Chapter 4: Little Exploding Terror
[AN]: This is mostly a character development chapter.
Chapter 4: Little Exploding Terror.
Skies of Gensokyo
Matt's POV
As we were heading away from the mansion, I had a disturbing feeling that we were not alone. "Hey Rumia? do you feel that?" I asked with a small amount of uncertainty in my voice.
Rumia looked over at me, her blonde hair fluttering in the wind "feel what?" she raised an eyebrow.
I sighed "never mind, it's probably nothing."
we were flying toward's the grilled lamprey stand. It was about 3 miles in the distance when a rainbow-colored blur raced by me at speeds that rival that of a speeding bullet train.
I struggled to get myself stable in the air once again, Rumia wrapped her arm around my waist and helped me regain stability. "thanks, I'm not the best flyer."
Rumia looked at me and asked "what was that?"
I looked back at her with a wary face "I don't know. But we better be careful." we set down on the ground, deciding to walk the rest of the way. we were about 400 feet from the stand.
I looked around and saw I was surrounded by the natural beauty of the forest of magic. there were trees that towered over me, and colorful flowers surrounding the path we were walking on. the most notable, were the mushrooms. for every flower, there were at least 5 mushrooms. some were bigger than me, and others were smaller than my pinkie finger.
"Isn't it beautiful?"Rumia said looking over at me.
I looked back at her "it's wonderful. almost every place like this in the outside world has been destroyed." I put a big smile on my face.
as we continued to walk, we passed many strange animals that people couldn't normally find in the outside world. there were also a few wild youkai looking at us.
good thing we're not humans.
as we approached the stand, I noticed that at some point in our walk, Rumia's hand and mine had made their way to each other. As I let go, I looked to the owner of the stand. she was a night sparrow youkai.
don't ask how, I just know!
she had a purple and pink outfit with a hat that had a small set of wing ornaments. her dress was pink with a purple shroud going over her shoulders. her wings were pink, and had a snowflake-like design. She had a small talons, and very pointy ears.
those ears are ridiculous. I wonder if she knows link?
I chuckled
Rumia raised an eyebrow and asked "what's so funny?"
I looked back at Rumia from the night sparrow and said "oh, It's nothing."
Rumia dismissed the subject as she gazed up at the sky.
"ahem!"
oh, I forgot about the night sparrow.
she glared at me. "if your done laughing at me, then can I take your order?"
I scratched the back of my head. "well, the thing is, we sorta don't... have... any... money... Hey Rumia, why did we come here if we don't have any money?"
Rumia snapped out of her zoned out state, and looked at me "I don't know, I don't usually plan ahead."
my face met my palm.
"it's ok, I'll pay for them." Flandre stated from the seat down at the right end.
wait... what is SHE doing here?
her prism wings were glistening in the moonlight as she said "you saved my life, it's the least I can do." she took out a large wad of cash.
tha-that's a lot of money...
"order anything you want." She looked at me.
I looked at the menu "... I'll have the midnight special"
The little night sparrow jotted down some notes on a small notepad.
I looked over at Rumia "hey Rumia, you want anything?"
she looked at the menu for about 5 minutes. she was starting to drool as she fantasized about a feast. "I'll have one of everything."
I looked at her shocked "R-Rumia, I don't think you should-"
the night sparrow was already jotting down Rumia's order. "ok, It'll be done in a second."
an awkward silence haunted the atmosphere as crickets chirped in the background. It was kinda surreal. brought back memories from living on the road. I would jump train to train, like a true hobo. The employers from various towns didn't care how old I was, as long as I worked.
"so Flandre, what is it like living the lavish lifestyle of a rich girl?" I broke the silence.
Flandre looked down "I didn't actually get to enjoy it that much. I was locked in the basement all my life. Remilia rarely let me out."
so Remilia is her real name. I thought Remi was just a nickname.
"It was always so dark down there. there were only rats and spiders to keep me company as I slept on the cold, concrete floor."
