The final cave the two had entered into was nothing like the two robots had experienced anywhere else on the island; the cave itself was a stark difference in temperature, below freezing as evident by the crystallized ice stalactites hanging from the ceiling. The cave itself was interlaced with ruined structures frozen over, ice spikes clinging onto them. A loud rumbling would be prevalent throughout the cavern, meaning there had to be some sort of machinery present within the cave. However, the big key point were the various assortment of pipes jutting through the ruined structures at odd angles, heading up towards the island's surface, a viscous red liquid slinking through them. And whatever that liquid was, it was setting Quote and Curlys' scanners off like crazy.
/DANGER! DANGER! EXTREME CONCENTRATION OF ARCANE ENERGY WITHIN VICINITY! CONTACT WITH SOURCE WILL BE FATAL!
"That can't be good..." Curly swallowed as the two started their trek into the frosty caves... and almost immediately came to an intersection, the cave trailing off into two separate tunnels. "Which way do we go?"
"I don't know... but I might have an idea." Quote said, looking between the two caves. "I'll take the left route, you go the right."
"You sure?" Curly asked. "What if something happens to either of us?"
Quote was about to interject with a response, before a new message came up in front of both of them.
/PARTNER UPLINK RESTORATION COMPLETE. CONNECT TO PARTNER? Y/N
As the two didn't have much of a choice at the moment, they both selected yes as the antennae on their headsets started to blink at the tips. After a few seconds, a new notification came up.
/UPLINK SUCCESSFUL.
"Alright, might be able to communicate with eachother now..." Quote said. "So I take left, you take right, got it?"
Curly would nod as the two split off into their separate paths, heading into who knows what dangers ahead. It wouldn't be long before Quote met his first resistance; a pair of large red Power Critters like the ones from the Bushlands, but something seemed... off about them. Regardless, he aimed and charged up the Spur before opening fire, the Power Critters bursting into the viscous red goo before sinking into the ground. Keeping a level head, Quote would run past where he disposed of the two hazards before Activating the Booster v2.0, jetting underneath a low spiked ceiling and open pipes of the dangerous red goo before skidding to a stop on the other side. Keeping his head level and emotions to a minimum right now, he continued onwards before finding a scaffolding of several rumbling generators pumping the red liquid through it. Scaling the scaffolding, he started to wonder hoe Curly was faring on her path...
Curly, on her end, seemed to be having a much easier time compared to Quote as she charged through her end of the cavern before jumping and gripping onto a fence grating on the far wall, just above a pit of the viscous red liquid. The cold metal on the fencing didn't exactly help her all that much considering it made it a bit slippery as she struggled to scale up the it to a higher ledge. The temperature difference of the frosty cave was certainly having a bit of a worse effect on her stamina, seeing as how most of her reactivated time she was living in what essentially was the island's volcanic crater, but she kept her will high as she soon pulled herself up to the higher ledge, sprawling out onto the ground panting. After about a minute or two to regain her strength, she set out further into the cave before slipping a bit, finding out the ground below her was very icy. Trying to keep her composure, she'd keep her navigating as she started to ice-skate across the ground.
While Curly was doing that, Quote ducked through another narrow passage leading upwards, the icicle spikes just barely grazing past his right arm.
But that was more than enough for his systems to go haywire.
/DANGER! RIGHT ARM CRIPPLED BY 87.5% FROM INTENSE ARCANE CONTACT! STARTING AUTO-REPAIR DIAGNOSTICS...
Quote cursed to himself. That was his good shooting arm too...
Keeping his emotions as minimal as he possibly could, he continued his trek forward, dodging another set of the off-looking red Power Critters before bursting into a large chamber with only a small stone ruined platform and a massive load of red icicle spikes completely surrounding him... except for the top way above, a single hole in the ceiling showing an open hallway above. Readying his booster, Quote took off and shot through the hole in the ceiling, landing in the corridor above, to his left would be a hall leading into a larger pocket; to his right would be a rumbling machine and a dead end. Seeing as the right was not an option, he headed for the left and dropped into a large open room, several canisters containing the same viscous red liquid on the ceiling. In the center of the room was a red monster figure, garbed in green and missing a fang of its mouth as laser-like barriers erected at the exits to the room. The ogre gave out a roar as it soon threw three pinwheeling vegetables straight for Quote.
The robot cursed to himself before opening fire on the creature, dodging out of the way of the thrown vegetables before opening fire on the Red Ogre. The ogre roared in response before leaping upwards and spewing out more of the pinwheeling vegetables. Quote would duck out of the way as he opened fire above on the ogre, but most of his shots missed... and collided with the canisters, spewing the viscous red liquid straight down onto the Red Ogre. It roared in pain as the liquid quickly overtook the creature, absorbing it into itself before the goo just sat there... unmoving.
Quote panted to himself as he felt like he had barely dodged a bullet before moving on past the room and towards the next hall, unaware of the goo in the room sinking into the floor...
