In comparison to other dreams, this one was actually pretty good. It had no haunting song, no darkness, and no one dying or in pain. It was just… Allen. Or maybe it could've been his ghost.
He was completely washed out, skin and clothes white as his snowy hair, eyelashes much longer and thicker than in reality. He seemed to be wearing a skin-tight shirt with no sleeves, which showed off, quite clearly, that his left arm was missing from the clayish part down. The only color on him was the red of the rings in his strange eye. But despite the missing arm, he seemed content. His mouth was moving, body swaying just slightly, and his arm and stump made sweeping gestures. They created a rhythm, and Miranda knew he was singing. Whatever it was, the song must've been beautiful.
She would've been happy with just the soundless melody, but the dream took a turn. Allen put his hand to his chest, curled his fingers, and pulled it away. There, in his palm, lay a beating heart. He crushed it and laughed, horribly and brokenly.
Miranda sat bolt upright and stared straight ahead. It took her a good few seconds for her to realize she was actually awake, and when that sank in, she let out a shuddering sigh and rested her head on her knees.
So much for good dreams… ever since the start of the damn rewind, her dreams had gotten dark and generally unpleasant. For a moment she wondered if it was just an effect of the 'dome' Lavi had talked about, but cast that aside immediately. If everyone was having weird dreams, they would've mentioned them, at least. No, it was much more likely that her luck had just sunk to a new low.
Heaving a sigh, she climbed out of bed and got dressed. Once done with that she opened the door, ready to greet Allen with a morose 'good morning.' Alas, twas not to be. Alma went crashing into the doorjamb, scaring her half to death. In all honesty he looked a bit surprised to see her too, but his attacker paid her no attention.
"What have you got in your damn head, rabbit crap?" Kanda hissed, seizing his collar and shaking him back and forth. "That is the worst god-damn…"
"Hey, I didn't take a dump in anybody's head!" said Lavi, worming his way in between them, though it was a tight squeeze. "Morning, Miranda."
Miranda held up a hand in greeting, though her face was probably still stuck in 'what the hell.'
"I didn't do anything!" Alma growled, wrestling with Kanda's hands and kicking at his hip. "You're the one who's too stubborn…"
"It's a stupid plan!"
"You think everything's stupid unless you think of it!"
"Break it up!" Lenalee screeched from down the hall. Link looked over her shoulder, looking even more reproachful than usual.
"Um… When did everyone get here?" Miranda mumbled.
"Like half an hour ago," said Lavi, gagging when his ribs were crushed by the sheer force the others were using to get at each other. "Allen told us to be quiet since you were sleeping, but obviously that didn't- Hey! Guys it's not funny I can't freaking breathe!"
Kanda didn't seem to care about the panicked wriggling, but thankfully, someone did.
"Children!"
As he was a few days ago, Kanda was again trapped by Allen's arm. Allen actually picked him up and carried him away, steadfastly ignoring the struggles and insults thrown at him. Miranda followed as he dumped the older onto the couch. Allen turned to frown at Alma and said, "I expected better from you."
Alma looked indignant at being the one singled out.
"What's that supposed to mean? All I did was suggest something completely sensible and he tried to kill me! How am I in the wrong?"
"Because Kanda's a boor, it's expected," Allen said breezily, and Kanda's glare must've made the room drop five degrees. "Don't stoop to his level."
"What did you say?" Kanda seethed.
"You're a boor. Honestly, it's a wonder you understand human speech."
"I will grind your bones into dust!" he roared, pouncing.
Allen hadn't expected this, and was knocked flat on the floor. His transformed arm scrabbled on the floor in confusion for a moment, leaving deep gouges before changing back. Miranda honestly didn't know what to think about the impromptu wrestling match.
"Uh… should I make pancakes?" she asked, unable to think of anything else to say.
"Actually, I brought breakfast again today," Lenalee said sweetly, kicking the yowling match when they rolled too close. The resulting yelp was high pitched, and Miranda couldn't identify the owner. "Everyone seemed to want cinnamon rolls yesterday, so I went and got a whole bunch of those."
Glory glory hallelujah.
"Thank you!" Miranda sang.
"No problem! I left them on the coffee table again. We can eat it now if you want," said Lenalee.
"That would be brilliant," said Miranda.
She followed Lenalee around the couch as Lavi kicked Kanda for spite. She grabbed a napkin and roll and was about to take a bite when she saw something truly horrifying. Alma had attempted to break up the fight. He grabbed Kanda around the chest and heaved him up and away, despite the other fighting it. Allen scrambled to his feet and threw one more insult. In response Kanda lifted both feet off the ground and kicked him as hard as he could. Right. Back. At. The. CLOCK.
Miranda didn't know whether to cry out for Allen or the clock. Instead she dropped her roll and let out an unintelligible noise of terror.
It was like slow motion. Allen's eyes widened, the breath was knocked out of him, he stumbled back and lost balance, falling right back into…. He vanished. The clock ate Allen. Miranda didn't know how, but it had just happened. Everyone stared, and there might've been yet another plate dropped.
"Uh, Miranda," Lavi said in a stage whisper, "That's not an Akuma clock, is it?"
"Of course it's not! It's…"
"Look!" said Timothy, lowering his roll and pointing at the clock. "It's a clockman!"
And before their eyes, Allen's head stuck out the top, and his hands straight out from the sides. His face looked nonplussed, and he blinked owlishly.
"A-Allen?" said Lenalee.
"My clock!" Miranda moaned piteously.
Allen looked down at his hands and flexed them, then grinned.
"I really am a clockman!" he said, beaming.
Timothy cracked up laughing, but the others were still weirded out. Kanda didn't even seem to realize Alma was still holding him up.
"I don't get it…" said Alma.
Allen chuckled and all his limbs retreated inside the clock again. After a moment the clock face rippled, and his head and shoulders stuck out there.
"Look! See? I can't touch it!"
Touching or not, Miranda wasn't sure she liked her clock used like that. She whimpered as Lavi inched closer.
"That… that thing's still solid though, right?" he muttered.
