Chapter 46: Misery
Malco continued to pummel Balrog with flame blasts, keeping himself between the rectangular being and the stairs. He regretted having to attack an enemy who so clearly disliked his position, but at that moment the most important thing was making sure Quote wasn't interrupted.
"Just give up! You are outmatched!"
"Not yet, rusty!" Balrog shouted back in a lull between Napalm's shots. "Let's see what you think of THIS!"
A previously unseen panel in his metallic hide slid open, and the rounded tip of a missile gleamed in the pale light of the room. Malco dove to the floor, just barely managing to avoid the projectile streaking toward him. It exploded somewhere overhead, showering his body with sparks and cinders.
He scrambled back to his feet, only to be greeted by the sight of a second missile detonating right in front of him. The robot was thrown backwards, landing hard against the stairs with Napalm no longer in his hands. Groaning, he struggled to stand again as Balrog prepared a third attack.
"Malco!"
The distinct sound of high-pitched machine gun fire rang through the air. Curly, having taken her attention off Misery, was shooting at his opponent instead. He used the time she'd bought him and retrieved his weapon, then moved to stand by her side. Their combined attacks slammed into Balrog with a deafening explosion, leaving him dazed on his back.
"Tch. Looks like I have to do this myself," Misery remarked. "Get out of here and let me handle them."
Their defeated enemy scampered out of the temple, leaving the witch behind with her staff held tight. Malco wasn't intimidated, raising Napalm to aim it at her. After everything he'd heard from his friends, he was almost looking forward to a chance to strike back at Misery. She may have been just as much of a slave as Balrog, but for all the trouble she'd given them he didn't feel as bad about fighting her.
Even with a two-on-one advantage, however, Malco could still detect an enormous amount of energy within their opponent. Their fight was only going to get harder.
Curly sprayed a volley of shots from Nemesis, not letting up even as Misery generated her barrier of black translucent spheres to stop the attack in midair. The witch responded with her own assault, casting a bolt of lightning from her staff. It shot through the air and impacted both robots, crackling through their inner circuitry and metal parts. Malco emitted a pained warble at Curly's side, and his body began to quiver and spark uncontrollably.
"Oh no! Is he shorting out?!"
She didn't have much time to think about that, since Misery was on the offensive again. Her staff glowed brighter and brighter blue as she unleashed more lightning bolts and even a series of projectiles shaped like pale orange bats, wings and all. They were clearly not organic creatures, seeing as their bodies appeared to be made of condensed heat energy. Curly shot through most of them easily, but the ones she missed struck her torso and disappeared, leaving scorching burns in their wake. She stumbled from the impact, almost falling off balance.
After being forced to constantly teleport at the beginning of the fight, Misery was striking back with gusto. Her spells grew more ferocious by the second, driving Curly into a corner and pummeling her with blinding bolts of electricity. The soldier screamed as a final spark tore through her body, and her limbs gave out, dropping her onto her knees. Her fingers were malfunctioning from the power surge, and she couldn't find the strength to grip her gun at the moment. Misery closed in, using her staff to psychically tear a large chunk of marble out of the wall. Not wasting time with words, she raised it above Curly's head and prepared to smash it down on her.
The stone exploded in a burst of flames before the witch had a chance to strike, sending shrapnel in all directions.
"L-leave Curly alone! Face m-me, if you have the courage!"
Her body wasn't properly responding to her demands, but she was able to look up just enough to see Malco on his feet again, staring down their enemy. She felt her heart sink; energy from the hit he'd last taken was still visibly coursing through him, and based on his slightly hunched posture it appeared that one of his legs was faulty. Even then, he kept Napalm gripped in his claw-like hands. Misery, smirking, pointed her staff at him again.
"If you insist."
Curly could see Nemesis sitting on the floor just a few yards away. Her legs still refused to cooperate, forcing the soldier to drag herself along the ground as Malco tagged in for her. She watched him desperately try to fend off Misery with more explosive blasts, but the witch called upon her barrier again as she levitated toward him. Very much aware of the danger her friend was in, she pulled herself closer to Nemesis, stretching out an arm as far as she could to reach it.
Malco's left leg wasn't moving with the rest of him, instead remaining in a half-bent position and forcing him to hobble backwards. Before long, he had tripped on it, landing with a loud clang against the floor. Curly watched in horror as Misery began chanting another spell. Her gun was still several feet away, and even as she dragged herself toward it she knew that she wouldn't be able to reach it in time.
That is, until it was suddenly kicked her way by a newcomer to the room. Curly's eyes shifted upwards to see one of the last people she'd expected to come to her aid: Cthulhu. He had arrived seemingly from thin air, sliding Nemesis across the floor and holding a single scaly finger over his mouth. The hooded creature cast a sideways glance at Misery, still advancing on Malco without noticing their unexpected guest, and smirked before disappearing just as abruptly as he'd arrived.
She didn't concern herself with questions about Cthulhu at the moment and pointed her rifle up at Misery. As the witch completed her incantation, preparing to finish off the other robot, Curly squeezed the trigger and fired multiple shots at her back. They all struck their target directly, causing her to abort her spell with a pained cry. Misery's robes were torn from the attack, exposing her now slightly-charred skin underneath. She whirled around with a snarl, only for another hit from behind as Malco launched a series of fireballs at her. The witch dropped to the ground, groaning. Blood dripped from somewhere beneath her tattered clothing, but she didn't seem fatally wounded. Even so, she gave the pair of robots one last glare before teleporting herself away.
"We… we did it!"
Curly struggled to get up as feeling began to return to her legs at last. She walked over to where Malco sat, occasionally stumbling from fatigue and her wounds. His condition, however, was much more concerning. He sported numerous scratches and burn marks on his metal exterior. One of his eye lenses had a large crack in it, most likely from Balrog's missile attack, and the upper-left side of his head had been significantly dented in. His leg was finally moving again, but no other part of him appeared to be in good shape.
"W-w-w-well done, Curly… that was a-an impressive shot."
She couldn't believe how feeble his voice sounded. Malco's speech crackled and even cut out at random, with an unnatural rasp to its tone.
"Are… are you okay?"
"A-absolutely! I may not look to b-be in good condition, but I-I-I-I assure you I'll be fine."
Curly didn't entirely believe him, and she wasn't sure if he had a self-repair function like she did. Malco got to his feet and grabbed Napalm, whereupon she could see that one of his fingers had snapped off altogether. He stared at her frightened expression and tried to reassure her again.
"R-really! I'm st-still running at acceptable performance levels. I'm in n-no mortal danger…"
Their attention was drawn to the sounds of a fight coming from the floor above them. The entire temple began to shake in a way that she found disturbingly familiar. With their battle out of the way, Curly dashed toward the staircase as fast as her tired legs could carry her. She wasn't exactly in prime condition, but she wasn't about to let her friend fight alone.
