Chapter 10: Wrath
Quote walked out into the tunnel and looked around. Up above him, he saw a strange looking wall with a paw symbol on it. He quickly jumped up to it and scrutinized it.
"What are you doing?" Curly asked.
Quote put his hand on the wall, only to fall forward and land on his face.
"Woah," Was all Curly said.
Quote got up and the two soldiers advanced into the secret alcove until they jumped down and saw a chest.
He opened the chest, and a puppy jumped out of it and landed on his shoulders.
"How does a dog get put into a chest? Surely someone didn't put this little guy in there," Curly exclaimed.
Quote just shrugged his shoulders, and they returned to Jenka's house.
Quote immediately pulled out the Polar Star upon what he saw.
Jenka was lying on the ground, and Balrog was standing in front of her in a victorious pose.
"The warehouse key? Why, thank you!" He taunted, and Quote shot him in the back.
"We'll be taking that!" Curly shouted. Balrog turned to them and frowned.
"I don't have time to play with you two cowards. I really must be going. Seeya!" He shouted, then jumped away.
Quote threw his Polar Star down in a fury, silently cursing. Fortunately, the gun wasn't damaged. He picked it back up.
He sighed, then let the dog down.
"The key... they stole the key..." Jenka grumbled, "Please, you two must stop them. They plan on enraging the Mimiga, then releasing them onto the surface world. You two are the only people strong enough to put and end to their plans."
They both nodded and bolted out the door.
"I know where the warehouse is. Follow me!" Curly yelled, and Quote did so.
They ran out into the tunnel and shot through more layers of rubble, then they dropped into a large sandy corridor with green birds and more skulls.
"I won't stop for you! Move it!" Curly hissed, and they began sprinting across the sandy corridor, shooting anything that dared to get in their way.
They made their way to the end of the corridor and jumped up to a different area with some walking skulls stomping to and fro, and with some tall, large pillars above some spikes ahead of them.
They didn't stop for a second, and kept bolting through the temple. They ran up slopes, shot skeletons, hopped onto pillars, shot down a group of birds, and jumped over to a large building with an opened metal door.
"Uh oh," Curly said, and Quote faintly saw a red-eyed Mimiga wielding a sword run into the building.
He bolted into the building. King wouldn't stand a chance against even Balrog, let alone Misery or this Doctor person. He hoped he'd finally get to meet his enemy.
Meanwhile, inside the warehouse, Misery was kneeling in front of a very tall human with glasses, a labcoat, and a grey crown with a blood-red, eye-like gem in the center of it on his head.
"Great Doctor," Misery said, "I have collected all the seeds as you requested."
"Well done," The Doctor muttered, "By the way, those flowers that bloom there... are they the Rose Wrath themselves?"
Misery turned to face the flowers, and nodded.
"Indeed," She responded.
"My, my, such an ominous-looking flower," He said contently.
"My lord, shall I consume one as a test?" Misery asked.
"No... that won't be necessary," He answered, "Hmm... I know. Instead, let us test the reaction on a Mimiga."
"Yes, my lord," Misery agreed, then a certain green sweater-wearing Mimiga fell into the room, releasing an 'oof' as she landed.
Toroko got up and looked around.
"Where... am I?" She asked, then panicked and ran towards the entrance when she saw Misery and the Doctor.
Balrog got in the way.
"Where do ya think you're going?!" He hissed.
"Balrog," Misery greeted, "Feed her a flower."
"You got it!" Balrog exclaimed, then picked up the Mimiga and lowered her face to a flower.
"No!" Toroko screamed.
"Eat the flower! DO IT!" Balrog boomed.
"Get your hands off of her!"
King burst into the room and stabbed Balrog in the back. Balrog yelped and left.
"Toroko! Are you alright?" He shouted, but he'd arrived too late. Toroko's eyes were blood-red.
"K-King?" She whispered, then clutched her head. "Oohh, my head..."
"NO!" King yelled, then heard cackling. He looked up and stared right at the Doctor.
"Oh, look, a gnat has flown in," The Doctor muttered to himself.
"YOU! You're that Doctor!" King screamed.
"Why, yes. I am the Doctor, and from now on, I am your new leader," The Doctor stated, "Pleased to make your acquaintance. Say... is there anything you plan to do with that sword?"
He chuckled evilly. King was seeing red.
"I'm gonna kill you!" King screeched, then charged forward. Misery flew out of the building and hit him with a lightning bolt, which sent him flying into the back wall.
"Without the Rose Wrath they are weak!" The Doctor taunted, and the two soldiers walked in.
