How did it come to this? Was my one and only thought.
"LISTEN UP, WE'VE GOT HOSTAGES IN HERE SO YOU BETTER LISTEN TO OUR DEMANDS!" Rabu was holding me in a rather tight headlock. Screaming out the shop towards the cops and security guards.Or rather security bots, the little floating drones were something else. "Hey, don't get comfy! Act scared or I will start hurting you!" Jeez this little lady doesn't really seem all that confident. Then again there's only her and her two cronies. "You two, go find the clerk he's probably hiding in the storage room!" She barks her orders while pointing at the other two girls.
"Yes Captain!" They both scamper off towards the storage room. Hmmm captain huh, I look at Rabu after the two leave our sight. So I guess this little lady is a hotshot or just the boss of this motley trio. Welp only one way to find out.
"Hey Rabu, who are you gals?" I try to look at her but her grip on my neck is just good enough I can't really turn my head to her. I also have this very strong urge to lash out, but I stifle it. Lashing out to break free would only escalate the situation.
"Hmph of course an adult like you doesn't know about the helmet gangsters." The way she said that sounded very insulting. "Afterall you look like you crawled out of a dumpster." Alright, maybe I should get new clothes. "We're the helmet gangsters and I'm the captain of the splashy gang!" Okay so they are wannabe gangsters, neat I suppose. Also the splashy gang, is that a joke?
"So how long has your gang been active?" I try to get comfortable in her headlock but it's hard because of her coat's zipper teeth. I notice her other hand move towards her face.
"Why should I tell you?" She asks sounding a bit confused.
"You want to sit here in awkward silence young lady, cause I don't." Honestly I prefer anything other than silence.
"Fair enough, about a year or two now if I recall." I want to say it sounds like she doesn't really know herself. But for all I could know, she could be telling the truth and just unsure of when they became active because she joined late.
"I see, so you girls control any territory in this city or what?" Might as well make the most of this weird, yet stress inducing situation.
"Yeah we got quite a bit. We snagged some territory in the black market district. Apparently another group of our guys got hired by some people to snag some more. If they succeed we'll get a cut of the territory for ourselves." She sounded quite proud that they had territory. I guess any self respecting gang would want their own turf. But I'm really curious about this other turf, so I know where it is and to avoid it. After all, I don't like the idea of being a hostage to a teenager, especially a trigger happy looking wannabe gangster. I slightly move my head to try and get away from her coat zipper teeth. But she grips my neck tighter. "Stop squirming before I knock you down on your knees!" I sigh upon hearing that, resigning myself to this fate.
We sit there in silence for a bit and nothing really happens. Not until about the thirty minute mark. We both heard the loud screeching of a megaphone from outside the helmet shop. "Attention perpetrators, we are willing to listen to your demands. In exchange we expect your cooperation!" I could practically feel Rabu's joy that the cops finally decided to play the game. "Please state your demands and we will see if we can accommodate you!"
"Hahah, looks like they're ready to play. Now then what do I want?" I couldn't believe what I just heard from Rabu.
"How do you not know what you want? We've been sitting here for the past thirty minutes in silence!" The second I scold her for not thinking about it she hits my head with the butt of her gun. I shake off the pain.
"It's not my fault, you distracted me!" This girl. Blaming me for why she couldn't think of something.
"How is it my fault that you couldn't think of something while we waited! I didn't say anything while we waited." I hear her grumble something under her breath. "Speak up young lady, you aren't a child anymore, you're a teenager!" I feel her grip tighten.
"Well I'm so sorry, what could I have them give me for some homeless looking guy! You don't scream I'm important looking you know!" Ouch, but that's fair, in all honesty there's no way I'm telling her I'm the substitute for Schale.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, a career criminal would actually know exactly what someone's worth is upon looking at them. Only a rookie could stumble like you're doing right now!" I feel her grip on my neck weaken just a little. Wow that got to you Rabu?