"Yes and no," said Allen, and the entire thing wavered as he stepped out of it. He stuck a hand in as another test, and the limb vanished from the elbow down. But that same portion went and stuck out of the clock's face, clenching and relaxing.
"Whoa… Hey, isn't that kinda like what the dome's doing?" said Lavi.
Allen laughed again.
"Yeah. See, this clock's being very selective about who touches it. I know it's solid for Miranda, but I've never seen anyone else touch it before. The dome's picky too, lets some people through and stays solid for others."
"Hang on. Are you saying…" Lenalee muttered.
"Miranda, I think your clock is Innocence," said Allen. "And not just any Innocence, the Innocence! I think this is the cause of the rewind!"
"A clock? That actually makes a lot of sense! Turn back time and all," said Lavi, moving even closer now that he was sure it wasn't going to attack and squinting at the carving.
Miranda's mind was in a whirl. Innocence? Innocence? So all those times she'd believed in fate, in some sort of will of the clock, all the enchantment she'd associated with it had been because it was Innocence? So if someone else had picked it up, it would've done the same? She wasn't unique at all?
Through the haze in her mind, she asked, dully, "What do we do with it?"
"Break it," said Kanda, jerking violently away from Alma, and despite herself Miranda was alarmed. "Chop it to pieces so it can't rewind anymore."
"Something tells me it would kick your ass if you tried fighting it. I've already heard about your experience with the dome," said Alma.
Kanda scowled and made as if to strangle him, but Allen interrupted, "He's right, you wouldn't be able to touch it. Besides, this is Miranda's."
"Well yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" said Miranda. She couldn't remember ownership being a big deal with Lala, after all.
"It's the reason you're unaffected. I think this Innocence is yours."
"I don't…."
"Miranda, I think this Innocence has chosen you as its accommodator. That's why you can touch it. That's why you remember. I can't say for sure, but I think it's been slowly synching up with you."
Miranda was stunned. Her? Innocence? Impossible. She couldn't fight at all. Frankly she was terrified of the situation. If Innocence was really as intelligent as she believed, it would know that. It would pick someone strong. Someone… someone not Miranda.
"Hey Miranda, try it! Maybe you can get it to stop!" said Lavi.
The others murmured assent, and Miranda found herself slinking forward. Maybe they were right? Maybe this Innocence had actually seen something in her? Something proving she wasn't worthless? She lay her hands on the clock. It was solid and cool under her fingers, the same as it had always been. She took a deep breath and said, "Um… clock… would you please be a dear and stop the town rewinding? It's gotten rather problematic and I think it would be best if it stopped."
They all waited with bated breath, but there was no grand change. Nothing to show anything had happened. in fact, she felt rather chided.
"Well that didn't work," she grumbled.
"I kind of expected that," said Alma.
Immediately he was the center of attention.
"What do you mean?" said Miranda.
"The Innocence may have been synching up with you, but it activated on its own. While it's independently working, it's distanced. You're still synching, just at a snail's pace," said Alma.
"So how synched am I?" she murmured.
"Thirty percent is generally the point for weaponization. So… somewhere below that. Once you hit thirty it'll actually merge with you, like my Lotus or Lenalee's boots," said Alma.
The memory of Innocence weapons forming made Miranda shudder. Maybe Alma misunderstood it, because he put a hand on her shoulder like Allen had done before, and said, "It's okay. Mine was activated on its own at first, too. It takes a long time, but I think it's worth the wait."
"Did it hurt?" she whispered, rubbing at the cross-shaped burn on her hand.
Alma's face blanked, then became sympathetic.
"It wasn't the Innocence that gave me pain," he said, so quietly only she could hear. "If anything, it protected me."
Miranda nodded, though she didn't understand. She stiffened up, terrified, as she realized Kanda was glaring at her. What had she done to deserve that kind of look?
"So again, what now?" said Lavi, stealing everyone's attention (Kanda's included, much to Miranda's relief). "Is there some way we can make her synch faster? Anything we can do now that we know the cause?"
"Essentially, we just carry on like we have been," said Allen. "If it's going to keep synching anyway, Miranda will eventually reach the point where she can control it entirely and take down the dome. Might as well be constructive in the meantime, right?"
Miranda was thoroughly unconvinced that she'd synchronize, and doubtful of her abilities even if she did, but she kept her mouth firmly shut. This news had given the others hope, she could see that clearly. She couldn't bear to be the one to destroy that hope.
Kanda didn't know why he was so pissed off.
Sure, he hated Alma. Especially when Alma suggested something so stupidly obvious (using a golem's recordings to coerce Link into believing them everyday) they should've used it from the beginning, because why hadn't someone mentioned they had that option before? Torture, obviously. He hated the beansprout too, for being a stupid weird thing that could somehow withstand (and return) Kanda's attacks and insults despite looking so weak, even to the point of pushing him around.
Yes. He hated them both and the two were kind of destined to ruin his day, but why should he care if Alma started doting on Miranda like everybody else? Even if Alma was his imaginary friend first…. Damn. He sounded like a jealous kid, even in his head. This had to be remedied. Therefore, he must somehow hate Alma more. Because that always worked before.
"Kanda. Hey. Kanda."
"What?" he snapped.
Lavi blinked back at him.
"How do you know Alma, anyway?"
"None of your god damned business," Kanda huffed, turning away.
"It is my damn business if you two try to smother me again. Just let me know what to tiptoe around," said Lavi.
Kanda, on the other hand, knew 'tiptoe around' meant 'dive right in' in this case.
"I said it's none of your business."
"You sure? We're all curious," said Lavi, gesturing at the others. "Even Allen doesn't know why you guys are so pissy, and Alma won't spill anything."
Should Kanda be angry or grateful? Angry. Definitely angry.
"And it's none. Of. Your. Business." With every word he poked Lavi's chest, the last one hard enough to make the other stumble backward. "So stop asking, or I'll kick your ass."
"You keep talking about my ass…."
