Of course, who would believe her? She probably looked like a kid who brought home a vicious wolf and said it was the family dog, but she still stood by her word, no matter how many looks she got or how many of the pirates thought she was crazy. Johnny himself nearly jumped out of his skin when he first saw the creature following behind her. And the look in his eyes—
She turned her head to the dark Gear watching them. Yes, it was true, he looked nothing like the Ky she knew, but it was him—somehow. It seemed the eyes of a human couldn't see it, but to the eyes of a Gear, it was clear.
The sight of him would send someone screaming, especially with the teeth that arched out of each side of his mouth. They reminded her of the downward curve of a boar or even a Saber Tooth tiger she had seen in books. They looked like they could snap bone in half easily if he bit someone—accident or intentional. His whole head was wolf-like, minus the Gear mark on his forehead. A few strands of mahogany colored hair brushed it, yet the mark was unmistakable. It looked like it had been branded onto him, the mark lighter than the black against it. His whole body was black except the thick mahogany mane that ran from the base of his long neck to the top of his head. There was even a mahogany colored tuft at the end of his tail. The black pattern of his forelegs was cut-off by a set of powerful bird-like limbs that began from the elbows. The talons that gripped the ground were massive and could split someone's belly open with a single swipe or crush their skull.
There was no trace of humanity left, just a strange creature that looked like someone had cut and pasted.
How could anyone recognize him as the Ky she knew? Why, those burning, fearless eyes. '
She looked into those red eyes and said to Johnny, "Yes, it's him. It's him." She passed the other Gear a grin. She felt that he was uncomfortable. She felt it. It was another change she began to notice. Was this how full Gears really worked?
"Listen, Dizzy, I know you're worried about him and all, but I don't think. . ."
She dropped her shoulders. "You don't believe me," she said, frowning. She then stepped closer to the dark Gear. She placed one hand under his chin to lift his head up. "Look. Look at his eyes. It's how I knew it was him."
Johnny chewed on his lower lip as he looked at the Gear. "There's not a chance your Ky and other Gears might have the same eyes like that, could there?"
He's not going to believe me, she thought, and sighed. She let go of Ky's—or Gear-Ky's—chin. She then stared down on the floor and on the talons of his front feet. "No," she said. "Only he has eyes like that. They're special." She looked up at the Gear then, who pulled his ears forward. They were tipped by extra black fur. Those ears were placed at the side of his head and were longer than a wolf-like triangular shape they were supposed to mock.
There were mistakes.
"So what happened?" Johnny asked and shrugged. "He wasn't able to turn into this before, was he?"
She looked from Gear-Ky to Johnny. "I don't think so. He was almost human. I don't know how to explain this."
Johnny then nodded towards the Gear. "Can he?"
"He hasn't spoken yet," she said. "I don't think he can speak anymore."
Johnny looked at the strange creature and rubbed his chin. "That's tough."
"But this must be from his disappearance. I just don't know how, though." She shrugged.
"Dizzy, tell me a little more why you think this is the Ky we know?"
She turned her head away and looked over the dark, slim body of the Gear. Her eyes found his right back leg, which he had been favoring time to time when he stood still. Often saw him leaning to one side to relieve the weight on it or he wouldn't stand on it at all.
"His leg," she said, and pointed. "This Gear has the same injury as Ky. It's the exact same wound. He limps on it, too."
Johnny scratched idly at one ear, not looking too convinced. He looked like he was only humoring her. Was he humoring her from the start? How could anyone believe that the creature in the room with them was the man (or Gear) who had set her leg and kept her warm, the man who had faced off with the woman in red, the man who had rescued her from a band of hunters, the man who had elected to be her friend—
"What are the chances of that being a coincidence?" Johnny said.
"You don't believe me," she said. "You just don't believe me."
"Is this a Gear thing?" he said with a finger in his ear and his face expressed like he was trying to explain sex to her. "But what is it you want me to do? Turn him back? Find out who or what did this? Keep him here?"
Keep him here, her mind quickly repeated back to her. But instead she said, "All of it."