"H-H-hey this hostage thing is harder than you think." She sounded kinda timid, like she's been called out.
"Is this your first time having a hostage?" The moment I ask this I feel her body seize up a little.
"N-no, even if it was I would know how to handle it!" Who does she think she's fooling me or herself?
"It's just you and me, it's alright to admit this is your first time." Everyone has their moments when they try something for the first time. Besides maybe if I'm lucky I can keep her here so the cops can arrest her and her cronies. Actually, where are her cronies?
"Well yeah I usually handle territory conquering, guarding shady clients and handling deals." Wow you go girl, all that sounds more important than handling a hostage of little importance. "So, you got me this is the first time I've done this." Aww I'm her first hostage, I feel special. "And secondly, you're acting weird."
"Wait, I'm acting weird?" I feel her grip tighten again and her sighing.
"Yeah, you're weird. Most of my gals below me told me hostages are usually scared when you have them." She chuckles a little. "But here's you who's literally just acting so nonchalant about the thing!"
"I could act more scared if you want." She shakes her head no at my offer. To be fair I guess not being scared earlier killed the mood. "How about you ask them for some cash and a getaway vehicle." She scoffs at my idea.
"What do you think they'll move a car into a mall?"
"Oh no, I would specifically request a motorcycle."
"Huh, that could work."
"Are you going to tell us your demands or not!" The person speaking out of the megaphone outside seems to be getting tired of waiting. I'm surprised they didn't speak up a bit earlier, astounding patience.
"Yeah I want a motorcycle brought to the front of the store and a..." Rabu trails off
"500,000 in yen." I try to add helpfully. After all you can't go demanding a lot of money for two nobodies.
"And 500,000 yen!" Rabu sure does sound happy with the demands. Wait, why did I help her? She's a wannabe criminal.
"I'll see what I can do." The negotiator stated from outside.
We promptly returned to silence afterwards. Looking around the store from my difficult position I noticed some posters. Based on what I'm seeing, the posters are fliers to join academies. Each from various schools, besides the big nine. These smaller academies have some neat names. We got Ouroboros, Highlands and Pillar. Each one has their own motto. The motto that stuck out to me was definitely Ouroboros' motto.
"The duality of life is a beauty many hide from or scorn. Embrace all the aspects of life to live."
Huh talk about kinda deep. I'm sure anyone worth their grain of salt would know that. The symbol of the school kept with the naming convention. A giant snake eating its own tail. Except the snake had wings and horns for some reason. A neat design still, whoever made it should give themselves a pat on the back. Alright I'm curious about one thing.
"Hey Rabu, which school do you attend?" So far every girl with a halo seems to attend a school. So why wouldn't Rabu and her cronies attend a school.
"I don't attend one anymore." Is all she says. Sounded personal so it's best not to pry. So I decided to look at the rest of the posters on the window. Most are just generic sales posters with occasional school festival fliers. The sale posters are bland while the school festival fliers are way too bombastic. Eventually we both hear the screeching of the megaphone turning on again.
"We'll have the motorcycle delivered first outside of the store. In exchange we want one of the hostages held by you." Good on the clerk earlier for telling them how many innocents were inside here.
"Tch, the classic." Rabu grumbles while holding me. Since her cronies aren't back yet I'm the best option to let go right now. Things are looking up for me. Until I see Rabu pull out a radio from a carrier case on her belt. "You two got the other guy yet?" It's silent for a moment until a beep sounds from it.
"Yeah but he's knocked out cold. Looks like he fell." Rabu is silent then looks at me. I look at her to the best of my abilities. I feel like we both had the same thought upon hearing that.
"How the hell did he fall?!" Geez Rabu do you need to hell into the damn radio.
"I don't know, we just found him knocked out and he won't wake up!" I hope the crony on the other side of the radio understands that's not good. If you're still out cold after ten seconds you need to be taken to the hospital. Especially if you've fallen or been struck. "But, we could probably fix him up. There's a repair kit back here with a first aid kit."
