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Oregano and the Secrets of Sycamore Isle! Part Eleven
By: peanutbutterlung (Whale)
Currently in an Upper Level of Skrullton Labs
A dark silhouette dressed all black and sleek was currently sneaking through a large vacant hallway on an upper floor of Skrullton Labs. The alarms that had been blaring mere seconds ago due to Bo Stockston's sudden and obvious break in had finally ceased, leaving this hallway quiet and still. The setting here was now in total contrast to the frenzied atmosphere throughout the rest of the property.
Timing had been exceptionally favorable for this shadowy second intruder to the Skrullton premises, as they were able to slip inside through a window on this upper floor undetected while all eyes were preoccupied on the distraction out front.
It wasn't that they really needed this added bit of security to help blanket their intrusion however, since this second intruder was none other than our exceptionally skilled ninja friend, Ameera. Still it was a perk worth having none the less, as her mind was currently under a great deal of emotion with all that had occurred today. Thoughts and stress were racing through her brain at every moment, and had been for a while now, so she would take any advantage she could at the moment.
Flashback Summary on What Ameera Had Done Until This Point
Ameera had come to Skrullton Labs directly from the Shedyed's abandoned building after her deep discussion with captain Isomer which led to the big plan set for today to switch up dramatically. She was now infiltrating Skrullton Labs alone and well ahead of schedule. The weight of this operation was pressing down on her shoulders like a panini press.
Despite all this pressure, it was what happened after her talk with Isomer where things took even more of a dramatic twist – For within the chest that Isomer possessed was something that blew her mind. What Isomer had managed to get ahold of through his dealings with the nefarious crowd he spoke of was none other than a devil fruit!
This devil fruit was a brilliant magenta color with dark blue swirls that covered its 'pear' shape in a spiraling fashion. According to the shady figure that had sold Isomer the fruit, its name was the Kagi-Kagi no mi and inside of it was the power to grant an individual that ate it the ability to lock and unlock objects at their will.
When Isomer presented this fruit and the information about it to Ameera, on top of wanting her to be the one to consume it, she was overwhelmed. However, with the proper amount of coaxing and the fact that this fruit would provide her a significant advantage in her endeavors of avenging her townsfolk, Ameera caved and took a bite of the foul tasting pinkish fruit. Time was crucial and if this thing actually turned out to be a real devil fruit Ameera was content with never swimming again if it could somehow help her expose the heinous acts dealt to her people by Skrullton Labs to the marines.
After some initial awkwardness and brief chatting between her and Isomer about what she had just done, Isomer quickly dismissed her and told her to gradually ease into her new abilities. He certainly didn't know anything about how the transition between being a normal human and a fruit user was so he assumed Ameera's wit and sharpness would carry her through things better than anything else he could possibly tell her. She was now a 'Key Woman' and she could fall back on these new abilities as backup to her already potent stealth based skills and cunning prowess when necessary.
After this dismissal from Isomer, she headed towards Skrullton Labs with a potential new found trump card up her sleeve – A trump card that she would have to learn about herself first before she could rely on it of course. So along the way she began experimenting and testing out her new found power. It certainly didn't come easily for her at first as one would expect. As she tried to test her fruit's functionality she gracelessly maneuvered herself in various uncomfortable motions in hopes of figuring out how her ability would manifest itself or activate. For someone as precise and smooth as Ameera, this bit of clunky fidgeting was very unnatural and went completely against her character. She was out of her element.
These rigid, unnatural motions wouldn't have to last long for her luckily, since after a few more trials she quickly learned that when she actually neared solid objects with her hands, her fingers would miraculously transform into keys. This process would occur spontaneously as her mind continued to desire any effect at all to occur. In a similarly bizarre fashion as her fingers made contact with any physical surface, a keyhole would magically appear on the object in the exact shape of her finger.
She would have to save her reaction towards the life-altering uneasiness she experienced watching her fingers become keys for later. She simply didn't have room in her mind that was already crammed full with the madness that this day already brought with it. This here was the breakthrough that she needed, and even though she knew she was only scratching the surface of her new abilities she at least had a starting point from which to stem from.