Curly herself had just gotten up a steep slope of the icy cave as she slipped into a larger room, falling flat on her rear as she moaned in pain. Getting up, she then noticed the red goo dripping down from the ceiling and lept back, remembering what her readings had said about its lethal arcane energy concentration.
But that couldn't prepare her for what came next.
The goo started to mold... and take form. The goo had packed itself into a figure that soon towered over curly, and almost grazed the ceiling of the room. Its shape was humanoid... but with a rather wide torso section, and no head. A single, black eye with a red ring iris opened up on the creature's body, staring down at Curly.
Curly at this point was paralyzed with fear as she looked at the creature with abject horror. Then the creature closed its eye, soon morphing into a gigantic goo bal and starting to bounce around the room. Curly snapped out of her paralysis and dodged out of the way, opening fire on the massive creature, but the shots were merely absorbed into its gooey skin. The viscous liquid ball then stopped bouncing, landing back on the ground and reopening its eye before firing off several energy shots straight for Curly. The female robot dodge-rolled to the side before opening fire with her Machine Gun right at the eye of the creature. It seemed to wince in pain as it took the shots, telling Curly all the information she needed to know.
That was it's weak spot.
Curly would keep herself tight as the creature closed its eye and morphed back into a gooey blob. The blob would then split up into several smaller blobs, flinging themselves straight at Curly in an erratic fashion. The robot would dodge-roll out of the way, barely avoiding contact with the spheres as they rematerialized back into the giant gooey form at the other end of the room. It would then charge up energy in its single eye as it soon fired off a massive laser straight at Curly. The robot dodged out of the way as the laser seared across the rocky wall, leaving burnt rock in its wake before Curly used her Nemesis and opened fire on the eye. The creature screeched in pain as it gripped its eye, covering it from the Nemesis shots. Curly smirked; it really didn't like those shots!
The gooey creature slunk back into its ball form as it bounced around the room once again, the bounces shaking the cavern as the icicles from the ceiling started to wiggle loose...
Soon enough the icicles would break off and start falling to the floor, striking and impaling themselves into the ground as the gooey blob absorbed them into itself. Curly internally cursed to herself as she duck-rolled out of the way of the bouncing red blob. Once the blob landed again it remorphed into the giant figure, it's single eye opening once again to take aim and fire at Curly. Curly would fire off another burst of electrical shots from the Nemesis as it collided with the creature's eye, causing it to roar in pain as it stumbled backwards, before the red-tipped icicle spikes surfaced onto its body before it shot them out in a deadly volley. Curly managed to duck... and missed the spike by mere millimeters as it embedded into the wall behind her. The girl growled as she got to her feet again, unloading another round of Nemesis shots into the creature's eyes as it fumbled backwards in pain. Curly held her position as she unloaded more Nemesis shots into the goo creature's eye before it destabilized before exploding, sending goo everywhere as Curly ducked behind a rock formation as the goo splashed all across the room. The robot girl shivered before dashing out from behind the rock, heading for the exit to the cavern.
Soon enough the two robots would meet up to the mouth of the cavern, both panting heavily as they leaned against the cave wall, next to a final door. "So..." Quote panted. "How'd your end go?"
"Some sort of... giant red gooey creature thing attacked me." Curly panted. "I'm pretty sure its dead by this point, but..."
"Point is, we're here and alive right now." Quote said, readying the Spur. "Once we head through here, we're not going back. You ready?"
Curly would nod, readying her Machine Gun. "As much as I'll ever be." She spoke.
Quote nodded, grabbing the door handle and forcing the door open as light flooded into the cave...
The wind howled as the two robots stepped out onto the Balcony, the sun now starting to beat down on them as they surveyed their surroundings; the sky was a dirty grey, darker grey clouds flowing by below the entire island. In front of them, about a couple hundred meters away stood the old ruined castle, the banners still flapping from the howling wind. Ruined structures and walkways laid in waste around the surrounding area, and Quote could make out what appeared to be a house and a twin-blade helicopter ahead of them.
"Woah..." Curly breathed, looking around. "The war seriously left this place in ruins..."
"No kidding..." Quote spoke, looking around at the ruined structures before looking straight at the castle. "And by process of elimination, that castle is where we'll find the Doctor."
"Likely." Curly spoke. "There's nowhere else on the Island he could be based."
Quote nodded in response as the two robots began their long trek up towards the castle. Silence would be hanging in the air for a few minutes before Curly spoke again.
"Hey... Quote?"
"Yeah Curly?"
"What are you gonna do once this is all over?" Curly asked, looking at him.
Quote was confused. "What do you mean?"
"Well... once our mission is fulfilled." Curly spoke. "I mean... you don't have a place to return to, do you?"
Quote thought... and it occurred to him. All he really had was waking up back in that small cave, and next to nothing else. He had nowhere to go to; no one else to live with...
"...you don't, do you?" Curly asked.
Quote shook his head.
"Well..." Curly blushed. "Maybe you and I could live together once this entire adventure is over?"
Quote blushed at the thought, but nodded his head. "Curly, I'd love that."
