Cave Story - The Written Tale
Written by LordDarkrai
Original story by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya
I myself own nothing except the words written here.
Chapter 4 - Part 1: Robots in the sand
"Did you know that the witch-woman Jenka once had a brother? His name was Ballos. Like his sister, he wielded powers far beyond those of mortals... He used his magical powers to help and guide people, and the people loved and trusted him in return. Even more than they did their own king... The jealous king had Ballos apprehended and thrown into prison, where his punishment was brutal and cruel. Humans can be terrible creatures indeed... Under the extreme cruelty of the torture, Ballos' magical abilities finally ran wild. The king was engulfed in the swirl of magic and destroyed in an instant. In a single night, the kingdom that Ballos so loved was reduced to ashen ruins. Jenka, seeing her brother's madness, confined him to this island. That was the most she could do. Even as he was, she could not bring herself to kill her own brother..."
I held Sue's arms steady as she aimed at the target. "Careful, careful... don't take your eyes off of the target. Focus on it."
"But then there's two images of the gun. How am I supposed to aim with that?"
"Look at the center of the two images. Line the center of the target with the two images, and you'll hit it." She pulled the trigger quickly, and the gun jumped up slightly. She frowned.
"I missed."
"Don't pull so quickly on the trigger, pull it gently. That will keep the gun from moving." She nodded and took aim. She slowly pulled the trigger, and the shot found its mark. She squealed and jumped in the air.
"YAY! I HIT IT!" I smiled as well, adjusting my scarf and sliding the Polar Star back in its holster.
"Good job, Sue. Now, lets try with the Fireball." She nodded. I quickly drew the gun and took aim, knowing in advance where the shot would go. She ran behind me, never seeing me fire this gun before. I shot, and a ball of flame bounced along the floor until it hit the carved target, leaving a scorch mark where the ball hit. She nodded.
"Now remember, with this gun, aiming in advance is key. The projectile won't move in a straight line like with the Polar Star or the Missile Launcher. It bounces, so you need to keep track of not where your enemy is, but where it will go. Stand here, and wait for my signal." She nodded, and I placed the gun in her hand. "Now, I want you to shoot me with it." She looked up, shocked.
"Shoot you?"
"Yes. Don't worry, if all goes bad we have Jack up top with water." Right on cue, Jack yelled down 'Ready!' and gave us a thumbs up.
"O-okay..." She aimed and fired. I timed my jump so I leapt clear of the projectile. It hit the wall and dissipated. I nodded.
"Again. This time, think of where I will go, and shoot there." She shot to my right, so I stood still. She frowned.
"How am I supposed to guess where you'll go?"
"Put yourself in my shoes for a moment: You see a fireball coming at the space to your right. Do you need to move?"
"I guess not."
"Neither do I. Try and make me move where you want me." She nodded. She then fired three quick shots, one straight at me, one at my right, and one at my left. I stepped to the left, dodging the first one. When it went past, I stepped back in the 'center', dodging the other two. I smiled and walked back towards her. She handed me the Fireball. "Very good, Sue. Now remember, I know how to dodge these and time myself. Most enemies won't. That was a very good way to get me in the line of fire, but the Fireball can only create four shots at once. It can't fire more until the first one disappears." She nodded once more.
"Thank you!" I nodded. She ran off to tell Kazuma what she had learned. I motioned for Jack to come back down, and walked inside Arthur's House.
"Booster." He turned and nodded in my direction.
"What have you taught Sue?"
"How to fire the Polar Star and the Fireball." He nodded.
"Always good for one to know how to defend themselves. In other news, we've cracked the encryption on the location of the Flowers. They appear to be in the Sand Zone. The problem is how we are supposed to get there and destroy the flowers... They're not flammable, as is a special property of the poison that coats them." I stopped him.
"What are these Red Flowers? Why are they worse than others?" He turned to me.
"I'm sure you've seen rabid Mimiga before, correct?" I nodded.
"One attacked Sue; that's when I first met her. I saw another in a building at Grasstown." He nodded.
