02-19-2015, 03:19 PM
By the time Mireya and Proto Man stumbled out into the wide plain that surrounded Darkshire, the two warriors were ravaged and clearly on the brink of collapse. The woman, her face bruised and bloodied, hobbled on what remained of her shattered glaive. One of her ankles had been dislocated during the fight with the demon blacksmith, and although it had been properly reset and wrapped, it had yet to heal. Their constant march had meant the wounds had yet to stop bleeding completely, and even a few days removed from the old village, she still had blood seeping through the bandages.
To her left, Proto Man seemed to be faring a little bit better, but for the preteen machine, the majority of the damage was in his head. His own wounds had closed on their own accord, and his internal systems had spent the last few days feverishly working to repair themselves. The loss of another Robot Master, however, hung over his head like a stormcloud. How many more of his half-brothers would perish? It seemed like so long ago that Proto Man had set out with the intention of detaining what he thought were renegade androids. Was anything he thought back in Coruscant true anymore?
Unlike their first visit to Darkshire, the gates were already swinging open by the time they came within shouting distance of the men normally stationed above the portcullis. On this occasion, a trio of armored guards rushed to meet them. “Are the two of you all right?” The man in the middle asked, his insignia highlighting the fact that he was an officer.
“I will be, but she needs a doctor or a healer or whatever you have at your disposal,” Proto Man muttered as he gestured to the bloody, broken hybrid. Rather than offer a smart retort, Mireya just coughed and tried to remain conscious. He never had before, but now Proto man was certain he wouldn’t ever underrate the former nomad’s resolve. He was alive because he didn’t experience pain as a mental stimulus. On top of that, his systems were capable of replicating lost structures and mending damage to his exoskeleton. Mireya was alive because she didn’t feel like dying.
There were a lot of things Proto Man was happy to be without when it came to humanity, but he had to admit there were a few traits he wished that Wily could have converted into code.
“The two of you escort her to that cleric staying near the east gate.” When the two men walked over to help her, Mireya didn’t offer any resistance, and a few beats later, it was just Proto Man and the officer standing just outside the gate. “I probably should have verified this beforehand, but you are Blues, correct? You were the prime who spoke with the mayor last month?”
Last month? Where does the time go in this world?
“Yes, that’s me,” Proto Man answered after a brief moment of silence. “If you could, I need to speak with Boone and Dobson.”
“The mayor has an appointment with another prime, but they should be finished talking by the time we get there.”
***
As they walked through the tight hallway that lead to the mayor’s private residence, Proto Man had to squeeze around another prime. Unlike the Atelos and Shang, this man didn't stand out as much. He looked just like any person you'd find on the street, but the look in his eyes and the way he carried himself alluded to something more complex beneath the surface.
At the end of the corridor, the garrison officer opened the door for Proto Man and excused himself.
As before, Mayor Boone's quarters were poorly illuminated, and the man himself was sitting at his desk. He was hunched over and massaging his temples, and it took him a few moments to notice the android standing in his doorway. “Welcome back, Blues, I take it you have news?” The mayor asked the question without removing his hands from the sides of his head and without looking at the boy.
“I know where the source of the Blight is… and I intend to go there and stop it.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
The remark caused the youth to scowl behind his visor. “I need help. I lost a friend just to discover where the Archdemon is, and my other ally is too hurt to make the journey to the Black Gate.”
Mayor Boone seemed to tighten up at the mention of dreaded landmark that doubled as Diablo’s ‘gravestone.’ The man let his hands drop down to his desk and lifted his weary eyes to look over at the dirty android. “How do you know that’s where you need to go?”
“I heard it straight from the mouth of someone working for the Archdemon.”
“I see… I’m afraid I can’t offer anything. The men here are too preoccupied with defending the walls, and we’ve heard stories that Count Dracula has started to recruit more primes as of late. I can’t afford to have the city undefended.”
Proto Man shook his head. “The demon I killed was the head of an armory. An armory, Mayor. If we don’t deal with this situation now, some vampire is going to be the least of your concern. For all we know, we could be dealing with another situation like the one that ruined this whole region in the first place!”
The usually languid mayor frowned. “You weren’t here, Blues, so I don’t expect you to know what we went through here when we were besieged by the Lord of Terror. Maybe when you’re older and have a little more experience you’ll know a sliver of that.” Despite his almost half hearted tone, Boone’s words were meant to sting.