The female robot nodded before looking back. They were only a few feet from the entrance by this point, so they readied their arms and got to the sides of the doorway. Motioning to Quote, who responded with a nod, soon Curly and Quote burst into the throne room... only to find the Doctor wasn't there...
"Damnit, were we wrong?" Curly spoke, looking around the abandoned throne room. "There's no one here..."
"Shoot..." Quote said to himself. "I don't understand though, where could he be?"
"Oh don't worry, he's still here." A female voice said from nowhere, before Misery materialized standing on top of the throne. "And he's... well... let's just put 'very displeased' about your two's progress."
Quote aimed the Spur right at Misery. "Stand down. We don't have any more time to waste on our hands."
"Hmph, not like I have a choice in the matter." Misery said, leaping down and standing in front of the throne. "Believe me, I couldn't care less about what you would do to him at this point."
"What?" Curly asked.
"I've grown tired of this entire Crown curse, it's wearing on me harder than anything else." Misery responded. "It's a vicious cycle; someone comes for the crown for the power and unleash Balrog and myself, we do their bidding, they eventualy die at one point or another, or the Crown is destroyed, and Balrog and I are just trapped back into a frozen stasis again. And no matter how many times that damn Crown is destroyed, it always re-manifests itself back onto the throne; its impossible to destroy."
"So... you're just gonna let us through to the Doctor?" Quote asked.
"Soldier, I wish it was that simple." Misery spoke. "But, by orders of the Doctor, I have to fight intruders that try to come close to him. So... don't take offense to this you two, but I'm just having to follow orders."
"Well... none taken." Quote said, nodding before firing his Spur at Misery. The witch would teleport out of the way before floating around the room, a set of black rings orbiting her. She'd keep a moment to gather her bearings before she fired out a series of black energy shots at the two robots. Curly would dodge-roll to the side before firing off her Machine Gun, most of the shots plinking off the black rings but a few would directly hit Misery herself, causing the witch to grunt in pain before she teleported again, the rings turning into red energy bats and making a divebomb for Quote. The male bot would grit his teeth as he took aim and blasted the bats out of the skies before turning his attention to Misery.
Misery would float back as another set of black rings appeared around her, swinging in an armored motion as her staff started to glow again, this time several large blocks appeared above the two robots and started dropping to the floor, intending to crush them. Quote charged the Spur as he dodged out of the way of the falling stone blocks, firing off the massive laser blast at the witch, colliding straight into the chest of the witch and knocking her to the ground. Smoke curled off her chest as she rose back into the air, her top singed square in the center from the laser shot. Gritting her teeth she soon teleported again, the rings now being flung straight at Quote as he dodged them before they embedded into the ground.
Curly's fingers twitched a bit before she whirled around, firing a Nemesis shot right at the sound source as it crashed into one of Misery's rings. The witch narrowed her eyes before she raised her staff, the gem in it glowing a bright red before a laser fired off across the floor, leaving a burning scotch across the floors the laser kicked up energy pulses upward into the air. Curly rolled out of the way before firing off a couple more shots of the Nemesis, striking the rings of the witch before she fired a massive red energy blast at Curly. The female robot would dodge-roll to the side before firing off another series of Nemesis shots at Misery, these shots colliding and throwing her off her concentration... right as Quote lept up and stabbed Misery straight through the chest with the Blade, the two crashing to the ground.
Misery twitched a bit, feeling the cold steel piercing through her chest as blood started to fill her lungs, causing her to cough up a bit. She knew she could attempt to heal herself once Quote dislodged the Blade from her chest...
"H-heh..." Misery laughed a bit. "W-well p-p-played..." She could start to feel the world growing dark around her as Quote pulled the Blade from her chest.
"A deal's a deal Misery." Quote said. "The Doctor. Now."
"R-r-r... right..." The witch coughed out as a bit of blood trailed from her mouth, raising her staff up as a staircase slid out from the ceiling above the entrance and an entryway in the ceiling opened up. Quote and Curly nodded to eachother before they took off up the stairwell, leaving the witch to herself a blood pooled around her body. Weakly raising her staff, a green aura would surround herself as the blood evaporated from her body and her strength came back to her... but the scars of her wounds still remained. Using her staff as a cane, she pulled herself to her feet with it and used it as support as she looked at the staircase.
"They're definitely the ones..." Misery whispered, teleporting out of the room. "They're the ones who can end this..."
As the two robots reached the top of the stairs, they would see the multitude of cages lining the walls, filled with cowering Mimiga in fear of what the figure near the massive stone table near the center of the room, was working on something red glowing on it.
Quote would hold the Spur steady, aiming the Spur at the figure as Curly did the same with her Nemesis.
"...hmph, I should have expected that wench would fail her duties with you two around." The Doctor merely spoke, turning to face the two. "It's no surprise you would come to stop me."
Quote would grit his teeth, keeping his aim on the Doctor as he spoke nothing.
"...not one for words, are you?" The Doctor spoke, a sickening smirk growing on his face as he held up a elongated red crystal, imperfect in shape and sparking with corrupted red energy. "Then perhaps you'll be the new test subjects for a new creation of mine..."
