Cotton Drifting Chapter
綿流し編
The little bot was fear stricken, with an insane look in his eyes. He leaned the knife against the wall... and began to stab himself
in the head. Making a choking sound as he laid each blow on himself, oil dripping down the side of his head...all she could do...
was laugh. He was going cross-eyed now, he finally fell to the floor, collapsed in a pool of oil that continued to flow from the dead
robot. She continued to laugh... her green eyes were no longer as sane as they used to be. So she continued to laugh.
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(WALL-E'S POV)
June , 28, 2826
He woke up. Shaking his head of the drowsiness. EVE was beside him. He sighed.
Wow, she's beautiful he thought. Trying not to wake her he slid out of bed and looked over at the clock on the night stand. 12:54.
"ACK!" he shouted.
He rushed over to the other side of the bed and began to try to wake her up. Her beautiful blue eyes opened and looked at him.
"*yawns*... good morning." she sighed.
"EV-AH! 12:54!!!"
Her eyes shot open.
"WHAT!?!" she shouted.
She jumped out of bed and began flying around preparing a travelling back-pack while he began making the bed. The couple had become fond of sleeping like humans, more cozy and they could get closer to each other (I'll leave it to you to imagine what I mean by that!).
He finished making the bed and pulled the handle under the end of the bed, released and watched as it reclined into the closet and he shut the door leaving lots of room in the truck.
"Ev-ah!" he called. She was gone. Looking around.
"WALL-E!!!" she waved to him.
She was out on the front lawn holding his black back pack in her right hand.
"Sorry... fixing bed..." he said after locking the door and rolling out towards her.
She paused with a sympathetic and regretful look in her eyes.
"Oh... no... I-I should have..." she began a little embarrassed.
He gave her an 'eyes only' smile.
"NO NO NO!!! It okay... Ev-ah, you... too pretty... to do house work!"he replied
She blushed. She always fell for lines like that.
And so, they began to speed down the now grassy path to the beach.
The world around him had changed alot since the humans began to plant things. Saddly, the pizza plant (as Mc. Crea had hoped for) didn't grow. But the grass now grew tall and trees were everywhere! In the distance, he heard the cry of a cicada.
"Hi... hi...gu..."
"Higurashi?" asked EVE.
"Uh... huh!" he replied.
They stopped and listened. EVE had taught him the Japanese name of the cicada, considering she was Japanese.
"Let's go." she said after a few minutes of listening to the higurashi chirp.
They continued to speed until they got to a beach. At the edge where the grass met the sand there was a cottage. It was small, but big at the same time. Recently the couple had been invited to join the 'ROBOTZ' club which contrived of a few Axiom bots: EVE's Two younger sisters ROSE and SAM, and M-O the little cleaning bot. WALL-E was new to this sort of thing because as an 'earth-class bot' he was never that close to them, and EVE was always out flying or with WALL-E, but it did feel good to talk to her sister probes again. The cottage was a gift to them from the humans.
They approached the door.
"Hello!" called WALL-E cheerfully, then something fell on his making a 'clang' and leaving him very wet.
A bucket of water.
He picked it up and dropped it on the floor.
"Hello." he repeated in a less cheery voice.
The robots giggled. He was now soaking wet!
"Nice SAM!" EVE called.
"SAM!!! RAWR!!!" he shouted, pretending to be enraged.
He ran up to her and flicked her on the fore-head, "NO SAM! BAD GIRL!!!" he taunted.
She paused for a moment with wide yellow eyes.
"Why... you... so... mean?!" she sobbed.
He was shocked, she never cries.
"ACK! I... sorry... kidding... KIDDING!" he tried to console her.
Then suddenly the room got quiet, in fear everyone looked at EVE. Her face was really red and her eyes were in a very satisfied shape.
"OMO...CHI...KAE...RI!!!"she shouted, grabbed SAM and flew around the room.
WALL-E knew EVE's 'omochikaeri' mode all too well. When she sees cute things, she tries to take them home with her, and for some reason she suddenly becomes really strong! So he did what he could to try to save SAM, who by now was very sorry she began to overreact. He chased after EVE, finally pinning her down letting SAM go and tickling her to the point that she would have cried... until she began tickling him too. So the two of them were on the floor, WALL-E was on top of her trying to get her to stop as he ticked her too.
"Eager? WALL-E?"chuckled ROSE.
They began to stop tickling each other and stand up. WALL-E tried to convince them it wasn't how it looked, he didn't try to 'glomp' her (not that he wouldn't)!
"Okay? Are... we... 'bout done?" asked M-O slightly irritated.
The two robots went and sat down on the couches that were in the living room.
The two probes who stared back at them were very different from their older sister. ROSE had lime-green eyes and a bossy leader-like voice, and SAM had yellow eyes and a more taunting, childish voice. ROSE was more or less the club leader. The reason the couple had freaked that morning was because if you make SAM wait too long, she'll set up booby traps as your punishment for making her wait. EVE was aware of this, even on the Axiom, so she was very good about avoiding her sister's traps, WALL-E:... not so good. Because he was no longer on the Axiom, M-O no longer needed his scrubbing brush so he took it off, he had four fingers like EVE, but they stayed attached to his body, unlike EVE.
"Okay," began ROSE, "M-O says... we go to the game shop. Agreed?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
So the group of robots began to travel into the town.
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The place had changed alot, the old buildings were knocked down and thanks to a new scientific discovery, they were able to make the buildings and the garbage decompose into clean soil. The new buildings were all made out of wood. Only scrap wood. The people had decided that it would be wrong to start harming the trees again, also paper was all recycled too. They finally came to a shop that was packed to the brim with kids and teenagers.
"Woah...!"he stared in awe.
"What?" asked ROSE.
