(A/N: alrighty; the next chapter is up! I'll talk more at the end...so just enjoy now!)
Light On The Mayo
by The Great Red Dragon
Chapter 3
In the time that Gantu would be gone, 625 didn't leave the kitchen. Far from being set back, he resumed his duty of making sure the ship would never (ever) run out of sandwiches. In his time of serenity, he secured and stuffed not only the refrigerator with sandwiches, but also every cupboard, drawer, nightstand, console opening, and supply bin with every combination of bread and condiment that the ship had in supply.
He finished stuffing the last cheese-and-ketchup-and-tomato combination into the cabinet above Gantu's bed. He stood back and admired his work in earnest.
...Still...no matter how nice it looked plainly to the eye, there still was something important missing...something that made it unsatisfying...
"Well, duh", 625 said to himself after only a few seconds.
He reached into the cabinet, pulled out a random sandwich, bit into it, and everything was perfect once more. Now, the feeling was exquisite, as he finished his sandwich quickly and grabbed another one to munch on.
"Yep, couldn't be better", 625 stated to himself proudly.
Just then, across the ship, he heard the main entrance open with a hiss. He was immediately quick to leave Gantu's room at that; Gantu wasn't too happy to open his room to 625. 625 now realized that Gantu was bound to find out about the sandwiches stashed in his room...and he hoped that he had left an egg-salad mix in there, if it would be any consolation to the captain's mood.
625, in addition, also realized that Gantu's mood was bound to be severely impaired; there was no way that he could've been successful in catching an Experiment. Usually, 625 would take this opportunity to poke some fun at the whale-like alien, but the joke would probably be on him when Gantu discovered more than just some bread-crumbs lying around the ship...and that in a mood sourer than any pickle.
As he switched the closed behind him, 625 expected to hear the usual sounds of Gantu's failure and anger (loud grumbling, stomping, etc.).
...But there came none of that. On the contrary, echoes of ecstatic humming and happy whistling sounded down the hallway like a carnival theme, and was shortly accompanied by Gantu's horrible singing-voice chorusing;
"Oh yes I got it, oh yes I'm good..."
Gantu came into 625's view as he rounded the corner, looking higher in spirits than 625 hadn't seen him since...forever.
"I take it ya found a twenty-dollar bill on your way back", 625 smirked.
Gantu didn't seem the least put-off by this sarcastic comment. He twirled ungracefully in a happiness that 625 could guess, but didn't dare himself to believe.
"Seriously; what's so wonderful?", 625 asked earnestly.
Gantu looked down and grinned smugly at his Experiment comrade, still soft- shoeing around the place.
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know?", he chuckled self-assuredly.
"You didn't seriously catch one, did you?"
"I've caught the world in my hands..."
"The doped-up act is getting a bit irritating, G. Did you catch an Experiment or not?"
Gantu reached behind him and pulled forth a tightly-tied net-sack, that he held loosely in his hand. He shook it between two fingers like a bell, and his smile continued.
625's mouth actually dropped as he stared at the limp, unmoving sack like it was something unbelievable.
"...You have got to be kidding me", he said in disbelief.
"...That can't be a live one. You just threw a buncha stuff in that bag to fool me, didn't you? Admit it."
Gantu jiggled the bag and looked happy enough to kiss it. He danced a twirl and swung the bag above his head in a sudden burst. 625 quickly stepped out of the way of his dancing.
"Can I see it?", he asked Gantu.
"I still can't believe you until I actually see it for myself."
Gantu seemed to ignore this question. He stepped lightly towards the room that held the teleporter.
"This one's going straight to Hamsterviel", he sang happily.
"Oh the salary, oh the bonuses..."
"C'mon; lemme see it, G!", 625 urged impatiently.
Gantu continued to ignore his tiny counterpart. He stepped nimbly towards teleport-room, still humming happily to himself;
"Only in the eye of the great captor..."
625 eventually gave up his begging, and tried to believe that he had better things to do...although he was still more than eager to see Gantu's success ("If there even is any").
"Fine", he pouted half-heartedly.
"When Hamster-wheel turns you into a batch of fish sticks after seeing what a useless Experiment you got, see if I care..."
Once more, he was ignored, which peeved him even more. He was ready to give the drunk-with-happiness Gantu the cold shoulder for the rest of the day...but stopped in his tracks in an instant.
He had just remembered; aside from stuffing every conceivable space of the ship with sandwiches, he had had an accident earlier that had fallen from his mind quickly, but he knew that he'd be painfully reminded once Gantu entered the teleporter-room.
Now, Gantu blissfully stepped around the corner, still singing his carefree tune. 625 heard him open the door with a hiss, and step inside...then, there was a momentary stillness...
"...625!!!"
Gantu's roar was so loud that it sent a shrill of panic down the Experiment's back. Countless thoughts of escape raced through his head, but they all equaled that he was too slow to make it anywhere...what's more, he doubted very much that he'd be able to smooth-talk his way out of it, because what he had done in the teleporter room was really, really bad.
"625!!!"
Gantu was now stomping back into the main chamber, at a pace that made any victim think of an angry tiger. He was no longer singing, smiling, or carefree. He was no longer wistfully swinging the net-sack...it was awfully close to being slammed into the wall, as it swung violently to-and-fro with the captain's advancing movements.
625 froze like a terrified animal. As the captain's face appeared around the corner, it was no longer blissfully happy; it was red-hot enraged.
Gantu raged towards 625, who stood in the middle of the chamber, looking more than terrified. The giant shark-like alien stomped to a thunderous halt in front of him, and began to shout right into his face.
"WHAT DID YOU DO!?!", Gantu roared at him, with enough lung-power to overthrow a tree.
