Post by Anna Molly™ on Jun 17, 2010 5:02:35 GMT -6
[This is basically The Wizard of Oz with a technological twist and an undeniable Japanese flare! It is not my brain child nor do I claim it to be. It was more of a practice run I requested to do for a friend to see if I could still do it. Though it's from a halfway point in his super elaborate story so I had to modify it to make sense to me. I'm also aware less than one person will ever read this explanation (so why explain to myself?). Well-- I just want this documented/saved on the internet because I really enjoyed how part I came out. On with the show?]
The motley crew, upon crossing into the westernmost borders of Ozu No Kuni, immediately noticed the changes in their environment. Gone was the almost mythical emerald forest with its sparkling overgrown trees and the comforting air of intrigue found in the atmosphere. In place of the forest was what appeared to be remnants of a festival long past, abandoned carnival booths and ancient rides looming in the distance; the western frontier victim to the passage of time.
Paper Crane held out her arm in a defensive posture, expressing genuine confusion as she glanced from left to right. Lowering her guard slightly, she inquired out to the empty landscape. “Where is everybody? Where have they gone? Raion…Koicoroe…do you know?”
“Do you not know?” questioned Koicoroe, head tilted obliquely to the side. Stepping into the western lands, she waited for the others to follow her into the ghostly new world. Sensing the groups’ reluctance, Koicoroe stopped and looked them over. “…are we not trying to complete our given task?”
Raion arched a perfectly trimmed brow. Raising his head, he huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Koi, clearly you’ve gone mad. This place has gone to the dogs…” His tiger yellow eyes briefly rolled onto Toto, the 7ft lycanthropic guardian returning the condescending glare. Averting his gaze to a towering mechanical disaster in the distance, he continued in a whisper. “…Probably to the Ghosts too. This isn’t the West I remember.”
“Things have changed, Brave Raion…” murmured Koi with the slightest hint of mockery in her tone. She smiled in what was meant to be a reassuring way to the apprehensive party, but couldn’t hide the mischievous mechanical spark in her eyes. Turning quickly on her metallic heels, she said. “I will explain the current state of the West while we walk. D, shall I lead the way?”
“Hmm…” D examined the entrance way into their destination. Judging by the looks of it, the group would be the first set of footsteps to grace the land in months, perhaps even years. An out of tune melody from a long broken speaker and the creaking of empty attractions were the most distinct noises heard in the background. D released a subconscious shiver. The lack of a visible threat ironically enough presented a bigger threat than any other challenge the group had overcome. Feeling a soft squeeze on his shoulder from Toto, D pushed away his fears and continued. “…yeah, that may be best. You and Raion can lead up in the front…Toto and I will cover the rear. Paper Crane, is center good for you?”
Swaying into the middle of the group, Paper Crane nodded, fluidity in every movement she made. “Finding one’s center is always best for further self discovery…” chimed the sutra seeking Paper Crane. After a moment of contemplation, she nodded in satisfaction with her quote and followed after Koi and Raion into the depths of the West.
D and Toto stared after Paper Crane’s statement, a similar look of disbelief in the pairs’ eyes. Toto recovered first, disbelief replaced with a blank stare. “I think that might’ve been fortune cookie quote number twelve.”
“Thirteen,” corrected D, his earlier fears forgotten by the ridiculousness of the quote. “Interesting she’d reach her thirteenth quote after we got here…” he trailed off.
“You okay?” asked Toto in concern.
“It’s nothing…” waved off D, unable to look his Guardian in the eyes just yet.
Before Toto could inquire further into D’s sudden anxieties, Raion shouted from the distance. “We don’t have time for ALONE TIME, Toto! Stop wasting D’s time!”
Rolling his canine eyes far into the back of his head, Toto gently nudged D forward to play catch up with the impatient group…well, the impatient Raion. The pair came to a slow behind the murmuring Paper Crane, the lithe female tilting her head back to meet their vision. “Glad you two could make it…Koi was waiting for your presence…” She extended a hand out to the smiling android. “Take it away.”
