Chapter 16: Together

When Quote reawakened half an hour later, he immediately understood the logic Curly and Malco shared (despite having never spoken to one another) in urging him to rest. Powering up gave him a slight twitch in his joints which lasted for a good three minutes as they adjusted themselves for movement, but aside from that he felt fantastic. All of the fatigue and pain he'd been feeling before the short nap was gone, and he was raring to go.

As he sat up in the bed, a less pleasant sensation hit him: the scent of Mimiga fur hung thick in the air, and he suspected that it would be following him for some time. No matter how much he wanted to help them as a species, he still couldn't get over how overpowering their floral smell was. He had to admit it was a nitpick, however, and something that could ultimately be looked past.

The same couldn't be said for the loud bangs coming from outside, but Quote dismissed them as Curly and her "children" being overly playful. He didn't know how they behaved, after all. Once he was fully upright, he decided to contact Malco for more advice. The other robot may have been chattier than he'd like, but he clearly knew what he was talking about when it came to navigation.

"Hey, are you-"

"Ah! Greetings, Quote! So nice to see you again!"

He sounded more enthusiastic than usual, notably. Malco began rattling off a series of updates on his progress back in the Bushlands faster than the soldier could comprehend, only to stop with a startled screeching noise after a moment. While Quote hadn't known him for all that long, he could somehow tell something wasn't right.

"Warning! I'm detecting a powerful source of magic near you!"

It was then that he paid close attention to the sounds coming from outside the bedroom. Mixed in with the loud crashes was the distinct noise of gunfire and the occasional shout. Jumping out of bed to his feet, he scrambled to equip the missile launcher, Bubbline, and Polar Star. What was going on out there?


Curly flew across the room and painfully smashed into a wall, slumping to the ground afterward. She struggled to get up, feeling the full force of her injuries all at once.

"Can't… lose…"

Her pale-skinned, blue-haired opponent folded her arms from near the door. A smirk was etched onto her mouth as she watched the robot try to stand.

"You certainly bit off more than you can chew by resisting me. Now you'll pay the price for defying the Doctor's orders. The Mimiga are coming with me."

"NEVER!" Curly screamed, taking aim with her machine gun and letting loose.

The witch- who'd neglected to introduce herself- countered with a magical barrier of black spheres that completely dissolved her energy bullets. She muttered something under her breath, after which a bolt of lightning spontaneously exploded at the robot's feet. Her whole body jolted and she was tossed aside once again, badly damaged. Curly could only watch in horror as the Colons, her children, were enveloped in large bubbles by the witch. Their tiny cries for help were muffled by the capsules.

"No… no! Don't take them! Kill me, but leave them alone!"

"The decision regarding their fate is not mine… rest assured, though, I can at least grant you your first request-"

Just as the witch was preparing to finish her off, the bedroom door flung open. Quote burst out with his pistol drawn, opening fire without a moments' hesitation. The kidnapper warded off his shots as well, but thanks to his ambush at least one of them struck her directly. Hissing in fury, she vanished into thin air just like she'd came in the first place. Curly's hopes were dashed upon realizing that the Colons had been taken with her.

"N-no…"

She wasn't technically able to cry, lacking proper eyes, but the heaving sobs coming from her mouth weren't any less real. They were gone. Her family was gone.


"Target… has escaped…" Malco commented hesitantly, even though there was no need to.

"Damn it!" Quote growled, smashing his fist into a wall. Despite having only met her enough times to count on one hand, he'd officially grown to loathe Misery with every fiber of his being. Not just because of her kidnapping and hostility; there was something about how indifferent she was to her own actions that really rubbed him the wrong way.

"Malco, can you track where she's going?"

"…no. She's no longer close enough to you for me to detect her. I am terribly sorry."

His guide's attempts to calm him down hardly succeeded, and the only reason he got ahold of himself was because he noticed Curly laying against the wall, loudly crying. Quote walked over and kneeled beside her with no idea what he was supposed to do in this situation. What could he say that would even help? "Hey, sorry that your kids were stolen" or something ridiculous like that?

The female robot looked up at him with a devastated glare.

"What took you so long?! While you were- were sleeping, that witch came in and took them all away! Now they're… they're all… ohhh…"

Curly choked out another sob, and her expression softened upon seeing the sympathetic look on Quote's face (or as sympathetic as he could manage).

"I-I'm sorry for yelling at you. It wasn't your fault, I know… I'm a failure of a mother!"

He looked over her body to see the extent of her injuries. Although her smooth white skin was very banged up and dirty, she didn't appear to have suffered any broken parts. Her hair was also a mess, but other than that she was physically in decent condition.

"She's lucky to be in this state."

"I know that, Malco."

Curly sniffed and glanced at him with a puzzled expression.

"What? Did you just say something?"

"Huh- oh right, you can't hear him… I'm connected to a different robot; he's been seeing and hearing the same things as me for a while now. He talks a lot, but he can occasionally offer good advice."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Anyway, I believe it to be in our best interests that I establish contact with her as well. What do you think?"

Quote looked back down at Curly and repeated what Malco had said quickly. Time was already short, and he didn't want to just stand there for too long.

"He wants to connect to my sensory receptors? Uh… sure, I guess. How do I-"

"Permission has been granted! Thank you, Curly Brace! My name is Malco."

Judging from her look of bewilderment, it was obvious to Quote that she could hear him now as well. He reached out to Curly, offering to help her stand up. With a grin that didn't fully mask the pain she must have still been feeling, she took his hand. As he pulled the other soldier to her feet he heard Malco hum in satisfaction.

"Did you say we should look for a witch named Jenka?"

A brief flicker of rage flashed across her face at the word "witch," but she stayed composed.

"Yeah, I've only met her once but she seems to know all sorts of things. She lives just up the way, so we don't have far to travel."

"'We?'" Quote asked with a frown.

"Of course. What, you don't think I'm in good enough shape to come with you? My children were just kidnapped; there's no way I'm going to just stand here. I can fight too, you know."

He remained silent, giving her a nod to show he understood.

"Splendid! Let's go find those red flowers before it's too late!"

Quote turned and marched out the door into the Sand Zone. Curly was hot on his heels, clutching her machine gun tightly. Malco, as usual, had begun rambling about the situation at hand in addition to whatever he was doing back in the Bushlands. With that, the newly-formed team set out toward Jenka's house.

For the first time since he'd woken up, Quote didn't feel so empty inside. His two companions, although he hadn't known them for long, gave him an odd sense of confidence.

It was just a shame that Curly reeked of Mimiga fur.