Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, or else you wouldn't be reading this... =1
A/N: I admit, the end of last chapter was a bit abrupt, but the chapter itself felt so long, that I just wanted to end it. I apologize for that. THIS chapter picks right up from where we left off.
Enjoy~
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Day # 09: "Welcome" Part 1
[His first battle is over, but it was just the beginning. What does the nameless boy have to look forward to in this twisted new world?]
...
-"You still have a lot more to prove to me, got it?"-
The words thunder in his eardrums as a remainder, but he still can't quite comprehend its notions, or what went wrong with himself. His vision starts speaking louder to him than his internal circuits when he sees everything blurry, and it feels like he's losing his sense of gravity entirely. They weren't very far from the pink, hovering vehicle that brought them to this place, but unable to take it any longer, the red-haired boy suddenly collapses to the ground without any prior warning.
A thud, and then an uproar of murmurs among the Pigmasks begins to spread, catching Porky's attention enough to make him turn around. The pink-wearing buffoons gather in a circle around the boy, until one of them finally decides to tend to him, by carefully turning his body around to face them and rest the boy's head on his lap. They turn to look at Porky, awaiting for him to say what he expects them to do. This nameless boy was a nobody to them. They had no idea whether he was supposed to collapse and Porky wants him dead, or if it should be treated with emergency assistance, seeing that there's still a faint drizzle of red making its way out from its torn jacket.
"I guess it was due to the blood loss," is all Porky states nonchalantly.
...
Night has come to the islands, allowing for some rest among its various residents. Only the chorus of mole crickets and other night creatures is heard outside, since the factory and other machinery has been shut down until dawn. But there's restlessness inside the Chimera labs, dimly lit throughout several rooms, as all the present researchers are gathered to work on improvements for Porky's 'busted' toy.
Dr. Andonuts is dumbfounded at the fact that the boy who had just left the Chimera Labs was returning back so soon at such a state. An injury to the head and minor bruises to other parts of the body, as well as a completely wasted mechanical limb! Not to mention a faint signal of vitality. It doesn't fit into the doctor's cranium just how GOOD Porky is at wasting everything that's given to him.
"Would you care to enlighten me!" he couldn't manage to keep his silence once he exited the operating room, to where Porky was casually sitting, resting his feet up on a nearby table, and looking down at some diagram he randomly found.
"What?" the amount of alarm on his voice was completely the opposite of Andonuts.
"Just what on Earth did you have him do? First day out in the field and his arm is completely CRUSHED!"
"Not my fault he wasn't strong enough.." Porky simply scratched his ear.
The doctor couldn't let this go. Watching a boy of such delicacy become a mere toy for Porky to do as he pleased. What if? What if that boy had been-
It took every ounce of nerves to speak his next sentences, his hands balled into sweaty fists, and a deep breath in. "Did it even occur to you that he hadn't achieved complete efficiency with his new body? Are you just going to keep bringing him in, just to trash him over and over? There's only so much a boy his age could do, even with artificial limbs!"
"Are you yelling at me, old man?" Porky tossed the diagram and stared seriously at the doctor, who immediately had to relax his stance at such a sight, thundering heart coming into a halt. A reminder of his position; a shiver that ran down his spine and churned in his stomach. It was so useless to try to talk to Porky.. Exhaustingly useless. All this chimera work was truly a daunting experience.
"I get it, I get it," seeing his more calm composure, Porky took his feet off the table and sat up straight. "Look, it really hadn't mattered to me whether IT was killed on this first around," he looked at Andonuts with his piercing smile.
The doctor simply stared back, expressions now numbed and tired.
"Relax," Porky got up and placed his hands on his pockets. "Since it DID survive, I have bigger plans for it. I promise to take care of it from now on, heheh.." his smile was so sweet it could convince any adult women that Porky was a well-behaved little boy. But those who knew Porky had a better understanding.
The forgotten diagram landed wrinkly atop a pile of broken flasks on the floor.
...
It was entirely black. A series of random images of various time-frames would've been nice to look at-however blurry and incomprehensible they were. But complete darkness was a terrifying sight. So his mind begins counting numbers instead. Because numbers are supposed to make sense. One, two, three.. it was more to calm the nerves, than anything. Nine-teen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two.. It really didn't matter for how long. Fity-six, fifty-seven-fifty-eight, fifty-nine... one-hundred and thirty-four..
"..You failed me.."
His nerves were alert again, forcing him to sit up from what it seemed to be a patch of green on a completely black floor. He tried to move the fingers of his right hand to feel the texture of the ground he sat on, but he could feel nothing. It's all metal there..
Wait..
He looked down, and indeed there was something kind of like an arm. It was a series of metal plates shaped like the skeleton of a hand, screws binding it on the joints. It was kind of too skinny to be a proper replacement for an arm, but he supposes he'll work with what he's got. He checked the one on the left, it was normal, although a tad pale. He got up and decided he better do something that will make him feel purposeful.
But feelings of Failure were draining his energy. A robot running low on batteries, faintly flickering a red light of warning, slowly dying away.
He sighed heavily with eyes closed.
He began walking forward, unsure of where the way would lead. If only he had more direction, perhaps someone to point the right way. But what is right? He can't tell. He doesn't know just how many times it has happened: to wake up in a lab without memory of what had happened earlier. To realize that maybe, because he was such a failure, the men in lab coats were forced to make him forget all his past errors, over and over. Just how many times had it happened? And how many more are ahead? These thoughts are disheartening, and unbefitting of someone 'Strong'...
There's a strange feeling of familiarity at that word. A hidden desire. A sudden loud heartbeat that craves to wake up.