That was it. Kanda plucked his golem out of the air and hurled it. The thing bounced off Lavi's head with a solid thunk (nearly knocking him over), and ricocheted up toward the others. Miranda shrieked as it whistled past her ear, and Link ducked his head to the side just enough for it to miss him. It slammed into the back of the beansprout's neck, causing him to jump and make a gagging sound. Timcanpy shot out of his collar, practically snarling with rage. Kanda swore and shoved past Lenalee in a ditch attempt to rescue the damn golem. The black golem panicked and fled like before, but this time Timcanpy was fueled by righteous anger, and it didn't get far. The gold golem caught it in its mouth and clamped its jaws shut against escape. Before it could actually chomp down on the protruding wings, Kanda and Alma tackled it. Timcanpy thrashed and hissed, but they fought to get its mouth open, pinning its wings and tail in the meantime. The beansprout shouldered his way between them and shoved the fingers of his red hand between the pointed teeth. He forced Timcanpy's mouth open just enough for Kanda's golem to escape and hide in his jacket again. Kanda could feel it shuddering against his neck as the beansprout shoved Timcanpy down his own coat and fought to keep it there.
"Try to keep an eye on your golem, please…" the beansprout grumbled, glaring.
"Keep yours on a leash or something," Kanda snapped back.
"You just need to stop throwing them!" said Alma. He snatched up Lavi's golem and waved it in Kanda's face. Unlike Kanda's, this one's 'eye' remained static and uninterested despite the manhandling. "Do you have any idea how expensive and tedious it is to make just one of these? Every time you throw it, you could be messing up its functions! The equipment is delicate!"
"It's meant for battle, isn't it? It's bound to get rattled at some point!" Kanda hissed.
"That doesn't mean you should add more stress to it!"
"It's fine! Aren't you, stupid golem?"
The golem just shivered more, whirring in distress.
"You're scaring it!"
"It's a machine, dumbass!"
"Hey!" Lenalee shouted, stomping up to them. "Aren't we already in the middle of something? Cut it out!"
"In the middle of what, exactly? Playing follow-the-freaking-beansprout?" Kanda retorted. It had been half an hour since they'd left the cars, to follow the beansprout through a maze of back alleys. He'd kept insisting that they were following an Akuma, but the more they walked, the more Kanda came to the conclusion that the kid had no clue where he was going. It was insult to injury when that eye went normal again. "Because it's worked out so well today!"
"You think you can do better?" said the beansprout, miffed.
"Oh hell yeah I can," said Kanda, stepping up to him.
They glared at each other. Kanda debated the wisdom of punching the bastard in the face. A black eye might just be worth being tossed into the dumpster.
"How's this. Somebody neutral will pick the next route," said Lenalee.
"Yeah, we lost the Akuma just now, didn't we?" said Lavi, rubbing his head ruefully.
The beansprout didn't say anything, but his flustered expression was answer enough.
"Fine. Somebody, pick a street," Alma sighed.
Lenalee walked up to the fork ahead, and Lavi and Timothy trailed along behind her. They looked from the faded lettering on the left path, to the cat licking itself on the right.
"That way."
Lavi and Lenalee stared at each other in surprise, then at the same time, pointed in the direction the other had pointed before.
"That way!"
"Oh for the love of god…" Kanda grumbled.
"I know how to settle it!" said Timothy.
"Oh yeah? How's that?" said Lavi.
"We play Rock-Paper-Scissors-Kanda!"
Somewhere in the depths of his brain, Kanda heard something like screeching tires. His entire thought process froze and threatened to crumble.
"Rock-Paper-what? How the hell do you play that?" said Lavi.
"Simple, Jean taught me. Rock beats scissors," he did the classic 'rock' and 'scissors' gesture, "Scissors beats paper, paper beats rock. Then there's Kanda." He held out one hand with the fingers spread and thumb tucked in, so it very, very vaguely formed a K. "Kanda throws rocks, rips paper, and trips when running when scissors!"
Lenalee let out a giggle, but fought to keep her face straight. Lavi just burst out laughing. Miranda chuckled before clapping her hands over her mouth, while Link outright sniggered. Alma was practically rolling around in mirth. The beansprout gaped, then rounded on Kanda.
"You see what you do to young minds?" he shrieked, gesturing madly at Timothy. "You screw with them!"
"How the hell is that my fault?" Kanda roared. "And you!" Timothy jumped, and his smirk faltered. "I'll show you who trips when running with scissors!"
Timothy squeaked and fled, and Kanda followed, waving Mugen above his head.
"H-hey!"
"Kanda, what're you…"
"Stop!"
The cat scrambled out of the way as they all stampeded down the alley.
Kanda had to hand it to him, this kid could run like a bat out of hell. He darted left and right down other passageways at the earliest opportunities, hoping to throw him off, but Kanda was still faster, and he was gaining quickly. He was almost close enough to wring that scrawny little neck when the beansprout shouted something. Timothy looked back to hear better, and his face went terrified at their proximity. Kanda grinned viciously… and then they ran smack into someone. Their combined momentum sent them all sprawling. Mugen almost fell out of Kanda's hand, but he tightened his grip at the last second. He pushed himself up and shook his head, trying to regain his senses.
The person they'd run into was a chubby woman dressed in black lingerie, a collar and tie at her neck and fishnet tights and high heels on her legs. Stranger still, she wore a grinning teddy bear mascot's head, a bow at one of the ears. There was a sign for a brothel or something dropped beside her.
Kanda immediately got some bad vibes, and despite trying to kill the kid earlier, he grabbed Timothy by the scruff and yanked him away. Timothy made some noises of disgruntled protest, but didn't fight it at all. In fact, he tugged at Kanda's sleeve, trying to get him even further away. The woman pushed herself up and appeared to be regaining her sense of balance when Lavi's voice reached them.
"Grow, grow, grow!"
The hammer came zooming past, nearly clipping Kanda's side before the handle bent. The head went crashing, spike first, into the woman's stomach, and slammed her into the wall. Dark blood splattered onto the brick. Timothy whimpered and backed up into Kanda. Kanda himself was shocked until the beansprout shouted, "Get back! It's the Akuma!"
