Clockwork Island Part 2
Night of the Puppet
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The room went silent.
"So he's… Doctor Frank Stein…" whispered Leo.
Haze's hand shifted slightly to her sword's hilt, while Chris's hand went to the stitched pocket on the inside back of her hat.
Gonzo grit his teeth. "This man…"
A giant, dark aura spread around the room.
"He bears the scent of death…"
Toma's hand also moved to his mallet.
Dr. Stein chuckled. "I am sorry if I have scared you all… This is my village, Gardua."
Leo's eyes widened.
A nostalgic smile appeared on Stein's face. "It was swallowed by the Bermuda sphere… All my friends died…"
PUNCH!!!!
Milo head butted him. "Don't be so sorrowful in front of the guests, Stein-baka!!"
Stein looked surprised, then an exclamation mark appeared above his head. "Of course! I'm meant to make the guests feel welcome! Thank you for your guidance Milo-kun!"
Everyone sweat dropped.
"Is he really having a conversation with a sock puppet?" whispered Chris.
Stein's gaze returned to the group. "This is the home I constructed from scratch… Every person, every home, every wall, was constructed by Milo-kun and I…"
"Damn right!!" yelled Milo.
"It was of course built to prevent me from going insane… But whoever does end up here always ends up dead… It's really quite tragic…" he put his hands into the lab-coat's pocket, and the Milo-hand brought out a cigarette.
He placed it in his mouth, then with his normal hand, he withdrew a lighter, and lit the cigarette.
"So…" he inhaled. "I assume you wish to find the way out of Gardua…?"
Toma nodded, but did not take his hand off his mallet.
Stein smiled. "Good. I can arrange that. Unfortunately, I must remain… I have grown too fond of my people to leave now…" he clapped his hands together, causing Milo to yelp. "But I can arrange for you to have accommodation during the night, and I can send you back to the surface in the morning. How does that sound?"
Rue walked in, his arms held out front, plates lining them, balanced precariously on the stringy limbs.
"Please, dine with me. I will arrange for you to return to the surface world in the morning."
Rue grasped the wooden table, and let the plates slide down his arms, onto the surface. With that, the tall butler bowed. "Please enjoy your meal!!"
Toma let go of his mallet, and picked up a fork on the table, then stabbed it into a roasted potato.
Pulling down the bandages around his mouth, he took a bite.
Stein smiled pleasantly.
The food was untainted, unspoiled, and cooked to absolute perfection! It was nearly as good as Gonzo's food.
Toma swallowed the crisp skin, and felt it slide down his throat. His gut feeling didn't subside.
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"Oi! Captain! Look at that!"
A tall man, with a feather cap, and a huge scythe strapped to his back, walked towards the deck. He wore jester like cloths, with baggy pants, and pointed shoes, and wore a green and pink shirt, with sleeves far too long for his arms. He had a white porcelain mask, with two simple black lenses, and three red lines under the right eye.
"It's an Ateresu-Kadou… What of it?" said the man, with a casual shrug.
"It's just… It's the biggest one I've ever seen!" cried the man, staring out farther.
The man chuckled. "That is the Bermuda Sphere, Judai-kun… Haven't you ever heard of it before?"
Judai cocked his head. "No captain Kyoya… I haven't."
The captain laughed. "Men who don't know anything about the sea…"
Blood exploded from Judai's body. He toppled over the side of the deck, and was quickly swept up by the current.
"Don't deserve to stand in my presence…"
Some other members of the crew watched shakily.
The captain moved to a wooden throne in the centre of the deck, and sat down, slinging his scythe down beside him, a silver ribbon connecting its hilt to his wrist.
"We're going back to the Grand Line… I've got some unfinished business to attend to!"
"Yes, Captain Kyoya!" chorused the crew.
A poster was nailed to the wall behind him.
It showed a picture of him, holding his scythe, blade side down, the silver ribbon spiralling around him.
'DEMON SLAYER' HIBARI KYOYA- 2 BILLION BERI
He was currently, the most wanted man in the world.
And Toma's father.
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"Wow!" cried Haze, as she patted her belly. "That was a great meal!"
Stein chuckled. "We're glad to see you enjoyed it, aren't we Milo-kun?"
"Of course!" cried the blue puppet. "It's been months since any real guests arrived!"
Stein nodded. "All the guests who have arrived in the past die from disease… It's rather tragic… I came up with a hypothesis that a virus has collected in the air around Gardua, which Milo-kun and I have built up an immunity against…" he looked at them with a hazel eye. "Of course, you all seem fine." He shook his head, and began to moan slightly. "It's been so long since we've had guests… My puppets all try to comfort me… But they cannot sustain me… And the disease kills all my new friends…"
Gonzo narrowed his eyes.
