Chapter 28 – A Broken Body, A Strong Heart
As the sun began to set upon the Cliffside that stood beneath the Bodega Bay inn, the atmosphere inside the building was certainly livelier than it had been almost three hours ago. After their little spat, Goggles couldn't help but feel a little guilty about all the things he said to G, especially since he basically started an all-out hate campaign against the guy. It's not like the Gizmonk really hated him or anything, but someone pushes Goggle's anger too far than he has been known to lose it, just ask the Gem Foxes who once tried to hurt his friends back home. At this point, Goggles was filled with so much regret that he couldn't even enjoy himself when he and the others were all in the hotel's ballroom, listening to several members of the group perform some attempts at karaoke. It was just after Adagio had finished singing "Bad Romance by Lady Gaga" that she finally took notice of the Gizmonk sitting on one of the closest tables, looking down at his cup of tea with a look of depression.
"What's the matter Monkey-boy?" she asked.
Goggles may not have liked the fact that a Dazzling was the first to ask the question but regardless it was nice to know that at least someone was concerned enough to do so.
"I don't know, I guess I'm feeling a little guilty is all," he replied with a heavy. "Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on G, I mean he and the others have been gone for hours."
"Oh I'm sure they'll be fine," Adagio said, casually rolling her eyes. "From what I can tell, that G knows how to take care of himself, besides he had all that coming to him."
Needless to say, that statement caused Goggles to raise an eyebrow with a frown upon his face.
"You don't really seem too fussed about your sister being missing for so long," he said bluntly, practically astounded that she isn't showing the same concern for Aria's disappearance.
"Oh Aria's a big girl, I'm sure she's fine," Adagio retorted. "Trust me, she and the others will be back eventually."
"Yeah but what if they run into that wolf-thing before they do?"
It was only then that Goggles and Adagio turned their heads to see that it was Laura who had just spoken and was taking a seat at the table, the very same worried expression upon her face like Goggles had. Of course her statement affected her just as ineffectively as Goggles' arguments did.
"Then G or Nyx will simply knock him out again," she scoffed. "Honestly you two are such worry warts."
At that point, Adagio saw no point in arguing further and proceeded to walk away from the table, leaving Laura and Goggles alone to talk. As they listened to Chef make his own attempted at singing, "Hit Me Baby by Britney Spears" both of them shared awkward glances while Goggles attempted to start up the conversation first.
"So what do you think?" he asked simply.
"About what?" Laura replied.
"Do you think I was a little harsh with G?" Goggles replied, not really wanting to sugar-coat anything.
At those words Laura sighed, clearly hesitant about giving her honest answer, obviously she knew that she should tell the truth but she also didn't want to hurt the Gizmonk's feelings in the process.
"Well, in all honesty… yes?" she finally said, causing Goggles' jaw to drop with a quick gasp. "I'm sorry, but it's the truth! I don't really like to see the bad side in anyone, and I know G probably shouldn't have shared your secret to me and Nyx, but I think the way you acted with him was a little… aggressive."
If it had been anyone else then Goggles would have probably have given an aggressive retort, thankfully when it came to his friends and family then he at least had the common decency to accept their opinion, though of course he was ashamed to admit that he didn't allow the same courtesy when he was arguing with G earlier.
"I know," he admitted with another heavy sigh. "I guess I was still letting out a bit of steam after the whole fiasco in Middle-Earth, I mean, the guy DID save my life back there. It's just that particular subject is a little sensitive for me you know?"
At first Goggles expected Laura to give him a scolding for what has been said, but to his surprise Laura instead gave a small smile and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I do," she said.
It was then that Goggles remembered what Laura had told him about how her kind was treated back in her home dimension, and how stupid he truly acted. Of course G didn't just spill his secret to ANYONE, he only told the ones who truly understood his situation, Laura because like most other Keidran had her own experiences with bigotry and Nyx, the first real friend he made since being taken from his home. Now Goggles' guilt was all the worse, how could he have acted so stupid? After all Gizmonk's were supposed to be geniuses and yet he couldn't pick up on G's methods before he lost his temper, at this point all the Gizmonk could do now was sulk and hope for his safe return, too ashamed with himself to do anything else.