"A... contest!" he replied.
There in fact was a contest, a game of cheat was going to be taking place in fifteen minutes, and the winner got $500!
"$500?!?!"cried SAM.
M-O nodded.
"Okay! First one to lose... a maid till sunset!" ROSE had set up the punishment.
Those were the two things they did, play games and punish. If you lost a game in which the whole club is taking place in, you have to play the punishment game which usually made the victim look ridiculous.
They entered in the contest.
EVE was the first one to lose because she kept trying to take the 'cute' cards home with her. WALL-E was looking forward to seeing her in the maid's outfit the club has in the cabin closet.
This is gonna be good! She is going to look so cute! I just might take her home with me too! he thought giddily to himself.
Then SAM and M-O lost too. After awhile, all the other humans had lost too, it was just ROSE and WALL-E, he honestly couldn't believe he got this far.
"Okay. Winner will be decided... tomorrow." she concluded.
"What?...why?" he asked.
"I have work now." she replied.
Damn, I was looking forward to challenging her...
The man running the shop walked up to WALL-E.
"Ok, here's a consolation prize... duuuuude... you're a robot!"
"Um... yes" he replied.
"...duuuuuude. That's so cool!"
This guy was a little bit freaky. He handed him the plastic bag. Inside was a black stuffed kitten with a red bow and a bell around it's neck.
"OH! Lucky!" EVE cried, her eyes in 'omochikaeri' mode.
"Here... have it."
EVE blushed, she didn't expect him to really give it to her.
"Oh... th...thank you!"she stuttered.
"Well... don't think ROSE... into that stuff!" he laughed.
"Oh! Right! I'm... like a boy!"ROSE said cheerfully... but her voice sounded so... fake.
SAM and M-O had to leave, they were younger than ROSE, EVE and WALL-E so they got tired quicker than they did.
ROSE worked at a book store, the paper was recycled and when a book got ripped or torn, they'd recycle it and replace it if you had a stamp on the book that said you paid for it.
WALL-E and EVE walked home side by side. He kept glancing over at EVE, whom was wearing a really cute maid's outfit. It was like a mini dress. It was black with white lace all around the edges. There was also a red bow she had to wear on her head and a headband with fake cat ears attached to it. She also had a fake cat's tail sewn into the back of the dress. There was a bell tied to the tail, so every time she moved it would tinkle. The arm cuffs that looked like the puffy sleeves on the dress of a princess were a nice touch. She was blushing alot.
He decided it would be too long of a trek home at regular punishment embarrassment speed.
"Omo... chi... kae... RI!!!" he cried.
Startled by the noise, EVE turned around, but before she knew what was happening, WALL-E had grabbed her and was running full speed towards their home. His face in the same giddy position EVE usually had. She started to giggle.
Later on, EVE sent WALL-E out to return the maid's outfit to the cafe near the centre of town. It was sunset so the sky was painted beautiful shades of orange, pink and red.
He reached the cafe, the sign said 'Cafe, Kya!' in big letters. There was a big picture of a cute black cat on the sign as well. He knew most of the men liked this place because the waitresses were all female and wore the maid's outfit that EVE was forced to wear.
He walked inside, and at the counter there was a girl in a maid's outfit.
"Hi... um... re... turn... outfit!"he said cheerfully.
"Oh, sure...!" the voice sounded robotic, "... okay thank you... sir."
He gasped.
"ROSE!?!?!"
"Eh... WALL-E?!"
There was ROSE... in a maid's outfit... blushing... maybe he could use this to his advantage. I mean after all, it would be nice to get revenge for all she's done to him.
"ROSE..." he said taunting her with an evil smile "... I bet... EVE, SAM and M-O... love to see this!"
"Ah... no...! You're... mistaken..." she said blushing.
"Huh?" he was confused. Did they already know?
"I'm... APRIL... ROSE and I... look alike... we're sisters"
Sisters? he thought No, there's only three probes EVE, ROSE and SAM... right... she must be trying to pull a fast one on me... she said my name!
"But... you... my name..."
"Oh! ROSE talks alot 'bout you... all good things!"
Ok... this does not sound at all like ROSE!
"oh... ok... 'APRIL'... see ya!"he called.
EVE had another sister he didn't know about, or was ROSE just too embarrassed to admit she had a girly side too.
He went home and crawled into bed, he would've asked EVE... had she not been asleep, still clutching the kitty doll.
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The next morning, EVE wasn't in bed. There was a sticky note stuck to his forehead.
'WALL-E, out helping to set up for 'Green Festival'. Be home late. Love EVE'
The festival of Green was a celebration in memory of when he and the other robots saved earth. It was made that people were to take a piece of cotton and let it float down the river. This year, it was M-O who'd lead the festival by opening the mattress full of cotton.
There was a knock on the door.
He went up to answer it.
"Oh! Good morning, WALL-E!"
It was ROSE.
"Oh! Hi... ROSE!"
"Yo!... um... EVE?"
"Working."
"Oh... okay."
He thought he'd try and get some answers.
"ROSE..." he said as clearly as he could, "... is it... hard?"
She looked confused.
"What... hard?"
"Working... as... waitress."
She looked a little startled, she started to blush... SHOCKER!!!
"A... actually... that's APRIL... she... said you met!" she stuttered.
"Mmm hmm... riiiight!" he taunted.
"REALLY!"
He wasn't buying it.
"I'm... the nice probe!... APRIL... is the evil probe!"
Ok, this is just too much!
"I... have to go... BYE WALL-E!" she cried, and sped off into the distance.
She is so Weird!
Later that night, WALL-E was taking a walk through town. It was sunset. He noticed a figure hover down the pathway.
"Right! See ya...!"
It was ROSE... being APRIL.
"Heeeey... !" he called.
