Lost Memories

Part 4; Chapter 2 - Professer Red's Lab

I stared at the ruined lab in awe, and also a bit of confusion. What was this place? I wonder what it looked like when it was originally built!

Rainbow began to act somewhat like a tour guide as he pointed at the different blocks the building was made of, the collapsed tower, leading us to the back to show off a small potion making area, in which the brewing stand was still in tact with the ruined leather cover of a decayed book laid under a rock that acted as a paperweight.

"How long has this been here for again, Rainbow?" Shark asked. "Well, if you guys use the same amount of generations we Steves use, it's been ruined for about seven generations, or over two hundred years!" He claimed.

"Wow.." I mumbled as I picked up a gravel pebble. I turned to throw it at Moose to mess with him, but then noticed he wasn't next to me.

"Moose?" I asked. I separated from the group, looking around the lab to see if he had wandered to look around by himself. I then noticed him still standing at the entrance to the clearing.

"Hey, Moose, buddy.." I softened my voice as I approached him. The expression on his face was confused and fearful.. and somewhat almost sad. Whenever Moose looked like this, something was incredibly wrong.

I took his hands in mine. "Hey, look at me, Moose, it's okay.." I reassured him, "want to tell me what's bothering you?" Moose inched away from the clearing, bringing his hands away to cross his arms. "I don't like this place. We should go." He said almost frantically.

"Hey! Hey, wait, we can't leave the others-" "Yes we can-" "George." Moose paused at his real name. "..I don't want to go in there.." He mumbled after a short silence. I pulled him into a hug. "And you don't have to. Just stay in the clearing for me, okay?" I told him. Moose hesitated. "Fine."

I led Moose back into the clearing. "Sit right here, okay?" I gestured to a clear, grassy patch, in the trees' shade that was also not covered with dead leaves. Moose sat and hugged his knees to his chest as I sat with him.

"What's wrong with this place, for you, Moose?" I asked as I gestured to the lab. "I don't like the vibe it's giving off. It's like when you watch a scary video at night. You're scared that something will come get you despite your room being safe and closed off to it." He explained.

Now I've done my fair share of three A.M. challenges, and honestly, some of them are not fun at all. Like the thing Moose just described. "I'll always be here to keep you safe from monsters, dude, don't worry." I pat his shoulder and rubbed it for a bit as Moose stared at the lab.

The others soon came back aroud the lab, Galaxy pointing at us. They must've noticed we weren't with them at the back of the building.

Sabre approached us. "Hey guys, what's up? You okay?" He asked, putting his hand in his pocket. "Moose doesn't like the building," I quickly explained, "he said he doesn't like the vibe." Sabre nodded in understanding as he bent down.

"Hey, Moose, I know you don't really want to, but wanna come look into the lab with us..? Nathan will hold your hand the whole time, and Galaxy has powers to defend you if something goes wrong.." He urged. Moose hugged his legs a bit tighter, seemingly uncomfortable.

"Again, you don't have to, okay? I'm just giving you an option. If you don't want to go in, that's completely fine" Sabre quickly added. Moose hesitated. "...I'll.. I'll think about it, okay?" He said. Sabre nodded. "Whatever you wanna do bud." He stated before going back to the group.

I continued to sit with Moose in silence, keeping close to him. I wondered what had scared Moose so badly about this building. Whatever bad vibe was coming off of it for him, the others and I clearly didn't feel it.

After a few more minutes of silence, the others looked to us. "We're going in now! Join us if you want!" Galaxy called. I looked to Moose. "So?" I asked, "you up for it?" He turned to look at me, then sighed. "A peek wouldn't hurt, I guess." He mumbled, standing.

I quickly stood with him, and we made our way to the building. We watched our friends find a way through the rubble and down a staircase made from rusted iron, holding their torches out to light the path. I watched Rainbow pull a few creaky levers, then my eyes widened when a large iron door slowly rose, opening to a huge, ruined lab in front of us.

"Woahh! This place is crazy!" Galaxy exclaimed, being the first to go in. The lab's walls, floor, and ceiling were all made from iron that was not as rusted as the stairs, plates of metal barely hanging from loose screws in the walls or ceiling. It seemed like there had been a huge explosion there, some blocks and materials scattered from a center point in the lab.

"There was this thing that was called an End Crystal that used to be here! I remember that one of my old friends Professor Red was trying to study it!" He explained. "Professor Red? Was he a Red Steve?" Sabre asked. "Well, not this one, he was actually kinda smart. I think he said something about drinking a suspicious stew that he stole from a Blue Steve because he thought it was mushroom stew? And then it made him smarter? Bah, I wasn't there." The smaller explained.

Ever since Rainbow mentioned an End Crystal, however, I hadn't noticed Moose's grip on my hand getting tighter and tighter with each mention of something from Rainbow's past. I looked over at Moose when I felt his grip tighten again at the name "Professor Red" for the third time. I glanced at the group and pulled him aside.

"Hey, Moose, you okay, buddy?" I asked, putting my hands on his shoulders and bending down a bit to his eye level. He shook his head. "Headache.. it hurts-" He whimpered out, reaching up and grabbing at his head. "Hey, calm down, shh, just cover your ears, okay? Is it the noise that's causing it?" I lowered my voice to be quieter for him as he shook his head and tugged at his hair.

I pulled his hands away from his head. "We can leave, Moose, it's okay. I'll just tell the others an-" "I REMEMBER!!" Moose interrupted with a shriek, before turning and bolting to a key pad, punching in some numbers, and running into the door before it shut. "MOOSE!?" I exclaimed. "GEORGE!!" I ran to the door and pounded on it after trying to open it. "COME BACK!!"

"What's going on over here!?" Sabre shouted, walking over. His tone sounded upset, almost mad. "Is everything okay? What happened?" He demanded. I took a step back. I didn't like Sabre when he yelled-

"Uh- well, you know how Moose was uneasy about this place earlier? Well uh- maybe I shouldn't have brought him in here, he just had an absolute freak out moment during Rainbow's tour." I explained quickly. Sabre looked at the keypad and studied it, before punching in some numbers. He tried several different combinations before turning to Rainbow.

"Any ideas on how to work this, Rain?" He asked, Rainbow shaking his head, much to my dismay. "No, Professor Red restricted that area to us when we stayed with him here for a few days to train. Man, now that I think about it, this was kinda like my first home." He replied.

Sabre turned to the group, then to me. "Well- how would Moose have known how to open the door? It's not like he could be the reincarnation of Professor Red like I'm that of Blue Steve." He stated, only to be met with silence.

"..." We looked to the door. "He's not, he couldn't be." Sabre turned as Rainbow spoke up. "He couldn't be the Professor, he's Moose! But- his energy is that of a Steve's!" He exclaimed as Sabre went back to him.

"Nathan," Sabre said as he turned back to me, "you could try to keep punching in keypad numbers, but.. I think it would be best to wait instead." After a few seconds, I nodded. "Yeah. If he needs to figure himself out, let him figure himself out.." I agreed.

I sat down against the wall, hugging my knees to my chest. "Hey, uh, I can keep showing you guys around.. you can stay here for Moose if you want, Nathan." Rainbow said awkwardly. He seemed unnerved about the new information as he turned to look down a hallway.

"Yeah, sure. You go do that." I said. Rainbow nodded and went down the hall, his form stiff. I sighed. Guess I'd have to wait it out.