Chapter Two: Naupaka
…aisy, give me your answer dooo
I'm half crazy all for the love of you
It won't be a stylish marriage
I can't afford a carriage
But you'll look sweet upon the seat
Of a bicycle built for TWOOOOOOOOO-
Kixx awoke to a warmth on his face; Izayoi was in the middle of spring gloom, so he knew exactly who this was. Opening his eyes revealed a thoroughly irritated Heat shining a glimmer of his laser right in his face. He smirked upon seeing his expression before pulling the thermal experiment down on top of him, "I'll turn it off Heat, ya don't have to glare at me."
He was answered with a light nip on his cheek before Heat hugged him, "Fine, fine. Still can't believe you have that thing."
"What? It's been scrubbed off the net, I have to preserve it somehow." Kixx said, clicking off the alarm, "It's like a family video."
"Even when it's just a bunch of whale noises?"
"What do you mean? Isn't whale song good for your health?"
"It is not, and I should know." Heat said, pulling out of the hug and sitting up, "That aside, we should head down to the lab and see 001. Get her measurements before everyone else wakes up."
Kixx nodded as he swung himself out of the bed, yawning and stretching all four arms, "That we should; Thresh and the clones're coming too, so we should get her out of the way before Sango yells at us."
Heat snorted, "Us or Angel, take your pick."
"Well, let's get us out of the picture then."
—-
The tiny figure floated in the tank as the two copied the measurements spat out by the machine set up to record her progress, claws twitching as if already dreaming about slicing into hair. Heat raised his brows at the percentage displayed on the monitor-99.96% done according to its calculations.
No one was used to the "long route" of experiment creation; 001 was vat-grown and only just able to crawl at this stage, and none of the original 626 nor any of the extras made down the line were created this way-instead, they were flashed into existence ready to destroy as their creators saw fit. When the Grand Councilwoman had suggested-and then pushed the route as a legal loophole, Jumba-and many later series-were offended until the earlier ones had begged them to let it go.
They'd settled into the new normal, but not without some difficulties adjusting to the idea.
His train of thought was interrupted by Kixx's hand on his shoulder. Heat looked up at him and smiled as the two surveyed the new experiment in the vat. "I still can't believe she's grown this much."
"Neither can I. We don't video in for a couple weeks and she already looks done."
"Think she'll be like Clip?"
"Dunno. She looks like she'll be like Clip, but you can never be too sure. She could be like Hammer and start nagging everyone made after her."
"Oh gods, I hope not." Heat smiled to the tiny figure in the tank, "It's kinda nice being down here, to be honest."
"Is it the lights?"
"Yeah. Makes me feel better knowing she's in the basement."
"Oh."
They led each other back up the stairs, setting up the coffee machine as the sun began to pierce through the early morning fog. The rest of the family filed into the room one by one, Angel and Stitch taking to the window to watch for the experiment's arrival. Heat quickly called them back, gesturing towards the table, "Guys, come on; they're coming after breakfast, not during it."
"Awww, meega hasn't seen 'em in so long though!" Stitch exclaimed, pouting as he seated himself, "Meega barely got to talk to Sango when she came back."
"She's training to be a nurse Stitch, she's not gonna have much time for that." Kixx said, handing him a plate of fried fish, "She's even coming because checking on 001's part of it."
"Ih, isa just wanted to see how they were doing…" Stitch sighed and centered the plate of fish on the placemat, "Meega's happy Thresher's coming though! Isa gonna be working soon since isa almost summer."
"Aw, yeah; he's braving it alone this year, I'm still on break fixing up the basin." Heat said, casting a glance out the window, "Wonder how everyone's holding up back there."
"Probably well enough if I know Thresher." Kixx said, "Never seen someone that patient before, doesn't even flinch when the new campers scream at him."
Heat snorted, "I hope they won't be hard on him this year. He's patient, but he's still pretty nervous."
Breakfast came and went, Yuna and Ani taking off for school as Heat and Kixx cleared the table. Stitch followed Yuna out the door, waving to the older 6-series as the two began to race down the street. Heat waved back as he closed the cupboard, only for a mechanical hook from Clyde to swing it back open. "Sorry-we're sittin' on the porch all day this week, so we need somethin' to drink while we're out."
"Practicing for later years?"
"We have to start somewhere 09."
"Good gods Clyde, stop complaining-you're younger than me." Bonnie said, taking the glasses from Clyde as he handed them down to her, "You two can wait outside with us; I don't want Ryuu freakin' out like he did last time."
