Pain. Cold. Agony. Those were the only feelings that were going through Quote's mind right now as he laid on the ground in whatever area he was at. Slowly but surely, he started to get back to his feet, struggling to keep his balance as he held his head in pain.
"Aggghh..." He moaned, opening up his eyes... only to find out he could only see out of one eye. His other optic had been severely damaged, now just merely dangling out of its metal socket, the casing of it crushed and its cover completely shattered, only sputtering of a few sparks and every now and again. "C-Curly? Are you alright?"
No response.
"...Curly?"
Again, silence. Quote would soon look around the area to find he was once again alone, now stuck in a large pit in a massive stone chamber. Above him girders and stone platforms would stretch between the walls in an erratic fashion. In front of the robot boy would be a large metal door, seemingly rusted and aged for some time. Quote would think, reaching for the Missile Launcher on his back as he took aim at the door, and opened fire.
...the Missile would hit the door and detonate, and not even leave so much as a dent in it. Quote sighed, merely slumping his synthetic shoulders. Seems like he wasn't gonna be getting out that way immediately. He'd scan wound the bottom of the stone chamber, keeping the door in mind as he looked around. There was a small pool of water, and then the scout robot would notice the Polar Star lying on the ground not far from him. He sighed in relief, walking over and picking the gun up, inspecting it a bit. Aside from a few scrapes on the casing, it was still in functional order. If he had lost it...
He holstered the Polar Star, turning his attention back to the gigantic vertical pit he was in, continuing to look over the area with the good eye scanner... until he picked up a reading of electrical presence near the top of the room. Thinking there might be something up there to help him, he slowly began his ascent up towards the top of the chamber...
"...nnnghh..." Curly moaned, tossing and turning in pain. "Owww..."
"Oh, Doctor Gero, she's waking up!" A female voice said, soon followed by a male voice.
"Ah, yes, well, that's good to know." A male voice said. "Is she in stable condition?"
"I-I think so..." The female voice responded, before Curly opened her optics to see where she was; a small stone room, lying on one of two beds as a couple of cabinets were lined against another wall. A bit away from her appeared to be a frog wearing a doctor's coat, and near her would be another frog with a nurse's hat on. "O-oh! She's awake!"
"Wh-where am I?" Curly asked, feeling a sharp pain in her stomach as she clutched it in pain. "Ack!"
"P-please, miss, rest yourself!" The nurse frog said, laying Curly back down. "That fall you took in the Labyrinth really hurt you badly, an-"
"W-wait." Curly said, her confidence shrinking. "D-did you say Labyrinth?"
"Yes?" The nurse frog said, tilting her head. "Is something wrong?"
Curly's inner confidence would shatter as she flopped back down onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling, hopes dashed hard against the wall. Tears would start to form in her eyes as she stared at the dark rocky ceiling. The one plan she had made with Quote, now hopelessly shattered and stranded down in the dumps of the island.
And then a gut-wrench would come to her as she realized; where was Quote? Wasn't he with her when she had left the Warehouse back in the Sand Zone? Why wasn't he with her now? Was... was he dead?
The thoughts continued to plague her mind and only make her more and more worried about the entire situation. How were they gonna get out of this, if Quote was even still alive?
...was it even possible for her to go on at this point?
"...no. I can't be like this..." Curly thought in her mind, still looking up at the ceiling. "The kids wouldn't want me to be like this... and neither would Quote... even if he's..."
Soon making up her mind, she'd get up from the bed, ignoring the pain coursing from her stomach. Maybe if she looked around for a bit, it'd help her take her mind off things.
"M-Miss!" The frog nurse said. "I-I don't think you're in a stable condition t-"
"I'll be fine, thank you." Curly responded. "I at least appreciate the hospitality given to me for my time here."
"B-bu-"
"Nurse Hasumi, let her go." The frog doctor said. "If she feels she can be okay, it's best to let her go than to keep her here against her will."
Nurse Hasumi would merely nod. "Y-yes Dr. Gero." She spoke, before looking back to the female scout robot. "Y-your weapons we found you with are right beside the door for you."
"Thank you." Curly thanked, grabbing her Machine Gun and holstering her Nemesis, before opening the door to the room and stepping out into the corridor of the Labyrinth. The air smelled foul, of rotting plants and sewage water, as she'd soon see several large pipes running through the ceiling of the corridor, a few leaking a fair bit and puddling in the points of the Labyrinth. Despite the noxious smell enough to floor any sane person, Curly thankfully was a robot and could just turn off her scent sensors. The foul air would still be enough to stunt her a bit though, as she'd cough and hack a bit from the initial burst before she got the idea to activate her Air Tank.
Reaching under the back of her top, she'd hit a button that soon dispensed a large air bubble around her. With her air shield up and running, she'd begin her trek forward into the tunnels of the Labyrinth, keeping her ears open in case something was lurking in the shadows...