"I would love to leave this village…" whispered Stein. "But I'm afraid… It's like I'm bound here…"
"Like nails to wood!" cried Milo. He then clamped his sharp jaws over Stein's head. "AND DON'T GET SORROWFUL WITH THE GUESTS, BAKA-STEIN!!"
"OW! OW! OW! SORRY! OW! PLEASE STOP, MILO-KUN!"
The group sweat dropped.
Stein clapped his hands together again, earning another yelp from Milo. "STOP SQUISHING ME, AMEHITSU*!"
"Sorry, sorry!" muttered Stein in apology.
Rue walked into the room, in a bowed position. "How can I help, Dr. Stein?"
Stein smiled pleasantly. "Can you please prepare rooms for my lovely guests. One for the ladies, and one for the men."
Chris winced. "How the hell does he know I'm a girl?" she snapped to Toma, in a hushed voice.
A second puppet walked in behind Rue. She wore a French maid outfit, and had shoulder length green hair. But unlike the other puppets, she had a face. It was so lifelike, going into details towards even the tinniest freckle.
"How can I be of assistance?" she whispered, in a dead-pan voice.
"Rose-chan, can you escort the two ladies to their room?" asked Rue, in a pleasant tone.
"Understood…" whispered Rose, her jaw moving with the speech, adding to the illusion of life. "Follow…"
Chris grunted, and stuffed her hands in her pockets.
Toma looked at her, and muttered under his breath. "Be careful…"
Chris nodded, and followed Haze.
Rue then held out his long arm, and spun round on his heel. "Please follow me gentlemen!"
Stein smiled at them, and waved the hand wearing Milo at them. "Sleep well! I will help you all in the morning!"
As the three young pirates left the room, their gazes never left Stein's…
And his never left theirs…
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"This place is way too creepy…" grunted Toma, as he flopped down on the soft bed. "It's like those haunted castles you heard about in stories! Except for the fact this is a cave, and it's underground… Well, it's still got the evil madman!!!"
Leo sighed, and leaned against the wall beside his bed. "The air was really heavy in that room… I felt… Like running away from that man…"
Gonzo looked down. "Toma. You said you could listen to nature's heartbeat with that templar style you use…"
Toma looked at him, curiously.
"What did you feel when he looked at you?" asked Gonzo, his eyes very narrow.
The bandaged man gave him a short shrug. "Who knows…"
There was a knock at the door.
"It's not locked!" called Leo.
The door opened, and Rue walked in, pushing a small cart, with a bottle of wine in an ice bucket on it. "I have brought you all a nice drink to help you go to sleep…" said Rue, fondly. "We have plenty of wine from the village store. That's where most of our food comes from!"
Rue let go of the cart, and walked out the door, one hand holding onto the handle, slowly closing it behind him. "Good night…"
He shut the door.
Toma winced. "Creepy… Are these guys naturally scary, or do they have to work at it?!"
Gonzo had already stood up, and walked over to the wine, picking it up, and examining the bottle.
"Hn… This is a really expensive stuff… 19 year old West bBlue vintage… Urland…"
Leo raised an eyebrow. "Urland? What the hell is that supposed to be?"
Gonzo shrugged, and spun the bottle round in his hands, showing the curvy name given to the wine.
URLAND
"One bottle of this is worth over ten thousand beli… I'm amazed to see a real bottle of it…"
Toma cocked his head. "How do you now so much about wine?"
Gonzo gave his captain a toothy grin. "I know all about the vintage wines from the four oceans! I was taught about it when I was just a guppy!"
The captain shrugged. "Hey… You remember when he mentioned that disease that killed off anyone who survived the Bermuda?"
Leo cocked his head.
"Well, why haven't we been affected, and if it affects everyone, how can Stein have built up an immunity?"
All of them went silent.
"When did you become serious, Toma?" muttered Leo.
Toma let out a loud laugh. "Serious? Me? That's a good one!"
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Chris let out a heavy sigh, as she sank into the large bed. "Ah… I wish we had these on Toma's ship! Those beds feel like sleeping on rocks!"
Haze stared at her, warily. "Are you the only girl in that crew?"
Chris looked up at the older girl. "Yeah, I suppose… Why?"
Haze blushed angrily. "None of them have tried to… Well… Take advantage of you, have they?"
Chris blushed angrily and sat up quickly. "S-SHUT UP! PERVERTED WOMAN!"
The door opened and Rose walked in, standing up fully erect, staring blankly into space.
She took one look at Chris, then began to walk towards the girl.
As she walked closer, Chris drew up against the wall. "Oi-Oi! Stay back!" she warned/
Rose bent over, her face an inch from Chris's. No warmth came from her skin.