So it was with this that she was able to tinker around with her newly acquired power as she hurried on towards Skrullton Labs where she was eventually able to infiltrate successfully by using only a little of what she had learned along the way.
Now Back to the Present with Ameera in the Upper Level of Skrullton Labs
Ameera continued to walk down the vacant hallway of Skrullton Labs with steps that were soft like falling flower petals. As she navigated this unfamiliar setting inside enemy territory, she wasn't exactly sure what she might find in the direction she was currently heading in. Luckily during some of the Shedyed's past exploits to prep for a break-in like this, she had been able to get her hands on some documents and floor plans from the Ushmel town office however. With this information she wasn't completely in the dark about how to get around. Knowing only the layout of this building granted her just that however, since she didn't know exactly what took place in each of the various areas she had committed to memory.
It wasn't long after she started sneaked along this hallway that she realized she might finally get an answer as to what was down this path that she had been skirting along. Before her now were a series of doors that were arranged on either side of the hall in a rather bland and industrial-like fashion.
If Ameera were to reveal to the marines what Skrullton had been doing up until now she needed solid proof of their foul play so keeping such dirt behind either closed doors or lock and key was the best bet in where they would hide it.
Upon seeing these doors, she immediately shifted into action and stepped up to the nearest one. As she reached towards it with her hand she watched as the fingers she extended began to morph into keys just like before, but with one exception – The keys that formed this time automatically seemed to form and shift into the exact shape corresponding with the lock already on the door.
Shocked at the complexity as well as success of it all, Ameera retracted all the fingers she held out except for one, and with this single key-finger she slowly and silently eased it into the keyhole of the door.
Her finger was now all the way in the keyhole, it was a perfect fit. At this point Ameera relied on what seemed to intrinsically be the common-sense step in this rather abnormal process. With a swift turn of her wrist the lock unhinged and with a carefully pressed, and silent push of the door, she was now within the previously closed off room. Her metal baton was gripped tightly in her other hand, ready to swiftly club anyone that could be present.
Fortunately the room was empty as far as people go so no beatings were dealt out by the ever ready Ameera. What was present in this room however, was a series of file cabinets which aligned the walls on either side.
"Jackpot…" Ameera muttered to herself as she quietly shut the door she entered through behind her. She knew she might be in this room for a while.
She couldn't believe her supposed luck at finding something as choice as a file room to start her search for dirt on Skrullton. With a budding bit of optimism growing she hoped these files would hopefully contain the malpractice she was looking for as opposed to tax papers or something.
These cabinets and drawers were no match for Ameera with her new found abilities so she made swift work as she was able to infiltrate every inch of the rooms locked away belongings.
By the end of her quick search she had a few folders and documents that had caught her eye. None of them directly involved with the human experimentation, but they could certainly prove vital to her cause none the less. The rest of the files in the room were more or less housekeeping documents and much to anyone's dismay even some tax forms and the like.
The most interesting bit of information from these papers came from a folder regarding a marine Lieutenant-Commander named Quercom who was stationed at Las Camp. These files regarding this Quercom fellow were incredibly thorough from what Ameera could see of them – The information that wasn't blacked out by boxes that is. These files seemed to be copies of originals based on the slight faded text on them so Ameera figured they were just here for record keeping.
Some documents in this file depicted a time chart-like catalogue, as if this Quercom was being spied on all the while having his every move recorded. Other documents even gave away bits of his personal information as well. The pieces that shocked Ameera more than any in the file folder however, were the papers that described the situation involving Difetto bringing Nightbright to Skrullton Labs. This hit the nail on the head about the suspicions she had before.
According to these files, Difetto apparently was introduced to Skrullton as a means of marine intelligence by an outside party who had made a deal with him a few years ago. It was through this arrangement that Difetto received the order to replace the current marine in charge of inspecting Skrullton Labs (Quercom) with a more suitable, less 'troublesome' alternative (Nightbright).