"Please be alright guys," he whispered to himself. "Wherever you are."
#
Meanwhile, back at the scrapyard, the four friends that were on Goggle's mind were facing confusion of their own. After discovering what lay in the trunk that G had sniffed out, all they had been able to do was stare in awe as they tried to comprehend what they had found.
"What the hell…?" G finally said, as he reached out his cybernetic hand towards the object inside the trunk.
Now what was in this trunk, you ask? Well if any other person would have found a trunk like this, they would probably find a bunch of old clothes, perhaps a pile of smaller junk that the previous owner decided to stuff inside before throwing the container out. However what the group discovered was…
"A girl?" Edward asked, staring down into the trunk.
"A METAL girl," Nyx added, her jaw still hanging towards the ground. "Like your arm G."
Indeed it was a girl, a girl made entire out of blue and white metal, had she had been able to stand up to her full height instead of being stuffed into the trunk in a crouched position, then she would have stood at least over six feet tall. She had white metal that acted as her skin, with another metal that was light blue, acting as her "clothes", which consisted of a tank top, a miniskirt, and knee socks, and blue "hair" that included two pigtails, both of which were contented to her head by a bolt. Needless to say as they looked upon this astounding discovery, all the group had many questions beginning to fill their heads, some of which were about the identity of this metal girl, had Goggles been with them then he would probably have been going ecstatic by now. However G knew perfectly well who this girl was, and the only questions he had was about how she got into this condition in the first place.
"So… it's a robot?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow.
Of course Aria knew what a robot was, she probably heard about them from a Sci-fi show she watched back in her own world, still that fact that easily brushed off as G continued to look at the metal girl in the trunk.
"Yep, and I know just what KIND of robot," he said bluntly. "Help me get her out."
After several minutes of trying to pull the robot out of the trunk that was clearly way too small to fit her, in fact it was astounding how she was able to squeeze in there in the first place, in a nutshell it was like trying to pull out a cat out of a tin can, finally the group managed to free the metal girl and lay her down on the ground. As she laid there, she did in fact look like she was six foot tall, and the group was now able to see some of the small dents and scratches she had sustained, quite recently if their hunch was right.
"So what are we looking at here G?" Aria asked, curious as to what he meant by his last statement.
Needless to say, that curiosity was shared by the other members of the group as they wondered just who this robot was.
"Guys, allow me to introduce XJ9, AKA Jenny Wakeman," G declared, beginning his explanation. "Built by a brilliant Scientist by the name of Nora Wakeman and created with every form of defensive machinery known to human kind, with the added looks and personality of a fifteen-year-old girl."
As G explained the identity of this metal girl, each member of the group took in each word with sheer interest, Nyx was of course amazed that such a contraption even existed since nothing like this was ever made in Equestria as far as she knew, Edward on the other hand felt an instant connection with this girl, mainly because in a way she was like him, an artificial being, as for Aria.
"Well that DOES explain the hairstyle," she said.
Of course all she had to offer was yet another one of her usual comments, though thankfully this wasn't one of the snide ones she usually dishes out.
"But what is she doing here in the junkyard?" Nyx thought aloud. "And why was she stuffed in that trunk."
That was indeed a good question, something of which everyone was inclined to find out. Suddenly a smirk spread across Aria' face.
"Why don't we ask her?" she said simply, giving G a knowing wink.
Instantly recognising what the Dazzling was implying G also obtained a smirk, at that moment, he then picked Jenny up, carried her over his shoulder and then slumped her body onto the hood of the limo. After that he then started giving her what looked like a medical examination, looking over the full extent of her injuries.
"Okay, not really any damage but she's completely drained of power," he said, suddenly gaining a doctor's coat and stethoscope for some reason. "Almost as if she were syphoned of it."
"So what do we do?" Edward asked curiously, anxious to find out what G had in mind.