Johnny's jaw dropped. "Listen Dizzy, I don't think—"
She looked at the dark Gear beside her then to Johnny. "You just don't want him here, do you? Everyone else was afraid of him—"
"It's not that I'm afraid of him," he said and glanced at Gear-Ky. The Gear pulled his lips back, showing more of his dangerous teeth to him. She knew Ky was never quite fond of the captain, seeing how he never stayed long around him or talked to him much, but it was no way to behave. He caused Johnny to take a step back.
"Because he's a Gear?" she said. "You know, he was a Gear in the first place. Like me. He just didn't look like a Gear. So why did you let him on the ship then and not now?"
After a few second hesitation, Johnny said, "Well, I was kind of hesitant when I first met him, too. He did look like that cop. So it's nothing personal."
"I see," she whispered and bowed her head. At the corner of her eye, she saw Gear-Ky's wolfish head lower slightly until he was at eye level with her. He gazed at her with his amazing ruby eyes, and at that gaze, she began to feel that warmth she felt in the woods.
"Aw, come on, Dizzy," Johnny said, noticing her distress as well. "You know I hate to see you upset. I hate to see any lady upset."
Gear-Ky snorted at Johnny, then she felt the hairs of his tail touch her ankle as he wrapped the tip around her like someone would an arm. He was getting agitated again. Or was he? Was he trying to comfort her?
"What would make you happy, hmm?" Johnny asked and sent her a charming grin.
Dizzy looked at him then on the dark Gear beside her. She found his sharp eyes again, eyes that seemed to speak to her. They were intelligent and savage. She reached her hand out and set her hand upon the top of his head, feeling the hairs thread through her fingers.
"I'll take him back," she said while she looked into the Gear's eyes. "I think that would make everyone here happy." She patted the Gear's head as if saying to him, It's alright, it's not your fault.
She then began to lead him away and out the room. As he turned his lean and sleek body, she heard his front claws clicking against the floor after her.
Then, just before they reached the threshold, Johnny called after them. "Dizzy, wait."
She paused and so did Gear-Ky.
"Dizzy. I asked what would make you happy."
She watched him a moment before she said, "I think you know the answer to that question," before she turned her head and lead Gear-Ky into the corridor. She listened to his claws click across the floor. It picked up a rhythm the more they walked. They made a slight grinding noise as the talons dug into the floor a bit. She hoped Sephy wouldn't find claw marks on the floor next time she cleaned.
The sound followed her up to the deck where it became even sharper against the metal surface. The majority of the snow had been swept away and pushed off the side by the crew. There were only a few spots left behind but there weren't enough snow patches to muffle Gear-Ky's gait.
It didn't matter. No one was on deck. Everyone had fled inside since they had seen him earlier. They had left the task of clearing out a runway to go into hiding.
She sighed as she thought of the welcoming he got. May had stayed well behind, even after she had tried to explain to her it was really Ky. She barely said a word after the violent encounter with him in the woods.
She moved to the railing. She wrapped her hands around the cold metal and looked down. No one was on deck or on the ground. Everyone must still be in hiding. She blew out a mouthful of frost and pulled back. When she turned, that was when she saw that not everyone had gone inside. She saw May sitting behind a cannon so it hid her body and blocked off most of the wind that blew across the deck. Her legs were hanging over the edge.
"May," she said.
Spotted, the girl slowly peeked out from behind the cannon. The first thing she noticed was her face was emotionless, something she never saw in May before. She then watched her narrow her eyes.
Was she mad at her?
"May? What are you doing?"
May blinked blankly and shifted from behind the cannon. She swung an arm around it like she would a friend. "I don't know," she said. "Just enjoying the view."
Something isn't right, Dizzy told herself. Why would she say that? She hates this place. She looked at her suspiciously then looked where May had last had her sight on. She squinted at the woods across the clearing, studied it, but saw nothing.
"May, there's nothing out here. Why are you really out here? Is there something wrong?"
Her face remained blank. She turned around to stand, but when she went on her knees and saw the creature by Dizzy's side, she frowned. "He's still here?" May then set herself on one knee. She leaned closer to the cannon and wrapped both arms around it. She began to turn the heavy iron barrel until she had it aimed at the Gear. "Don't you try anything funny!" she shouted at him.
"May!"
Near her, Gear-Ky snarled.
"Sure, sure, you're tough now," May said from beside the cannon.
