—CHAPTER 10—
"I'm telling you! Just give it a chance, what have you got to lose?"
Ashi was referring to Jack's alleged reputation among his friends and neighbors. Now that he was unemployed again, his worries about being blacklisted had resurfaced.
It was Sunday night, the second one of October, and the couple was sitting in Jack's living room; they had finished eating take-out a while ago and were now simply watching TV. Ashi sat right up against Jack on the couch. A late-night talk show was on, which they were barely paying attention to.
Jack sighed, "I suppose there's no harm in getting back out there. Maybe I'll take a walk around the neighborhood tomorrow while you're at work. Speaking of, which ad are you taking first?"
Ashi pondered for a moment, "The landscaping one—well, it's actually just gardening, I think."
"Oh, at Oakland Country Club? I use to do all kinds of labor at that place," said Jack.
"Yep, that's it," Ashi smiled.
Jack yawned, "The club members are surprisingly polite to the workers. You'll like Mr. Rothschild, he was a club member when I was there. I wonder if he still is?"
Ashi smiled, "If I see him, I'll tell him you said hello."
Jack looked at her warily, "Uhhh…"
"Or better yet," she continued, "You could come with me tomorrow and say hello yourself!" Jack sucked in air through his teeth, glancing at the ceiling, and Ashi pouted at him, "Come on, Jack!"
He threw up his hands, "Alright, look. Tomorrow, I'll visit a few of my old employers just to… test the water. If it goes well, I'm all set to start working again."
Ashi raised an eyebrow, "Why can't you just come with me to the Country Club?" she asked.
"Well, there's no guarantee they'd have work to accommodate me if I just showed up. Plus, I wouldn't want your association with me to hurt your employment," he answered.
Ashi rolled her eyes; "Ugh, get over yourself!" she teased, and Jack chuckled.
Just then, the talk show playing in the background caught their attention. The camera zoomed in on the host at his desk, Clark Davis, as he introduced the next guest; "Welcome back! Up next, we have the self-proclaimed, 'Master of Masters'. He's got his name on just about any type of product you can think of, and his recent transition into politics has made him one of the most controversial public figures in recent history. Please welcome, the man who only goes by three letters, AKu!"
And there he was on screen, strutting out from backstage over a mixture of applause and boos. AKu made his way over to the talk show set, where the host had stood up to shake his hand, then took a seat in the lounge chair adjacent to the desk. Wearing his usual sharp black suit, a sat crossed-legged in the guest chair, with a comfortable grin on his face.
Ashi glanced at Jack, who was gazing intently at the screen. The host spoke up as the audience finally died down, "So, AKu. How was your week?" His guest smiled, "My week was MAREVELOUS, just like every other week! Life is good, Clark."
The host smirked, "I'd imagine that's easy for you to say; after all, you are currently one of the wealthiest men in the nation, there's not a single person in the audience or watching at home that doesn't know your name, AND you're standing in the polls is surprisingly good for someone who's just getting into politics. Safe to say, things are going pretty well for you!"
AKu waved his hand dismissively, "Yes, but it is not by mere chance that I am blessed with such good fortune. For I have carved this path for myself by the seed of my own wit; molded my immeasurable success with pure perseverance and character! And if you ask me, THAT is the kind of person our country needs! The kind of person it DESERVES! A leader with guts who can lead us all to a brighter tomorrow!" The crowd applauded his patriotic declaration, and the host paused to wait for them to finish.
"Well, that was certainly a convincing platform you just tossed right out there. It was almost like you'd been rehearsing it!" he joked, and AKu gave a naughty grin as the audience laughed. "But you know, there's a lot of people out there who wouldn't be swayed by a few eloquent buzzwords. They want to hear a real plan to improve our country, and a man who like you who talks… well, big, is expected to deliver. So, let's hear it!"
