Author's Note: There is some swearing in this chapter, so be warned about bad language. Enjoy!
The 37th Night- Seriously Now
Allen lay awake in the infirmary bed until something climbed up onto his bed. Allen looked over to see Ebony stop by Allen and look at him strangely.
"You still here, lad?" Ebony asked and Allen nodded slowly. Ebony and Gen looked at each other and then back at Allen. "But everyone left already."
Allen jolted up to a sitting position so fast that he immediately felt dizzy afterwards and fell back down onto the bed.
"They… what?"
"Left. They were called away for some event. Why are you still here?" Gen asked and Allen shrugged slightly.
"Nobody came to tell… me…" Allen said before trailing off. Gen and Ebony stared at him in confusion before Allen put a hand to his forehead. "Oh… that's it…"
Gen and Ebony exchanged looks again before Allen looked over to them this time.
"Where is this event?" he asked and the turtle shrugged slightly. Allen sighed and looked back up at the ceiling before noticing something missing. "Where'd Timcanpy go? I hope he didn't get eaten by a cat."
The ocean gently rocked the ship as it neared the land. Miranda deactivated her Innocence and let out a sigh of relief. While the rest of the Black Order prepared to land, Lavi looked up to the giant Statue of Liberty that towered over their ship.
"What a woman!" he said happily before being pounded into the ship's deck by Kanda and Lenalee. Lavi murmured an apology and grabbed his stuff before the ship docked at the port. Komui led the group off the ship and onto the ground where someone was waiting for them. The person waiting tipping his top hat up with the handle of his cane and looked at the Black Order. He shook hands with Komui.
"The Black Order, I presume?"
"That's right. I am Komui Lee," Komui said politely and the man nodded while his red hair poked out from under his top hat.
"I was told by Prince Chlodwig to escort you around. You may call me Joshua," Joshua said and Komui smiled. Lenalee looked around the port until a soft meow reached her ears. She looked across the port to see a black cat sitting upon a barrel against the side of a building. The cat stared intently at Lenalee before hopping off of the barrel and running down the street. Lenalee watched the cat leave until Komui addressed the Exorcists.
"Sir Joshua here will be showing us around, so make sure not to get lost! … That means you, Cross," Komui said, making Cross scowl bitterly as he was about to disappear off to find a pub. The Black Order followed Komui as they all followed Joshua down the street. Lenalee looked around curiously while Joshua gave them a guided tour through the city. Joshua suddenly stopped and the Black Order saw a giant building in front of them.
"This is the Park Row Building built by Robert Henderson Robertson. This is the tallest office building in the world," Joshua explained and Komui nodded in interest. Lenalee stared up at the building until she heard another meow. She looked behind her to see the same black cat staring at her.
"Looks like you have a follower, Lenalee," Lavi whispered quietly so Komui wouldn't hear. Lenalee giggled and nodded in agreement as the cat disappeared again. Joshua explained more while Lavi and Komui listened closely. The others had grown bored and started to look around. Cross, in the meantime, was being kept from leaving by Tiedoll and Cloud. A carriage drove over to the Black Order and Joshua looked over to it as the auburn haired driver boy jumped off to open the door. Chlodwig stepped out slowly and smiled to the group.
"Guten Tag," he said with a chuckle. Joshua nodded as Chlodwig walked over to them. Komui extended his hand out to Chlodwig, who promptly ignored it as he looked among the Black Order members.
"How ist your tour?" Chlodwig asked with a German accent. Komui smiled and looked to Joshua.
"Your guide has been very generous and helpful."
"That's gut. Perhaps I'll hire sie full time, nein?" Chlodwig said with a chuckle. Joshua bowed slightly and tapped the tip of his cane against the ground.
"Sire, when is the grand showing beginning for the Park Row Building?" he wondered and Chlodwig waved his hand calmly.
"It will beginnen soon," he said before excusing himself as he headed towards the building while his driver boy rode the carriage away. Lenalee watched the carriage roll away before returning her attention to Komui and Joshua.
