Chapter 11: Cr...icket
Rose
Skeletons.
Corpses.
Dead bodies.
Rose had never screamed so hard in her life. She had never felt such horrible, heart-stopping terror before. They lurched forward, bony creatures of all shapes and sizes completely intent on destroying her.
'ROSE!' the green, large-toothed boy named Fawful shrieked. 'YOU ARE BEING A DISTRACTION OF ENORMITY!' There was a large bang! when he shot one of the bodies with his blaster and the girl suddenly remembered she had one of the devices in her own hands. She stared down at it, hands shaking, and tried to remember how the thing worked. Gripping it the way Fawful had told her, she aimed it at one of the corpses and fired; the blast knocked the skeleton backwards and the recoil sent Rose stumbling as well. She crashed into another body and they both fell to the ground.
She found herself staring into the skeletal face of what looked like a large, anthropomorphic turtle. She tried to scream, but her throat was far too dry for that, so what came out was more of a pitiful croak. The girl cracked its face with the blaster and flung herself away from it, shooting it for good measure. It broke apart, tumbling to the ground in a mass of bones.
One of the walking dead grabbed her by the shoulders. 'Why are you here?' it yelled. 'Go away!'
Panicked, Rose punched the thing in the chest and pain blossomed in her knuckles and up her wrist. The skeleton was knocked back slightly, then punched her in the chest as well; the wind was blown out of her lungs, her eyes bulged, and she dropped to the ground with her hands wrapped around herself. She made laboured, strangled gasps as she struggled in vain to get air into her convulsing body.
The zombie stared down at her; she didn't know how it was possible, but its eyes seemed to radiate hate despite having no skin or muscles capable of forming expressions. It raised its foot above her head, prepared to stomp her to death.
A blast exploded against its head and it yelled, falling to the side. 'Rose!' Fawful shouted, fearful. He tried fighting his way through the hoard but it was far too dense; the masses of bodies forced him to leave her lying on the ground.
She forced air back into her lungs, gasping with sweet relief when the terrible feeling in her chest subsided. The girl got to her feet and readied the blaster, gritting her teeth. She was absolutely terrified, but she felt adrenaline coursing through her veins and wasn't going to let these things get her. One ran at her, intent to kill; she screamed and blasted a hole in its ribcage, then shot it again, blowing it to pieces. She didn't know exactly what it was that she held in her hand, but she had to hand one thing to Fawful:
It was awesome.
She shot another one, and another, the action growing easier with each pull of the gun's trigger. The skeletons dropped like flies, breaking apart, their rage nothing against superior firepower. It was almost...fun. As fun as something could be when there was a possibility of being ripped apart by skeletons.
'Rose!'
'What?'
'Have caution!' the Bean warned her. 'They—' His words were cut off as he was grabbed from behind.
'They what? They what?' she called.
She didn't need to be told again; several skeletons rose up and pieced themselves back together, holes and all. 'Your weapons can't hurt us!' one of them said. 'You can't kill what is already killed!'
The thrill was wearing off and Rose was beginning to feel the pit of fear in her stomach again. She shot them, they dropped, and then they stood right back up again. She was sweating, her heart was pounding, and her head was searching for a way to somehow make their defeat permanent; she couldn't think of any.
She saw the first skeleton among their numbers; it was marked differently than the rest, tinged red. That had to be it; if that one was beaten, the rest would follow!
She shot a path through the crowd of monsters, gritting her teeth; that thing was going down. When she had a clear shot, she fired. Unfortunately, it missed, striking another skeleton. The red foe whipped its head around, locking eyes with her and freezing her heart solid. She shot a few more times, but with each passing second her aim grew steadily worse and her whole body shook. All the while the red skeleton advanced on her, murder in its eyes.