AKu raised his eyebrows, "I'm glad you asked, Clark! As many of us know, crime rates have been skyrocketing as of late, with no signs of subsiding any time soon. Now, some candidates will tell you that the problem lies in things like 'education' and 'infrastructure'—you know, the go-to answers. But those of us who really see the big picture know that things are never so cut-and-dry. People are obviously unsatisfied with the way of things, and all the tragic incidents that have been occurring recently are the people crying out in frustration! These calls cannot be ignored, but even in a nation such as ours that is born of rebellion, nor can they be condoned. Any form of violent insurrection must be dealt with swiftly and sternly, as the people who see it as a solution cannot be reasoned with. They have cast out logic and compromise in favor of bloodshed, and so, their demands must not be met. The needs of our nation as a whole far outweigh those of one disgruntled individual. If that person cannot assume the way of this world, it is appropriate that they be cast out. They should be allowed no place in the America that we know and love, and they will have no place in AKu's America!" he proclaimed, as a good amount of the audience roared again with applause.
Once they stopped, Clark spoke up again; "Now, I'm sure this is a bit of a sore subject for you, but I'd like to bring up the criticisms against your business practices."
AKu rolled his eyes, "Oh boy, here we go!" he joked, as the audience laughed.
"Now, I understand you had a lot of prevalence in the late eighties, but then you kind of dropped off the radar after the Tartakovsky incident, is that true?" the host raised an eyebrow inquisitively.
AKu nodded, suddenly getting very serious. "It was… a difficult time in my life. My leasing company was barely taking off, and the Tartakovsky Hotel in Pennsylvania was my biggest success so far, which didn't really mean much at the time. Then, in 1989, a horrible disaster struck; a small fire had sparked in one of the lounges, but due to a sprinkler malfunction, the fire only got worse. The firemen were dispatched, and they did their best quell the towering inferno, but the hotel was lost, and so were most of the guests and employees… I-I was speechless when I heard the news, I couldn't believe one of MY establishments could've resulted in so much senseless death and destruction. Fortunately, I had already purchased an insurance plan for the Hotel a few months prior to the fire, and I had planned to use the hefty rebate I received to compensate the many families who suffered a tremendous loss from the incident. But before I could proceed with my charity, an old employee of mine, who had himself survived the blaze, accused me of setting the whole thing up, JUST to collect the insurance money! I… I couldn't believe it! I'll admit, I've done some questionable things to make a quick buck in my day, but I would NEVER perpetrate such a heinous act for my own gain! Of course, it seemed the victims of the event were still looking for someone to blame, and so I was convicted. I spent the next eight years alone, in prison; not a single visitor until the day I was released. It was my lawyer, who had come to tell me the news of my early release. I was shocked, here I thought I would spent the rest of my days, left to wither away by an unforgiving world! But once I was liberated, I had a new lease on life! I immediately reconnected with my family, and made it my life's mission to change this world for the better; the best way to do that, I figured, was to get involved in politics. So, I spent the next thirteen years or so, amassing a new fortune with which to claw my way into a position of influence. Economically, I've most certainly succeeded; but it is not enough to be the CEO of some faceless corporation. You have to be the face of the people, to connect with and inspire them! That's who AKu wants to be!" For the third time, the audience roared in applause, some people giving him a standing ovation.
Jack gestured at the screen, "Look at that, they're eating it up! How could they give that fiend a platform?" Ashi stayed close to Jack as he got fired up at AKu, hoping her presence would calm him down, but he barely acknowledged her.
Clark was finally able to get a word in over the audience, "Wait, wait, wait. You said somewhere in that very inspiring speech that you had reconnected with family. A lot of undecided voters would potentially be swayed if they knew you were a family man, care to elaborate on that?
Ashi's eyes widened, "Oh, most certainly! Well, after I was freed from my imprisonment, I soon found out that one of my old flames had given birth while I was away, and I was the Father! I was overcome with joy at the thought of a beautiful child with which I could share my wisdom and prosperity. But what I got was—not one, not two, not three—but SEVEN DAUGHTERS!" he proclaimed out into the audience, which reacted with a few whistles and a collective, "WOOOOOOOH".
"Holy—seven daughters!? Geez, you sure they were all yours?" Clark joked, AKu and the audience laughed. "What can you tell us about them? Let's hear some names!"
AKu beamed, "Well, first there's A-"
The screen flickered off, and Jack broke his fixation on it, seeing the smoking gun in Ashi's hand. "Hey, I was watching that!"
She put down the remote and got up to stretch, yawning exaggeratedly; "Time to go to bed, don't you think? I, for one, don't want to be tired for my first day on the job."
Jack sighed, looking at the blank screen again, "Yes, I suppose."