Yet another good question to think about, G may have been many things but a scientific genius was not one of them, he certainly can't use his powers on her since technically she's alive plus he didn't even know if the Sci-Fi powers in his metal arm would even have any effect in this case. Still he had to do something, suddenly a plan popped into his head as another smirk etched its way across his face.
"Well Goggles may be the expert in this sort of thing," he said. "But I DO have an idea."
It was then that G then took off his hat and stuck his bony hand inside as he began rummaging for something, as it turned out, G's hat was exactly like his vest pockets, meaning that it was bigger on the inside thus allowing G to use it as an extra pocket.
"Okay we're gonna need about 450 volts for this," he mumbled to himself, practically diving into his find to find what he was looking for. "Damnit this thing always gets stuck at the bottom!"
At this point G then began shaking his hat, after which an assortment of weird items came tumbling out of it, starting with a wrench, then a trumpet, a sink, a live cat for some reason that instantly ran away upon being released, finally a car battery fell out causing G to smile again as he found what he was looking for. However as he proceeded to pull everything else back into his hat, G couldn't help but notice the confused look everyone gained as they witnessed what had just happened.
"What?" he asked confusingly.
"Oh, uh… nothing," Nyx replied quickly.
Of course Nyx should have expected something like this by now, after all she did witness a pair of villains spend a couple of hours pulling random items out of G's pockets, still even after that the very sight of G doing something like this surprised her, and Edward and Aria were just as surprised too. Deciding to brush this obviously awkward moment off, G then returned his focus to the task at hand.
"Well anyway," he said, now pulling two jumper cables out of his vest. "Her own battery seems okay, so I think she just needs a jump start."
Even though Aria was the only one who actually knew what a car battery was, Nyx was none the less somewhat knowledgeable on what G was attempting to do due to her mother's teachings on electricity, and it was because of that fact that Nyx felt a little nervous about what G was attempting to do.
"You sure that's safe?" she asked as G brought the car battery close to Jenny's body.
"Not at all," G replied with a chuckle, now proceeding to attaching the jumper cables to the battery. "Okay, everybody stand back."
As they watched G test the cables for a spark and then proceed to open up Jenny's chest plate to locate her power core, the other three members of the group looked at each other with fear as they all shared the same fear of what might happen if G was concerned. So not needing to be told twice, all three of them took a lot of steps back and dove behind a nearby pile of junk for protection, only just peeking around the corner to see what was going on. Finally with another light chuckle, G made his move.
"I've always wanted to say this…" he said, readying the cables with a look of pure delight. "CLEAR!"
With that he then jammed the cables into Jenny's open chest plate and delivered a powerful shock to the robot, one that was so powerful that it literally cause a mini explosion that sent G flying into the pile of junk the others were hiding behind, causing everyone else to cringe upon seeing the pain he had brought upon himself. However even as G was smeared upon the junk in a blackened, sparking mess, the shock he delivered to Jenny's system seemed to do its job as the teenage robot's eyes shot wide open.
"WOAH! Where am I!?" she screamed as she shot up from the hood of the limo. "What's going on!?"
It was then that her auditory system heard G's painful groans as he managed to pull himself up from his sudden blast of power, quickly turning her head towards him her eyes then changed from shocked, to a fierce scowl.
"Well that was a shocking experience," G commented as he dusted the black off his singed body. "Sorry for the bad pun folks."
And of course even though he can't hear me he still tries to break the fourth wall, however that aside he was too late to do anything else as he suddenly found an unnaturally sized laser canon pointing directly at his face.
"Okay, who are you!?" Jenny demanded, her glare unwavering as she kept her weapon aimed at her target.
It was then that Nyx's jaw practically hit the floor, when G said that Jenny was built with every form of weaponry know to human kind he wasn't joking, for now Jenny had somehow manged to shapeshift her arm into a laser canon that was at least five feet in dimeter and just as long to boot. Whatever scientist made this robot, she certainly went all-out. However amazement aside, this robot was still aiming a highly dangerous weapon at her friend's head.
"Woah, easy there girl!" G exclaimed, obviously fearing for his life. "Put the canon down!"
"Then tell me what I need to know!" Jenny demanded.
