Chapter 9: The True Adventure Begins

Returning to the Egg Corridor's teleporter was an uneventful trip- the two didn't even run into Cthulhu again- but by that point Quote was happy to have a quieter moment. He himself was a man of few words, whereas Sue just didn't seem to be in much of a talking mood. Not that he didn't try at least to ask more about what she knew, of course. Her apparent familiarity with "the Doctor" had caught his attention, but she had responded to his questioning by snapping that she didn't want to speak about him.

Sue had entered the teleporter first, explaining that it had a cooldown time of about four minutes between uses. As attempting to both use it at the same time was far too risky, Quote opted to use it after her. When his turn to teleport to Arthur's house finally arrived, though, he found himself wondering if it would have been better for him to go first instead.

His new companion was nowhere to be seen, and a knocked-over desk and the wide open door indicated that a struggle had just occurred. Sue's computer still displayed her messages; this time she'd managed to respond.

Sue: "Kazuma! Are you there?"

Kazuma: "Sue? Is it really you?"

Sue: "Your one and only sis, yes. You were able to escape too, then? Where are you right now? Is Mom with you? I found the dragon eggs, btw"

Kazuma: "I'm trapped in some shelter-looking room with a locked door, and I can't get out. So far, I've only been able to determine the general coordinates of where I am. Teleport to 'Bushlands' from your end. No, Mom isn't with me either. I'm afraid she might still be with the Doctor. Are any of those eggs ready to hatch yet?"

Sue: "One is, but it's password-protected :( "

Kazuma: "Shoot. Well, let's focus on getting me out of this room first and then we can worry about that."

Sue: "Gotcha. Looks like there's one functional teleporter on the edge of the Bushlands. I'm on my way to help you."

Sue has disconnected

Kazuma: "Roger that! Oh yeah, can you bring some food with you while you're at it?"

Kazuma: "Oh…"

Quote mentally registered the information they'd shared. Somehow, he didn't feel bad at all about snooping on their private messages.

"So, where's Sue right now?"

There was no way she could have used the teleporter already; he'd just arrived in it. The door being ajar made him suspicious, and he rushed outside to see what had happened.

Standing directly in front of Arthur's house as if on guard was one of the Mimigas who had ignored him earlier. He wore a brown cap and a dark green sweater with surprisingly thick glasses on his face, and his posture displayed confidence but also some degree of relaxation.

"Oh hey, it's you again," he said upon noticing Quote. "Sue returned a few minutes ago, and we locked her up in the center of the village."

"What? Why?"

"The plan is to offer her up to the Doctor's goons in exchange for Toroko. You should've seen King's reaction upon realizing that she went missing… oh man, it was scary. I feel kinda bad for Sue, but Toroko's one of us. We don't need somebody who only thinks of herself around here. I'm Jack, by the way, the number-two Mimiga around here."

Quote gave a short nod and briskly walked past him toward the village square. Sure enough, a small cage had been placed there with Sue inside it. She waved him down as he approached, an irritated look on her face. Standing nearby was King, who glared back at her.

"Hey there… well, I've been caught. Seems like someone around here overheard Misery kidnapping Toroko under the impression that she was me, and now I'm being held responsible for it. I don't suppose you could bust me outta here with that gun of yours?"

Before he could even process a reply to that, King was brandishing a silver-bladed sword at him with a threatening look in his eyes.

"Don't even think about it."

Quote held up his hands defensively to show that he wasn't intending on trying anything. Sue muttered something foul under her breath before looking back at him.

"I know! My brother, Kazuma, needs help somewhere. Can you take the teleporter to where he is and free him? It should be done calculating the destination by now."

He wasn't thrilled to be Sue's errand boy, but with no other real companions he decided that helping her escape sounded like the best course of action at the moment. King's suspicious glare was still fixated on him.

"Alright, I'll bring him back here."

"Great. Meanwhile, I'll try to convince these guys to see the error of their ways."

Along the way back to Arthur's house, he passed by Jack again. The number-two Mimiga was holding something in his paws: a lime-green object that looked like a plastic gun. He pushed it into Quote's hands as they crossed paths.

"Found this thing in one of the desks in there. It just shoots bubbles when you pull the trigger, and we don't really need that for anything. I'm sure if Toroko were here she'd find it funny, but… look, just take it."

Jack didn't say another word or wait for a reply, simply walking deeper into the village. Bemused, Quote stared down at the "weapon" he'd been given. A name printed on the side identified it as Bubbline. Like the Polar Star, it had no discernible source of ammunition, instead just spontaneously a small bubble from its tip whenever he pulled the trigger. He noticed that holding it down longer seemed to increase the velocity of the bubbles and caused them to pop with greater force. Shrugging, he stuffed the Bubbline into a pocket of his pants in case he ever needed it again.

As Sue had promised, the teleporter in Arthur's house was already online and ready to send him to the Bushlands. Quote stepped inside and pressed the start button, this time keeping his eyes open to see just what the process looked like. He felt like he should have found the sudden flash of various swirling colors and brief sense of weightlessness nauseating, but strangely it had no effect on him at all.

After a few seconds, the teleportation came to an end. He set off into the Bushlands with a determined stride, ready to find Kazuma.