Chapter 32: Apart

Author's Note: Wow, this story's passed two thousand views! Thanks so much, I hope I can continue to entertain you all :D


Malco stepped out of the teleporter with a delighted cheer. He'd finally made it to the Mimiga Village where Quote had begun his adventure, and now he was able to meet some of the creatures personally. They had an important mission to carry out, but as long as he was still waiting for his companions to arrive there was no harm in introducing himself.

The robot recognized the building he was in as "Arthur's house," where Sue, Professor Booster, and Kazuma had been planning their next move. Oddly enough, however, the residence was empty aside from him. In fact, when he opened the door to see the rest of the village, it too appeared deserted. There hadn't been many Mimiga left according to Quote, but something didn't feel right about how empty the cavern was. Its oddly pristine condition gave the impression that the residents had completely vanished in an instant. Where had everyone gone?

"Hello? Is anyone here? Helloooooo?!"

No response. Malco sighed and returned to Arthur's house after another minute of fruitless searching. Nobody was there either, which struck him as odd. The teleporter should have cooled down by then, so why hadn't Quote or Curly returned yet? He attempted to connect to their receptors, only to hear the static of poor reception. Wherever they were, he couldn't communicate with them.

"A robot…?"

He spun around to face the source of the deep voice. It was a rather short man with a white lab coat and red-tinted glasses, half-concealed by a pile of crates next to Arthur's house.

"Professor Booster! Finally, I've found someone here! The village seems deserted."

The old man looked at Malco with a confused frown before recognizing him at last.

"Oh yes, you were with that soldier in the Bushlands… do you know where he is? He never returned from the Sand Zone."

"I monitored Quote on his mission to destroy the Demon Flowers. He found another robot to help along the way, but failed in the end… the three of us were sent deep into the Labyrinth and had to reprogram a teleporter to make it back here. What happened in our absence?"

Professor Booster was silent as he took in what Malco had said. He sighed wearily, looking utterly defeated by the time he got to his own explanation.

"Not long after Quote left, the witch Misery appeared and kidnapped the remaining Mimiga. I wouldn't be surprised if all of them on the island are under the Doctor's control now… if he really does have the red flowers with him, then tragedy is inevitable. None of us can stop him."

"Don't say that!" the robot countered, clenching his fists. "Once Quote and Curly get here, we'll set out to beat him together. They… should have come through the teleporter by now…"

Something was wrong. The two were much later than was reasonable. Malco checked the teleporter again, ensuring that there were no problems with its connection to the Labyrinth. Growing more concerned by the second, he reentered it and warped back to their last position to find out what was taking them so long.

Upon seeing the bridge extending across the lake completely gone, and the two soldiers nowhere to be found, his optimism shattered completely. The only logical explanation was that they had fallen into the water before making all the way back. How could he have teleported away so quickly and left them behind?! Quote's empty missile launcher was even sitting abandoned on the edge of the water, indicating that at least he had made it most of the way across!

"N… no, no, no…"

Neither of them were responding to his communications. For all intents and purposes, they were gone. With a heavy heart, Malco picked up the launcher, slinging it over his shoulder to carry it with him. What was left for him now? Retrieval Team 9 was destroyed, Quote and Curly had vanished, and the Doctor was closer than ever to victory.

"The Doctor…"

Thinking about him made Malco fume. He was the source of everyone's problems on this island… his friends had been determined to stop him no matter the cost. They put themselves at enormous personal risk for the sake of the Mimiga race, and their mission was his as well. Quote and Curly were nowhere to be seen, but as long as he was still standing he would fight in their place to the best of his ability. For reasons he didn't concern himself with at the moment, his processor was beginning to overheat. Malco went through the teleporter back to Arthur's house, where Professor Booster was waiting inside.

"You didn't find them? Then… we really have lost after all. I only wish I could have saved Sue."

"How do I get to the Doctor's base of operations?" Malco asked, burning with determination.

"Hm? At… at the end of the Egg Corridor, there's a passage leading onto the edge of the island. If you could make your way up the cliff face, you'd reach the Plantation where he keeps his slaves. But you're not seriously considering-"

He didn't have a chance to finish his sentence, as the robot had already calibrated the teleporter's destination and disappeared.

Malco emerged in the long hallway flanked by enormous egg incubators. He'd never seen this place before, but that hardly mattered to him. His analysis of the surroundings familiarized him with it easily.

"What is this feeling? I'm… losing focus…"

His sheer motivation to bring the Doctor to his knees appeared to be getting the better of him, and he was feeling an unspeakable amount of aggression at the moment. Despite his best efforts to stay calm, he was sick of having to rely on the soldiers in combat… no more. No more. No more!

"NO MORE!"

Malco's red eye-lenses began to glow a fiery orange as various hostile creatures peered at him in the shadows of the Egg Corridor. Large Critters and a swarm of green, scaly, winged beasts with short but sharp fangs were drawing near, clearly interested in tasting the sudden intruder.

He wasn't afraid at all. The missile launcher was empty, but his Fireball handgun was still primed and ready for action. Malco's gaze traveled across what looked like fuel cells running along the walls, feeding into the egg incubators. They seemed relatively fragile and highly combustible, certainly potent enough to wipe out the aggressive residents of the long corridor.

Clutching his gun with a grim resolve, the enraged robot charged forward to engage his enemies.


Quote had lost track of time as he was carried through the network of pipes. His Air Tank protected him from drowning in the current, but all he could think about was Curly, and how she didn't have the same protection. His only hope was that she would be spat out onto dry land before it was too late.

His thoughts turned to the third member of their group. Was Malco still waiting for them? He could only imagine how anxious the other robot felt as he anticipated their arrival, but they would never make it there at this rate. Curly was lost in some other part of the island, and he himself was still drifting through the waterway.

That is, until the pipe suddenly ended and forcefully ejected him into a small body of water.

"Where am I…?"

Dragging himself onto a muddy bank, Quote took in his surroundings and found them strangely familiar. Brown and rocky cave walls, cool air, a small bridge extending across the pond… by dumb luck, it appeared that he'd been taken back to the reservoir of Mimiga Village.

That was some good news at least, but Curly's absence diminished any positive feelings to it.

He sat up and checked himself over. Nothing was broken or waterlogged, and aside from the conspicuous lack of his missile launcher his weapons were all accounted for. Quote got to his feet, walking out of that small cave into the village at last. He needed to move quickly. Malco was still waiting for him, after all, and they had a mission to carry out. If luck allowed it, they could find Curly again on the way.