She turned around and smiled.
"WALL-E!"
They began to walk down the street together talking about the festival, and many other interesting things.
"Oh, 'scuse me... wait... here." she said.
She dashed off to go talk to a man wearing an apron outside the bakery. He watched her from the side walk, leaning on a bike rack. He lost his footing and tripped over, knocking all the bikes in a domino effect.
"HAY!!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?!?!" shouted a voice.
He turned around, shaking to see about six teenagers (all nineteen) dressed in black and grey staring furiously at him. The tallest boy grabbed him by his neck and screamed in his face, "YOU IDIOT, THAT'S MY BIKE!!!! YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!!!"
He couldn't move, he was petrified, the incredibly tall teens all were giving him looks of absolute doom and moving closer... and pulling out pocket knives. He braced himself for impact.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM YOU BASTARDS!!!"
They turned around to see APRIL, staring at them furiously, but her eyes... they had long black slits down the middle... like a cat... or a demon.
"Oh, YOU WANNA GET INVOLVED IN THIS FLOATY?!?!" one of them screamed.
Then, out of the shadows came a large crowd of robots, surrounding the teens, their eyes in the same demonic way that 's were, their eyes burning into the gang of teens. Among them he saw PR-T, AUTO, GO-4, VN-GO, L-T, SPLY-R, and all the reject robots. AUTO had been grafted out of the Axiom to work as a medical bot, the mechanics welded onto him the base of an EVE probe where he used to attach to the ceiling allowing him to float around town as he pleases.
"... dude... Troy... let's get outta here..." the one holding WALL-E whispered shakily.
The group of teens ran away as fast as they could, WALL-E watched them go.
"... WALL-E... okay?" asked. Her voice was back to normal.
The group of bots all began to move towards him with relieved smiles in their eyes checking if he was okay. Maybe the looks he saw from the bots didn't happen.
Maybe I was imagining it.
After he had thanked them for helping him out of his predicament and continued his stroll with . She brushed off the way she reacted to them as 'self defense'.
"The... Axiom bots... act like... big family... so... you're now... part of the family!" she explained.
He liked that.
"Family... sticks... together." she continued.
Then, out of the blue, she did something he wouldn't have expected in a million years.
"You're really cute." she giggled.
He stared back at her.
"...what?"
She grabbed his arm and began hugging him.
This isn't like ROSE at all! She knows I only love EVE!!!
"ST-STOP IT!" he stuttered.
Then, out of nowhere came a familiar shocked voice.
"A... APRIL!?!?!"
He turned towards the voice, and was shocked to see ROSE. Her eyes were in full green circles and she was blushing. He looked towards the probe playfully hugging him. They looked exactly the same.
"GAH!!! YOU... ARE SISTERS!!!"he yelped.
There was a long awkward pause.
"That's what... I've been... saying!" APRIL laughed.
The next day ROSE tried to avoided WALL-E at all costs, she knew what he thought she was doing to him yesterday.
WALL-E had told EVE about what happened yesterday. She was at first shocked to hear her sister (who turned out to be EVE PROBE:3) was reactivated. And she calmly explained that APRIL always played with people like that. She wasn't mad tried to hug him (thankfully!). She promised she'd talk to ROSE.
Later on, at the club, the robots (WALL-E, EVE, ROSE, SAM, M-O) were playing an old game called 'MONOPOLY', when a knock came on the door. It was Captain Mc. Crea.
"Hey you guys! I heard about the confusion that happened here yesterday 'bout APRIL..."
By now the whole club knew what had happened.
"... so I fixed that!"
emerged from behind the captain to show that her eye colour had been changed from green, to a beautiful light orange.
Everyone was pleased with her new eye colour.
"Hey..." ROSE said weakly.
"Cheer up... sis!" replied APRIL.
Mc. Crea looked towards them.
"I also did some digging and I found out a few things. EVE was made first in 2078 making her the oldest, then ROSE and APRIL were made at the same time in 2080 making them twins, and SAM was made in 2085 making her the youngest!"
"Like... a family!" WALL-E pointed out.
"Uh huh... but sometime around 2087, another probe was made... but it disapaered before it could be placed on the Axiom."
WALL-E felt M-O tense up. What was wrong with him?
"Oh yeah... her name YUMI... light purple eyes." agreed EVE.
EVE, being the oldest, knew her little sisters inside out.
WALL-E wondered what had happened to her.
"Okay, M-O, get some rest for tomorrow night, gotta big day ahead!"
M-O was the bot who was going to lead the festival this year. So he had to get up early to help with preparations.
M-O left to go get some sleep. SAM went with him because they lived together. ROSE and headed home as well, ROSE had decided it was just a friendly prank mixed with WALL-E's dumb-assedness that had made her realize just how much she really missed her sister, so she forgave her. WALL-E and EVE headed for home.
When they got home, it was pretty early, so they unfolded the bed, curled up together and watched 'Hello, dolly!'. After the movie was over they fell asleep. WALL-E knew he had to stay awake just a little longer until EVE got settled. He didn't want to tell her but, she sometimes talked in her sleep. It was a good thing because he could tell if she was going to wake up screaming and need him to hug her, or let her roll over so she could hug him which she usually did. She seemed okay, but then she started to twitch.
"... no..."
He moved closer to her, this was going to be bad.
"... get... away..." she moaned.
He watched her, her eyes were in painful closed positions.
"... O..."
Her eyes got tighter
"... ya... shi..."
He leaned closer.
"... ro." she moaned.
He sat up and stared at her.
What's an Oh-yah-she-row? he thought to himself.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
she screamed knocking WALL-E off the bed and onto his back on the floor.
He immediately snapped back and began to run towards EVE.
"Ev-ah!"