Curly aimed her blaster at the crystal. "And just what the hell is that?" She spat.
"This?" The Doctor spoke. "A culmination of condensed Hell's Hibiscus energy, compacted into a compact form to be able for a human, such as myself, to use. The Mimigas may have their flowers for it, but with its arcane energy bringing out an individual's latent abilities... it was a perfect compound for bringing a human's latent powers into fruition. Do you know what this means?"
Quote and Curly would be tense as they kept their aim steady on the Doctor.
"No?" The Doctor said. "Well... allow me to give you both a special demonstration!" At that point his body soon gained a red tint as the crystal started to swirl around him, the power of the Hell's Hibiscus flowing into him as he stared down Quote and Curly. Soon enough he'd unleash a red helix energy blast straight at the two robots, them both dodging to the side as the Doctor teleported to a different location, standing on top of one of the Mimiga cages, firing off another blast at Curly. The female bot would dodge-roll to the side as part of the shot grazed by her arm, but she fought through the pain as she unloaded a magazine of her Machine Gun's energy bullets right into the Doctor... but it didn't even seem to leave a scratch, and some just seemed to plink off the crystal revolving his body.
"!" Curly gasped. "H-he just took that?!"
The Doctor merely grinned, the eye on the Crown starting to glow before a series of electrical burst shots fired at Curly. The female tensed up and dodged to the side, but the shots split apart upon contact with the back wall, sending the scattering electric balls everywhere. Quote tensed up as he whipped the Missile Launcher off his back and took aim before firing a massive burst shot set, the missiles slamming into the Doctor and several of the electrical balls, disintegrating those completely.
But the Doctor? When the smoke cleared, it was as if he had merely encountered a mild annoyance as he gave Quote a smug grin.
"!" Quote grunted. "That crystal's affecting our ability to hit him!"
"WE can't get rid of it though!" Curly yelled. "Our shots are absorbed by it!"
Quote would think fast as another helix shot was fired at him, barely managing to dodge out of the way in time as he slung the Missile Launcher back onto his back, now gripping tightly to the Spur. He gritted his metal teeth as he tried to think of a desperate idea for an opening on the Doctor...
And at just that moment a lightbulb went off in his head. What if...
He'd pull the second trigger to dispatch a new set of the Whimsical Star, then he'd charge the Spur again, getting up to a Level 3 charge as Curly distracted the Doctor. Once the Spur hit that sweet spot, Quote would leap out from behind his cover and fire...
...right into the Demon Crown on the Doctor's head.
The Doctor staggered back in pain, clearly not liking the feeling of the Crown getting shot as he teleported again, reappearing in the air between the two bots as he unleashed a massive flurry of red energy shots in all directions of the room. Quote and Curly would barely dodge behind a set of empty cages as the red shots flew past, disintegrating on the walls.
"The Crown." Quote whispered to Curly. "Aim for the Crown."
Curly nodded in response as she holstered her Machine Gun and whipped out the Nemesis, signalling to Quote she was ready before the two leaped out from behind the cages, both in opposite directions as the Doctor would charge up two electrical orbs in his hands. Quote charged a Spur shot as Curly aimed for the Crown and opened fire, each searing shot from the Nemesis hitting the Crown frequently and causing the Doctor to grow more and more irritated. Soon enough the Doctor would slam the orbs into the ground, creating a rapidly expanding electrical fence outwards at both Quote and Curly. The scout robots would leap inbetween the gaps in the fence as Quote unloaded another Spur laser straight into the Crown. This time the Doctor seriously stumbled back in pain and frustration.
"Why you..." The Doctor growled. But he never got to finish that sentence as the Crown started to glow and sink further onto the Doctor's head, completely covering his eyes as a sickening series of cracks and snaps were heard across his body as his muscle mass increased, his lab coat shredding entirely as he soon stood nearly twice the height of the two, sharp teeth lining its mouth as a viscous red liquid started to drip from it. And now the eye on the Crown was looking straight at them...
The new Doctor let out a roar as it attempted to shoulder-tackle Curly. The female scout would dodge-roll out of the way before firing more shots at the Crown on the head... but this time it seemed to be ineffective.
"Change of strategy Quote!" Curly yelled. "We need a plan to take this thing down quick before it brings the whole place down on us!"
Quote's internal thought process ran like mad as he tried to calculate out any and all possible situations before the 'Doctor' slammed his hands in the ground, unleashing a deadly wave of red spikes straight for Quote. Nearly being caught off guard, the robot barely dodged out of the way in time before the spikes sprung up where he was previously standing. The 'Doctor' would let out another roar before charging at Quote, but this time the robot was prepared as he unleashed a Spur blast straight into the eye of the Crown. The 'Doctor staggered backwards again, leaving Curly an opening as she unleashed another magazine of energy bullets right into the Crown's eye. The creature would roar in pain, gripping the Crown before it started to disintegrate into a blood-red mist, almost as if the Doctor, Crown and all, was being wiped from existence as the crystal soon escaped into the ceiling above, out of sight.