He swore and shoved Timothy behind him, as the woman began to change. The teddy bear's smile turned into a hungry, gaping maw, the ears produced teeth, and there was a tail and odd markings coming to light as well. The body bulged, wrapping around the hammer and keeping it stuck in place regardless of Lavi's struggles. The teddy bear head swiveled around, gleaming red eyes fixing on Kanda before it hissed, "Accommodators!"
The Akuma began to bloat to enormous size, twisting around the weapon and beginning to drag itself toward them.
"Filthy, filthy accommodators!"
"Out of the way!"
Kanda flattened against the opposite wall at Lenalee's shout, Timothy sticking to him like a bur. Back down with the others, Lenalee had her Innocence activated. She took one hop, two, and then spun, kicking out and crying, "Waltz! Misty Wind!" And with that sweep of her foot came a gust of howling wind, followed up by another one from the other foot. Unlike the rush Suman had created, these surged like tornadoes, aimed right at the Akuma and sparking with an odd greenish lightning in places. The creature yowled as they hit, and entire chunks of its body were ripped apart.
Kanda thought he saw an opening. Come to think of it he really wasn't thinking, but at that point he had complete confidence that it would work. He sprinted forward, right into one of the tornadoes. Immediately he was swept up in it, feet leaving the ground and hair whipping about in his face. He couldn't see a thing and his sense of equilibrium was shot to pieces, but something told him he was on the right track. He twisted his body as it flipped again and again, pulled back Mugen, and swung it like a baseball bat, as hard as he could. And somehow, with some amazing luck, the tornado managed to twist him into just the right position, gave just enough power, to send him right into the Akuma and cleave it in half. The head snapped a few more times, and then the entire thing exploded, the pieces caught in the same gust as Kanda. He hissed as a few chunks scraped past, and then the tornado lost its power. The wind was suddenly gone, but Kanda was still going. He hit the ground and tumbled head over heels. It must've been several feet, because by the time he'd executed his last botched logroll, he was sore all over and horribly dizzy. He blinked, attempting to regain his senses. His vision swam, but just down the next alley, he could see someone who looked oddly familiar. A few seconds more, and he realized why.
"Akuma!" he shouted, attempting to push himself up, but his head was still spinning so he slumped right back down.
The girl ahead looked exactly like the one from the library yesterday, the one who'd turned out to be a level two. He'd caught a glimpse of that one before the fighting started. This girl even had the same old man with gray hair lurking behind her.
"Oh for god's… Can anyone not see the god damn Akuma!" he yelled.
"Don't worry, we've got it!"
And someone jumped right over his head. The thought made his blood boil a bit, but at least someone was catching the damn thing. It turned out to be Alma, Innocence activated. Alma sprinted down the alley and threw a punch. His fist went right through the girl's face, and after a moment, she exploded. Alma darted out of the blast, smoke trailing behind him, and circled around the back of the old man as he tried to turn and run. In no time, his tail had lengthened, wrapping around the man and picking him up off the ground. It seemed effortless on Alma's part, but the man yelped and wriggled desperately.
"Let me go! Let me go! Please, I beg you, let me go!" he wailed.
The beansprout hopped over Kanda's form as well, jogging over to Alma, and Kanda bit back some curses. More of the others filtered around him, but Lenalee was the one who knelt down next to him and asked, "Hey, are you okay?"
"Does it look like I'm okay?" he grumbled.
"No, but maybe that'll teach you not to walk right into my attack," she said with a huff.
"It worked, didn't it?"
"But it scared us half to death!"
Kanda grumbled nonsense under his breath. Lenalee pouted for a few seconds, but rolled her eyes and grabbed his shoulder to heave him up.
"Come on, up you go. Lavi, can you help?"
"I can stand on my own," Kanda said quickly, pushing away the redhead before anything else could be said. "Just leave me alone and-"
His knees wobbled precariously and he nearly fell over. Lavi caught him and the two straightened him up with little difficulty. Lenalee looked annoyed at his stubbornness, but Lavi seemed entertained. Kanda had to resist the urge to slap him when that grinning face leaned closer.
"What's wrong, too manly for help?" he laughed.
No. It was just humiliating to be helped by a stupid rabbit of all things. Especially when he could stand in the first place.
"Get lost," he snarled, attempting to kick Lavi in the shins, but it appeared standing on one leg was beyond his capabilities. He ended up toppling over onto Lenalee. She caught him just in time.
"Boys," she muttered darkly. "At least you're not octopuses…"
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean…"
"He smells funny," said Alma. It was an odd piece of the conversation that had actually reached Kanda's ears, and he looked over in confusion. Alma and the beansprout were inspecting the old man they'd caught, Alma confused, and the beansprout pensive. "I'm serious, he smells like something familiar, something bad."
"I don't know about a smell… but I definitely saw this man yesterday, in the library," said the sprout.
"Did you?"
"He was with the level two."
"Really?"
The man whimpered as the tail shifted, bringing him closer to Alma so the freak could sniff him better. A couple of whiffs later, Alma held him further away, face twisted as if he'd just smelled a sewer.
"Ugh. It's… it's something dark. Nasty. It's…"
And Alma's eyes widened. He sent the beansprout a panicked look. The beansprout blinked back at him in confusion, but gradually, his face began to show surprised understanding. He looked back at the man with wide eyes, muttering, "Something dark… Of course…" One more look at Alma seemed to confirm it, and the beansprout's expression changed to something a bit more fearsome.
"You're a Broker, aren't you?"
There hadn't been much talking among them before, but at those words, all the noise stopped.
"B-Broker?" Miranda repeated, horrified.
The man began to tremble.
"A-are you Angels, then?" he whispered.
"Yes," said Alma.
"Why did you agree to be the Millennium Earl's pawn?" said the beansprout. "Do you have any idea what kind of disasters you've brought on, pulling Akuma into this world?"
"I had no choice!" said the man, eyes watering. "That man… he said he'd take my daughters. He said he would kill them! I had no choice! I wanted to keep them safe! but now they're gone! Both turned into Akuma, both gone!"
"You made your own daughters sign a contract? You made your own daughters into Akuma?" the beansprout hissed.
"I didn't! It was one of the others!" the man sobbed.
"Others?"