She was sitting up, her eyes were wide and she was crying. He climbed up onto the bed and hugged her. Finally she stopped crying. This was the part where she usually told him what the dream was about, but instead she simply slumped back into bed wide eyed. This was odd.
"Ev-ah... okay...?" he asked.
There was an eerie silence. Then she grabbed him and began to hug him with the side of her head resting on the side of his optics. She didn't speak for the rest of the night. They fell asleep in that position.
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"Ooh yay! Festival!"cried SAM.
It was the night of the Green Festival. Everyone was there, old humans, young, parents, teachers, robots. Everyone was smiling. The group of robots (WALL-E, EVE, ROSE, SAM, M-O and ) were walking around looking at the booths and fooling around.
"Hey you guys what's up?"
It was John, and a NAN-E bot named ANNE. John and ANNE were working on a new project for a magazine of photography, but ANNE's real job was with AUTO in the hospital. She was a good friend of John and wanted to help.
"We're going to th' ceremony, lots o' good pictures there." ANNE had a strange accent.
"Well, I just hope, you-know-what doesn't happen again."
Everyone turned around, It was Captain Mc. Crea.
"Dave, you're not supposed to talk about it." John replied sternly.
"Oh, who cares anymore! Everyone knows! It leaked out somehow!" he retorted.
WALL-E was confused.
"Uhh... what?"
Everyone stared at him.
"Y... you... don't know?" EVE asked, sounding shocked.
Now he was getting worried.
"... know... what?" he replied.
Everyone shot each other worried glances. It was APRIL who spoke.
"You guys go... I'll tell him."
EVE shot her a worried glance. Then turned away to follow her younger sisters and M-O. Once they were out of sight, spoke.
"For four years... in a row... on the festival night... bad things happen..." her voice was darkened.
He stared at her, "... w-what... kind... things?" he asked. It was ANNE who answered this time.
"Every year, since 2821 on the night of the festival... someone dies... another disappears."
He stared at them in horror.
"...w-WAHT!?!" his voice came out squeaky.
"Right, but I'm sure that nothing unusual will happen this year." interrupted Mc. Crea
The group began to break up, John and ANNE went towards the river, Mc. Crea moved out towards the "PIZZA PIZZA" booth and began to move out towards the stage where the ceremony was taking place. WALL-E was still frozen to the spot.
"Hey... you... okay?" she asked.
His eyes were wide and starring into space.
How... could this have happened?! The colony is so nice! Everyone is in danger and they barely know it! Why... why did everyone... more importantly, why did EVE keep this a secret from me?
"WALL-E..."
He snapped back into reality, APRIL was face to face with him staring worriedly and curiously at him.
"... oh... yeah... fine!"
She looked over her shoulder.
"Come..." she commanded.
She grabbed his arm and guided him into the forest.
"Wait... where... we...-"
"Sshh!" she hissed.
Finally, they emerged in a clearing, there was John and ANNE. They were crouched down and looking at the ground and talking.
"ANNE, John!" she called.
They both froze and looked up. When they saw the two robots they calmed themselves.
"Oh, It's just you two."
They were holding small scrap books. This confused him, why weren't they at the ceremony? A better question would be why wasn't he. They reached them and began to have a conversation. After awhile, ANNE said something that sent shivers through out his body.
"Did ye' know, this was where th' first body was found?" she asked with a dark voice.
He jumped up and uttered a small yelp in fear and disgust.
"Sshh!!!" growled APRIL, "We're not... supposed to be... here!"
He shot a glance at her. "Why?" he asked sternly. He was already a little ticked off (mostly scared) that no one had told him about the mysterious deaths.
"Families of the victims of the tragedies say that it's because of a curse... the curse of Oyashiro. They say that the night before the festival, some people get dreams in which Oyashiro appears and kills them."
Oyashiro... he thought back to the other night when EVE woke up screaming and his processor nearly froze.
"Oh... Ohy... Oh-yah... Oh-yah-she..."
"Oyashiro." corrected him.
"He used to guard a village in Japan hundreds of years ago. But when his people left, he became angered, and he swore he'd take revenge on the people who'd taken them away." John continued.
This has been going on for four years... and anyone could be next he thought in horror.
"I believe... the name of the village... was something like... Hima... zakawa..."
"Hinamizawa." APRIL corrected John, a little exasperated. "We... built there!"
He shot a shocked glance at , "Really?"
"Yup! All... other Axiom bots... EVE too! Umm... not M-O... no."
"Yeah... I never quite understood why." John thought aloud.
"They say that demon spirits live in th' bodies o' th' robots o' th' Axiom, sometimes, th' demon inside 'em awakens n' can cause alot o' chaos." giggled ANNE, her giggle shot a tremor throughout his body.
"E... Ev-ah?" he asked weakly.
APRIL evilly laughed, "All the probes do... WALL-E."
This made his oil run cold. EVE... all his robot friends... demons?! No way!
She must be trying to pull a prank on me, like she did the other day when she tried to hug me.
"I wonder who th' curse will get this year." ANNE wondered aloud.
"Might be us! Seeing as he 'commanded' for no one to come to this place ever again after the first killing!" John laughed.
WALL-E's eyes narrowed, APRIL had probably just sent him to his certain doom, this had probably angered Oyashiro that he had disobeyed.
"W... what!?" he choked.
They all turned their evil smiles on him.
"Ahahaha! WALL-E! You... actually... believe this crap?" APRIL laughed hysterically.
He didn't feel anymore calm than when the whole conversation started.
"Oh, lay off him! Don't worry little guy, you and EVE will be fine!" soothed John and he patted his head.
That made him feel better, John was always really kind to him, he was the first human he met after all! Then the sound of cheering made ANNE smile an evil smile.