"Good, we don't need him dying on us. Also if we show him banged up, we could probably have valk give us a bit more." Rabu you silly thing banging up the hostage leads to very pissed cops. At least that's what I heard.
Eventually the two brought the clerk out and sat him behind the counter. Rabu placed me there with him. Compared to most of the robot people I've met he's a good bit short. Even shorter than me, funny enough.
Rabu and the red clothed little lady walked toward the front. The black clothed one stayed back to obviously watch us. I couldn't really do much but stare at her. Seriously I'm not going to stare at the unconscious guy next to me, who should really be taken to the hospital. I hope when they do a hostage trade they select that guy to trade.
"Ulineunâ...baboga...anibnida!" I can hear Rabu yelling, but I don't understand a lick of the words I picked up, probably korean. I do notice the young lady watching us is starting to get fidgety. So to say I'm starting to worry is understatement.
"Mmm." Oh, the guy next to me is coming too. Though his screen is cracked so I don't think his face will come up. After a bit he fully comes too. His poor screen is all glitchy and distorted. Well one side is, the other is completely wrecked. "Oh god what happened?" I watch as the green l.e.d eye he has focused onto me after blinking for a bit. "Ah the customer from earlier and unharmed so the police must have rescued us!" I look him dead in his joyful eyes and slowly shake my head no. "O-o-oh I see."
"I mean the cops are outside right now." I say while rubbing my nose.
"Why are you so calm we're literally hostages right now!" I shrug at him. Honestly I can't give him an answer so I'm just not going to speak. "That's it you're just going to shrug at me." I nod my head yes. Then I watch him completely deflate because of my actions.
Eventually the yelling from Rabu escalated to the point I just tuned her out. Though I noticed the black clothed little lady ran over to her. So now I take the risk. I peer from around the counter and notice the three guns draw at the cops outside. I then scan and see the door to the storage room in the back. I quietly move across the floor, making sure to watch my step so I don't bump into anything. Eventually I made it to the door without alerting the three. I turn back to the counter and see the clerk looking at me. I beckon him to make his way towards me.
He nods his head and tries to mimic my path. The keyword word being tried, as when he made it to the halfway point he bumped into a rack. This rack didn't fall but wiggled enough to cause the helmets to fall.
He wasted no time to dash towards me since I noticed the second the helmets hit the ground Rabu had turned around. I didn't even pay attention to what she said as we both went into the storage room. I quickly threw down two massive cabinets in front of the door. But I doubt that'll stop them for long. However they also can't come for us unless they let the police start coming in for them.
"Now what do we do we're stuck in here!" I look at him and notice he's shaking a little.
"Calm down, we're safe for now. More importantly, is there a vent in this room?" I ask the man. After all, he owns the shop.
"Over there." He points to a rather decently sized vent. I could fit through this however. I look over at my small but stocky bud. Yeah his stocky self isn't making into this vent. I look back at the vent and grab the cover. I pull it off fairly easily, huh guess someone didn't put the screws in all the way.
"Well good news is the vent cover is off and I can fit through it. Bad news is I don't think you can." I say while turning towards him. He runs his hand over his head before facepalming.
"I can't believe that feature I got is going to come in handy." He sounds mirthed, before I can ask though I see him just take off his head and hold it out to me. "Well carry me!" I can only stare before grabbing his head or him I guess. After taking the head from the body's hands the body crumples lifelessly. "Goodbye gen two nano body you'll be missed." He says while I hold him now.I shake my head and crawl through the vent. Honestly now's not the time for questions.
I crawl through the vents while I hold him. The vents are dusty as hell like no one's cleaned them out for a while. I keep moving until eventually we hit a cross section.
"You know which way to go?" I ask him.
"No, I've never been in the vents. I'm a shop clerk, not a maintenance worker." He states.