Gear-Ky stared down the barrel of the cannon with his ears pinned and tail twitching in agitation. Dizzy wasn't too far away from it herself. She was possibly one sidestep out of May's range. What would happen if she did fire that thing?
She couldn't think about it. In an instant, Dizzy's serenity went skittering away. "Stop it!" she screamed. "May, stop this at once! Get away from that thing! Now!" Her wings were spread and quivering.
Fear began to spread across May's face. She pulled away from the cannon and stood, never taking her eyes off Dizzy. "S-sorry, Dizzy," she stammered. She now looked like a guilty child who had just been scolded. Dizzy although was still angry. And so was Gear-Ky. She could hear him growling and pacing behind her.
"You don't trust him, either," Dizzy said. "No one trusts him and no one believes me." Her eyes began to well over. "Why?"
"Dizzy," May began but paused when Gear-Ky moved beside Dizzy. She felt his tail find her ankle again and heard him make a sound in his throat that sounded like a machine gun going off. He was purring. He held his head close to her, which she patted while he stared across at May. May stared back, but not at the Gear. "Oh geez. Dizzy, I'm sorry. Really, I am." She then turned the cannon around so the barrel was aimed over the side of the ship again. Once the weapon was secure, she took a seat on the ground, cross-legged, and patted at a spot in front of her. "Come on, Dizzy. Just make sure he won't do anything."
I think she wants to listen now.
Dizzy slowly nodded and walked over to the girl, leaving Gear-Ky behind. She took a seat in front of May while he stood quietly, his tail twitching back a forth. Those soul searching eyes watched them.
"No," Dizzy said. "He won't hurt anyone."
"Good," May said. "I'm really sorry if I made you mad, Dizzy. He scared me, that's all."
Dizzy frowned. "So you wanted to kill him?"
"No, I—"
"You aimed that cannon at him, May," she said, raising her voice slightly. She felt Gear-Ky stirr uneasily behind her while May took a moment to build her defense.
"It wasn't going to hurt him," May said. "I was just aiming it at him. . .to scare him. Anyway, he's a Gear, it wouldn't—"
"He's a Gear," Dizzy repeated. "Because he's a Gear, you aimed a cannon at him?"
"Well, only magic can hurt a Gear, right?" May blindly said.
I've had enough, she said to herself, and began to rise to her feet. She shook her head as she did so. "I'm taking Ky home now." She then turned, beginning to feel a lump developing in her throat, but she fought to ignore it and the rage of Undine and Necro. No, she wouldn't let them find their way into this argument. This was hers and hers alone.
"Dizzy. Dizzy."
She walked to the dark Gear watching her. His head was tipped down, the mark clearly visible. He looked across her as if he wanted to say, Should I stay out of this? As July would say, he almost had that stupid male look.
She brushed the thought away and walked up to him quickly. She wanted that comfort that always seemed to surround him. She wanted him. She reached her hands out until they touched his chest. Her hands squeezed a handful of black fur with her fingers burying into the warmth of him. She leaned into him as she would a friend—or lover. Her cheek fell against the base of his long neck. She felt him move against her but had no intention of pulling away.
"Why are they doing this, Ky?" she said, her voice muffled against his muscular neck. "I thought they were my friends." She began to wet his wonderful black fur with her tears.
"Dizzy, wait. Dizzy!"
May was calling her. She pulled her face from Ky's neck and looked over her shoulder to see the girl approaching, then stop once she decided she was close enough to Gear-Ky. She wasn't even in arm's length.
"I didn't mean to say it that way," May said.
Dizzy frowned at her and kept her hands on Ky. "But you still said it. A cannon wouldn't hurt him like magic, so you aimed it at him! Or so that's what you think. What if it did hurt him, even just for a little while? You knew it would." She glanced around the deck. "You and the others used them against the Gears."
The lump in her throat began to swell, forcing her to stop.
"But that was different," May said.
Dizzy wiped her hand across her eyes. "Is it?" she asked.
May stood there, staring. She didn't answer immediately. Dizzy didn't think she would answer at all. "S-sure," she eventually said.
Dizzy lowered her brows and studied the girl. The way she said it, the expression on her face—
"Why should I believe you?" Dizzy asked skeptically.
At that, May looked as if someone had stabbed her through the heart. Dizzy would have regretted saying those words, but she felt May had done the same to her, as well as everyone else.
