Chapter 34: Desolation

While he could almost feel the power radiating from his new Spur blaster, Quote was much less certain about the Booster still harnessed to his back. He'd descended rather clumsily from the tunnel back into Mimiga Village, almost crashing once again. Nevertheless, he returned to Arthur's house with a newfound confidence. Professor Booster was inspecting the computer when he walked in.

"Oh, you're back… I just noticed a message from Kazuma. He's in the Egg Corridor, and says that if anyone can read this we should go to meet him there. Apparently he managed to hatch one of the dragon eggs and has secured an escape route if we need it. I told him that I'd be there shortly, and you'd be with me."

Quote nodded to show he understood. After all, he was going through there anyway, so escorting the old man wasn't too much of a problem. Booster entered the teleporter first, and once it had cooled down he followed after him. When he emerged from the tube, however, he wondered if they'd really been sent to the right place. The Egg Corridor was practically unrecognizable.

It looked as though a twister had touched down in the center of the long hallway and torn apart everything around it. Shards of broken glass and sparking, frayed wires topped off the heaps of rubble that were once egg incubators, with the conditions of the eggs themselves ranging from dangerously cracked and oozing to utterly demolished. For every ruined egg there was a corresponding baby dragon, and most of them had clearly died when the shells were broken. Slumped over with blank expressions, the unborn creatures had never even had the chance to fight back against whatever had caused this. The dragons that did manage to escape their shells had evidently not fared much better, as their miserable corpses lined the trail just the same. Each of them sported at least one serious burn, with some even having their skeletons exposed through their charred turquoise scales. To his side, Professor Booster looked like he was about to faint, and Quote couldn't say he blamed the man.

"What happened here?" he thought to himself. "What could have destroyed it all? Malco…?"

No, that was impossible. There was just no way he'd have destroyed the entire corridor; he was programmed for analysis. If anything he might have moved through without attempting to fight at all to maximize his safety, unless…

…unless he'd gone haywire, like that robot from the Core had warned…

"We need to find Kazuma quickly," Booster said, running as fast as he could down the narrow path through all the destruction. "Come on!"

Quote trailed close behind him, keeping Spur ready in case anything unfriendly were to appear. However, nothing did. They passed by several more dragon corpses, along with the charred remains of Critters and small winged creatures he didn't recognize. Everything around them was in an unfathomable state of devastation, and not even seeing all those dead soldiers compared to it.

The structure housing Egg No. 00 eventually came into view. Somehow, it was completely intact despite the carnage around it. If Kazuma were still here, he had most likely holed himself up in there with the egg. Maybe he'd even figured out the password Sue had mentioned.

His attention didn't linger on the building for long, however, before he noticed that one of the baby dragons was still alive. Its bloodied fangs and gruesomely torn wings gave it a zombielike appearance as it stared down the soldier with dull red eyes. He pointed the Spur at it in warning, gesturing for Professor Booster to run into the structure ahead to stay safe.

Quote's finger rested on the trigger of his gun as he slowly drew closer to the dragon. It snarled and bared its teeth, each of which looked painfully sharp and fully capable of ripping through him. If Curly were there, she might have said something about putting the poor creature out of its misery, and that was what he intended to do.

That is, until it was suddenly engulfed in an enormous burst of flames from somewhere behind it. As the dragon collapsed to the ground, crying in agony, a high-pitched metallic voice could be heard shrieking nearby.

"Enemy has been terminated! Destroy! Destroy! DESTROY!"

"Malco?!"

Indeed, his longtime companion was standing very close by and letting out a triumphant but malicious laugh. Based on the blazing orange color of his eyes and the way he seemed to delight in the destruction, it was clear that something had snapped in the robot. He didn't notice Quote moving toward him, instead facing the other way and decimating a straggling group of Critters with a weapon that seemed oddly familiar in more ways than one.

It soon became clear that this recognition was literal. Malco was armed with some kind of napalm cannon that appeared to be a fusion of his Fireball handgun and- surprisingly- Quote's lost missile launcher. How the robot had managed to combine the weapons together was less of a concern to him than the fact that he was incinerating everything around him.

"THE DOCTOR WILL SUFFER!"

"Hey! It's me, Quote! I've been looking for you!"

This time, his call hadn't gone unheard. Malco's rectangular head swiveled around to face him, and his body followed soon enough. Despite seeing Quote, he obviously didn't recognize him in his madness, and the soldier had to scramble out of the way as another fiery blast scorched the air around him.