Koi performed a small curtsy in Paper Crane’s direction. “Why thank you,” Clearing her throat for dramatic impact, the sleekly built white and midnight blue android turned to face her waiting audience. Walking backwards, her eyes lit up to phenomenal hues, artificial irises almost glowing in the light of the setting sun. She put up an index finger for quiet, their attention her cue. “Imagine if you will…a place that required no currency, a place where your wildest desires was a request away, the world your mere plaything, bending to your desired will. This was, and still is, that place.”
Motioning her hands out to the countless rows of abandoned food and entertainment booths, the android increased the amount of gusto in her voice. “The West was built by HIM to appeal to the desires of the bored masses. Those who were bored with life and the linearity it entailed were welcome with open arms into HIS play world. To Consume,” she pointed to a yakisoba booth, rotting noodles sealed neatly in their plastic containers. “To Play,” she next pointed to a large pool underneath a rollercoaster, the surface of the suspicious crystal liquid surprisingly clean despite the lack of people to maintain it. “…and last, but not least…to Sin.” To the confusion of the group, she placed attention on the unattended rollercoaster, the wooden death trap zooming into a tunnel of darkness.
“Sin?” D made a wry face as he waited for the rickety wooden coaster to race out of the tunnel. “How’s that work?”
“Because everything and nothing is as it seems,” answered Koi cryptically. “The rollercoaster on your immediate right is ‘Nightmare A La Blue’…equipped with vibrating seats and limited dividers…a starter for couples. But the real activity lies in that tunnel…the metallic wires decorating the entrance of the tunnel were once tentacles. But before time erased the sordid nature--”
“Wait, what? Tentacles??” D’s eyes still lingered on the tunnel, the coaster having yet to leave the darkness and his mind filling in the blanks his vision could not.
“As I said before, ‘your wildest desires’. The tentacles would drop and-”
“Stop it.” Interrupted Raion with a hand in the air. Moving his head from side to side, he sighed. “We get where this was going and where it went. We’re done. But…” Nose twitching, Raion faced the swimming pool. Feeling his insides rushing to meet his throat, he swallowed back his nausea from the deceptively innocent liquid. “…that’s not water.” Concluded Raion.
Koi nodded her head. “Absolutely right. To me, it has the potential to be liquid death. To you-”
“Completely deadens my senses.” Finished Raion. “Plus a lap through that would do nothing for my skin.” Noting the bewilderment on Paper Crane and D’s face, Raion clarified. “It’s essence of potato.”
“Vodka,” translated Toto.
D opened his mouth in mock-disbelief, half expecting Koi to throw in a theatrical ‘just kidding’. At receiving no such response, he started to laugh at the incredulity of it all. “A swimming pool of VODKA?! What? Drink and drown!? Explains why everybody’s gone…” D chuckled some more, a mixture of nerves and outrage at the insanity of the west.
“Drinking and drowning only occurred on the rare days when “La Blue” malfunctioned. The pool was built to avoid multitasking but also as a failsafe for La Blue. However, HE did not take into consideration that regardless the surface, falling into liquid at such a height was no better than falling to the ground. But this is all a moot point as I realized…” Koi tapped her bottom lip, devious expression aimed at Paper Crane. “…I have not yet answered your questions.”
“Indeed,” muttered Paper Crane, unable to veil her minimal annoyance. “There once were…and now there are not. Where are they? Did paradise not live up to their expectations?”
“Oh! It did just that and more. Nothing offered in this place was false in nature or sincerity. However…” Koi’s voice turned dark, irises shifting into a deep crimson to match the mood. “However, despite the lack of currency, limitless amounts of sin and debauchery are not without their prices. After a year of guilt free play, HE came down to collect. All HE required was their…time. And what were a few minutes of time in exchange for everything you’ve ever wanted? Some willingly obliged…and thus they disappeared. Others bartered for another year…and thus, the enforcers of His Rule forcefully claimed them. The remaining few attempted to flee…and thus, they perished. So ends the story of Paradise.” She opened her arms, embracing the graveyard of sin. “Welcome…to the West!”
