Chapter 11: Defeat
Balrog smiled timidly.
"Sorry! Hehe," He chuckled, and Misery appeared beside them and looked down at her two adversaries.
"So, you're both still alive. It leaves no doubt in my mind, you are the two tough little soldiers sent here 10 years ago," She muttered, "Because of that, I can clearly see that directly confronting you will only complicate things. Thus, to the Labyrinth with you."
With a muttering of a spell, the two pale soldiers disappeared. Balrog grinned.
"And you as well," She stated, confusing Balrog.
"Eh?" He mumbled, and he disappeared as well.
Misery laughed deeply.
"That was certainly refreshing," She said, then disappeared as well.
Quote woke up soon after smashing into something. His entire body was terribly sore.
Where even was he?
He opened his eyes, and stood up, finding himself in a very tall room with a rusty metal door and some blue robots standing or sitting around.
But, if the robots were blue, there's no way he could be a robot, nor Curly.
Curly.
Where was she?
Surely she wasn't...
He needed to find her ASAP.
He ran up to the door and tried opening it, but it didn't work at all. He pulled out his missile launcher and stepped back, but when he pressed the trigger, all that came out was a clicking noise.
Empty.
He proceeded to walk up to the robot to try and gather some info.
"I bet Misery tossed you down here," One robot beeped, and Quote nodded. "As I suspected. All of the robots down here were dumped here by that witch. Supposedly, she really hates robots, and soldiers in general. This is the island's trash heap. Nobody has escaped this place before."
Well, that was reassuring.
He walked over to another robot.
"The switch that opens that door is supposedly at the top of this room, but the footing's tricky up there. I fell over and over until I broke my legs. However, you seem talented. I bet you could make it easily," The robot stated, and Quote looked up.
That was... a long way up.
He saw various stone blocks and platforms that he could likely jump on to get to the top of the room, and proceed to climb the room.
There were some strange purple critters in the room that not only hovered in the air, but spit out purple projectiles. They just get weirder and weirder.
He decided to take out King's blade and see how well he could use it.
A critter jumped toward him and he threw the blade up in defense. The blade released a phantom blade that split the critter in two.
Seeing this, he proceeded to carefully examine the weapon. He hypothesized that it was imbued with King's soul.
That was actually kind of nice, but sad.
He then held the blade in one hand and his Polar Star in the other as he continued to climb the room.
When he got near the top, he saw some large stone blocks moving to and fro across the room. He used them to his advantage and made it to the top, nearly getting himself crushed a couple of times.
He turned on the monitor, and words lit up the screen.
Open door? Y/N.
He ran the command, and he faintly heard the door scrape open way beneath him.
He walked over to the edge and looked down.
Now, how was he gonna get down?
The stone crumbled beneath him and he freefell with a shout, tumbling to the bottom.
He regained his bearings and was able to control his fall, and he rolled when he landed, then put his hand to the ground to stop himself.
The robots seemed alarmed, but recognized him and lowered their guard.
"Well done," The one said.
"How did you not break a limb? That was a very high fall," The other said.
Quote just got up, scratched his head, shrugged his shoulders, and walked through the door.
On the ground, he saw the smashed remains of a robot. He examined it, and saw various markings and whatnot. This wasn't an accident.
He pulled out his two new favourite weapons and advanced with caution through the cave. He saw a very large beetle-like creature awaiting him.
It hissed and jumped at him, but he counterattacked and slashed it with the blade, which caused it to cry out and fall to the floor, dead.
So, he proceeded with upmost caution throughout the cave, then he jumped up to a large rectangular corridor.
He heard scraping behind him, and saw a large stone block moving toward him. He saw a hole in the ceiling and jumped into it, and the block passed beneath him harmlessly. He ran forward and dropped down to a lower level, and another stone block began moving toward him, again from right behind him.
He waited, jumped on top of it, then jumped up and toward a door, then went through it.
He emerged into a large corridor with small holes in the floor hiding critters. He was able to detect this and pulled out his Fireball, then blasted fireballs down into the holes so the crirtters couldn't ambush him.
He jumped up and saw three beetles guarding a building. He shot them all before they could attack him and went into the building.
Inside, there were more beetles, but they seemed friendly. There was one of them hiding in a corner.
"Ugh, I'm so hungry for Mimiga flesh," It grumbled.
The thought apalled him. It sniffed him.
"You smell a bit like Mimiga," It complained.
He walked up to another one of them.
"Long, long ago, there lived a witch on this island. She's the one who constructed this labyrinth in order to keep us Gaudi penned up," It explained.
So they had a name.
Another one walked up to him.
"Have you ever seen the outside of this island? This island is floating high in the skies," It said.
The thought of there only being some rock between him and a freefall down to the surface sent shivers down his spine. He really wasn't a big fan of heights.
But, it'd explain why the Sakamotos couldn't just build a boat and leave.