...and she'd soon hear a scuttling as what appeared to be what she could only interpret as a human-sized cockroach scampered towards her at an alarming rate. She squeaked, firing a gun burst at creature at the shots collided, the creature now not moving. A wave of nausea flowed through her a bit as she ran from the corpse of the massive cockroach, not wanting to see it again, not even caring about which directing she was running to before she collapsed at the side of a building, panting heavily as she leaned on it. She did NOT want to experience whatever the heck that thing was again...
Upon realizing where she was, she decided to look around to see where exactly she was at, before looking around the corner and seeing the large flashing neon sign with words on it.
" 'The Pits'..." Curly read off the sign, before signing. "Well, at least they have a sense of humor down here..." She'd steel her nerves before walking into the building.
What was inside appeared to be some sort of cantina of sorts, occupied by several more of the cockroach creatures and what appeared to be several other recon robots like herself, but would be much more mechanical and plain in appearance; if anything Curly stuck out like a sore thumb compared to them. Along with them would appear to be several small purple-skinned Critters sleeping in various corners of the cantina. Off in one corner of the cantina would be a group of the cockroach creatures, acting as a band and playing various instruments in coordination as they set the 'atmosphere' of the place. At the central bar of the cantina was another of the cockroach creatures, this one apparently wearing a visor of some kind as it was cleaning a glass, an assortment of beverages lining the center pillar behind it as another purple Critter was sleeping on the countertop beside it.
Curly would hesitantly walk forward, taking a seat at the bar as she set her Machine Gun on the counter. "H-hello?"
The bartender cockroach would look up. "Ah, a new customer! Haven't seen your face around the Labyrinth before."
"I'm... a 'new arrival' I guess you could say." Curly spoke, not too keen on making eye contact with the creature.
"Well, welcome aboard for the long haul, kid." The cockroach said. "You'll probably be down here for a while. Name's Chaba, and I run this place. You?"
"Curly Brace, sir..." The female scout spoke, a bit hesitant, until she felt a metal hand on her shoulder...
Quote would struggle as his arms hoisted his metallic frame up onto the higher platform, seeing a computer terminal in front of him in the small alcove near the top of the room. It had been a long climb up to the top of the room, and for Quote, he was not too keen of falling back down to the bottom of the room. He'd approach the terminal and start typing into it, soon seeing a prompt pop up on it.
/OPEN DOOR? Y/N
As he didn't have any other choice in the matter at the moment, Quote would hit the 'Y' option on the keyboard, hearing a loud creaking sound coming from the bottom of the room.
"Guess that door's opened..." Quote said, dropping down onto a lower platform as the girder it was on creaked under his weight... then snapped as the platform and the scout robot took a tumble to below. Quote would hit the ground hard as a new reading came up.
/WARNING! LEFT ARM DAMAGE AT 57.9%. AUTO-REPAIRS SYSTEMS STARTING...
/WARNING! RIGHT LEG DAMAGE AT 21.4% AUTO-REPAIRS SYSTEMS STARTING...
Quote groaned in pain as he held his arm, slowly getting to his feet as he stumbled forward out of the massive vertical room into the first of the tighter corridors. Knowing the Polar Star would be harder to use with only one arm, he holstered the cobalt gun and unsheathed the Blade he had been gifted from King before his last breath, keeping the sword in front of him for defense as he stumbled through the dark caverns. The stone floor appeared to be interlaced with metal piping a bit, and what appeared to be a chain-link fence grating was hastily put in front of the path he was going. Taking a swing with the newly acquired Blade, the fencing fell to no problem at all as he limped forward through the dark caves. Curly had to be in around her somewhere...
It then occurred to him. Why hadn't he activated the light in his good eye yet? Taking a second to switch it on, Quote now had a steady light beam coming from his good eye as he continued to move forward through the stone corridor. Soon enough a reading would come up.
/LIFE TANK DETECTED IN VICINITY.
Quote let out a disgruntled sigh. At this point these damn things were actively trying to put him into harm's way with how they were placed. He'd look around the area before proceeding into the next corridor, picking up a faint red glow coming from a hole in the corridor. Moving faster, he soon had bright lights shining from behind him as he looked behind him. Apparently one of the old excavation tools lying around in the Labyrinth reactivated...
...and now it was headed straight for the robot boy.
Now hobbling faster, Quote would dive into the hole as the massive drill cylinder went over it, just barely clipping the boy's body as it passed overhead into the dark depths below. Quote grumbled something angrily under his breath, shoving the Life Capsule into his arm before he crawled out of the hole, ducking into the next passage as he continued through the corridors of the Labyrinth, keeping his stumbling up as soon he'd be seeing a neon light. Stumbling closer to the light, he'd see it'd spell out a name.
" 'The Pits'..." Quote muttered to himself, sheathing the Blade. "Well, maybe someone in here can find something to help..." He would then enter into the building, soon finding himself in some sort of cantina. His good eye would scan about the area, seeing several large cockroach-like creatures, purple-colored Critters, a couple robots, something blonde, an- wait, blonde?