A great sense of unease pervaded the group of eclectic characters after Koi’s tale and even more so after her outburst. The original speculation that the new locale was merely haunted sounded a lot more desirable than the startling truth explaining the absence of life. Holding anxious expressions, it was only Paper Crane who maintained a pensive face. She narrowed her eyes to the back of Koi’s head. “Koicoroe…how could you possibly know the verity of that tale? My impression from your earlier story indicates this would be your first time here as well…”
The android stopped. “I…do not know. That is a question best left to Master. I express what was previously programmed into my mind and for reasons beyond my knowledge, I was meant to know the fall of the West.” Koi looked over her shoulder and shrugged. “Okashii ga…we can rest here if you’d like. My senses indicate though a majority of the food items are spoiled, the Uden is still-”
“We should go.” Cut off Toto. The beast of a figure had his nose in the air, eyes restlessly scanning the area.
Already at a booth of bubbling Uden, D pressed his lips together in disagreement. He sighed. “Well, we don’t have to stay here but we should at least,” Unable to help himself, he took a bite of a chewy purple shape and spoke between mouthfuls. “We should at least not let this go to waste.”
Toto marched up to D and stopped the hungry youth mid-feast. Grabbing onto his arm, he spoke in a hushed tone. “I think it would be in our best interest to leave as soon as possible.”
D set down the pair of sky blue chopsticks conveniently laid out for the feast. Putting down the bowl of Uden, he whispered back to Toto. “What’s going on?”
“He senses it too…” Raion cracked his finger joints one by one. With each finger cracked, a fingernail elongated, the young lion baring his increasingly feral becoming teeth. Jumping to D’s other side; he released an ungodly primal roar into the sky.
Growing tense and still unsure of the situation, D gulped and backed up into the Uden booth. “Toto--”
“We’re being watched.” Curtly explained Toto, furry hand reaching for the hilt of his katana.
Angling her head, Koi eventually shook her head. “Incorrect. My radar is not indicating anyone else within our proximity.”
“Then your radar is wrong.” Commented Raion. His eyes now holding a malevolent golden glow, he licked a fang in anticipation of the fight. “Something is here.
Each member of the group got into their own defensive posture, waiting for the invisible threat to make itself known. The group waited, La Blue finally rushing out of its tunnel, the eerie melody in the abandoned world suddenly loud in their ears. Eventually, they heard it. A faint clapping in the distance, a chipper laugh being carried by the wind.
From the mists of the West sauntered out a cloaked figure; his laughter echoed in the emptiness of the foreboding locale. Hands raised in defeat as he approached the waiting group, he grinned broadly, revealing a set of impeccable pearly whites which were in sharp contrast to the hairy darkness of his face. “Relax mon! Y'all too tense..! Doh...” He trailed off, large yellow eyes glued to the enchanting pair of hurricane sandals. “…dem shoes are...me like dem shoes. Take ‘em off.” He ordered, all in the same good humored tone.
D looked the stranger up and down in astonishment at his nerve. Of all the threatening cliché villain lines, the cheerful demand to give up his shoes was the last thing he expected to hear. Refraining from laughing in his face, he said. “This is NOT the ghetto.”
“Ghetto?” The stranger blinked, not understanding his meaning. Dismissing it as trivial, he corrected D. “Dis be da West. And de West is ours.”
“Dis be?” D almost walked away to have a moment to himself. It was becoming too much. However, Toto, sensing his incredulity over the stranger’s gall, kept him in place.
Paper Crane murmured to herself quietly, her quotation filled mind picking out the most important word in his claim. “Ours?” She repeated slowly.
The bulky stranger guffawed heartily, laughter a little too loud. “MINE. Me meant mine.”