"I didn't know… I didn't know until this morning! I don't know if I knew before! But both my daughters were dead, their bodies used by Akuma… and one was even destroyed in the last 'today!' I don't know what's even happening anymore! I want it all to stop!"
The man was weeping pathetically. Yeah, he was allowed to cry over his daughters, but to make such a disgusting scene?
"Tell us who the others are," said the beansprout.
The tone of his voice made the man look up again.
"What?"
"I said tell us who the others are."
"But…."
"Do you want more people to turn out like your daughters?" the sprout growled. When the man flinched, he forced his face to soften and said, quieter, "What do you have to lose now? Isn't this what you want? To stop any other fathers from losing their children this way? We can stop the person who did this to them. Please, help us."
The man was very still. Slowly and warily, Alma set his feet back on the ground and unwound his tail. Without its support the man wavered, but he stood all the same, head bowed. He heaved a deep sigh, and looked up at them all with dim, tired eyes.
"You can make it stop?" he whispered.
"Yes, but only if you help us," said the beansprout.
Another sigh, and he said, "Fine, I'll help you. Do you have some paper? I can write down the names…."
"Paper?" said the beansprout, looking pleadingly around. "Does anybody have-"
"Lucky for you I'm always prepared!" said Lavi, shifting Kanda's weight fully onto Lenalee and digging in his pockets. He'd always had a weird habit of carrying a pencil and paper with him everywhere for no real reason, something supposedly beaten into him by his grandfather, if Kanda's memory was correct. Sure enough, he unearthed a folded scrap of looseleaf from under his bandana, and a mechanical pencil from his jacket. He offered it over and the man took it. The pencil scribbled over the paper as he spoke.
"There are only four of us that I know of. The contracts told us to pull in as many Akuma as we could in a day. If we passed out, we simply had to continue when we woke up," he explained. "I never met the others face to face or had communication with any of them. These are the names I got from the man who made me a Broker in the first place."
"Do you know who this man was?"
"Not really. He was in the mirror… but his skin was gray, if that means anything."
Lenalee's golem floated over and its eye flashed. The same hologram it had been showing yesterday popped up again before them, the wavy-haired man standing the same as before, stained shirt, piggy bank and all.
"Was this the man?" said the beansprout.
"No," said the man, confused.
"Imagine his skin is gray. Are you sure it isn't him?"
"I'm sure. This person's too young," said the man, squinting at the image. "The one who recruited me must've been middle-aged. He had some similar hair, kind of similar face I suppose, but not really. The one I met had a big nose." He put a hand up to his face as if trying to show the shape, but Kanda got absolutely nothing out of the gesture.
The beansprout looked perplexed.
"Is there anything distinctive you remember about him?" he prodded.
"Apart from the gray skin and yellow eyes, I'm afraid not," said the man, shaking his head. "He gave me the names in case I ran into problems, like Angels."
"How long ago was this?" said Alma.
"Three days ago. Or… three days before Saturday. I can't keep track anymore," the man moaned.
"A planned attack?" said the beansprout, glancing at Alma.
"If the Earl was sending out feelers and an Akuma somehow discovered the Heart's whereabouts, it makes sense Miranda's Innocence reacted to protect it," said Alma. "In all likelihood, Miranda's Innocence and the Heart are in close proximity, if it could sense the other."
"But if they're in the same area, then why did it pull the whole city into this?" said Lavi.
"To throw off Akuma. The Heart probably got rid of the one that found it, and Miranda's Innocence activated, both to trap the Akuma here and to keep them searching a wide area," said the beansprout.
"Trap them?" Miranda repeated, sounding confused, and the beansprout elaborated, "Well, think how bad it would be if the Akuma army managed to get out and attack the rest of the world."
Miranda shuddered, and Kanda silently agreed that was a bad idea.
"I don't really know what this 'Heart' you're all talking about is…." At the man's voice, they all jumped and shut their traps. They should really stop recapping everything in public. "…But I do have that list."
The beansprout took the offered paper and began to read. Everyone started to gravitate to him to peek over his shoulder, and even Kanda was dragged over. He acted like it was a pain, but squinted at the paper anyway. There were four names, just as the man had said: Alphonse Klaus, Martha Hearst, Roger Holmes and 'Mother.' What the hell kind of person let themselves be known as 'Mother?' Timothy seemed to share his opinion, if the wide eyes meant anything.
"Mother?" Miranda gasped.
Huh. Apparently they knew where to find one now.
"B-but Mother can't be… can she? She knew about the mirrors! But she's far too kind…."
"Mother's not a Broker for the Earl," said the beansprout. "She's actually in league with Master Cross."
"Isn't she the one who helped Cross and your dad when they were younger?" said Alma, and the sprout nodded.
"One and the same. I talked to her the other day. Remember, Miranda? You passed out, and Mother was all worried when I carried you home."
"Come to think of it, I think I do remember that," Miranda mumbled. "So you know each other?"
"I'd heard of her, but that was the first time we met. We talked about what was going on, so I know for a fact she hasn't seen any Akuma. I wonder what that man was trying to achieve by giving out her name," said the beansprout, frowning at the list. "Um… sir, what's your name?"
"Alphonse Klaus," said the man, and the sprout nodded.
"That's another name off the list. And there was another Broker who was killed by Akuma, I think we can safely assume it was Roger Holmes. That only leaves Martha Hearst."
"Hearst? Isn't that Timothy's last name?" said Alma.
"Yeah, it is," said Lavi. "Hey buddy, do you know who… hey!"
Timothy was gone. He'd been right next to Kanda a minute ago, but now it was like he'd vanished into thin air. They all looked around desperately. Kanda got an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"What the… where'd he go?" said Lenalee.
"He was just here," said Miranda.
"Well he can't be too far off, then. Timcanpy, can you… Tim?"
The beansprout searched the sky, then pulled at his sleeve to look down it. He gave them all an expression of horror.
"Tim's gone!"
"Tim and Tim?" said Lavi. "We got ourselves a problem, guys!"
"No shit! Did the brat take the golem?" said Kanda.
"Timcanpy doesn't go anywhere he doesn't want to go. I think he followed Timothy," said the beansprout.