"Though some superstitious old bags may think that it's a big deal, so let's keep this night our little secret. Okay?" John continued.
"Sounds like th' festivals' over." ANNE sighed. "We, should be going... come on John!"
"Oh, right... Coming!"
As APRIL and ANNE began to turn their separate ways, John leaned over to WALL-E and whispered.
"Be careful, I don't honestly think that this curse thing is all just a load of stories to frighten the children. Watch yourself." WALL-E's eyes narrowed into little black circles.
John turned away and began to follow ANNE to the river.
He remained there and stared at the place where John had disappeared into, shaking and shivering as the moon began to emerge from behind the clouds.
"Oya...shiro..." he whispered.
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The next day at the club WALL-E was standing out side by the fountains, cooling off when a familiar voice came from behind him.
"Yo! WALL-E!"
It was ROSE. She looked, a little dizzy, pale almost.
"Oh... Hi, ROSE! You... feelin' okay?"
She giggled, "Yeah! Late night! Many Axiom bots came over!"
He was glad the awkwardness between them was over.
"Oh, WALL-E..."
He glanced up at her.
"... you see John... or ANNE... last night?"
He froze, He promised he wouldn't tell he'd been in the cursed place with John, ANNE and .
"... or APRIL ?"
He held a long pause.
"No."
She looked a little surprised, "Oh, okay then! Bye!"
He watched her go. Did she see them in the forest?
He pondered this until he got home, there was a note attached to his door, it read 'WALL-E meet me the library- APRIL '.
He made his way to the library and strolled until he got to the tables at the back, there was with a large stack of manga to her right. She waved to him and he rolled up beside her and sat down next to her.
"... what... you... want?" he asked.
She was about to answer but Mc. Crea interrupted her.
"What's going on you two?" he asked, "Isn't EVE going to get mad if you're seen cheating on her for her younger sister eh? I'm so jealous of you two!" he giggled.
WALL-E stared at him with annoyed eyes. Mc. Crea took it as he had offended him (which he had), "... eh, sorry bad joke."
"Oh... WALL-E... I go... work now." APRIL said.
"... wait... what... you-"
"I call you..." she whispered and sped off.
Well, that was weird, why didn't she want to talk in front of Mc. Crea?
"WALL-E," Mc. Crea's voice was serious, "... how much do you really know about APRIL ?"
"Huh?" he asked. What kind of a question is that?
"Er... never mind... did you happen to see John or ANNE after we talked at the festival... or APRIL, during and/or after?"
He froze, was like the mayor, police chief, and his friend... he couldn't tell him what he'd done!
"...n-no... sorry."
"It's okay... its just, well... how do I put this lightly...?"
Suddenly the theme from the movie 'Jurassic Park' began to play.
"Oops... sorry, that's my cell phone, I'll talk to you again soon. and he began to walk out of the library.
First ROSE, then him... why is everyone asking these questions?
Later that night, after EVE had gone to bed, he got a call from APRIL.
"WALL-E... if anyone... asks... the whole night... I with you... and sisters... right?" she asked nervously
"Right... I... with... you... Ev-ah... M-O... ROSE... and SAM." he replied. Those were going to be their alibis.
"Okay... WALL-E... did you hear?" she asked, her voice lowering.
Her tone troubled him.
"... hear... what... ?" he asked calmly.
"JOHN AND ANNE ARE DEAD!!!" she cried.
"OH MY GOD!!!" he shouted, then whipped around to see if he woke EVE, she was still sleeping soundly.
He heard the faint sounds of APRIL's warbling through the phone that lay on the floor. He picked it up, his hands and voice shaking and tried to stay calm and listen to what was saying.
"... ANNE... burned to death... and John... clawed out... his own throat... with his own fingers!" she whispered intensely.
If he could've vomited, he would have.
"... but WALL-E... two people died... that means-"
"-two go missing..." he finished.
"... uh huh... and... I think... we're the two!"
His whole body was trembling and his eyes were in horrified little black dots.
"... b... but we... didn't do anything bad..."
She didn't reply.
"... we... didn't take... anything..."
She remained silent.
"are... ARE YOU LISNTENING!?!?!" he screamed.
The next sound he heard... was the lonely sound of the dial tone.
He lowered himself on his treads. Then he turned and crawled into bed, EVE was still asleep. Her stared at her, if he was going to be taken by Oyashiro, he'd never see her again. Tears welled up in his eyes, he spark kissed her and lay back in bed. But he didn't get any sleep what-so-ever.
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The next day, WALL-E talked on the phone (after EVE had gone out) with Mc. Crea. Apparently, the man who worked at the game shop had gone missing. So that meant that maybe Oyashiro wasn't mad at them after all. That made him feel so relieved. He went outside to tend to the garden that was growing in the back yard. The other transport trucks were moved. The little plant they chased across the galaxy and brought them together grew just behind the house into a magnificent oak tree, overlooking the house, shading it from the sun. Around it grew flowers EVE had planted, her new job was to work in the plant department.
He rolled out with the watering can and rolled by the tree, in big letters he had burned into the tree with his laser said 'WALL-E+EVE' with a big heart around the words. It always made him smile. Then he heard faint sobs that made him stop dead in his tracks, he turned to see M-O crouched in the flower bed to his left, tears streaming down his face.
"M-O!" he cried. "What's... the... matter?" he asked.
M-O looked up at him, straight in the eyes and gripped his arms.
"WALL-E, at festival... you... do something bad?" he asked sounding a bit desperate.
M-O too? He could feel his wires pulsating through his body and he could feel his processor working in his chest, it shook his whole body.
"N-no... nothing bad." he replied.
"WALL-E...?" he asked M-O, loosening his grip.
He was still petrified. He somehow managed to snap out of his trance and answer M-O.
"I'm fine."
