Chapter 25: Memories
They both looked around, confused. Quote grabbed his Spur.
"SO... HOT. THE PAIN."
The walls suddenly constricted.
"What?!" Curly shouted.
The walls began to constrict more, and they backed into the center of the room, bumping into eachother.
"The wall!" Curly screamed.
"What in the name of hell?!" Quote shouted.
"HELP ME... IT HURTS... SO... HOT."
"We're going to be crushed in here!" Curly screamed, and they turned around and looked at eachother, silently asking eachother what to do.
There was nothing they could do. The only exit was blocked.
Curly screamed and buried her head in Quote's shoulder. He closed his eyes and hugged her tightly.
Why?
Why, after all of this?
Why must they die now?
He'd do anything, anything to get Curly out of there. She didn't deserve this.
Anything...
He was overwhelmed by deja vu.
"You arrogant, ignorant fools! You will regret your entire existence!"
BANG!
A female scream.
"CURLY!"
A maniacal cackle.
Rage. Pure, unadulterated malice.
"You... you... I will make you feel every single piece of pain, every drop of agony you inflict on others. You... I will make you suffer!"
He remembered everything.
And he finally decided how he saw his partner.
He loved her. More than anything.
And they were both going to die before he could do anything about it.
Tears streamed down his cheeks, and he closed his eyes.
"HEY!"
A certain, rectangular adversary landed next to them, and they both turned to look at him.
"You!" Curly shouted with relief.
"Just like Misery said! Grab onto me!" Balrog yelled, and they did so. He then jumped into the roof, smashing through the ceiling in the nick of time before the walls slammed together.
Quote closed his eyes, and the perpetual crashing and banging noises above them came to a stop.
"How is your head?" Curly asked.
"A-a bit beat up," Balrog responded uncertainly, and Quote opened his eyes, revealing him and Curly on top of a flying Balrog, far above the island.
He sighed heavily with relief.
"Close! Such a narrow escape!" Balrog exclaimed.
"I thought we were done for this time..." Curly muttered, "Looks like we owe you another one."
"Oh, there's no need for that. I was just doing as Misery asked," Balrog responded.
Wait, what?
"Misery? As in... that witch?" Curly asked.
"The very same," Balrog answered.
"I thought she hated us. Heck, I thought you hated us!" Curly grumbled.
"Oh, no. Misery is... well... that's just her personality. She always acts miserable and cranky. Supposedly, that's why Jenka named her that. She foresaw her perpetual misery and decided to name her after it," Balrog explained, "Besides, you two killed Ballos. Because of you, we don't need to take orders from anybody!"
"I thought you two were just jerks, but I guess it was just the Crown," Curly muttered.
"Well, we basically asked for it. After all, it was Misery who had Ballos make the Demon Crown in the first place," Balrog reasoned, and Quote nodded slowly.
"Huh, you don't say," Curly mumbled.
"I do say," Balrog countered.
Some silence.
"So..." Balrog said
"So?" Curly asked.
"What'll you two do now?" Balrog inquired, "I can take you anywhere!"
...
"Well, now that this is over, I just want to live somewhere calm with a nice view," Curly stated.
"Okay..." Balrog muttered, "You know..."
"What?" Curly asked.
"Can I tag along?" Balrog asked, "Please?"
"Of course!" Curly exclaimed.
"Really?" Balrog shouted.
"Yeah, we can live together, just the three of us!" Curly explained happily. The thought made Quote smile. "I'll even let you pick the spot where we live! Just find someplace nice."
"Okay, hang on ti-" Balrog shouted, but was cut off.
"WAIT!" Quote yelled.
"Uh, what?" Balrog asked.
"Take us back to the island. I have to... tie some loose ends," Quote muttered, "We can go after."
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Curly said, "After all, I still need to find my Mimiga kids again."
"Okay, I'll take you back to the Outer Wall, and you two can do whatever you need. Just come back to the balcony when you're ready to leave," Balrog stated, then flew down to the island. He landed, and the two soldiers jumped down.