"Curly...?" Quote questioned to himself, slowly walking forward before setting a hand on the blonde's shoulder. The figure would turn...
"Quote!" Curly would cry, getting up from her seat and hugging him tightly. "Oh my god, Quote... I thought you..."
"It's okay Curly..." Quote said, returning the hug. "I'm alive."
"I'm glad you are..." Curly said, releasing the hug, only to be shocked by the boy's dangling robotic eye. "Oh my god, what happened to you?"
"What, this?" Quote said, holding up his broken eye. "Think it got dislodged when I crashed down into this place."
"Oof, rough landings." Chaba commented. "I know the feeling kid." Quote would look to the side before looking back to Curly.
"You manage to find a way out of here?" Quote asked.
Curly shook her head. "Sadly no. I've barely managed to get any information since I've woken up."
"You two lookin' to get outta the Labyrinth?" Chaba asked, his antennae twitching a bit. "What's the big rush?"
Curly would look over to Chaba, putting her hands on the counter. "Right now outside this Labyrinth there's a megalomaniac doctor planning on completely decimating the surface world with an army of frenzied Mimiga, and if we don't get out of here and stop him, things are gonna get ugly out there real fast, you catch my drift?"
Chaba would stare at her in silence for a second... then responded. "Ah, so you're like the robots from that war ago. After that Crown I see."
"More like after the person who's using it." Curly spoke. "So where can we exit?"
"Well... there's supposedly an exit out near the ceremonial Boulder Chamber..." Chaba spoke, rubbing one of his arms under his mandibles. "Though, that Boulder early weighs about ten tons or so. Not even a hundred Gaudi could get that thing to move!"
"Gaudi?" Quote asked, taking a seat at the counter.
"Y'know, the thing I am? And what about 60% of the other patrons here are?" Chaba answered.
"Oh, sorry." Quote said, before asking another question. "But what if we were to get the Boulder to move?"
"Well, you'd be takin' a straight shot for the heart of the Labyrinth." Chaba spoke, now starting to clean another glass. "Connected to that's an entrance straight to the Island's main water artery, and I suppose that'd get you two outta here. It's speculation at this point since most of the folks here haven't really seen past the Boulder since, well, no one's been able to move it."
"Meaning... we might just have a way back to the other parts of the Island!" Curly spoke.
"Supposedly." Chaba said, before looking to Quote. "Could possibly fix up your eye for ya pal. Ya mind if I take a look at it?"
"Uhh... sure?" Quote said, disconnecting his bad eye and giving it to Chaba to look at.
"Hmmm..." The Gaudi said, looking over the eye. "Sheesh, whoever built you certainly spared no expense."
"What do you mean?" Curly asked.
"Lemme put it this way." Chaba spoke. "I've only got one other eye like this in stock. Your friend should be lucky it's the one he needs." He said, ducking below the counter and rummaging around a bit, before popping back up with an optic like Quote's. "Nice and pristine too." He'd then hand the Quote the new eye as the robot boy would hook it up to his optics. He'd blink for a bit... then smile as he could now see out both his eyes.
"That's better." Quote said, looking at Chaba. "Thank you."
"Eh, not much, but the least I can do, I guess." Chaba said, before seeing Curly's Machine Gun. "Seen a model like that before. Series 2?"
Curly shook her head. "Series 1. Original model. Energy bullet magazine, able to recharge."
"Recharge, eh?" Chaba commented, his mandibles twitching a bit. "Might have a little somethin' extra for ya. Gimmie a sec." He said as he set the glass down and started to leave the counter before nudging the purple Critter sleeping on it. "Rufus."
"Rrrrh?" The Critter would growl, slowly waking up.
"Keep watch over these two while I go check the storage, okay?" The Gaudi spoke, soon leaving the counter.
"Rrrhh..." The Critter would growl, soon going back to sleep as Quote and Curly waited. It seemed to be a bit of a wait before the Gaudi came back, holding some capsule in his arms as he set it down next to the Machine Gun.
"What your gun could use is one of the Turbocharge modules I got lying around." Chaba spoke. "Insert that thing into your gun, and your ammo's gonna regen in a flash."
"Woah..." Curly breathed, inserting the module into her Machine Gun, fitting like a glove. "Now this makes me happy."
"More bang for ya bullet, I say." Chaba said. "Either o' you twos want anythin' else before ya head out?"
"I think we should be fine, thanks." Quote said, getting up. "We really should be going now."
"Ah, that's understandable." Chaba said as Curly got up. "Just you twos be careful on-" He was cut off when he noticed the Polar Star. "Hold up... mind if I see that pistol quick?"
"What, this?" Quote asked, unholstering the Polar Star. "What for?"
"Just lemme see it quick." Chaba said. Quote shrugged before handing the gun to the Gaudi. The insectoid would look over the gun a bit, seeming to look at the craftsmanship of the weapon before he started chuckling.
"Well, I'll be a Gaud Core's uncle!" Chaba said, looking over the Polar Star. "I recognize this sort of craftsmanship anywhere! This is Tetsuzou's work if I ever seen it! You an associate of his?"