"D-Dizzy," May whispered.
As harmful as it was, as much as she wanted to take it all back, where the disbelief and distrust began, Dizzy had to remain strong and stand by her own beliefs. Weren't they true? Weren't they for another Gear? One she knew.
Then, Gear-Ky shifted, making her reassert her balance. She had to take a half step with him. She kept her hands on him, though. She felt he was becoming uncomfortable again. She knew why.
"I have to take him home," she said.
Perhaps that was the best decision right now. If Gear-Ky was out of sight and out of mind, everyone would start getting back to normal. His presence was starting to sour everyone. Maybe it wouldn't be long before they started turning on each other and blamed the Gears.
"You don't have to!" May then shouted. She hadn't noticed until now that May was crying. It wasn't often that she saw May cry like this. She even tried to hide it by swiping at her eyes, but there was no use hiding it now.
"May," Dizzy said, a little stunned.
"You don't have to," May said with her voice thickly cracked. "He can stay. If that's what you really want."
Dizzy froze at what she said. What would make her say that? She knew she didn't want him near her. And what about everyone else?
She released her hands from Gear-Ky and walked up to the girl. "May," she began, but the girl went on.
"No one's going to force him to leave," May said. "We're all being stupid. I'm being stupid! He's a Gear, you're a Gear. You're really nice, Dizzy, we all love you. So what if he can be like that around humans? Can you do that, huh? Can you make sure he's like you?"
Dizzy stood in front of the girl, watching her cry, watching her rub her eyes when the tears fell. She then wrapped her arms around her, and in that moment, all the doubts, hatred and arguments washed away in a cleansing flood. "You're a good friend, May," she said. "Thank you. Maybe he won't stay long, at least until we find out what happened to him. He'll stay out of the way." She then heard the clicking of claws approaching. When she turned her head over her shoulder, the dark Gear paused once he was spotted. His head was held high with his neck finely arched. Those eyes found hers again.
"What's he doing?" May asked and peeked over her shoulder to look at him.
"I don't know. Following me. He's been doing it since I noticed it was him in the woods." She then pulled away from May and looked at the odd creature, who joined her side loyally, his head level to hers. Dizzy reached a hand out and scratched him under the chin.
May watched this. "Dizzy, you didn't pick up a Gear, you picked up a dog." She began to giggle but stopped when she found herself under the gaze of the dark Gear. His eyes were locked onto her, his mouth agape, showing a narrow view into those dangerous jaws. May took a step back. "Why is he looking at me like that?"
"Ky, stop it."
As if she had pulled back on an invisible chain, the Gear stopped what he was doing and turned his head to her.
He listened to her.
Like a dog.
It felt like being on trail. She was the attorney and Gear-Ky was the defendant. She sat on a wooden chair with the Gear in question sitting on the floor beside her in a sphinx position. He seemed to be listening to everything being said. He turned his head time to time to whomever spoke. He always kept an ear turned towards her. Johnny, the judge stood across them from behind an old study, meanwhile, May, the witness, stood aside.
"He listens to everything she says," May explained. "Not just listen, he does it, too." She then pointed a finger at Dizzy. "Didn't you mention something like that before all this happened?"
Dizzy nodded. "When I first met him," she said. "We were talking in the cabin and he was getting angry. I told him to sit down and he did it. He just did it. He seemed stunned afterwards. He even asked me to do it again." She smiled.
"Wow, a guy who does everything you say," May commented aside. "That's lucky."
"He told me I can do that because I'm a. . .a Commander Gear," she went on. "I didn't understand what he meant by that and maybe I still don't. He didn't explain it clearly. He said it like he didn't know, either." As she looked at Johnny, his face seemed to go pale and his mouth was hanging agape.
"I think he knew," he said.
"Then why didn't he tell me the truth?" she asked, then looked down on the Gear by her feet, almost as if she were expecting him to answer. He never did.
The room remained silent until Johnny began, "Well, you see Dizzy, Commander Gears—"
Gear-Ky suddenly rose, snarling a warning at the captain, but Dizzy instinctively grabbed him by the nape of the neck, where the base of his skull met his neck. She had grabbed a handful of his mane. "Ky, no! Don't."