“I guess I understand now why the Kingdom abandoned this place,” Proto Man snapped. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go risk my head to save a bunch of people who wouldn’t know a fulfilling life if it slapped them in the face!” On his way out, he slammed the door with enough force to shatter it into a few dozen shards of fine wood. He instantly regretted his tone for betraying his years (or lack thereof), but he wouldn’t take back the words. Darkshire was a miserable place filled with sad, miserable people who seemed to be waiting for the darkness to swallow them whole. The bottom tiers of Coruscant were just as miserable, but the people there fought with every fiber of their being to improve their lot and make their neighborhoods a better place.
Darkshire? Darkshire was better off being razed to the ground.
Proto Man kept walking until he heard the sound of boots rapidly approaching from behind. The preteen machine paused and glanced over his shoulder to see Dobson racing to catch up with him. The unofficial leader of the town’s garrison had a look of concern on his face.
“Where are you going?” The young man asked as he stopped to catch his breath.
“The Black Gate… someone needs to end the Blight, and your mayor doesn’t want to lift a finger.”
That fact caused a frown to spread across the soldier’s features. “Bullshit.” He seemed ready to about-face and head back to the City Hall when his eyes suddenly light up and he snapped his fingers. “You can cure this, right? The Blight?”
“I don’t know,” Proto Man replied. “Removing the archdemon will prevent it from spreading, but I don’t know what will happen to the darkspawn or those infected by the Blight.”
“I have a friend… she was part of the original group that set out to deal with the Blight.”
“I thought you said they disappeared?”
“Things changed,” the man answered. “She survived, but she’s got the first signs of the disease. We had to turn her away at the gate to prevent any of the citizens from contracting it from her. If you’re going to end this, she’ll be more than willing to help you. I can guarantee that.”
“Where is she?”
“She has a camp a few miles away from the north gate…”
“What’s her name?”
“Whirda. Whirda Windstrom.”
At the mention of the name, Proto Man’s database pulled up a few matches and a picture of a young woman he’d met at the Fountain of Infinity. Once the two were paired together, his GPS threw up an icon that pointed in her general direction. “Got it… thank you.” With that, the red robot turned and started to jog toward the nearest gate out of the town. If she’d been in the Omniverse for as long as him than maybe this Whirda, infection and all, would be able to help him settle the score with ‘Scylla.’
After that, Proto Man could leave this morose place once and for all...
To her left, Proto Man seemed to be faring a little bit better, but for the preteen machine, the majority of the damage was in his head. His own wounds had closed on their own accord, and his internal systems had spent the last few days feverishly working to repair themselves. The loss of another Robot Master, however, hung over his head like a stormcloud. How many more of his half-brothers would perish? It seemed like so long ago that Proto Man had set out with the intention of detaining what he thought were renegade androids. Was anything he thought back in Coruscant true anymore?
Unlike their first visit to Darkshire, the gates were already swinging open by the time they came within shouting distance of the men normally stationed above the portcullis. On this occasion, a trio of armored guards rushed to meet them. “Are the two of you all right?” The man in the middle asked, his insignia highlighting the fact that he was an officer.
“I will be, but she needs a doctor or a healer or whatever you have at your disposal,” Proto Man muttered as he gestured to the bloody, broken hybrid. Rather than offer a smart retort, Mireya just coughed and tried to remain conscious. He never had before, but now Proto man was certain he wouldn’t ever underrate the former nomad’s resolve. He was alive because he didn’t experience pain as a mental stimulus. On top of that, his systems were capable of replicating lost structures and mending damage to his exoskeleton. Mireya was alive because she didn’t feel like dying.
There were a lot of things Proto Man was happy to be without when it came to humanity, but he had to admit there were a few traits he wished that Wily could have converted into code.
“The two of you escort her to that cleric staying near the east gate.” When the two men walked over to help her, Mireya didn’t offer any resistance, and a few beats later, it was just Proto Man and the officer standing just outside the gate. “I probably should have verified this beforehand, but you are Blues, correct? You were the prime who spoke with the mayor last month?”
Last month? Where does the time go in this world?
“Yes, that’s me,” Proto Man answered after a brief moment of silence. “If you could, I need to speak with Boone and Dobson.”
“The mayor has an appointment with another prime, but they should be finished talking by the time we get there.”