I looked at her "wow... that's rough."
damn, she had it much worse than me. at least I could see the light of day.
she shed a single tear. "it was horrible down there. alone for 495 years, hungry, and deprived of blood. I had many toys, but I accidentally broke them." she continued to cry.
that's horrible.
she looked up at me smiling. "so I'm never going back. Remi is so mean, and her maid scares me."
none expected what happened next to actually happen. Rumia asked a question. "If your so powerful, then why didn't you run away earlier?"
Flandre looked over at Rumia, while I received my order of food. "I often thought about that, but after I broke out, then who would I travel with? the truth is... I kinda don't know how to read."
ooooohhh, that makes sense. who would teach her.
I looked over at Flandre as Rumia stared at her mountain of food. "you were afraid you would get lost, and wouldn't be able to find your way around."
she nodded "exactly."
Rumia had started digging into her pile of food as I looked at mine. Flandre paid the night sparrow as she said "enjoy your meal."
I dug into my plate of eel, but I actually took the time to use utensils instead of my bare hands.
Flandre pulled out a small vial of what I assumed was blood, then drank it.
when I was about halfway finished, Rumia let out the loudest burp I've ever heard. I looked over at her. she was laying on top of the table surrounded by eel bones. her Gut was poking out from under her shirt as she said "ahhhh, good... night...ZZZZ."she fell asleep as she digested the huge meal.
she needs to control what she eats or else she will get fat. I'm amazed that anyone can eat that much.
Flandre wiped the "blood" off of her lips and sang. "we better find some shelter. It's getting late."
after I was done with my meal, I picked up Rumia and slung her over my shoulder. her stomach sloshed as I hefted her up.
Geez, She must weigh at least 200 pounds. How can she weigh that much and still have the frame of a small, lanky child.
as Rumia drooled over my shoulder, I looked back at the sparrow "thanks for the food."
she beamed "No, thank YOU for eating here. you gave me the best business I've had in a long time."
We flew away into the night to find a suitable shelter, me and Flandre didn't say a word. I think half of it had to do with Rumia's snoring. We eventually settled down in a scrap yard near the kappa village. I felt compelled to Build something out of some scarp metal sheets I saw, so Flandre took Rumia to a makeshift hut we built out of the remains of what looked like an RV.
how can Flandre just carry her like it's nothing. she weighs a ton! and what the heck is an RV doing in Gensokyo?
I got to work on my project as a steel cutter was deployed from my right index finger.
I started cutting out very small parts. somehow, I was able to cut with extreme persicion. When I cut circles, I cut circles.
I worked late into the night. completely wrapped up in my work.
SDM
Remilia's POV
"Sakuya!" I called for my head maid. She appeared to my left before I even finished her name.
"yes milady?" I took a moment to look at her uniform. It was strangely deprived of any blood. her blue dress, white apron, the white frills on her Blue hat, even her knifes and straps that she kept around her legs were spotless.
I stopped examining her uniform "Sakuya, isn't there supposed to be blood all over your apron?"
she chuckled "milady, I have been trying to stop knifing China whenever she falls asleep." Sakuya said with an emotionless stare.
I changed the subject "any ways, It has come to my attention that my sister has gone missing. I command you to go find her."
Sakuya bowed "yes milady." then she vanished.
"... oh, Sakuya."
Sakuya appeared to the right of me this time "what is it milady?"
I frowned "Sakuya, we've talked about this. could you show just a little more emotion, and less creepy stare."
Sakuya smiled "yes milady."
I dismissed her "that will be all."
she Disappeared again to start looking for my little sister.
I don't care if she hates me, she is a menace to the world, and if I let her roam free, Yukari will have my heart transplanted into a meat grinder.
I walked out of my room to get ready for bed. It was early in the morning, and I needed all the sleep I could get.
I wonder where... what was her name again?... oh right, Flandre ran off to.
New York City High rise
Dan's POV
How could I fall for such a stupid trap. And how could I lose to such a noob. He used to cower in fear of my mere presence, but now he has the balls to fight back. and where did he get a tank anyway?
As I asked myself these questions, I decided to take a dip in the indoor hot-tub.
ahhh, that couple sure knows how to spend a vacation. I looked back where 2 piles of bones were sitting in the corner. occasionally I find a couple demons in the outside world, but they never are this wealthy.
