Chapter 20: Race for the Flowers
A loud alarm went off in Malco's head to indicate that someone or something was approaching. He wasn't upset that his semi-rest had been interrupted, but instead was curious as to what could be the cause of it. Strangely, he didn't consider that he could be in danger as he brought himself back online.
-Systems restarting
-ID: RT9_Malco-Class_2
-Password: XXXXXXX
-Shutdown Synopsis: Monitoring of Soldier "Quote" and Soldier "Curly" resulted in overtaxed sensory receptors (resolved)
-Current Objective: Motion detected in close vicinity. Investigate.
Stepping outside to investigate, he found himself staring at an odd sort of creature. He was orange and appeared reptilian, but was mostly cloaked in a green robe and hood. The unusual person smiled upon seeing him, baring his yellowish teeth.
"Greetings!" Malco said aloud, without much care. It almost excited him to finally have another visitor. "Welcome to the base camp of Retrieval Team 9…"
His voice faded when he realized what he'd just said. What was he doing? He'd been stationed there to guard it from intruders, not just invite anyone in! For all he knew, this mysterious person intended to steal the equipment.
"Uh… I mean, halt! You are intruding upon the territory of Retrieval-"
The hooded creature held up a scaly, four-fingered hand. Malco found himself unable to speak all of a sudden, perhaps due to confusion.
"Worry not," he began in a low voice, "I have no intent to harm you. Far from it, in fact. I wish to assist you and your two companions… they will be in grave danger soon."
He'd almost forgotten about Quote and Curly. How were they doing? What did he mean that they'd be in danger? They needed his help!
"I sense you are concerned for them… heh heh heh, good. Friends are growing more difficult to come by in these caverns."
"Who are you?" Malco said at last. He wanted to contact the soldiers right away, but distracting himself from the suspicious man in front of him didn't seem wise.
"I am called Cthulhu," he replied. It was an extremely vague answer, and the robot still knew nothing about this person.
"If my predictions are accurate, your friends will soon arrive at an area out of your range of communications. Should you desire to further support them, your only option is to join them there. I can send you, if you would like. You may wish to arm yourself beforehand."
He had barely moved a muscle during his speech, appearing more robotic than Malco himself. Cthulhu didn't look trustworthy at all, but something in his programming compelled him to hear what he had to say.
"…where is this place you speak of?"
Under his hood, his reptilian mouth curled into a smile.
"The Labyrinth."
Jenka's house was a wreck. Chunks of the wall were scattered across the floor, what little furniture she had was overturned, and ashes from the fireplace were thrown around the single room. Her dogs cowered in one of the corners, soon joined by the one Quote and Curly had brought back.
"Are you alright?!" the latter soldier asked in a panic, rushing over to the witch's crumpled form. Her glasses had been broken, but fortunately she didn't seem to have sustained any mortal wounds.
She got to her feet with a groan, looking Curly in the eyes.
"Balrog, he… he has the key. When he showed up again, I thought I could handle him. Misery must have given him a boost in strength, though… I'm far too old to compare to my daughter in terms of magic."
Behind them, Quote looked like he wanted to immediately bolt out the door in pursuit. Frankly, Curly wanted to do the exact same thing. Before they could leave, however, Jenka called out to them.
"Wait! You must be wary… though Misery and Balrog are powerful, they serve a far greater threat. If they truly have a new master, then... he possesses an artifact of unfathomable potential. Do not underestimate him."
The witch reached into a fold on her robes and pulled out a small jar filled with an unidentifiable red substance, handing it to Curly with a look of grim confidence.
"Take this with you. It will fully restore the health of whomever drinks it, and will even work on robots such as yourselves. Don't waste it, though, as I have only been able to gather enough materials for one potion. It also cannot restore an enraged Mimiga to normal, so don't try that if the worst should occur."
Nodding, she crammed it into a pocket in her own pants and ran out the door with her companion just ahead of her.
In his head, Quote felt somewhat responsible for the turn in events. Why hadn't he stayed behind in case Balrog returned- which he did? Why didn't he just run back to Jenka's house with the dog, instead deciding to spend valuable time watching Curly pet it? Why hadn't Malco warned them of the danger?
Wait… where was Malco? It had been well over half an hour since he'd shut down to rest, and there still wasn't any sign of him. Quote had no idea how to connect to the robot himself, so he was without a guide on the return trip through the Sand Zone. Even Curly seemed overwhelmed and unsure of how to proceed. He almost would have liked it if monsters suddenly showed up to attack; at least he could vent some of his frustration on them.
As it was, the trail toward the large warehouse containing the red flower seeds was largely devoid of action. They passed by the old residence where Cthulhu had been without incident (whether that was good or bad could be decided later on), and before long the significantly larger building was in view. Quote's already unstable confidence sank even further upon seeing a wide-open door.
"That must be it!" he shouted as they approached the entrance. Another voice came from behind the two, one that caused Quote to stop in his tracks.
"Wait up! What's going on?"
"King?"
Sure enough, it was the number-one from Mimiga Village. King had his sword drawn and was rushing toward the warehouse, kicking up sand in his wake.
"I thought I wouldn't be able to catch up to you," he said to Quote. He'd hardly spared Curly a glance due to them never having met, but there were more important things than introductions at hand. "Is this where the red flowers are?"
The soldier nodded with an urgent look on his face.
"Yes… but we're running out of time. The Doctor's henchmen found the key to it, and they're inside already-"
He hadn't even been able to finish that sentence before King sprinted past. For such a small-legged creature, he could move surprisingly quickly.
Curly would have found the prospect of meeting another Mimiga exciting had there not been so much going on at the moment. "King" looked noticeably different from the Colons due to his longer, scarred snout and light red eyes, but he was clearly of the same species. Her fists clenched tightly around the machine gun, thinking of how her children were doing. Once the red flowers were destroyed, she could get around to saving them.
Quote had already begun pursuing King into the warehouse, and she followed close behind. The three arrived in an enormous room entirely coated with tan metal panels and illuminated by some unseen light source (possibly magic). A few stray patches of dirt were visible here and there, sprouting from which were numerous short plants with unsettlingly red petals.
The witch who had kidnapped the Colons and her suitcase-looking cohort stood at the far end of the room, assuming defensive stances when the three newcomers arrived. However, neither could truly distract from the real object of focus: the person standing directly between them.
"…curious…"
He was a human in his late forties, if his lightly tanned and wrinkled skin was anything to go by. Despite standing several inches taller than both of the robots, he appeared to make himself look less imposing by constantly hunching his shoulders. The man was dressed in a long, pure white lab coat, unbuttoned in the front to reveal a simple brown shirt and navy blue shoes underneath. It was impossible to get a clear reading of his expression, as his eyes were hidden behind a pair of classes, but his mouth was curled into an unpleasant smile.
What really got Curly's attention was the object he wore on his head. The man's upper forehead and hair were completely concealed by a metal helmet of sorts, mostly colored dark blue but with a red eye-shaped gemstone embedded in the center of it. An intricate black design of a dragon was painted on both sides of the odd headpiece to complete its puzzling look. She wasn't familiar with the object or its wearer, but she had a good idea of the latter based on context. King only confirmed her suspicions when he spoke out.
"You're the Doctor! You're the one behind the kidnapping of my friends!"
The human looked between the three late arrivals with a pleasant smile which didn't at all make him seem less sinister.
"Yes, you are correct. I am the Doctor, but you will call me Master from now on."
His voice… Curly would have honestly rather listened to Cthulhu again than take in another word of this person's overt smugness.
