Cartwheeling over the sun: Yaay, reviews! REVIEWS! I perform my happy dance for you.
This chapter makes me confused about the design of Ship (a lot more of these chapters do,can you tell I know absolutely nothing about ships?) and also contains some drug abuse, even if the drug itself is pretty... innocent. So, once again, stop reading right this instance if you just don't like that stuff.
Otherwise, enjoy it. It has more Bryan!
- - -
Yoshimitsu walked along the corridors surrounding the dining room. He looked a bit bored. He had almost walked all around it when Ganryu came out of the entry doors. Yoshimitsu stopped and stared at him.
"Ganryu?" he asked. "THE mighty sumo-wrestler Ganryu?"
Ganryu noticed him and gasped.
"Yoshimitsu!"
Yoshimitsu screamed extremely femininely.
"OH-MY-GOD GANRYU! I LOVE YOU!" he screamed in a disturbing fan-girl way and ran towards Ganryu. Ganryu turned around and tried to flee back into the dining room. Yoshimitsu had almost caught up with him when Ganryu suddenly slipped on a snail that one of the kitchen staff members had dropped. For a short second he looked like a nice, soaring walrus. Then he crashed back on the floor.
"My spine!" he whimpered quietly. Suddenly, a door slammed open and the captain came storming out, looking furious. He held an ink-covered book in one hand. He raised his other hand and pointed at everyone in the room.
"Who did that?" he roared. Baek smiled slightly and pointed at Ganryu.
"The fat guy." He said and watched the captain march over to him. He threw the book down beside him and glared at him furiously.
"700 pages written by hand!" he hissed. "I've worked with that thing for almost 3 years! And you ruin it!"
He looked up again. A group of Scotsmen were looking.
"You men help this blimp up and chain him to a chair!"
The Scotsmen gave Ganryu a questioning look.
"Is that a man? I thought it was a sofa, I did…" one of them mumbled. The one in front looked back at the captain.
"Aye, we'd love to lift 'im up, but we're nay enough men!"
The Scotsmen cheered evilly. Some high-fives were given. The captain only had to give them another angry glare for them to bend down and help Ganryu up on his feet again. They led him to a chair, but he only whimpered in pain.
"My back…!" he hissed. The Scotsmen looked at each other, shrugged and left him standing. The captain looked at Ganryu and his eyes narrowed to slits.
"And don't you move…!" he hissed at him before he returned to his cabin. Yoshimitsu walked up to Ganryu.
"Are you alright?"
"I think my spine is crushed, but other than that I'm just fine, thank you."
"Um… okay."
"Can you get me some punch?"
Ganryu got some punch, and at the same time the lights on the stage went out. A few people applauded, not really expecting anything special. One spotlight was turned on, lighting Raven up. He looked up, surprised.
"Oops." He said to himself and grabbed the microphone. "Nothing to see here people! I'll just get off the stage and..."
"BOO! Make me laugh!" Bruce yelled. Raven stroke his chin with his thumb and two fingers.
"Laugh, huh…?" he said to himself. "I can tell a joke. Do you want one?"
"Hit me, baby!" Christie added. Raven nodded slightly and discreetly pushed the button on his earpiece.
"HQ, I need a joke." He said, not noticing he was still talking into the microphone.
"No, I'm serious, I need a joke."
He sighed.
"It's not funny. It's… Gareth, stop laughing!"
He made a hissing noise.
"At least don't laugh into the microphone, it hurts my ear…"
He hissed in pain again and then appeared to realize something.
"Who was that?"
He waited for a while and turned his back to the curious audience.
"Was that… Brenda? Dammit, Gareth, are you screwing my wife! You BASTARD! I'm going to seek you out, tear your head off and…!"
He paused, took a deep breath and hissed through gritted teeth:
"Can I talk to Brenda? Let me talk to Brenda, you…!"
He paused for a moment. Wang began to chuckle.
"God DAMN it, Brenda, do you think I spent a thousand bucks on marriage counselling for this shit! HUH! Don't tell me it's my fault, you know I…! What do you mean never home! Well, of course I'm never home! You know why now, don't you! Do you really think I wanted you to call me Raven in bed because it's 'cool'? Brenda…! But I do love you, I just have a lot of people to kill all the time!"
