Ancient Ways

Dark Chapter: The Cavern Caretaker

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Luna awoke to the rhythmic tapping of water falling from a stalactite. Unaware of where she was she tried to raise her head, but found that she could not move at all. She was stuck to the ground by some kind of weight, but nothing was on top of her. Why couldn't she move? Suddenly a noise came from behind her, a sound of steel scraping on stone. Horrified, she prepared to be eaten by Triplex, which she assumed was encroaching on her. She was more startled to hear a computerized voice that sounded like it was coming from low quality speakers.

"TRESPASSER DETECTED, RESTRAINTS IN PLACE. IDENTIFICATION PLEASE."

Luna was so freaked out that she sputtered out, "Huzzawhat?" and the voice continued,

"SCANNING... ZERO INSTANCES OF HUZZAWHAT IN MEMORY. SECOND ATTEMPT, IDENTIFICATION PLEASE."

By now Luna had recovered enough to realize that the thing behind her wanted her name, "Luna." She said.

"SCANNING... ZERO INSTANCES OF LUNA IN MEMORY. FINAL ATTEMPT, PROVIDE VALID IDENTIFICATION OR FACE EXPUNCTION."

Luna had no clue what Ex-sponge-shun was, but it didn't sound good, she thought hard while attempting to ignore the twenty second countdown that the unknown voice had started.

"TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN, SIX..."

"Zorua!" She said, hoping it would accept a broader species definition.

"SCANNING... ONE INSTANCE OF ZORUA IN MEMORY. IDENTIFICATION 'DRK02'. THOUGHT PATTERN MATCH, SCANNING..."

At this stage, Luna was thoroughly confused and worried. Her mind raced as she recalled the "battle" with Triplex and then she suddenly remembered the funny boy from earlier, Eclipse! He was in trouble! That was provided Triplex hadn't eaten him whole already. Her train of thought was derailed by the voice again.

"THERE IS NOTHING TO FEAR, HE LIVES."

"What? Really?"

"INDEED. TRIPLEX WILL NOT EAT HIM, IT ONLY DIGESTS STONE AND METAL. TO CHALLENGE THE TITAN, HOWEVER, WAS EXCEEDINGLY FOOLISH OF HIM."

"He had no choice!"

"REGARDLESS, THE SUCCESS PROBABILITY AT HIS LEVEL WAS 00.01%. IT WAS VERY NEAR TO SUICIDE."

"Who ARE you anyway? How do you know so much?" Luna demanded.

"WE ARE KNOWN AS METAGROSS, DESIGNATION 'STL01', OUR DUTY IS SIMPLE WE COLLECT AND ARCHIVE DATA FOR OUR MASTER. THE RESULT IS MUCH KNOWLEDGE. WE KNOW ALL OF THIS CAVERN AND ALL CAVERNS BEYOND. WE KNOW MUCH AND WE CAN HELP YOU DEFEAT TRIPLEX, IF THAT IS TRULY WHAT YOU DESIRE."

"Well, duh, that's what I desire! My friend could be in trouble!"

"WE HOPE YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU ARE ATTEMPTING. TO CHALLENGE A TITAN IS 99.99% UNTHINKABLE. WITHOUT SOME METHOD OF EQUALIZING THE POWER DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOU AND TRIPLEX... SIMPLY PUT THERE IS NO SIGNIFICANT CHANCE A LOW-LEVEL, FIRST-EVOLUTUION DARK TYPE COULD EVER OVERCOME THE NEAR ALMIGHTY POWER OF TRIPLEX OR ANOTHER TITAN."

"Another titan? You mean there's more than one?"

"CERTAINLY, THERE IS CURRENTLY 1 ACTIVE TITAN FOR ALL COMMONLY REPRESENTED TYPES EXCEPT FOR WATER."

"Why not water?"

"THE WATER TITAN 'LORAQUAR' DESIGNATION 'WTITN' WAS TERMINATED 2.04 DAYS AGO."

"Wow, for a robot that no one has seen before, you sure are surprisingly trendy."

"THIS WILL BE STORED IN MEMORY AS A COMPLIMENT. WE ARE GRATEFUL."

"I assume that means thank you?"

"AFFIRMATIVE. WE NOW SUGGEST DISCUSSION OF DEFEATING TRIPLEX."

Luna realized she had been so caught up in talking that she forgot the issue at hand.

"So what do I need to do?"

"THE FIRST ACTION YOU MUST TAKE IS LOCATING THE LAIR OF TRIPLEX, WE ALREADY KNOW WHERE IT IS, BUT IF YOU WISH TO DEFEAT THE TITAN, YOU MUST FIND IT'S LAIR UNAIDED."

"I thought you said you would help!"

"WE SHALL. UPON FINDING TRIPLEX YOU MUST UTILIZE YOUR SKILLS TO THEIR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL. REMEMBER YOU NEED NOT DEFEAT TRIPLEX IF HE DEFEATS HIMSELF."

"Wait, what does that mean?"

"NO FURTHER INFORMATION AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. WE WILL NOW TELEPORT YOU TO THE ENTRANCE TO THE BEAST'S LABYRINTH. SOMEWHERE WITHIN LIES THE LAIR OF TRIPLEX. GOOD LUCK AND FAREWELL."

And so, Metagross's voice ceased. Luna became dizzy as the world spun and finally she blacked out. When she awoke, she was there, the mouth of the labyrinth. Without hesitation or time for second thoughts she plunged into the maze.