I took a bottle of holy water and drank it's contents. Immediately, I felt revitalized. strange how what is a deadly poison to you, Is an elixir to me.
I was plotting my revenge. I knew that if I wanted to kill Matt and his friend, I had to do it outside a spell card battle.
I soaked in the tub for a couple more minutes, then I had an idea.
I got out of the tub and got dressed. I then took an elevator downstairs, and walked out the front sliding glass door. It was mid noon over here.
in Gensokyo, everyone should just now be getting to bed.
I walked down a sidewalk. there were many noises that could be heard. across the street, there were some men chipping away the old sidewalk with a jackhammer. I came to a crosswalk, and waited for the sign to turn green. the pungent smell of exhaust filled my nostrils, as the many vehicles zipped by.
when the sign had turned green, I started walking across. there was a man in a business suit to my left, and an old woman who looked like she was on her way to a dinner party to my right. she wore a big blue poofy hat, and a simple yet elegant one piece dress.
she would be pretty hot if she wasn't so old.
as I got to the other side, I slipped into an alleyway when none was looking. as I traveled down the ally, the stink of dirty diapers, rotten food, and a decaying corpse filled me with an unpleasant felling. I got to the end of the ally, and unlocked a door with a key that was tied around my neck.
once inside, I threw a big mainframe switch. as the lights illuminated the room, one could see there was nothing except an old refrigerator, a bucket with a mop sticking out of it, and a few old appliances. I pulled on the mop handle, and the refrigerator opened. I climbed inside, and soon started traveling down.
my refrigorvator is working. what? I like the name.
as the elevator came to a stop, the door opened to reveal a store-room. except this was no ordinary store-room. the walls were made out of metal, and were polished with chrome. instead of cleaning agents, there were deadly poisons. instead of brooms, there were guns. and instead of that old suitcase you keep on the top shelf of your closet, there was a huge supercomputer. It was a large rectangle that took up half of the wall. there was a 50" flat screen monitor mounted on the front, just above a user interface. several meters with all the needles positioned at zero lined the screen, and to the left, there was an array of LED lights with labels above them.
now, I need to activate my Advanced Intelligence Locating Computer. this masterpiece of technology can locate anything on the face of the planet.
the computer whirred to life as I threw a switch. Several lights started indicating status, a 50" screen lit up with a picture of a world map on it, and several meters sprung to life, occasionally twitching. A booming robotic-like voice came over an intercom system. "M4573R, W45 Y0UR M!SS!0N 4 5UCC355?" (master, was your mission a success?)
I sighed as I took a seat in my chair "no AILC*"
"7H3N ! PR35UM3 W3 W!11 7H!NK 0F 4N07H3R P14N?" (then I presume we will think of another plan?)
"yes, but I've already have an idea. I need to know the location of crate 117T."
A loading bar appeared on AILC's screen It stopped after about 7 seconds. "10C47!0N C0NF!RM3D, 53C7!0N 'Y' 5U8-B10CK 'D'." (location confirmed, section 'Y' sub-block 'D')
"excellent." I got up from my chair to get my toy. there was no doubt in my mind that Matt would surely die.
I walked down to the location of the crate. along my way were shelves the reached 3 to 4 floors high. I got to Section Y, And used a scissor-lift to get me up to sub block D.
Here we go, it's on this shelf.
as soon as I pulled the crate out, I tore it open. as I cleared the packing material, the shape of a huge 5 1/2' long anti-material Rifle could be seen. It had an extremely long barrel which was acctually collapseable. at full length, it was 6 1/2 feet long. It used 30mm custom made rounds, and the scope had a range of 300 feet to 2 1/2 miles.
I pulled it out of the wooden box, and took a moment to admire it. I descended the scissor lift, and made my way back to AILC.
when I got back, I looked around for some materialsI would need. "this'll do." I picked up the rifle, a belt of ammunition, and my return teleporter. "AILC! send me to Gensokyo I said as I made my way to what looked like a compass, except with lots of wires sticking out of it.
A glass tube came down over me. there were electrodes cackling on the ceiling of the tube.