"That's the effects of the Red Flower when digested by a Mimiga. It sends them into a rage, making them highly resistant to damage. They become near invincible killing machines. It's what I believe the Doctor is here for: He is going to use the Flowers to send the Mimiga of the island into a rage, and lead an assault on the surface." I shook my head.
"The surface? I thought islands were surrounded by water." He nodded.
"Most are. But for a curious reason that I myself am not fully knowledgeable of, this island actually floats. It can only be reached via helicopters or flying creatures such as Sky Dragons." I sighed in amazement.
"For now, the Doctor does not have the Flowers. But..." King entered the room.
"The Doctor. He has Toroko." At the mention of Toroko, I frowned, remembering the sweet Mimiga child I had failed to protect. "Is the Doctor planning on making Toroko a... killing machine?" Booster nodded.
"Most likely." King growled, and drew his blade, stabbing it into the ground.
"I WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN!" He fell to his knee.
"Not to Toroko..." I walked over to King and knelt, laying my hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me, and his eyes met mine.
"King, you can't go to the Sand Zone. You'll die. But don't worry. I swear on my life, no matter if it's artificial or not, that I will not let any harm befall Toroko. I will kill that Doctor with my own two hands if I must. But I swear, he will not leave this island alive." King nodded.
"Booster. Hook the teleporter up to the Sand Zone. I have a Doctor's appointment on my schedule." He nodded and clicked on a few buttons, and typed something on the computer. He nodded to me.
"Good to go." I nodded.
"Tell everyone I said I'll be back soon, and not to worry." He nodded, and I was about to step into the teleporter, when King called to me.
"Boy- no, young man." I turned to him. "Thank you." I nodded.
ENTER: THE SAND ZONE
As I stepped off of the terminal, and immediately noticed the dry air around me. I then took note of the sand covering the floor around me. The room the terminal was in led to a hallway, where I walked, my gun drawn, not knowing what to expect. As I entered the hall, I could see a figure standing towards the end. As I walked down the hall, the figure came into focus, and then turned. It was a girl, about my height. She had long blonde hair, a strange headset over her ears, a tank top and baggy shorts, with combat boots. A large gun was attached to a strap that hung on her shoulder. When she saw me, she gasped and ran off. I followed her. The hallway opened into a large room that extended upwards. I saw some sand trickle down from above, and saw her jump from a few blocks hanging from the ceiling. She pulled her gun around until she was holding it firmly in both hands, and started firing it downwards. After I dodged out of the way, I noticed that she was rising steadily towards the top of the room, that opened out into another hallway up above. I started jumping up the blocks, dodging bugs that flew after me. At the top, I saw a room to my left, and another hallway to my right. Noticing boot prints that led to the room, I went there. I holstered the Polar Star and entered quietly, so as not to raise suspicion. When inside, I could hear talking.
"... yes, I'm sure he wanted to hurt me! He was creeping up behind me with his gun drawn!"
"That may be, but maybe he was just being cautious, as this is a dangerous part of the island. You almost never leave this room without your machine gun in hand."
"Yes, but wouldn't any normal person call out 'hello'?"
"Not if they were being caut- wait... he's here." The girl turned quickly.
"Ah! You gave me a fright!" I held my hands, and shrugged my shoulders.
"Sorry about that. Mind telling me why you're running from me?" She pouted.
"Because you were creeping up behind me with your gun drawn!" I sighed.
"That's because my friends, who sent me here, told me the Sand Zone is a very dangerous place. I didn't know what to expect, so I went in quietly, so I could assess the situation before making a move. I honestly thought you were a bigger threat than anything." She shook her head.
"Me a threat! Have you looked at yourself lately?" I shook my head.
"Never had a reason to." She ran over to me, and dragged me into a side room. She shoved me in front of a mirror. I looked at myself. My red cap was covered in dust from caves that I had gone through. My black tank top was covered in rips here and there, dust, and some grass stains. My pants, too, had rips throughout from my previous fights, and my gloves and pants had soot on them from having to climb through one fireplace to many to get through Grasstown. My boots were scuffed as well. I adjusted my scarf, and tightened my gloves. "I don't look that bad."