"Right, I don't know why I asked you." I ignore his joking retort and continue clambering through the vents in a straight path. Hopefully someone hears me banging around in here. If not I'll eventually make it to a different opening.
I go straight for what feels like a good hour. Honestly I expected to hit another vent opening by now, but no dice. It's like a damn horror movie corridor. Why I bet if I turn my head around and keep moving forward a vent cover will just materialize.
Almost like the world heard my remark, the vent shaft I was in collapsed and fell. Like the world wanted to make me feel stupid suggesting that's how we'd find a vent exit.
"Damn my ribs." I roll off the robot's head and hold my ribs. I then feel the regenerative property of Pandora amplifying the pain before fully fixing them.
"Are you alright!" Said head yelled at me in concern which is appreciated. He even rolled over to take a look at me.
"Yeah, I'm good now. So you know where we are?" I ask him while staring at the ceiling. Hell, we must've fallen at least four meters downward.
"Seems like a storage area that hasn't been used for a while. Probably a part of the back rooms of the mall." I get up as he finishes his sentence and pick him up. I look around the area and notice plenty of space. You could fit a lot in here. "There should be an exit but we'll need a keycard, so our best bet is to find the emergency exit instead." I nod my head while listening to him. Sounds simple enough.
So we or rather I began the trot looking for the emergency exit. This place is a lot bigger than I expected. So far we've been through at least four massive spaces. Each labeled for different types of items. Eventually we find the main exit, a pair of double doors. But like he said they had a key card reader so no dice. We walk a bit further through and find the emergency exit.
The second I try to open it though it doesn't budge. I look at him, he simply wobbles in my arm as if to say use more strength. So I set him down then back up before sprinting full force at the door. It breaks down literally and I fall on top of it. He rolls himself towards me and looks me in the eyes.
"Why did you do that? You could've just used both arms to open the door." I only put my face into the door and groan. He's absolutely right that it was uncalled for, I feel like an idiot.
I look up afterwards, seeing a rather empty alleyway. Seems we're outside thankfully, now then what to do with him. I pick up the head, then begin to observe it.
"Soooo should I take you with me or do you have somewhere I can dump you?" I ask while spinning around his bulbous head.
"Well I have a couple of friends that own a food stall,so you can drop me off there. Also please stop studying my head so intently, it's making me uncomfortable." I stop rotating his head, then readjust him so he can see signs as I walk us out of the alley.
"Welp you tell me where to go and I'll get us there."
"Alright then! Go straight down this sidewalk for two blocks then make a right!" I followed his first set of instructions and began our walk to the food stand. After all, it can't be far. He jostles in my arms before speaking again. "That reminds me I'm Tob what's your name friend."
I think hard for a second. I really don't want people to keep calling me substitute everywhere. Until I get a click in my head for a name. "You can call me Vagues."
"Well nice to meet you, Vagues."
"You as well Tob."
The directions had us coming upon a street filled with food vendors. Croque Madame, borscht, kimchi, pasta carbonara, souvlaki, schweinshaxe, kitfo, fondue, banger and mash! The sheer quantity of food is insane, the mixture of different types is lovely. The smells of all these foods is making my mouth salivate at the thought of eating some of the dishes. However a smell that's not food invades my nostrils. Smells like a cat being doused in grease.
I proceed to walk towards the scent. Walking past numerous food stalls. Many are crowded with colorful bunches of customers. I guess so far D.U is the mixing pot of Kivotos. As I continue walking through the stalls the scent gets stronger. I follow the smell to a lone alleyway, and notice a single food cart by itself with no customers. The food cart was rather big, hell you could've said it was a house on wheels. But a sign on the front said and I quote. 'Yes this is a food cart.'
The food cart itself seems to be made of wood. I can also see a table jutting from the outside of it. I barely make out two people in it from how far we are. But I see all sorts of what can only be assumed is cooking utensils. There is also a lot of space where the two are standing.