AILC said "H4V3 4 54F3 7R!P" (have a safe trip.) and with that, The electrodes let out a sudden burst of electricity, In I was being hurled through nothingness. I was approaching the bright light going at least 300 mph, but when I fell through it, hitting the ground was just like landing from a jump 3 feet high.
I stood up, hefting the huge rifle over my back. it was around midnight, and there was a waxing half moon out. "ALRIGHT! lets play." I took the rifle off of my back and loaded it with a 6 round holy water clip. I brought 50 rounds, so there was not too much need to worry about running out.
even If I run out, I can just ask AILC to send me more.
I took out a device that looked like a palm pilot, and turned it on.
with this on, I can communicate with AILC.
as I adjusted the scope on the gun, I used my curse-enhanced eyesight to locate a suitable practice target. I saw my target. a little nekomata** had stopped to pick some flowers in the moonlight.
aww, come on, isn't there another one around that isn't a kitty. oh well, she'll have to do.
as I took aim, the little youkai was smelling the flowers. I laid down, and started adjusting the scope. but as I was finding the distance, A vicious wolf youkai came out and attacked the nekomata. as she was defenseless to stop the creature, so she cowered in fear.
the wolf youkai licked his lips "ooh goody, a late night snack." the gray-haired wolf said as he bared his fangs.
perfect, ok, about 1 mile away. I adjusted the scope, laid back down, and aimed straight at the wolf youkai's heart. I pulled the trigger.
KRACKOOM!
a very loud noise was made as I fired the gun, so loud that birds on the treetops flew away. I watched the gruesome scene through my scope as the wolf youkai let out a primal scream, The hole in his chest grew bigger as his blood poured out. the hole continued to get bigger as the wolf screamed out in pain. that is, until the hole got so big that the holy water started eating away at his lungs.
as his digestive system spilled out, the little cat girl sat in the field of blood-coated flowers. horrified by what she saw. she eventually passed out.
as the wolf's face melted away, and he collapsed into a pile of bones.
I put my rifle away, and ran over to the scene where the murder had happened. after a good 10 minutes of running, I got there. I then picked up the wolf's skull, and put it in my bag, as I pulled something else out. holy water.
As I uncorked it, my arm made it's way over to the kitty, I looked at her. she was extremely cute (not in that way), only about 9 in terms of physical age. she wore a blue and white dress with long sleeves. the cuffs, the collar, and the part of her dress reaching below her knees were all light blue. the rest was white. she wore a large blue ribbon offset to the left side of her head. she had silky black hair that elegantly flowed down to her lower back, and two cat-like ears on her head. the one on the right was black, while the one on the left was white. her two tails reached out from under the dress. they were a deep black with white on the ends. there was a large gash on her right arm. she was cute, and looked really familiar, but I had a job to finish.
at least she won't feel it.
I held her mouth open, it was inches away from her mouth, and as I was about to pour it down her throat, when Something stopped me.
come on, if I don't purify her now, I'll have to purify her later. damn nekomata's, I always had a soft spot for cats.
"oh f*** it. I can't kill her." I put the holy water away. I got up, and hefted my rifle over my shoulder. I looked back at her. "ugh, goddamn it! I can't leave her here. If I did, then some wild youkai would smell the blood, and come to finish the job." I picked her up, and lifted her over my other shoulder.
wow, she's lighter than the rifle.
I made my way to an abandoned house I saw on my way here.
I hope I didn't just make a really big mistake.
Kappa Scrap Yard
Matt's POV
In the early morning hours, I had finished my creation. it was a watch. about 2" in diameter, and 1/2" thick. it looked very rough, and it was made of steel. it had a lid that popped open when you pressed the button on the top, and the hands were as plain as they could be, and the face was made from the base of an old glass cup
again, how the hell did these things end up in Gensokyo.
as I wound the watch, it began to tick. I timed it to one minute, then adjusted the speed. In my strange trance-like state, I added a button on the upper right side, near the 1 on the face. the button, when pressed, caused the watch face to open and reveal a lens that shines through the transparent face, and projects the time onto a nearby wall.
I walked tiptoed past the Rumia who Flandre had just left on the kitchen table. Flandre was sleeping in the driver's seat, and I was supposed to sleep in the master bed. the RV was cramped, but still large enough to house 3 people comfortably.