M-O looked at WALL-E "Nipah!" he beamed. For some reason, when ever M-O was happy, he'd say 'Nipah'... god knows why!
"I heard... a kitty, went to... cursed spot."
"... kitty?" he asked feeling dumb or some reason.
"Yup! It got scared... ran away. It still scared."
This was M-O's way of making WALL-E talk to him about what he did.
"Aww! Poor kitty!" his optics drooped. "What... kitty do now...? He knows... many dogs watched him... and ask questions... about what happen." WALL-E continued.
M-O turned around, and looked at WALL-E.
"Don't worry... I like the kitty... I protect it! Leave it to me!" he chirped. The wind started to blow.
Does this mean M-O's on my side?
M-O's voice darkened, "... older sister kitty... mad at little sister kitty..." The wind got stronger.
He wondered what that meant.
"... maybe... we should stop club meetings for awhile." he continued. "Big sister kitty... time calm down." The wind continued to pick up.
The sun began to reflect off the small bot's body as the wind blew petals and leaves from the garden and began to swirl around him.
"The dog, bit the man at the game shop. Let me know, if someone else gets bitten." M-O's voice suddenly darkened.
He gasped.
M-O? A complete sentence? How? When?
M-O turned away and began to roll down the path away from his home, and didn't look back.
Later that evening, EVE was taking a shower when the phone rang. He jumped up.
"GOT IT EV-AH!"he called.
He picked up the phone and was relieved of the voice. It was APRIL. She sounded terrified.
"WALL-E! Is it... true?" she sounded desperate.
"What... true?"
"Earl! Game shop man... go missing?" she clarified.
"Uh huh." he replied.
There was a long pause.
"WALL-E, I told Earl... what we did..."
He couldn't hold back anymore.
"I... told someone... too." he sighed.
"But WALL-E! I told him... yesterday... he went missing last night!"
He dropped the phone in shock and screamed.
"M-O!!!"
He remembered he told M-O earlier that morning what he'd done, it was night now, was he mising too? He quickly hung up and dialed M-O. He waited, he never answered. This was really strange,. M-O never went out after dark, and he lived with SAM, so somoeone must've been there to pick it up. This really panicked him. So he ran into the bathroom (it only had a shower and a small window), EVE was humming 'Like Wow' by Leslie Carter.
"Ev-ah... SAM and M-O no picking up!" he cried.
EVE froze and grabbed a towel, quickly dried herself off and dashed out of the bathroom. She knew SAM quite well to know her kind of behaviour, and this was not normal.
They met at the halfway point with ROSE (EVE called her out of desperation) and began to trek towards the two little bots' home.
When they got there, all the lights were off and the doors were locked.
"M-O!!! SAM!!!" cried EVE. She began pounding on the door with her fists.
"Go get... Mc. Crea... come EVE" ROSE commanded, "WALL-E, see... if windows unlocked."
He nodded and grabbed the ladder that was leaned up against a tree, put it up to the side of the house and climbed to the top. About halfway there, the ladder began to wobble but something caught it. He looked down to see ROSE holding onto the base of the ladder.
"Y' know... SAM... move in with M-O, after BURN-E went missing." she sighed.
"BURN-E?" he asked.
"Oh, they were built... at same time... like brother and sister... he went missing... after Green Festival."
He sighed. That must've been horrible for her! Someone she really cared about just dissapeared.
"Woah... that... must be hard... for her..." he thought aloud.
Then suddenly without a warning, ROSE's voice changed.
"That girl is cursed."
He looked down at her.
"What...-?"
She looked up at him, her eyes were the same way that 's were that day when she saved him, dark green with long demonic slits down the middle.
"I SAID THAT GIRL IS CURSED!!!"
He felt the ladder smash up against the side of the house as ROSE shook the ladder uncontrollably screaming.
"SAM is a cursed little robot girl... who's been STAINED by Oyashiro's curse!!!"
"ROSE!!! Stop!!!" he screamed, at this rate he was going to fall and break his neck!
"Why did BURN-E go missing while she was spared?!?! Everyone that girl knows is stained by the curse... what she's done is unforgivable!!!"
"ROSE..." he cried.
"UNFORGIVEABLE!!!"
"... please..."
"UNFORGIVEABLE!!!"
"... stop..."
"UNFORGIVEABLE!!!"
"... STOP IT!!!"
"UNFORGIVEABLE!!!"
"WALL-E! ROSE! Mc. Crea has key!" EVE called. She was gliding towards them, was holding a lantern and was running towards them.
The shaking stopped, he was trembling.
"Oh! Saved by EVE... right? WALL-E?" ROSE's voice was back to normal. ROSE glided up towards EVE and Mc. Crea. WALL-E stared at her.
What was that?!?! ROSE was going nuts just a moment ago!!! Is there a whole other side to ROSE that I don't know about? he thought.
They searched the house. They weren't there.
"Just as well..." ROSE sighed, "... man at game shop... went missing too yesterday."
He already knew that. He stepped outside for some air, leaning on the fence.
This is all my fault, I never should have gone to that place with APRIL!
"WALL-E, okay?" EVE asked.
"Oh... fine... just... worried... SAM and M-O."
EVE's eyes showed alot of sadness, "Me too."
EVE continued her stare at him.
"I... know... what you thinking..." she sighed.
He glanced up at her.
"... you think
The next day he got a call from Mc. Crea, apparently the game shop owner Earl, just went to the doctor's to get checked out.
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"Poor guy was too embarrassed to admit to everyone he had hemroids! He got the whole town in a panic for nothing!" laughed Mc. Crea.
WALL-E was puzzled, he didn't get struck by the curse after all?
"He missed his train into town, so he missed the festival, he got back this morning."