He was quiet for a long while. By now Wang was laughing loudly.
"He really captures how it is…!" he managed to stutter between the gasping breaths.
"Yeah, I know, I'll try. Yeah, I love you too, baby… but I'm still going to kill Gareth. Yeah? Good. And I'll fucking sue your ass if your baby isn't jet black, you hear? Yeah… You know it. Alright. Alright. You just tell him to hide real good now, because I'm in the mood for torturing. Alright. Love you too, baby. Bye."
He turned around again and noticed that everyone was staring at him, Wang the only one laughing. He looked at the microphone for a while, then back at the crowd.
"Damn!" he hissed, dropped the microphone on the floor and disappeared into thin air. Yoshimitsu snorted.
"Show-off…" he muttered. Wang banged the table with his fist, laughing hysterically. Ling patted his shoulder.
"Grandpa, that's enough!" she tried to say, but he didn't listen. His laughter came to an abrupt stop as he suddenly choked on something. He began hitting his chest to get it out. Ling leaned down near him.
"What's wrong?" she asked. He pointed at his throat with a panicked look on his face. She gasped.
"He's choking on his own teeth!" she cried out. Wang gave up and collapsed to the floor. Feng, who already has had at least five glasses of punch, giggled half-heartedly at it. Ling stared at Wang.
"Someone call a medic!"
Everyone was quiet. Out of nowhere came a whistling sound. Two men suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, spinning quickly.
"Wheeeeeeee!" one of them called out while spinning. "I love teleporting!" he exclaimed when they'd stopped. The other one simply took a few steps away and threw up. The first medic gave the person closest to him, namely King, an apologetic look.
"He's new. So what's the problem here?"
Ling pointed at Wang.
"Teeth."
The medics gave each other a questioning glance and then immediately got to work. Feng still giggled at the scene. Asuka came up to him and slapped him in the back of his head.
"Why are you laughing? He could die!"
He looked back at her and shrugged.
"It's his teeth. He's choking on his own teeth, that's funny." He said. She glared at him. He shrugged again. "Oh, come on, it's classic!"
There was a disgusting, spitting sound and Wang's false teeth skid over the floor. Everyone looked at them. Wang sat up again, looking a bit disoriented.
"What the hell happened?" he mumbled in Chinese. The medics helped him up and looked around.
"Any quiet place we can put him?"
Lee looked up from the table.
"The, uh… Scotsmen's cabin. Down the corridor…" he mumbled.
The medics nodded and helped Wang away. The mood was pretty tense in the room after that. No one said anything for a while.
"Um…" Hwoarang finally began. "Who's going to take his teeth?"
No one replied. The guitarist of the band played a few chords and the singer stepped up to the microphone. The drummer counted down and they began to play a high-beat Latino song. The singer grabbed the microphone violently and sang some Mexican lyrics so quickly it became nothing but gibberish. The band paused after a while, obviously waiting for something. The audience stared at them. Suddenly, King raised his hand into the air in the back.
"OLÉ!" he screamed. The band cheered and started the music again. King made his way to the front and danced in a humorous way. No one else did anything but clap their hands to the music. Just a short while later the song ended and the band continued with some quieter, slower songs. Jun tried some of the punch, noted it didn't taste as bad as she thought, and went to Jin.
"So, what have you been doing all these years, son?"
"Practicing martial arts to get good enough to avenge your death."
"Ah-hah. Must feel like a big waste of time now."
"It sure does."
"Yes, I figured it would."
They were quiet for a while.
"So… are you and dad back together now or what?"
"I think he needs some time to get used to me."
"I just think it's pretty weird, that's all…"
"Aaw, don't you like it when your parents come back from death?"
Jin looked down on the floor.
"It's just that… you know, having a dead demonic father and a dead mother sort of made me special…"
"Oh." She nodded slowly. "And the fact that we both came back makes us a perfectly normal family, then?"
"No…" Jin's face brightened up again. "I'm still special!"
"Yes, you are… who's mommy's special boy?"
Jin smiled at her.
"I am."
"That's right, you are!" she purred and gave him a big hug. He giggled and hugged her back.