There was a smashed TV across from the kitchen table. the kitchen was complete with a small sized refrigerator/ice box combo, and a 3 burner stove. there was tile floor in the kitchen, and the rest of the floor was covered in a moldy-smelling dark green carpet. the kitchen table could be flipped over and used as a mattress, but nobody bothered to do it. there were blue booths on either side of the table, and just like the carpet, there were many holes in them. a 2 foot wide hallway led to the master bedroom in the back of the RV. a door on the left in the hall led to a washroom, and the door on the right led to a closet.
In the master bedroom, the bed was in surprisingly good condition considering the condition of the rest of the place. there was another TV to the right of the bed, but this one was not smashed. to the right of the entrance, there was a private closet, but it was locked. sandwiched in between the kitchen and the driver's seats, was a lounge where there was a couch to the left that was missing one of it's cushions, and a recliner to the right that a small fairy had decided to call home. next to the recliner was a stairway that led to the door. that is if there was one. there was no door, just an open walkway.
I went outside the RV and stretched. "ahhh, what a wonderful morning."
you know, I wonder if I could get that RV running.
I decided to check it out, only to find that the engine block was completely rusted out, and the electrical generator was missing.
well, none said it would be easy.
I went out in search of some parts.
30 minutes later
Rumia's POV
"ahhh, now that was a great meal." I said as I stretched out on the table.
what is this place? it's so small, and I can barely move
I looked around for Matt "hey Matt, where are-"
BOOM!
that came from outside. I rushed out of whatever that thing was to see Matt lying on the ground next to a metal flower. parts of different kinds were raining down on me.
I looked over to him "hey Matt, are you ok?"
He slowly got up and Looked over at the metal flower. "so the bursting point is at 300 psi, interesting."
I looked back at him in confusion "what's a psi?"
Matt held up a finger with his eyes closed. "pounds per square inch." he said in a know it all tone.
I lost interest "ok, what's with the metal flower?"
Matt face palmed "it's not a metal flower. It WAS a boiler, but it exploded because the psi got too high."
all of a sudden, Flandre burst out of the thingy. she looked upset "hey, are you guys kyuu-ing things without me.
Matt got really nervous "no,no, not at all. I was just testing out a steam boiler, and my experiment went wrong."
Flandre put on a happy grin "ok, so what are we going to do today?"
I decided to not fall to the fate of becoming a background character. "why don't we just chill, and take the day off?"
Matt beamed at this "yeah, that'll give me plenty of time to work on my projects."
Flandre looked down "but I wanted to see more of Gensokyo..."
Matt looked over at Flandre "don't worry Flandre. if I can finish my latest project, then we'll all go on a road trip!" Matt exclaimed proudly.
Flandre headed back inside. I looked smiled with a toothy grin at Matt and said "can I do anything to help?"
Matt grinned "why yes, you can. can you go find a sheet of metal as large as the entryway to our new home?"
I beamed excitedly "sure, I'll find the perfect one" I exclaimed as I dashed off to find the piece."
Inside the RV
Flandre's POV
great, I escape from the mansion, only to be stuck doing nothing again. I wonder what all these things do. Flandre thought as she looked over the dashboard. she could see Matt outside heaving a Rusty block of metal out of the front of our new house. I was so bored. I let my head fall against a wheel thing, then a loud noise bled my ears out.
the noise had knocked Matt back, and caused him to fall on his butt. It was pretty funny.
I giggled, but before I could do it again, matt cut a string, and it wouldn't work anymore.
a couple hours passed, Rumia was busy helping Matt, and Matt was building something. I was sitting in what Matt referred to as the driver's seat. It was very comfortable, so eventually I fell asleep. I was dreaming about kyuu-ing that mean person that attacked me yesterday.
"h-ey Fland-.. wa-... p" an unknown distorted voice said
"uhhh" I moaned my dream realm shattered, and I returned to reality.
Matt was in my face with an exited grin on his face. "hey Flanny, wake up!"
I sat up "uuuh, don't call me Flanny."