Curly exhaled hard. "That was way too close to comfort..."
"Agreed." Quote said, walking over and using the Blade to pry open the other cages of the Mimigas, most of the little lop-eared creatures scampering out of the room as soon as Quote freed them... except for one he'd recognize.
"Gotta hand it to ya, you definitely had it in both of you to take the Doctor down." Chaco spoke, walking out of the cage. "I'm impressed by both your fighting skills!"
"Uhh... thanks?" Curly asked, confused before Quote spoke.
"Chaco, have you seen Sue?" Quote asked.
"Sue?" Chaco asked. "You mean that human girl that was turned into a Mimiga?"
"Yes, wher-" Quote started, before he processed what the lilac Mimiga said. "Wait, you knew she wasn't a Mimiga?"
"My eyes can't be fooled." Chaco said, crossing her arms. "She's not here though. I'm not sure where she would be."
"Then get to safety." Curly said. Chaco nodded in response as she fled where the other Mimigas went, soon a stairwell dropping from the ceiling leading upwards again. The two would ready their arms before advancing forward up the stairs...
The room above was large and dark... in fact it was like this floor of the castle was completely in a void, with open walls and only a ceiling and floor in the room itself. the one back wall would have a grating over it, and hanging in it was none other than the Core itself, now a darker blue from only being half-alive.
Curly would nudge to Quote. "Looks like the one original target is up ahead."
Quote would look to the Core, nodding in response. "I think it's about time we end this nightmare, agreed?" He spoke.
"You don't have to tell me twice." Curly spoke, drawing her Nemesis as the two approached the Core. But as soon as the two got within range to finish the job...
"H-hey! Hold it right there!" A female voice said as Misery soon warped in front of the two, blocking their path with her arms outstretched. "Not a step closer to the Core!"
Quote sighed in frustration. "Misery, get out of our way. We don't have time for this." He said, taking aim at Misery with the Spur.
"You're not getting closer!" Misery spat back. "I may not have much care for this rock, but the last thing I want is for it to drop out of the sky and kill everyone on it!"
Curly gritted her teeth. "And what makes you think we'll back off?" She barked.
Misery sighed. "You forced me..." She'd then raise her staff...
...and Sue was then warped right next to her, dropping to the ground.
"!" Quote grunted on instinct.
"Owwww..." Sue moaned in pain, before Misery grabbed her by the back of her collar before pressing the tip of the staff into her neck.
"One step closer to the Core and the girl's life is forfeit." Misery growled. "You understand? If you value her life, stand down."
Quote gritted his teeth, stepping back and reholstering his gun, as Curly did the same. "Dirty trick Misery." Curly spat.
"Not like I have a choice with you two." Misery spoke. "If you want to guarantee the girl's life, we'll make a deal. Understood?"
"And what, pray tell, is that?" Curly responded, glaring at the witch.
"I'll give you the Mimiga girl, but only after you take care of a singular problem persisting." Misery spoke. "You two break the curse of the Crown."
"But we already destroyed the Crown!" Curly spoke.
"And it will only be a matter of time before it reincarnates." Misery growled. "Did you two not listen to me back down in the throne room? It doesn't matter how many times you destroy the Crown, it always comes back! The only way to destroy that Crown is to break the curse at its source!"
"D-don't I get a say in this?!" Sue whimpered, shaking a bit from her captive position.
"Silence." Misery spat, before looking at Quote and Curly. "Do we have a deal?"
Quote was silent, glaring at Misery and clenching his fists before his shoulders slumped, letting out an exasperated sigh. In this situation, he knew he couldn't attack Misery and the Core without risk of Sue dying. "Fine. You have a deal."
"Good." Misery said, tossing Sue to the two, which Curly caught the Mimiga in her arms. "Now, you two leave this room and he-"
"Have them head where, you filthy little wench?" A voice spoke, causing all four in the room to freeze.
Misery's pupils shrank. "N-no..." She whispered.
"Yes..." The voice spoke as a red mist materialized up through the floor behind Misery. "Going behind the back of you Master even more than you already have?"
Misery whirled around to look at the red mist, fear in her eyes. "Y-you should be dead! How..."
"The power of the crystal is truly a marvel!" The mist spoke, swirling around in it's spot as Sue cowered behind Curly. "Even with my body disintegrated I feel... so alive! So powerful! It's as if I ascended to become a god!"
"Nnnnrghh!" Misery grunted, readying her staff. "I don't know how the hell you cheated death, but I won't allow this spirit of yours to live any longer! Disappear!" Misery would have her staff fire several blasts at the mist... only for it to go right through and hit the grating on the back wall.
"Wh-what?!" Misery gasped.
"Tsk tsk, Misery." The Doctor's ominous voice echoed. "You dare try to defy your master in such a way?"
"You're a monster!" Misery growled back.
"You can't be helped." The voice spoke again as the mist closed in on her. "Those who dare to defy their master need not of their free will..."
