Fukua Stayed Home.
Painwheel's face itched.
Probably one of the worst side effects of being experimented on was the pain she felt occasionally. Her connection to her synthetic Parasites made it difficult to sleep properly. The full array of Gae Bolga spikes embedded within her would poke and prod at her. The Buer Drive attached to the middle of her spine meant that she had to find new creative ways to sleep without laying on cold pinwheel blades every night. Life should have been miserable for her.
And it was, no doubt about it. The almost lifeless interiors of Lab 0 were anything but homely. Practically zero natural sunlight, limited-to-zero connection with the outside world aside from the missions, and constantly having to serve the will of some self-centered brain in a jar.
Painwheel was almost glad about the itch on her face. Even if it meant ripping her mask off her face to scratch it occasionally, the reminder that she was still a person under there kept her a little sane. Whatever modifications were made to her body also seemed to have a mild pain suppressing effect. She felt like she was constantly medicated, like all the constant physical trauma and pain inflicted by her own body was nothing but a nagging cough in the back of her throat. It felt relatively normal to have a regular scratch.
It wasn't all bad. Every now and again Brain Drain would send her out on a mission. Sometimes she'd be accompanied by Valentine. That gave her plenty of opportunites to at least plan her revenge when she saw the blue-haired ninja nurse in combat. Learning her strengths, weaknesses, the best possible times to stab Valentine. Blessings in disguise.
Other times she would be sent out in tandem with Robo-Fortune. The robot cat girl's eccentricities didn't help Painwheel's boiling rage. Sometimes she'd be overtly robotic and straight to the point, and other times they'd get sidetracked out in the field when Robo started cracking jokes and puns.
She didn't really know what the point of Robo was. Even Brain Drain seemed to be at a loss when she decided to cut through her programming and ask. That said, she acted like a goofball sometimes but all it took was one large laser cannon to remind Painwheel that she was still a cold, unfeeling weapon. Maybe Robo-Fortune was closer to the vision Brain Drain had for her.
Until she said something like, "Target eliminated with extreme purr-judice, beep boop meow."
But then there were the returns back to Lab 0. It was horrible. A ringing noise, a cutting command piercing her head like an arrow, and a compulsion to return to her new home away from home. If the discomfort in her own skin wasn't enough, that really drove her up the wall.
If all that wasn't bad enough, the final nail in the coffin had to be Fukua.
"Oh," Fukua replied, filing away at her nails and pretending not to look in her direction, "Look what the cat dragged in."
"Greetings Sibling 2," Robo-Fortune acknowledged her first. She tilted her head up slightly. "Sibling 2.5."
The green mass of hair on Fukua's head grew an arm and waved back. "Robo! You son of a bitch, how was it?"
Fukua and Shamone. Every day they'd come back from a mission, the two would be sitting there together. Considering how they were fused by the head and hair, it would've been stranger if they weren't. No matter the day: same folding chair, same spot near the lab's secret entrance, and the same complaints. It was almost as creepy as it was annoying. If it weren't for the flesh and hair, Painwheel would've thought that they were more of Brain Drain's robots.
Describing these two was complicated. Painwheel recalled her best friend, Filia. Back when people called her "Carol", she would spend so much time with her. All those days…whiling the time away at school… Then something happened and she lost her memory, got a hairstyle and lifestyle change, and now the only time they ever seem to bump into each other is to fight, either against each other or together for a fleeting few minutes.
Well, Fukua looked like Filia does now. With the…Parasite in her hair. The one named Samson.
She looked too much like her. It was like someone dunked Filia into a bucket of paint, dying her hair green and giving her completely different skin. If it wasn't for that and her personality, Painwheel would probably assume she was Filia.
Fukua continued filing her nails while looking away from them. "Yeah, how was the outside Painwheel?"
There was that trademark disdain in Fukua's voice. It was like all of society's ills originated from and were blamed on her. In response, Painwheel just grunted. "Warm."
"Oh! Warm?" Fukua laughed, "That's so crazy. You're not telling me you saw the sun today, did you?"
Robo-Fortune stepped up. "Beep. I'm not sure why that's surprising. Painwheel and I are typically affected by sunlight whenever we are deployed." She paused. "Correction: Except during night."