"What showing is this?" Komui asked and Joshua shrugged lightly.
"Prince Chlodwig only told me that we would be shown something by his informer today."
"Informer?"
"Yes, the Prince is very keen towards his informer. I haven't met this informer myself, but the Prince speaks highly of him. Calls him a "Genius of Humankind". Sounds like one of the aristocrats you see everyday," Joshua said and sighed softly. Komui chuckled with a nod of agreement before Joshua looked off at the Park Row Building that Chlodwig had entered.
Chlodwig smiled as he walked up the stairs inside the building. He saw someone standing by the wall and regarded him briefly.
"Give us a good show," he said and Tyrir smirked slyly as he stared out at the front doors of the building.
"Anything less would be an insult," Tyrir said walking away from Chlodwig.
Outside the Park Row Building, Komui and the Black Order waited with Joshua. People were walking around conversing amongst themselves. Lenalee looked around anxiously while Lavi looked around at the tops of the tall buildings around them. Lenalee noticed Lavi pause out of the corner of her eye, and she looked over at him.
"What's wrong, Lavi?" she asked and Lavi pointed up towards the spot between the Park Row Building's two large spires. Lenalee looked up just before someone else in the crowd around the group noticed as well and screamed.
"There's someone up there! He's going to jump!" The whole Black Order looked up at the spot. Krory narrowed his eyes as he stared up at the figure crouched down on the edge of the Park Row Building's roof looking down at them.
"What is that?" Krory wondered out loud in wonder as the figure dropped down from the roof. People screamed in horror as the figure fell fast towards the ground. Before the Black Order could act, the figure landed on all fours with no apparent damage to the ground.
"The hell…?" Lavi said in amazement while the figure seemed perfectly fine. The Black Order stared in surprise as the figure's long black tail curled and uncurled slowly while its black cat ears on the top of his head twitched.
"Nya, Nylph made Humans scream. Humans stupid for not knowing Nylph always lands on Nylph's feet," the cat-boy said while purring slightly as it stared at the Black Order with golden eyes that seemed brighter thanks to his black hair that hung down at the sides of his face. A fang stuck out of the corner of the cat-boy's mouth that stayed neutral. Lavi looked at the cat-boy's "hands" that were a single pale color with his fingers clawed with no wrinkles or nails anywhere on his claws. The Black Order and Joshua stepped away in caution as the cat-boy continued to stare at them.
"What are you?" Komui asked and the cat-boy purred again.
"Nylph is Nylph."
"No, I said what are you?"
"… Nylph is Nylph," Nylph said again while his right cat ear twitched again. Nylph removed his claws from the ground, leaving ten small holes where his claws had pierced the pavement. The Black Order flinched as other figures surrounded them, looking down at them from the rooftops. One of the figures being the same auburn haired boy that drove Chlodwig's carriage. Nylph purred as the other people grinned down at the Black Order. Among the people, the auburn haired boy was the first to speak as he placed a fiddle against his shoulder.
"What a wonderful meeting this is. It touches my heart in way words could not! Alas, I have not introduced myself. You may call me Nero, the Puppet of Manipulation. Oh, it feels so good not to be those Betas anymore!" Nero said with a large smile before making a few notes off of his fiddle.
"Oh-ho-ho. Indeed it is, Nero. It is also good to be more human than before. I am Plato, the Puppet of Wisdom. I believe I have encountered some of the Black Order before… Ah, there they are," the old man with a cane and long white beard said while looking down at Timmy and Miranda. Miranda and Timmy flinched in surprise as they stared at Plato.
"I am… Hercules. Me stronger than… you… Puppet of Power… is me…" the giant burly man next to Plato said slowly while flexing his large muscles. Krory and Milly stared at Hercules angrily as the large man stared back dumbly. Meanwhile, Kanda and a girl with a long red hair locked eyes. Plato chuckled as he noticed Kanda and the girl stare at each other.