Misery's fear started to spike. "N-no, please!"
"Misery." The Doctor's voice spoke, the red mist starting to surround her. "Until the day you die, you will be my puppet." And then the mist engulfed her, the witch screaming in agony as the other three started to back off, Misery's form changing and mutating into some sort of draconic creature as parts of her outfit ripped and shredded around the arms, her face unnatually extending to a draconic maw of sorts...
"H-hey... I think it might be a good time to hightail it outta here!" Sue yelled as she started to break out into a sprint towards the stairwell.
But she didn't get far before the Red Crystal shot out of the ground, impaling her square in the back as she hit the ground hard, blood splattering across it.
"And just where do you think you're going?" The Doctor's voice spoke. "You and your family has been a thorn in my side ever since I've gotten to the island. Once I dispose of the biggest threats here, I'll be getting the satisfaction of having the rest of your family's blood on your hands before I eventually dispose of you..."
"Wh-what?!" Sue choked out, feeling the searing pain of the crystal throughout her body as she started to feel it change her...
"How fitting; the Sakamotos being undone by their own daughter." The Doctor's voice spoke as Sue's form mutated into what was a half-human half-Mimiga hybrid, increasing in size over the two robots as her sweater shredded, merely becoming tattered blue cloth around her furry torso and forearms. Her blood-red irises within her eyes glared daggers at Quote and Curly, a low guttural growl rumbling in her throat.
The Doctor's maniacal laughter would fill the room as Quote and Curly drew their weapons, keeping their backs together as both their eyes searched the room, trying to find the Doctor's presence...
And nearly both their metallic hearts stopped when the Core's central eye pod opened, seeing a blood-red skull-like face in the black space of the Core, the empty sockets staring straight into their robotic souls.
"AND AS FOR YOU TWO..." The Doctor's voice bellowed, amplified as the room started to turn red, the void turning to swirling red gasses as the Undead Core glared directly at both of them. "YOU WON'T BE LEAVING HERE ALIVE!"
Both Quote and Curly's eyes would widen as soon the duo were attacked by the possessed Sue and Misery, the mutated draconic witch taking to the air as Sue would start spinning in a cartwheeling fashion towards the two.
"Split up!" Curly yelled, both she and Quote leaping out of the way of the cartwheeling Sue and skidding to a halt a few feet away from the moving Undead Core. The massive creature was lobbing molten rocks onto the ground and ceiling, the collisions creating bursting shockwaves travelling along the surfaces towards the two robots. Quote would jump up out of the way before landing on a floating stone platform, being suspended in the air by the fight ongoing. Curly opened fire with the Machine Gun on the creature... but its face closed back into the Core, avoiding damage entirely.
Sue would let out a roar before charging straight for Quote, and the scout robot froze up. Possessed or not, it was still Sue in that form, and he couldn't risk killing her. As he dodged out of the way of the mutants attacks, he needed to come up with a strategy that could neutralize her without killing her.
Misery, meanwhile, soon had her rings out and rotating her again, now in a more erratic fashion as she took aim and unleashed a flurry of red energy shots straight for Curly. The female scout robot tensed up as she dodge-rolled out of the way of most of the shots, the red shots disintegrating on the ground before she opened fire on Misery, the energy bullets riddling her body as the staggered backwards in the air, the eyes affixed squarely on the scout robot. Her large hands would outstretch to her sides as she soon spawned a flurry of fish missiles, spiraling straight towards the blonde. Curly would dodge some, but would then be blasted by two of the missiles and be thrown to the side, sprawling across the ground.
Sue would gnash her teeth, soon warp-dashing to behind Quote and gripping him hard, biting hard into his metallic shoulder. The male scout screamed in pain as he dropped his gun, trying to flail to get Sue off of him, but each squirm just made her latch on harder. Quote could start to feel his systems reaching critical levels; Sue had to be gotten of Quote soon or else he would shut down.
At that point Curly would have gotten up, starting to be cornered by Misery. Upon looking over and seeing Quote in his predicament, Curly would pistol-whip Misery square in the face and sprinted towards the other two as she tackled Sue off of Quote, the male scout collapsing to the ground, gripping his metallic shoulder in pain as it was sparking wildly. Curly would hold the rabid girl down as she yelled to Quote.
"Hey!" Curly yelled. "Get over here and pull this crystal out of her back! Quick!"
Quote, wasting no time, quickly rushed over and grabbed ahold of the red crystal currently lodged in Sue's back as Curly restrained her, the possessed Mimiga lashing out angrily with teeth gnashing and squirming to try and break free. Yanking as hard as he could, he could feel the crystal start to budge as the red object started to wedge out. Sue let out a scream of agony as the red crystal sparked before unleashing an electrical blast, throwing the two off of her as she soon started spinning in place, a red aura surrounding her before she took off and... dissappeared into the smoky red walls?
Curly moaned in pain. "Wh-where'd she go?!" She said, only for Sue to burst from the wall from the other side, now ricocheting around the room like a dangerous misfire from a cannon. All the while the Undead Core remained closed, unable to be injured...