"Timcanpy's the center of the golem network, we can track him down," said Alma. "And if he is with Timothy…."
"Right. Golems, track down Timcanpy!"
At the beansprout's command, all the golems perked up (with the exception of Lavi's, which acted as if it hadn't heard at all. Was it broken or something?). Kanda's sped out of his jacket to lead the way, Lenalee's right behind it.
"Wait!" cried the man. "Y-you said you could stop it!"
"We will," the beansprout said determinedly.
"But what will happen to me? What if that man comes back? What if the Akuma…."
The beansprout stepped up to him and placed his red hand on the other's forehead. The man stood stock still, rooted to the spot in his fear.
"W-what… what…"
"I release you from your contract," the sprout said softly. "Under article sixteen, you are permitted to leave the contract unharmed in any way, so long as three high-level magic users can be named for your cause and the magic unwound. I name three: Marian Cross, Mana Walker, and Bak Chan. Should the contract writer find fault, he must appeal to these magicians, in the order they were given. In confidence that these magicians will uphold your reasoning, I negate the spells cast on you."
The cross on the back of his hand glinted. There was a sound like something breaking, but muffled somehow. Tiny flecks of gold light exploded from the man's frame like a firework, but once they were an inch away from his skin, they drifted down lazily, flickering out as they did with an odd tinkling noise. The man looked amazed. But gradually, his eyelids began to sag, and his knees buckled. The beansprout caught him and lowered him gently to the ground, propping him up against the wall before straightening again.
"With that, he won't remember anything tomorrow. The Akuma and Noah won't bother him." He looked sharply back at them. "There's nothing more we can do here. Let's find Timothy."
Timothy had fast discovered that taxis were way too expensive. That or his allowance was laughably small, but he already knew his dad was kinda skimpy with the money. He also learned that Timcanpy was heavier than it looked. The golem had decided to perch on his head for the taxi ride, and only three or so minutes into it his neck began to hurt. Allen must've grown muscles of steel or something to deal with this thing on his head all day.
The taxi driver had taken a look at Timothy and raised his eyebrows at his age (something Timothy found very annoying), and those eyebrows had gone still higher at the sight of Timcanpy (because what the hell was that supposed to be, anyway?), but once he found out Timothy had the cab fare, he asked no questions. Timothy was glad of that, because he wasn't really sure how he'd respond to anything right now. His head was in a whirl.
Martha Hearst. It couldn't be the one he was thinking of. He couldn't believe it. There had to be another Martha Hearst floating around Mater somewhere. But just in case, he was headed over to the one he knew.
The taxi stopped by the Galmars' house, on the corner. Timothy reluctantly handed over the fare, and clambered out. The car sped away, and he looked down the block with apprehension. He'd never been so nervous about going to his own house before. But he took a deep breath and forced his feet to move. Inspector Galmar came out of his house as he walked by, pulling on his jacket quickly. Timothy kind of hoped he'd go unnoticed, but that wasn't to be.
"Timothy?" said the inspector, pausing. "What are you up to?"
"Uh… just going home," Timothy said flatly, gesturing vaguely down the street.
The inspector raised an eyebrow, just like the taxi man. Timothy knew he wasn't acting the way he usually did, but he was freaked out, he had a reason.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah. But I think Dad's gonna ground me. Jean and his stupid onion bombs got me in trouble again," said Timothy, making up some excuse. It was lame, but Galmar seemed to buy it.
"You should know better," the man scoffed. "You're always in trouble for one reason or another, aren't you? Well, it can't be too bad of a punishment. Tell me if anything goes wrong."
Inspector Galmar had been under the impression Timothy's dad was an abusive criminal or something for quite a while. He certainly looked the part, and at times Timothy had been afraid he was going to be hit, but thus far he'd been safe. He knew the inspector was only worried about him.
"Right," Timothy drawled, as Galmar walked past him, to the garage. He watched the man get into his car and start up the engine, and that was when something occurred to him. "Hey. I thought you didn't work on Saturdays," he said, as the car reversed past him.
Galmar leaned his head out the window with a grim expression.
"We've had no less than fifteen officers vanish overnight. Their families haven't seen them, they haven't come in to work, they're just gone, without a trace. We need all the force we can get right now. But don't tell anyone! We don't need this spreading anywhere," he said, giving Timothy a stern look.
Memories of the library the previous day came to mind, and Timothy couldn't resist a shudder.
"R-right."
"Good. Be careful today, all right?"
With that, Galmar reversed down the rest of the driveway, but before he could zoom off down the street, Timothy called, "You're the one who should be careful!"
The inspector gave him a puzzled look, but gave him a short wave and drove away. Timothy watched him go, then looked down at Timcanpy (which had decided to hide behind him, clinging to the back of his shirt). The golem's wings fluttered and it pulled itself up onto his shoulder again. Its tail tapped against his back in what he decided was impatience, and he grumbled, "Okay, okay, I'm going…"
He slunk down the street and slowly, ever so slowly, climbed up the three steps to his front door. He hesitated there, but Timcanpy wiggled restlessly and he scowled. Irritated now, he pushed the door open.
"Hey, I'm… back…?"
His voice trailed off. His parents whirled around to look at him. His mother was in the doorway to the kitchen, his father on the stairs. They'd been arguing, he could tell by the weird silence and the angry faces, but there was something… too angry about it. And some of it seemed directed at him. His stomach gave a twinge.
"Uh… what's going on?" he asked.
"Darling," said his mother, forcing a smile onto her face and trying to sound sweet, but ending up with something more like the impersonation of a growling dog, "Why don't you take a seat in the living room? Your father and I need to talk about something…"
"There's nothing to talk about!" his father snapped, leaning over the railing with a face like thunder. "You know what you're doing, you know it's goddamn sick…"
"Yes, I know what I'm doing! And I know it's for the better!" his mother, Martha, retorted.
"The better? You think that's for the better?" his father roared, gesturing at Timothy.
Timothy himself felt very out of the loop, but there were more twinges now and if it weren't for his determination, he'd be running out the door. He edged toward the living room.