Quote wouldn't know who this 'Tetsuzou' is, perhaps the gunsmith he had borrowed the Polar Star from in the first place? Regardless, Quote nodded.
"Aaaah, the old devil, was wonderin' when I'd hear from him about his next big gun project!" The Gaudi said. "I still got the part he needs in order to complete the project he was workin' on!"
"Wait, really?" Quote asked as the Gaudi started digging under the counter again.
"Got it right here as a matter of fact." Chaba replied, tossing the capsule to Quote. The capsule had blue ends, with three glowing stars inside of it. "Deliver that to the old hermit, would ya?"
Quote would nod. "Will do."
"Well, guess this is us going out now." Curly said, waving goodbye to Chaba. "See you some other time!"
"Don't mention it kid." He spoke, before realizing. "Oh! If ya headin' out for the Boulder Chamber, just keep watch for the maze security! He seems to have a thing against bots!"
"Duly noted sir!" Quote said as the two left the cantina. With a module in hand, Quote made it an extra note to give it to the gunsmith along with the Polar Star once they were out of the Labyrinth. After all, maybe this would make up for the fact that he had basically borrowed the pistol without asking in the first place.
The slick rock corridor soon opened up into a large, long pathway, leading deeper into the Labyrinth. Occasional bursts of steam would come from the pipes lining the corridor. The two scouts steeled their nerves as they started their trek through the long space, their footsteps echoing off of the ground as they paced themselves. They'd soon find the corridor was becoming metal...
Curly whistled. "Gotta admit, whoever originally built this place had an odd sense of craftsmanship." She said, looking at the long metal corridor. "Though... what did Chaba mean by that maze security thing?"
"Something's guarding down around here?" Quote guessed. "I mean, it'd make sense..."
"Maybe." Curly said, before something caught her attention as she whistled. "Well, look at that thing!"
Quote would turn to see what Curly was looking at; a massive four treaded machine, sitting dormant in the middle of the corridor as its treads clung to the outer walls. The green optic peering out from underneath its bronze casing was closed, appearing offline.
"Now that's quite the piece of technology there!" Curly said, running up to investigate it. "Look at this thing! It's massive!"
Quote would walk up to the large machine. "It's... certainly a thing. Looks like some sort of war machine..."
"Wonder what it's doing down here though." Curly asked. "Maybe its defective?"
Quote shrugs. "Possibly..." He'd shake his head. "We should be getting to the Boulder Chamber."
"Right." Curly said as the two passed the gigantic mech, continuing down the metal corridor... before their way was blocked off by a gate of red laser beams, completely covering the path forward.
"Seriously?" Curly said, shooting at the base of the laser field, which didn't even damage it. "Okay, what's going on?"
"Wish I could answer that..." Quote said, trying a Missile Launcher burst fire on the base. Again, the shots would do nothing.
"Maybe we gotta find another way around?" Curly asked.
"Worth a shot." Quote said, before a green spotlight shone on them from behind, causing the two to freeze.
"HALT ROBOTS!" A loud voice said. "YOU ARE IN VIOLATION OF TRESPASSING IN AN UNRESTRICTED AREA. LEAVE THE PREMISES AT ONCE OR FACE DESTRUCTION!"
Curly would grit her teeth, readying her Machine Gun. "And who are you to tell us?!" She growled. Her answer would come in the sound of tank treads moving at an alarming rate towards the two.
That machine was active.
And now it was after them.
Quote wasted no time in dodging out of the way of the way of the rumbling treads, along with Curly as the mech rumbled right past them, soon screeching to a halt before rumbling back towards them. The two barely managed to dodge out of the way of the treads again before the machine halted, its bronze casing opening to activate four separate energy cannons on the inside to fire at the two scout robots. Curly took the opening as a chance and opened fire at one of the cannons, starting to do some damage to it.
Quote would take the initiative and whip out the Missile Launcher, taking aim and opening a burst fire on the energy cannons on the machine. Two of the cannons would be destroyed from the missile blasts before the bronze outer shell would close again, the machine once more rumbling towards the two on its treads. Curly would jump, landing on the top casing of the tread as it rumbled by and started unloading another magazine of energy bullets into the gigantic mech. The shots would only riccochet off the bronze armor before the sudden stop would throw Curly off the mech itself, having her hit the ground hard a a warning came up on her end.
/WARNING! TORSO HAS BEEN DAMAGED 32.6%. AUTO-REPAIRS SYSTEM STARTING...
Curly cursed to herself as she got back to her feet, just in time to dodge out of the way of the tank treads again as they rumbled by her, soon the tank screeching to a halt again as the bronze shelling opened up, the remaining two energy cannons opening fire on the blonde robot. Curly rolled out of the way before opening fie on the already-damaged cannon she was firing at earlier, making it explode and the explosion taking the other cannon with it. At that point the mech let out a loud meow of rage is its bronze shelling closed up again, starting to rumble around the corridor again as Curly ducked behind the cover with Quote.
