Chapter 12: Chasing the Rainbow
After getting themselves patched up by the joint efforts of Mira and Elena, and after a very, very late dinner that did not in any way consist of pumpkins, Rue and Klaus went about examining the empty life capsules while Mint, Elena and Prima had taken to getting to know each other better. That latter event did not turn out to be a pretty picture.
Somewhere in Prima's little body existed a boundless, seemingly inexhaustible well of energy. After he had worn out Elena from chasing after him all over the house, he and Mint proceeded to slug it all out on the Klauses' antiquated Play Station 4, and that was what finally tired him out. Elena carried him up to her room (which they would share until Mira fixes up his own) while Mint continued playing one of the older video games that she hadn't seen, much less played, since she was about three years old (and had sorely missed playing).
After some time, when Rue stepped into the house again, he noticed that Mint had fallen asleep on the sofa while still holding the PS4 controller pad. He went over to her, carrying the blanket that Mira had handed him, and wrapped it snug about the redhead's shoulders. A stray lock of hair had fallen across her cheek, and gently he tucked it behind her ear. He frowned thoughtfully.
"Rue," Professor Klaus called to him from outside, "you might want to take a look at this."
He had decrypted it so fast?! Rue quickly went over to the truck. Klaus had rigged his laptop into one of the capsules, and was typing away when Rue found him. Rue peered over the professor's shoulder at the screen, and his eyes narrowed involuntarily at what he saw.
Name:
Rue Kincaid
Date of Birth: 14 01 2011
Blood Type: B–
Chroma Check: normal
Strain: original, active
System Status: ok
A.S. System: disabled
"They must've lured you on purpose. This cell is primed and ready to be occupied," Klaus said, indicating the box. He clicked a couple more keystrokes on his laptop to replace the screen's contents. "Prima's data is identical, except that his doesn't have the last two fields."
"What's an A.S. System?" Rue asked, his tone quiet. But Klaus shook his head.
"I don't know either." He then turned to look at the boy. "However, you realize that Prima doesn't have your… umm," he glanced pointedly up at the ever-present cap.
"Professor…?"
"But I wouldn't worry about it now," Klaus said, a bit too quickly. He turned back to his typing. "I'm turning these capsules over to the police later, so that they can dispose of them properly. With any luck, they may be able to trace their origins as well…"
Mira's voice called from inside the house. "Oh, boys…" Her tone was reproachful. "It's already two in the morning. Shouldn't you guys be sleeping yet?"
"By the way," Klaus said to Rue, "Mel is asking if you could go to her place tomorrow—I mean, later today. I think she needs help with installing the new memory circuits on her Poppul Purrels."
"Was that the package you asked me to deliver?" Rue asked. Klaus nodded an affirmative.
Mira had suddenly appeared at the doorway. "Rue!! BEDTIME!"
"You'd better go," Klaus smiled sympathetically at the younger boy. Without another word, Rue went off to bed.
He had a fitful sleep, but thankfully dreamless. When he emerged from the Klauses' guestroom at about half past ten, Mint was still sleeping on the sofa and Mira had already prepared breakfast for them in the kitchen. Elena and Prima had taken to romping about Carona's famous ruins and had been gone for over an hour already. The white-washed truck and its contents were still in the driveway outside, and Klaus was talking to the chief of police on the telephone.
There was a note on the refrigerator door from Fancy Mel, asking Rue to come to the Soda Shoppe at around eight or nine o'clock in the morning so that they could fix the Poppul Purrels before the Shoppe opened at ten. Mira had already called Mel and made the appropriate excuses for him, so all he had to worry about now was finishing his breakfast of pancakes with maple syrup.
Klaus came into the kitchen and sat down beside Rue just as the latter finished breakfast, and asked him to again narrate exactly what had happened last night.
The tale took him about ten minutes to tell in its entirety. When Rue had finished, as if on cue Mint came into the kitchen, still rubbing her eyes tiredly as she sat at the table. With a small nod of thanks to Mira as the older woman placed a breakfast platter in front of her, she proceeded to eat her pancakes without even bothering to acknowledge Rue's presence. When her plate was empty, she stood.
"Right," she said. "Later, guys. I still have to pick up my duffel before the trash collector man hauls it off as garbage."