"What... happened here?" Curly asked.
"Oho! You're those soldiers from the surface!" The Doctor exclaimed, extremely pleased. He flew into the air, and the door closed behind the two. Quote's attention was focused on Toroko laying on the ground.
"What did you do?!" Curly yelled. The Doctor ignored her question.
"You've come at a splendid time. Here, they're all yours! Now, there's no need to thank me. Have fun, you four," The Doctor stated, then disappeared.
Quote ran over to the Mimiga girl and knelt down to her.
"P-please," Toroko whispered, "Leave!"
Quote shook his head and put his hand on her forehead. She had an intense fever. Curly backed away.
"Umm, dude, we really should get outta here," She said nervously, then ran over to the door and tried to open it. It wouldn't budge. She turned back to them, and had a terrible feeling. She ran over and tugged on Quote's arm. "Get away!" She screamed.
Quote batted her arm off and gave her a nasty look. Toroko had already gone through so much. He couldn't just abandon her now.
That was, until he felt something pick him up by the neck and chuck him at the wall.
He got up, and they both stared in horror as they saw Toroko's body grow to many times its normal size and razor-sharp claws protrude from her paws.
For the first time since he woke up, Quote screamed.
The enraged Mimiga jumped in the air, holding a block of stone, and threw it down at Quote, who barely managed to dive out of the way.
He pulled out his Polar Star and told himself to squeeze the trigger, but he froze.
How could he bring himself to attack someone as innocent and harmless as Toroko? Someone who's already suffered so much?
Curly sprinted over to him and tackled him, as the rabid Toroko had charged toward him.
"I... can't..." Quote whispered.
"It's either her or us! No, not even her! It's either IT or us! Her name is Toroko, right?" Curly hissed, and Quote nodded slowly. "Well, Toroko is dead! It's just this beast! I get why you're hesitant, but we can't save her. All we can do is put her out of her misery."
They got up, and Quote nodded gravely.
They waited for the rabid mimiga to jump again, and when it did, they dodged out of the way and began firing at it, Curly with her machine gun, and Quote with his Fireball and Polar Star.
It roared out in anger, then continued to jump around and throw blocks. Dodging it all was surprisingly easy for them.
However, Quote was still hesitant, enough so that it was able to catch him.
It picked him up by the back of his shirt and raised him up into the air. He tried to squirm free and shoot it to distract it, but he was completely pinned down.
It slammed him down into the ground with enough force that it made a large booming noise. He tried to crawl away, but it picked him back up again. Curly was just staring in shock, then snapped out of her surprise and shot it in the face.
It didn't care, and prepared to bite Quote's head off. He squirmed vigorously, and his missile launcher fell from its holster. Curly saw this and slid under the beast, picked it up, and unloaded every missile into its back.
It howled out in pain and dropped Quote, who crawled away.
The rabid Mimiga shrunk down until it was normal Toroko.
"I... I guess I'll get to see big brother again," She said weakly, then fell over. Quote crawled over to her and checked her vitals. Nothing. She was dead.
He lowered his head in grief. She didn't deserve to die. Absolutely not. She deserved to live, she deserved to live a happy life with her friends and her family.
And she was dead.
By their own hands.
He got up, closed Toroko's eyes, and limped over to King, who was somehow still alive.
King grunted. He wasn't going to be living much longer.
"It's too late for me. My last wish is for you make sure my blade goes through the heart of that monster," He stated, then collapsed. Quote checked his vitals as well, and nothing.
He shouldn't have rested. He should've done his job as soon as possible. He shook his head.
Two of his friends were dead.
And it was his fault.
He picked up King's blade, sheathed it, and slung the sheath over his back. He lowered his head and paid his respects to King and Toroko.
Curly saw how devastated her friend seemed and walked up to him.
"Are you okay?" She asked, and he looked at her, then just looked away and shook his head.
She sighed.
He was there for her when she lost her children, how could she help him?
She didn't know much about supportive words, but he was able to support her without words. What could she do?...
She thought of only one thing.
She hugged him.
This surprised him so much he nearly fell on his face.
He smiled sheepishly and patted her shoulder, and she let go.
"It's not your fault, okay? It's that Doctor jerk's fault. Okay?" She said, and he nodded with a smile.
They exited the building, and an out of place shadow loomed over them.
"OH, YEAH!"
They both looked up, and Balrog came down from the ceiling and landed on Curly, which caused her to scream in pain and lose consciousness.
Quote looked in shock at what he just saw.
Anger.
"Y-" He said, but was cut off when Balrog punched him in the head.
Everything went black.