"Oh hey that's their food stall!" Tob shouted after laying eyes on it himself.
"That's a food cart though Tob?" I look down at him.
"Food stalls, food carts, what's the difference?"
"A pretty big one!"
"Well no worries this is where my chums are. Don't be shy, walk on up and say hello!"
I follow his advice and walk up. I see the two people there more clearly, a cat person standing next to a woman with a halo. I notice more features as I get closer. The cat person seems to be about a single meter tall, white fur with an orange spot on their right eye. Also wearing a bahamas shirt, I can't see their pants though. Their eyes seemed to be the color green from here.
The lady next to them is massive, about two meters tall, good god! She has cream colored hair and sharp lavender colored eyes, yet her inner iris is soft. Her attire was a weird mix of an officer uniform and dress. The upper part officer uniform, the lower part dress. They had conflicted colors that bleed into each other the top half being charcoal and the bottom peach.
As I walked closer, the women in question waved at me. Causing the cat person to quickly toss something to the side upon seeing me.
"Hello my little friend! What brings you to Magenta and Mochi's eatery!" The tall woman is quite jovial as she greets me. Waving her hands all around. I simply show her the head of Tob in all of his glitchy broken goodness. She blinks a couple times before starting to bark. "HAHAHA omg what the hell happened to you." Her laughter isn't what I expected. Let alone taking him out of my hands and proceeding to juggle him around.
I go to stop her only for the cat person to stop me and shake their head no. So I don't and simply watch the show as she walks to the back of the cart.
"Well there goes Mochi." The cat person spoke up in a gruff voice. I look over to them and watch as they get a pot from under the countertop. "Well now on to proper introductions, I'm Magenta, you are?" He extends his paw hand as he speaks.
"Vagues, nice to meet you." I shake his hand. Afterwards he brings a stool out from behind the counter, what else is behind there? I take a seat while he moves back around. When he goes back around he puts a menu down in front of me. Thankfully in english as I look at it. "Let's see here." Is all I mumble as I go down the list of foods. Pork bowl, country style meatloaf and shepherd's pie catch my eye. These might be just what I need but first the important question.
"Credit or Yen."
"Both is fine."
"Nice!"
Awesome that he takes both. I don't want to walk around for a good bit to find one of those machines here. I tap on the shepherd's and Magenta gets to work making it. I watch as he hits a switch in the right side of the cart and an oven suddenly folds out. Jeez I guess mechanics are really advanced here for food carts. I watch as he goes about making the shepherd's pie. Dicing up the carrots, grinding some cheese, peeling potatoes and grinding up some lamb meat.
"Sorry we took so long!" I see the woman walk from the hidden back of the cart. Tob in her hands. "Let's just place you right here Tob honey." She placed him right next to the sink inside the cart. "Now then, I'm sure Magenta told you my name. If not then hello my little friend I'm Mochi!" Just like Magenta she extended her hand for a shake.
"Vagues, pleasure to meet you Miss Mochi." As we shake hands I feel her hand ever so slightly grip mine. It was faint, quick but I caught it.
"Oh please, little Vagues pleasure is all mine." She pulls out some weird tool and scans Tob's face with it. "Thanks for bringing Tob here to us. This boy is nothing but trouble." Tob tried to say something only to get bonked on the digital face. "This dumb fool made a deal with the helmet gangsters nearby. The details, he can tell you when he feels like it." I watch her walk on by Magenta and grab a plate. She sets it down next to the oven.
"Oh come on, you have to give me some credit though. My deal spared a lot of people some trouble." I barely heard Tob whisper to himself. "So Vagues buddy what's your story?" I turn to face Tob.
"Honestly I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to. Don't remember a damn thing before I got here." I shrugged at him.
"My little Vagues, you hit your head upon entering Kivotos?" She slaps a drinks menu right in front of me.