"Hey, don't forget," Mira told her. "Elena is taking Prima out for ice cream later. Maybe you want to join them?"
"I'll think about it." And then she was gone.
"Speaking of ice cream," Mira turned to the boy, "if you're done with breakfast you'd better get over to Mel's place quick. She was already close to panicking when I called her up earlier."
"It's that bad?" Klaus commented.
Mira nodded in answer. "All her Poppul Purrels are down for the moment, so she's doing everything in the Shoppe by herself. I should've asked Elena to help out, but she and Prima…" she shrugged. "Anyway, Mel mentioned that the chips manufactured by Cosmos Corp. didn't turn out to be compatible with those from Aeon Industries, so the circuits need to be manually rewired or something."
Rue stood up. "I'm on it. I'll see you later." With a goodbye nod from Klaus and a smile and a wave from Mira, he made his way out of the kitchen and out of the Klauses' home.
The late afternoon found him still rewiring the Poppul Purrels. He never bothered to count before exactly how many robots Fancy Mel had running in the Soda Shoppe, and suffice to say that the number was certainly a lot more than he expected. He was sitting on a small stool in the Shoppe's kitchen, with Mel's tools lying beside him on the floor. His ever-present cap for once he took off and laid on a nearby table, since repairing/upgrading not-quite-humanoid robots was tiring work and it had been a very hot day. But he still wore the white bandanna.
Rue was working on the last Poppul Purrel—Mel had already sent the others back to work in the restaurant area—and he recognized this one by the rust stains on its foot as the same robot he and Mint had once rescued from Blood and Smokey. Putting his multi-tool down, he carefully closed the doors that covered its electronic innards.
"Well, big guy, let's see if you're okay now," he muttered under his breath. He switched it on.
It started purring. Thank the heavens, he thought, and started to pack up the tools.
"DO YOU WANT TO PLAY?!!"
He jumped backwards involuntarily as the loud screech suddenly blared out of the Poppul Purrel's synthetic speakers.
"Do you want to play?! Do you want to play?! Do you—" like a broken CD player it kept repeating the recorded words over and over. All of a sudden, it started running about the room. The first thing to go was Rue's multi-tool as the Poppul Purrel accidentally stomped on it in its wild jaunt.
"Hey, stop!" Rue proceeded to give chase, and he almost caught it when it bumped against the oven. Before he could do anything, it immediately powered on the oven's switch and cranked it to the highest setting.
BOOM! The oven started to emit lots of black smoke, straight into Rue's face and setting off the smoke detector but not the sprinkler system. Coughing like mad, Rue had to quickly turn the oven off before he returned to chasing the broken Poppul Purrel.
When he turned, he saw that the errant robot was now making its way toward the Shoppe's main circuit breakers. In a few moments it was going to wreak dire havoc with the building's electrical system… No, he had to stop it somehow, right now, before anyone got hurt… "STOP!!" he shouted without thinking.
The Poppul Purrel stopped dead in its tracks.
He quickly ran over to it, and found that it had shut down completely. He groped about its fake fur for the robot's main switch, and when he felt it, he realized that it was still powered on.
"Rue, what did you do?!" Mel asked irritably as she momentarily peered into the kitchen. He walked over to the kitchen door and saw that all of the Poppul Purrels in the Shoppe had shut down, and Fancy Mel had already started to check them out one by one.
What did I do? Rue found himself asking the same question.
"What the HECK was that?!" Mint exclaimed as she, Elena and Prima stopped short in front of the Atelier Soda Shoppe. They all heard the loud boom, and Mint could see wisps of black smoke emerging from the kitchen windows, a few moments before Rue stepped out of the Shoppe's side door while wiping his face clean of soot.
"What happened, Polly?" Elena wanted to know.
Rue scratched his head. "I think I did something wrong with the repairs. Anyway, I'm off to get some new parts over at the nearby mall. Be back in a jiffy," he said, stepping past the trio and onto the street. Shrugging, Elena and Prima made their way inside the Shoppe.
"Wait, Rue!" Mint called suddenly, and Rue turned towards her. She narrowed her eyes at him. "There's something else you're not telling, is there? What really happened?" The boy just shrugged, keeping his face impassive. He didn't know what to say. "Hmph, anyway," she sniffed, getting annoyed at his silence. "I think I'm just gonna ask Mel about it." She turned and disappeared inside.