Fukua smiled sickly. "Oh really? How nice for you two. Right Shamone?"
The toothy maw on the back of her head chimed in. "I hope Cerebella crushes you like a tin can next time."
There it was. The two of them had a bad habit of talking shit whenever they didn't get their way, which tended to be often. Painwheel was convinced that the two of them shared the same mind because they'd get angry about the same thing in the same way.
"I hope you fall in a lake and get rusted, too," Shamone continued, "Then an underwater mine blows you up."
Fukua rolled her eyes. "I bet I would've been better at absorbing sunlight than either of you if I went up there."
"Painwheel, if you love the sun so much, you should fly up into it," Shamone said.
Shamone usually said the unwarranted parts louder. Painwheel just grumbled and attempted to walk away. She was done for the day.
There was a screeching sound. Painwheel was stopped in her tracks, watching as Fukua dragged the folding chair in front of her and sat down again. Her green hair unraveled into tendrils, stretching to her left and right. An annoying barrier was erected.
Painwheel's eyes narrowed. "Move Fukua. I'm tired and Robo is too."
Robo-Fortune just shrugged in response. Maybe her eyes were a little dimmer than usual or her limbs were slightly more rigid.
"Cool, what a coincidence. I'm tired too." Fukua leaned in, staring Painwheel in the eyes. "Tired of waiting here for you. Take me with you next time you leave."
"I can't. Brain Drain won't let me."
Fukua's face contorted in disgust. Every time she made that face, Painwheel felt a pang of guilt. Of course, it was easy to remind herself that this girl wasn't Filia and the feeling would pass quickly.
Fukua scoffed. "You just do everything he tells you to?"
Painwheel growled in frustration. "I would've torn you to shreds a long time ago if I wasn't forced to."
The doppelganger sneered, tossing her nail file to the side nonchalantly. "Ha."
"Get out of my way, Fukua. It's too late to deal with this right now."
Fukua huffed. "That's too bad. Hey, when should I bring this up again? Midnight? Morning? Noon? Afternoon? I'm here all day! Everyday! Twenty-four-seven!"
"Why are you bringing this up with me to begin with? I don't want to be here!" Painwheel hissed at her, growing more frustrated.
"Then leave!" Fukua spat back. "What's stopping you? 'Boo-hoo, my head hurts a little, I'll just let it happen!'"
The rotors on Painwheel's back whirred. In an instant, Painwheel rushed for Fukua, pinning her to the ground. Metal crashed and groaned, some from the chair skidding across the floor and the rest from Fukua's hair pulling down parts of the laboratory as she fell. With Fukua's throat clenched, Painwheel's Buer Drive began spinning fast as it closed in on her face. As if in response, Fukua's hair vibrated, reshaping into drills pointed at Painwheel.
A ringing noise and a sensation of pain shot through Painwheel's skull. A shock was felt. The control mechanisms instilled into Painwheel must've been working overtime. Despite this, she continued strangling Fukua.
That is, until more pain was administered from an outside force. Painwheel's muscles seized up as an even stronger current ran through her body, knocking her to the floor and awkwardly on top of Fukua. Fukua's hair stood up and frizzled with Shamone looking no better. Robo-Fortune stared back at them with glowing yellow eyes. Her fist was smashed into the floor with a claw-like prong that shot electricity up through their bodies, making visible blue sparks.
"Alright alright you can stop now you've made your point!" Fukua managed to shout.
Robo-Fortune's prong retracted into her arm. "Do you feel calmer? I can contact Valentine to administer tranquilizers."
Despite being jolted, Fukua managed to tap into her reserves of strength. She pushed Painwheel off her and rolled to the left. She attempted to stand but only managed to fall flat on the ground. Sulking, Fukua settled for turning her head away from her attacker.
"…I bet if I was out there, more things like this would happen to me," Fukua mused.
Shamone grunted, glaring back at Robo-Fortune and Painwheel. "You two get all the fun."
Painwheel glared daggers at her. Slowly rising to her feet, she began to limp deeper into the lab. She stopped for a moment, looking back at Fukua. For a moment, their eyes met. Fukua immediately looked away, pouting.
Painwheel just sighed. Her limp sped up into a walk, and soon enough she left both Robo-Fortune and Fukua in the dust. Noting that she was gone, Fukua quickly sprang back up to her feet and stretched her arms in the air.