"Maybe I did, everything is a blur. Only bits and pieces are clear or if something reminds me of the past." I say picking up the drink menu she slapped down in front of me.
"Well that's rough, can't imagine trying to get a job with gaps in your knowledge like that." Tob says with an exclamation mark appearing on his glitchy broken face.
"Well apparently I'm replacing someone right now." I say with a bit of a sigh.
"Oh really, let me guess you don't recall how it came about huh?" Mochi said with a smirk while looking at me.
"Pretty much." I tap the drink menu after speaking, causing Mochi to grab a glass from near the sink.
"Enough talking for now. It's time for our new foreign friend to eat." Magenta commanded as he put the shepherd's pie down in front of me along with a fork and knife.
I nod my head at him and begin to dig into the shepherd's pie. As I cut into it my nose is assailed by the delicious aroma. I take a bit of everything for my first bite. Chewing the food allows me to take in the heavenly texture. Yet I can't taste this thing at all.
"Well how's it taste?" Oh god Magenta wants to know my opinion.
"Wonderful I especially love the texture of the pie." I lied about the flavor but the texture bit is true.
"Wonderful, in fact stupendous!" He seems oddly happy. Was this his first time making shepherd's pie? Would it be weird or rude of me to ask?
I finished my food along with my drink and left the three without saying much. Well besides promising Magenta that I would stop by and eat there occasionally. Apparently seeing a human without a halo is quite rare to borderline impossible. Apparently he sees it as an opportunity to learn about rare people. Mochi gave me the number to the food cart if I ever feel like calling them. Tob gave me his as well and told me to not be a stranger if I ever needed a helmet.
I began my walk back to the Schale building. As I walk I slip my hand into an internal pocket and pull out the shittim chest. I press the screen and I'm greeted by a sleeping Arona. I poke her face.
"Nooo, tired from looking for things." I see she was busy trying to find the provider information. I poke her again only to get a lazy swat at a hand that wasn't there. Well for now I'll leave her to sleep.
I notice the shop icon and debate using that to quickly get back to Schale. But it's not worth losing the meal I just put in my stomach. I shut off the screen to the chest and put it away. I take my phone out and check the time. About seven pm, guess I've been out longer than I thought. I noticed a huge amount of texts from Miss Hayase. Not stepping in that minefield, especially since they are all from hours ago. I'll just pretend I didn't notice those texts and since I didn't tap them they probably won't come up as read. Besides it's the weekend, at least I think it is? I should've asked what day it is to literally anybody. My phone's time is fine but the date is all scrambled. I continue my trot to Schale while seeing if my phone could use any apps here.
My phone can't boot up any browsers or apps, but it can still seemingly use LTE. So practically every app I have on my phone doesn't work since the servers can't be reached. Which all but solidifies that I'm not on Earth or I'm in the future and these companies no longer exist. But I must be in the future since my LTE still works, so some company must still be using the same network. They just rebranded as some other type of company or became a subsidiary.
Eventually with the same luck I did earlier to reach the mall, I began to come upon Schale. Only to see some young girls in police uniforms. I see one that sticks out like a sore thumb though. A young lady with blonde hair and alert dog ears on her head. I stop my approach and look at my phone to see what Miss Hayase texted me.
"Substitute there's blood in the stairwell are you alright! Did someone coming to talk to you get hurt!"
"Oh my god there's blood on the railings too. They must've fallen off the 11th floor."
"The cameras in the stairwell aren't showing what happened! But at the bottom of the stairs where the pool of blood is, there's boot prints leading to the downstairs office."
"Why aren't you answering! Are you even seeing these!"
I stop reading the messages and look up as I feel someone's gazing at me. It's the dog eared girl, her face has quite the sour expression. She beckons me over to her.
"Goddammit." Is all I mutter to myself as I walk towards her. I've only been Kivotos a day and it's already going sour. Actually more sour now that I think about it.
Welp I hope you enjoyed once again and happy trails.