Ashi stepped in front of Jack, standing over him with her hands on her hips; "Stop worrying about that crook, you'll give yourself an ulcer! Come to bed, Samurai."
Jack blushed as Ashi grabbed his hands and pulled him up from the couch, "Ashi, please don't call me that…" he whined.
She gave a teasing look, "Why, does it embarrass you, Samurai?"
Jack looked up at her sternly, "Ashi, please! I'm not a Samurai."
Ashi matched his expression, "Well, I think you ARE a Samurai, Samurai!"
Jack stood up over her now, "Ashi."
She looked up smugly, "Samurai."
"Stop!"
"What?"
"Calling me that."
"A what?"
"A Samurai!"
"But it's what you are."
No, it isn't."
"Yes."
"No!"
"Uh-huuuuh!"
"Nuh-uuuuuuuh!"
Something about Jack giving that classically immature response got to her, and she broke out of their exchange into a fit of laughter.
Jack didn't catch on, but her laughing was infectious regardless; he tried to confront her again through his own laughter, "What? What's so funny! Ashi!" His voice cracked as he said her name, making her laugh even harder. Falling back onto the couch, Jack looked down at her and shook his head while laughing himself.
"That's it, off to bed with you!" Without warning, Jack grabbed Ashi by the waist and threw her over his shoulder. She gasped, at this point coughing from laughing so hard.
"Jack… wait, I… I haven't even… brushed my teeth!"
/
It was almost nine thirty now on Monday morning.
Jack and Ashi rode down the street, the motorcycle kicking up autumn leaves as it whizzed past. They were headed to the Oakland Country Club at the edge of the hill section, right where the houses began to get noticeably nicer.
Jack pulled up to the front doors of the club, stopping to let Ashi off. She hopped off then stepped up to Jack, "You're sure you don't want to come in and say hello?"
Jack looked away sheepishly, "Uh, no. I don't think anyone I know is working right now."
Ashi's shoulders slacked a bit, but then she gave Jack a small smile and pecked him on the lips, "Well, break the ice at least once today, okay? I'll call you after work and tell you how it goes. Bye, Jack!"
Jack called after her as she walked into the building, "Have a good day, Ashi!" and watched as Ashi walked past the second set of automatic doors, stopping to let a short man pass by. He gestured to her in thanks, and they shared a brief exchange that Jack couldn't make out as he watched. The man walked out right in front of Jack, who suddenly recognized the man.
"Mr. Rothschild?" Jack blurted, and the man was immediately at attention. "Yes, that is me! Not to be rude but, do I know you?" Jack suddenly regretted his outburst, not wanting to see someone he knew.
But the short older man adjusted his monocle, squinting at Jack, and recognizing the familiar gaze, "My word… Jack, is that you?"
Jack rubbed the back of his neck, "Y-Yes, it is me. Hello, Charlie." But instead of immediate persecution as he anticipated, Jack's old friend greeted him with exuberance.
"Jack! Old Sport! Good heavens, it's been at least a year now!" Mr. Rothschild eagerly embraced the surprised Jack, "How are you, my friend?"
Jack blinked, taken off guard by his old friend's positive reaction, "Uh, I've been… better? But, in a good way! I was bad before, but now I'm better."
Charles Rothschild beamed at him, "That's the spirit, old chum! Say, are you working? You should go in and see if the club staff needs any extra muscle, eh?" He playfully punched Jack's arm, causing him to chuckle.
"I'd like that, but I'm not sure my presence here is… appropriate, anymore," he mused.
But Charlie waved his hand, "Oh, nonsense! Nobody's talked about your arrest in months, it's old news now! As a matter of fact, most people are actually missing your routine assistance!"
Jack's brow rose, "They are?"
Charlie shook his head, "Absolutely, you were extraordinarily helpful everywhere you worked! Word travels fast about that sort of thing, why do you think your nickname caught so quickly? Eh, Samurai?" He winked at Jack, who shook his head at the title. "Well, I must be off, but do inquire about labor if you need work! Just follow that black-haired girl who walked in a minute ago, she said she was in there to work as well! You should introduce yourself, she seems like your type~" Charlie elbowed Jack, whispering in a singsong tone, before walking away. "Cheerio, old sport!" he called to him; after snapping out of his disbelief at this unexpected encounter, Jack shouted back a thank you and a goodbye.
