It wasn't long when Verde arrived. He and Fon discussed what might have happened to the stuntman.
"You're saying, that the watch redirects the flame flow?" The two converse beside the grown purple head. Waiting for him to wake up.
"Most probable scenario yes." Fon passed a cup of tea to the scientist. "Personally, I didn't know what exactly happened." The teapot was placed on the tray by the table and Fon resumed to talk.
"The only thing we could do now is to inform the others and wait for Skull to explain what he did."
A day later, all of them had gathered around the still unconscious Skull.
"It didn't feel exactly the same as the last time," Lal muttered as she looked through the clouds' flames. "There's a flow of flames by the watch and it's eating off from the pacifier."
Lal just got a pair of red goggles. Supposedly, it's used to read flame signatures but currently, it could only read flame patterns.
Perhaps Verde could take a look at it later.
Just as the clock struck at noon, Skull stirred.
"Looks like you slept well, lackey." Reborn stared at the grown arcobaleno with his fedora blocking a quarter of his face.
Minutes passed and the stare off didn't progress further. The tension broke when Skull raspily asked. "You're real?"
A green pipe appeared in Reborns' hand and WHAM; a bump appeared by Skulls head.
"Of course I am. What did you think I was, an automa?" Skull crunched and wheezed in pain.
"Ack, that really hurt." A tinge of a Russian accent passed through. The hitman didn't address it since the other arcobalenos came back from whatever they were doing and sat in the bed.
Fon handed over a cup of tea to the lackey and waited for him to finish it.
"Now that's done." Verde sat closer to the awakened Skull and proceeded to stare at him. "What was the last thing you remembered?"
The stuntman raised his eyebrows and asked, "...what do you mean?" Just as he talked Skull recognized his voice. "Huh?" He looked down and saw his body returned into his former form.
"How-" He tried to recollect what he did before but he was cut off by Fon. "I found you unconscious on the park near your circus caravan; you were holding a bottle of alcohol so I didn't wake you up."
"I can't really you guys what exactly happened. The last thing I remembered was trying using my flames to speed up my metabolism- to handle more baijiu, ya know?"
"Well, whatever you did must have done something on your watch. It ate up your flames and turned you back." Reborn removed his fedora from his head and placed it in front of him.
"Let's get this over with. Why not just try it ourselves to see how it happened?" Mammon spoke up and levitated to the floor. They direct their flames towards their watch and they began to grow along with their clothes.
The illusionist was ecstatic, after all their searching; they finally broke the curse!
No more body issues for them.
Their grin turned into a frown when Skulls watch rang and a banner appeared.
'Time's Up! Next wish will be available in 12 hours.'
A burst of mist flames covered the whole room and everyone was holding onto the nearest thing they could grab on to.
Tables were sticking on walls. Fluorescent lights grew out from the floors. Dull colors of the room turned into neon.
All of them gave up holding their ground as the floor began to liquify.
Skull fell from his bed when it decided to crawl on the walls.
Reborn had a propeller lifting him up, dodging whatever the thing that floated along his path.
Fon was jumping from one thing to another.
Lal and Colonello seemed to be finding an exit.
While Verde… well, he grabbed one of his syringes- he doesn't even care what chemical was in it- and aimed.
The room went back to its original state.
There was no furniture sprouting from odd places. Neon curtains were nowhere to be found. Most importantly, they were back in bed. Surrounding a grown arcobaleno.
It's just that this time, it's Mammon that's knocked out.
Verde was taking out the syringe injected on the illusionist's arm when he noticed their watch isn't in sync with the actual time.
What's more unusual is that the watch is counting downwards.
'11:20:06'
'11:20:05'
'11:20:04'
Peculiar.
"What are you staring at, Verde?" Reborn called him out.
"There seems to be a timer in their watch."
"Ah! , glad to see you again. Last year was a promising year for the community! There's a lot of new talents from the youngsters. You might consider them as an apprentice if you want."
Verde pretended to listen to the old man beside him. He just arrived at the table seconds ago and this man immediately started to run off his mouth. He just wanted to have peace and quiet throughout the event but it seemed impossible if this guy was in his table.
Looking around, the hall was filled with people in lab coats and three-piece suits. Most of the faces he saw were the same as the previous years. There was also a handful of new faces though he didn't mind them.
He'd rather go back to his lab really.
"Socializing is good don't you think?" Veronica leans on the counter just as she hands him a glass of water.
"No" Verde answered as he stood up, ready to go back to his lab.
He was dragged out from his lab and was forced to join the group. There's nothing to gain here but contempt. He thought.
"But you wouldn't see your work with fresh eyes without a break from it."
"Is this seat free?" Someone tapped on his shoulder. Turning around a teen in a lab coat stood beside him holding on the chair as if he already knew the answer. He ignored him and the man suddenly started speaking.
"It's good to see you back. You know I-" Not another chatterbox.
