Chapter 7: The Egg Corridor

Quote resisted the urge to angrily break something when, upon unlocking the door to Arthur's house, he discovered that Sue was nowhere to be seen. The place didn't look deserted; short stacks of paper sitting on a computer desk were visible and clearly had only been put there recently. A pair of beds were freshly made nearby as well, and what looked like a blackboard displayed various diagrams and mathematical formulas which he could barely understand. Toroko didn't strike Quote as the kind of person to be interested in all those complex topics, suggesting that her housemate was behind them instead.

The computer was on and currently opened to some sort of messaging system. Sue had been talking to someone named Kazuma recently, but a quick skim through their conversation did little to inform Quote on where she'd gone to. In fact, she hadn't appeared to respond to his increasingly-desperate cries for help in some time. Fortunately, a blinking notification at the bottom of the screen was more helpful.'

"Access to Egg Corridor granted. Please step into the teleporter."

He looked away from the computer screen at the only other thing in the room he could conceivably step into. It was a large glass tube of some kind with one side open to allow entry. Quote was admittedly unsure about standing in the middle of such a conspicuous device, but he also didn't feel like just staying there and waiting for Sue to return. Mustering up his courage, he stepped inside and pushed a button marked "Go" before squeezing his eyes shut.

Despite all his fear, he barely felt anything from the teleport. After a slight humming sound was heard, he opened his eyes to find that he had arrived at a wholly separate area. The Egg Corridor was appropriately named; humongous eggs several times larger than his entire body were kept in insulation chambers lining the walls. The very wide path between them led straight down the corridor while also allowing bypasses to get a view of the chambers themselves.

As impressive as the sight was, however, Quote had to focus. He kept his eyes peeled every step of the way for any sign of movement that could be Sue, any sign of white fur or its (still unpleasant to him) smell. The corridor was almost completely silent save for his own footsteps. At least, it was until…

"Magnificent, are they not?" a croaking voice said aloud. He spun on his heels to see who it was, only to be met with a sight he hadn't expected.

The speaker was clearly not Sue, or even a Mimiga. He was a humanoid creature standing a few inches taller than Quote but with a noticeable hunch in his shoulders. Just about all of the stranger's body was shrouded by a deep green cloak and hood, with only the lower part of his face visible. Reptilian-looking orange skin and a grin showing off sharp teeth gave him an unsettling appearance to say the least. He was staring at one of the giant eggs, but turned to face his visitor with a raspy sigh.

"That look on your face… you do not know what these are? They are dragon eggs, placed here for incubation many years ago. The one who carried this out is… no longer present."

Quote didn't think he liked the creepy drawl and hiss this person's voice had. Before he could try to leave, however, the hooded creature continued to speak.

"Are you here looking for that Mimiga girl? I saw her up ahead somewhere… though what she is doing, I cannot say."

Vague, but helpful nonetheless. Quote was willing to accept any information that came his way, even if it was from a suspicious-looking lizard man. He could not have prepared himself for what he was about to hear, though. As he turned to continue moving, the man made another comment.

"Curious to see you here… I had thought the war was over."

He stopped dead in his tracks, slowly turning to face the hooded creature with a bewildered expression.

"…what did you just say?"

"I know your kind. You are a soldier from the surface world, no? In my life I have seen many more like you… where are your companions? What are you doing here by yourself?"

The comments he was making hit Quote like a ton of bricks, as he went from knowing nothing about himself to suddenly having his first real thread to grasp onto. He reflected on the idea of a "surface world" in wonder. Were the caves he'd been roaming through for the last few hours under that? And he had said "companions," too! There were others like him somewhere! Eager to learn more, he opened his mouth to reply… and remembered that he still knew very little.

"I… I don't remember anything up until recently. What else can you tell me?"

"Memory issues? Heh heh… interesting… sadly, I have no further information for you. I know nothing of the war from beyond what I have said already. If I find anything at all, though… I shall do my best to fill you in."

Promises of help aside, he couldn't ignore the extremely creepy vibe this person was giving off. Quote nodded silently.

"Excellent… I am called Cthulhu. Perhaps we will meet again in the future."

He didn't have time to decide if he liked the sound of that or not before a brief scuffle could be heard further ahead. Putting one hand on the holstered Polar Star, he tried to listen carefully. A young woman's voice came from a spot nearby.

"You don't scare me! Do your worst, not even my brother's ever beaten me before!"

Cthulhu let out another harsh chuckle.

"Sounds like your missing Mimiga has run into danger… hurry along, soldier."