WHAT?! he thought, That makes no sense, said she talked to him yesterday... but he was still at the doctors. Does this mean... she knew... where he was all along?!
"Also, WALL-E, APRIL went missing too."
He froze, so she was taken by Oyashiro after all!
"We... all know that you two were at the cursed spot on the night of the festival. You know, people who go there, end up dead."
His eyes narrowed, so everyone knew what he'd done.
"You're the last person alive that was actually there."
He hung up. He turned around to see that EVE was standing behind him. She was holding a clip board with papers on them.
"WALL-E, I know..." she began, "... I know... what you did... at the festival." she said.
Her eyes narrowed and she slapped him across the face. Shocked, he stared at her with wide eyes, rubbing the side of his face that she struck.
"HOW COULD YOU!?!" she shouted. "YOU KNOW... WHAT HAPPEN... TO PEOPLE... WHO GO THERE!!!"
His optics drooped. "I'm sorry... Ev-ah... it was... bad idea."
She seemed to calm down. Her eyes became sympathetic, "Oyashiro... got APRIL... he's... coming for you... now," he stared at her, tears welling up in her eyes, "... I just... don't want... to lose... you."
He didn't know what to tell her, so he just hugged her.
"Look..." she pointed to the paper on the clip board. "I found it... on their table... last night." It was a note to M-O, it read "M-O, if you want some more Adviz (in case you run out) I just bought two big bottles, drop by if you need a re-fill! -ROSE"
Adviz was a kind of medicine robots took when they felt light headed, like how humans took 'Aspirin'. This was definitely odd. He remembered that when they searched the medicine cabinet, the bottle was empty, drained more like.
"Ev-ah..." WALL-E began, "... I think... we need... have a talk... with ROSE."
They had a feeling ROSE had something to do with this... nothing good. They got a ride to her house by Mc. Crea. He handed EVE a little remote with a button on it.
"If anything goes wrong, press it, the cops will be here in minutes." he explained.
They approached the house and rang the buzzer. Once they were inside, they sat in the living room with ROSE.
"ROSE, we know... you had something... to do... with M-O and SAM." EVE began.
ROSE held her dark green gaze. EVE took out the note from her bio-status chamber and held it out for her.
"You... invited M-O... then you... 'Spirited away' him."
ROSE's eyes began to morph into a sick smile. But EVE's face did too.
"But... you messed up." EVE continued.
ROSE looked up and stared at her big sister. Holding her dark gren gaze that was now beginning to look really worried.
"M-O... told SAM... where he go... when... SAM came for him... you... 'Spirited away' SAM too."
ROSE's eyes got really wide and horrified. WALL-E knew that they had her all figured out. He was surprised himself to learn that his EVE was a pretty good detective.
ROSE began to laugh maniacally.
"Well done! You... figured it out... big sister." her voice was dark like the night they went to SAM and M-O house, during her little episode on the ladder.
ROSE continued to laugh, but she seemed... different. Her arms hung limply to her sides and her eyes were crossing a bit now. She grabbed the top of her head and started rubbing it furiously.
"DAMN IT!!!!!!!!!"
She suddenly froze and moved back a bit.
"My... name... is ROSE..."
Her sudden change in calmness made WALL-E and EVE frightened a little.
"... PROBE:2... and... I'm going to be honest with you."
She got up from her sitting position and flew to the window.
"I... did not kill... John and ANNE. Where we were built... Hinamizawa..." ROSE began. "... is really called... 'Onigafuchi'."
"Village of the demons." EVE translated.
ROSE smiled, but it wasn't warming.
"Oh... of course... the leader of our family... would know..." ROSE continued staring at EVE.
WALL-E looked at EVE with confused eyes.
"Leader? ... WHAT?" he asked. She didn't answer, she continued to debate with ROSE.
ROSE giggled.
"There... is a demon... inside me." she said. "It was engraved... in my body... by vengeful spirits... of Hinamizawa."
EVE kept her blue gaze at her sister but WALL-E was some-what freaked out.
"The demon..." she sank low to the floor, "... has taken over... my soul now."
EVE said it as loud and clear as she could.
"ROSE... did you... kill our sister SAM... and our best friend M-O!?!"
ROSE nodded. EVE gasped.
"You're a monster."
"Demon." corrected ROSE.
"You have... some control... or else... WALL-E... would be dead now!"
WALL-E froze and backed up a little bit. What did that mean?
"Yes... I think... ROSE... has some reason... for keeping him alive." ROSE continued.
WALL-E spoke up.
"What... that mean?"
EVE grabbed his arm and quietly shushed him.
"... and the cops... out there... ROSE..."
"I know."
EVE watched her sister turn around to face them.
"Before... I turn in..." ROSE's voice was normal again. "... can I... have some alone time... with WALL-E?" she asked nervously.
This was surprising, why did she want alone time with him? EVE stared at ROSE, surprised as well, but EVE was kind and granted her little sister her final free wish.
WALL-E and ROSE walked together in her backyard.
"Umm... WALL-E..." ROSE asked a little embarrassed. "... may I... uh... hold... your hand?"
He looked up at her, her face was flushed red. He usually wouldn't do this, but his best friend was about to go to jail for who knows when and it was going to be tough for her, he might aswell end on a good memory with her.
"Sure."
"... APRIL like you... just like I do."
Once they got to a well ROSE picked him up and flew down it.
"ROSE? Where..."
"To show you... my sins." ROSE cut him off.
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When they got to the bottom of the well, there was not water, but a big thick wooden door. She opened it and walked inside. Around him were big torture tools. Thing that looked painful, he tried not to imagine what they were for. They got to the end of the room with another big door. ROSE paused.
"I'm sorry... what's done... is done... are you ready? WALL-E?"