"You look horrible! If only we had a bath..." My eyes widened and I stepped back.
"No need for that!" She laughed.
"Very funny, sir, very funny. Now that I think about it..." She held out her hand.
"I'm Curly Brace. What's your name?" I shook her hand, but shrugged my shoulders.
"No idea what my name is. But nice to meet you, Curly." She smiled, and thought for a moment.
"What guns do you have? Just lay them on the bed over there, OK?" I did. I slid the Polar Star from its holster on my right side, the Fireball from the left, the Missile Launcher from my back, and the Bubbler from right behind the Polar Star. I kept my bag on my back. She looked over my guns, nodding. She held up the Polar Star.
"Wow, this gun of yours is pretty beat up. Want to trade it for my machine gun?" I shook my head.
"That gun technically isn't mine. I need to return it eventually, and besides, this gun as gotten me through many a tight spot." She nodded.
"Well, if you ever change your mind, just ask!" I nodded, and thanked her. She left the room, and I noticed something. The headset she had on... I had the exact same one over my ears. I lifted on the antennae, but they wouldn't come off. That's when I realized they were a part of mine, and I guess of her, head. So that meant... she was a robot... like me. I headed back out the door.
"Curly." She looked up at me.
"Come with me, we need to talk." She nodded. We went outside.
"What do you need?" I sat down.
"I think that you are a robot." She sat down next to me.
"You are thinking correctly. I was a robot, sent here by who knows what, for who knows what reason. Those Mimiga found me. They said they heard a bunch of yelling and fighting, and someone yelling what I later told them was my name. They said I was one of the killer robots sent here, maybe to kill them... I could never bear to hurt them, I don't know how anyone could..." She trailed off, and I sat silently, wondering what to do. I put my hand on her back, and she looked at me.
"Don't worry, Curly. I won't let anyone hurt any Mimiga, especially them. My job here is to kill the Doctor, and I will stop at nothing until that is done." She smiled, and hugged me. The action surprised me, but I hugged her back. When she let go, she looked in my eyes and smiled. I smiled as well, not entirely sure why. She stood up, and brushed the sand off of her pants. I stood as well, and we went back inside the room.
"Where's Toledo?" The Mimiga got up and ran over to her.
"Yes, Curly?" Toledo reminded me Toroko.
"Where's Jenka's puppy?" Toledo took off into the side room and brought out a decent sized dog. She handed the puppy to Curly, who put it in my backpack.
"You're gonna need this if you want any chance of winning Jenka's favor." I frowned.
"Aren't you coming with me?" She shook her head.
"I've got to take care of these young ones. If I could I would, but..." she smiled. "One second." She ran off to the room again, and brought back a shiny, black pistol. I tested it. When I fired it, it shot out a huge burst of lightning. I smiled and took the holster she handed me. "It's called the Nemesis, or Lightning of the Gods. It's my secondary in case my machine gun and I get separated. You use it, it will help you more down the road." I smiled, and shook her hand.
"Thank you, Curly Brace. May we meet again." She nodded.
"I hope so." We waved goodbye, and I set out on the path, puppy in tow, to find the source of the Red Flowers. Down the hallway, I could see a spot where there were some large black stones. Continuing onward, I saw a wall made of breakable materials. I shot it with the Nemesis, testing its weight and recoil so I could fire it comfortably. When the trigger was pulled, it let loose a huge burst of energy, making it easy to hit targets. The shots traveled fast as well, making it easy to hit enemies as well. I ran forward, stepping around a corner to see a series of walls and pits of sand. I blasted me some room to maneuver on the other side of the wall using the Nemesis and the Bubbler, and leaped over the sand. About halfway across my jump, a huge crocodile snapped its jaws from beneath the sand. I landed, and turned to stare at the beast. It eyed me hungrily, its jaws standing upright. I shot at it experimentally, and it flinched and sunk back in the sand. I held my hand out over the pit, and quickly redrew it when the croc almost snapped it off. I shot it quickly with the Nemesis, and it closed its eyes, falling back in the sand. I leaped a few more pits like the first, occasionally noticing a few spinning discs bouncing throughout the room. When i shot them, they broke into smaller discs, which died relatively quickly. I pressed onwards, eventually coming to a room that had a few shaky-looking platforms over a sand pit. I shot a Fireball into the sand, not willing to risk my hand. A croc jumped up and snatched the ball in its jaws, flinching as it did so. It slid back in the sand. Great. Just when I need Curly's machine gun, I don't have it. Oh well. I easily leapt from platform to platform, balancing carefully all the way. At the end, I saw a huge room filled with sand. It seemed like a good spot to be attack in, but since I couldn't really go anywhere else, and by now this room had piqued my interest, I sat the puppy down by the entrance and stepped inside. There were piles of sand everywhere, but otherwise the room was empty. As I stepped into the center of the room, Misery appeared. She hovered over the sand and glared at me.