"Think I managed to piss it off more." Curly said, keeping cover as the gigantic mech rumbled by. "You got any ideas on how to bring that thing down?"
Quote would think a bit as the mech continued to rumble from behind their cover. "The next time it opens its shell, go straight for the body of it."
"You thinkin' enough damage to the body's gonna be enough to shut it down?" Curly asked.
"Only shot we got." Quote said as the mech screeched to a halt, its shell opening again as it's one green optic started to glow. The scout robot took his chance and lept out from the cover, opening fire on the mech's body with the Polar Star. The circuitry in the mech sputtered and sparked a bit before the mech's optic fired a searing green laser right for Quote. Curly dived in and tackled Quote out of the way right before he got blasted by the laser, as small homing missiles started popping out of the small orifices on the mech's treads. The shell would then close as Curly and Quote would duck behind their cover again, the homing missiles crashing against the rocky surface of it.
"Think we're gonna need a bit more firepower. Got an idea?" Curly asked.
"Use your Nemesis." Quote said, holstering the Polar Star and unsheathing the Blade. Curly would merely nod as the giganic mech stopped again, opening the bronze shell to begin another assault.
At that point Quote had lept out from behind the cover, slashing the sword horizontally as a flurry of slashes erupted from the sharpened metal, a projection of King's spirit materializing and unleashing a flurry of slashes onto the exposed inside, the metal casing being sliced open. Curly then would start firing her Memesis right into the open gaps, the machine starting to sputter and spark extremely bad now as it jumped and bolted erratically around the corridor.
"NO! NO!" The mech roared. "NOT LIKE THIS! NOT LIKE THIS!"
"Get down!" Curly yelled, tackling Quote to the ground as the mech violently detonated, shrapnel and molten metal shards going everywhere. As the blast died down from the exploded mech, Curly would glance to see a white feline tail retreating into one of the corridor's vents. Seems like whoever piloted the machine had escaped for the time being...
"You okay Quote?" Curly asked, getting off the male robot.
"I-I'll be fine..." Quote spoke, sitting up. "Did we get that thing?"
"Think so." Curly said, looking at the wreckage of the fight they had. "Wonder if that was the 'maze security' Chaba was warning about..."
"Probably." Quote said, sheathing the Blade. "Are we getting close to the Boulder Chamber?"
"I think?" Curly spoke, before the two started walking forward again towards the exit of the corridor. "We could be..."
The two would continue to walk in silence for a bit before they arrived at a doorway to the next area. They'd be surprised when they'd find the vertical corridor on the other side would be large and open, leading down into a pit below, with wires running underneath some sort of platform, along with a large pool of fluorescent green water. A massive hole would have been torn into the side of the cavern wall, showing a bright open sky, showing the two robots that this wasn't your average island... it was a floating one, high up into the sky.
"Oh jeez..." Curly spoke, looking at the massive gash in the wall. "I didn't know we were up this high..."
"We should be careful." Quote spoke, before looking ahead. There'd be a door on the other side of the gap, but any sort of bridge across would be destroyed; it was hanging limp between the metal piping between the points of the gap.
"Are we gonna be able to clear that gap?" Curly asked. Quote wouldn't respond before backing up, taking a run and jumping across the gap before skidding on the ground on the other side, looking back to Curly.
"I dunno, you tell me." Quote said. Curly stepped back, about ready to get a running start...
...and was interrupted by the yells of an old man falling in the pit inbetween the two scout robots.
"!" Quote would react, rushing to the edge before yelling down the pit. "Professor Booster!"
"Wait, you know that guy?" Curly asked.
"Yeah, he and the others had me come to the Sand Zone to destroy those flowers in the first place!" Quote answered. "We can't just leave him down here!"
"Good point..." Curly said, looking down the shaft. "Well, we better go down there and make sure he's still alive. That fall might have killed him..."
Quote nodded, soon the two scout robots carefully descending the perilous shaft before reaching the platform where the professor had crash-landed on, just above the fluorescent water.
"Professor..." Quote spoke, lightly shaking his body. "A-are you alive?"
"...urrgh..." The old man would groan, trying to sit up before seeing Quote. He'd be beaten and bruised, and one of the lenses of his red-tinted glasses would be shattered completely. "Ghh! How'd you end up down here?!"
"That witch, that's how." Curly said. "She ambushed us right as we left the Warehouse."
"Mmmh..." Booster would groan a bit. "Well... this could be an opportunity arising."
"Professor?" Quote asked as Booster dispensed a rocket-pack from another cube.
"There's not much time for me to explain..." Professor Booster spoke, handing the rocket pack to Curly. "Take my Booster v0.8 and ge-" He'd be interrupted as he'd start coughing hoarsely. "Get to the center of the island."
"We were just on our way there." Quote said. "We were going to head back for-"
"Head back for where, young ones?" Another voice would say. Both Quote and Curly would look over and be shocked to see Jenka now on the platform with them!