Finally, she hit it. It yelled in a hollow tone and stumbled, but steadied itself; it had no visible wound. 'Uh...!' Rose stammered, then squealed as one skeleton lifted her off her feet. The red skeleton then tore a long, solid-looking bone off its ribcage and held it tightly in its hand, swinging it like a bat. 'No, go away!' she screamed as it lifted the bone above its head. 'Fawful! Fawful help! Shoot the red skeleton! FAWFUL!'
A terrible pain exploded in her head and she blacked out.
Fawful
The skeletons dropped like flies.
He had taken down the red skeleton with a few strategic shots at specific places on the body, and then absolutely destroyed it to the point where nothing was left. After the leader was gone, every other body immediately stopped moving and turned to dust.
Fawful rushed over to the unconscious body of Rose. Crimson blood leaked from her forehead, which was badly smashed in. Looking at her made him shiver; it was just like Mimi's final moments before the end of the Mushroom World back before everything had been reborn.
Mimi wouldn't eat the Mushroom to save her life, he remembered. If she had eaten it, maybe two, she could have lived and he could have had her with him now. They could have had a better chance.
Is it wrong...that I...still love him...?
The Bean shook his head furiously, his hands grasping his temples. 'Augh...' he groaned, feeling a lump in his throat. He forced the feeling away; there was no time for that. He took out his storage cube and retrieved a Super Shroom he'd had lying in there for a while. He held it in one hand while using his other to prop her mouth open. He lowered it into her mouth, then moved her jaw up and down to force her to chew the food. He knew from experience (mostly Cackletta doing this to him) that the liquid insides of the Shroom would go down her throat with no effort required on her part.
He waited for a moment, his eyes fixed on every feature of her face, looking intently at her forehead in particular. After a minute it was clear she was getting better, though her wound hadn't healed and she hadn't woken up.
Fawful sighed, then lifted her onto his back, letting out a choked gasp under the weight of another human being. Rose wasn't that heavy, but the Bean boy's strength was definitely not physical.
He walked out the door and set her on the ground, then flopped onto his back, cursing himself for letting himself be this frail. He felt in his pocket and retrieved the heart-shaped rock, inspecting it. It wasn't particularly impressive; just a heart-shaped rock of little value outside of this temple.
He got up and walked over to the statue of the chubby dragon, looking at the heart-shaped hole in the base. It obviously fit the stone, as he knew it would. That was just how these things worked. He put the stone into the hole; it slid in smoothly.
The statue began to shake, the room groaning with a muffled growl. The doors rattled, the stairs shook. The stone in the statue's base shone white, and the light moved up the statue until it was a huge orb of whiteness, bathing the room in the first true light it had experienced.
A crack split in the stone and Fawful clamped his hands around his ears at the horrible grinding sound. More fractures tore in the structure, the light rose to an unbearable luminosity. Finally, the stone began to fall, the statue breaking apart like an egg.
A roar wracked his body with tremors; as the light died down he saw a huge creature lift itself onto its hind legs, displaying its majesty for all to see.
It was chubby.
Its feet came crashing down, the impact making Fawful fall onto his rear. The dragon, adorned with red scales save its tan underbelly, fixed them with large, pale green eyes. 'Who are you?' it growled. The Bean hadn't encountered many dragons before, but judging by its voice he was surprised to come to the conclusion that it was a female. 'Where am I?'
'Uh...!' Fawful gulped.
'SILENCE!' the dragon bellowed, whipping her head this way and that. 'What sort of magic is this? I feel—' It paused and tensed. 'I feel...' Then, in a move Fawful found very odd, the dragon smiled. He had no idea that was even possible. 'I feel alive!' It lifted its head and roared again. 'I am alive! No longer a worthless soul, shackled in the deepest pits of the dreaded Underwhere!' She smacked her palm against the ground, her dark claws scraping the stone. 'Freedom is mine!'
In the face of this hulking creature, Fawful felt a level of fear and admiration he had never felt before. Even if it was chubby, it held itself with a grace he'd never seen in his life. 'Um...hi-ing,' he squeaked.