A faint rustling sound begins to whisper in his ear, making him focus his vision on what lay ahead. Another patch of green on the black floor, this time bigger. Yellow dots dancing on its surface, and what looked like a figure at the center of it all. A figure that wore a strong shade of pink, and had a brown color for hair, long and dancing with the wind.
He can't identify what it is exactly, but he decides to move forward to it. The figure extends its arms, as if trying to welcome him. And something familiar begins to dawn in his body, giving him an aching feeling that screams at him to get closer. He can't tell what it is, but he's eager to know. His steps start going faster, and the air around him starts to feel warm, and the wind almost melodious.
To seek someone's approval, someone's care, someone's praise and welcome. Such are the needs of a child..
A circuit jams in his head, and he abruptly stops. His mechanical right limb rests motionless, while the fingers at his left itch. He decides to block the image he sees by turning to look down at the floor; a stare so long and deep it could pierce holes. The air around him begins to get cold again.
The wind continues to whisper at him, though now on a different tone. A menacing tone, rather than a welcoming one. He looks up, and this time, the pink and brown colors are gone. Instead, there's a figure dressed in red and black, and the yellow dots on the ground are not so lively anymore, they start going pale and die away.
Unnerving thoughts swirl through his veins, making him shiver. He drops to the ground on his knees, balls both hands into fists and plants them in the ground. He tries to utter the words he's been suppressing since he regained consciousness..
"I-I.. failed you..." he finally speaks, words that suck his remaining strength, making him want to drop entirely into the ground and curl his body. He can't bear to look up. The Man he's supposed to serve must think so little of him..!
The sound of footsteps approach him, and he can feel a shadow cast over his kneeling body, even with the absence of real light. The wind brushes by feeling colder and rough. He dares look up, but it was not his Master's face he sees. It's a giant reptile-like creature. A lot like the mecha drago he fought against earlier, but without any mechanical features. Its fangs are enormous, and the silent growls it produces are sick with hunger, a saliva dripping down its muzzle.
If the boy could react properly, he would've probably already fled, forgetting his half-dead battery. But he merely sits there, as if awaiting his punishment. The drago opens up its big mouth and leaps at him, trying to swallow him whole.
His vision returns to entirely black again, with the sound of an ear-splitting screech.
-BEEEEEEP!-
The red eyes turn open suddenly, inducing the nearby computer to start beeping and flashing red for attention.
"Oh, good. You're with us, afterall," a man in a lab coat approaches and informs the red-haired boy, who finds himself laying in the bed, trembling faintly, with wires growing out of its skin at various places.
Numbers and readings flashed into his vision, indicating "Status Recovery" on green, and once his human brain caught up with what was really going on, pain starts to seep throughout his body, specially at his right arm. His temperature is hot and his skin feels itchy, sweaty, and his muscles are sore. But he finds himself unable to moan about it.
His heart beats so silently, as if barely trying to keep alive. His state is depressing, but just like an obedient computer, he simply lays there, not wanting to get up, and just awaiting new instructions. It was only his buried subconscious self that wanted to cry.
...
Porky pierced his dumplings with a toothpick, one by one, after Marshmallow had carefully poured the hot chocolate sauce with her ever calculating hands. He sniffled the steam they gave off, making him hunger them more, and he licked his lips in anticipation.
"Mn, chuu betta hav somefin useful to sei.." he raised his head to speak to Yokuba, after having snatched one of the dumplings into his mouth, chocolate sauce drizzled some out his mouth.
"It's about his PSI powers.." Yokuba began, a small distance away, head bowing at Porky, who sat in his childish, throne-like chair with his dessert table in front of him.
"Its, you mean?" Porky corrected after swallowing. "What about them?" he grabbed another dumpling and licked the sauce dripping from it.
Yokuba was hesitant to start. He did not particularly have anything useful to say, it was a mere warning.
"In my long life as a Magypsie, and you must know that we all posses these powers, I had never seen anything like that boy's."
"Oh, is that all?" another bite out of the fried fruit-filled dough.
Yokuba straightened up. "Of course you know best.." he emphasized, since his next words might be taken as a challenge to Porky's authority. "But I only want you to be wary. You should keep a close eye on the boy.. Take more care as to how you treat him.." he prepared for him to snap.
Instead came a burst of laughter.
"Are you going soft on me, Yoku?" Porky pointed at him, waving dumpling in hand. "You said so yourself, the kid is a mere robot!" he licked the dumpling clean off its sauce slowly before taking one bite, and then chewing the whole thing in his mouth.
"I'm only telling you this because we aren't sure of what it's capable of.." Yokuba trails his eyes off Porky momentarily. He should've been considered the expert on the matter in this army, and he does have a faint idea of the answer lingering in his head that he decides not to speak of. But for now, he decides he'll play dummy, since he isn't sure.
"If that's ALL you came in here to say.." Porky rests back lazily, spinning another dumpling by his hand through the toothpick piercing it. "..then I have no further need for you today." And he eats the dumpling whole again, tossing the dirtied toothpick aside. Only three more lay on the tray in front of him.
"Yes, my King." Yokuba bows once more and exits the room.
A small silence lingers the room afterward. Only the consistent air conditioning system can be heard, and Marshmallow remains still next to the table, pitcher with hot sauce in hand, in case Porky ordered some more.
Porky separates his chair from the table suddenly, getting up. He takes one of the dumplings and mounts it atop the other two, removing their respective toothpicks, forming a mini pastry skewer in hand, three dumplings stacked together, with the small wooden stick piercing so deep that it could no longer be seen.
"You didn't have to tell me, I already know," Porky comments to himself, walking up to Miss marshmallow and holding the three dumplings right above the pitcher. He lets go of them, dumping them into the dark cocoa liquid which quickly drowns them down.
"He's human, afterall."
~Fin~
A/N: To be continued next month. Anybody want to make any predictions?