Rue practically ran all the way towards the new mall, knowing that Mel needed to get her robotic helpers up and running as soon as possible. Posters along the street said that the mall's Grand Opening was Wednesday next, but luckily for him some shops (including one that sells electronic circuits) were already open.
He made his way into the mall, only pausing briefly to again admire the multi-tools on display at the mechavehicle equipment store and briefly realizing that his own multi-tool had been broken. And then, remembering Mel's circuits, he turned to continue on to the electronic shop that was located further inside.
That was right before a huge, inane yellow-plastic-and-spandex Star-Costumed Duke came hopping stupidly towards him.
"WELCOME TO THE STARLIGHT MALL!!"
"AAAHH!!!" For the second time that day, Rue found himself reflexively jumping backwards in surprise bordering on shock from another very noisy idiotic embodiment of strangeness. For the rest of his entire past life, he could never remember any day that was weirder than this.
"GUARANTEED CHEAPEST BUYS!!"
Starlight Duke barely missed him. Turning swiftly—quite a remarkable feat, considering how ungainly the Star Costume was—he started hopping towards Rue again.
"ONLY FOR TODAY! GET TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!!"
For a fleeting instant Rue wished he had his Arc Edge with him—he had conveniently forgotten it at the Klauses' when he realized that its violin case was still in his dorm room—but as he had no weapon in hand, he had to make do. From the corner of his eye he saw a stall that sold umbrellas, and swiftly grabbing a big blue one he wielded it in a battle stance.
And then Duke with his Star Costume ungallantly flopped face down on the floor.
After some time and a whole lot of failed attempts to move, a voice called weakly from underneath the yellow mound. "Ummm… hello…? … someone… please help me …(urk) … please…?"
"What are you doing?!" the owner of the electronics shop came out and reprimanded his wayward employee. "I told you you're only going to scare customers away!"
"I was just… (gak) … practicing my lines for… our grand opening…!"
The man was shaking his head exasperatedly. "You're hopeless, did you know that?" He palmed his face in frustration and turned to go back towards his store, not even bothering to help Duke.
Rue returned the umbrella, hastily thanking the stall's saleslady, before running after the electronic shop owner. "Umm, excuse me, sir? I'm here to pick up Fancy Mel's package…?"
"Ah, yes, Mr. Kincaid?" the other turned towards him. "We just ran out of those particular circuits, but I've already sent someone to the warehouse to get the appropriate stock. It should arrive in a couple of hours. In the meantime," he lowered his voice, "could you kindly help Mr. Radii out of that costume before he embarrasses us further? I would be very grateful."
Seeing no better alternative, Rue consented. Duke was still flopping about the floor, hopelessly buried underneath the yellow spandex.
It took him no less than a full quarter of an hour to help Duke out of the Star Costume. When Duke was finally able to stand again, he absently scratched his chin, "I'm in the mood for a drink. There's a small bar at the back of this mall—come on, it's my treat."
He was apparently a regular at the tavern owned by one known simply as Jargen. Jargen was a soft-spoken man, Annette's uncle or cousin thrice removed, Rue didn't remember. But Duke seemed to know the bartender well. "A malted for the boy and my usual," he told the man as he and Rue sat down on high chairs by the counter of the mostly empty bar.
Jargen promptly served them their drinks—strawberry sherry for Duke and a plain, un-spiked malted for Rue—before going off to the other end of the counter to wipe some glasses clean, and leaving the two undisturbed. Duke took a small sip from his glass, and Rue couldn't help but stare thoughtfully at the other's drink. In the dim lighting, the color of the wine for some reason reminded him of burgundy eyes.
"Duke?" he called the older man's attention, somewhat hesitantly.
Duke raised an eyebrow at him. "Hmm?"
"I know this is none of my business," Rue continued, "but… whatever happened between Mint and Belle?"
Duke laughed softly, shaking his head. "Milady Belle. She's really just like that. People like her have serious trouble saying how they truly feel about anyone. Not unlike Mint in that respect," he smirked. "What happened between them isn't any of my business either, and it's up to either of them to tell you if and when the time comes. But whatever it was, it doesn't really matter in the present."