"J-JENKA?!" Curly said just as Professor Booster lost consciousness.
"Do not worry." The old woman spoke. "I am merely here to help with your predicament." She would approach the unconscious Booster, lightly checking for a pulse on his neck. "He's alive, but he may not be for long."
"Can't you just teleport him out of here Jenka?" Curly asked, concerned, her hopes dropping when the old woman merely shook her head.
"At my age I'm afraid my magical powers have weakened a fair amount." Jenka spoke. "It took all my energy to just be able to teleport myself to the Labyrinth in the first place."
"Then, what can be done?" Quote asked, almost losing his hope of the situation.
"There is a medicine I had crafted long ago that I gave to the Labyrinth's health clinic to help heal the Gaudi that live down here. It may not work on scout robots like yourself... but it definitely will for humans." Jenka spoke, standing up. "Speak to Dr. Gero, he'll be able to help."
Quote would nod. "I'll be-"
"No Quote." Curly said, sliding the Booster pack onto her back. "Allow me to."
"Curly, I-" Quote started before Curly was interrupted.
"You've helped me out more times than I can count." Curly said, letting out a small smile. "Let me return the favor for once."
Quote would be silent before he nodded. Soon enough Curly activated the Booster as she'd start hovering up to a higher platform, landing squarely on it as the Booster shut down. A new reading came up on her end.
/WARNING. ALLOW BOOSTER PACK MODULE TIME FOR RECHARGE INBETWEEN USES.
"Guess I gotta use this thing sparingly..." Curly said as she ascended the shaft more...
"Dr. Gero?" Curly asked as she had basically flung the door open to the small room. The doctor frog would look up from his desk to see the returning robot in his room now.
"Ah, it's you again!" Dr. Gero said. "What can I help you with?"
"I need the key to the clinic. Now." Curly answered with a sense of urgency.
"Now why would you need to go there?" Dr. Gero asked. "The old clinic has been abandoned for months now ever since it-"
"I need to get the medicine in there." Curly interrupted. "There is a man at the bottom of a Labyrinth shaft and if he doesn't get that medicine, he's going to die."
"Ah, well, that is quite the predicament." The frog doctor said, reaching into his desk and pulling out a key, handing it to the female scout robot. "It's just near the top of the area. Keep yourself careful."
Curly would nod, soon leaving the camp and leaping up, thanks to the help of the booster, to the old clinic near the top of the room. Slotting the key in the door, she'd turn it to unlock the door, only to then have it break off in the lock as the door creaked open. Curly would notice the room was very dark, dust having accumulated on multiple places and surfaces, an old doctor's chair seated near the center of the room. Near the back side of the room would be a very important-looking chest...
Curly would keep her Machine Gun at the ready, slowly stepping forward as she neared the chest near the back of the clinic, slowly opening it and looking inside. Inside it would be a small bottle of pills, with a medical label on it with the name of it in big black letters: Cure-All.
"Looks like this is what I need." Curly said, pocketing the medicine. "Now I just-" She was abruptly cut off as the door slammed behind her, jumpscaring her a bit before she rushed over the door, trying the knob. It wasn't budging, and soon enough she's trying to apply her full weight to the door to try and wedge it open... before she'd hear the sickly sound of pulsating liquid coming from behind her. She'd turn in fear as she'd look at the goo starting to pulse up from the cracks in the floor. Curly felt the fear rising in her chest as the goo formed into a familiar block-shaped figure, with thin red slits for eyes staring her down...
Curly would scream, unloading a barrage of energy bullets at the thing. Every shot that collided with the goo being would only start forming bubbles around its hulking frame before it lept and morphed into the ceiling, the bubbles squishing into the ceiling with it. Curly would try to force the door open again before the bubbles would leak from the ceiling above her, dripping down onto her. Curly would run to the other side of the clinic as the large slimy creature dropped out of the ceiling to right where she was standing before. She'd then take the opportunity and drew her Nemesis, unloading a barrage of searing shots straight into the creature. It certainly didn't like that as it let out a guggling roar as it soon ducked into the ceiling again, a new warning coming up on Curly's sensors.
/DANGER! HIGH ARCANE READINGS EMITTING! DANGER!
Curly would swallow hard as she'd run to the other side of the clinic as a vortex of the goo formed at the other end, the red eyes reappearing and slowly starting to advance to her. Curly would swallow hard as she held both her Machine Gun and her Nemesis and opened fire on the creature, spamming the projectiles in hopes of being able to stop it...
Luckily for her, the last shot fired from her Nemesis would do the trick. The vortex would stop, the goo-like box creature shaking violently in the center as it would disintegrate upwards into the ceiling, soon leaving all trace that it was in there. Curly panted hard, soon stumbling out of the clinic in panic and exhaustion...
...and then she remembered Professor Booster was dying.
Her legs hoofed it like no one would ever believe.
Quote was starting to get worried once Curly had came back to the bottom of the pit with Booster and Jenka, but he was partially relieved when she took out the pill bottle from one of the pockets on her pants. "This the right stuff?"