Glancing between D and the stranger, Raion furrowed his brows. “This is…he said this is. I didn’t only hear th-”
“Hear what ya want,” interrupted the stranger briskly. Shaking his head mock-tragically, he exhaled wistfully. “But...dat’s a shame. Me would do...ANYTING for dose shoes.”
“Really?” D inched closer to Toto, hand gliding towards his keitai charm.
“YES! Me can give you ANYTING you want. Peypah,” Addressing Paper Crane, his accent changed entirely. “I know what it is you seek. Sutras are of significant value but I can give you enlightenment. The world deciphered…understood…yours.”
Startled at being directly addressed and even more so from the offer, Paper Crane bowed her head. “The path to enlightenment is not so easily given as it is learned. But I thank you for the offer.” She finished, a sutra now hidden in the palm of her hand.
The stranger sucked his teeth. “Fine fine, man! But Raion,” He turned his attention onto the lowly growling mutt. “I understand your troubles. You’re better than your brothers, I know it, you KNOW it. But it’s not enough. You need power. And for those sandals, I can give you EXACTLY that…” His eyes wandered over to D. “…and more.”
Before Raion could openly contemplate the offer, Toto added onto the stranger’s words. “But then it would show who the most faithful companion REALLY is and why I'm D's guardian...and you're a Pussy.” Toto leered dangerously to Raion, furry grip still on D’s shoulder.
Instantly forgetting the stranger, Raion whipped his head in Toto’s direction. “FUCK you! One. Two. Feline.” Amended Raion testily. Examining his claws under the waning light, he sighed. “And three. Pass. I can find legitimate and...less sketchy places to get what I want.”
“But dere's no place else in dis world you can find a human heart.”
“Hmm?!” Koi’s eyes lit up from the stranger’s words, she taking a step closer. “Excuse me?”
His sole attention on the curious android, the stranger spoke hypnotically to Koi. “Chibi no machi can't give you a heart. And a real one at that? Highly unlikely. Can you even IMAGINE something like that existing ANYWHERE else but here? You said it yourself, Koicoroe, ‘your wildest desires a request away.’ The West may not look impressive but the west is still the West. The world...is yours. This, here, this is the CLOSEST you'll get to saving his life. Time is not on your side and hasn’t been the moment you joined their par-”
“ENOUGH!” yelled Toto, snapping everyone back into reality and out of the seductive tones of the stranger’s voice.
Unlike the other members within the group, Koi did not promptly respond in the negative to his offer. Clearly shaken up by the unfortunate truth of the stranger’s monologue, she glanced out of the corner of her eyes to D's sandals. Facing him fully, her eyes turned a sad blue, Koi not sure what to say.
Angry with himself for letting the stranger attempt to persuade even one party member in front of him, let alone three, he pushed away the infuriated tremble in his voice and focused on the perturbed android. “…Koi. I want to help you help your master. You KNOW I do and if I didn’t…you would still be singing in shifts at ‘Club Monae’. Taking my sandals won’t change anything and will probably screw us all,” Apprehensive as she inched closer to his position, he cringed from his oncoming words. “Koicoroe, he's using your love of your master to blind you. I know it. YOU know it,” D’s grip tightened around his keitai charm, he unsure if he’d be willing to use it against a friend. Toto extended a paw in D’s line of sight, D shaking his head. “...Koi.”
Koi came to a stop feet away from the protective Toto and the worried D. Crushed blue gaze drilling into the ground, she spoke unnaturally calm. “His words are not untrue. Time is not on master’s side. As aware as I am of that fact, I am still an android; my mind runs in computations. And while I can love-, no, while I Do love...there is a 99.9% probability you are correct.”
“But there's a 00.1% chance me a right.” Said the stranger with conviction. He tapped his foot impatiently, broad grin still in play. “So what will it be?”