"What do you want?" Verde intercedes. A trace of sky flames flickered through his eyes. Verde kept his guard up as a stack of paper was handed to him.
"Would you spend some time going through my work? It's fine if you don't read all of it."
Reading a few pages would be better than socializing.
In the end, he read the whole thing.
His work was commendable but the current technology still needs drastic improvements before it to be practiced.
He decided to assist the teen in his endeavor. Growing meat from laboratories would cause an uproar in certain industries. It might even expand to a full-on revolt but he'll take the risk.
It would not be the first time he'd get attention.
He can handle it.
Besides, he could just erase his involvement in it; the worst case scenario.
"Please," The teen was shaking his hand vigorously. "call me Estrano. It's an honor to have you for this work." The boy in front of him acted as if his muscles went stiff from his grin.
He's just going to assist him; not the other way around.
"Sir Verde!" Estrano ran down the hall grinning. He was holding up a container and opened it once he stops in front of Verde.
"Look! The first ever lab-grown meat! Isn't this marvelous?!"
Verde took a sip from his mug and inspected the meat. It was dry compared to a lump of regular meat but it's already something.
It's been years since he agreed to assist Estrano. Somewhere along the way, he discovered his laboratory-not the one with the arcobaleno, gods no. That would be a disaster.
Soon after the boy became a regular face around the house. Keiman was not yet with him when it happened.
"We could even grow humans out of this!"Wha- Estrano wrapped his arms around him and proceeded to twirl in place.
Sighing with contempt, Verde began walking back to the kitchen.
Reborn had been staring at the screen for the past twelve hours.
A picture of a child-a mafiosi heir- blew up on a human trafficking site.
"Tch," A window appeared in the screen showing a man in a lab coat entering a forest.
Their profile appeared on another screen along with several other pictures; their resident scientist can also be seen in some of them. Both seemed well acquainted with each other. At least that's how it looks like with their equally ridiculous colored hairs.
How did he even get a natural indigo hair? Even his track record looks ridiculous.
He already has human experimentation on his track record. Why did they still let him out.
Reborn cracked his back and Leon crawled up his shoulders.
As he hauled his holsters under his suit the hitman went out of the room gravitating himself towards the shadows.
"What makes this relevant?" Verde was walking down Estrano's laboratory. Keiman walked off somewhere since they stepped in the facility. Verde should be looking for him but he was too engrossed observing the layout of the lab.
Unlike his, the boys' lab was spotless. The hallways were equipped with metal walls and security alarms. Each door has its own set of keys or sensors. Some even required the third lock.
In all, he was impressed with how meticulous the place looked.
He only noticed that Estrano was talking when he turned his attention
"-t turns out human flesh can also be grown in labs." Verde glanced to his young colleague then down to his watch; There might be a time where he needs to dispose the child.
If it goes too far.
They were reaching at the end of the hallway. Estrano continued walking and the wall in front of them swiveled. "After confirming that growing animal meat artificially can be done," This hallway differed from the previous one. Doors camouflaged with the white walls every step they take echoed throughout.
"I gathered that growing a Bambini from scratch wouldn't be difficult."
People were more abundant in the previous hallway too.
When he thought they arrived in their destination another wall swiveled to their convenience. Revealing another hallway. "So," After a handful of steps the younger male pivots to their left and walked into a room. "I took the initiative to perfect the human gene."
"Surely you have an ulterior motive here." Monitors were lined up to the wall displaying different charts labeled with numbers. He was about to decipher what the numbers could have meant when it turned into surveillance footage.
"We do." We?
Green.
Bright green glowed at the center.
Familiar green hair floated across the container.
The only matter that held him from injecting everyone else anesthetic was the toddler in the screen.
And the alligator that's been staring at the kid the whole time. That's Keiman.
The monitor began glitching. He could feel the electricity crawl out of the cracks, towards the room on the screen.
"Let's test her durability. Starting with a kilowatt. On one, t-"
Shit, Keiman!
Estrano wanted to impress his idol. He wanted to show him that he can do more.
More than just potentially toppling down an industry.
He knows he can make advancements on their species.
Molding them into something indestructible.
Something desirable.
So it was an understatement when he described it as his most astonishing moment.
What was he talking about you ask?
Well, he was talking about how his idol-his mentor- threw him aside and stabbed him with a syringe just as he was about to reveal his creation.
Confusion wiped off his excitement when his surroundings began to look like blobs of colors. He wasn't able to comprehend what was happening. Blobs of white gathered to a green blob as if they were trying to overwhelm it.
His ears rang from the muffled shouts.
Colored spots grew.
The bell rang louder.
Then it stopped.
A/N: It's super late, I know. I needed to do stuff irl for the past month so-
ANYWAY,
The story progressed! not to the point I was expecting but it might take a few more weeks if I postpone it more so I just ended it here.
Don't forget to leave a review on your thoughts! I'm curious.