between the three villains
is a high point for them in the series. Don Harumage & Company havn't
received enough attention, in my opinion.)
Lamune, Cocoa and Milk are flying over a vast wasteland in search of thier
next target. Cocoa and Milk seem to be having a happy conversation, until
Milk becomes demon posessed and attack Cocoa (via a headlock) and then
revs Stan Hansen up to warp speed. Beleive me, Milk looks especially evil
in this bit. Of course, they crash within a matter of seconds but at thier
target site.
After they arrive, they find the town to be quite desolate (classic pueblo/mexicana
architecture, by the way). Milk discovers precious gems littering the ground,
and starts filling her skirt with them. Lamune does likewise. Cocoa, as
you may have guessed, does not. At this time, Jas arrives; apparently exhausted
and hungry. He fills the intrepid trio in on the plot and the good guys
go to work.
Da Cider and Lesuka have the townspeople digging out the local mine in
search for something. The duo have the town's sheriff, Gene Wayne, do the
slavemastering. Gene is a crackshot with his rifle and proves it by giving
some poor dope a haircut. The townspeople make note and double thier efforts.
Da Cider is obviously impressed and intimidated by Gene's shooting ability
and shows off a little himself. Lesuka is predictably gathering precious
stones from the mine.
Our heroes arrive within minutes, and somehow a old fashioned draw between
Gene and Lamune takes place. Lamune is the faster draw, using astoroko
he knocks Gene's rifle from his hands. Gene remains remarkably friendly
after losing, and disappears into the mine. Lesuka and Da Cider stand there,
unamused.
Lesuka and Da Cider are in the very end of the mine, plotting as to where
thier quarry (which is finally revealed as Queen Cideron) may be. Heavy
Metal-Ko begins a tradition of pissing Lesuka off, and leaving Da Cider
there to be slightly confused. Lamune & Company search the mines by
themselves, with Gene not far behind. After a few scenes reminiscent of
Indiana Jones and the Search for the Holy Grail, we return to Da Cider
who is slavedriving the townsfolk to work harder. Da Cider decides they're
going too slow and decides to take care of the hard work by himself. With
dynamite.
Hot on the tail of discovery, Lamune races to the end of a tunnel and finds
Queen Cideron. Before they can claim it, Gene shows up and explains to
them that the device imprisoning Queen Cideron is a crystal in the forehead
of the mecha. Gene starts shooting to break the crystal, but Lamune hits
it with astoroko with the first hit. Gene turns around to shoot that upstart
bastard Lamune but the rebound of astoroko knocks him off his ass. Literally.
Don Harumage's enchantment over Gene disappears and he becomes a good guy
again. Lamune rushes forward to claim Queen Cideron, but Da Cider makes
his timely appearance by blasting through the wall and assuming pilot duties.
Lamune summons King Scassher, and before the fight begins Lamune orders
Cocoa and Milk to safety. Milk carries the unconcious Gene and Cocoa carries
his hoss out of the area. Adrenaline is truly a fantastic thing.
The mountain cave Queen Cideron was imprisoned in is an active volcano,
and the awakening of Queen Cideron sets it off. Lamune and Da Cider are
blasted out and the battle ensues. Lamune is being beaten badly, and before
Da Cider finishes him off, Queen Cideron comes to a grinding hault. The
old curcuitry in Queen Cideron won't allow for it to destroy King Scassher.
Before Lamune can retaliate, Lesuka appears and beams Queen Cideron into
the ship. Dacider informs Lamune that he'll be back and next time he'll
annihilate Lamune once and for all.
Before they leave; Lamune, Cocoa, and Milk give thier farewells to the
grateful villagers. An ashamed Gene Wayne is leaving, but the townspeople
forgive him. This makes Gene happy, and he goes on his way.
-EF
A lot of references to old western movies are in this episode. Most
notably "Gene Wayne" which is taken from the names of Gene Autrey and the
Duke; Gene yelling "hi-ho silver" (in english); and at the end Jas yells
"Come back, Gene!" (in english as well) which is a direct reference to
the ending of the book/movie "Shane"; and finally Gene going off into the
sunset.
Other english spoken in this episode is Da Cider telling Heavy Metal-ko
"Good idea!"
This episode marks one of the few times that Milk goes violent on her sister
Cocoa.