"Ah, it's good to be back. So how's life, otherwise?"
"Oh, it's okay… I just didn't expect to go on another party with the people I sort of hate."
"Another?"
"I hosted one three years ago. Huge mistake. But this appears to get much better! No one is drunk and it's on a cool boat."
"You like this boat?"
"Yeah, it's okay."
Jun smiled evilly.
"Then why don't you just take it?"
Jin stared at her.
"What?"
"If you like the boat, just claim it as your own!"
"But… I don't want to steal Lee's boat, mom. I like Lee, he's funny! Just look at him over there…" he said and pointed at him. "…drinking his cognac, crying in his hilarious party hat, looking at the watch, crying some more…" Jin chuckled. "He makes me laugh. He's like a clown."
Bruce, who was just walking by, stopped and gasped happily. Jin glared at him.
"A funny clown, Bruce."
Bruce sighed and looked down at the floor.
"Okay… I guess I'll just go bury myself somewhere…" he mumbled.
"You do that." Jun suggested. "The world doesn't need another sad clown."
Bruce slowly walked away from them, mumbling sadly to himself. Jin gave Jun a worried look.
"Mom, that was unusually… evil of you. Shouldn't you be nice?"
"Jin, my son. If death taught me anything, it is you don't get squat being nice! Look at your dad! He totally used me because I was so nice! And look at that Chang bitch. She was nice before and now she's a nut job! And…" Jun glanced to her side and rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Oh, great, that nut job is coming over. Hi, honeeey!"
"Hiii!" Julia purred and hugged Jun quickly. "I was going to take a walk on deck. Want to come with?"
"I sure do! Be back later, honey." Jun said to Jin and left him there. Kazuya came out of nowhere and stood next to him.
"Mm! She's still got a sweet ass!" he said with a grin. Jin hid his face in his hands.
"Dad!" he growled. "Remember what I told you about what parents may not say in front of their kids!"
"Nope." He stated and walked away again. Jin remained there for a while, confused, before he shrugged and went to get more of the suddenly tasty punch.
- - -
Marduk and King sat by a table, drinking punch. Marduk put his glass down.
"…and then she broke up with me because apparently I was a crazy zealot. I mean, that's just stupid, right?"
"Rawr." King agreed.
"I don't want to change the fact that I know that Jesus loves me and she shouldn't have tried to make me."
"Rawr?"
"I know, I know, I might have exaggerated a bit when I asked her to marry me on our first date, but you know… sanctity of love and stuff."
"Rawr?"
Marduk frowned and gave King a surprised look.
"No! Just no, King! Why would I…? With the…? NO!"
Eddy came stumbling towards them with a huge grin on his face. Marduk glanced at him.
"Where's Christie?" he asked. "Normally you two are like conjoined twins."
"Rawr?"
"You know what I mean."
"Christie's out shopping!" Eddy slurred and pointed at the roof. "Pink."
Marduk and King glanced at each other.
"I see." Marduk finally said. "You know drugs are bad for you, right?"
"Rawr!"
"You hear?" Marduk asked Eddy with an agreeing nod. Eddy stared at King like he had never seen him before, shoved his hand into his pocket and took out a small, plastic bag. He held it close to King's face.
"Catnip?" he offered with a grin. King accepted the small bag and stared at it. He hopefully looked up at Marduk.
"Rawr?"
Marduk just crossed his arms and shook his head slowly. King's shoulders slumped in disappointment.
"Rawr." He sighed and carelessly tossed the small bag over his shoulder. Eddy watched it without any real interest and turned around.
"Christie?" he mumbled and staggered away. Marduk looked after him.
"God bless." He said and took another sip from the glass of punch. "Hm… strange aftertaste."
"Rawr."
They sat quietly for a while, just looking at the crowd. A short distance away, Bryan and Steve were talking to Yoshimitsu.
"It doesn't matter in the end what the critics say, Akira Kurosawa's movies are way better than the Beatles' albums. Not that there's much of a difference, but still, the critics are wrong. Dead wrong."
Steve nodded slowly.
"Well, I'd say, that is a rather interesting point of view, wouldn't you agree, Bryan?"
Bryan stared down into his cup of tea, stirring it extremely slowly. His head jerked up.