Filled with a newfound confidence, he parked his motorcycle and ran inside to ask for work, hoping for the best. The best in this case, working alongside Ashi for the day.
/
It had been a week since Jack discovered his blacklisting was no longer in effect, and he and Ashi had been working with many of Jack's old employers. That first day at the Country club, Ashi helped plant flowers along one of the concourses, while Jack mowed the golf course. They worked there for a couple days, then moved onto the next thing.
On Thursday, they worked for the local baseball team, The Woolies; they helped manage the field until the big game on Tuesday, during which Ashi worked the snack bar while Jack walked through the stands, selling different refreshments.
The end of that week, they moved to work at an archery range run by a band of brothers that deeply respected Jack, and were happy to have him back. They worked Wednesday through Friday, but there wasn't nearly as much to be done on that last day. As a reward for their hard work, the archer brothers allowed Jack and Ashi free access to the equipment and facilities for the remainder of the day. And so, they spent the last couple hours of their shift competing with each other, both of them effortlessly nailing the targets with rental bows.
Each new place they went to work, Ashi spoke with someone who had nothing but good things to say about Jack. Every establishment had a story about how Jack got them out of a jam, or helped their business thrive, or simply lent a helping hand. With each installment, Ashi's admiration of her boyfriend grew.
Things went on this way for the remainder of the month, and the couple was making good money. It was now the last week of October, and their latest gig was at a daycare in the Old North End. Ashi was the one to suggest it, but Jack was uncertain about the undertaking.
The daycare was on a rather uninviting block of buildings, most of them in disarray, run down, or abandoned outright. The most eye-catching happened to be an old unused radio station with a huge steel tower on top; it was right next to the daycare, looming over it. As the motorcycle pulled up to the daycare, Jack and Ashi observed the colorful patterns and pictures decorating the outside of the building. "Fuzzy Village" seemed to be themed around a race of furry blue humanoids, as the window of the daycare had illustrations of joyful "Fuzzies", both young and old, all over it.
Jack looked at the building hesitantly as Ashi dismounted the vehicle, "Uh, do you have any experience with children?"
Ashi turned to him and shrugged in response; "No, but I have experience being children… I mean, a child. Which you do, too!"
Ashi yanked Jack's hand as soon as he got off the bike, and lead them both across the street to the daycare. "Come on, Jack! How hard could it be?"
/
"Ashi! HELP ME!"
Jack screamed from underneath the pile of children, reaching upwards in distress. A few of the kids were clamoring to pull his beard, and they all had a different direction in mind. Having one child standing on him was bad enough, but Jack had about four of them tap-dancing on his stomach.
The shift began at nine in the morning, and it was now one in the afternoon. Not once in that four-hour period did the sixteen children that Jack and Ashi were put in charge of calm down; they were in a constant frenzy, only coming to a lull occasionally.
They thought that expending all of the children's energy would get them to finally crash. The suggestion for "playfighting" for an activity for the kids had proven to be a bad one, and the Styrofoam sword did not serve Jack well in combat. Their numbers were too vast, he was immediately overwhelmed. The children kept a tight dogpile over him, that quickly reassembled each time he moved the children away; Jack got an uncomfortable flashback to that movie he and Ashi saw.
As for her, Ashi was sitting up against the wall; her legs where sprawled out in front of her, and her arms were at her side in defeat. These children were unstoppable, no amount of activity could quell them. Ashi watched helplessly as Jack was mauled by the rabid five-year-old boys and girls.
The worst part was that throughout the whole day, she had this awful ringing in her ear. It started as they got to the daycare, and it kept fluctuating throughout the day. It was so pitchy, but just low enough that she couldn't pin it down. Along with the kindergarten madness going on in front of her, it was driving her insane.
But Ashi could no longer ignore Jack's cry for help. Slapping herself with both hands and shaking her head, she stood up and looked upon the messy pile of children. Some of Jack was peeking through, and she wondered how she might get him out.
Before she could devise an approach, Ashi noticed that all but one child was dogpiling on Jack at the moment, and that child was sitting on one of the chairs in the corner of the room with his head down. By this time, most of the kids who had been tackling Jack were dispersing, off to do their own thing. So, she chose to help the boy that looked distressed; walking over to him and kneeling to his level, she spoke in a soft tone, "Uh… is everything okay, sweetie?"