The hooded man linked away into the shadows, leaving Quote by himself. He broke into a run toward the sound of the female when a loud roar could also be heard. Something was going on over there, and he suspected that things would get ugly fast.

That thought turned out to be more literal than he'd anticipated. Behind the nearest egg incubator, a Mimiga wearing a long blue sweater received a heavy punch from something that made him freeze on the spot.

"What… is that…?"

He was staring down something a good two feet taller than him- taller than Balrog, even- with a look on its face that could only be described as bloodthirsty. The monster's pure red eyes and almost smiling jaws (full of unnervingly sharp teeth) indicated that it had practically no higher intelligence and operated on the most violent of basic instincts. Its hideous face attracted so much attention that it took Quote a moment to realize something about the white-furred beast: it looked like a grossly oversized Mimiga, complete with a large pair of floppy ears. A ripped pair of green shorts and a matching necktie which was clearly too tight for it by a wide margin indicated that this thing hadn't always been so large.

"GRRRRR…"

"O-ouch! I'm sorry!" the female Mimiga laying at its feet whimpered. She looked up in a daze and noticed Quote standing there uncertainly. The punch had obviously done a number on her, as she passed out within seconds. Snarling, her attacker scooped her up into its arms and stomped further down the Egg Corridor.

It took another moment for Quote to snap out of the alarmed trance he'd fallen into, and he tore off running after the monster with his Polar Star drawn. He found it difficult to keep up, as his comparatively short and thin legs couldn't match the pace of his target. Nonetheless, his sheer determination to meet Sue and discover the truth about himself carried him onward.

As he ran, he couldn't help but ponder what Cthulhu had said to him. A soldier from the surface… had he fought in a war? It was definitely possible. He couldn't remember anything before awaking in that lonely cave, after all. Heck, Quote didn't even know how old he was. Maybe he'd fought in several wars.

His introspection was broken as he finally caught up with the fleeing monster. It unceremoniously tossed Sue (he assumed the captive Mimiga was her) into a large structure at the end of the corridor before turning to face its new opponent.

"MASTER'S EGGS… WON'T LET YOU TOUCH MASTER'S EGGS!"

The enraged beast stomped the ground once before lunging to attack. Quote opened fire with Polar Star in a panic, scoring several hits but not slowing it down at all. He relied on the same tactic as he had with Balrog, nimbly sidestepping the creature as it got too close. However, this time it didn't work as well. The beast skidded to a stop and whirled around where it stood, striking him on the side of the head with its paw. He felt his whole body come off the ground, only to crash back into it a good ten feet away. No serious damage had been sustained, but this thing's formidable strength would have to be more carefully avoided.

Quote didn't let the immense pain in his left shoulder deter him. He got up off the floor and continued to shoot in the hopes of putting down his opponent. The beast lunged again, only missing him by inches this time. He backed away from it and looked for a better position- that is, one further away where hopefully it wouldn't be able to hit him again. No such luck, unfortunately.

The thought had occurred to him at least once that Polar Star might not have infinite ammunition. It hadn't shown any signs of running out yet, but he didn't want to risk having that happen in the middle of a fight. He needed a way to end this quickly. Quote studied the monster's body carefully, trying to find a viable weak spot. Its thick white fur and muscle structure (reminding him of its uncanny resemblance to an oversized Mimiga) had done an impressive job of keeping the thing safe from damage so far, and he couldn't see anywhere on it that might be a good target.

As if answering his problem for him, the beast opened its mouth in a wide roar and charged again. Quote reacted instantly, taking careful aim with Polar Star before rapidly pulling the trigger in quick succession. Multiple energy blasts down its throat did the trick; it had literally stopped dead in its tracks. He couldn't be sure, but he suspected that his shots had thoroughly destroyed its windpipe. The beast was dead before it landed face-first on the ground.

He cautiously walked towards it, keeping his gun ready in case it was only faking. Luckily for him, that wasn't the case. Its corpse had ceased all movement… that is, until it began to rapidly shrink. Quote just watched in horror as its enlarged body scaled itself down to the size of an average Mimiga. In fact, now that it was smaller, he could see that it was a Mimiga. The disheveled pants and tie now fit perfectly around his body, and there was no mistaking that sickly sweet smell of his fur. He remained in that spot for at least another minute, just staring at the innocent-looking creature and wondering what could have happened to mutate him so gruesomely.


Author's Note: Wow, I've been gone for a long time! Sorry for the absence, but I'm getting back to work on this story now. Thanks for your patience, readers!