"Wha-? Oh, yeah, um… I concur."
Steve's eyes narrowed to slits and he began to finger the flyswatter's handle.
"Say, Bryan, what were we talking about again?"
"Err…" Bryan glanced at Yoshimitsu, who just grinned evilly. He cleared his throat and met Steve's look again.
"You were talking about the question regarding the measurements between the stars, isn't that quite correct?" he quickly guessed, smiled nervously and sipped some tea. With the pinky-finger sticking out. Steve waited until he put the cup down again and then smacked him. Hard.
"Pay attention to what your fellow men are discussing, Bryan!" he snarled. Bryan rubbed the side of his face.
"The pain…!" he hissed. Within seconds, Marduk stood behind them. He yanked the flyswatter out of Steve's hand.
"We're not in the tournament! Violence is wrong, guys. It makes Jesus sad."
Steve stared at him.
"Jesus…? Oh, religion is all nice, Marduk, but please return my flyswatter."
"No."
"Give me my flyswatter back!"
"You'll just use it for violence!"
Steve gave Bryan an encouraging look. Bryan sighed and rubbed the side of his face some more.
"But I agree with Marduk!"
"Gentleman way…?"
Bryan rolled his eyes and punched Marduk's arm slightly, just to get his attention. Marduk looked down at him.
"Why you big oaf, return Steve's fancy flyswatter this instant or I shall have to get very mad with you!" he ordered. Marduk stared at him. His mouth dropped open. Steve seized the moment and snatched his flyswatter back. King joined the small gathering.
"Rawr?"
Marduk shook his head very slowly and stared at Steve in disbelief.
"Steve…! What have you done…? What have you done!"
He pointed at Bryan with a shaky hand.
"That isn't the Bryan we all know and love!"
Bryan frowned slightly.
"Love…?" he said to himself quietly, but was ignored.
"Why have you turned our beloved sadistic maniac killer cyborg into… that!"
Bryan looked up at him.
"Love…?" he repeated. "Who does that?"
"Jesus does, now shut up." Marduk said to him before turning back to Steve. "WHY!"
"Because Mr. Chaolan told me to."
"So it's all Lee's fault?"
"Actually, he was just joking, but I did it anyway."
"Why would Jesus love me? I don't even like the guy." Bryan muttered to himself.
"But… why? What harm has Bryan done to you?"
"Well… His manners bothered me?"
"That's it!"
They were quiet for a while, staring at each other. Bryan and King exchanged a small, confused glance.
"And because I want to get laid." Bryan added quickly.
"Rawr?"
"Well… Steve told me they liked this kind of stuff."
"Rawr."
Marduk glanced at Bryan.
"Wait… you actually want to be like that? You want to be wuss-Bryan!"
Bryan shrugged.
"I'm getting desperate. You know how it is."
King nodded slowly, agreeing wholeheartedly. He patted Bryan's shoulder to get his attention and poked his mask's upper lip.
"Rawr."
"What?"
"Rawr!"
"Oh." Bryan removed the fake moustache. "Better?"
"Rawr."
"Thanks."
Steve looked up at Marduk again.
"Would you fancy a cup of tea?"
Marduk shrugged.
"Why not?"
- - -
While the Bryan-discussion took place, Yoshimitsu was simply standing around, looking bored. He was just about to go away when he noticed something lying on the floor. He picked it up and looked at it, walking away. It was a small, plastic bag.
"Hmm…" Yoshimitsu mumbled to himself. "Well, isn't this weird… It looks like flour or something…"
He stopped and opened it. He licked a finger and tried some of the white dust.
"Hm… well, it's not flour. Can't really place it… tastes like vanilla or something…"
He opened the bag a bit more and leant down to smell some of it. Unfortunately, he breathed in too deep and too quickly. His face was almost completely covered in the white dust. He couched loudly and brushed it off.
"Hm…" he mumbled again and rubbed his nose. "It burns a little… it definitely isn't flour."
He stands still for a while, looking up at the ceiling with a thoughtful look on his face. He then shrugged and went outside to get some air.
- - -
A/N: About the medics: some enemies in Devil Within spin around when they "appear". We started making "whee" noises when they did and one thing led to another. Hehe.