The boy looked up with a sad expression, "Noooo! My ears huurt, I don't like that nooise!"
Noise? Was he talking about the ringing? Ashi thought maybe his younger ears were better at picking up the pitch. "You hear that? How clearly do you hear it? Do you think you could show me where it's coming from?"
"Yes…but… I don't waannaa," the boy started to well up.
Ashi looked at the boy sympathetically, "Why don't you want to tell? I'm a grown-up, you can trust me. Are you… afraid of something?" The boy paused, looking away from her, then slowly nodded. Ashi thought for a moment, "Sweetie, what is your name?"
He looked up at her and squeaked, "Nathan."
Ashi smiled, extending her hand for the boy to shake; "Nice to meet you, Nathan! Now, I'd love to stop the noise for you, but you need to tell me what you know, or else I can't help you. I promise that whatever is scaring you, I'll take care of it!" She placed a reassuring hand on Nathan's shoulder.
Nathan sniffled, still looking down, "… Okay, I'll show you. This way." He started walking, but stopped for a moment to pick up one of the Styrofoam swords lying around. Ashi took one last look at Jack, who was finally sitting up, and then followed the boy through a corridor at the back of the building. He finally stopped in front of an innocuous door, but his cowering behind Ashi told her that this was the place.
"Nathan, can you tell me what's behind this door?" Ashi asked, kneeling beside Nathan.
The boy rubbed his arm and muttered, "The basement… that's where the monster lives."
Ashi raised an eyebrow, "A monster, you say?"
Nathan retreated even more at the mere mention of it, "Everyone always tells me there's nothing down there, but what else could make such a awful noise!? Sometimes, I can even hear it roar!" he cried.
Probably not a monster, Ashi thought, but it could definitely be the furnace or something making that noise. Either way, it was time to investigate.
She knelt next to the boy again, "Nathan? You should go back and join the others. I'm going to go down and deal with this 'monster', okay?" The boy looked shocked at her bold claim, and held out the foam weapon for her to take, but she declined. "You keep it, better to stay armed yourself! I'll be okay, just leave everything to me," she beamed at the boy, and he started to lighten up.
Finally, Ashi turned to the basement door, carefully turning the knob and pulling it towards her. A gust of air blew past her from down the stairs, and she stared down the flight into the darkness below. Her courage wavered for a split second, but she recovered and began the descent, Nathan watching carefully from the top step. Ashi had told him to go back, but he was determined to hold the line while she was gone.
She got to the bottom of the stairs, and surveyed the area. It was quite dark and damp down there, and the basement seemed to be used mainly for storage purposes. There was a separate room that had the furnace and radiator, but aside from a few clanking sounds, they were not the source of the ringing sound they had been hearing. Ashi looked around a little more, eventually noticing a door frame behind a folded-up table. Moving it aside, she found a strange door that didn't match the rest of them; it was metal and sealed tightly, but not locked. Very slowly, she turned the handle and dragged open the door, the hinges being somewhat rusty.
What Ashi found was a long corridor, at the end of which was a set of push door, with a faint light coming through the glass windows. Hesitant, she quietly stepped down the hallway, finally reaching the push doors. When she pushed through them, she was in another storage room not unlike the one she just left. The faint light was coming from an old light bulb hanging from the ceiling, but there was a brighter one coming from upstairs. Hesitantly, Ashi made her way up the staircase, trying to be as quiet as possible on the old steps.
Meanwhile, Jack was recovering from his arduous battle while the rest of the children played rambunctiously around him. He needed something productive for the children to use their energy on, but they wouldn't stop enough for him to do anything. Pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, Jack was suddenly hit with of a plastic peach someone had chucked at his head. He picked up the false fruit and examined it, before he was struck again, this time by an idea.
Standing up, Jack took a deep breath and shouted, "CHILDREEN!"
All of them froze immediately, now staring at him from every angle. Looks like he had their attention. Jack cleared his throat, "Who would like to hear a story?" Every hand went up. "Good, now have a seat," he gestured in front of him, and all of the children hurried over to the stop and sat crossed legged, ready to be entertained.