Caught and listening to his kind master, the Gear looked at her through the corner of his eye and sighed. He gave one last look to Johnny, who was on his feet, the desk the only thing separating them if Dizzy hadn't been there, and resumed his position on the floor. She reluctantly let go of him.
"Why'd he do that?" May asked.
"I think it's something I said," Johnny said and looked down on the Gear. "Or something I shouldn't say. Isn't that right, Ky?" The Gear continued to look upon him mutely, but gave him a response by pulling his wolfish lips back and showing his jagged yellowed teeth. Johnny held his hands up and nodded several times to show him he understood. "Okay, okay."
Dizzy reached down and grabbed a fistful of Gear-Ky's mane, just to be on the safe side and said, "Johnny, why would he do that? Why would he not tell me about Commander Gears? Is there something wrong?"
She knew he wanted to tell her, but with Gear-Ky between them, it was better to keep his lips tightened. He even looked at the Gear to reassure him he wasn't going to go against his wishes. He looked at him long.
"Well, the war was pretty tough," he said and removed his hat to run his hand through his hair. "You didn't run into Commander Gears often. In fact, there was only one—"
Gear-Ky growled.
"Okay, okay! We'll get back to why we're here. Dizzy, let's say he will do everything you say." He paused. "Are the girls safe around him? I hate to look anti-Gear, but you know. We don't want any accidents. He's a little different than last time I saw him. What if one of the younger girls snuck up on him? What if someone stepped on his tail or even looked at him the wrong way? How would he handle that? He seems to have a shorter fuse now. Can you prove to me—"
At the corner of her eye, she saw Gear-Ky stand and suddenly and without provocation, charge for May. She couldn't grab him in time, he slipped through her fingers as if he had been coated with oil. The girl screamed and backed herself against the wall behind her. But it wasn't May he was aiming for. She happened to be standing beside the door. He rammed his head against it, making it fly open.
He freed himself from the room and fled down the hall.
Johnny and Dizzy stared at the gaping wound that was the doorway, while May stood beside it, shivering.
"What the hell?" Johnny muttered as he stared.
Then, Dizzy was up on her feet. She chased after the Gear. Johnny shot to his feet and followed.
When they found Gear-Ky, they found him by a scream from one of the girls. He was over top August who was laying on the floor at the base of the stairs, crying and screaming at the same time. His neck was arched, while his head hovered over her. He was standing on her back with one of his great talons, pinning her. There was a group of girls on the stairs, screaming and calling her name vainly.
The scene looked bad.
"Won't hurt anyone?" Johnny said, and ran for the girl and the Gear. When Gear-Ky noticed him rushing towards him, he picked his head up and snarled like an animal trying to defend its fresh kill.
Johnny stopped and glared at the creature. "Hey! Away from the girl! Get me?"
The Gear wasn't threatened at all. He passed him another snarl, a little louder this time.
"Ah shad up!" Johnny shouted at him.
Enough. She wouldn't have them fighting amongst themselves, and she had a feeling Gear-Ky would strike first. But Johnny was well on his way on doing that, too. It was a coin toss result. And she wasn't willing to watch the fight. She ran forward and stopped when she found herself in the Gear's gaze. They were no longer raging. They were trying to speak, and Dizzy began to listen.
"Johnny," she said calmly. "He didn't do this."
She cried. She cried hard.
The early morning wind blew across the deck of the Mayship and cut her exposed skin, but she barely felt it. She barely felt anything anymore. It was the way she always felt when she or any other Gear was falsely accused.
She thought the Jellyfish Pirates were different, but when you brought in a true Gear, they changed. They turned into the type of humanity she knew since her youth.
Stop the Gear. Capture the Gear. Kill the Gear. Hate the Gear.
She was afraid, afraid of what they would do to him because of a false crime. If they wouldn't believe the Gear in question was really Ky, why would they believe he never attacked August?
So she ran, escaping with him onto the deck like a fugitive; although she made a lousy fugitive. She fell after clipping her foot on a rusting upturned slab of metal. That was when the downpour of tears came in. It was only a matter of time before the pirates would find them. And then what?
She knelt on the deck, crying into the fur of the Gear she was supposed to help. She still saw the looks the pirates gave her when Gear-Ky was over the girl. Even Johnny. Especially Johnny.