Extending her right hand in the direction of the waiting stranger, Koi glared in his direction. Though her facial expression was deadpan, her eyes glowed white in her rage from being manipulated from the one thing making her unique. The fingertips of her right hand lifted up to reveal five mini-missile launchers, she forming a metallic sneer. “Koroshite-Ageru.” Without hesitation, she fired all five missiles at the psychotically laughing stranger…
The motley crew, upon crossing into the westernmost borders of Ozu No Kuni, immediately noticed the changes in their environment. Gone was the almost mythical emerald forest with its sparkling overgrown trees and the comforting air of intrigue found in the atmosphere. In place of the forest was what appeared to be remnants of a festival long past, abandoned carnival booths and ancient rides looming in the distance; the western frontier victim to the passage of time.
Paper Crane held out her arm in a defensive posture, expressing genuine confusion as she glanced from left to right. Lowering her guard slightly, she inquired out to the empty landscape. “Where is everybody? Where have they gone? Raion…Koicoroe…do you know?”
“Do you not know?” questioned Koicoroe, head tilted obliquely to the side. Stepping into the western lands, she waited for the others to follow her into the ghostly new world. Sensing the groups’ reluctance, Koicoroe stopped and looked them over. “…are we not trying to complete our given task?”
Raion arched a perfectly trimmed brow. Raising his head, he huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Koi, clearly you’ve gone mad. This place has gone to the dogs…” His tiger yellow eyes briefly rolled onto Toto, the 7ft lycanthropic guardian returning the condescending glare. Averting his gaze to a towering mechanical disaster in the distance, he continued in a whisper. “…Probably to the Ghosts too. This isn’t the West I remember.”
“Things have changed, Brave Raion…” murmured Koi with the slightest hint of mockery in her tone. She smiled in what was meant to be a reassuring way to the apprehensive party, but couldn’t hide the mischievous mechanical spark in her eyes. Turning quickly on her metallic heels, she said. “I will explain the current state of the West while we walk. D, shall I lead the way?”
“Hmm…” D examined the entrance way into their destination. Judging by the looks of it, the group would be the first set of footsteps to grace the land in months, perhaps even years. An out of tune melody from a long broken speaker and the creaking of empty attractions were the most distinct noises heard in the background. D released a subconscious shiver. The lack of a visible threat ironically enough presented a bigger threat than any other challenge the group had overcome. Feeling a soft squeeze on his shoulder from Toto, D pushed away his fears and continued. “…yeah, that may be best. You and Raion can lead up in the front…Toto and I will cover the rear. Paper Crane, is center good for you?”
Swaying into the middle of the group, Paper Crane nodded, fluidity in every movement she made. “Finding one’s center is always best for further self discovery…” chimed the sutra seeking Paper Crane. After a moment of contemplation, she nodded in satisfaction with her quote and followed after Koi and Raion into the depths of the West.
D and Toto stared after Paper Crane’s statement, a similar look of disbelief in the pairs’ eyes. Toto recovered first, disbelief replaced with a blank stare. “I think that might’ve been fortune cookie quote number twelve.”
“Thirteen,” corrected D, his earlier fears forgotten by the ridiculousness of the quote. “Interesting she’d reach her thirteenth quote after we got here…” he trailed off.
“You okay?” asked Toto in concern.
“It’s nothing…” waved off D, unable to look his Guardian in the eyes just yet.
Before Toto could inquire further into D’s sudden anxieties, Raion shouted from the distance. “We don’t have time for ALONE TIME, Toto! Stop wasting D’s time!”
Rolling his canine eyes far into the back of his head, Toto gently nudged D forward to play catch up with the impatient group…well, the impatient Raion. The pair came to a slow behind the murmuring Paper Crane, the lithe female tilting her head back to meet their vision. “Glad you two could make it…Koi was waiting for your presence…” She extended a hand out to the smiling android. “Take it away.”
