There was a party at my house tonight, so I decided to just repost the
revised version of this story. Mostly it's little corrections with a few
other small add ins, as a bonus it's all in one post now. The next part
should be out tomorrow night. I'm going to finish this before I continue
anything else. It's got a good five or six good sized parts left to it at
least. After that I'll put it on the Raac and my web page.
here it is...
Nerima Park.
A Mega Crossover by Carrot Glace.
Carrot Glace sat down at his computer, a cigarette burned slowly in his
hand as he sat in the darkness at a small desk that sat in the corner of
a small slightly messy kitchen. He sighed heavily as he clicked on an
icon and popped the tab on a can of beer as he relaxed from his day at
work and rubbed his temples as the internet program slowly loaded. He was
an average looking man, twenty-one years old with short cut brown hair
and gray eyes; his build was slim, but he wasn't really skinny. He
glanced for a place to set down his drink and frowned when he found all
surfaces covered in paper and disks. With a frustrated growl he swept his
arm across a portion of desk sending the mess there to the ground.
Finally the program finished and he scrolled down through the messages
from his mailing list; various fanfiction with a few personal messages
thrown in for good measure. He stopped and noticed an odd looking
message, "From a fan?" he read the tag out loud. A small smile crossed
his lips as he clicked on it not sure what to expect.
As he read the message his eyes became wide in shocked disbelief.
"Dear Mr. Glace,
My name is Chin Wu Kon; I am the owner of a large corporation called
IGN, as well as a fan of some of your works. I have a project I've been
working on and I'd like your personal opinion on it. I will be sending a
helicopter to pick you up tomorrow at nine o'clock. Yes, I already have
your address; please do not be alarmed, the things you can get over the
internet if you have the proper connections and knowledge are quite
surprising.
In any case, I have a proposition for you. I would like you to visit me
and see what it is I've done, I'm sure you will be quite impressed. The
details of my operation are far to sensitive to convey over such an
insecure form of communication. If you refuse my offer I will understand,
just instruct the associate I am sending with the chopper to move on and
he will do so without asking. You will be well paid for your time and I'd
like to thank you for your participation in advance.
Thank you for your time.
Chin Wu Kon."
"What the hell is this?" muttered Carrot as he sat back and scrunched
his brow in annoyance. He wasn't sure what the hell was going on, but he
didn't think it was funny at all. "Oh well, I guess he just has a weird
sense of humor." Without dwelling on the matter any further he moved on
to the next message.
It was six o'clock in the morning when Carrot found himself standing out
in the yard staring in shock at the helicopter landing in his yard. His
toothbrush hung from his mouth and a towel was draped over his shoulder.
He wasn't sure what to say when a man in a neatly pressed business suit
ran out from the vehicle as the blades blasted the area with wind.
The man was a skinny older man, he was balding and had a thin pair of
eyeglasses resting on his face. He rushed over to him with his bag held
over his head letting his tie flap in the wind. He stopped and looked at
the man standing in the yard in his pajama bottoms and frowned as he
rushed over to him. The first thing he noticed was that the boy was in
pretty good shape, the second thing was the fact that he had obviously
not taken the message clearly or not yet read it. He extended his hand
and smiled at him.
"Mr. Glace?"
"D'anna actually, Carrot Glace is just my screen name, and my nickname,"
replied the man as he took his hand and shook of the surprise remarkably
well. "You must be Mr. Kon's friend."
"Not his friend, not really," replied the man as he walked towards the
home with a tight look growing on his face. "I take it you read the
message then?"
"Uh, yea. I thought it was some kind of joke," replied the man honestly
as he looked back over his shoulder to be certain he wasn't dreaming.
"I take it you're declining the offer then?" if Carrot didn't know
better he'd think the man sounded hopeful.
"How much?" he asked the man.
"Pardon?" the skinny man straightened his comb over and readjusted his
tie with an odd look on his face.
"How much? I'd like to know how much money Mr. Kon is planing to give me
to drop everything and come see him and his little project," Carrot had a
strange smile on his face as he clarified his question.
"Ten thousand a day for five days," replied the man simply.
"Give me five minutes," replied Carrot as he rushed into his home and
came out a few moments later with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
He was dressed in a pair of black trousers and a black button up shirt
with a pair of dark shades stuck into his pocket. The businessman frowned
as he ran a comb through his hair as he went grooming his still unkempt
locks.
"Are you ready?" he shouted over the thump of the blades as the chopper
sat waiting nearby.
"Yea, how far do we have to go?" screamed the boy in reply as he jumped
into the passenger seats and closed the door behind himself.
"A few hours, we have to pick up a few other people and take them to the
airport, from there you'll move on to our destination," replied the man
calmly as he sat back and relaxed in his seat. He extended his hand again
and smiled. "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself. My name is, Hugo; I'm
Mr. Kon's personal assistant."
"Pleasure," replied the man with a lopsided grin as he returned the
formality. "My real name is Sean D'anna, but you can call me Carrot,
everyone does." He pulled out an ungainly looking dark brown leather hat.
It was Australian and looked like a cross between a fedora and a cowboy
hat. He placed it on his head and pulled the tip of it down tautly in
what was obviously a habit. Hugo raised his eyebrow and said nothing.
"Can you tell me where we're going?"
"I'm afraid not, you don't need a passport to go there though," replied
the man as he took off his glasses and cleaned them off with a
handkerchief brought out from his jacket pocket.
After about an hour he found them landing on a helicopter pad on what
looked like an office building in the middle of a large wooded area.
Carrot noticed a large number of cages that surrounded the building and
could not make out what was inside them. "Where are we?"
Hugo looked up and smiled at him. "A privately owned research center in
Louisiana. One of our other guests is here."
Carrot nodded as his companion rushed out of the copter and ran over to
a woman in her early thirties. She was pretty enough, dressed in a pair
of brown shorts and a matching shirt. She had long red hair that was
obviously colored and a pair of eyeglasses that almost matched Hugo's
exactly. The woman lifted her bags and ran following the man into the
helicopter.
She smiled at him and sat down crossing her legs. "Hello, I'm Dr.
Jones," she supplied with a heavy southern accent.
"Carrot," he replied simply extending his hand to her. "Can I call you
Indy?"
The woman took his joke in stride and winked at him. "As long as you
call me."
"I can see you two are already introducing yourselves," said Hugo as he
rushed inside. "That's good, Dr. Jones is a Biologist."
"Charmed," replied the woman with a small wink. The look she was giving
him made him slightly uncomfortable, but he took it in stride.
"And what is your profession young man?" she asked as she gently
accepted his hand.
"Short order cook," replied the boy getting a strange look from both of
the other occupants. "I do a little writing in my spare time, I think
that's why I'm here."
The woman's interest dropped sharply, but she remained pleasant. Carrot
found himself strangely relieved.
The next occupant on the steadily growing number of passengers was a
pale looking man in his late twenties. He was dressed similarly to Carrot
and didn't speak much. The man seemed to ignore the goings on around him
after his introduction and looked away at the scenery beneath them.
"So, Mr. West was it?" asked Dr. Jones casually.
"Doctor West," replied the man simply with a pleasant smile. He looked
at her and pushed his, almost military cut, short black hair back down
neatly.
"And what are you a doctor of?" asked Carrot.
"I'm a psychologist," replied the man simply before turning back to his
musings, Carrot noticed he carried a very slight German accent.
"A shrink? Interesting, I'm beginning to wonder about this trip," he
replied out loud, earning a small glare from the man.
The last stop on the trip was in Texas, in Dallas they met a large broad
shouldered man in his mid-twenties. He was dressed in a Cowboys T-shirt
and an old looking pair of blue jeans. He shook everyone's hand and
easily caught the eye of Dr. Jones. Carrot found himself smiling as she
treated him much the same as he had been treated when they first met, a
small pang of sympathy went out to the man for some reason he could not
identify.
"Name's Jackson, Daniel Jackson," said the man in an ambiguous American
accent. He took Carrot's hand firmly and shook vigorously.
"And what do you do for a living Mr. Jackson?" he found himself asking
before anyone else spoke up.
"I'm a biologist," replied the man simply.
Carrot raised his eyebrow at this and looked back at Hugo. "It seems
everyone, but me and you has their doctorate," he commented dryly.
"Yes, Mr. Kon likes you. I've read some of your work as well, you are
hardly a Pulitzer prize winner, I don't really understand why he likes
you so much," replied the man curtly. He pulled a bottle of nasal spray
out of his pocket and used it.
Carrot found himself smiling at the man. "That's not the point Hugo, I
do what I do for fun. It's just a hobby of mine really. For the
uninitiated I guess it wouldn't make much sense."
"Quite," replied the man curtly, as he turned away from him and looked
towards the others. "It's time we left, come with me and I'll take you to
Mr. Kon's private plane where you'll be transported to the island."
Carrot raised his eyebrow at this and looked at the others, they seemed
just as surprised as he was. "Island?" asked Jackson.
"Interesting," replied the woman as she bit her finger lightly. Carrot
noticed that Dr. West saw the slight hint of greed in her eyes as well.
"I hope she doesn't get out of hand," muttered West under his breath as
he passed by following Hugo through the airport.
Carrot smirked and lazily strolled after them.
Several hours later they found themselves on a small island in the
middle of the Pacific Ocean. The got off the plane and glanced around in
surprise as they saw the Japanese signs around them. "He flew us to Tokyo
Airport?" said Carrot. "I've always wanted to visit Japan."
"This way, Mr. Kon is waiting for you. There is a car out front," said
Hugo as he motioned for them to follow.
Outside Carrot found the hustle and bustle of Tokyo to be much less
crowded than he'd thought. He noticed Jackson looking around in confusion
as they all got into the back of the large black limousine waiting for
them.
Once inside Carrot found himself looking at a Chinese man in his early
sixties. He was bald and had a long, thin, gray, beard and mustache.
There was a slight twinkle in his eyes as he smiled warmly at them.
"Welcome, all of you," he said cheerfully.
"You want to tell me what it is we're doing here? I haven't been to
Japan in a long time, and I'd rather not stay long. I've got work to do
back home," said Jackson impatiently.
"Quiet down, we were invited. I for one plan to relax a little," snorted
Jones impatiently as she accepted the glass of champagne she had been
offered by Hugo. The men all politely waved it away.
"I'd like to know what I'm doing here," said West calmly as he looked
out the window and quickly turned his head away.
"It may surprise you to hear this, but you and Mr. Glace are my most
important guests. The biologists are also very important to my work here,
but it is your opinions I value most."
Carrot turned his head away from the window and looked at him in
surprise. "Me?"
The old man chuckled and slapped his knee playfully. "You have a unique
flair I find unusual in one so young Mr. Glace, and your dark side
appeals to me as well, for reasons I won't go into right now. For now
just relax and enjoy the ride."
The man found himself blushing slightly as he looked on in confusion.
"Uh, thanks?"
West rolled his eyes and continued to stare out the window. "So, what
exactly are we doing here?"
"Research, it is a very important job, and it pays well, so stop
complaining," replied the old man with another chuckle escaping him. "I
find it very hard to be serious in this place at times. It is my
passion."
"Japan?" asked Carrot in confusion as he glanced back at him. The new
country was almost too much for him to ignore as it passed by him outside
the window. Suddenly his eyes where riveted on the glass in front of him
as his jaw dropped in shock.
Kon turned towards the small window separating them from the driver and
tapped it lightly. "Why don't we stop here?"
As he slowed the car down Carrot was already tearing at the door and
rushing out of the vehicle as he pushed his bangs out o his face and
stared slack jawed at the scene in front of him.
"Ranma! How dare you! Eat this Shi shi houkou dan!" screamed Ryoga as he
sent a massive chi blast at the pigtailed boy who dashed out of the way
barely in time.
"Damn it Ryoga! How many times do I have to tell you! It ain't my fault
Akane was getting changed in there!" retorted Ranma as he rushed the boy
with his hands becoming a blur as he rushed by at a speed no human could
ever hope to match.
"You shut up you!" retorted the lost boy as he jumped fifteen feet into
the air and met his opponent at the peak of his jump. "I won't let you
taint her honor that way!"
"That's impossible!" gasped Jones as she watched the acrobatics in front
of her.
The other two men nodded in silent agreement as they watched in awe,
West tried his best to keep his amazement hidden and did not quite
succeed.
Carrot fell to his knees and simply could not take his eyes away from
them as he sat there unable to stand even if he desired to. He felt a
hand on his shoulder as the Chinese host chuckled merrily.
"My dear Mr. Glace. Welcome to Nerima Park."
Carrot sat in awe as the two battling figures chased each other off
into the city leaving the group standing alone. "What is this?"
Kon smiled and turned to face the group. "This is not Tokyo, in fact
it's not even Japan," he waved his arms around dramatically. "This is my
dream, a vision of unreality, a place where dreams become reality!"
"What where those things? Are they some kind of robots?" asked Dr. Jones
as she walked over to the spot where the pair had been fighting and
inspected the damage.
"Why no doctor, there are absolutely no animatronics here on my island,"
replied the man cheerfully. "Each of the characters on this island are
living, breathing, and sentient creatures."
Dr. West shook his head and turned away. "What have you done you old
fool?"
"Come now, we have much to discus, dinner awaits us in the visitors
center," said the old man as he ushered them back to the car.
They found themselves in what looked like thirteenth century Japan
fifteen minutes later. The large building at the center of the area
looked like an ancient temple that rose high into the sky. Upon closer
inspection the front doors gave away the illusion. Two automatic sliding
glass doors parted revealing an office like reception area, various
booths sat unmanned waiting to accept guests into the park.
"Any minute now two sappy little kids are gonna show up I just know it,"
muttered West as he walked by angrily. Carrot smiled at the comment, but
was also very aware of the tenseness in his voice.
"I certainly hope this goes better than a Crighton book," he commented
as he followed a little behind the main group.
They found themselves in the back corner of a large restaurant area; the
group sat at a large table with Kon sitting at the head. An expensive
looking fish dinner sat in front of them and they ate quietly for the
most part. Once finished the real conversation began.
"What are your questions?" said the old man as he clasped his hands
together and leaned into the table patiently awaiting their opinions.
"How did you do this?" asked Jackson in shock. "I mean, those two
couldn't have been human."
"You are quite right doctor, these are not human beings," replied the
old man calmly. "They are creations of my own design. We used genetics to
create them; they have a basic human construct, but are anything but men.
In fact, most of their bodies are synthetic in nature. It helps us to
control them."
"Control?" asked West calmly.
"Yes, the attractions of this park are mostly human in nature, but there
are marked differences; for example. They don't age." He turned and gave
Carrot a small smile before looking back towards the scientists. "There
are other differences, some much more obvious than others, but for the
most part these beings are totally under our control."
"How so?" asked the woman as she brushed her hair back over her shoulder
lazily.
"We control their base personalities for one, what they think, the way
they think is all carefully controlled to create the illusion we desire
here," said the old man calmly.
"I think it's disgusting, communism at it's worst level," replied West
curtly.
"We give them the run of the island mostly," replied the old man with a
shrug. "We also try to keep them happy as well, we aren't sadists Dr.
West."
Carrot chose to speak up. "You realize that this will cause problems,
especially their human like nature. Human rights activists, even animal
rights activists will probably be breathing down your neck within a few
days of opening a place like this."
The old man narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled. "I didn't expect such
an intelligent insight Carrot, you are quite right about that.
Unfortunately for them, these beings are not animals or people. They are
synthetic in nature and therefore my property."
West coughed into his hand and frowned again. "I hate to play doubting
Malcolm here, but have you ever actually read Jurassic Park, or did you
just get halfway through it and decide to base your little park on the
idea?"
Kon smiled at this, "Dr. West, I am quite aware of that interesting
piece of fiction, to be perfectly honest we considered creating a real
live Jurassic Park for a time. The idea was quite sound, it was a mixture
of circumstance, betrayal, and poorly thought out preparation that caused
that mishap on the fictitious island. We are quite safe here. Besides,
these are not mere animals we have here, they are very close to human
nature and intelligence levels."
"That's what worries me," replied the psychiatrist carefully as he
picked at the remains of his dinner casually.
"I'm inclined to agree with him at this point," said Carrot with a small
frown on his face. "I realize that Jurassic Park was just a work of
fiction, but the similarity to the premise is a little unsettling to me.
I mean you'll understand I'm a little uncomfortable right now because of
it."
"I quite agree, we are planing a market strategy to change the
similarities between ourselves and that book. It might drive away
customers after all. We will probably change the name of the park long
before it opens, and many of the parks are not yet finished," answered
Kon as calmly as ever.
"How close to the fictitious counterparts are these things anyway?"
asked Jackson calmly. "Is it difficult to take them down if they get out
of hand?"
"Quite difficult, that is why you are here Dr. Jackson. Some of these
creatures are quite hard to put down if the need arises; however, they
are not invincible and hardly bulletproof. We would like you to help us
find ways of catching them without killing them," said the old man
calmly.
West smiled knowingly. "It sounds like you've had problems with this
before."
"No, we have not, but it is always best to be sure. We don't want a
lawsuit if one of the Saiyans gets loose and starts attacking the
guests," replied the old man with a taut voice.
Carrot raised his eyebrow with his hair standing on end; just the
familiarity with the situation he found himself in was enough to make his
blood run cold. "You made Saiyans?"
Kon shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "Yes, they are the reason Dr.
West is here. We would like his opinions on them."
"What's your field Dr. West?" asked Jones uncomfortably.
"Criminal Psychology, murderers, insanity, the darker side of our
minds," replied the man ominously.
"Where are they?" asked Carrot as he stood from his chair with a hard
look on his face.
They stood before what looked like a jungle behind a glass wall. "Don't
get to close, the energy field that contains them is quite strong,"
warned Hugo as he stood beside them.
"Where are they?" asked Dr. Jones in confusion.
"Up," replied Carrot without looking himself.
The three scientists gazed upwards and gasped as they noticed the
humanoid figures floating in the air behind the barrier. The saiyans
sneered at them and darted around excitedly running into the walls
creating a shower of sparks that rained down on the group.
The Hugo and the three scientists rushed away from the spray and backed
from the shield. "Why do they do that? Doesn't it hurt them?" asked
Jackson angrily as he brushed at a smoking part of his shirt putting out
the sparks.
Hugo frowned and nodded his head. "It hurts them a lot, they do it
because they know we don't like it."
"Fascinating," said West as he stepped forward again and peered up at
the creatures. "They have tails?"
This caught Hugo off slightly and he shuddered. "Boy do they ever."
Carrot stood motionless inches away from the shield as he watched in a
sort of morbid fascination. The sparks rained down on him and he ignored
them completely staring into the jungle as a figure emerged from the
foliage. It was chillingly familiar yet strangely unnerving to see it. He
felt the word escape his lips and watched in awe. "Goku."
The saiyan turned slowly and looked him in the eyes for a moment smiling
to himself. Carrot could see the overly brash personality and bravado
there. There was something else as well, a savagery that could not be
described and was dangerously out of place. The thing slowly turned to
face him moving out into the open staring him down with the smile never
leaving his face.
In an instant his face changed into a mask of anger and rage as he
charged. Carrot found himself unable to move as the beast charged
forward, a glow surrounded his body as he went flaring with a golden
light as his hair stood up straight and took on a golden sheen just as he
hit the wall.
He found himself staring straight into the monster's deep blue eyes as
it struggled against the wall of energy fighting to reach him. After a
moment the Saiyan froze and backed away slowly, the strange human had not
flinched once and simply stared him down with a dazed look in his eyes
never tearing his eyes away from him. The Saiyan smiled again and
vanished into the foliage again.
Carrot merely stood, it was all he could do. "No, Kakkarotto." He
identified the Saiyan and was brought back to reality by the screams of
his companions as they pulled him away from the wall and shook him
violently.
"Hey boy! Come on back! What the hell happened?" called Jackson as he
slapped Carrot across the face.
The man slowly turned towards Hugo and frowned. "If you want my advice,
you'll kill every one of those things as soon as you can."
"I'm inclined to agree with him," said West calmly as he kept watch on
the creatures ignoring the others almost completely. "Tell me, can they
speak?"
Hugo sighed heavily and nodded his head. "They've got their own
language, and we can't figure it out at all. It's clear enough that they
understand human speech though."
"Have you considered putting them down?" asked Jackson.
"We did for a time, but a Dragon ball exhibit would be important to a
park like this, we couldn't afford to," replied the man calmly as he
brushed his comb over again.
Carrot picked his hat off of the ground and placed it back on his head
after dusting it off, it had come off when Jackson shook him back into
reality. "I'm kind of wondering about that man now."
West nodded and turned away, "There is definitely something sinister
about those creatures, and I don't mean just their nature."
"Nature didn't have anything to do with that," replied Jackson angrily.
"No self respecting zoo would keep animals that dangerous and aggressive,
why is this place any different?"
Hugo sighed heavily. "That's where Dr. Jones comes in, she is a leading
authority on primates. These creatures are more closely related to our
more primitive relatives than us."
"I'm more than a little interested in how you're doing this, I don't see
how you can engineer chi attacks and magic powers," said Carrot calmly as
he shook off the after effects of his daze.
Kon waited for them in a large laboratory inside the building. "I'm not
going to bore you by explaining how we engineer these creatures in
detail. Suffice to say I think most of you have at least a basic idea on
how cloning works." All present nodded calmly including Carrot.
"Can they reproduce?" asked Carrot calmly.
Kon raised his eyebrow and smiled. "Why? Worried about that little book
again?"
"Not really, I've seen the saiyans and I know it's only a matter of time
before we're running for our lives and screaming a lot. I'm just
wondering really." He leaned against a table and waited patiently until
Kon finished his good-natured chuckle.
"Why of course not! This island isn't equipped to handle a large
population of permanent residents. They're completely unable to
reproduce, we remove the scrotum from the males and the ovaries from the
females whey they near maturity. After all, this isn't a population of
animals we don't know our way around. Besides, some of the more
financially stable guests may want to...enjoy some of our more popular
female attractions."
Dr. Jones felt a surge of anger inside of her, but remained silent. Kon
noticed and continued. "We are an entirely self sufficient island, laws
about such things are nonexistent here."
"I wouldn't recommend it from a purely psychological standing," replied
West calmly.
Carrot kept his face unreadable. "You're treading on dangerous political
waters already with this place Kon. I may not be much of a scientist or a
lawyer, but this place is already dangerously close to an island of
slaves. You may see these things as your personal property, but the
governments of the world might not agree with you."
The Chinese man turned and looked at him. "What do you think though?"
"I haven't seen enough to form a definitive opinion yet, and even when I
do it won't matter that much in the end," he replied simply.
"Still afraid the big bad dinosaurs are going to kill us all?" asked the
old man with an amused tone.
"I haven't seen any reason to believe you can stop them if they try,"
replied Jackson simply.
"Come with me," said Kon calmly as he motioned for them to follow.
"This is the armory," said the aged man as he opened the doors to the
large garage sized room that was lined with walls of guns and ammunition.
Several automatic assault rifles caught Carrot's attention and he frowned
as he looked at the large numbers of handguns. He brushed his hands along
the handles and rubbed his fingers together before turning towards the
old man.
"These will kill anything in the park?" he asked calmly.
"Most anything yes," answered Hugo calmly.
"I don't like the sound of that," replied Jackson as he pulled his
attention away from a hunting rifle on the wall.
"A Saiyan?" pressed Carrot impatiently.
"Most definitely, they are very strong and fast, but hardly the
invincible creatures that you know from Dragon ball," replied Kon with a
smile.
"You have no idea how comforting I find that," replied Carrot as he
inspected a nine-millimeter handgun closely before setting it down on the
rack again.
"Come we have much to accomplish. Mr. Genson is expecting us in the
control room shortly, and you've still got to take the tour," the old man
led them out of the room and smiled as Carrot stuck the hand gun down the
back of his pants with two clips of ammunition stuck into his pockets.
Hugo whispered into his ear with an alarmed sound to his voice. "Sir..."
"Relax, if he feels more secure let him have it, he is certainly no
assassin sent for me. Besides, once he is finished with the tour we will
ask him to return it. I doubt very seriously that he will take pot shots
at the attractions, and even if he does, how long do you think he'll last
with only a hand gun?"
Hugo nodded and looked back at the man. "I'm keeping an eye on him
though."
"Do what you feel you must Hugo."
Carrot stood behind his host watching a large black man type on a rather
bulky looking computer lazily with various screens surrounding him. A
glass door slid open in front of him allowing access to the control
center as the tour group walked into the room. The fat man turned and
smiled broadly at them as they entered the room. "Hello, welcome to my
dungeon."
"I certainly hope this isn't part of the tour," grumbled West calmly as
he walked up behind the group.
On the screens were various parts of the park, one area looked a lot like
Tokyo, the area they had gone through to find the visitor's center. Other
areas looked like European villages from the thirteenth or fourteenth
century, still other areas looked like Japan in various stages of
history, including the future.
Carrot turned towards Chin with mostly disinterest in the room. "How do
you give them their powers?" He pointed at an area of the park where
several young girls battled against a large monster throwing energy beams
almost casually. The girls were dressed in sailor fuku of various colors
that seemed to match the powers they used.
The man raised his eyebrow and smiled. "Various techniques are used,
magic, genetic tampering, even training."
The boy nodded and turned back towards the screen watching carefully.
West coughed into his hand and stepped up behind the old man. "I have a
question for you."
Kon smirked again and looked as if he was patronizing a child. "Yes Dr.
West?"
"Do they know?" he asked casually as he glanced at the screen.
"Do they know what?" Kon didn't seem to understand the question, or most
likely pretended not to.
"Do they know what they are? I mean, do they think all of this is real?"
asked the man patiently. "Do they have any idea what they are?"
"Of course, they know almost everything," said the old man patiently.
"A-almost?" West seemed irritated by the answer and stumbled over his
own words as he scratched at his temple and looked away from the old man
impatiently.
"We don't give them all the details about how they were created, no; if
they so wish the information is available to them," replied the old man
defensively.
"And how do they feel about that?" asked the other man calmly.
"How do they feel about what?" asked the old man with a chuckle.
"The knowledge that they are nothing more than an attraction, that they
exist only as an entertainment showcase, as a farce for the enjoyment of
others, a freak show if you will?" West was calm as he said this and
watched the old man's reaction carefully.
"I doubt any of them has thought about it that way, they seem happy
enough," replied the old man casually.
"You'd be surprised," replied the man as he adjusted his glasses and
slicked his hair back in slight frustration.
"Why don't you ask them yourself? You will be given a tour of the island
Dr. West," the old man turned towards the man seated at the computer and
put his hand on his shoulder as he peered at the program he had running.
"I intend to," replied Carrot earning a surprised look from everyone in
the room.
Kon turned away from him and spoke to the fat man cheerfully. "What are
you working on Carl?"
"Just running some system checks," replied the man as images of the
various areas of the park flickered on his screen. "Making sure the
surveillance system is up to speed. You said you wanted it done today."
"I said I wanted it done before the tour started," said the old man with
a small flicker of disappointment appearing on his face.
"It'll be done before then, it took longer than I expected and it's just
finishing up now," replied the man with a small laugh. "Relax you old
slave driver."
"Make sure it's finished," said the elderly man as he stood up straight
again and turned towards the guests.
Jackson frowned as he looked around. "I don't see much in the way of
security here. What's keeping the attractions away from the guests?"
"Keeping them away?" replied the old man calmly. "I don't think you
quite understand the nature of this park Daniel. The guests interact
freely with the characters."
"Characters?" asked West with a small frown.
"It's how we refer to them here, we don't call them that to their faces
and they know what their jobs are. It's all a part of the experience.
Besides, what do we need fences for? These are sentient beings after
all."
Carrot snorted and turned his attention away from the screen again.
"What about the Saiyans? Some of these characters are aggressive in
nature, I see Lina Inverse here," he pointed to the screen indicating a
red head. "She's an extremely unstable personality and prone to violence,
it might seem comical on television, but a normal human could be
seriously hurt. What about Hibiki, or even Ranma? Japanese animation
isn't exactly known for how tame it is."
"You forget that these are mere simulations, they are programmed to act
more civil towards guests," replied the old man calmly. "They literally
can not hurt you."
"Humans are well known for ignoring instinct, which is nothing more than
extra programming," replied West.
"Animals too, if the situation calls for it," agreed Jackson.
Carrot looked at the man calmly and smiled. "I hate to sound like we're
all ganging up on you Mr. Kon, but have you actually tested this? I mean
have you seen the limits of the 'characters' tempers? Have they been
exposed to stressful situations for extended periods of time? Such as
hoards of screaming children pawing on them for long periods of time, or
upset parents; even troublemaking children?"
"You speak as if from personal experience," said Jones with a smile
appearing on her face. She kept her eyes on the monitor for most of the
conversation.
"I worked the state fair one year, it was...not pleasant," replied
Carrot with a shrug.
"I assure you that they are all quite stable, we do have psychologists
here to monitor them," replied the old man.
"Then why am I here?" asked West a little impatiently.
"We required your expertise for the evaluation of the Saiyans. You'll
get your chance to spend a little time with them later," replied the old
man calmly.
"I already gave you my recommendation, I agree with Mr. Glace here
completely. Destroy them as soon as possible," replied the man calmly.
"That might not be as easy as you think, you saw the way they hit that
shield," noted Jackson as he crossed his arms. "They are fast, agile, and
extremely tough."
"We have our ways," replied Chin with a knowing smile, he turned towards
Dr. West and spoke again. "We would like you to evaluate them anyway and
see if there is anyway to salvage them before then Dr. West, they are
extremely expensive to create, and the containment field was not cheap or
easy to build either. We do have to at least have the appearance of
trying to salvage them to our investors."
The doctor nodded and looked away as he finally understood. "You only
wanted me here to confirm so you could kill them without red tape."
"You are correct," replied Hugo as he returned from a small workstation
that he had immediately headed for when they entered the room. "The
shield is still damaged by the way," he handed a report to the old man
and sighed.
"What did he say?" asked Carrot with a small panic in his voice.
"Relax Mr. Glace, we are referring to the sun shield. A shaded dome that
covers the Saiyan compound from the sun during particularly warm days,
it's automatic. The Saiyans are quite well contained," said the old man
in a reassuring voice.
Carrot relaxed slightly and pulled down the tip of his hat as he flushed
with embarrassment.
Those damn monkeys keep breaking the damn thing, we can't figure out
why. I think they just do things to annoy us, in fact I'm sure that's
probably why," Hugo sat down on a chair next to the fat man. The man was
singing gospel music quietly with a small pair of headphones while he
worked.
"Well, they haven't done it for a while, I think they must have been
waiting for guests to arrive before they started to bother us again,"
quipped the old man merrily.
Something about the situation seemed wrong, Carrot couldn't put his
finger on it yet, he was sure it would come to him later.
"Come it's time to start the tour," said Chin calmly as he walked back
towards the entrance.
The group found themselves standing in front of the large building with
a limousine waiting for them. "Hardly an electric jeep," said Jones with
a small laugh as the old man gracefully opened the door for her.
"Mr. Glace, I give you the honors, you are the most knowledgeable person
after all." Chin handed him the keys and smiled.
"Me?" replied the man in confusion. "I thought this was a guided tour."
"It is, just follow the directions on the computer console, you'll find
it's an electronic map of the park. Various sensors around the park and
inside the vehicle run it. Even that Hibiki boy didn't get lost when we
let him use it," said the old man calmly.
"You're joking right?" asked Carrot with a shocked look on his face.
"Of course I am, that Hibiki would get lost in his own bathroom. Don't
worry the car runs on gas, and it has a full tank. If you need to there
are several filling stations around the park. I think you'll probably
want to walk around a bit as well, the true joy of the park comes from
this. We supply transportation merely to minimize the time it takes to
get from scene to scene. Most guests here will be on foot."
Carrot looked at the keys and shrugged his shoulders as he got into the
car.
"So, are you playing chauffeur?" asked West as he smiled bemusedly at
the situation.
"I guess so, Mr. Kon isn't accompanying us," replied the boy with a
shrug.
"He's not?" asked Hugo as he looked over his shoulder in shock and saw
the old man walking back up the steps.
"Just relax and enjoy the ride," said Jackson calmly as he pushed the
man back into his seat. The man complied and muttered to himself.
Carrot noted it was something about how he'd never taken the tour anyway
and he might as well go.
"I'm kind of glad, I get the feeling that old man was undressing me with
is eyes," commented Jones as she poured herself a glass of champagne.
"See that?" said Carrot as he pointed to a small, black plastic ball on
the ceiling, "That is a camera, and this," he pointed to a small lump
just behind it. "This is a microphone. They can see and here us while
we're in here."
The woman blushed profusely and downed her drink with one swift motion.
West laughed out loud and leaned into the window poking his head in on
Carrot. "I think she's just angry he wasn't using his hands to undress
her."
"Really Dr. West!" exclaimed the woman as if she had been scandalized
completely by his words.
Several moments later they found themselves in the middle of the little
Tokyo. Carrot looked on the screen and noticed several blinking red
blocks. Smiling to himself he turned the wheel and moved towards the
nearest one. The group stopped in front of a home in the middle of an
urban street. All the signs were in Japanese, and Carrot recognized the
location easily without trying to make out the Kanji on the small sign in
front of the home. "Tendo Dojo, we'll park here."
"Where?" asked Jones calmly as she leaned forward and brushed her hair
back.
"We'll park here for now and walk around a bit. How many of you can read
Japanese?" said the man as he exited the car and opened the back door.
The others filed out and looked around in confusion.
"I can," replied Jackson calmly as he fixed his gaze on the large wooden
gate.
"I can speak a little, but I can't read any," said Jones warily.
"I don't speak any at all," replied West as he strolled out and brushed
at the shoulders of his jacket.
Hugo merely walked towards the gate and pushed it open. "I know my way
around this area pretty well, most of the human employees spend our
breaks here, there are a few good restaurants, the medieval period is
popular too."
"What about the rest of the park?" asked Carrot hopefully.
"Don't know, I don't wander far from the visitor center, I don't really
work here. I just come on business from time to time. Anyone you see
wearing a pair of gray overalls is a human employee, we keep anywhere
from twenty five to fifty on island at a time."
Carrot knocked on the door and smiled as Kasumi Tendo appeared to greet
them. "Hello, can I help you?"
The group looked at her dumbly and Carrot quickly took the initiative.
"Hi, we're guest on the island. Mr. Kon wants us to look around the
park."
"Oh my," replied the girl with a blush appearing on her cheeks. "Please
come in won't you?"
They all entered and took off their shoes; West had to get a little
prompting from Hugo before he realized that he had too. Within moments
they where sitting around the Tendo's table with Soun.
The man sat rigidly, seeming almost nervous in their presence. "How can
I help you?"
"We're a team of scientist sent here to evaluate the park," said West as
he accepted the hot tea the girl set before them. "We'd like to speak to
all the residents of the home."
"I see, what exactly is this about?" inquired the man.
"Well, we're sort of safety inspectors," said Jackson with a shrug.
"Safety inspectors?" said Soun in confusion.
"Mr. Kon sent us," replied Carrot.
"I see," he seemed to understand now. "What can I do for you exactly?"
"We need to talk with you, and the others of course," said Carrot
pleasantly.
"What do you want to know?" asked the man patiently as he adjusted his
seat and made himself more comfortable.
"Well, for starters, you are aware of what this place is?" said West as
he pulled out a notepad and pen.
"Of course, this is the Tendo Dojo," replied Soun cheerfully.
"I mean this island, you know what the island is for?" said the
psychiatrist in a calm monotone voice. His face was completely serious
and Carrot guessed it was a professional tone he used with patients.
"Of course," replied the man simply his features seemed to tighten
slightly.
"Well, could you explain it to me?" asked the man.
"It's an amusement park, we were all created from fictional characters,"
said Soun calmly.
"And how do you feel about that?" continued the doctor as he looked
between Kasumi and her father.
"I am content, I haven't really known anything else," replied the man.
"I agree," said the girl sweetly.
Carrot spoke up earning a glare from the doctor that he ignored
completely. "Have you ever seen the stories you're based off of?"
"I have," replied Soun calmly. "Mr. Kon thought it best we were
knowledgeable."
"Able to answer questions and stay in character," said Carrot with a
small nod. "That makes sense I guess."
Kasumi smiled and nodded.
"As I was saying," said West as he returned to his notepad again. "You
are aware that the way you live will change dramatically once guests
start to arrive?"
"Only too aware," replied Soun as calmly as ever. "It doesn't worry me,
some of the more important guests will be able to board with us. I am to
understand that will be very expensive though."
Carrot frowned at the next question. "Are you aware of what Mr. Kon
plans to do for some of the more...expensive packages?" He looked at
Kasumi as he said this.
"I will endure," replied Soun simply as the girl looked away with a
heavy blush. If he didn't know better he suspected that Kasumi didn't
seem all that upset about it.
"How do you feel about this?" he asked looking at the girl.
"I was created for this," she replied simply.
Carrot didn't like the answers he was hearing, they seemed a little bit
forced, but neither Soun nor Kasumi seemed to have much awareness about
them. "Programmed responses I suppose," he muttered under his breath
earning an inquisitive look from Jones.
"Tameda!" cried a cheerful voice as someone entered the home. The group
turned to see Akane and Ranma waltz into the house. Both of them froze
and stared at the newcomers in shock.
"Who are you?" asked the girl in English.
"Ah, Akane, these are Mr. Kon's guests, they are here to evaluate us,"
said Soun with a bright smile. The girl looked at them and nodded. Both
of the teens walked up the stairs and Carrot stood up and went after them
calmly.
The rest of his group looked on in confusion and turned their attention
back to Soun and Kasumi.
Ranma heard a knock at his door and sighed heavily. "Come in."
"Hello Ranma," said the strange man as he walked in and stood in front
of him.
"What do you want?" asked the boy impatiently.
"Well, you don't have to stay in character for me," he replied with a
smile. "I want to talk with you alone for a moment."
"About what?" said the boy in confusion as he sat down on the ground.
Carrot followed his example and relaxed. "Well for starters, how do you
feel about this place, are you happy here?"
The boy looked surprised, "I guess so, I mean my family is here. It's
all I've ever known."
Carrot nodded and leaned back against the wall casually. "That's good to
know, tell me what do you think of your enemies?"
"Enemies?" said Ranma in confusion.
"Ryoga, Mousse, Saffron, Herb, I'm assuming they all have counterparts
here," replied the man with a small shrug.
"Their great guys, we spend a lot of time together," replied the boy.
"We work a lot and do the acts and stuff. Me an Ryoga don't get along
well cause we both have a thing for Akane, but I suppose that's not an
accident," said the boy with a small smile appearing on his face.
Carrot smiled at this and continued. "I'm interested in how you feel
about life here on the island. Do you think you'll like it once guests
start arriving?"
"Guests?" Ranma looked confused for a moment and then a strange look
crossed his face as he seemed to remember something. "Oh, I suppose it
will be a little more hectic, but nothin I can't handle."
"What about the others, do they ever lose their temper or express worry
about it?" Carrot leaned forward. His expression remained neutral
throughout the conversation.
"Well, some of us have short tempers because we were made that way, I
don't think it will cause any problems though, Mr. Kon said something
about a safeguard," replied the boy as he looked a little uncomfortable
with the situation.
"I see, do you see a lot of Mr. Kon?"
Ranma looked thoughtful for a moment. "I see him on TV sometimes, nothin
really special. He does a lot of speeches and sends people to check up on
us all the time. We have to go for medical and stuff every month or so."
Carrot nodded carefully and stood up. "Does your curse work?"
Ranma froze and looked even more uncomfortable for a moment. "Yea."
"Do you like it?" asked the man as he raised an eyebrow.
"I don't mind it really, it doesn't hurt anything. We've all had our
curses since we were made, so it's not so bad. We are supposed to act
like it bothers us," said Ranma as the shamed look vanished from his
face.
"I told you I don't need to see the act Ranma, I'm not here for that,"
said the man with a light smile on his face,
"It's kind of a habit," replied the boy sheepishly.
"I would like to see the curse, if you don't mind," said Carrot.
Ranma nodded and stood up leading him down the stairs. He walked into
the kitchen and poured a glass of cold water over his head initiating the
change. A slight look of discomfort crossed the boy's face as it
happened.
"Does it hurt?" asked Carrot.
"No, but it feels a little weird, takes a moment for me to get my
balance if you know what I mean," replied Ranma as she wiped the excess
water from her forehead.
"I can't say I do," admitted the man as he turned away. "Thank you
Ranma."
"No problem," she replied as she put a teakettle on the stove. Carrot
walked out of the room and rejoined his companions.
Akane was now sitting with her family and Nabiki had come in as well.
West was still questioning them while Jackson carried on a pleasant
conversation with Kasumi. He coughed into his hand catching everyone's
attention.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we do have a long way to go yet."
The others stood and Soun bowed politely as they exited.
"We may come back through, we're here for about a week," said Carrot as
he returned the bow.
"You are welcome here anytime," replied the man simply.
Once outside they started walking down the sidewalk. "I would have liked
to spend more time here."
Carrot smiled. "I want to do the whole route today, we can spend more
time later on when we decide what places interest us the most."
"Professionally?" asked Jones with a smirk.
"Of course," replied Hugo, he seemed to be enjoying himself so far.
"Don't feel like walking with the group?" asked Carrot as he turned to
West and smiled, the man smirked and adjusted his glasses as he jogged up
to the front of the group, he had been lagging behind.
"Anything to be away from the black widow," replied the man with an
equally amused smile.
"I heard that!" said Jones playfully as she hit him in the back of the
head.
Jackson looked skyward and addressed the group. "So what do you all
think so far?"
"They seem stable enough, something bothers me about them though. I
don't think they really have minds," replied West. "If that's true we
don't have much to worry about."
This caught Carrot by surprise. "I know they do."
"What do you mean?" asked Jones with a small laugh.
Carrot's usually calm face turned dark suddenly as he frowned. "You
didn't look into that Saiyan's eyes. There was definitely intelligence
there. I also noted that Ranma seemed more aware than the two we met at
the door. I didn't speak with Akane or anyone else in the cast though."
West smiled. "You noticed it too? I'm not really all that concerned with
those two at the table, but those other two are more interesting indeed."
"What are you talkin about?" asked Jackson in confusion. "They where a
bit more active I'll admit, but I didn't see any real difference."
"I'll have to look into it a bit more I'm afraid, but it seems that not
every one of these things is the same. Some of them are definitely more
aware than others. I wonder if that was an accident?"
"I'm getting really uncomfortable with this island, I'm not sure why
yet," said Carrot in a serious tone. He pulled down at the tip of his hat
and scowled.
"What are you talking about? It seems fine to me, I was pretty
entertained," said Hugo with as shrug. "Where are we going now?"
"There's a high school that goes with this show, it's nearby; but to be
honest I think we should move on for now. There's plenty of time for that
later," said Carrot as he looked down at the map screen in his hand and
punched a few buttons, he had removed the electronic device from the
dashboard. It was a small portable LCD screen with a few function buttons
along the right side.
Jones nodded in agreement. "I'd like to see more diversity here myself.
They seem to live a lot like Homo-sapiens, but I'd like to get a better
understanding of the various environments around us."
"Well, we have another stop in modern Tokyo first," said Carrot
cheerfully as he turned a corner.
"Where?" asked Jackson as he looked out the window and glanced around
trying to get his bearings. The place looked a lot like Tokyo, but
nothing was really recognizable accept for Tokyo tower and a few of the
larger landmark buildings, even they seemed smaller than they should be.
"We're going to make a stop in Juban," replied the man simply.
"Isn't that a ways off?" asked Jackson.
"About a fifteen minute walk if memory serves me," replied Hugo
casually.
"Why don't we just drive then?" asked Jones a little angrily.
"Because we have to go through Tombuki to get there," said Carrot.
"Isn't that a little odd?" asked Jackson giving his surroundings another
quick scan.
"This isn't really Japan, I guess they just put things where they fit.
This version of Tokyo doesn't even take up an eighth of the whole island.
The biggest area I see is the older areas," replied Carrot as he looked
at a full map of the island.
"Older areas?" asked West.
"Yea, the medieval periods. Western and Eastern, they sort of lump
together," replied the man calmly as he showed him. "There's also a good
sized chuck labeled China."
"Ah, I see."
The trip through Tombuki was indeed a strange one. Several mobs appeared
in front of them and a small monk called Carrot's face ominous. The group
had to stop as a girl flew by chasing after a young boy in his teens
throwing sparks in every direction. The pair stopped to look at them for
a moment before moving on about their business.
"Perhaps we should speak with them?" asked West as he looked back at the
others.
"Don't bother, they're all crazy; that was kind of the point of this
one," replied Carrot with a shrug as they continued to walk.
"Ah, I see," replied West with a shrug.
After about fifteen minutes, just as planned, they arrived in Juban.
Another high school appeared on the horizon and they stopped to examine
the layout. Jackson snorted as they walked and started forward
continually watching everything at once.
"You seem a bit nervous Mr. Jackson," noted Hugo.
"I'm a hunter, I don't like traveling in unfamiliar territory without
learning my way around. You never know when you might have to leave in a
hurry."
Carrot looked back over his shoulder, the dome that contained the
Saiyans was still visible poking through the treetops from the top of the
hill they stood on. "Boy ain't that the truth."
A tall feminine man appeared in front of them in the middle of the
street. He smiled cruelly and turned back around ignoring them and took
up a ready position. He was dressed in what appeared to be a gray high
school boy's uniform, but was obviously too old to be in school.
Carrot smiled and waved the others back with a smile on his face. "Here
it comes."
A voice cried out from nowhere. "Evil being who would trick young girls
appetites! Using good food to tempt those weak of mind and heart! I
cannot allow this affront of tainted iced cream! On behalf of the moon I
shall punish you!" a blonde girl in a sailor fuku appeared on top of a
nearby wall pointing down at him with a scowl on her face as she posed
dramatically. Five other girls in similar dress began to appear
surrounding the gray clad figure in various other poses.
The man laughed and stood confidently. "You think you've won Sailor
Moon?" He held up a small crystal that glowed slightly. "I shall destroy
you!"
The others watched in confusion and awe, Jones had her head buried in
her hand as she tried to avoid looking at the spectacle. Carrot merely
smiled and leaned against the wall patiently.
"This should be interesting, we'll talk to them after their done I
think."
The group stood and watched as the Sailor Scouts did battle with the
fiend from the Negaverse. After a few moments of battle, the girls
emerged victorious as the strange man was spirited away to another area
of the park, or destroyed, it didn't really matter which. Carrot assumed
it was the former since Mr. Kon was so adamant about how expensive the
clones were to make.
The girls recovered quickly and were about to jump away from the small
group when Dr. West spoke up. "Hello girls, I'd like to have a word with
you."
They looked at him for a moment before jumping away and vanishing. "Good
work, surely they await us around the next corner," commented Jackson
dryly earning a small glare from the man.
"Don't worry, I think I know where to find them," said Carrot calmly as
he led the group onward.
"A video arcade?" said Jones with a doubtful look on her face.
"They are teenagers," replied West with a small shrug.
"Carrot is right, they should be here, if not we can visit their homes,"
replied Hugo as he walked into the building ahead of them.
Sure enough they found a large group of girls sitting together in a
corner of the arcade talking secretively. Carrot approached them first.
"It's nice to see you again, we asked you to stop earlier, but you just
kept going."
They all looked at him blankly and frowned. "Who are you? Do you work
for the Negaverse?" asked the shorthaired girl.
"Ami right? I'm Carrot Glace, these people are my companions, Dr. West,
Dr. Jones, Dr. Jackson, and Hugo; we were sent here by Mr. Kon," the
expressions on the girls faces changed in an instant. They seemed nervous
all of a sudden and immediately became silent.
"Are you afraid of Mr. Kon for some reason?" asked West patiently.
"No, not really, it's just a little unusual for them to send someone to
us," answered the cat that was sitting in the center of the table.
All of the team looked at it in shock except for Carrot; he smiled at
her and nodded. "Don't worry, we're just here to ask some questions."
Jones looked around and noticed that the arcade was now empty, it took
her by surprise since it had been full only moments before. "What the?"
West started his work. "What's this Negaverse?"
"It's an evil place, they send their armies of Youma to drain energy
from innocent people in order to take over the world," supplied Luna.
The man nodded as he scratched off something on his pad. He had never
expected to do a psychological evaluation of a talking cat, and her five
magical girl friends. "Youma?"
"A Japanese devil, or monster," said Carrot, he looked towards the girls
again. "What about the inner senshi?"
Usagi perked up a bit. "You know about the inner senshi?"
"I'm an anime fan, and also the only person here without my doctorate,
well me and Hugo over there." He indicated the balding man who was
sitting over by the snack bar drinking coffee away from the group. Jones
smiled slightly and walked over to where he was, getting herself a cup as
well.
The girls seemed to relax a little at this. "So you know about us?"
"Well, yea," replied Carrot simply. "You think the Youma attacks are
real?"
"They are real," replied Usagi defensively. The three men raised their
eyebrows slightly at this and said nothing.
Ami put her hand on her forehead and sighed heavily. "We know they aren't
really real, but they do take energy from the others in the city. We
fight them and stop them from doing it."
"So...the battles are real?" said Carrot as a slow comprehension crossed
his face.
"Basically yea," replied Makoto as she looked away from him towards the
other two team members. He nodded and thought back to the faces of all
the extras that they had passed as they walked through the little Tokyo.
"Something up?" asked West in confusion as he adjusted his glasses and
looked towards his two companions.
Carrot turned and saw the neutral look on Jackson's face as well. "I'm
not sure yet."
"This ain't quite what I expected," replied Jackson calmly.
"Thank you for your time," said the psychiatrist as he stood from his
chair and left the girls to their earlier conversation.
As they left the arcade a slight rain began to fall. "We could stay here
for a while," offered Hugo.
Jackson shook his head. "Not unless you want to spend the night." He
pointed at the sky behind them and indicated the large black rain clouds
approaching the island.
"Happens here all the time, it won't last more than a few hours,"
replied Hugo calmly.
"So what do you make of this Carrot?" asked Jones casually as she
stepped up next to him.
"I can't believe I didn't see it sooner. That old man had us all
fooled," muttered the man angrily.
"Uh, what exactly do you mean by that?" asked West as he suddenly became
interested in the conversation.
"He means that this isn't an amusement park," replied Jackson calmly.
"It was never intended to be one."
"What the hell are you talking about?" cried Hugo in shock. "My
investors spent a lot of money on this place..."
"They wasted their money then," replied Carrot calmly.
Jones shook her head, "Then what are we doing here anyway?"
"That's what I haven't figured out yet," replied Jackson as he glanced
around even more nervously than he had before.
"We'll find out soon enough," agreed Carrot with a sudden calm on his
face as he pulled his hat down over his eyes with a scowl. Almost as an
afterthought he pulled the gun from behind his back and loaded a clip
into it before placing it back into the front of his pants where he could
easily reach it.
"When did you get that?" asked Jones nervously.
"He lifted it from the armory, wasn't exactly cautious about it either,"
said Jackson with a smile on his face as he produced his own handgun from
under his belt.
"I know Kon saw me take it, I wanted him to know how safe I felt in his
little park," replied Carrot coolly.
"So what do we do now? You seem to be running this show," said West.
"I know more about the characters than anyone else, but if worse comes
to worse, Dr. Jackson is in charge; he knows more about survival than any
of us," answered the man coolly.
"S-s-survival?" said Hugo nervously.
"I don't think it will come to that, don't worry. For now I say we keep
going as if nothing is wrong," Carrot pulled the keys out of his pocket
as they neared Nerima again and the car came into sight. "As for the rest
of us, we keep quiet about this. Mr. Kon might not know that we are on to
this place yet."
"'On to this place?' I'm still not sure what you're talking about, but I
don't like it," said Hugo with a slight waver to his voice.
"Hopefully we'll be off the island before anything goes really wrong, if
we get off in time, I seriously suggest that you never come back here
Hugo. This place is a death trap waiting to happen, Mr. Kon isn't smart
enough to realize that and he's going to push his luck until it's too
late." Carrot opened the door to the car and got behind the wheel.
Immediately after they were all sitting inside the car the screen
flickered on revealing Kon's smiling face. "How are you enjoying the tour
so far?"
"It's certainly interesting," said West casually.
"Excellent, I had hoped you would think that," said the old man.
"I do have a few more things I'd like to do before we leave the island,
but for now I think we'll just take a basic tour of the island.
Especially since it's raining," said Carrot with a smirk on his face.
"Yes, well I understand that, you can get some more work done later,
after all you do have four more days here. Try to relax and enjoy the
trip," the screen flickered off leaving them sitting quietly.
"Boy, that just killed the mood didn't it?" said West with a strange
smile on his face as he sat back in his seat and hummed to himself.
"I wonder if they have an Evangelion area? Possibly in the future area?"
said Carrot as he started the car.
"Evangeline?" asked Hugo with a confused look on his face.
"Giant robot show," answered the man casually.
"We looked into it actually, but unfortunately it wasn't practical for
an island this size," said the lawyer with a shrug. "It would have
brought in a lot of revenue, but probably not enough to offset the cost
of building something that size."
"Pity," said Carrot without really meaning it, in a way he was a little
relieved. The Tyrannosaurus scene from Jurassic Park played through his
mind with Unit 01 and it didn't go nearly as well as it did in the movie
for him and his companions.
"Tell me something, what exactly are we going to accomplish by driving
across the island in the rain?" said West casually as he glanced out the
window.
"Planning our day for tomorrow's tour," replied Carrot with a shrug.
"The old man never told us exactly what shows he had created here, so it
would be a good idea to scout a head since we can't really wander around
in this weather."
"Fish didn't agree with you either huh?" quipped the man casually as he
lit a cigarette and rolled down the window about an inch.
"Not really, I'm kind of hoping we can postpone dinner a little by
driving around a bit," admitted Carrot jokingly.
"I thought it was good," said Jones completely oblivious.
Jackson rolled his eyes and sighed as he waited for the ride to end.
"Where the heck are we anyway?" He noticed the city had given way to a
much more jungle like atmosphere in an alarmingly short period of time.
Carrot smiled as he pointed to a familiar looking valley just off the
road. It was filled with a large number of springs with varying lengths
of bamboo shoots jutting up from the waters. "China." I doubt we'll find
much here though.
Chin smiled as he watched the cars on the monitors, "Where exactly are
they?"
Genson brushed a few crumbs from his shirt and frowned. "Going through
the China block, they should hit the ancient European area in about
twenty minutes or so."
"Good, tell me when they get there, I have a special surprise I want
them to see, I'm sure they'll enjoy it." The old man cheerfully turned
away from the screen and hummed to himself as he walked over to a
terminal and picked up a telephone. After a few moments someone on the
other side answered. "Yes, I have a job for you..."
Carrot frowned as he looked at the gas on the dashboard of the car and
found it near half full. "What's wrong?" asked Jones impatiently from the
back.
"Damn foreign cars," muttered Jackson as he reached for the door and
opened it. He hesitated for a moment as the rain suddenly increased. "Son
of a..."
They had been this way for several minutes, after reaching the medieval
period the car had mysteriously just shut down.
Carrot sighed and smirked as he looked back at the three passengers in
the back seat. "You know, in this scene of the movie, the lawyer dies."
Everyone turned towards Hugo causing the man to laugh nervously.
"Please don't say things like that," he whined pathetically.
"What are you worried about? I get screwed here in the book and the
movie," quipped West.
Jackson snorted in amusement and was about to jump out of the car when
the screen came on revealing Kon. The old man smiled at them warmly as
usual, Jackson closed the door and sat back in his seat again.
"Well, it seems you've figured out my park Mr. Glace, I didn't expect it
of you of all people," said the old man.
"What's he talking about?" asked Jones angrily, she was quickly becoming
frustrated with being left in the dark.
"This isn't a park at all, it's a testing ground," said Jackson calmly
as he looked up at the confident smirk the old man was giving them.
"Very true, I was hoping to get your opinions and research without
trouble like this and send you on your way," replied Kon.
"What's the big deal? So you make guards for people, I mean, who
wouldn't want a super powered martial artist as a guard dog? I don't see
why this has to be so secretive," snapped Hugo angrily. "We could make
millions off of this, and it's legal!"
"You're right, but that's not what he has this place here for is it Kon?
What better place to raise a private army than an island disguised as a
theme park," said Carrot calmly as he watched the old man very carefully,
even Jackson looked surprised at this revelation.
"Too true Mr. Glace, I had hoped you would help me come to a better
understanding of these creatures psychologically and physically, after
all you are all the best in your respective fields," said Kon as his
glare became almost malevolent.
"What do you plan to do with us?" asked Jones with a heavy shaking in
her voice.
"None of this information can leave the island yet I'm afraid, and we
don't have the proper facilities to hold you here..." said the man with a
shrug.
"So, we just become test subjects for his little experiments," said Hugo
as a horrible dawning crossed his face.
"You do catch on quick," said the old man calmly.
"How did you find out we knew, the only microphones I saw are in this
car," said West tensely.
"The only ones you saw," agreed Carrot, "but you saw the control room,
he has camera's everywhere, it wouldn't surprise me if this place was
bugged as well."
"Excellent Mr. Glace, perceptive to the last," said the old man with a
chuckle.
The man turned and snapped at the screen. "I swear Kon, if this park
doesn't kill you, I will!"
"I'm afraid you'll just have to come and get me, I doubt that will be
possible after tonight," said the man with a mock sadness in his voice.
Carrot slammed his fists into the steering wheel as the screen flicked
off leaving them alone in the steadily growing darkness. "Damn! I knew I
should have just stayed home!"
"So, now what do we do?" said West with a heavy sigh.
Jones let out a gasp of shock as her champagne glass shook creating a
ripple in the liquid.
Hugo froze in place and stared at it in shock. "Oh Jesus no!"
"What was that?" asked Jackson coolly as his face suddenly became very
hard and serious.
An audible impact could be heard as the glass shook again. Hugo looked
like he was about to go into hysterics as West and Carrot stared out the
window at the large black mass that stared at them through the window
with a glowing yellow eye bigger than their heads. It blocked the road in
front of them and moved quickly by the car, Carrot saw a flash of horn as
the creature rushed by and moved along the side of the vehicle.
"What do we do now? We run," said Carrot with a strange humorless smile
on his face. In the back of his mind he couldn't quite grasp the irony of
the situation he was in.
"What the hell is that?" gasped Jackson as he looked out at the large
mass of black fur that completely blocked the windows on his side of the
car now.
"Xoenphobe," said Carrot with a remarkable calm in his voice.
TBC...
Next time...well that's pretty obvious, I'm not just gonna rehash the
T-rex scene from JP either, so don't worry about that any. Things only go
downhill from here anyway.
C&C to: Carrotglace@juno.com
URL: Http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/fountain/3203