Chapter 30: The Demon Crown

Malco's connection to the soldiers had been severed during their battle, and he had no indication of whether or not they were doing well. He worked tirelessly on the teleporter outside the compound, still detecting the enormous magical force within and feeling utterly helpless about it. His only motivation at the time was faith that despite all odds, his new friends would find victory.

Puzzlingly, his analysis soon indicated that two more sources of powerful magic were in there as well. They didn't quite match the potential of whatever the soldiers were fighting, but they were distinct enough to register all the same. He recognized one signature as Misery, the witch who had kidnapped Curly's Mimiga children, but the second was unfamiliar to him. Even so, with the signal to their receptors being disrupted he could do nothing to support them.

Clenching his metal fists in increasing frustration at his own helplessness, Malco returned to calibrating the teleporter's destination. It was almost finished.


Quote drew Polar Star from its holster in anticipation of a fight, but the Doctor paid no mind to him or Curly.

"MISERY!" he shouted. "Stop wasting time! Get the Core up to the lab and repair it, NOW!"

The witch nodded silently and pointed her staff at it. She, the five small defenders, and the Core itself all vanished in a flash of blue light, leaving the Doctor behind with the robots.

Curly was already pointing her Snake rifle straight at the man with her finger on the trigger, so Quote did the same with Polar Star and Bubbline.

"So, the two of you managed to survive…" he said with the same impossibly smug tone he'd had in the Sand Zone. "I'm impressed by your persistence, if a bit disappointed by your failure to realize you simply can't win."

They didn't reply to him, opening fire with their weapons immediately and sending an enormous barrage of projectiles toward him. The Doctor's sneer only widened, and he levitated out of harm's way without suffering a single hit. Quote began trying to outsmart him, shooting where he was going to be while Curly continued to chase him down with her own bullets. Once again, however, he dodged every one of their shots.

"Impressed? This artifact gives me great power," the Doctor taunted, pointing at his helmet. Quote remembered Jenka's warning about it, and Malco had also revealed its name: the legendary Demon Crown.

Not one to be intimidated so easily, he holstered Bubbline and drew King's sword instead, pointing it threateningly at their foe.

"Oh? That blade… I remember now, it belonged to a Mimiga who died in the Sand Zone. An unfortunate loss; I could have used the additional labor in my plantation. What are you hoping to do with it? Surely you don't think you can kill me with it from so far away…"

Quote's grip on Polar Star and the sword's hilt tightened.

"I suppose," the Doctor continued, "that you could try and throw it at me. It works in fiction all the time. In fact, before coming to this island I recall seeing a movie-"

Both he and the soldier had failed to notice Curly discreetly sneaking around his left flank. She let out yet another barrage from her gun, catching the Doctor by surprise. Even with the ambush, though, he managed to avoid any harm whatsoever.

"Hahahaha! Well played, my mechanical friends! You managed to distract me long enough for a surprise. But it wasn't good enough… and now, I'm afraid our time together is OVER."

The red jewel of an eye in the middle of the Demon Crown glowed brightly, and before Quote could react he felt the ground beneath him explode. He was launched across the chamber, landing in a heap on a catwalk near where the Core had been. Curly let out a shriek as the same thing happened to her, sending her to the opposite corner. In a daze, he could see that she'd been knocked out by her impact with the wall.

"Farewell, you robotic pests!" the Doctor jeered. The crown's eye flashed one more time before he teleported away.

"He… escaped again…" Quote grumbled under his breath. His entire body felt like it had just been crushed, but he was in much better shape than the still-unconscious Curly (he hoped she was unconscious) across the room. In fact, his condition was good enough to make him wonder why the Doctor had left him alive at all.

Horror flooded through him when he realized what the Demon Crown's second flash had done. Wet, cold horror. The entire chamber had filled with water to the very top before he could possibly react, and he was already feeling the effects of oxygen deprivation.


Malco's grief diminished when the teleporter was finally online again. It had taken him much longer than he'd anticipated, but now they could return to Mimiga Village to plan their next move. His mood further improved when the magic disruption inside the compound inexplicably stopped. Taking this as a sign that his companions had succeeded in defeating their enemy, he attempted to connect to their receptors. Their signals were still online, but neither of the soldiers were responding for some reason.

"Oh no…"


Quote was torn in his objective. The blast door they'd entered through had been blown apart during their fight with the Core, but Curly still wasn't moving where she lay. Her Air Tank had kicked in once again, so at least she didn't need to worry about drowning.

He, on the other hand, had barely moved from his spot and he could feel the water seeping into his body already. Quote's vision blurred, the world went dark around him, and he finally collapsed to the floor. Another addition to the countless robot corpses…

Did you know that the witch named Jenka had a younger brother? His name was Ballos. Like his older sister, he had magic powers unlike anyone could imagine. He was not stronger than Jenka, but possessed an amazing proficiency for magic all the same. And just like his sister channeled her power into her daughter, Misery… Ballos channeled his power into his son…

"That voice… it sounds familiar, but I can't make it out exactly. Who's saying it? Malco? Curly?"

He snapped awake with a gasp. His body was steadily draining itself out, and while he still felt the water sloshing uncomfortably he was alive and well. In fact, he could breathe just fine… and he didn't even feel like he was still submerged. Where was he?

Opening his eyes, his recent memories came back. He had fought the Core, then Misery and the Doctor had appeared, then he saw Curly unconscious… Curly! What had happened to her? Did she make it out too? And… how did he make it to safety?

It soon became clear to him that he hadn't made it to safety. He was still underwater, but for some reason he could breathe. Quote recognized the murky shapes of the dead soldiers and damaged scaffoldings where the Core had once been, yet the air around him felt fresh and light.

"Air… wait a minute…"

He whirled to face the spot his partner had been in before. She wasn't there, but rather laying face-down right at his feet. Her soft blonde hair billowed around her in the water, and her eyes were closed with her mouth half-open. Quote was surrounded by the bubble generated from an Air Tank like she had, and with a sudden feeling of dread he pulled up the back of her shirt. Sure enough, an empty indentation in her back greeted him, void of the one thing that allowed her to breathe underwater. Hands beginning to tremble, he reached behind himself and felt his own back. There was a bulge in his shirt where the indentation in himself had been beforehand. She had given him the Air Tank while he was unconscious, effectively saving his life…

...in exchange for her own.