His heart stopped when the dragon moved its attention to him. 'You!' she growled. 'Who are you?'
'I...' He gulped. 'I am Fawful...' He was sure he'd never sounded like such a child in his life.
'Who in the world names their child Fawful?' she snorted. 'That is one of the most revolting puns I have ever heard!'
The Bean stood to his feet, growing hot and red in the face. 'How daring you?' he snarled. 'I will have you knowing that I am a genius of greatness and a conqueror of kingdoms!'
'You appear far too small for kingdom conquering,' the dragon noted. 'Surely you are not more than ten?'
'I have an age of greaterness than that which you have saying!' he sputtered out with growing ire and embarrassment.
'What is your age, then?'
'I...' He realized he had no idea, and blew a raspberry.
A roar silenced the boy. 'Quiet! I am Hooktail, the greatest and most majestic of all dragons!' She narrowed her eye. 'I just realized...' Hooktail said. 'I have not had a meal in a number of years!' She licked her lips. 'You and your sleeping companion will have the honour of being my first snack, before I escape this building and feast on the land!'
Fawful immediately reached for his blaster but was batted aside like a fly by Hooktail's huge hand. The stone floor came up at him and he landed on his back, rolling uncontrollably, his blaster clattering away from him. He came to a stop, trying to regain his senses and rearrange his swirled glasses.
'I'll save you for last,' the dragon puffed, smoke curling from her nostrils. 'I've never had the privilege of a Beanian meal.' She set her sights on the human girl lying unconscious. 'The girl will be easy pickings!'
The Bean grit his gigantic teeth and ran at full tilt, heart pounding in his chest as Hooktail loomed over his friend. Seeing no other way out, he took his storage cube off of his belt and whipped it through the air. It collided with Hooktail's eye and flashed brightly, releasing some mechanical parts. The dragon shouted in pain, clawed hand struggling to ease its eye.
Fawful picked up the fallen objects, hooked the cube back onto his belt, and grabbed Rose, hoisting her over his shoulder and groaning under the added weight. 'Haack...' he groaned. 'H-heavy...' He scampered away from the huge beast and plucked his blaster off the ground.
'You'll pay for that!' the reptilian monster screamed, her loud voice making the room shake. She sucked in some air and breathed out a huge plume of red hot fire. Fawful leaped to his left, the flames barely missing him, his legs wobbling. 'Bah!' she spat. 'I am out of practice!' She sucked in more air.
The Bean blasted right in the inside of her mouth. Eyes wide, Hooktail threw her head back and howled in agony, releasing a jet of flame up to the unseen upper floor. 'You will not h-have the breathing of anym-more f...f...fire!' he sputtered, his muscles complaining. He shot at her again, and the blast struck her in the snout. All it did was made her sniff loudly.
'Hah!' she laughed. 'I am invincible! You can't so much as scratch me like that!'
Fawful's jaw dropped. 'But...!' He wracked his mind; he remembered reading about a dragon with a ludicrously tough body. It had some sort of weakness though, what was it...something about crickets? ...where am I going to have the finding of crickets? he thought with alarm.
The ground shook as the colossus advanced upon them. 'Maybe,' it mused, 'if you hand over the girl I'll spare your life. She'll do for a light snack.' The boy, hurting now, shook his head. 'Oh well. This is more enjoyable anyway!' Fawful noticed that he was at the foot of the spiralling stairs going up the room. The only way away from Hooktail was up! He started making his way up the stairs. 'Oh you're kidding me,' she huffed irritably, and brought a scaled fist at them. Fawful fell forward, the fist smashing the wall above them. He aimed his blaster and shot at her eye; it hit just under, but that was enough to startle the dragon even if it didn't injure.
He couldn't carry Rose anymore, so he let her down on the steps and started running up the stairs. He heard his feet stomping loudly on the stone steps and then deliberately pounded them down harder. 'I have hilarity!' he yelled, and gave a forced laugh. 'A dragon has fear of a tiny Bean!'