***
As they walked through the tight hallway that lead to the mayor’s private residence, Proto Man had to squeeze around another prime. Unlike the Atelos and Shang, this man didn't stand out as much. He looked just like any person you'd find on the street, but the look in his eyes and the way he carried himself alluded to something more complex beneath the surface.
At the end of the corridor, the garrison officer opened the door for Proto Man and excused himself.
As before, Mayor Boone's quarters were poorly illuminated, and the man himself was sitting at his desk. He was hunched over and massaging his temples, and it took him a few moments to notice the android standing in his doorway. “Welcome back, Blues, I take it you have news?” The mayor asked the question without removing his hands from the sides of his head and without looking at the boy.
“I know where the source of the Blight is… and I intend to go there and stop it.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
The remark caused the youth to scowl behind his visor. “I need help. I lost a friend just to discover where the Archdemon is, and my other ally is too hurt to make the journey to the Black Gate.”
Mayor Boone seemed to tighten up at the mention of dreaded landmark that doubled as Diablo’s ‘gravestone.’ The man let his hands drop down to his desk and lifted his weary eyes to look over at the dirty android. “How do you know that’s where you need to go?”
“I heard it straight from the mouth of someone working for the Archdemon.”
“I see… I’m afraid I can’t offer anything. The men here are too preoccupied with defending the walls, and we’ve heard stories that Count Dracula has started to recruit more primes as of late. I can’t afford to have the city undefended.”
Proto Man shook his head. “The demon I killed was the head of an armory. An armory, Mayor. If we don’t deal with this situation now, some vampire is going to be the least of your concern. For all we know, we could be dealing with another situation like the one that ruined this whole region in the first place!”
The usually languid mayor frowned. “You weren’t here, Blues, so I don’t expect you to know what we went through here when we were besieged by the Lord of Terror. Maybe when you’re older and have a little more experience you’ll know a sliver of that.” Despite his almost half hearted tone, Boone’s words were meant to sting.
“I guess I understand now why the Kingdom abandoned this place,” Proto Man snapped. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go risk my head to save a bunch of people who wouldn’t know a fulfilling life if it slapped them in the face!” On his way out, he slammed the door with enough force to shatter it into a few dozen shards of fine wood. He instantly regretted his tone for betraying his years (or lack thereof), but he wouldn’t take back the words. Darkshire was a miserable place filled with sad, miserable people who seemed to be waiting for the darkness to swallow them whole. The bottom tiers of Coruscant were just as miserable, but the people there fought with every fiber of their being to improve their lot and make their neighborhoods a better place.
Darkshire? Darkshire was better off being razed to the ground.
Proto Man kept walking until he heard the sound of boots rapidly approaching from behind. The preteen machine paused and glanced over his shoulder to see Dobson racing to catch up with him. The unofficial leader of the town’s garrison had a look of concern on his face.
“Where are you going?” The young man asked as he stopped to catch his breath.
“The Black Gate… someone needs to end the Blight, and your mayor doesn’t want to lift a finger.”
That fact caused a frown to spread across the soldier’s features. “Bullshit.” He seemed ready to about-face and head back to the City Hall when his eyes suddenly light up and he snapped his fingers. “You can cure this, right? The Blight?”
“I don’t know,” Proto Man replied. “Removing the archdemon will prevent it from spreading, but I don’t know what will happen to the darkspawn or those infected by the Blight.”
“I have a friend… she was part of the original group that set out to deal with the Blight.”
“I thought you said they disappeared?”
“Things changed,” the man answered. “She survived, but she’s got the first signs of the disease. We had to turn her away at the gate to prevent any of the citizens from contracting it from her. If you’re going to end this, she’ll be more than willing to help you. I can guarantee that.”
“Where is she?”
“She has a camp a few miles away from the north gate…”
“What’s her name?”
“Whirda. Whirda Windstrom.”
At the mention of the name, Proto Man’s database pulled up a few matches and a picture of a young woman he’d met at the Fountain of Infinity. Once the two were paired together, his GPS threw up an icon that pointed in her general direction. “Got it… thank you.” With that, the red robot turned and started to jog toward the nearest gate out of the town. If she’d been in the Omniverse for as long as him than maybe this Whirda, infection and all, would be able to help him settle the score with ‘Scylla.’
After that, Proto Man could leave this morose place once and for all...
![[Image: proto.jpg]](http://epiqz.com/omni/proto.jpg)
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Dante's Abyss 2015
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