By going underneath the marines very noses from the inside, Difetto was able to switch some files and have reassignments issued for both men. Quercom would be relieved of this responsibility with Skrullton, and Nightbright would be pulled from Headquarters to fill in in his absence. This scenario seemed awfully hard to believe but from what Ameera had heard about Difetto before, she quickly began to accept it since he was such a deceitful, despicable lowlife. If anyone could find an opening to do dirty work in, it would be a rat like him. She could only imagine the maneuvers he must have pulled, or the excuses he must have forged on any number of reports to get the reassignment to actually stick.
The matter of this Quercom individual and his role in this was just as hot on Ameera's mind as the whole Difetto situation. He not only had been forcefully switched by Skrullton's hand, but he apparently had to be watched and surveyed. Did Skrullton expect him for having dirt on them? What did this man know? And if he knew something to deserve such monitoring why was he still alive? Skrullton surely didn't care about the lives of others after all.
These questions were driving the gears rapidly in Ameera's head. As she contemplated them she noticed that at the bottom of every paper in this file a small stamp in the shape of a cat paw could be seen. A picture was also provided on one of the last files in the folder of Quercom with a large red 'x' across it. He had the look of a bald, thin-lipped thespian. In the picture he wore some gaudy decorative cowl over a standard marine uniform. Under this picture with the red 'x' the words 'fish boned' were written underneath. What was this 'fish boned'? And what could such a phrase mean in such a file as this?
Ameera was getting deep in this tangled web of connections and info, but she wasn't bogged down and twisted up just yet. She had her entire village depending on her every move after all, so her mind remained sharp despite being so cluttered already.
Then after one last once over, she stuffed the files away in a pocket on her sleek, black ninja-like garb. She then took off from the now ransacked room, closed the door without a sound and dashed towards the next. All the while hoping the rest of her searching through the Skrullton archives would continue at such a successful pace. Difetto and Skrullton Labs were growing more vulnerable by the second.
Meanwhile a Couple Floors Below
Jaws were dropped and heavily hung about inside the security room where Dr. Russel and Slurry now both resided. The two had been watching the altercation out front between Bo and Blake on one of the den den mushi monitors connected to one of the snails recording out front.
Bo's one sided onslaught against the Skrullton security guard proved exceptionally troublesome despite Blake's seemingly firm and unrelenting drive to continue and not give up even after eating so many of the boxing champion's mighty jabs.
The fact that the guard was back up again from his beating and standing once more left little impact on Slurry's opinion of what to do next. The fact Blake had a wonder drug that had rejuvenated him didn't matter to her. He was outclassed and she wasn't going to sit idly if she could help it.
Bo was not just Skrullton's issue after all. He was the best way to reach 'Triple Six' Oregano. Rampage or not, the man had just been kidnapped apparently and was most likely under a great deal of stress and fear after being used as a pawn for the devil-rookie for whatever reason here at Skrullton Labs.
"Your guard is getting manhandled out there Dr. Russel! Connect me down to the loading docks so I can contact Nightbright san so we can stop this chaos now! Whatever protocol you have about lockdowns needs to be reassessed since Nightbright and I are present. Your man is going to be beaten beyond recognition out there at this rate!" Slurry demanded with a blushing and noticeably flustered bright red face.
"Sheesh, Slurry you're too uptight… Look Blake is back up on his feet. Our guy Blake is just getting warmed up, have some faith in us will ya? Besides you agreed to give him five minutes remember? According to my watch it has only been two… Give the guy a chance, I bet you'll be surprised." Dr. Russel replied with slight discomfort in his voice.
This jig could be up in the matter of seconds and Dr. Russel knew it. Slurry was hounding him hard and was hot on the trail of the foul smelling bullshit he had been shoveling this whole time - Plus that damn Bo Stockston was about to bulldoze his way inside and create even more chaos. If Jotter hadn't successfully disposed of the incriminating evidence by now they would surely be caught with all the extra attention… And getting caught was not an option as far as the Skrullton scientists were concerned. If they were to show up red-handed here, they weren't going to go down easy, that was for sure. Their twisted minds certainly had ways of subduing such threats after all if need be.
**A/N: 50 chapter milestone! As always hope you enjoyed this chapter of Oregano! Please like and comment!**