'I DO NOT FEAR YOU!' she roared, and breathed in. Fawful stopped and prepared to shoot her in the mouth again, but before he could aim right Hooktail spat out a quick ball of flame that hit him head on. Burning, searing pain shot all around his body; flames lit up his clothes, licking at his skin. His legs gave out and he fell to his knees on the steps, the stone scraping them. He gripped his body, fighting back a yell. Hooktail laughed, a growling, chuckling sound. 'This is too easy! You thought you could beat me?' She smacked him against the wall with her palm and Fawful's world spun when his head hit against the wall. 'You're like an ant to me!'
The fire went out, but it had already done its damage; his entire body was in anguish and he was sure something was broken but he didn't know what. His glasses were badly cracked and his clothes were torn and burnt. He struggled to his feet and began trudging up the steps. 'Must...not have...death...' he croaked.
'I've had enough,' Hooktail sighed. 'You've been boring prey.' Her mouth opened wide but Fawful didn't have the strength to shoot at her.
A blast rang through the air and struck the dragon harmlessly in the back of the head. Nonetheless, she whipped her head around to look upon Rose, who held her blaster in both hands and was visibly more terrified than Fawful could ever be. 'L...l...leave...go...' She was tripping over her own tongue. She slammed her eyes shut and wildly pulled the trigger again and again, peppering Hooktail with a barrage of attacks which couldn't have hurt more than a light flick.
'Fool!' the monster shouted. Fawful was worried, but just kept climbing the steps. 'I'll gulp you down whole! I will you stop shooting me?' She lifted up a large claw and brought it down; Rose ran for her life and was nearly flung off her feet from the impact. Then as Hooktail began to move her hand again, the human girl leapt onto it. 'You pest!' Hooktail shoot her hand; Rose let go of her blaster and maintained a death grip on the claw, screaming for dear life.
The Bean gulped down a Mushroom. It wasn't the most effective of health items, but it served its purpose; his wounds healed slightly. Still running up the steps, he blasted the beast, making her head twitch in annoyance. She spun herself around and Rose went flying off of her hand and onto Fawful, cushioning her landing. 'Ungh...' the Bean groaned.
'Sorry!' the girl apologized, rubbing a bruise on her head.
The boy's eyes widened and he grabbed Rose; they dodged another burst of fire and Fawful shot at the dragon's eye again; this time it hit its mark and Hooktail recoiled back, hand smacked against her face. 'YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!' she cried in rage.
Fawful and Rose were now above where Hooktail could reach them, but the stairs kept on going. 'Is that thing going to follow us?' the girl asked fearfully.
'I am hoping that it cannot!' the boy answered.
A flap of air sounded and Hooktail smashed into the wall below them, her small wings propelling her upwards, smacking her claws onto the stairs in front of them and tearing off a part of the stone. Fawful ran and jumped across, with Rose following suit.
They emerged in a nearly empty room, arcing up to a visible ceiling at the top. There was a magnificent, jewelled structure hanging from the middle of the ceiling, pointing downwards and glittering in the temple's magical light. 'Whoa', Rose gasped. 'It's gorgeous!'
Hooktail exploded through the middle of the floor, fire shooting upwards and bathing the structure in flames. 'I WILL HAVE MY MEAL!' she roared. Rose peppered her with more shots which bounced harmlessly off of her like water droplets. It was no use; Hooktail's weakness was likely crickets, but there was no way there would be any in here. They could never kill her.
The dragon roared in fury, fire exploding upwards as she struggled to get the rest of her body into the room. Eying the structure above them, Fawful snatched the blaster from Rose, turned the power to full, and shot the part connected to the ceiling.
The structure fell, point-first, directly down into Hooktail's gullet. A suffocated growl escaped her mouth before she went tumbling down, tearing the floor away. Fawful and Rose tried running to the edge, but found themselves in open air, falling as well.