"You had no problems with it before!"
"That's because you only told me part of it! And now I've seen what you're doing, you freaking bitch!"
"Don't you talk like that to me, you bastard!"
"I'll talk to you how I want!"
And now his father was off the stairs, moving toward her with hands raised, face furious. He was seriously going to attack her. Martha's face froze in fear before it was obscured. He hit her, by the looks of it across the face, and shoved her back. She stumbled into the kitchen, and he followed. Ignoring the bad feeling, Timothy ran forward, crying, "Mom!"
There was a loud crack. It hurt Timothy's ears and made him stop. His father toppled back into the hallway. Timothy's eyes widened and he let out a shaky breath. The man was dead, what looked like a bullet hole between the eyes. He fell onto the floor, and blood spattered, sinking into the carpet. Martha stepped over his legs, shaking just as bad as Timothy. There was a gun in her hand. She stared at the felled man for a moment, then up at Timothy, and the boy took a step back.
"Don't move," she said darkly, raising the gun.
The thing was pointed at his head. Timothy whimpered and cowered in place.
"M-mom?"
"I'm not your mother."
Not his mother? The thought floated aimlessly in Timothy's head, unable to connect to anything else and relatively meaningless. So the woman who'd raised him wasn't his mother? But she'd still raised him, and now she was pointing a gun at him. Wasn't there something wrong with that picture? If she spent so much time and effort raising him, then why…?
"Y-you're a Broker," Timothy squeaked.
"That's right."
"But what does that have to do with… with…"
"Your mother's dead. We killed her," said Martha, and there was a smile spreading across her features now. Not a happy one. It was creepy as hell. "She was never supposed to escape the factory. But we hunted her down and killed her. And then we tried to kill you, but your mother, insolent wench she was, managed to find Innocence and made it synchronize with you."
Innocence? His mother… Innocence?
"Every time we tried to kill you, you possessed us. When an Akuma came to kill you, you possessed and destroyed that too," she said, walking slowly closer. "We couldn't take you to a Noah, we'd be killed for our incompetence. So we decided to take you away where you couldn't do any damage. An entire world away. Seems that's backfired, though. You know how to use your Innocence now, don't you?"
He did. He'd completely forgotten that he had the ability to defend himself! Timothy narrowed his eyes and began to concentrate, but the safety was pulled back on the gun with a soft click, and he froze again.
"Ah ah ah. Not so fast. I'm afraid your little trick won't work this time."
And from behind her, something lurched out of the kitchen. An odd, catlike machine, which had to be another Akuma. It turned to face them.
"If you possess me, this Akuma will kill you. And if you possess the Akuma, well…" The gun tipped to the side, "I'm sure you get the idea."
Timothy was feeling really stupid for leaving the others now. He'd wanted to figure this out on his own, but now… Now he knew he was in way over his head. His eyes flicked to Timcanpy, the gold golem just visible at the edge of his vision. Its wings were wavering, as if it was considering whether to take flight. He hoped it wouldn't leave, it was his only source of comfort right now.
"Timcanpy…" he whispered.
The golem's wings stood to attention, and Martha paused.
"Timcanpy?" she repeated. She squinted her eyes suspiciously, as if the name meant something, but she couldn't remember what. "What…."
"Timcanpy!" hissed the Akuma.
Timcanpy shot into the air, right at Martha's head. She yelped in shock and started shooting at it. Most of the bullets missed, but one of them hit. The golem's body cracked, the bullet leaving a gaping hole, but it kept flying into her face. It clung there with its stubby little legs, blocking her view even when she clawed at it. The Akuma shrieked and lunged. It grabbed at the golem but caught Martha's head instead. She gasped.
"Wait! Akuma, don't…!"
It didn't listen, jerking her head back to get a better shot at its target. There was a snap, and Timothy fought the urge to puke. Timcanpy fled its spot, shooting up toward the ceiling, and the Akuma jumped after it, cackling, "Timcanpy, Timcanpy! If I get you for the Earl, I'll be rewarded! The Earl wants you!"
"Too bad!"
Something flashed by, fast enough to ruffle Timothy's clothes and tug at his hair. Alma rammed into the Akuma, sending them both reeling back with his speed. He rolled with the momentum, caught the Akuma's shoulders, and swung it headfirst into the floor. The hardwood smashed under the force, and the Akuma yowled.
"Timothy! Timothy, are you okay?"
Timothy turned slowly. The rest of the group was filtering into the hall, over the door which had been completely knocked off its hinges (when had that happened?). Allen's eye was all weird again. He looked Timothy over, and once he was reassured he was unharmed, began to gesture to the others.
"We're going to need to move fast. There's the level two Alma's fighting, and another upstairs, to the right. There's a third in the backyard."
"Right!" said Eyepatch. He grabbed Kanda and dragged him up the stairs. Lenalee and Link skirted around the fight and the bodies in the hall, on the way to the back door. Allen stepped toward the fight, arm raised in case he needed it, but Alma looked pretty determined to beat this one into a pulp on his own, so he hurried after one of the other groups. Timothy didn't notice which one. Miranda knelt next to him, looking at him with concern. He looked right back at her, mind numb and unable to register the look on her face.
"Timothy, are you hurt at all?" she said.
"They didn't touch me," he replied.
Miranda frowned at the response, but didn't seem to know what else to say. She just stayed there on his level with a hand on his shoulder. The hand grounded him, and made him feel a little bit better. He still felt like throwing up, though, and he tried not to look at the bodies. The pictures on the wall rattled as an explosion rocked the top level. Timothy flinched, and he could see Miranda cringing too. Lavi and Kanda raced down again, Eyepatch laughing about how the Akuma didn't know what hit it. Alma and the other Akuma were still fighting, blocking the landing, so the two boys hopped over the railing and stumbled for the back door.