They went back to the Mimiga Village, and all of the Mimiga were already back to their normal lives, which made them both smile.
"Hey! It's them!" One shouted, "Everyone, get over here!"
All of the Mimiga gathered around them and began cheering for them. Curly spotted four smaller Mimigas in the crowd, and Quote spotted one with a cap.
Quote walked over to Jack and nodded in salutation.
"So, you pulled it off," Jack said, "I knew you had it in you the moment I saw you. Arthur can rest well knowing we have a new guardian."
Quote smiled sadly and unsheathed the Blade, and held it out to Jack.
"King's blade... so it's true..." He lamented, "I guess that makes me the new leader. I... don't know how to react to that."
"Take it," Quote said.
"No... I can't. If you're holding onto it, then it must mean he wanted you to have it," Jack stated.
"He only wanted me to have it so I could use it against the Doctor, who is dead. I know it in my heart that deep down he wanted it to rest with you," Quote explained, and Jack nodded sadly, taking the sheath and sword. "I cannot be here to protect you, but I know that the village will rest well in your hands."
Jack slung the sheath over his shoulder and nodded.
"True or not, I'll certainly do my best," He promised, "Thank you. You truly are the saviour of this island."
Meanwhile, Curly was tearing up as she looked down at her children. She didn't know what to say.
"So... you all live here now?" She asked through tears.
"Yeah! This nice lady named Chaco decided to adopt us. It's much nicer living here than in the Sand Zone," One explained.
Curly nodded sadly. "Then I guess my work is done," She said, "Whoever she is, she'll probably do a much better job raising you than I ever could. I love you all, and I want you to know that I'm proud of you."
They all hugged her.
"Maybe you can visit?" One asked, and she nodded sadly.
Maybe...
The door to Arthur's house opened, and Momorin, Sue, Kazuma, Itoh, and Professor Booster all emerged from the house speaking among themselves.
Quote grinned from ear to ear and approached them. Curly got up and followed.
Sue ran up to him and hugged him. Unsure of how to respond, he just patted her on the head.
"So, you did it?" Momorin asked, and Quote nodded. "I knew you could do it."
"Impressive, most impressive," Booster grumbled, "So, this must be your partner?"
Quote nodded again, and Curly chuckled.
"I can introduce myself, y'know," She said, "Hi! Nice to meet all of you. I'm Curly Brace!"
"Isn't that a key?" Kazuma asked.
"Well yes, but," Itoh said, "Stranger names have existed... no offense."
"None taken!" Curly exclaimed.
"So, what are you all gonna do now?" Sue asked.
"We're gonna go live somewhere together," Curly said.
No response...
"Alone?" Sue asked.
Quote nodded slowly.
"So this is goodbye, then," Kazuma muttererd.
"Not necessarily," Booster said, then handed a box to Quote, "Wherever you may go, set up this computer and maybe we can visit sometime. Or vice versa."
Quote nodded again, then smiled.
"I... have to say something," He said, "This adventure has taught me a lot, and I am sure to cherish it for the rest of my life, along with my other memories. I am glad to have met all of you, so I must say... thank you, for getting me into this mess in the first place."
They all nodded, and Curly raised an eyebrow.
"Quote, you never told me you recovered your memories," She said with faked irritation. He smiled nonchalantly.
"It never came up, and it only just happened," He responded.
"Quote... an interesting name," Momorin said.
Quote chuckled.
"I also see Misery's spells haven't been broken," He stated.
"I heard my name."
A trilling noise pierced the room, and Misery descended to the ground.
The Sakamotos and Itoh gasped and prepared to run, but Quote simply smirked.
"So, you two dunces actually did it. You killed my uncle," She muttered, "Considering I sent Balrog to save your lives, do not expect anything from me."
"We weren't expecting anything," Curly said.
"However..." Misery continued, then turned to the Sakamotos. "I do believe that I did something that I should reverse," She stated.
She raised her staff and chanted a spell, and something happened.
Sue and Itoh were now human.
Sue had tan skin and green hair like her brother and mother, and Itoh was more pale and had blue hair.
