Vinylquest

by Aiyonbeam

Zone 1 Boss: Confrontation

[You were looking for this?] Vinyl's voice calls from the hole.

She must have found The Virus, then. Just like she said.
I grin. Knowing Vinyl and her knowledge of video games, The Virus is in for a hard time.
My grin fades, however, upon hearing Vinyl's voice echo from the hole again.

[W-Who are you? And why do you look like me?]

[It doesn't matter, Virus.] Vinyl's voice says. [Tavi and I are gonna take you out before you can summon the Eater of Worlds.]

[Tavi? You know where she is?]

I hear a scuffling, and Vinyl's voice grows angry.

[Tell me where she is right now! I swear, if you've so much as touched her, I'll-]

[She's right above us.] Vinyl's voice says. [Tavi, come down here! I need your help!]

I obligingly jump down the hole Vinyl dug.
Why is Vinyl talking to herself?

As I land, I find out why...

There's another Vinyl, unarmed and unarmored, holding the real one by the front of her shirt with one hand, a fist aimed at her head with the other.

[There you are, Tavi!] Vinyl says. [I found The Virus!]

[What's going on!?] I say, confused.

There shouldn't be two Vinyls.
Is this what the Virus does? Is it some sort of changeling?

Immediately, the other Vinyl runs at me, but the real Vinyl brings her sword down, and the other Vinyl just barely dodges out of the way.

[I guess I'll have to take you out before I can go greet my best friend.] the other Vinyl says, scowling.

The real Vinyl laughs.

[Greet her? Kill her, more like. But don't worry, Virus. I've got just the thing for you.]

Vinyl reaches into what appears to be empty space and pulls out an anvil.

[Tavi and I were looking for an ingredient to create a weapon, and now we've got it,] she says, holding a strange blinking ball in her hand. [thanks to that golden chest over there.]

[What is it?] I ask, confused. Vinyl hadn't said anything about a weapon.

[Timed Proximity Mine.] she says, grinning. [A super-secret recipe.]

[Enjoy!] Vinyl shouts, tossing the explosive at the other Vinyl, who tries to run, only to be met with the barrel of my flintlock pistol.
The other Vinyl steps backwards, towards the mine, and tears form in her eyes.

[T-Tavi...] she says, her eyes pleading. [You gotta believe me. I'm the real Vinyl.]

[Don't listen to her!] Vinyl shouts. [She's trying to trick you!]

[Don't worry, Vinyl.] I say, aiming the pistol at the other Vinyl's head. This close, I can't miss, even though my arms are shaking. [I've dealt with changelings before.]

[Tavi, please!]

[Shut up!] I say. This is already hard enough without the changeling tugging at my heartstrings like this.

A small rumbling noise fills the cavern, and the disk suddenly disappears, to be replaced by a small monster, who's now beeping.

[Buddy! NO!]

[Goodbye, Regicide.] the monster says. [It has been an honor.]

And then, just like that, the monster is gone.

[BUDDY!] the other Vinyl screams, tears flowing down her face.

In an instant, the fake Vinyl flings herself at the real one, punching her full in the face and knocking her to the ground. The two roll around for a few seconds before the real Vinyl - her armor distinguishing her from the fake one - kicks the clone off of her and draws her sword.

[Any second now, that bomb's going to explode.] Vinyl says. [And there's nothing you can do to stop it.]

Odd.
It isn't like Vinyl to say things like that; to twist emotional knives.

I shake my head, clearing my mind.
Now's not the time to be calmly standing by and ruminating on Vinyl's character while she's in danger.

I aim the pistol, and fire...

And miss, as the bullet hits the wall next to the fake Vinyl's head.

She flinches, giving the real Vinyl time to dart in and smack her with the grip of her sword, forcing Vinyl into the exact same position she was in before; backed against the wall.

[You don't know what you've gotten yourself into, Virus.] the other Vinyl says, hatred in her gaze as she glares at the real Vinyl. [Buddy can move through the ground faster than you can imagine...]

[The Eater of Worlds has awoken!]

[And explosives break Shadow Orbs.]

Almost immediately, the floor explodes and a grey worm bursts through the room, screaming anger and hate as it barrels straight for Vinyl.

[Use the Quad Nine Bullets!] Vinyl says, rolling away just in time. [It's the only thing that'll stop it!]