"Dammit, Balrog. You always manage to fuck something up... hey, boy. Now that I think about it, aren't you a soldier from the surface? I didn't expect to see one after the war... well, no matter. You've proved quite troublesome. I'm afraid I am going to have to dispose of you now." Right after she finished speaking, the room started rumbling. I steadied myself with the Missile Launcher, using it as some kind of balance. She smiled. "Oh, it seems I won't need to. Good luck, soldier." She disappeared. In the center of the room, where I had been moments before, the sand started to pile up. I knew that if something attacked me here, the loose sand would be damned near impossible to stand firmly on. So I did what no sane person would ever do: I prepared to jump on top of whatever was inside the pile of sand. Out of the sand, emerged a giant boulder.
Enter: Giant Boulder Omega
I was standing on one side of the boulder, so it slowly opened. I fell off of it and rolled, not being able to keep my balance. I walked backwards, and watched as it launched dozens of stones into the air. The fight quickly became not only figuring out this monsters weakness, but also dodging the multiples of stones that, soon after falling to the ground, sunk into the sand. I thought, what if I shot it when the boulder opened... It rose again. I readied the Fireball and jumped over it. I shot four shots down into the thing, and a few more that bounced off of the stone. It seemed to react to the hit, and I repeated this attack, all while using the Bubbler to destroy any rocks that came to close. After the third or fourth Fireball attack, the boulder rose completely out of the ground. I could see sand falling off of gleaming metal legs. It jumped in the air, and when it landed, it launched sand all over the place. I used the Bubbler in my right hand and the Fireball in my right. Now that the legs were visible, I had a new weak spot to utilize: melting the legs to weaken it. It jumped again, and I judged the angle of it's jump and fired four Fireballs before it landed, keeping the Bubbler up and at the ready for a shield. It landed, and I heard a metallic cry as the Fireballs found their mark. It jumped again, and I timed a few more shots. They connected, and I repeated the process one last time. The now-familiar metallic hum slowly died down, and the monster fell to its side, sinking into the sand. I walked back outside the door, and picked up my bag, making sure the puppy was okay. As I started off back in the direction that I came from, I felt a hot wind billow around me.
The curse on the sun stones... has been lifted. I stared around in confusion. Not sensing any more danger, and brushing off the matter as in my head and not important. I continued.
As I neared the black stones from earlier, I felt another deep rumbling reverberate through the earth. The black stones disappeared, showing another path downwards. As I was about to jump into the new area, Curly ran up to me.
"Hey! HEY!" I stopped and took in the panicked expression on her face.
"Curly? What is it?!"
"It's Misery! She's taken the Mimigas! She said she was going to attack Jenka and take the key to the Warehouse! We need to stop her!"
[Author's Notes] Hey guys, LordDarkrai here! I know, a lot changed between the game and this chapter, such as the lack of a fight between Curly and the main character, and how he gets the Nemesis, which requires a side quest in game that doesn't begin until the game is almost over. I decided that sidequests were not very good for narrative, and I didn't really want the best of friends, Curly and the hero, to fight, as it seemed uncharacteristic of them. Instead, I had them do the normal human thing that people do where they talk before shooting the hell out of each other. Seems like a good idea ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Enjoy the chapter, maybe leave a review, possibly follow and/or favorite, and have a great day!
~LordDarkrai
[End Notes]