Jack took a seat on the floor himself, "This is the tale of Momotaro…"
While Jack entertained the children's attention, Ashi continued to investigate the strange building. She soon realized that she was inside the old radio station right next to the daycare, but found that it was far from abandoned. From the outside, the building looked to be about the same size as the daycare, but the inside was surprisingly spacious. All of the equipment looked like new, and there were flashing lights and sound everywhere; much of it seemed like it was used for more than just broadcasting. The ringing had also gotten louder since she crossed over, so she knew she was in the right place.
Ashi ended up in a large, open room with heavy machinery lining the walls. Walking out from beneath a steel walkway, she saw a collection of monitors in front of a keyboard and chair at the opposite end of the room, but no one was at the helm. Glancing at one of the screens, Ashi could very clearly see Jack speaking to the group of children, who were surprisingly at attention. Another monitor showed Nathan standing at end of the hall, listening intently to whatever Jack is saying, but trying his best not to leave the post. There was screen showing the basement, and another for the corridor she followed; Ashi then realized that she wasn't actually alone.
All of a sudden, the machinery started to buzz and stir; robotic arms started moving towards her, but she aptly avoided their grabbing. More were now activating as well, and she now had at least six metal pincers trying to catch her. After a few minutes of dodging, one of the clamps grabbed her firmly around the waist; she struggled in vain as the metal arm lifted her off the ground, holding her up in front of a large man standing up on the walkway. He was moving levers on a handheld controller, directing the machinery. He had shaggy orange hair and a moustache, and was also a rather portly fellow. He reminded Ashi of Scotsman, only with fat instead of muscle.
"Well, look what we have here. A nosy little babysitter that should've minded her own business. And a pretty one, at that." The man went to touch her face, but she slapped his hand away, and he smiled giddily. He directed the metal arm to face the collection of monitors, still suspending Ashi high above the ground. "Feisty, I like it! Why don't you hang around, sweetheart?" The man laughed way too hard at his own joke as he walked down the grated stairs and back to his station of monitors, putting on a microphone headset.
He turned a knob on the panel, and suddenly the ringing intensified; being this close to the source made it almost painful to Ashi, as she continued to struggle in the grip of the machinery. The man noticed her discomfort, "Sorry, princess. But that sound is the key to this whole operation, take a look." He gestured to the monitor, and Ashi watched as the children next door became noticeably more restless than a moment ago. "This frequency was developed specifically to cause agitation and aggression in children. They're basically guinea pigs for future forms of auditory experimentation; a lot of important people are paying through the nose to get their hands on this technology." Ashi, unfortunately, had a pretty good idea what "important people" he was referring to. "While I'm not really a fan of experimenting on children, this gig's simply too good pass up. They're not getting hurt, but they sure are easy to manipulate!"
The man then turned to the only inactive monitor, which was revealed to be reserved for an online game he played as the experiment continued. He logged in, and greeted his virtual teammates; "Hey, I'm back. Sorry, some girl was snooping around, but now I've got her out of the way… yeah, she's pretty hot. Got kind of a weird profile though, she looks like a monkey from the side," he said with disregard to how easily she could hear him. She got a bit self-conscious at the insensitive comment, worriedly touching the side of her face.
"Alright, someone needs to play tank; I can do it if no one else will… No, we don't need that many DPS, pick a healer. Yeah, that works."
On one of the surveillance monitors, Ashi saw Nathan react to the increased intensity of the ringing, and run off camera. Helpless, she could only dangle from the grip of the machine as the man, who apparently went under the screen name, "xXx_d0min8or_xXx", got frustrated and yelled profane insults at his online teammates.
Meanwhile, Jack was completely dumbfounded. His story had calmed the children somewhat, but they soon were up and running at full speed once again, like they were collectively hit with a surge of energy. Still caught up in Jack's tale, they were playfighting with each other over who gets to be Momotaro, and who has to be the evil ogre. Jack was at a loss for what to do, but at least he wasn't being assaulted anymore.
Just then, Nathan went running up to him, tugging on his pant leg frantically. Jack noticed the distressed boy, and knelt down to assist him; "Hello there, little one! Is something the matter?"
He nodded rapidly, "T-The monster! It got the lady! She went down to the basement to fight it, but she never came back! Now it's even angrier!"