"DESTROY!"

Keeping Spur close to his chest, he ducked behind a pile of rubble and tried to think of a plan. Possibly hurting Malco went against every fiber of his being, but he had to stop this rampage before he scorched the entire corridor into oblivion. The most likely explanation for his actions was thinking that he'd lost Quote and Curly had overwhelmed his senses and driven him into this state.

Curly… she was better at managing emotional situations like this. He would have given anything for her to be there, then she could have thought of a solution to the problem. Of course, Quote wanted her to be there with him in general, but…

"DESTROY! DESTROY!"

He hissed and pulled himself further into his hiding spot as Malco let loose again. It was time to get serious about this.

"Get a grip! It's me!"

Quote dashed out from behind the pile of rubble to try and get closer. If he could knock that weapon away from his opponent, he would be able to end the fight quickly. Malco seemed to realize the same thing and began to step backwards as he approached, firing off another blast. He barely managed to avoid it in time, throwing himself to the left and landing in a roll. Continuing to run in a wide arc around him, Quote analyzed what he was up against.

He'd admittedly gotten used to having his self-proclaimed guide available to formulate strategies in combat, but now he would have to do it himself. It wasn't impossible; Quote had been built to fight anyway. This, he realized, would work to his advantage, as Malco's only real danger came from the strength behind his weapon. His attacks were powerful, but clumsy and inaccurate when trying to hit a target as nimble as the soldier.

As tempting as it was to test out Spur for the first time, Quote wasn't sure how much it could possibly damage Malco. To that end, he kept his finger off the trigger while he inched his way closer and drew King's sword. He also considered using the Booster to gain an aerial advantage, but with how narrow the corridor was and with his inexperience he was more likely to slam into the ceiling upon starting it up. He continued to weave between the repeated blasts, getting closer and closer to the robot with each dodge.


"Unstable… everything is… unstable…"

Malco was having a serious issue with his inner processors at best. At worst, he feared that he was literally breaking down. Everything before him was a red and orange haze with blurred, shadowy movements being the only things he could clearly see. What was happening to him? Why was he suddenly so out of control?

He had torn his way across the Egg Corridor mercilessly, and halfway through he'd stopped to tinker with the two weapons he had on hand, merging them into the truly terrifying Napalm launcher. It required no ammunition, instead strengthening the Fireball's shots to devastating temperatures and even explosive potential. With this deadly tool he had continued on his rampage, despite still not being sure what he was even doing as he burned through everything in his path.

At the end of the tunnel, someone had caught up with him and was shouting at him to stop. He couldn't tell who he was facing, but their quick reflexes and agile movements gave the impression that they were more of a force to be reckoned with. As they inched their way toward him, he soon realized that they weren't fighting back. It made little sense to Malco; this stranger was clearly armed and perfectly capable of firing off a shot in the lulls between Napalm's blasts… what was going on?

A faint memory came to him. He could hear himself talking to someone close, expressing the need to motivate a third ally. It had occurred recently, that much was clear. Observing the pair working together so well had taught him to prioritize the morale of their group, as they functioned best in high spirits. He couldn't have learned that from Retrieval Team 9; the programming of those robots had never stressed emotional strength quite like his time spent with the two people closest to him. Malco remembered their smiling faces, the excitement running through them as they traversed a dangerous tunnel system. He could always tell that something in the two bonded them closer to each other than to him, but his presence was welcome all the same. He remembered a great frustration at only ever being able to assist them from the sidelines… had that caused his breakdown? They had intended on stopping someone called the Doctor, and keeping their spirits up while they did so. Both of his friends were gone, but he had vowed to persist for their sakes, losing himself in the process. He had been certain that he was the only hope left. And yet, this enemy before him now was giving him an uncomfortable doubt.

"I have to settle down… something about this isn't right."

That, however, was not entirely in his control. His processor had been overloaded by its own stress, and moving freely proved to be immensely difficult. He became very worried about what could happen if he didn't stop. This stranger who refused to fight back could have been friendly for all he knew!

Malco wasn't planning on self-destructing, as he still had a mission to carry out, but it appeared his only option was to force himself to shut down momentarily. Diverting all of his mental power to his own internal computer, he executed a command to cease every motor function on his body. The blurred haze finally disappeared, and as everything went dark the last thing he could make out was a familiar red hat.