"As to how it manages to float, that secret lies within the exit to this maze," It finished.
He walked forward and saw a Gaudi at a till. It made him smile. Another Gaudi talked to him.
"You wanna get out of here?" It asked, and Quote obviously nodded. "There is an exit to this maze, but it's blocked by a huge boulder, and moving it would only be the beginning of your problems."
He walked up to the shopkeeper Gaudi.
"Hey there. This is the Labyrinth Shop, but sadly, we were burgled a while back. All we have left are some dumb missiles, and either way you'd need a launcher to fire them," The shopkeeper explained.
That peaked his interest. Missile launcher ammo? He raised an eyebrow.
"I mean, we haven't had a customer in awhile, and I doubt we'd need them, so you can take as many as you like. Better than another petty thief stealing them without permission," It said, and handed Quote a full refill of missiles.
He reloaded the weapon with a grin.
The shopkeeper noticed his Fireball and Polar Star.
"Hey, you've got some pretty spiffy guns there. A Polar Star and CSL, if I'm right," It said, and Quote nodded. "Can I take a quick look at them?" It asked.
He had a feeling that wouldn't go well for him. He shook his head.
"You're missing out!" The shopkeeper said, and he left.
He continued forward through the 'maze', and was met with more hostile Gaudi, some flying with purple wings. The flying ones also threw purple projectiles. He dodged all attacks and shot all of the hostile Gaudi.
He saw a door ahead, and entered it.
He dropped down to a lower level and saw what seemed to be a green doctor and a green nurse, as well as two beds. One of the beds was occupied. He took a double take at who was lying on the bed.
It was Curly Brace.
He ran up to her smiling, and she smiled weakly at him.
The smile on his face immediately disappeared.
She looked bad. Really bad.
"Oh, hey," She said weakly, "You're looking good. Can't say the same for myself."
He frowned. What happened to her warrior spirit?
"When that Balrog stomped on me... it really did a number on me. But, then again, I suppose it was a better alternative to you getting injured this badly, as you're far more skilled than me," She said, "Just go on without me. The exit is in the Boulder Chamber. I'll just stay here until I get better or die."
No.
There was no way in hell he was going to abandon another one of his friends.
He walked over to the other bed and sat down.
"What are you doing?" Curly asked. He shook his head. She got the message. "Look, I'd love to go with you... but look at me. I'd only get in the way. You're strong. You can beat the Doctor. Don't let me get in your way."
He got up and looked straight at her, and shook his head again. He'd made up his mind.
He remembered he had the red potion that Jenka had given them. He checked his pockets, only to find that it had somehow fallen out of his pocket.
He sighed, and walked up to the nurse. Maybe he could help, somehow.
"Are you a friend of hers?" The nurse asked, and he nodded. "Well, if you care about her, I'd advise you do what the doctor tells you to do."
He walked over to the doctor.
"I'm a physician. Me and my nurse used to work in the old clinic, but it was taken over by a ghost. We had to leave the medicine behind. Please, take this key and go find the Cure-All, it'll heal your friend," The doctor muttered, then handed Quote a key.
He nodded and left the building, and hopped up some platforms to the top of the area, and saw a door with a + symbol engraved above it. Must be the clinic.
He used the key and opened the door, and saw the ruins of a clinic inside. There was a chest in the center of the room.
He opened it, and pulled out a small purple-white pill with the letters CA imprinted on the center.
With the Cure-All obtained, he walked over to the door, only to see it lock before his very eyes.
Right, ghosts.
He felt a presence behind him, and turned to see a black rectangle with blood-red eyes assemble before him. It looked oddly similar to Balrog.
Not wanting to get anywhere near the thing, he pulled out his Polar Star and Fireball, then began shooting at it from afar.
As the projectiles collided with it, it began splitting off black orbs that began to swirl around it. It jumped out of the building, and he dove out of the way before it could land on him. He continued to shoot it, and after a few more seconds it stepped back and opened its mouth, almost like it was in agony.
It dissolved into a geyser of black orbs, and the door unlocked behind him. He exited the building, dropped down to the medical camp, and entered.
He gave the pill and the key to the doctor, who nodded in appreciation.
"You found it, good. Many thanks," He thanked, "Just let me handle the rest. Your friend will be fine, feel free to continue forth into the Labyrinth."
Quote shook his head politely.
"You really must care deeply about her," The doctor said, "Well, it will likely be awhile before your friend recovers. You may use the other bed to rest, if you wish."
He looked over to his now asleep friend. If he stayed awake, that way she wouldn't be alone when she wakes up. But, he could and should get some rest for the upcoming escape attempt.
She wouldn't mind if he was asleep, would she?
Actually, she'd probably be happy he stayed with her.
He decided that he'd rest. He walked over to the vacant bed and crawled in, then drifted off to sleep.