Jenka would take the pill bottle and look it over, soon nodding in approval. "This is indeed the correct medicine. Now..." She would then kneel down, unscrewing the cap on the bottle before sliding a pill out onto her hand. It was a fairly sized pill, white on one end and blue on the other. The old lady would slip the pill into Professor Booster's mouth before he swallowed on instinct. Soon enough he was covered in a sort of green glow as his exterior wounds would cover up, the healing taking effect. Soon enough he'd stand up, discarding the old pair of glasses he had and pulling out a new pair before putting them on.
"Heavens that feels much better." He spoke, before looking to Jenka. "Thank you for this. I don't know what I would have done without that medicine."
"It's not me you should be thanking." Jenka spoke, indicating to Quote and Curly. "These two were the ones that had saved your life."
"Ah, so the soldiers." Booster spoke, looking to Quote and Curly. "Yes, thank you both, dearly, but I fear your job may not be done yet."
"What do we gotta do?" Curly asked.
"Firstly, get out of the Labyrinth." Professor Booster remarked. "The longer you two stay in here, the more likely Sue is at risk of being killed. I need you two to make sure she's safe, then get her off the island before more harm can come to her."
"But, what about the Doctor?" Quote asked.
"Yeah, I owe him a beating for what fresh hell he put me through!" Curly growled, readying her Machine Gun.
Professor Booster would merely shake his head. "It's too much of a risk unless you can think of a strategy in order to make him lose his confidence..."
"If I may offer a suggestion." Jenka said, grabbing the attention of Quote and Curly. "There may be a way to, well, throw him off his cool, let's say."
"How?" Quote asked.
"Needless to say, you two are getting close to the heart of the island." Jenka spoke, starting to pace again. "It was something I created long ago for... 'compensation', let's call it, to keep the island naturally aloft in the air. Take it away, however..."
"Woah woah, hold up." Curly said. "Are you saying you want us to blow the island right out of the sky?"
"Hmph, of course not!" Jenka rebutted. "Just merely 'prodding' it should get the point more than across to that idiot with the crown."
"So we handle that?" Quote asked.
"You two are surface soldiers, no?" Jenka responded.
"Good point." Quote said, before looking to Curly. "You in on this with me Curly?"
Curly would nod, a newfound determination in her eyes. "Hell yeah I'm in on this, let's scare that Doctor!"
"Apapap! First thing's first." Professor Booster said, holding out his hand. "My Booster v0.8?"
"Wait, why do you need it back?" Curly asked.
"So I can finish it, of course." Booster responded. "You wouldn't think I'd just merely leave something as glorious as it unfinished now would you?"
Curly would think for a bit before nodding, taking off the Booster v0.8 before handing it over to Professor Booster. The old man would then put the pack into a storage cube before pocketing it. "Now don't worry about me." He said. "I'll find my own way out of here. You two just focus on scaring the Doctor."
Quote would nod, grabbing the Missile Launcher off his back. "You ready to go Curly?"
Curly would grin, cocking her Machine Gun. "Ready as ever Quote."
And with that, the two would take off, Quote performing Rocket Jumps and Curly using the kickback of her Machine Gun's shots to head back up for the Boulder Chamber. Professor Booster would look back up at the two before returning to his usual business. "Now then, how to get out of here..."
"There's an old teleporter right underneath this platform." Jenka answered. "It could use some fixing, but it should get you out of the Labyrinth without a problem."
"Ah, yes, well, thank you for the knowledge about that." Professor Booster said as he'd drop off the platform and turn to see the old teleporter. "Now to repair it..."
The Boulder Chamber surprisingly enough seemed to have much fresher air compared to the rest of the Labyrinth. The room was plain stone, for the most part, but at the back center of the room sat a humongous boulder, adorned with four strings of ceremonial tags.
"So, that's our boulder?" Curly asked, raising an eyebrow at it. "Doesn't look all that heavy to me."
"Well, we haven't tried to lift it yet." Quote spoke, approaching the massive rock. "Let's try to give it a shot, and hope we can get through."
Curly would nod, getting into position at one end of the boulder as Quote would get into position at the other end. "On three?" She asked. Quote nodded in response.
"Alright... one, two three!" At that point both bots would try to lift the massive stone, causing many pained grunts and groans from the two before a new dire warning came up on both their ends.
/EXTREME DANGER! ARM CYLINDER PRESSURE OVERLOAD! CEASE ACTION AT ONCE OR RISK CERTAIN DETONATION!
Needless to say, it stopped the two from trying to lift the boulder real quick.
"Well shoot." Curly breathed. "Chaba wasn't exaggerating when he said this thing was heavy..."
"How are we supposed to get further then?" Quote asked. "We'd need the weight of another heavyweight t-"
"HUZZAH! EMERGIS EXMORTIS!"
"...for god's sake." Quote muttered under his breath as Balrog burst through the upper wall and landed in the room.