A few of the other children overheard what Nathan said, and were now clamoring to know about the supposed monster.
"I wanna see it!"
"Is it ginormous?"
"Does it have an ugly ogre face?"
"What if it ate the onion lady?"
"Onion lady" must have been a reference to Ashi, whom Jack had just realized was most certainly absent. According to the boy, she had gone to confront this "monster", but failed to return; while he highly doubted that a monster was at large, Ashi was missing, and that was definitely a problem. Upon request, Nathan led Jack to the basement door where he last saw Ashi, citing that she told him she would handle it.
The rest of the children were clamoring about the monster as Jack deliberated what to do. He couldn't just leave the kids unsupervised, but bringing them down with him might be dangerous, especially considering what might have happened to Ashi. Fortunately, a television set on a wheeled stand caught his eye. He rolled it out to the main area of the daycare, popping in a random kid's movie to hold their attention.
"Okay, children! The, uh… 'onion' lady seems to have her hands full with that pesky monster, so I'm going down there to help her out. But we can't just leave this place unguarded; it's up to all of you to keep away anymore monsters that may try to infiltrate our base. Are you up to the task?" Jack asked, trying to sound as motivational as possible. But the children were enticed by the offer to fight monsters, and they shouted their acceptance of the mission Jack bestowed upon them. Raising their foam weapons, they vowed to keep out any more monsters that might appear.
With the children secured for the most part, Jack hurried down the stairs, now quite worried about his girlfriend's well-being. After he was gone, the children immediately lost focus on their goal, but were still fired up at the thought of fighting monsters.
"I hope that ugly ogre shows up, I wanna give him a taste of this!" one of the kids exclaimed, swinging his sword around confidently.
Another spoke up, "But what if it DID eat that lady? It sounds strong, how would we beat it?"
"Well that's easy! We attack him all at once, that monster doesn't stand a chance! 'Member we beat that grown-up that way?"
"But aren't ogres stronger than grown-ups?"
"Yeah, and what if it's a grown-up ogre? That must be like a baziilion stronger than a regular ogre!"
"But what would Momotaro do!?" Nathan shouted.
Everyone stopped, in awe at the concept of how the fairy tale hero would act in this situation.
"Remember how many ogres he fought? A lot. And he only had a-aminals helpin' him!" Nathan reminded them.
"Yeah!" the rest of them shouted in unison.
Nathan held up his foam sword, "The grown-ups need our help! If we work together, we can beat the ogre; we're like a hundred Momotaros!"
The children had funneled their boundless energy into a righteous frenzy, forming an armed pack with Nathan as the leader.
Pointing his sword towards the monster's domain, Nathantaro proclaimed, "What are we waiting for? Let's GOOOO!"
He and the pack of Momotaro's charged ahead, screaming, towards the back area of the daycare center. They maintained their momentum until the basement door was dead ahead, and the entire group came to a complete halt.
Nathan stared at the basement door for a full minute, and none of the other children were feeling brave enough to step forward. But he had not forgotten the motivation that set him off in the first place. With hesitation, he stepped on his tippy toes to grab the door handle, and pulled open the door slowly. The other children peeked at the dark bottom of the stairs, then promptly stepped aside for Nathan to go first once again.
Mustering his courage, he held onto the rail for dear life as he stepped down the spooky staircase. One by one, the rest of the children followed suit. Once they were all gathered downstairs, they eventually discovered the strange door; it was heavy for them, but a little teamwork got it open.
The children were now so caught up in the thrill of discovering this secret door below their very own daycare, they had forgotten their fear almost entirely. Bravely, Nathan led them as the kids marched to the other side of the corridor, picking up speed as they approached the push doors.
With vim and vigor, the small army burst through the barrier, prepared to take on the vicious ogre.
/
This was a tricky situation.
Ashi was being dangled dangerously high up off the ground by a robotic vice grip, and an out-of-shape man sat perched at his computer, most likely in control of Ashi's restraint. Jack saw two options: either he tries to take the man by surprise and steal control of the machines, or he climb up to reach Ashi and attempt to release her manually. The man at the controls was distracted by whatever game he was playing, and Jack was free to pick either option, but he felt safer trying to reach Ashi.