Koi performed a small curtsy in Paper Crane’s direction. “Why thank you,” Clearing her throat for dramatic impact, the sleekly built white and midnight blue android turned to face her waiting audience. Walking backwards, her eyes lit up to phenomenal hues, artificial irises almost glowing in the light of the setting sun. She put up an index finger for quiet, their attention her cue. “Imagine if you will…a place that required no currency, a place where your wildest desires was a request away, the world your mere plaything, bending to your desired will. This was, and still is, that place.”
Motioning her hands out to the countless rows of abandoned food and entertainment booths, the android increased the amount of gusto in her voice. “The West was built by HIM to appeal to the desires of the bored masses. Those who were bored with life and the linearity it entailed were welcome with open arms into HIS play world. To Consume,” she pointed to a yakisoba booth, rotting noodles sealed neatly in their plastic containers. “To Play,” she next pointed to a large pool underneath a rollercoaster, the surface of the suspicious crystal liquid surprisingly clean despite the lack of people to maintain it. “…and last, but not least…to Sin.” To the confusion of the group, she placed attention on the unattended rollercoaster, the wooden death trap zooming into a tunnel of darkness.
“Sin?” D made a wry face as he waited for the rickety wooden coaster to race out of the tunnel. “How’s that work?”
“Because everything and nothing is as it seems,” answered Koi cryptically. “The rollercoaster on your immediate right is ‘Nightmare A La Blue’…equipped with vibrating seats and limited dividers…a starter for couples. But the real activity lies in that tunnel…the metallic wires decorating the entrance of the tunnel were once tentacles. But before time erased the sordid nature--”
“Wait, what? Tentacles??” D’s eyes still lingered on the tunnel, the coaster having yet to leave the darkness and his mind filling in the blanks his vision could not.
“As I said before, ‘your wildest desires’. The tentacles would drop and-”
“Stop it.” Interrupted Raion with a hand in the air. Moving his head from side to side, he sighed. “We get where this was going and where it went. We’re done. But…” Nose twitching, Raion faced the swimming pool. Feeling his insides rushing to meet his throat, he swallowed back his nausea from the deceptively innocent liquid. “…that’s not water.” Concluded Raion.
Koi nodded her head. “Absolutely right. To me, it has the potential to be liquid death. To you-”
“Completely deadens my senses.” Finished Raion. “Plus a lap through that would do nothing for my skin.” Noting the bewilderment on Paper Crane and D’s face, Raion clarified. “It’s essence of potato.”
“Vodka,” translated Toto.
D opened his mouth in mock-disbelief, half expecting Koi to throw in a theatrical ‘just kidding’. At receiving no such response, he started to laugh at the incredulity of it all. “A swimming pool of VODKA?! What? Drink and drown!? Explains why everybody’s gone…” D chuckled some more, a mixture of nerves and outrage at the insanity of the west.
“Drinking and drowning only occurred on the rare days when “La Blue” malfunctioned. The pool was built to avoid multitasking but also as a failsafe for La Blue. However, HE did not take into consideration that regardless the surface, falling into liquid at such a height was no better than falling to the ground. But this is all a moot point as I realized…” Koi tapped her bottom lip, devious expression aimed at Paper Crane. “…I have not yet answered your questions.”
“Indeed,” muttered Paper Crane, unable to veil her minimal annoyance. “There once were…and now there are not. Where are they? Did paradise not live up to their expectations?”
“Oh! It did just that and more. Nothing offered in this place was false in nature or sincerity. However…” Koi’s voice turned dark, irises shifting into a deep crimson to match the mood. “However, despite the lack of currency, limitless amounts of sin and debauchery are not without their prices. After a year of guilt free play, HE came down to collect. All HE required was their…time. And what were a few minutes of time in exchange for everything you’ve ever wanted? Some willingly obliged…and thus they disappeared. Others bartered for another year…and thus, the enforcers of His Rule forcefully claimed them. The remaining few attempted to flee…and thus, they perished. So ends the story of Paradise.” She opened her arms, embracing the graveyard of sin. “Welcome…to the West!”
A great sense of unease pervaded the group of eclectic characters after Koi’s tale and even more so after her outburst. The original speculation that the new locale was merely haunted sounded a lot more desirable than the startling truth explaining the absence of life. Holding anxious expressions, it was only Paper Crane who maintained a pensive face. She narrowed her eyes to the back of Koi’s head. “Koicoroe…how could you possibly know the verity of that tale? My impression from your earlier story indicates this would be your first time here as well…”
The android stopped. “I…do not know. That is a question best left to Master. I express what was previously programmed into my mind and for reasons beyond my knowledge, I was meant to know the fall of the West.” Koi looked over her shoulder and shrugged. “Okashii ga…we can rest here if you’d like. My senses indicate though a majority of the food items are spoiled, the Uden is still-”
“We should go.” Cut off Toto. The beast of a figure had his nose in the air, eyes restlessly scanning the area.
Already at a booth of bubbling Uden, D pressed his lips together in disagreement. He sighed. “Well, we don’t have to stay here but we should at least,” Unable to help himself, he took a bite of a chewy purple shape and spoke between mouthfuls. “We should at least not let this go to waste.”
Toto marched up to D and stopped the hungry youth mid-feast. Grabbing onto his arm, he spoke in a hushed tone. “I think it would be in our best interest to leave as soon as possible.”
D set down the pair of sky blue chopsticks conveniently laid out for the feast. Putting down the bowl of Uden, he whispered back to Toto. “What’s going on?”
“He senses it too…” Raion cracked his finger joints one by one. With each finger cracked, a fingernail elongated, the young lion baring his increasingly feral becoming teeth. Jumping to D’s other side; he released an ungodly primal roar into the sky.
Growing tense and still unsure of the situation, D gulped and backed up into the Uden booth. “Toto--”
“We’re being watched.” Curtly explained Toto, furry hand reaching for the hilt of his katana.
Angling her head, Koi eventually shook her head. “Incorrect. My radar is not indicating anyone else within our proximity.”
“Then your radar is wrong.” Commented Raion. His eyes now holding a malevolent golden glow, he licked a fang in anticipation of the fight. “Something is here.
Each member of the group got into their own defensive posture, waiting for the invisible threat to make itself known. The group waited, La Blue finally rushing out of its tunnel, the eerie melody in the abandoned world suddenly loud in their ears. Eventually, they heard it. A faint clapping in the distance, a chipper laugh being carried by the wind.
From the mists of the West sauntered out a cloaked figure; his laughter echoed in the emptiness of the foreboding locale. Hands raised in defeat as he approached the waiting group, he grinned broadly, revealing a set of impeccable pearly whites which were in sharp contrast to the hairy darkness of his face. “Relax mon! Y'all too tense..! Doh...” He trailed off, large yellow eyes glued to the enchanting pair of hurricane sandals. “…dem shoes are...me like dem shoes. Take ‘em off.” He ordered, all in the same good humored tone.
D looked the stranger up and down in astonishment at his nerve. Of all the threatening cliché villain lines, the cheerful demand to give up his shoes was the last thing he expected to hear. Refraining from laughing in his face, he said. “This is NOT the ghetto.”
“Ghetto?” The stranger blinked, not understanding his meaning. Dismissing it as trivial, he corrected D. “Dis be da West. And de West is ours.”
“Dis be?” D almost walked away to have a moment to himself. It was becoming too much. However, Toto, sensing his incredulity over the stranger’s gall, kept him in place.
Paper Crane murmured to herself quietly, her quotation filled mind picking out the most important word in his claim. “Ours?” She repeated slowly.
The bulky stranger guffawed heartily, laughter a little too loud. “MINE. Me meant mine.”
Glancing between D and the stranger, Raion furrowed his brows. “This is…he said this is. I didn’t only hear th-”
“Hear what ya want,” interrupted the stranger briskly. Shaking his head mock-tragically, he exhaled wistfully. “But...dat’s a shame. Me would do...ANYTING for dose shoes.”
“Really?” D inched closer to Toto, hand gliding towards his keitai charm.
“YES! Me can give you ANYTING you want. Peypah,” Addressing Paper Crane, his accent changed entirely. “I know what it is you seek. Sutras are of significant value but I can give you enlightenment. The world deciphered…understood…yours.”
Startled at being directly addressed and even more so from the offer, Paper Crane bowed her head. “The path to enlightenment is not so easily given as it is learned. But I thank you for the offer.” She finished, a sutra now hidden in the palm of her hand.
The stranger sucked his teeth. “Fine fine, man! But Raion,” He turned his attention onto the lowly growling mutt. “I understand your troubles. You’re better than your brothers, I know it, you KNOW it. But it’s not enough. You need power. And for those sandals, I can give you EXACTLY that…” His eyes wandered over to D. “…and more.”
Before Raion could openly contemplate the offer, Toto added onto the stranger’s words. “But then it would show who the most faithful companion REALLY is and why I'm D's guardian...and you're a Pussy.” Toto leered dangerously to Raion, furry grip still on D’s shoulder.
Instantly forgetting the stranger, Raion whipped his head in Toto’s direction. “FUCK you! One. Two. Feline.” Amended Raion testily. Examining his claws under the waning light, he sighed. “And three. Pass. I can find legitimate and...less sketchy places to get what I want.”
“But dere's no place else in dis world you can find a human heart.”
“Hmm?!” Koi’s eyes lit up from the stranger’s words, she taking a step closer. “Excuse me?”
His sole attention on the curious android, the stranger spoke hypnotically to Koi. “Chibi no machi can't give you a heart. And a real one at that? Highly unlikely. Can you even IMAGINE something like that existing ANYWHERE else but here? You said it yourself, Koicoroe, ‘your wildest desires a request away.’ The West may not look impressive but the west is still the West. The world...is yours. This, here, this is the CLOSEST you'll get to saving his life. Time is not on your side and hasn’t been the moment you joined their par-”
“ENOUGH!” yelled Toto, snapping everyone back into reality and out of the seductive tones of the stranger’s voice.
Unlike the other members within the group, Koi did not promptly respond in the negative to his offer. Clearly shaken up by the unfortunate truth of the stranger’s monologue, she glanced out of the corner of her eyes to D's sandals. Facing him fully, her eyes turned a sad blue, Koi not sure what to say.
Angry with himself for letting the stranger attempt to persuade even one party member in front of him, let alone three, he pushed away the infuriated tremble in his voice and focused on the perturbed android. “…Koi. I want to help you help your master. You KNOW I do and if I didn’t…you would still be singing in shifts at ‘Club Monae’. Taking my sandals won’t change anything and will probably screw us all,” Apprehensive as she inched closer to his position, he cringed from his oncoming words. “Koicoroe, he's using your love of your master to blind you. I know it. YOU know it,” D’s grip tightened around his keitai charm, he unsure if he’d be willing to use it against a friend. Toto extended a paw in D’s line of sight, D shaking his head. “...Koi.”
Koi came to a stop feet away from the protective Toto and the worried D. Crushed blue gaze drilling into the ground, she spoke unnaturally calm. “His words are not untrue. Time is not on master’s side. As aware as I am of that fact, I am still an android; my mind runs in computations. And while I can love-, no, while I Do love...there is a 99.9% probability you are correct.”
“But there's a 00.1% chance me a right.” Said the stranger with conviction. He tapped his foot impatiently, broad grin still in play. “So what will it be?”
Extending her right hand in the direction of the waiting stranger, Koi glared in his direction. Though her facial expression was deadpan, her eyes glowed white in her rage from being manipulated from the one thing making her unique. The fingertips of her right hand lifted up to reveal five mini-missile launchers, she forming a metallic sneer. “Koroshite-Ageru.” Without hesitation, she fired all five missiles at the psychotically laughing stranger…