He closed his eyes and began to hum quietly to himself 'Put on your sunday clothes', then he nodded. She opened the door, around the room were, caves... no prison cells. ROSE stared at one, he followed her gaze... there was APRIL.
"APRIL!!!" he called.
She looked up, her eyes were green once again.
"W- WALL-E?" she gasped.
"WALL-E!WALL-E!" she cried hovering over to the bars of her cell. Her body was dented, burned, dirty and trembling
"Calm down... you be... okay... I promise." he soothed.
ROSE hovered up behind him silently, APRIL's eyes got really wide. She backed into the back of the cell gripping the top of her head.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! IF YOU HATE ME SO MUCH... JUST KILL ME!!! GET IT OVER WIH!!!!!"
"Hey...-!" he cried unable to finish his sentence because ROSE hit him over the head with a rock, and everything went dark.
When he awoke, he was strapped to a board of wood. His fingers separated from the rest of his hand, his neck was also bound down by a metal cuff. was still screaming in protest in the other room. ROSE was standing over him, with demonic eyes, she was smiling and holding a nail in her white fingers.
"Can you hear me? APRIL? It's about to begin... he's awake!"
His voice was shaking but angry when he spoke.
"You... you... aren't ROSE..."
She giggled.
"... you're... demon."She hovered over to a table and picked up a box that had a hammer and nails, she put the nails between her fingers and held the hammer in her left hand. She hovered over to him.
"What I'm going to do to you is simple..."
She placed a nail on the joint of his finger.
"I'm going to nail 35 nails in each of your hands, in the joints of your fingers... torture you."
His eyes became small black dots in the centre of his eyes.
"Go on... do it..."
She gasped.
"if... it please... the demon... in you... go ahead."
She stared at him with confused demonic eyes.
"Don't you care... about what I'm going to do to you?"
He smiled.
"I think I see now... why ROSE... loves you... so much."
This was now his turn to gasp. No way! Well it made sense now about holding his hand and all the other nice things she did for him.
"It was because of you... the demon woke up... you screwed everything up!" she growled.
What was she talking about? A tear rolled down her cheek.
"If you gave ROSE... that doll the other day... we wouldn't be in this mess."
Doll? Does she mean... the cat doll I won? But I gave it to EVE! ROSE actually wanted it!?
"You made ROSE cry that day... now I have woken up."
He was stunned, his stupidity raged on.
"ROSE... I have two... r... re... requests."
She seemed intrigued, and leaned closer.
"First... let APRIL... go... alive...."
She set the hammer down by her side.
"Second... give back ROSE."
She remained silent... then began to laugh.
"Well, what about sparing your life?"
She seemed to want him to survive.
"Okay... third... don't kill me." he laughed.
She stared at him with alot of question in her eyes.
"Well, it's a lost cause... I can't hold back from killing her anymore. And ROSE is gone... even if I tried... she'd never come back."
He sighed, he really wanted and ROSE to walk out of the chamber together, alive.
"But..." she stroked his head with her white, metal, floating fingers, "... I can grant you... that third request."
There was a loud booming at the wooden door at the front.
"EVE, probably called Mc. Crea when we didn't come back..." she leaned over and whispered, "I'm sorry, for hurting ROSE."
He was happy, she still had human emotions. he felt a sharp pain in his neck and everything went black, ROSE had tazed him.
When he awoke, he was strong enough to go home. So he left with EVE, who had been beside him the whole time. She felt horrible for letting him go alone with her.
At around midnight, there was a knock on the door. It was ROSE. He was surprized, and some-what terrified!
"WALL-E," she began, "... I'm sorry."
She leaned forward.
"ROSE... okay?"
"I tried... I really tried... but I can't... stop it!!!"
She closed her eyes. He went forward to try to comfort her.
"ROSE... calm down! I get... you some he-"
He felt a sharp pain in his chest, he looked down, there was a long knife lodged in his cheat that was beginning to drip with oil. ROSE had stabbed him. His eyes were wide, he couldn't move, couldn't speak. He fell to the ground cringing in pain.
"AHAHAHAHA!!! I DID IT, I KILLED EVERONE THAT I WANTED TO!!!! THEY'RE ALL DEAD NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!"
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The next day, in the hospital, he awoke, he was alive. He was hooked up to a life supporter. EVE was sleeping in the chair next to him. He smiled. Mc. Crea came in to talk to him.
"Are you sure it was ROSE who stabbed you?"
He nodded.
"That's weird, because yesterday, we found the body of ROSE in the bottom of a pit, along with SAM and M-O. And it couldn't have been APRIL, her floatation device stopped working and she fell off the balcony of GO-4's apartment."
He gasped, Then who stabbed him?
"Also, the body of ANNE, was found to be dead 24 hours dead when she was found on the night of the festival. Seems like there's alot of zombies walking around this town." Mc. Crea said walking out of the room. WALL-E closed his eyes and let it sink in.
Suddenly, an oil covered white hand grabbed his, his eyes shot open and he screamed.
"You didn't think I'd really grant you that last request huh? Silly, silly boy!!" It was ROSE, her eyes as demonic as ever.
She pinned his hand down and placed a nail on his finger joint. Laughing, she pounded away till he lay lifeless on the hospital bed.
END
A/N: Hiya! Wazzup? This is yet another chapter in the chronicles, and yet again as it says END up there it's not! It's just the end of this chapter, so many mysreties! Who killed WALL-E? Why did SAM and M-O die? What happened to the fifth EVE probe YUMI? What happened to ANNE? What are the REAL cirumstances of APRIL's death (*hint hint*)? Be on the look out for 'Eye Opening chapter: APRIL's view on Cotton drifting Chapter' It's gonna be EPIC!!! More on the sad, sad tale of the two twins.
-ChihiroSazumia