Alma delivered two swift punches and twisted sharply; his tail hit the Akuma across the face, the heart-shaped tip slicing neatly across its eyes. The Akuma staggered backward in pain and surprise. While it was blinded, Alma took a big gulp of air, and let it out in a scream. What looked like stone duplicates of Akuma bullets, but longer, appeared in front of his open mouth, shimmering green before rocketing off at his opponent. They slammed into the Akuma, forcing it back. For a moment the creature was pinned to the wall by them, but then it exploded. The blast took out a big chunk of the wall and stairs. Alma walked out of the smoke and rubble, a limp in his stride, but with each step, it got better until it vanished altogether.
"You okay?" he said, bending over to see Timothy better and smiling slightly.
"N-not really," Timothy admitted. Alma glanced back at the bodies and grimaced.
"Your…"
"Parents. Yeah." Timothy hesitated. "Or not. She said she wasn't my mother, and I suppose that means he's not my dad, either…"
"She was the Broker?" Alma whispered. It sounded like he was talking to himself, but Timothy nodded anyway.
"S-she said she came from the other world and brought me with her."
Alma blinked.
"That actually kind of makes sense," he said cautiously. "We wondered why you were the only parasitic accommodator we found here. I think only people from the Ark end up with weapons like that…"
"If I'm from the Ark… and you're from the Ark… maybe you know what she was talking about. She said my real mom escaped from a factory," said Timothy. Martha's words were finally clicking. The more he thought about it, the more he shook. The more he wanted to know. Where was his real family? "What did that mean? She escaped and they killed her… but what kind of factory…."
"I don't know anything about a factory. Allen might, though," Alma murmured.
"Someone say my name?"
Allen was walking back down the hallway, looking somewhat disappointed and thoroughly unharmed. He hopped over Martha's corpse and joined their little group.
"Link trapped the last Akuma and the others are using it for target practice, so I guess I'm not needed over there. Did you need something?"
Alma smiled at his presence.
"Timothy was asking about a factory somewhere in the Ark. I guess his mother escaped from there and got killed for it. Do you know anything about it?" he said.
Judging by the look that gradually formed on Allen's face, he knew exactly what they meant. And it wasn't good. The thought was reinforced when Allen dropped to his knees and hugged Timothy tightly to his chest. It might've been a comforting gesture, but the act made him wonder if he had a family left at all.
Tyki tipped his head to the side, considering. The baby in the carriage looked right back at him and gurgled. It was rather irresponsible of the kid's parents to leave her under a random tree in the park, but apparently the band onstage was popular enough to abandon a child for an autograph. Pity, what if there was a creeper around? Kidnapper or something? Tyki was neither, but still. He leaned over the carriage and said, "I don't suppose you know where I can find Innocence?"
The baby giggled and reached for his hair. He drew back and looked around again. Somewhere in this brightly lit park, there was a shard of Innocence. Unsynchronized with anything, and therefore probably safe to target. He could feel it faintly, but he had to locate it soon. It was getting late, and he didn't want to be rewound before he destroyed it. Starting all over again would be annoying and time consuming.
"Does anybody know where to find Innocence?" he called, just loud enough for the people on the pathway to hear. They gave him weird looks and walked faster. Not like he expected any help from them anyway.
The baby gurgled again, and he looked down, only to blink in surprise. The baby rattle next to the child's head was glowing faintly green. Barely suppressing a smirk, he reached in and picked it up.
"Why thank you."
He clenched it in his fist. There was a slight resistance, a tiny sting as the Innocence tried to fight back, but it had nothing to wield its power, and no way to defend itself. The rattle snapped, and the Innocence inside it shattered with a crunch. He opened his hand and watched, fascinated, as the shimmering green dust spilled out over his fingers, hissing downwards and vanishing before it touched the ground. He never got tired of that.
"There goes another one…" he murmured.
"Tyki Mikk."
Tyki turned around. Just down the pathway there was a man with slicked back, dark hair. He didn't look too out of the ordinary with his dark coat, but there was something very slight about the style of his clothes that leaned more toward the Ark fashions, not Mater's. The more Tyki stared, the more he believed it. This had to be someone from the Ark.
"Oh? So you know my name," he said, smiling. "It's only polite to share your own in return."
"You won't need my name," said the man, raising his right arm. Green flame roared up to his elbow, forming an embellished gauntlet. An Innocence weapon.
"Oh, I insist," said Tyki, unfazed. He slipped the card out of his breast pocket and glanced over the names. There was a good chance this was one of the people on the list. "You're obviously not Marian Cross. Are you perhaps Arystar Krory the Third?"
"Wrong," said the man, eyes narrowing.
"Oh? I suppose I'll try again. Are you Andrew Nansen? Louis Fermi? Winters Socalo?"
Tyki watched his face, and was pleased as, with every name, it became more annoyed. He had barely begun another name when the man snapped, "Stop fooling with me."
"I'll take you seriously when you give me your name," said Tyki, spinning the card on his index finger.
"Suman Dark," said the man.
The card stopped its rotation, one of the names glowing bright red. 'Suman Dark' was spelled out below Alma Karma, clear as day. His eyes flicked back up.
"An Angel, I see. I suppose I'll have to give you my full attention," he mused.
"If you wish to survive," Suman growled. He pulled his arm back and punched it forward into thin air. "Bring the wind!" The air in front of him distorted, whirling itself into a gale that swept forward, taking with it the fallen leaves, dried grass and a few lines of electric lights. The rest of the park's light flickered and people began to scream.
Tyki grinned wolfishly and charged at the tempest.
"Die in pain, Angel!"
End of Chapter 10. I think this is my least favorite chapter thus far, but the action's picking up!
I knew as soon as I included Timothy that he was going to pull this rock-paper-scissors joke. I came up with it ages ago and I've been looking for a way to squeeze it into the story! Hope it made you all snigger.
Miranda has Innocence! I know you've all been waiting for that! She won't be able to control it for a while, but it's there!
And I'm hoping the part about Timothy makes the Innocence phenomenon make a little more sense. All the accommodators in the Ark are parasitic, which is why Allen had never seen Crystal types like Lenalee and the others. Likewise, the people in Mater's world can only have equipment types. Timothy was born in the Ark, which is why he's parasitic, despite living in Mater. The factory is a plot point, I suppose, but one that's not going to come into play for quite a few chapters.
As always, thanks to everyone for the reviews!