Quote would get an idea, unsheathing the Blade and holding it flat side out like it was a baseball bat, waiting for Sue to spin close in that deadly corkscrew she was doing. Once she was barreling directly for him, Quote clamped his eyes shut and swung hard...
...as the flat side of the Blade collided directly with Sue and sent the spinning Mimiga straight into the Undead Core's main face, causing the entire hulking creature to move backwards in the air as the center of the pod opened again, this time a nasty grimace showing in the orifice as the smaller pods around it now had a single unblinking red eye in each of them, firing of red energy shots that spiraled out of control, adding to the chaos of Misery's summoned fish missiles. Gritting her teeth, Misery got to her feet and rushed for the Spur Quote dropped before scooping it up in her hands, activating a charge and soon firing a Level 3 blast straight into the uncanny maw of the Undead Core. The creature took severe damage before it quickly closed back up, blocking its weak spot before Misery and Sue continued their assault.
Quote was panting heavily, sheathing the Blade and pulling out the Missile Launcher before firing off a burst shot at Misery, the draconic creature groaning in agony from the shots before her eyes flashed, teleporting out of the room before blocks would start erratically falling from the ceiling. Curly would scramble to Quote and grab him before the two ducked underneath a platform, the bricks smashing against that as the others would smash outside.
"Nnnnngghh..." Quote moaned, holding his head in pain. "Owwww..."
"You okay Quote?" Curly asked, handing him the Spur.
"A-a little bit more electrified then I'd like to be..." The male scout merely responded, taking the cobalt gun from Curly. "We gotta get that crystal out of Sue..."
"Get her into another trapped position, and I'll yank that thing out of her." Curly spoke. Quote nodded in response before the two dashed out from their cover as the possessed Misery rematerialized, now summoning a horde of bats that flew at the two. Curly whipped her Machine Gun out and opened fire on the bats, the creatures disintegrating into red powder. Sue lunged for Quote, bearing her teeth before the robot just barely dodged out of the way of her lunge, soon pinning her to the ground.
"Curly!" Quote yelled, struggling to hold Sue down. "I got her! Hurry!" The female scout would rush over quickly before grabbing the crystal and pulling as hard as she could, feeling her servos whirling loudly before the crystal ripped right out of Sue's back, the Mimiga collapsing to the ground unconscious. Curly would then throw the crystal hard into the swirling red void walls, never to be seen again in the fight.
One down. Two to go.
Quote would hoist the unconscious Mimiga onto his back. "I'll get her away from the main fight, you deal with Misery!" He said, getting a simple nod from Curly as he took off for the back of the room as Curly got out the Nemesis, taking aim and opening fire on Misery. The draconic figure growled before sharply inhaling, unleashing a stream of fire from its mouth at Curly. The scout robot would dodge to the side... only for the fire to singe right through her hair and shorten it to her shoulders.
Curly glared angrily at the possessed Misery. "Oh you are so dead." She growled, opening fire with both her Machine Gun and her Nemesis onto the draconic witch. The witch would then be riddled with the shots before collapsing to the ground, panting heavily before roaring, lunging at Curly. Curly would duck under the lunge before delivering a smashing kick straight to the witch's abdomen, causing her to screech as she was flung away right as Quote came back.
"She safe?" Curly asked.
Quote nodded. "And she's already shrunk back. I think she'll be fine." He spoke, before looking back at the Undead Core, the blood red face now reappearing. Quote made his move and rushed for the pod as it began to shoot its bomb rocks again, the shockwaves travelling fast along the floor towards the bots. Quote hurdled the first wave sent before leaping up, using the Booster v2.0 and taking aim with the Missile Launcher before firing...
...and the possessed Misery would warp in and take all the shots instead of the Undead Core, causing her to collapse to the ground. Quote lept back as the Undead Core resealed itself again, its pods still rotating around it in a clockwise fashion.
Quote gritted his teeth as Curly ran up beside him. The two were going to be stuck in a stalemate unless they could goad the Undead Core into firing...
Then the front of the Undead Core opened, showing a open red maw that apparently led into a void. Quote and Curly tensed up before they saw it glow, then dodged out of the way as a barrage of large searing shots rocketed by them through the wall. Quote had one shot as he got the Spur charging, hitting a Level 3 Max charge as he rolled out of the way of another barrage of the searing shots then unleashing the thick white hot beam straight down the throat of the massive beast. The Undead Core sealed up again, evident it was reaching its last legs as when it reopened, it was a single, unblinking blood-red eye as the same eyes appeared in all the smaller core pods as well. The smaller core pods would start spinning faster and faster as energy built up in front of the pupils of each pod, progressively getting bigger and bigger...
"HIT THE DECK!" Curly screamed, tackling Quote to the ground as the Undead Core fired of a massive blood-red energy laser blasted from all the pod eyes, smashing through the far wall of the castle's void floor and breaking out as the entire room started to shake. Their structural integrity had been compromised; they needed to bring this thing down fast.