Obviously this girl wasn't in the mood for pleasantries at the moment, someone needed to calm her down and they needed to do it quick.
"We found you stuffed in a trunk over there, that's all!" Nyx squealed, quickly making herself know to the robot.
Upon hearing this Jenny quickly became confused, not only by the sudden appearance of three more individuals but all the words that one of them had said.
"Stuffed in a trunk?" she repeated, suddenly turning her head to see the open trunk sitting next to the limo. "So that's what happened."
Of course, that last part she merely mumbled to herself, but regardless Nyx's statement was enough to make the robot lower her guard, so much so that G was able to build up the courage to introduce himself.
"Maybe we got off on the wrong foot here," he said, nervously dusting of the last of the soot and holding out his hand. "I'm G."
Obviously Jenny was hesitant at first, after all G wasn't like anything she had seen before, in fact none of the creatures surrounding her were, but the more she thought about it, the less it seemed that these people were a threat. Finally making up her mind she withdrew her weapon, closing it back into her arm and shook G's hand.
"Uh… Jenny Wakeman," she said, introducing herself before turning towards the others. "And you guys are?"
"Oh, I'm Nyx and this is Aria and Edward," Nyx replied, eager to make friends with the newly discovered robot. "Don't worry we're friendly… Well most of us."
"HEY!" Aria snapped, quickly picking up on whom the filly was referring to.
Upon seeing this Jenny couldn't help but let out a small giggle, something that G quickly noticed as he released a smile, happy that the ice was now indeed broken.
"So who are you guys? She asked.
It was then that G's smile turned into a look of determination for Jenny had just opened up an opportunity for G and the others to receive some answers.
"We're a group of people from different dimensions like yourself," G replied brusquely. "Perhaps you remember a crack that brought you here?"
It was then that Jenny's eyes widened with shock, this creature knew about the crack!? Just what else did he know?
"Yeah, in my Mom's lab!" she answered quickly. "But how did you know?"
"It's a long story," Aria answered with a casual roll of her eyes.
"Perhaps you should give us YOUR side of things first?" Nyx added, her curiosity growing more and more with every minute.
Unable to resist Nyx's unbelievable cuteness, Jenny's metal shell was easily penetrated and her metal heart simply melted, so of course she found no problem in answering her question.
"Okay, well as I've said before I was in my Mom's lab getting a small tune-up," she explained, capturing everyone's interest in an instant. "When all of a sudden a crack of light appeared right in the wall sucking everything up like a vacuum. Before I knew it I was here."
"Is that how you ended up in the junkyard?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not really," Jenny answered. "When I first arrived I landed on the roof of some hotel."
Upon hearing the word "hotel" everyone's eyes widened with shock, surely she wasn't talking about the same place they were thinking of were they?
"The Bodega Bay Inn?" Edward asked, voicing everyone's concern.
As it turned out, the group's suspicions were correct.
"Yeah," Jenny replied, here own eyes wide with surprise. "How'd you know?"
"Lucky guess," G replied quickly, wanting to stick to the point. "Go on."
"Well anyway, I was trying to find help around the area when I saw a bunch of other cracks in the sky," Jenny continued. "And just like me, four more people fell into this world. After I caught them before they could fall to their death's I brought them back to the hotel so that they could calm down and perhaps get them to help me."
It was then that G began scratching his chin with thought, Jenny wasn't one to lie about such a thing like this, so there was no doubt that she was talking about Ruby, Uncle and Franky, but who was the fourth person she mentioned? As far as everyone knew those three were the only other characters that had been holding up at the Bodega Bay Inn, something wasn't right here.
"Let me ask you something Jenny?" G said, grabbing the robot's attention. "You wouldn't happen to know a Miss Hazel would you?"
However it was at this point in time that Jenny didn't look so confident in her own story, almost as if she hadn't had the slightest idea as to what the Living Genre was referring to.
"I think so," she answered, though not entirely sure. "I think I've only ever met her once when she came by the hotel for some kind of inspection the day we arrived there."
Everyone's eyes widened at that.
"So she DIDN'T offer you or the others jobs at the hotel?" Aria asked with a concerned tone.