"What a jerk," Fukua said. She formed a fist and punched it into her other palm. "If I was ready for that, I would've kicked her ass."
Robo-Fortune walked over to Fukua and put a hand on her shoulder. "Your time will come eventually."
Fukua sneered. "Whatever." She turned to Robo-Fortune and frowned. "Why'd you stop me? I could've beaten her."
Robo-Fortune's eyes narrowed. "Probability crunchers state otherwise. Besides, you technically started it."
Fukua groaned, throwing her hands up. "I would've been cool with the choking or sawblades if I got to hit her back! Ugh. …Since you're here, could you take me to-"
Robo-Fortune shook her head. "Nya."
"Huh?"
The robot catgirl's eyes flashed. "That meant 'no'."
With that, Robo-Fortune leaped into the sky, rockets installed in the back of the heels of her feet propelling her. Fukua and Shamone were left alone with metallic rubble and a chair knocked over on its side.
Fukua looked up at the ceiling. There weren't too many clocks on the ground floor of the lab. They were typically reserved for wherever Valentine or Brain Drain stayed or worked. Otherwise, it was just more artificial lighting. Fukua still had a pretty good idea of the time it was and what would happen next. Painwheel and Robo would destress, get cleaned up, and recharge and eat. The lights would shut off for the night and turn back on again in the morning. After that Brain Drain would probably chew them out while Valentine looked down on them.
Well, if she was lucky. Otherwise, Brain Drain would probably just get Valentine to do all of that while he worked on some garbage project again.
Fukua picked up the folding chair off the ground. She glared at it for a while. After all that routine was done, Painwheel and Robo-Fortune might get something to do. They'd be sent out from the lab on errands, doing Brain Drain's bidding or fighting some schmuck that needed her head caved in.
Meanwhile, Fukua would be here. Like always.
Fukua dragged the chair away with that thought on her mind. It was gonna be another long day of nothing tomorrow.
Valentine glanced down at the lab floor from above. She was perched on a tower overlooking the bottom floor, giant orange tubes of fluid hanging on a conveyor belt nearby. Given what she had just witnessed between the three lab experiments, she was both frustrated and impressed. She was absolutely going to be told by Brain Drain to deal with them, and then she'd have to go out of her way and tell them off for making a mess. The countermeasures given to Painwheel had failed and Fukua probably would have lost her head if Robo-Fortune didn't step in.
Valentine hummed. "So why did she?"
She couldn't pretend like she understood Robo's programming, but conflict resolution to a (mostly) painless degree wasn't something expected of her. Painwheel's continued resistance to Brain Drain's control was problematic. That gave her some ideas of her own. And Fukua-
I mean, I guess she was still Fukua.
Valentine still couldn't pin her down. Brain Drain had waved her off, telling Valentine that she was "a failed experiment". "Cloning's more of a pastime than any hard science," he stated plainly. Yet he kept her around. No explicit plans of disposal, but also not bothering to do anything with her.
Valentine smirked under her facemask. Even if they were a pain in her side, a part of her had to admit it was *very* entertaining watching them.
She leaned on the side of the lab's metal wall. There was a lot riding on all of this. Getting sidetracked by the idiotic antics of a bunch of girls probably wasn't in her best interest. Probably.
That said, letting Fukua get scratched in the shins by Ms. Fortune in her place every now and then was very, very tempting…
Oh, what the hell?
She vanished into the lab. Maybe in the morning a convinced Brain Drain would offer Valentine a new human shield to bring.
AN: Not really sure where this would take place in the timeline.
I think the connection between all of them is interesting, but because it's not necessarily a focus in any of their stories I wanted to write about them. I especially wanted to write about Fukua considering she's been sidelined(which I think is kinda intentional anyway), and I ended up writing Fukua being sidelined. Oops.
IDK if I'll make a follow-up anytime soon, I just really wanted to write about these characters I like. A lot of these Skullgirls related ideas were just sitting in the back of my head and I wanted to write about them before they left or I got distracted by real-life responsibilities. Thanks for reading, this was ThePizza-LovingTurtle. Off to get hit with the same low/overhead mixup for the fifth time in a row.