Chapter Text
Chopper awoke to the feeling of the cold floor against his scales, and as he uncurled from the fetal position he’d apparently been in, the sight of a wholly unfamiliar wooden rectangular room. Slowly getting to his feet, he saw a doorway on each of the four walls, one of which being a golden color, marked with a crown at the top.
Maybe this was some sort of test, or perhaps an elaborate prank? Thinking back, he could recall having been training alongside Funny Bone, but the more he tried to figure out how that led to here, the more his head hurt, so he eventually reluctantly stopped that train of thought.
Oh if Funny Bone wasn’t also somewhere in this,and even if he is, he’s probably worried sick about him. Well, no sense just sitting here fretting.
He quickly noticed he still had his Exo-Suit on, including the combination helicopter pack and missile rack, so at least there’s that.
With a sigh, he trotted off towards the golden doorway, mildly disappointed when it didn’t reveal an exit. Instead, there was a little blue and white spotted mushroom sitting on a pedestal in the center of the room. The plaque on the front of the pedestal read “Mini-mush”.
Was he supposed to take it? He shrugged and pocketed the little fungus, only to gasp as he suddenly felt himself shrink a considerable amount. Dang it, he’s already short enough as is, is this truly necessary?! He didn’t even eat it! Though on the bright side, his gear shrunk with him, and he did feel a fair bit faster as well.
There didn’t seem to be any way forward besides the doorway he came in through, so, quietly bemoaning the cruel twist of fate that made an already tiny tyrannosaur even smaller, he headed back and towards the next doorway, this one a dull grey. Heading through, he yelped as the door slid shut behind him, almost slamming right on his tail. It had no noticeable handle, nor even a seam to pull at, locking him in.
Ok, definitely worrying, but no sense in panicking, worst case scenario he could probably blast his way out-
A growl, almost a groan, snapped Chopper from his thoughts as something began slowly lumbering towards him. A pale humanoid entity, almost like a zombie, but way less rotten,save for the blood dripping down from its vacant eyes. Maybe they’re friendly? He’s seen stranger undead folks before, heck he’s friends with several. He slowly trotted up, still a bit nervous, but at least he’s not alone here right? “Hello there, i think i’ve gotten a bit lost, would you mind telling me where-”
he suddenly cried out as the pale thing swung at him with surprising force. His heli-pack buzzed to life as he put some distance between him and it. He could already feel a bruise forming. Despite the thing’s thin build, it was surprisingly strong.
He fired at it until it stopped moving. All that remained when he finished were some bits of gore strewn about and a red smudge on the ground. Ok maybe that was a bit of an overkill retaliation, but there's not much he can do about it now.
Once the thing was thoroughly blasted into oblivion, the doors reopened, and something fell from above. Landing to investigate, he found a singular gold coin sitting there. He quietly pocketed it, glancing upwards as he did, perhaps to spot what or whoever dropped it, only to see clouds of thick fog where the ceiling should be that made his head spin if he stared at it too long.
Note to self, don’t look up.
Entering the next room, the doors slammed shut just like the last time. This room contained a few more of the beings from earlier, as well as some red flies, and a couple grey wasps with cross shaped pupils in their eyes, as well as a random scattering of rocks. If the last room was anything to go off of, the doors would reopen once all the creatures here were defeated. Should be easy now that he knows what he’s doing, he’s fought way worse. Helicopter blades buzzed as he circled the room, firing on the creatures, who mostly weren’t an issue, though the wasp things, instead of trying to sting him like expected, fired little red globs at him, which did catch him off guard as a few of the crimson projectiles struck him, leaving painful red marks where they landed, but he did manage to defeat them in the end.
This time, as the doors opened up, a small potion bottle dropped. Picking up the heart-shaped bottle, the red liquid inside looked a lot like a healing potion. Gently popping the lid, it definitely smelled like one too, that familiar sweet, vaguely melon-ish smell of a standard healing potion. He drank it down, finding relief in the familiar taste, and the warm feeling as his wounds mended themselves. Three paths presented themselves , one straight ahead, another grey doorway, likely presenting more foes, one to his right, orange with a coin symbol above, likely some sort of shop, and to his left, a black doorway lined with jutting jagged spikes.
All he had on him at the moment was the one coin from earlier, so he opted to investigate the spiked doorway instead. He slowly trotted up, peering through the spikes, but the room on the other side was dark enough that he couldn't see what was inside all too clearly. He ducked down and carefully tried to squeeze through the spikes, but he still got poked by the sharp spikes on the way through. Granted it was only a few little pinpricks, but it still hurt!
Inside the dark stone room was a red and black treasure chest. Definitely not suspicious at all. Nope, definitely not. Chopper circled it a few times, checking for traps, wires and hidden triggers and such, before carefully opening it, ready to bolt if something happens.
and that instinct does him well when inside is a giant black bomb with a sputtering fuse and a cheeky grin.
Chopper buzzes up and away just in time to avoid getting blown to bits. He hovers there a while, brushing soot and bits of stone off his scales, before swiftly heading for the door. Sure he gets pricked again on the way out, but it's better than being a little orange and red stain on the floor.
Next room, more of the same sorts of foes for the most part, mostly the flies and wasps, but there was something new. It was like the pale things from before, but much bigger, with a much wider build. There were two of them, and though they were big, they were also slow. Some quick flight work and well placed missiles dealt with them, the only collateral being some of the rocks and old pots laying about. As the dust settled and a silver key dropped from above, which he swiftly pocketed, he also noticed a little heart shaped potion bottle laying among the rock rubble. He landed and picked it up, expecting another healing potion. Instead, it was filled with a silvery blue concoction.
It smelled faintly sweet, with hints of blueberry and honey. He gulped it down, and though his small wounds from the earlier spikes still ached, he felt he could take a few more hits then before. There were also some coins among the pot rubble that he quickly pocketed.
The only way forward from here looked to be a doorway with an ominous dark skull at its top. He cautiously headed through, the door slamming roughly behind him as he was met with a massive grey bulbous thing, hovering back and forth through the room. With an awful hacking cough, it spat out a small swarm of the hostile flies he’d been previously facing. Shouldn't be much trouble.
He circled the thing and its flies,which it continued to hork up more of, letting loose missiles at them, and not only were the flies swiftly dealt with, the thing sending them fell surprisingly easily. Slightly disappointing really, he’d expected something harder.
As the bits of fly and beast fell to the floor, a healing potion dropped from above, which he happily downed, the last of his injuries closing up.
At the same time, a trapdoor opened, and a pedestal appeared. On the pedestal was a simple brown leather belt. He put it on, noticing how he felt a bit faster when he did. He then cautiously peered down the trapdoor, into the darkness below. Looks like the only way through is down. He gripped the nerve-wrackingly flimsy ladder as he made his way down.
If this was a test, he was certainly passing with flying colors