"HOW IN ALL OF CREATION COULD YOU HAVE DONE SOMETHING LIKE THAT!?!"
He was obviously referring to the teleporter itself...which was exactly the center of 625's accident. The teleporter was made up of several important parts, the two majors being the platform and glass 'lid', which contained the teleporting process. The lid was made of a glass-like material that was supposedly unbreakable...and 625 had contradicted that, even though he didn't even remember how he did it.
"THAT GLASS IS INDESTRUCTABLE!", Gantu was still shouting.
"HOW COULD YOU HAVE DONE SUCH A THING!?!"
625 slowly looked at the floor and shuffled his feet pitifully.
"Well, you know...", he said slowly.
"...If you're cleaning house, and you're just a little ungraceful...things like this can happen..."
Gantu's face had already gone from the dull-gray to an infuriated crimson, but now he looked just about to explode. 625 was sure that he was about to receive certain lasting injuries, and he recoiled as unnoticeably as he could.
"YOU-"
Gantu, although he was on the verge of knocking out his companion, didn't finish his sentence. He was raising his fist above his head, when he first noticed something...it had been going on for several seconds, but his shouting had drowned it out;
"New Experiment found", "New Experiment found", "New Experiment found"...
It was the computerized voice, coming from the computer room...it was indicating that his fortune was not yet over!
Completely cutting himself off, Gantu lowered his fist and turned on his heel, with 625 still frozen in position; covering his head with his arms. He held the pose for a second longer (not daring to look), before finally peeking through slitted eyes.
Gantu strode back into the computer room and advanced on the computer, which was, as before, flashing with the green target on a location on the island.
"Computer, analyze the Experiment!", the giant ordered.
In a motion that filled him once more with delight, not only did the loading-time take only seconds, but displayed an Experiment that was more than certain to generate praise from Hamsterviel.
The smile slightly returned to his face; maybe there was still hope! Even if Hamsterviel contacted him as early as in evening, surely his anticipation would allow Gantu enough grant to fix the teleporter...and then, the paycheck would come...
His calmness restored, Gantu re-entered the main chamber, where 625 was standing there shivering, obviously awaiting his punishment. Gantu pointed a beefy finger at him and resumed a stern look.
"I'm going back out; I've found another Experiment", he stated.
"You are going to stay behind and begin repairing what damage you caused, and don't say that you don't know how – I know you do."
625 nodded shakily.
"Yes, sir", he answered.
"When I come back, I don't want to see you asleep without any work done", Gantu continued.
"You work until I come back, and then I'll supervise you. Is that understood?"
"Perfectly, mon Capitan."
"And don't give me that!"
"What? I was trying to be respectful!"
Gantu sighed heavily and became more precise.
"If you break anything else, you'll have no TV, no radio, and no magazines for a month...and only lettuce and asparagus sandwiches."
That shot really went home.
"Y-Y-Yes...all right; I promise I won't do anything else!", 625 stammered; the weight of the threat really sinking in on him.
Gantu nodded hardly, and 625 nodded quickly and obediently.
The captain, obviously pleased with 625's fearful response, considered the matter closed, and turned to a different one; he was still holding the limp net-sack in his hand. He raised it up to his head and shook it dismissively. He had no doubt that the Experiment was still alive, but there was now the dilemma of where to put it. He didn't want to carry it around with him, and considering that the teleporter lid had been destroyed and now couldn't house as a cage...
Gantu thought for a moment before eyeing a thin, iron pole that stood for support in the chamber and connected to both the floor and the ceiling.
"Move", he ordered 625, who jumped out of the way immediately.
Gantu walked over and kneeled down to the base of the pole. His massive back was to 625, who couldn't see what went on beyond his bulk. He could make out the captain undoing the sack-string and peering inside. Then, quite unceremoniously, he turned the sack upside down, and the Experiment (that 625 still couldn't see) fell to the floor with a slight thump. The next movements suggested Gantu shoving and urging it towards the pole.
"Hold still", he ordered loudly (even though 625 was pretty sure that the Experiment wasn't resisting).
There was some more motion on Gantu's part. He pulled two sets of wrist- clamps from the back of his belt. A second later, two loud snaps confirmed that he had placed them on the Experiment.
Gantu stood up heavily and turned back to 625; his thick, trunk-like legs still hid the Experiment from him almost completely.
"Listen up", he addressed to the portly sandwich-maker.
"While I'm away, I don't want you anywhere near this Experiment, you understand? You are not to talk to him or interact with him in any way. Don't even approach him. If he says something, ignore him. I want you to stay in that room and fix the teleporter."
"What if I have to use the bathroom?", 625 asked innocently.
"Don't pay any attention to him", Gantu answered.
"The last thing I need is for you to get involved with this one and doing something stupid...like letting him loose."
He glanced behind, at the Experiment (that 625 hadn't seen yet).
"...Of course", he added, with a nasty grin.
"I don't think that this one could even do any trouble."
With just another glance at 625, he moved away, and revealed to him the small, yellowish-orange Experiment that was clamped by both sets of arms to the pole, and was looking more than terrified.
(A/N: first of all, I think I understand that the character-actions might be a bit mixed-up here...I mean, usually it's 625 intimidating Gantu, right?
Well, don't worry; it'll all contribute to the later story...which'll be updated ASAP!
Faith – no snakes in Hawaii?...okay; my bad. I just figured that the islands are so warm and tropical that it'd be a snake-esque place...but, then again, this is FanFiction, and I can make some stuff up. Thanks for the info, though.
Mona – 322 hasn't been named yet; 'Dalai' is just the title of chapter, in reflecting his peaceful personality. Don't worry; you'll find out his name very soon...
Okay, I guess I'd better get busy with the next chapter. See y'all soon!)