—-
"Ah…this is nice; no alien threats anymore, no ships blockin' our view, no law enforcement, just peace and quiet." Clyde said, placing his hands behind his head as the four watched the trees surrounding the house, "Gotta admit, I did miss this stuff a lot back in space. Prison walls are the same no matter where you are."
"Yeah; feels kind of weird to know that stuff's all going away for good by the weekend." Kixx said, taking a quick sip of his drink as Heat leaned into him, "I know I'm not gonna miss it. Been waiting for things to quiet down for years."
"Personally I'm looking forward to search and rescue again. That and movin' in with ole' Hammer and Nails." Bonnie said, drawing the attention of both 6-series. "Oh yeah-it's you guys and Carmen and Spooky, right?" Heat asked, and Bonnie nodded, "Yep; it's just for the first few months. Clip doesn't want to take time off, so we're keeping an eye on Hamm. Makin' sure he doesn't overwork himself."
Heat nodded, "It's great you're going to be helping out-I'm sure they appreciate it."
"...Despite how they…both usually are." He finished sheepishly upon sly glances from the 1-series couple. However, the four were interrupted by the sound of a conversation emanating from the path leading up to the Kamihara household-followed by the appearance of four figures on the dirt road. Heat rushed to the edge of the porch and leaned over, waving to the tallest of the group.
Thresher raised a tentacle in greeting, grinning behind a crate filled with strawberries. Each of the three Leroy clones following him had similar crates piled high with oranges, mangos, and avocados-and appeared to be sneaking some off the top given one of them had half an orange wedge sticking out of his mouth.
"Hi! We uh…I kind of had to do a quick harvest before we came, so we took you some stuff from the farmhouse." The 5-series began to explain, but was quickly interrupted by the clone holding the crate of mangos; she irritably placed them right on the porch and dusted her hands off, nodding to the group of four further in, "Where's 001?"
"Aw. Right; she's in the basement Sango. You don't have to visit her right now-at least, I don't think." Kixx said, but the clone shook her head, "Sorry, I wanna cross her off my list before I spend time here."
The clones behind her waved to the group, one of them jabbing a thumb towards the house upon gulping down his orange slice, "I'm gonna go take these in; you have a counter I can reach?"
"I can take 'em Akamu, don't worry." Tigerlily said from the doorway-albeit raising her eyes in surprise upon seeing the crates, "Oh, wow-we're not gonna being worrying about fruit anytime soon."
The final clone stared at the ground, but nodded as Thresher placed a tentacle around him, "...It was my idea."
"Well, it was a good one Ryuu, we're set for the whole week on this front." Tigerlily said, smiling to the clone as she took up Sango's crate, "I've got these covered, you four can just do what you want."
Sango nodded curtly as she made her way inside and down the stairs leading to the basement lab. The others followed suit, Heat and Kixx breaking off from the main group to help her.
They caught up with Sango at the very edge of the main room, the clone's swift turn towards them making both slow down; Sango hadn't been involved in the fight, but her former role as a prison asteroid warden had still made her easy to startle.
"Sorry." Heat said, and the clone took a deep breath to calm herself, "Gods, don't do that to me. I'm not used to it."
The two nodded, giving her a bit of distance as the three stepped into the room. Sango surveyed it before walking up to the main vat, crossing her arms as she looked 001 up and down.
"Nearly done, huh?"
Her voice sounded distant, its usual iciness seeming to dissolve as she studied the figure inside the tank. The two 6-series exchanged a glance upon hearing it; Sango was the unofficial leader of the clones-even of the original, but she was often cold towards the family. Seeing her voice lose its usual edge was new.
But perhaps, not surprising.
"Well, yeah; she is. Just has .04 left to go." Kixx explained, nodding towards the numbers displayed on the record. Sango squinted at them before walking to the binder on the table next to it. The two followed her, standing on either side of her as Sango opened to the first page.
"Let's see, height, 7 inches, 17.78 centimeters, weight, 6 pounds or 2.73 kilograms…blood work's…oh thank gods, she doesn't have leukopenia. No charge to worry about so I don't have to think about it, got…oh jesus."
"Both abilities?" She asked, glancing between the two of them. Kixx nodded, "That…was a point of contention when her claws started coming in."
"Hmmm." Sango furrowed her brow as she brushed a claw underneath the list of powers 001 was projected to have. "That's a lot to handle for someone so young. 627 told me she had these, but seeing how many's a bit concerning."
"Well, there is the option to shave some of 'em off if they bother her, but…I think they're going to watch her. See if anything's off; she is a 0-series kid after all." Heat said. Sango nodded, but Heat could still see she was apprehensive. And…
…There was another emotion underneath the ice. Kixx could see it in the way she'd looked at his fiance-Heat hadn't said anything that would indicate he was struggling, but Kixx still knew exactly what had given it away.