"That's Vermilion, boy. Do you remember her? She became quite docile after our new Master gave us human bodies," Plato explained while Kanda unsheathed Mugen slightly. Vermilion raised her hand and a broad sword started to emerge from her palm. Lenalee felt a cold chill run down her neck as she saw the girl standing next to Vermilion with a crazed grin on her face.
"Hey, wench! Yeah, you with the freaky hair! You better remember me!" the girl with short orange hair shouted angrily while Lenalee glared back at her, every shred of anger rising through Lenalee's eyes.
"Viridian," Lenalee muttered and Viridian's grin widened even more.
"Good, you remember me!" Viridian shouted until Nylph stood up, making all five Puppets on the roofs become silent immediately.
"You all took Nylph's entrance time," Nylph said and the five Puppets trembled at the sight of Nylph's piercing golden eyes.
"Our apologies, Leader," Plato said meekly while Nylph stared at the five Puppets. The Black Order turned their attention to Nylph as well as he looked to the Black Order. Nylph stared silently before waving his claw calmly.
"Go ahead," he said and the Puppets except for Plato, jumped from the roof towards the Black Order group. Kanda blocked Vermilion's sword as the red haired girl kicked off of Kanda's arm and landed softly on the ground. The two stared at each silently with their swords at the ready.
Hercules smashed the ground where Krory had been standing before jumping into the air. Lavi and Milly joined Krory in attacking the giant Puppet that groaned softly in pain. Lavi's hammer grew larger before smashing the Puppet down the street.
Timmy, Miranda, and Marie watched Plato take the fire stairs down to the ground before the Puppet chuckled. "Oh-ho-ho. I'm not a fighter, so I hope we can just play some games while waiting for this all to blow over, yes?" he asked as the three Exorcists looked at each other in confusion.
Nero played his fiddled fiery while running away laughing as Keria, Cedric, and Derek ran after him. Keria grimaced bitterly as she ran alongside the two men. Nero continued to play even after having outrun the three until they reached a dead end. Keria, Cedric, and Derek watched as Nero tapped the ground with his foot while still playing. "Let's have some fun!"
Viridian laughed wildly as she swung her foot at Lenalee's head. Lenalee jumped away while Viridian grinned madly. Viridian lowered her hands and two daggers fell out of her sleeves and into her hands. "Better keep dodging, bitch!" Viridian shouted before charging towards Lenalee.
Nylph yawned sleepily while the four Generals surrounded him with their Innocence at the ready. He gazed around at the Generals before flexing his claws slowly.
"Nylph only gets to fight four? Nya… Nylph is sleepy…" Nylph said calmly while Cross grinned coolly.
"We'll put you down permanently."
A little note about speech. Chlodwig sometimes adds German words into his sentences. In the previous chapter, he was speaking only German, so there were no problems. Here, he was speaking English.
Nylph speaks without pronouns. Very cute and funny. Another thing about Nylph is that his face is always neutral with no shown emotions.
Next Chapter Preview: The Black Order is attacked by the Puppets, formerly known as the Beta-Puppets, and fight their way through the streets of New York. Lavi, Milly, and Krory face against Hercules. Kanda and Vermilion cross swords for the second time. Lenalee tries to get her revenge against Viridian. Keria, Derek, and Cedric face against Nero and his fiddle. Miranda, Timmy, and Marie play games with Plato. The four Generals face off against the supposed Leader of the Puppets, the cat soul bound into a human body, Nylph. Can the Black Order face the Puppets and their new and advanced powers or will they be grounded into the streets of New York? Next Time: Nylph! See ya there! XD
Noah Corner
Derek: *running after Nero*
Keria: *stopped running for mid-day tea*
Tyrir: *sleeping in the Park Row Building lobby*
Rune: Hey, a cat-boy.
Roland: Neat.
Ran: Froggie!
Zephyr: ... That's getting annoying...
Keria: *sips tea* No questions today. But a lot of new characters.
Nero: What a beautiful place this is! It moves me in ways words could not!
Viridian: Bah, this place sucks.
Vermilion: ... Peaceful...
Hercules: Yah...
Plato: Oh-ho-ho.
Nylph: Nya.