Matt beamed "I've got something to show you."
we made our way outside, the first thing I noticed was the fact that there was actually a door in place.
as I stepped outside, I saw that there were black things on the metal wheels, and there was a black pipe sticking out of the roof.
Matt was still Smiling "well, what do you think? I call it the land train."
I didn't really know what to say. I didn't know what Matt had done.
"Let me show you." he loaded some wood into the panel on the front where he got the rusty metal box. he then lit a match, and started a fire. the smoke from the fire started coming out of the black tube.
"ok, hold on" he rushed back inside the house.
Rumia nudged me "he's pretty exited huh?"
"yeah, what is he doing anyway?"
Rumia shrugged "beats me."
all of a sudden, a loud weeet sound came from a small cone on the top of the house. then, it started moving. I couldn't belive it, Matt was in the driver's seat, piloting a moving house."
I wonder if the mansion can move too.
he stopped it right in front of us, then he let off another weeet from the whistle. he opened the door and said "all aboard." Rumia and I got in the mobile house, and felt a cool breeze.
"ooh, ooh, ooh" I said raising my hand, "I have a question."
Matt looked at me from the driver's seat. "what is it?"
"how did you make it cold in here. did you capture the ice fairy?" I inquired.
Matt laughed "no, no, It's called air conditioning. it's a machine that makes cold air."
I let out a big long oh in understanding.
Matt smiled, "now, who's ready for a road trip!"
Rumia and I screamed "YEAAAAAHHH."
Matt looked back at the wheel and pulled a lever. the house quaked. Then we started moving. It started slow, but gradually got faster. soon, we were zooming down the dirt road at blazing speeds.
Matt stuck his head out the window and blew the whistle as we passed a crow tengu with a strange hat on. the tengu looked at us surprised, then started chasing us. she caught up to us pretty fast too.
Land Train
Matt's POV
we were flying at speeds of over 60 mph. I was so proud of myself. the wind in my face felt good. I love Gensokyo, there are no laws here, there are no big apple assholes, and you can acctually see the stars at night.
I was out of the forest of Magic, and got to a valley. it was then I knowticed the bird girl chasing after us. She was gaining on us, but this thing was not going at full bore. I let her catch up to the window so I could talk to her.
"HELLO! WHAT'S YOUR NAME?" I said over the wind flying through our ears.
"MY NAME"S AYA, I'M A NEWSPAPER REPORTER, AND THIS THING YOU'VE GOT EHRE WOULD MAKE A NICE SCOOP."
I slowed down a bit "WHAT? I COULDN'T HEAR YOU."
"JUST STOP SO I CAN TALK TO YOU!"
fine. I pulled the lever back, and we coasted to a halt. I put the parking brake on, but left the generator on so we could have air conditioning. as soon as we stopped, I led Aya inside "please come in."
she felt the cool air hit her face "oooh, how did you make it so cold in here?"
"air conditioning." I replied dulley. "have a seat." I gestured over to the couch.
she sat on it "hugh, this couch has a couple lumps in it"
I scratched the back of my head "yeah, it's pretty old."
Aya lost interest in the couch lumps and bombarded me with questions "what is air conditioning? how does this work? how fast can it go? are you going to take over the world with it? what is your invasion plan? how are you going-"
I cut her off "whaaat? I never said anything about an invasion. just let me anwser your questions, slowly."
Aya crossed her arms "hmph, fine"
and so I gave Aya her interview, she was intrigued to learn that I was traveling with Flandre and Rumia. I didn't really tell her, they just kinda stumbled in. it was a long night, and we were all ready for some rest. especially with Dan out there hunting us.
To Be Continued.
[AN]:
* AILC is a global location finder. it is capable of teleportation, and it's advanced AI allows it to function without a human counterpart. Dan had this computer installed in his hideout in 1994. His computerized voice is unclear, and crackles a lot, so I wrote his lines in leet. it was advanced for it's time, and it still is.
** a nekomata is a cat-like demon. according to japanese folklore, when a cat lives for an exeptionally long time, it's tail begins to split in two, and becomes a demon.
this is my longest chapter yet. I'm trying to potray Dan as a person rather than a heartless killer. before you leave any kind of comment, know that I plan for Dan to become a father-figure to the little nekomata