The dragon hit the first floor and it too gave way under its weight. Plummeting into darkness, there was a loud booming sound and a rush of air. Fire and light exploded from underneath them, engulfing them. Fawful felt himself slipping away, losing feeling in his body. He couldn't see anything in front of himself; Rose had disappeared from his view and his hearing.
For a moment, everything was white.
He opened his eyes and found himself on the floor, looking up at the night sky. The stars sparkled like diamonds and the air was a rich, wispy blue. The stones underneath him were clear like glass, reflecting the spectacle around him. His blasters lay on his lap, as well as everything he had left lying around during their bout with Hooktail.
He moaned, sitting up and rubbing his sores. He started putting his items away. 'I have...confusion...'
A similar groan alerted him to Rose's presence beside him. 'Ugh...what happened...?' she said, hurt.
'I think we...had winning?' He stood up; there were no walls or ceiling, only the floor beneath their feet. He looked over the edge and gasped when he found they were on top of a large tower. He couldn't see the ground; the sky seemed to wrap all around them.
Rose hugged the edge, looking down. 'Where are we?' she asked. Fawful didn't know. 'Do you think this is on top of the temple? It didn't look like it had a tower at all.'
'It also had biggerness on the side of in than the side of out,' he noted.
The girl took a moment to decipher the Engrish. 'I have no idea why you speak like that...' she muttered to herself. 'I guess we can't really make rational sense of this...'
There was a fountain in the middle of the floor that issued a never-ending stream of glistening liquid. Above the fountain, a large, pulsating light shone. They went over to the water and felt it; it made Fawful's hands tingle, making them cold and hot at the same time. He looked at Rose for a moment, then hopped in. His entire body felt...perfect. Nothing was wrong with it. There were no irritations, no pains, no discomfort. It tingled with a feeling he had never experienced in his entire life. He surfaced and breathed in the air, laughing. 'This has amazingness!' he exclaimed, his heart light and bubbly. 'Hahahaha!'
Rose followed suit; submerged for a moment, then surfaced. She stared at her hands, her mouth hanging slightly open in amazement. 'This is incredible...' she whispered. Fawful saw Rose in the light of the water, her white hair shining, her pale skin glowing. A smile spread across her face and she ran her hands through her hair. 'I've never known something like...' Her voice trailed off and her smile disappeared.
She looked at him. For a moment, they just stared at each other, her red eyes and Fawful's blue.
And then she smiled and that face lit up like a star.
Fawful hopped out of the fountain a little too quickly; he tripped over the side, almost falling onto his face. He caught himself and staggered out, smacking his palms against his burning face. He took off his glasses to dry them and noticed that they were neither wet nor broken anymore. His entire body was dry and healed. Even his clothes were free of burns and tears.
Rose came out of the fountain too and was similarly surprised to find herself dry. 'Um...' she muttered. She turned her gaze to the orb above the fountain. 'This place is amazing...' she said.
'I...' Fawful cleared his throat, looking away from Rose. 'The goal that is ours is to have the locating of the Purity Heart, which has oppositeness to the Chaos Heart that is making Dimentio have power.'
Rose nodded. 'You said Dimentio created the world. Was it with the Chaos Heart?' Fawful gave an affirmative. 'Then...maybe this is what it looks like when the Purity Heart makes a world without anyone's control.' She looked around. 'It's just so beautiful...' Fawful kept his eyes on the orb. It glowed with a light and positive power and seemed to beckon to them. He walked back up to the fountain and climbed to its top. 'What're you doing Fawful?' the girl asked.
He didn't answer. Extending his arms out, he touched the orb; it was warm. It reminded him of love. Cackletta. Mimi. 'Rose,' he called. 'Have coming here.' She walked over and climbed to the top. Without a word, she touched the orb, no doubt remembering people she loved from her past life.
They reached into the light, their hearts full. They could feel the Purity Heart somewhere in there. It was calling to them.
They floated into it, and a flash of light shot up into the otherworldly sky.