"Dizzy! Dizzy!"
They're coming.
She pulled her face from the warmth of Gear-Ky's body and looked up. She saw Johnny, April and July coming towards them.
"Dizzy," Johnny said as they approached, slowing into a walk.
She tensed as they neared, but then a soft voice crossed her mind:
Don't run. Not yet. Now relax.
She did and watched the pirates walk up to them. Johnny was first to speak.
"Good," he said. "You're still here. I was hoping you'd still be here. We all did." He stopped and looked at Dizzy for a long time. She couldn't see his eyes from behind his shades but she wished she could. "I want to say this first: Dizzy, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the way we're acting." He reached a hand around and scratched at the back of his neck. "What you said was right. After we got August into sickbay, she told us she fell down the stairs. She slipped and broke her leg when she was horseplaying with the other girls. There weren't any marks on her that showed he ever touched her. He must have seen her fall or heard the girls screaming when she fell. She and the other girls said he only stood over her and kept her from getting up. I just. . .jumped to conclusions. He's a good guy, your Gear friend. He might as well saved her leg. She's being tended to, so. . ." He took his hat off and lowered it in front of his chest, then looked at the dark Gear. "Thanks, uh, Ky?"
Now he believes me? she thought. After all this, now he believes me?
By then, as if he were reading her thoughts, Gear-Ky turned his head to her and bobbed his head in a nodding motion.
He was nodding! And he understood!
"I think he accepts," she said to Johnny.
"But do you?" he asked.
She blinked at him, the burn of now dried tears still in her eyes.
Forgive him? Forgive him for acting—human?
"Yes, I do. But. . ." She paused as a whispering voice said into her mind,
The woods. Please. I'll ask one last time.
"But?"
She shook her head when she heard the real voice of Johnny enter her ears. She then said like a translator, "I think I'll take Ky home. He'll be fine there. I'll figure out what happened to him. I am a Commander Gear anyway."
A tomb. The place was reduced to a tomb. Bodies of men and a women were scattered throughout the base, along with a few bodies parts. Many of the bodies were unidentifiable, turned into remains than corpses. One man had his belly split open with his intestines spilled out onto the floor like giant worms. A couple of other organs had fallen out, too. He had seen a man with his head nearly ripped off, if his vertebrae hadn't been connected still. There had been a woman lying on her chest with her head turned completely around, her clouded eyes had stared back at him. And the bloody arm left lying on the floor—
Don't forget about the arm.
And he could have ended up like those poor bastards. How he didn't would have been considered lucky, but Victor didn't believe in luck. After watching Breke's violent death, he sent out a small band of Robo Kys to aid the other two, but that only seemed to piss the Gear off. He watched their painless demises, his commands gone pointless. Then all hell broken loose.
So did the Gear.
Victor thought it would only kill the poor suckers who found themselves in its path, but when it passed the door, it sniffed him out like a dog. The Gear raged, looking for trouble. Victor watched its shadow under the door, he watched every movement, and then, it was gone, only to return—and unlock the door.
Now he had been in many scraps with Gears, but this one topped them all. This one had been one smart son of a bitch. He saw it standing at the doorway with an arm in its mouth like a dog holding a stick. In the hand of that arm was a key-card.
"Halt," he commanded it, but the Gear didn't take his command. Of course, why would he think it would? Gears only listened to Commander Gears.
It dropped the arm, however, and looked across him with its blazing eyes. Then it charged. He wasn't sure if he was rusty or the speed of the Gear, but as he avoided its first attack and tried to run past it, the creature grabbed him by the leg. He would have ended up like the others, but after it grabbed him, the Gear leg go and slipped back into the corridor. Perhaps it just wanted him to suffer and die a long and painful death.
It did remember him. Somehow.
Now he sat in the security room where he had watched Breke die, with his back resting against the terminal of the observation monitors. All of them were blackened. His leg was wrapped where the Gear had bitten him. It was shattered, not just broken. He knew it. He still remembered the snapping sound it made when the Gear bit him. The blood from the attack and where he had dragged himself was still on the floor. But the room wasn't as bad as others. There was a room full of the dead. And he would be next if he didn't drag himself out of here.
He reached up and grabbed the cane he had taken from a dead man.