That and Sango had been part of the cleanup crew for the basin.
"Hey um, Sango? Want me to take you down to the docks after we finish up here? Just for some fresh air before Stitch and Yuna come back." He asked. The clone paused for a moment, but nodded, frowning as she continued to jot down 001's progress. Heat frowned as well, raising an eyebrow as he turned back to Kixx. The fighting experiment could only shrug, but the clone rolled her eyes, "If you two have marital issues before you're married, can you take them up across the room? I'm trying to work."
"Sorry."
"Don't say sorry, just talk to each other. You're adults even in human years now." The clone said, drawing up another piece of paper to record her final observations, "I'm going with you to the docks regardless, so you can just wait for me upstairs, 'kay?"
"Alright-I'll get the fishing gear in case you want to try it out."
—-
The path to the Izayoi docks was a bit long, and Kixx preferred it that way; just enough distance to speak with Sango, and a location that would-hopefully-keep her happy despite the subject they were about to discuss.
The clone had taken off before he could, though not without giving him ample time to catch up. She eyed him flatly, turning away to continue their trek as he kept up pace beside her.
"He's still depressed. I can see it."
…Of course the first words out of her mouth would be these.
"Gods, you make Hammerface look like a wordsmith." Kixx said, shaking his head as he crossed his upper set of arms. Sango copied him, narrowing her eyes at him, "I don't care for being one. Besides, the basin wasn't that long ago."
"Not to mention everything else that came of it." She kicked a rock out of her way as they stepped over the cracks on the sidewalk. Kixx sighed, the two walking in silence for a few minutes.
"Look. I know you can see it. But I don't want you vibing him out, okay? He already knows. And besides, that…doesn't go away."
"I know it doesn't. My point is that everything might be happening too fast."
"What do you mean?"
"I've never seen a person recover within the year, much less get married while they're still doing so." Sango said, giving the fighting experiment a hard stare. Kixx stared back, though not with the same worry.
"We already went over it."
"Are you two going to be able to handle it?"
"I don't know Sango. But I'm not…" Kixx sighed and glared at the docks they were coming up on, "I don't want those three taking away our happiness again. You already see how Heat and Angel struggle, and then there's what happened to me. And those trials…"
Sango looked to the ground and gulped, shared memories of Hamsterviel's plan to destroy the islands revealed to the family resurfacing in her mind's eye.
Capture Kixx. Capture Slushy. Slugger. Take some of The Cats so things wouldn't look suspicious. Make sure Kixx's Doomsday boojiboo found out. Not only that, make sure he knew he was responsible.
It was so simple. So cruel. And…it'd nearly worked.
Pink clouded her vision for a moment, but Sango blinked it away and looked up at Kixx. Their trek had taken them to the third dock and he was setting up her gear for her. His eyes held the same angry determination she'd seen in Witch and Tickle-Tummy when they'd begged her to see reason, back when she held her warden position. The same held by Angel, Hammerface, Plasmoid, and all the more short-tempered captured experiment members, and the one that had gradually crept into those of the original as he realized how much Hamsterviel had lied to them all.
In a way, Kixx was right; Hamsterviel had practically dedicated his life to making him and the others miserable. That included her group of 2,001 Leroys. She sighed and watched the sea lapping against the dock, wondering if perhaps, her fears over this rapid recovery-for both Kixx and Heat-were unfounded. It was true they'd been harmed-severely, and both were still recovering, but maybe their approaches were just different.
That might be it.
A purple fist carefully handing her a fishing pole interrupted Sango's thoughts, and she flattened her ears as she looked up at the 6-series. Kixx gave her a sheepish smile as he handed her a tackle box with a different hand, and a third went to the top of her head. She felt it slightly sink into her neck and couldn't suppress her own half-smile in return.
"You…sure you've got this under control?"
"Nope, but there's only one way to find out. I know you're worried, but…it's not…new territory for us, not really." Kixx said, taking his hand back off her head, "It's more intense-yeah, but it's not anything we haven't seen before, especially from Gerbilboy."
"Okay." She gingerly took the pole and held it in her hands, "...Sorry for being so short with you back there."
Kixx nodded, "It's okay Sango. You're just worried, and you've got your nurse training. It's a lot to deal with."
"Eeh, I'm still repeatin' the apology to Heat later."
"Well, okay." Kixx surveyed the ocean for a moment before turning back to her as she began to attach hooks to the line, "Want me to head back? Or…?"
"You can stay. I'd like someone to talk to."
"Just as I thought; I'm gonna go grab some food from the stand, okay?"