GAH! It took so long (SORRY!) but finally, FINALLY, here it is, Chapter 4! (this was a lot of fun to write!)
"Aaah!" Miranda landed face-first on the floor in front of Lenalee.
"Hi, Biranda." The green-haired girl sniffled, then sneezed into a handkerchief. Her nose and eyes were a bright red, and there were bags under her eyes. Yup, it was definite-Lenalee had a cold.
"Oh, Lenalee," the older woman started, "Are you okay?" She felt somehow unable to help, and this troubled her. Being unable to help always troubled Miranda.
Lenalee sneezed. "Yes, I'b fide. Just a cold." She wiped her nose on a handkerchief, then sneezed again.
"...Oh." She stood there awkwardly, quite unsure of what to do now in this situation. "I... wish I could help," Miranda finally mumbled. "I mean, I can't make your cold go away, but perhaps... I could do... something?"
"Oh yes," Lenalee brightened. "Could you baybe do me a favor?"
"Anything!" Miranda was desperate to help.
"I'b so sick, it would be a bad idea for be to deliber coffee. And you know how Komui gets when he doesn't hab his coffee." That certainly was a frightening thought. Miranda nodded in understanding.
"Don't worry, Lenalee, I'll get them their coffee!" She left without even a thought...
Now carrying a full tray of also full coffee cups, Miranda walked not-so-confidently into the Science Section. Why did I do this again...? Because, she thought harshly to herself, I wanted to help Lenalee. She strode forward, and the coffee cups jangled dangerously.
Don't fall... Please don't fall... "Hello?" Balancing the tray on one of her arms (very dangerous, especially for Miranda), she knocked on the door frame with her other hand. It slipped, but Miranda was able to catch it before any damage was done. A droplet of coffee spilled to the floor; Miranda avoided it, barely.
"Anyone home? Science Section? Reever, Komui?" Not a sound. Except maybe a chainsaw... no, that was a snore.
Shoot. Everyone was asleep. Well, that wasn't a big surprise, considering they had been overworked more than usual lately, with the Earl harassing them like he was. She walked into Komui's office and sure enough, he was there in his usual state: asleep.
Well, what was she supposed to do now? "Ah, erm. Komui?" Not wanting to wake him up the usual way, she wasn't quite sure what to do. If she informed him that Lenalee was getting married, he would surely react violently, which would definitely make her fall. She could envision the coffee crashing to the floor, cups shattering...
She took a cautious step backwards. "K-Komui?" She faltered. Maybe she should just leave it on his desk and get out of here... "I have coffee," she pleaded weakly. No response. She sighed, turning away to go deliver the other cups.
"Coffee..." The sound was akin to a zombie having a revelation that it, in fact, loved brains. Only it was coffee.
Miranda turned around, to see the Chief, eyes still closed, but hand closed triumphantly around his favorite beverage. Snooooooooooorre... He was still asleep.
Quickly as she could, Miranda exited the office, only spilling about three drops of coffee, and started for the rest of the Science Section.
"Will you please go away?"
At first Miranda had thought that the annoyed comment from Reever was directed at her. Tears sprung to her eyes as she backed away sadly, thinking, I was just trying to help... But then she looked up and saw the giant robot that the perturbed Section Leader was talking to.
Then she lost it.
"W-w-woooooaaaahhh!" She tripped backwards in surprise, fell against a wall, then tripped forwards. Fortunately for her, the coffee stayed mostly intact; it was just a little spilled.
Miranda looked up from the floor in horror at the giant robot that everyone was regarding so disdainfully. Didn't they know that a thing that big could hurt them in so many ways...? Of course, she knew it was just a Komulin, but she had also seen the damage that the other Komulins had caused. She stifled her terror as the thing looked down at her and extended a giant claw/arm her way.
She tried to get up. But with all honestly, it looked more like a weird break-dance-ish thing that could only end in pain. Finally, she was able to get up, and miraculously all the coffee cups were still in one piece, and she made a run for it.
However, in all her movements on the floor, she had completely lost her sense of direction.
First, the tray bumped into the Komulin. This impact jostled the coffee cups so that the liquid was everywhere; hardly any was in the cups at all. And, according to the laws of motion, any object at motion tends to stay at motion-meaning, of course, that Miranda couldn't stop. She crashed face-first into the Komulin, which made the tray slip out of her hands and... you guessed it, all the coffee cups crashed onto the floor.
All but one. The Komulin, with his super-fast claws (thanks to Komui) caught one. Miranda looked up, not quite sure what to think. What was it-?
It drank the coffee. There wasn't much in it, but there was some. Enough to activate its crazy side.
It dropped the cup so it crashed onto the floor like all the others, and its shiny eyes looked at Miranda.
"ENEMY-ROBOT. MUST-DEACTIVATE." It reached a gaping claw towards her, and she backed away in terror, then started fleeing for her life.
Thump! She hadn't gotten three feet, when her face hit the floor. She looked back up at it, and crawled away.
Was... someone helping her up? Her arm was being pulled upwards. But it... kept going. And she was tossed in the air like a cat toy. Miranda screamed in horror as the robot caught her in its grasp. It's bright red eyes focused on her face, probably determining how to kill her. Unable to do anything, Miranda cringed.
She was going to die. Wide-eyed with panic, she opened her mouth to scream.
"KOMULIN, STOP IT!" Komui rushed out of his office, shaking his fist. He was followed by Allen, Lavi, and Lenalee.
"Don't worry Miranda, we'll get you down!" Allen shouted.
"Yeah, but how?" Lavi asked.
Lenalee grimaced. "Allow me," she said with disgust for the thing. She activated her Dark Boots and began to kick the living daylights out of the Komulin until finally it fell to the ground in a cloud of dust. Miranda shakily stood up, looked at the mess around her, and tears sprung to her eyes. This had all been her fault.
Amidst the papers scattered everywhere were pieces of coffee cups; covering tables, the floor, and people were coffee spills, and in the dead center of it all, a man in a white beret was kneeling over a heap of smoking metal, crying.
And it was all her fault.
Miranda burst into tears.
:'( Yet again, sorry for not updating sooner. (Hands out cookies to everyone to make up for it.) Review plz!