"Wha..." Itoh said.
"I'm back!" Sue shouted, "Yeah!"
"My work here is done. Farewell," Misery said, then disappeared.
"I think we're done here, too," Curly said, "We have a friend waiting for us. Come on, Quote."
Quote nodded, and the two entered the house and went in the teleporter.
"We'll contact you guys as soon as we can!" Curly promised, and they all nodded.
"Bye!"
"Have fun!"
They emerged in the Egg Corridor and made their way back to the Outer Wall. When they got there, Balrog was sitting down and looking up at the sky.
"Enjoying the view?" Curly asked.
"I suppose," Balrog responded, "Are you finally ready to go?"
"Yep!" Curly said.
"Okay, hop on!" Balrog said, and they climbed on top of him. Balrog prepared to jump off, but was interrupted by a very loud whirring noise.
"What?" Quote said.
A helicopter flew in and landed on the Outer Wall. Out stepped some men. Most of them were in military equipment, but one was in a black suit and was wearing shades, and had sleek black hair.
"Who are they?" Balrog asked.
"Humans, from the surface," Curly answered.
Quote scrutinized them and noticed the flag on each soldiers' shoulder.
"Specifically, Americans," Quote continued, "What are they doing here?"
The two jumped down and walked over to the group. The sharp-dressed man looked at them.
"Are you two Mr. Marck and Ms. Brace?" He asked.
Marck was Quote's surname.
They both nodded.
"I'm going to need you to come with me," The man stated, "The president of the United States of America wishes to speak with you. Immediately."
Quote frowned. Another distraction?
"Can he come along?" Curly asked, motioning toward Balrog. The man seemed deep in thought.
"If it- he doesn't cause trouble and can fit in the helicopter without causing it to crash, then yes," The man answered, and they all piled into the helicopter.
Quote shook his head.
Why would the president of the United States want to speak to them?
They'd just have to wait and find out.
The helicopter ride was short, as the helicopter was descending to a military installation beneath the island.
The view from up above was... beautiful. If only it weren't for the racket of the helicopter and the soldiers, it'd have been nice.
When they landed, Quote and Curly got out. Balrog prepared to get out, but was stopped by the soldiers.
"Just wait here," Curly said.
"Fine," Balrog grumbled.
They walked into the base, escorted by the government man and the soldiers, and walked into a building. Ahead laid a circular table with people seated on the outside, and each person had a flag on the table in front of them.
One for Russia, one for China, one for Japan, one for Canada, and one for the U.S.
Talking could be heard, until everyone stopped and was looking at them.
"Speak."
"It's... an honour to be here in front of you all, after all this time," Curly said.
Quote wasn't feeling like being subtle.
"Why are we here?" He asked.
"Straight to the point. Some very odd events were sighted on the island, such as a research team going offline, the Demon Crown being rumoured to be stolen, and then the island suddenly started crashing to the ground. We figured you two would know what happened after your ten year disappearance."
"Ten years ago, we fought and killed General Miakid, as we had learned that he planned to assault the Earth. We were wounded in the process and fell into comas, and we slept for ten years, and woke up without our memories," Curly explained.
"So, you did fulfill your original goal."
"Not at that point, as the Demon Crown was not destroyed," Quote responded, "But, when we woke up recently, long story short I found and killed the Doctor, but he came back from the dead using a magical artifact he created and possessed the core of the island, so I destroyed it. That is why the island began to fall."
"And why did it stop?"
"We found what was causing the island to fall, an insane warlock sealed inside the island, who created the Demon Crown. We entered his prison and killed him, which stopped the island from falling and destroyed the Demon Crown for good," Curly answered, "Now our mission is complete."
Silence.
"Is that all?" Quote asked.
"No, that'll be all. We are forever in your debt."
They bowed and left, being escorted back to the helicopter. Balrog jumped out.
"Can we finally go?" He asked.
"Yeah!" Curly said, and they climbed on top of him.
"Okay... haaang ooon tiiiight!"
They shot off into the sky.