Loading six glowing bullets into the flintlock, I take aim, and fire...

...As the other Vinyl grabs the gun and pushes it out of the way.

[There's no way I'm gonna let you kill him!] she screams, trying to force me to let go of the gun.

As I struggle with the fake Vinyl, her hand presses the trigger, and a loud bang rings through the cave.

An orange '9999' appears above the worm as it explodes into several pieces, all of which fall into the fake Vinyl's inventory as both of them are knocked back.
When the smoke clears, the real Vinyl's armor is gone, and her sword is lying on the ground in between them. They both glance at it.

There's a long silence.

[Well.] one of the Vinyls says. [I guess it's up to Tavi.]

The other one sighs. [It'd seem so.]

They both look at me, their eyes pleading.

I...
I can't tell which one is real.

[I don't know which one of you is The Virus.] I say, aiming the gun at first one, then the other.

One of the Vinyls looks around the room and spots the anvil.

[I'm going to cross the room and go to the anvil.] she says. [You can pick up that sword while I do so.]

Faster than I can see, on of the Vinyls dives towards the sword, while the other dashes to the anvil, presumably crafting something.
When the first Vinyl gets up from her roll, the other one is holding a purple blade that pulses occasionally with a soft purple light.

[Tavi.] the purple-bladed one says. [I want to explain something to you.]

[Go on.] I say. What's she getting at?

[Alright, so we know that this Virus isn't like us. It can shapeshift, so it doesn't have a real body, right?]

[Right...]

[So it stands to reason that it can't do human things like breathe, drink, or bleed, right?]

[NO!] the other Vinyl yells.

[Right...]

The Vinyl runs the purple sword across the palm of her hand, and blood starts to drip from it.

[And if I can bleed...] she says, grinning.

I aim my pistol at the other Vinyl, who's looking on with a mixture of shock, fear, and anger in her eyes.

[You clever, clever-]

I fire, but my aim's a bit off, and the bullet hits The Virus in the gut, blasting a small hole in its chest.

The Virus screams, growing long claws and lunging at me...
A blood-stained purple blade embeds itself in its head, and it disappears in a burst of pixels, leaving the sword and a chest behind.

Vinyl sighs in relief.

[Looks like you saved us in the end, King...] she says mournfully, gazing down at the sword on the floor. [And all I did was get you killed.]

I drop the gun, and run to hug Vinyl, who stands up to hug me back.

The worm was good, and I...

[I'm so sorry, Vinyl.] I say, tears in my eyes.

[It's not your fault.] she says, tearing up as well. [If I hadn't pulled the trigger...]

There's a long silence.

[I never did find out what a 'Regicide' was.] Vinyl says, chuckling sadly.

I look at Vinyl, confused.

[Regicide?] I ask.

[Yeah.] she replies. [The Eater called me 'Regicide', whatever that means. He acted like I was destined to come here.]

[Vinyl...] I say, looking down at the sword. [A regicide is someone who kills a king.]

Vinyl stands there for a few seconds, after which she drops to her knees.

[I...]

[Vinyl...] I say, a deep feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach.

[Are you telling me that I was destined to kill him?] she says, putting her head in her hands.

I just stand there. I can't imagine what she must be going through.

[T-That's bullcrap!] Vinyl screams. [I never asked for this! I never wanted to come here! I never wanted to...]

As I watch, trying to process all of this, Vinyl breaks down, crying freely into her hands.

After what seems like an hour, a small grey monster breaks through the floor.

[I've finally found you, Queen.] it says. Vinyl looks at it in horror.

[Q-Queen?] she asks.

[Yes. Your children are waiting for you down below. Forgive my intrusion.]

The creature burrows into the ground, disappearing.

[Queen?] Vinyl asks.

[Do you think we should follow it?] I ask.

[That explains why he was so serene...] Vinyl says, shaking her head slowly. [And why he asked me...]

Suddenly, Vinyl looks up, fire in her eyes.

[We're following it. Come on, Tavi.]

Vinyl jumps down the hole she must have dug to get to the cave, and down into the cave below. Following her, I see row after row of the monsters, all lying on the ground.

[All hail Regicide, Queen of the Corruption!]

Author's Note:

Hoo boy!
What's it been, months?
Sorry.
I'll try to update more regularly.

Comments

[ClockWorkAndSteamPunk]

5107720

Marry me plz