"Run…" mumbled Rose.
Haze's eyes widened.
Chris simply blinked, a nervous grin on her face. "W-what…?"
"Y-you cannot… Get out…" mumbled Rose. "Run… They… Are…"
A crack formed on her grey, wooden face.
"…Coming…"
She fell apart. Literally.
All the joints, connecting the arms, legs and head to the torso broke, causing the pieces to flop onto Chris's body. Cracks also formed along the surface of the skin, causing light grey powder to fall.
The 16 year old simply stared, her mouth wide. "W-W-W-What…? WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!?!!"
Haze rushed over to her side, hurriedly removing the pieces of the now destroyed Rose, and removing the dust from Chris.
The young girl was still staring blankly at the pieces of the puppet, its eyes still wide.
"W-what just happened…?" whispered Chris.
Haze knelt down, and picked up the head of Rose, a crack running right down its centre, from the top of the forehead to the lower part of the chin.
She turned it so the face was level with hers, and then muttered, "Konki-Harou…" (Energy Surge) a blue light illuminated in her hand, flowing around the puppet's head.
The eyes in its skull jolted into life, fixing on Haze.
"Where is master?"
Haze grit her teeth. "Do you mean Dr. Stein?"
Rose looked towards Chris. "You… So… Young…" a slight smile appeared on its face. "I… So… Sorry… You… Must… Run…"
Haze narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean, run from what?"
"The curse… Of… Master…" whispered Rose. "I… Fell into… The Bermuda… With my crew… We were… Treated… Fed… And healed by… Master…" her eyes began to dim, fading into a blank white colour. "He… Is… Mad…"
The head crumbled to dust, and Chris bit her lower lip nervously.
"W-WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" yelled Chris. "SHE-SHE-SHE-SHE CAME BACK TO LIFE!!"
Haze reached inside a bag on her shorts, and pulled out a pair of fingerless gloves, which she slid onto her hand.
The, slowly, she unsheathed her sword. It was a silver colour, with a crimson hilt and guard, like the sheath.
"I don't know why…" whispered Haze. "But the energy in this place…" she held out her hand, and a black mist began to appear, swirling around like smoke.
"What is that?" asked Chris, looking interested but weary at the same time.
"The energy in this place is rage… Mixed with sadness… Mixed with… Death…"
The clenched her fist, and the black mist disappeared.
"H-How did you do that…?" muttered Chris, now holding her Crescent Dagger in a defensive stance.
Haze smiled. "I ate the Konki Konki no Mi! I'm an Energy human!"
"Energy… Human…?" whispered Chris, as her legs gave out, and she slumped to the floor. "This is one demented world we live in…"
Haze chuckled. "Tell me about it…"
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
The pair went ridged, as it opened, and Rue walked in.
He looked down at Rose's remains, and shook his head. "Really… I thought we'd fixed all the bugs this time…" he looked up at them, his blank, expressionless face shining in the moonlight. "I hope she didn't disturb you… Perhaps you would like to see the good doctor…? And ask for a check-up?"
Haze knelt down, holding her sword at her side.
Chris did likewise, holding the dagger in front of her, and drawing the pronged dagger from her belt.
"Oh… Really, I do not wish to fight… It may spoil the room for the next guests, and the doctor will be angry at me! Oh poor Rue…" He held out his arms at their full length. Knife like blades shot out the top of the fingers, turning them effectively into claws. "But if you insist…" the silhouette of red eyes appeared under the wooden face. "I shall bring you to the doctor… In Pieces!!!!"
He sped forwards.
"Here he comes!!" cried Haze.
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A soft snoring could be heard from the boys room, as all of them lay in bed, sound asleep.
None of them could tell that their door had softly been opened, and three, silent, cloaked figures had entered.
Each one carried a long, thin sword.
Dark red lights shone through the gaps in their hoods, from the silhouettes of their eyes.
One stood by each bed, and all raised their swords, like a well oiled machine, in time with one another.
"Bring them back undamaged…" whispered one.
"Stab through the heart…" said the second.
"Dismantle the corpse…" said the third.
They spun the swords down, so the sharp point was hovering over the sleeping figure.
"Die…" they all whispered, simultaneously.
They thrust downwards
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Ooh! Cliffy! My evilness comes into affect!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
I received a question from a Miss Sanjiandserea, so I'll just let everyone know my answer:
Q-'Will there be any romances in this fic?'
A-'Possibly, depending on reaction. This is a One Piece fic, so it is unlikely, but if people want romances, you get romances. Ain't I a big hearted guy?'
*Amehitsu- Rain head, joke relating to the blue colour of Stein's hair.
Next Time: Clockwork Island Part 3-Flesh to Wood