Jack walked up the steel staircase to the overhang, and made his way over to the side of the room where the arm held Ashi; he was about to leap across the deactivated arms leading up to her, when he started hearing small voices murmuring from the way he came. He saw through the grate he was standing on, the little figures passing underneath him. He looked over the railing to see all sixteen kids pour out onto the chamber floor.
"Children!?" he called, catching Ashi's attention.
"Jack!?"
Jack looked up at her, "Ashi!"
Ashi noticed the group of children, "Nathan!?"
"I'm Nathan!" Nathan shouted excitedly.
One of the other kids piped up, "Onion lady!"
"Onion lady?" Ashi said, bewildered.
"What the…?" the man at the computer turned to see the commotion, making eye contact with the "armed" mob of children.
One look, and they came to their conclusion, "It's the ogre! ATTAAACK!" Nathan and the rest of the children charged the man, who scrambled to grab the controller for the metal arms. But it was too late; the children dogpiled right on him; his chair had toppled over, and the kids were now pulling his hair and repeatedly whacking him with their foam swords.
Jack came down from the walkway and went over to the onslaught, unsure if he should intervene. Then the arm controller flew out of the man's hands. It smashed against the hard ground, breaking into multiple pieces, causing the arm holding Ashi to drop her. Jack quickly reacted, catching her bridal-style.
Meanwhile, xXx_d0min8r_xXx cried out as he continued to be wailed on by the horde of wild children; the game he was invested in had just ended, and a female voice spoke plainly as the word flashed on screen, "DEFEAT".
Later on, authorities were called to come put an end to the gamer's operation. It was revealed that the man was a prolific cybercriminal who had been on the run for years, and the experiment he was hired to run was perfect for laying low. Who would suspect an abandoned radio station next to a daycare? The old steel tower was barely functional, having just enough power to get the audio signal next door; while mostly a disadvantage, it did make the signal more discrete. Apparently, the two buildings had once been used together, but now they were only connected by the secret basement corridor.
Jack and Ashi said goodbye to their young charges, and Ashi hugged Nathan as a thank you for his bravery. Afterwards, they were approached by Scotsman, "Now, remind me again why the two of ye don' wanna be on the force? If I didn' know any better, I'd say ye were tryin' to run us cops out of business!" The couple smiled sheepishly.
Once they got their pay for the day's work, they started back towards Jack's motorcycle. But before they got to it, Ashi stopped in her track's and Jack turned back to check on her. "Ashi?"
She looked at the ground with a furrowed brow, then up at Jack with a serious expression; "Jack… do I have a monkey face?" she asked anxiously, turning her head to the side.
Jack looked at her curiously, "Wha-? What kind of question is that?"
"Does my face look weird from the side?" she asked.
"No, of course not! I mean, I rarely see you from the side, but…" Jack's innocent supposition only made Ashi more embarrassed.
"So, you do think it looks weird!?"
Jack held up his hands defensively. "Ashi, there's nothing wrong with your profile; you look lovely from any angle," Jack smiled affectionately at her, and she lightened up a bit. He got right up to her, holding the sides of her face, "But I must say, I do have a preference for looking at you straight on…"
She broke away and bawled "Why, so you don't have to see my chimp face!?"
"N-No, that's not… because… your eyes…"
"And I bet my onion hair makes people cry, too!"
"Ashi, stop that…"
"UGHH!"
/
The next day was Friday, and the couple decided to take the day off after three weeks of continuously working. After brunch at Brewshido, they drove to the commercial area to visit their respective banks and deposit the money they had earned that week.
But as she approached her usual bank, Ashi found herself reconsidering; this was the account her Father had direct access to, the one he was always funneling money into, sapping her independence. She didn't want to lump in her hard-earned money with his "charity".
So, Ashi turned around and went with Jack into his bank. He already had an account, so his deposit was quick and easy. But Ashi had to sign up, and while she told Jack not to wait for the process, he insisted on keeping her company. In the end, she was surprised that creating a new bank account only took about thirty minutes.
With a couple more signatures, the teller gathered up the papers and announced that the process was finished. "All right, looks like you're all set! Now, is there anything else I can do for you?"
Ashi pulled out a small stack of cash, "Yes, please! I would like to make a deposit…"
—END CHAPTER 10—
/