"Ah, so you two are alive!" Balrog said. "And here I thought I'd be having to search around the entire Labyrinth just to find you two."
Quote would raise the Polar Star right at Balrog's face again, intending to fire.
"What, you're gonna fire that at me?" Balrog commented. "Shouldn't you two be resting instead of trying to make an escape party?"
"Well with what busin-" Curly would start, before getting an idea. "Actually, you have perfect timing!"
'Curly, what are you-' Quote started to think in his mind before Balrog interrupted.
"Eh? What am I in time for?" He asked.
"Could you grab go in the middle there and grab the rock?" Curly asked.
"Okay? I guess?" Balrog said as he waddled over and grabbed the center of the rock. Curly would wink to Quote and he'd finally be getting the idea of what she was doing.
"Ready?" Curly asked.
But then Balrog just picked up on what he was doing.
"ARE YOU TWO EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!" He yelled, throwing Curly aside and knocking her unconscious. Quote immediately assumed combat formation and opened fire on Balrog with the Polar Star, soon having to dodge roll out of the way as Balrog charged past him. Balrog would then leap up and fire off several missiles from unknown points on his body, the scout boy ducking out of the way of them but getting thrown a bit by the blast of one. Gritting his teeth, he'd soon holster the Polar Star as he'd get the Missile Launcher off his back. Balrog wanted to fight dirty? He'd fight dirty back.
Quote would open fire with the Missile Launcher, the explosive projectiles slamming right into the box-thing's face. Balrog would counter as he ran forward, soon tackling Quote to the ground again, keeping him pinned there. The scout robot would struggle under Balrog's massive weight, before he got an idea. Igniting the Fireball he still had on, Balrog would start to squirm massively before leaping off of Quote, yelling in pain as he ran around the room flailing like he was on fire when he wasn't. Quote would soon take the opportunity and open fire with the Missile Launcher, blasting Balrog sideways before he'd collapse in a heap unconscious on the floor, the blast marks evident from where he had been hit with the Missile Launcher.
Sighing in relief that the fight was now over, Quote would sling the Missile Launcher onto his back before moving over to Curly, lightly nudging her to see if she was okay.
"Ooof..." Curly would moan, sitting up as she rubbed her head in pain. "The hell happened?"
"Balrog, that's what." Quote said, looking over at the unconscious brick. "You okay?"
"Nothin' that my auto-repairs won't fix." Curly responded, before looking at Balrog. "What about him though?"
Quote would be silent for a bit before he spoke again. "I got an idea."
"I'm afraid to ask." Curly spoke, before noticing that Quote was getting out his Life Pot Jenka had given him. "Woah woah woah, hold on. He attacked us and now you're going to heal him?"
"Worth a shot." Quote said, walking over to the box-thing and uncapping the jar, soon pouring the liquid into Balrog's mouth. Nothing would happen for a bit... the Balrog would glow a bit before his wounds healed and he stood back up.
"What the?" He spoke, confused. "Did anyone get the number of that Missile Launcher that hit me?"
"Four five zero one seven." Quote responded.
"It was a rhetorical question." Balrog answered, before becoming even more confused. "Wait, why'd you heal me?"
"Hey, like it or not, we're all in the same boat of being trapped down here." Curly spoke, putting a hand on her hip. "The only way forward is past this rock."
"Alright, alright." Balrog said, waddling over to the center of the rock. "But not a soul learns of this, understood?"
"Lips are sealed." Curly said, grabbing her side of the rock while Quote grabbed the other. "Ready?"
"One, and two, and..." The rock would then slowly start to move under the lifting force of all three before Balrog threw it above his head, the boulder landing a few feet away. "And there. It's moved."
"Appreciate the help." Quote said.
"Like I said, don't mention it." Balrog said. "Now, I'll be off." He would then leap into the ceiling and- "HUZZAH! EMERGIS EXMORTIS!" another explosion would blast his way out.
"Y'know..." Curly spoke. "He may not be that all of a bad guy."
"What makes you say that?" Quote asked.
"He didn't seem to bitter about helping us move the rock." Curly said. "Maybe it's like Misery said, they're just forced to work under the Crown's power."
Quote would shrug as a chest crashed down onto the floor a few feet away from him. Jumping a bit, he'd soon walk over and inspect it before opening it. At that point an orange ball of light would pop out of the chest and circle around Quote before going into his Missile Launcher, turning the metal of it from grey to orange. A new reading would come up on his end.
/UPGRADE AUGMENT DETECTED. MISSILE LAUNCHER NOW POWERED UP TO TWICE POWER AND DAMAGE.
Quote would then notice the little note on the lid of the chest. Curious, he'd pick it up and read it.
'Just a little something from me to you to help I guess.
-Balrog'
Quote would smile. Maybe Balrog wasn't that bad after all...
"You ready Quote?" Curly said.
Quote nodded, readying his Polar Star. "Let's go find our way out of here."
And with that, the two would head off deeper into the Labyrinth...
洞窟物語
Cave Story: The Demon Crown Saga
Chapter 5 End