Now THIS answer Jenny was confident with.
"No, not really," she replied positively. "I think I would recall something like that."
Now things were beginning to get weird, Ruby said that she and the others were offered a job by Miss Hazel after meeting in a local grocery store, but she never once mentioned Jenny. But the teenage robot seemed to know HER, and she claims that she only ever met Miss Hazel once when she came by the hotel. Just who was telling the truth? Whatever this clash of stories meant, G could easily tell that something wasn't right.
"What's the last thing you remember Jenny?" he finally asked bluntly, his mind desperately trying to piece together the mystery that lay before him.
"Well, it was the second night after I had met those other guys from different realms," Jenny replied, her hands clasping onto her head as her memory banks tried desperately to recall what happened. "I was low on power and decided to head into the kitchen to try and find some cooking oil to drink, when all of a sudden I heard this maniacal laughter coming from behind me, though when I turned around, no one was there. After that I felt something pierce into my back and all of a sudden I felt completely drained. Next thing I know I'm waking up here."
It was then that Nyx's curiosity peaked and she couldn't help but circle around Jenny's body, sure enough while using her little wings to hover slightly, she found a tiny hole at the middle of the robot's back, not big enough for anything to leak but definitely enough to allow something incredibly small to pierce through the metal shell. A syringe maybe? Though if that were the case, the instrument had to be incredibly strong to pierce through metal, and what's more the person wielding it would have to be just as powerful.
"Interesting," Nyx finally commented, tapping her chin with a hoof.
Seeing Nyx nod from behind Jenny's back, G realised that the robot's story had definitely has some truthful elements. However he still needed to be sure.
"Were any of these people you knew called, Ruby or perhaps Franky?" he asked.
"Maybe an old guy named Uncle?" Aria added, quickly picking up on what G was trying to figure out.
As they had feared, Jenny once again confirmed their suspicions
"Yeah, they were!" she answered with a surprise tone. "You've met them?"
However this time no one gave her a quick answer, they were all too busy trying to absorb all this new information.
"So they were lying to us?" Edward asked, his fear quickly growing with every minute.
"But why?" Nyx added, her fears growing just as rapidly.
That was a question that certainly baffled everyone, so Ruby, Franky and Uncle were lying about how they arrived? What's more Jenny knew them and yet they had failed to mention her existence, much less her sudden disappearance from the hotel and reappearance in the scrapyard. Furthermore, there was a mention about yet another character that was lost here, and yet there was never mention of him/her at all.
"We should probably get back to the hotel," Aria suggested. "Maybe we can get some straight answers when we get back."
But while the other agreed with the Dazzling's suggestion, G suddenly found himself being distracted by something at the corner of his eye, he didn't know why he didn't notice it before but thanks to the setting sun, a slight glare shimmered of the metal object that stuck out of the trunk that Jenny was stuffed in, most likely something that was already in there when she was locked inside. However upon further inspection, G's eye then widened with shock upon seeing the red metal object.
"Holy Crap!" he exclaimed as he pulled the object out. "This is Ruby's scythe!"
Indeed it was the weapon the young huntress had owned, though it was in its compacted state, there was no mistaking the unique design of Crescent Rose. Of course the others had no idea that ruby was meant to have such a weapon.
"Ruby has a scythe?" Aria asked, almost impressed that such a young girl would carry such a badass weapon.
"She should," G replied with a concerned tone. "From what I know about her she's actually a pretty good huntress. But what's it doing here?"
Yet another good question to add to the stockpile that has been building up, and also another that G intended to find the answer to.
"Anything else in there?" Jenny asked, her own curiosity peaking even though she had absolutely no idea as to what was going on.
It was then that Nyx zoomed towards the trunk and started digging through whatever trasures that had kept jenny company.
"Let's see," she said, tossing out the items as she listed them off. "A bunch of spell books, a dried up old lizard, a blowfish and… this card here."
That last item she levitated out with her magic, after which G quickly snatched up as he read it aloud.
"Karru Marri Odonna Loma Molonu Karrano?" he said, his eyebrow raising with confusion.