He took another sip, and then downed his sherry before loudly putting down his empty glass on the bar. "Just a warning, I would be very, very careful if I were you. I've seen it happen before," he said as he glanced briefly at the white hair partially hidden by the ever-present cap. "Make sure you take extra care not to turn against the people you care about. Belle would be the first to come gunning after your neck if the lady Mint ever gets hurt because of you."
Rue frowned thoughtfully, turning to stare into the foamy brown liquid that remained in his own glass and shook it tentatively. He remembered his own experiences, but there was no way Duke could have known about it.
He remembered clearly what happened last night—or rather, he remembered what happened after what he didn't remember. When he saw the cage explode with her trapped inside, when he thought he had lost her like he had lost Claire, when he had thought that the matchless wine-red of her eyes were gone from this world forever… he had simply lost control.
And in his madness that followed he had hurt her. What could've happened if he had been holding his Arc Edge then, he didn't even want to think. What he had done was bad enough—he had seen the huge, ugly bruise on her shoulder, right beside the partially-healed scar that was caused by his own weapon, and he knew he was the cause of both injuries. Last night was the second time it happened. I had unknowingly hurt her.
Silently, he vowed that it would never happen again. He won't let it. Not this time.
Author's Notes
31 October 2002 Not this time, Rue? We'll see about that…
Anyway, I had some trouble writing this chapter, especially the part about the Starlight Duke 'fight'—man, I couldn't stop laughing… hope you found it funny too, and better than the bloopers, because this time, it's part of the real story! ^_^;
To Kawaii Doll: You've been with this fic since its inception, and I understand that you don't like Mint/Rue, but… ummm… oh, I guess it's out already anyway… this is Mint/Rue (eek, that just made this fic even more cliché…). So sorry to disappoint you. Umm… but it's only going to be Mint/Rue in the sense that they're the protagonists! Umm… err… _;
And yes, I agree that they do have personalities on the opposite ends of the psychological spectrum, figuratively speaking. That's why I couldn't hurry the chapters, and that's why this fic isn't going to be a serious type Mint/Rue until the very ending. In fact, checking my notes… it ISN'T going to be a serious type Mint/Rue at all (Sorry to anyone else who was hoping for it, it REEEEAAAALLLLYYY won't fit in the story)! The worst is Mint accidentally getting drunk and falling asleep… I think. And of course, as this is an action/adventure fic, there's gonna be a Mint vs. Rue chap (two of them, actually)… _;;;
To DiagonAlley and Gwennavierre: Thanks for the encouragement. ^_^.
To Omnidolor: Gawd, I didn't think anyone actually noticed that (that's one of the main points I tried real hard to integrate into the fic… I mean, using everything, almost.). *respectfully bows low* Thank you so much.
To Access: Hmmm… why don't you leave your email addy the next time you review (or email me directly)? FFNet won't let anyone post pictures. Hint, hint.
To Cherry Lee: I thought you were only insert age here?! I did warn everyone that the deleted chapter was PG-15!! Why do I put up warnings if people don't heed them? Sigh… LOVE&PEACE! ^_^.
Oh, and did anyone else notice that relatively a lot of people on FFNet are schizophrenic? Hehe…
About the part where Mint fell asleep: That is Not. In. Any. Way. A. Romantic. Hinting. (Okay, so maybe just a tad teeny-tiny little bit. And to think it's only two sentences long, geez! ^_^) Clue: ears, earrings. Mint doesn't have any. Mint is supposedly a princess. I thought you guys had already figured out my story-telling style? ^_^.
I never put in the Mint kissing Rue part, so technically it's not a deleted scene. I just thought of it afterwards.
Rue is not a Berserker, for the simple fact that I don't know what a Berserker is.
As for Poppul-Purrel-stopping-dead-while-switched-on (I just know someone's gonna mention this; I will kill myself if none of you do XP)… Remember in the game, Rue can change into the enemies he defeats if he gets their coins? I've kept Mint's magic so I just have to put that in too, but I couldn't exactly in that form. I've been pretty blatant enough about it in the past chapters—I'm pretty sure you can figure it out if you haven't already. ^_~. Remember, this fic is 'cliché', and it revels in its cliché-ity! It's so cliché that it (hopefully) doesn't look cliché at all!! (Thanks again to Omnidolor for that piece of encouragement!)