Nightshift 38: East Wing, Hall A

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

[From here.]

Soubi was certain he knew the way now. He'd come along here with Ritsuka, alone....teasing the boy with that can. Oh yes. He'd enjoyed that, though they'd had discussions about things Soubi would rather have hidden from. But you can't win them all.

Finding the door, he gave the handle a twist and a push but, like last time, it was a job for his shoulder. He stepped back before forcing his weight into it. The door opened and he shone the light in from the torch, checking for monsters.

[Going here.]

Comments

[enigmaticmedium.livejournal.com]

Xelloss waited patiently for Porky to respond to the news, watching the fight in the meantime. It wasn't as easy to see as might be ideal in the daylight, but it was still clear enough that the monster was doomed now. His companion didn't seem to mind or even care particularly more than he did. It wasn't that Xelloss had thought the king would be a very warm person even from their introduction, but this cold streak went rather deep, past self-preservation to the point of not caring about others.

Asking if the king was really human would probably be too forward, which was a pity. Finding like-minded people who were enjoyable to be around was hard, and the king was entertaining. His question shook Xelloss from his own thoughts, too.

"Do I know any alchemists personally?" He mulled it over. "No... I don't think that I do. You see, there don't seem to be many, and almost all of them seem to be from the same worlds. With so many patients who would like better weapons, they're very in demand. I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to keep themselves private, the ones who aren't linked to Clubs already. Otherwise they'd just be manufacturing machines all day long! But I think the Clubs who have alchemists will let you sign up on a list to get an item made. The waiting lists might be a little long."

[piggy-king.livejournal.com]

Sign up on a list? Porky would have to sign up on a list if he wanted to have something made? The notion wasn't only degrading to Porky, but it was almost...foreign. Porky had never had to wait for things to be made for him. He'd never even had to request their production. Porky just said that they were to be made, and they were made. That's what it was like when a king had an order.

But now...Porky wasn't special. At least, not according to them...those...stupid pig-butts! How dare they make Porky grovel at their feet! Porky was better than them! Porky was smarter than them! Porky was stron-

...Well, Porky probably wasn't stronger than them, but that wasn't the point! The point was, Porky didn't ask for things, people made them without asking!

It had only been an promise to himself before, but this...this insult to Porky only fueled his determination to find an alchemist and make them join the Pigmasks.

"All right," Porky said to Xelloss after he had finished thinking, "If there's anything you need to do, we can go do that. If not, let's head somewhere safe. It looks like night's almost over anyway."

Porky normally wouldn't take Xelloss' needs into consideration, but Porky didn't have anything else he needed to do. Plus, this seemingly innocuous offer could put Porky on Xelloss' good side. Porky never knew, after all, when he would need help again.

[enigmaticmedium.livejournal.com]

"Anything I need to do? Do you mean tonight?" Xelloss looked surprised at the question, then put a finger to his chin, leaning against the shovel. "I can't really think of anything." Which meant, of course, he'd literally escorted Porky because he had nothing better to do. Whether it was an insult or not was up to interpretation, but Xelloss was still a bit taller, in much better shape, and holding a shovel, whereas Porky was holding a screwdriver. Manners had a way of bending to facts of life like that, at least for those who survived here long. And although he seemed a bit strange, Porky didn't seem like the type to let himself die immediately.

"There's really nowhere safe, other than the patient rooms. Those are the safest place, but I can't guarantee those would be safe either." Xelloss corrected himself. "Though we could go and try the organ again. Or look at some of the other hallway rooms. You'll pass out and wake up in your bed when night is over, so it'll be surprising at first, but don't worry! You get used to it before no time at all!"

[piggy-king.livejournal.com]

Thank god Xelloss didn't have anything else he needed. Porky wasn't sure that he'd even had been able to go on whatever stupid errand Xelloss needed to do anyway. Besides, it wasn't like Porky was exactly eager to risk fighting a monster all for the sake of getting brownie points with someone whom he didn't particularly like. Anyway, Porky was relieved that he didn't have to do anything for Xelloss.

That bit about the lack of a safe place was a little disconcerting, though. And the part about passing out troubled Porky, but not enough to warrant any serious thought. After all, all of these other people seemed to be fine, despite spontaneously passing out in a building full of monsters. Either way, the only part Porky had to worry about was finding a safe spot so he could wait till morning.

"Ummm..." Porky said quietly as he weighed his options, "Well...I suppose we could check some of these other rooms." There was, after all, no telling what Porky could find.

[enigmaticmedium.livejournal.com]

"The other rooms in the hallway? Or go back and check the rooms in other halls? It might be a little far to go..." Xelloss glanced back and forth. Really, with a monster currently engaged, the chances of their being attacked seemed small. Not because of any great logic, but rather a sense of the dramatic; the doctor seemed to like things more interesting, at least slightly further apart from each other for the fights. Otherwise, why not just flood the place with the seemingly endless number of monsters, until the patients couldn't help but be overwhelmed? Even individuals who could shout things like 'get out of the way' or whatever that young man was trying to express.

"Was being a king very entertaining?" Leaning against a wall casually, Xelloss changed the subject, still watching the fight as if it were put on for his own amusement. It hadn't been, but that hardly meant he couldn't enjoy it while he was here.

[piggy-king.livejournal.com]

So Xelloss didn't want to explore any of the other rooms. It was a little annoying, but it wasn't anything Porky couldn't handle at this point. Porky had been degraded and insulted so many times during the night, forced to grovel and follow Xelloss wherever he went, uprooted from the Nowhere Islands, and freed from the Absolutely Safe Capsule, Porky's only true sanctuary, that this, which would normally been considered insubordination and sent Porky into a rage, was almost...normal. Porky, having nothing better to do, sat down against the wall and began watching the fight along with Xelloss.

The question surprised Porky, though. To be honest, Porky had never thought about if he actually enjoyed being king.

"Was being king entertaining?" Porky mused, "I suppose so. Everything in the world belonged to me and everyone had to do what I told them to. It was pretty fun, I guess. I could tell people to do outrageous things or order people to build a really powerful weapon and they'd do it really fast. My palace was really nice, too. It was so tall that it went past the clouds. It had a floor for everything I could ever want...a floor full of bathrooms, a harem, a house for my...well, I'm not sure I could call him my friend...Anyway, it had everything! And the city around it was incredible! Everything was so exciting! There were arcades and movie theaters and restaurants and a huge statue of me that beat up anyone I wanted! I think that may have gotten destroyed though..."

Porky sighed.

"Come to think of it, I guess it wasn't really as great as I made it sound..." Porky mumbled, "I make it sound like a paradise, but it wasn't. It would have been my personal utopia, if it hadn't been for those...other people. My perfect city was clogged with crowds of idiots, muttering the same things over and over! They never said anything remotely interesting! And, even if they weren't there, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy it...I couldn't move from my bed, so I had to stay at the very top of my tower and watch my city from afar. I couldn't do anything besides just sit there and watch those idiots enjoy the city. My city. And I always worried if people actually liked me or followed my orders just because I was in charge...And right when I finally thought I found a place that I could really enjoy...I get sent here."

Porky tried to blink back tears. It may have seemed odd to see an old man start crying, but Porky was, after all, a child at heart. Porky's sadness didn't last long, though. It quickly soured into rage.

"Landel..." Porky seethed, "What business could that man have with me? Well, whatever he has planned...it's not going to happen, I can tell you that right now. I'm going to find that bastard and...and...and kill him! No, death is too merciful a punishment for a man that would dare to ruin my happiness! I'll...I'll turn him into a chimera and make him my slave! Well, whatever I do, I'll make him regret bringing me here...that is certain."

[enigmaticmedium.livejournal.com]

Like a good psychiatrist, or emotional voyeur, Xelloss was quiet and listened with attention to Porky's outbursts, going from something like nostalgia to grief to anger over a short course of minutes. The pause and blinking, as though the man might start to cry, was an unexpected surprise even in the face of the king's prior emotional outbursts. Was he just that unbalanced, maybe spoiled by his role in his own world? Insecurities, distaste at his own followers, various revelations including the news that he couldn't move from his bed. So he had been changed too when he came here, but from what? Simply given the ability to defend himself so he could participate as well? It was a little disappointing, compared to some of the changes Xelloss had heard of, but that was only a guess and based on Porky's testimony, which could be lying too. The man hadn't seemed surprised by his mobility when Xelloss saw him first, but he'd also changed admirably fast to fit his needs when Xelloss had explained the situation.

The description of the city and what Xelloss assumed was a castle were odd as well. Why someone would want a room full of bathrooms was a good question, much more interesting than the harem, but Xelloss decided not to ask. Some of the words for places in the city remained mysterious; arcades and movie theaters must have been some form of entertainment, but not native to Xelloss's own experience. The statue which would attack others, on the other hand, was easy enough to understand. Magic like that was a fairly simple matter, whether his companion admitted to having 'magic' in his world or not.

"Lots of people agree with you about Landel! He seems to have made himself very unpopular. No one knows why he picks the people he picks, although we're very odd when you consider us as a whole. You might find it even more true tomorrow, when you meet more people during the day." Xelloss chimed in when the king had seemed to finish his last rant against their captor. "Turning him into a chimera seems all right, but you should think ahead about what you're going to mix him with. The chimera I knew was much better off like that, he was practically useless as a human. You wouldn't want to accidentally give Dr. Landel a gift instead, right?"

[piggy-king.livejournal.com]

Porky wasn't surprised that Landel wasn't popular. How could he if he was someone that took so many people from their homes to a place like this? Well, Porky couldn't really judge Landel on that count, since he had done it himself. Still, Porky didn't have the citizens of the Nowhere Islands attacked by monsters! In fact, he treated them rather well! Porky wasn't a bad king, far from it! Porky was a good king! Far different from Landel! He wasn't even a king! He was just a big jerk!

A jerk with a plan, though. No one would ever expend this much effort, bringing all these people from different worlds, just to play "mad doctor." Well, finding out what Landel was planning could wait. First off, Porky had to get to his rightful place: king. He doubted that he could become a king of the caliber he had been at the Nowhere Islands, but as long as he had a good-sized group of "patients" under his control, Porky would be ready for whatever Landel threw at him.

After he wiped the tears from his eyes, Porky stood up, his eyes blazing with intensity. Porky wasn't going to give up. He never had and he never would. No setback was too great, no challenge too much. He would make Landel pay, and he wouldn't rest until he had had his revenge.

Just you wait, Landel, Porky thought to himself, You may not have known it, but bringing me here was the greatest mistake you could have ever made. You'll regret it.