That last sentence certainly was a confusing one, granted G knew exactly who the other items belonged to, but he doubted Uncle was the type of Chi wizard to simply write a spell down on what he assumed was a crappy business card.
"What the heck does that mean?" Aria thought aloud.
"Well roughly translated it means 'You and I are one now'," Jenny pointed out, causing everyone to look at her with an expression of surprise. "What? I know all kinds of languages."
However translation aside, that didn't help anyone's confusion about it.
"What I don't understand is why someone printed something like that on a card," Nyx thought aloud, scratching her head as it began to hurt with all the confusion. "Is it some kind of greeting or something?"
During the next few minutes, G desperately tried to figure out just what was going on, first a clash of stories by Ruby and Jenny, then a bunch of items stuffed into a trunk along with said robot, and now some weird saying on a card? What's next? However soon enough, after looking over all the new information in his head, G finally began to piece everything together.
Hang on a second, manky old trunk, maniacal laughter, weird incantation?" he said to himself, listing everything he knew off before his eyes widened with terror, the truth of the situation finally coming together in his head. "Oh god, I know who did this, we gotta go!"
And just like that, G began frantically gathering everything up and started tossing them into the limo, and judging from the frightened look upon his face, the others knew that whatever he figured out it definitely wasn't good.
"Why?" Nyx asked fearfully. "Who did this to Jenny?"
"One of the most feared beings in all of creation," G replied frantically as he ushered everyone into the limo. "A complete wacko with a Napoleonic complex. And if he's the one who did this then the others are trouble!"
#
Back at the hotel, darkness began to sweep over the building. Once the sun had finally gone down and everyone else was enjoying themselves in the ballroom, a certain red-hooded girl was creeping up the stairs with a lit candle as her only source of light. Though she may have claimed that the reason everyone else was forbidden from going beyond the fourth floor due to maintenance, in truth she had another reason for keeping everyone away, a secret that she along with Franky, Uncle and Miss Hazel only knew about. After climbing up many flights of stairs, she finally came to an old wooden floor at the very top floor of the hotel, one that served as the entrance to the attic. With a fearful gulp, she then looked all around her to make sure that no one was watching and slowly opened the door, once inside she was met with a darkness even worse than the rest of the hotel obtained due to the lack of windows. Regardless she was fine with only her candle as her sole source of light and continued on, after closing the door behind her she finally broke the silence that had been following her ever since she left the others downstairs.
"Hello?" she whispered, only to be met with silence. "Are you still there? Of course you're still here, where else would you be? Stupid little me eh?"
But once again she was only met with silence, still she continued to whisper as she slowly made her way towards a specific direction.
"I know I'm not really supposed to be here, but I won't be staying long." She continued, though still not talking into anyone in particular. "Still I guess you must be pretty lonely up here huh?"
Had anyone else had been with her, they would have probably thought that Ruby had gone insane and presumed that she was speaking to herself. However as Ruby continued on to where she was going, the faint glow of her candlelight began to illuminate the darkened shape of a figure sitting in a dusty old armchair, though it still wasn't light enough to really tell who it was, especially since they were being so still. Suddenly, the nervous look Ruby had plastered upon her face suddenly turned into a confident glare as she knelt down next to the figure.
"Listen, I know I can't really say this out loud, but I think there's someone who can help us," she whispered, shifting her eyes as she desperately tried to make sure that she wasn't heard, even by the smallest mouse. "I think maybe he can even change you back to normal."
It was then that Ruby brought her candle closer so that she could finally see the figure in all their glory, however this figure wasn't exactly alive, at least not from another person's perspective. The figure was human in shape and size, but the skin was nothing more than solid wood, the joints mere hinges, and the eyes, simply but a pair of painted orbs. The only features this figure had that even remotely gave off the idea that this figure was real were the clothes, from the sandals upon its carved feet to the straw hat resting on the top of its head.
"I promise you Luffy," Ruby said bravely. "We are NOT gonna end up like Jenny."
#
Author's Notes:
The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:
The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:
The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:
The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth
