Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, or else you wouldn't be reading this... =1
A/N: Sooorry about taking so long updating this, I got caught up on something *sweat* Thank you for your patience, your reviews, and enjoy this chapter!
...
Day #05: "Awake"
[Finally fully conscious again, Claus goes to pay his first visit to his new Master.]
...
He's one who has tasted what falling on the dirt feels like, perhaps hundreds of times. He has gotten back up one thousand, or maybe more. But that's what it's like when Time is apparently on the favorable side. Events pass by, so do people, eventually someone new rises up to help him get power once more. And he was back at the top again. 'Till those white mugs 'pretenders' would show up to dethrone him once more. It went on repeatedly like that who knows how many times.
He thinks he probably has all those apparent memories mixed up with his own-made fantasy tales of imagination, actual nightmares, and endless dreams. And so much has happened that he no longer cares to recall which was the truth, when happened what, who was involved, or even what mistakes he made. It didn't matter. Only the current present mattered. His present, not the actual World's.
He lay in the black earth and continued to look at the stars above him with arms behind his head. There was only navy blue surrounding the skies, as well as dots of light scattered all over. Everything looked so dark and distant... One day, he decided, he would reach them (even if it meant blowing up the world in the process. He had no trouble deciding that one).
And as if the earth was listening to his thoughts, it began to react, shaking and tearing apart the piece of ground he was laying on, and rising it up to draw him closer to the stars. Instinctively, he got up on his knees to see the ground below and try to understand what was causing this. It felt like he was standing on someone's giant palm made of dirt. He turned around his back to see the head of a giant figure flashing a pair of red eyes at him. He has seen them before, but has trouble remembering where.
A chilly wind blew around them, whistling to the tone of Judgment Day as Porky and the red-eyed, giant statue stared intently at each other as if they were both frozen.
Who was it this time, was the only thing Porky wondered.
...
Light began sipping into his room, which bothered his eyes enough to wake him up. He blinked a few times and involuntarily moved his fingers about to loosen or tighten the grip to whatever they had close by. He felt something stiff coming from where his right hand lay, so he pushed himself to sit up in his bed with the left one. The mattress rose up, then sank again as his weight shifted by.
Once sit up properly, he drew his right hand near to see what the heck it was holding, and then he noticed it was that robot figure he'd been unconsciously playing with ever since he made that little demonstration to Yokuba concerning his little monster-in-progress a few weeks back...
Porky felt a little peeved at the realization and tossed the damn toy as far as his effortless strength could afford. He rubbed his eyes, stretched his arms out in a yawn. His stomach groaned, and then he heard Lil' Miss Marshmallow's footsteps approaching.
"PANCAKES THIS TIME!" He yelled, knowing that the little robot Maid was probably already carrying some breakfast toward his room.
Upon hearing him, she stopped her walk. "Yes-Master-Porky!" she replied, but with the same loud, robotic tone she always carried.
Porky heard her footsteps walk away again, and then dropped to his bed, grabbing a pillow and squeezing it above his head.
"Stupid sunlight" he muttered under the pillow irritatingly.
...
He tries to recall what his world was like before meeting up with what seemed like an eternity of darkness, but nothing else comes to mind. The bionic red-haired boy finds himself floating in a dark space, and he hears a young, quivering voice calls out..
"I have to protect... I have to protect..."
His robotic eye looks around to try to scan from wherever that voice is coming from, but no results. Gradually, the black space he was in starts to turn green. And he thinks he starts to see bubbles floating by.
He then hears another voice, but this one repeats itself over, making it sound like a crowd. Images of a certain person smiling deviously begin cramming his head along with the voices.
Those voices are saying something too, but he can only make out that last part..
"...Master Porky..."
So he puts those two voices together and makes up a complete sentence. His life suddenly feels like it has a purpose, and he wakes up only to find himself in a cold, metallic room, within a place crowded by white coat-wearing people, and a bunch of wires attached to his back that prevent him from fully getting up.
He hasn't stopped asking about this, 'Master Porky' ever since he woke up, and it's slowly starting to get in Andonuts' nerves, as he detaches all wires and makes final checks on it, making it run several walks and other common activities.
"Please take me to Master Porky," the boy asks in monotonous tone and a pair of void, indifferent, red eyes.
"Calm down, I just need to run a few tests, geez. I already called Yoku-whatchamacallhim."
"Yokuba.." the robot boy replies.
"I suppose you already know him. Of course, your current computer says so. Now just stay still, and look straight ahead," Andonuts signals him to look at a red and white target hanging on a wall. "I want to see how efficient is your current coordination with your arm-cannon. May you hit that up there, please?"
The red-haired boy looks up at his target, and the sound of a charging battery is heard as he slowly lifts his right arm and points to the target. A light attached at the top of near the cannon's mouth glows faintly, and then a small beam fires at the target, and it obliterates to dust. The low-toned noise of the cannon dies right after, and the boy lowers his arm again.
He looks up at Andonuts with those numb red eyes and opens his mouth to speak again..
"So, is the brat ready?" Yokuba comes in slamming the door open with one hand, then rests on the wall with his other hand on his waist.
"Ah, it's you." Andonuts adjusts his glasses as he turns to look at him. "Yeah, I was just killing some time running some tests. You can take him now.."
Yokuba glances at him suspiciously, then looks at the boy. He gets a little closer and inspects him a little from the ground up.
"Nwehehehe... You're definitively him.." he grins while rubbing his chin.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" asks Andonuts perplexed.
"Nwehehehe, it's nothing."
"Yokuba..." the red-eyed boy interrupts with a calmed voice. "Will you please take me to Master Porky?"
"Sure thing," Yokuba answers, leaning back. "And speaking of tests, I'd like to test your Loyalty first, nwehehehe."
"..." the boy's eyes look so indifferent and numb, but he follows Yokuba as they both step out of the room, walk down the hall, and enter another bigger room where animals screeching could be heard. Inside it, there were several creatures inside cages, roaming about as much as they could within their confined spaces. Andonuts follows them a tad nervously.
Yokuba comes to a stop in front of the cage containing a female monkey. He takes a banana from his pocket and begins peeling it open. "So, then?" He gives the banana its first bite. "Master Porky orders you to annihilate this pathetic creature," he points at the helpless monkey while gulping down the fruit.
"Aw, why the monkey? We still need it!" Andonuts complaints, and Yokuba glares at him.
The little female monkey is crouched as far as it can inside the cage, and looks up at the three men while shivering and trying not to whimper. The red-haired boy looks at it unfazed.
"What are you waiting for?" yells Yokuba, among chews.
"I... only obey Master Porky's direct orders," the boy finally answers in his calm, steady voice without taking his eyes off the monkey.
Andonuts feels just a little relieved (a very unusual feeling, needless to say), but a tad surprised.
"You're telling me what?" Yokuba throws the banana peel to the floor, stomps closer to the boy and looks at him menacingly. "I'M the link between you and your Master," he signals himself with his thumb. "Are you saying you can't obey me!"
The robot boy finally turns to look back up at Yokuba. His eyes are so serious and devoid of any feeling, like hollow tunnels leading to a space of absolute emptiness.
"If you won't take me to Master Porky, I will find the way there myself," he answers sternly.
...
A Pigmasks soldier was scratching his belly while sitting on the ground by the entrance to the Chimera Labs, awaiting for the passengers of his stationed Porkbean to arrive.
Yokuba finally steps out of the building and boards the Pig-like hovering vehicle in an ill-tempered manner, and a red-haired boy wearing orange trousers and a pink jacket that was too big for him follows him outside. The Pigmask soldier stands up abruptly to greet them with his usual oink-like noises.
The boy stops to look around for a bit. In his computer mind, he already has his current position registered as "the Chimera Labs." But to himself, it feels like it's the first time he's ever looked at the outside. The boy walks slowly and smells the odd stench of the grass, which had a mixture of organic mold with dust and chemicals. He looks up at the building, where the figure of a strange brown, furry creature with horns and an odd-shaped mouth is staring down, and the disturbing noise of nearby creatures is heard.
The whole ambience overall feels heavy, humid, and unnatural. But it is a world that his Master has approved of, so the boy shrugs off whatever opposing thoughts began forming in his head and steps inside the vehicle.
During their trip, the robot boy just stared out the window intently, trying to get more familiar with the environment that awaited him. Yokuba stayed quiet for the most part, observing his unordinary companion. Most creations of the King would turn out to be rather easy-to-fool, brainwashed, "loyalty-driven" idiots, but there was something different about the twin brother of that brat.
"PSI-wielding hypocrites," he recalls Porky mentioning. He then begins wondering what previous experience did Porky have with these kinds of people. Just what chooses who wields them psychic powers, anyway? They certainly can't all be good-natured, as Yokuba doesn't considers himself so in the least.
Yokuba grins. Considering what Porky knows, and what they've done to this brat, things were going to be a little interesting...
...
He feels endless thoughts racing at the speed of multiple meteorites, static noises inside his head, heavy pounding from the organic side of his heart, and tiny drops of sweat tracing their way down to disappear before reaching his neck. His footsteps are monotonous and steady in pace, and are accompanied by the stomping noise of Yokuba's walk. They both approach the hall where the Fierce Pork Trooper guards the entrance to King P's room.
It is a big moment, as he is finally about to see his Master face-to-face.
"Who's this brat?" asks the band-loving bull man looking down at the boy.
"King P's new toy. Now out of the way," Yokuba shoves. The boy and the chimera man stare at each other as he passes by, his computer registering the stats of the Fierce Pork Trooper.
They walk down the hall and open the door. The pounding in the boy's heart getting heavier, and his eyes widen just a little in anticipation and a hard-to-read enthusiasm.
"Why, that looks delightful on you, Sir," the voice of a polite adult is the first thing heard once inside the room. Several men dressed fancy are standing around a boy, measuring him and a new black suit he was wearing. The boy was slightly chubby in build, wore white hair, and was standing on top of a small stool with his back facing the new visitors.
"We'll have your new outfit ready by the end of the week, your Highness," says a man with a top hat putting away a measuring tape, while the other two are gathering their other tools together.
"I want it in three days," replies the white-haired boy with a demanding tone. He moves his arms about, adjusting his tie, but Yokuba and his robot companion still can't see his face and are just watching the scene in front of them silently.
"Three days, sir?" replies a nervous voice.
"THREE DAYS is what I'm giving you," the bossy kid turns to face the man to his left with three of his fingers up. "Do whatever you need to, now go."
"Yes, Sir. Of course, your Highness," replies the man agitated, taking his off his top hat briefly and putting it back. He grabs his briefcase and steps outside with the other two men behind him. The door opens and closes again.
There is a small silence as Porky adjusts his red tie a bit more, then sights satisfactorily.
"Heheh.. is that you, Yokuba?" he asks teasingly without turning around.
"The weapon you requested is finished," Yokuba answers casually with his hands on his waist.
"...Master..." The bionic, red-eyed boy finally speaks. He moves two steps forward and bends down, putting one knee on the ground, and the other one up with his left hand resting on it.
Porky turns around to see him-it-and flashes his usual smile. The sight of his new little monster bending down upon first real meeting delivers an air superiority and satisfaction, like the way victory smells. The whole world feels like it's at his mercy, and this little bionic kid is like proof.
"But seriously, what the hell is he wearing?" he steps down from the stool and bends his head to the side as he stares down at the hideous pink jacket his new toy was wearing.
"What? You want the green version?" Yokuba asks. "It's one of 'em Pigmaks uniforms," he shrugs.
The red-eyed boy gets back up to display, not taking his eyes off his Master. Porky looks at him closely.
"Not good on him," he replies with his fingers on his own chin. He steps back, inspecting the boy. Then calls out Miss Marshmallow to bring him something from his closet.
"Here," he hands the robot boy a black jacket that uses a zipper instead of buttons, and has a white, fluffy collar. "Don't want my little monster to look like an idiot," he pats the boy's head with a teasing smile.
"..." the little boy has trouble expressing itself, because its own emotions are hard for itself to read. But he supposes a "Thank you, Master..." is what Porky would like to hear...
"Don't mention it," Porky's grin widens.
'He sure looks more excited than usual..' Yokuba notes.
"Well, then? I wonder how much PSI can you remember?" Porky asks cheerfully, but the red-haired boy looks very faintly perplexed.
"Say.." he continues while slowly strolling around him. "Why don't we go find out?"
"Ask him to shoot a damn bird outside," Yokuba exclaims. "The brat wouldn't blow up a monkey inside the lab," He crosses his arms, then puts on a mocking tone of voice, "I only obey Master Porky's direct orders,' crap."
Porky bursts out laughing. "We'll just see about that, huh?" He begins walking toward his door. "Put that jacket on and meet us outside," he signals to his robot and steps outside with Yokuba, leaving the chimera boy inside the room holding the newly-acquired black jacket, and the door clicks closed.
All the while, the red-haired boy's eyes were devoid of any emotion, but more alert than usual. He never took his eyes off Porky until he was out of the room. And now here he found himself inside the Master's room without his supervision. He looked around carefully and registered his surroundings, becoming as familiar as possible with every object in Porky's room and their every positions. He scanned numerous gift boxes, toys, and childish decorations surrounding the place, and then there was that star-shaped Jacuzzi.
He looked down at the black jacket he held in his hands. The very first gift straight from his Master upon first actual meeting... it made the jacket feel all the more symbolic to him, and his little head swore to take good care of it.
Then he heard a young female's voice call out, "Hello-good-Sir! How-do-you-do?" The boy turned around to find Lil' Miss Marshmallow staring at him, that robot Maid that had been around in the room and brought the jacket when Porky asked for it.
"..Hello.." he replied indifferently.
"It-is-good-that-the-Master-has-company!" she said cheerfully. "Your-name-Sir?"
The question nearly shuts him down, as his mind went blank at the sudden realization that he had no answer for such a simple inquiry..
A name? ...The Master has not given him any name at the moment, right?..
...there was absolutely no answer for that question.
...Fin
A/N: Details, details, details... Heheh, well it finally feels like we're moving forward..! *quivers nervously*
Was it good? Was it bad? Have questions, opinions, critiques, or complains? Please be kind to leave a review! *sparkly eyes*