Curly opened fire on the eyes at it charged up for another mega laser, her Machine Gun eating through it's energy-based ammo like mad as her other hand fired off the Nemesis's searing energy shots straight for its eye. Quote meanwhile used the Booster v2.0 and blasted into the air, gripping the Spur in his one hand as he activated the Fireball in the other, a large blue-heat ball charged in it as he threw it harshly right as the Spur hit another Level 3 charge. Then in quick succession, he took aim and fired the Spur laser right at the Fireball shot...
...right as he was lined up with the eye of the Undead Core. The two shots merged into one as it soon erupted into a swirling blue vortex laser heading straight and colliding into the Undead Core's eye, the creature roaring in pain as the eyes exploded into a blood-red mist, the burning exterior creating a foul smell as the Undead Core collapsed to the ground. The Doctor's voice soon spoke again, thought very much out of it...
"GAAAAAAHH!" The Doctor roared. "WHY WON'T YOU TWO ROBOTS JUST DIE?!"
"It's going to take a lot more than just a couple of terror tricks to phase us you bastard!" Curly spat at the Doctor. The two would then be met with... laughter? Maniacal laughter started to fill the room as the Core started to glow an ominous red.
"TERROR?! JUST TERROR?! YOUINSIGNIFICANTPUNYLITTLERUNTSI'LLSHOWYOUWHATATERRORISALLABOUTFROMAGODASSUCHASMYSELF!" The Doctor's consciousness spouted in a nonsensical rambling as the glowing got brighter. By this point Sue would have already fled out the opened hole to the lower rooms at this point while Misery herself was warped away elsewhere. "JUSTDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE-" At this point the Undead Core's husk would be glowing a bright bloody red.
"We need to run Quote!" Curly yelled, earning a nod in response from the male scout robot as the two took back off for the lower portions of the caste just as the Undead Core violently detonated...
"The helicopter is good to go!" Itoh said, leaping out of the side door and landing on the ground as Momorin rushed over to the helicopter, the blades now running at full power. "We can be set for departure at any time! We should have enough fuel to make it back to the surface!"
"Good." Momorin spoke, worry evident on her face. "I'm just hoping that those robots had gotten out here alive..."
"M-MOM!" A familiar voice cried as Momorin felt something grip to her leg. That something was none other than Sue reverted to normal with her now shredded blue sweater. "Oh my god, m-mom..."
Momorin would pick up the Mimiga, hugging Sue gently. "It's going to be okay Sue... your mother's here..."
But the reunion wouldn't last for long; soon enough the island would start rumbling as a large blast came from the top story, several large stone blocks started to fall from the castle, crashing into the island's Balcony.
"WH-WHAT ON EARTH?!" Itoh exclaimed.
"Something must have happened to the Core!" Momorin spoke, scooping Sue up into her arms and moving into the helicopter. "Itoh! We can't waste any more time, we must move!"
"Right!" The Mimiga said, hopping into the pilot's seat of the copter and starting to move it, the massive aviator vehicle starting to lurch a bit.
"Wait, mom! The robots!" Sue spoke.
"We can't stay Sue!" Momorin responded. Sue would look back out towards the Balcony with worrying eyes as the chopper lifted off into the air...
Down near the Outer Wall, the rumbling occurred as several of the metal structures started to creak and groan under the stress of the collapsing island. Kazuma would look up at the ceiling of the island's underside.
"He actually did it..." He whispered to himself. "I didn't think he could do it... but he did..."
But now was not the time for pondering; now was the time for fleeing. With little wasting of time, Kazuma would mount the Sky Dragon on the metal runway before the dragon took off for the air, headed for the Balcony of the island...
Both Quote and Curly would be scrambling for safety as they burst out of the front of the castle entrance, making a mad dash for the edge of the island where they came up... but soon a new reading came up on their scanners.
And it almost made their metallic hearts skip a beat.
/CROWN SOURCE IDENTIFIED! MISSION STATUS REACTIVATED!
"Curly!" Quote yelled.
"I know!" The blonde responded back as soon a massive piece of the tower came down, crashing in front of the two and blocking their path. Turning and running in the opposite direction, another massive chunk would crash down, blocking the way they came. Running out of options, the two dove into the Prefab House right as another massive chunk of wall crashed right down, blocking the way back. In front of the two would be a massive gaping hole, heat particles rising from it as the rest of the surrounding Prefab House continued to collapse around it.
And of course, the scanner would be going nuts indicating the source was down said hole.
"Well..." Curly swallowed. "This is it Quote..."
Quote nodded. "Our old abandoned mission... we're finally completing it." He'd look over to Curly. "Tow Rope?"
"Tow Rope." Curly responded, soon getting the entire rope set up, the Iron Bond patch on the hooping part for good luck.
Quote would take a deep inhale. "Alright... make or break time... let's go." He spoke. He took one step off the edge...
...and went into a freefall with Curly as the two plunged to the depths of floating hell.
洞窟物語
Cave Story: The Demon Crown Saga
Chapter 8 End
