Disclaimer: Do I look like I own Witch Hunter Robin? No? Didn’t think so. *Walks off*
Amon: Are you done yet?
Puff: *sigh* No, you can’t rush things like this. I need time to fully express my brilliance.
Kitsune: *leans slightly over Puff’s shoulder to look at the blueprints* All I see is a bunch of circles and several scrawled words, Puff. Doesn’t look like brilliance to me.
Puff: *Indignant* Those are the locking mechanisms. The scrawled words denote how many times and with how much force they were jarred.
Kitsune: Whatever you say. *walks over to the box* *whispers* I don’t think she knows what she’s doing.
Amon: …
Kitsune: *Still whispering* How much room do you have in there?
Amon: None.
Kitsune: Oh, ‘cause I was thinking we could just stab a sword in between the hinges and pry the door off.
Amon: You’d kill me.
Puff: At least then you’d all be quiet and I could think.
Kitsune: You heard us?!
Puff: Duh, I’m only sitting like three feet away!
Chapter Nineteen: Laboratory Visit
“What is in the wounds?” Amon questioned blankly, not able to remove his near-black eyes from the oddly colored marks as he spoke. Dr. Takahashi peered at the gashes for a moment longer, speaking slowly under his breath and muttering a jumble of words in a steady stream.
“By any chance, did Orbo come in contact with your wounds on this arm?” Dr. Takahashi inquired, sounding like he was asking someone if they had toast with their breakfast instead of if they had some chemical mixed with their flesh. Amon slowly let himself melt in the back of his hazy mind, picking through fragmented memories of his battle with Sela carefully for any clues.
“Sela kicked shards from the Orbo bullets at me,” Amon said quickly, not quite willing to admit that he’d been down long enough during the battle to have gotten the shards into his arm but still aware that he had to disclose important information to his doctor. The doctor nodded slowly, chewing lightly on one of his pens as he thought.
“Do you feel well enough to go for a little trip?” Dr. Takahashi asked brightly, pulling a wheelchair over from the corner and gesturing for Amon to get in.
“I’ll walk,” Amon said coldly, feeling that a wheelchair would make him appear to be sicker that he really was.
“Take your doctor’s advice; get in the wheelchair,” Dr. Takahashi ordered darkly, his previous tone of cheerfulness all but gone. Amon glared icily, but climbed out of his soft bed and into the cold vinyl-covered chair. The doctor pushed the chair out in to the hall, stopping when they reached Robin and Javan.
“Robin, would you mind leaving Javan with the nurse at the desk and then you can come with us?” Dr. Takahashi questioned, waving one his hands in the general direction of the nurses’ station. The craft user nodded, floated down the hall with a wildly protesting Javan, deposited the little girl with a slightly confused nurse, and glided carefully back to the two men.
They went down the halls in silence, each person in their own little realm. Robin’s hands were clasped around her crimson and silver necklace, her mind wandering back to Italy as she thought about the nuns whom had so diligently raised her from an infant and about her mother whom she never knew. Amon was focusing on keeping track of any specific landmarks around each corner, in case he had to escape quickly. And Dr. Takahashi was thinking about if he remembered to recharge all of the equipment in his laboratory.
Winding through darkened halls that appeared to be never used, Amon felt a slight twinge of apprehension. A quick side-glance at the serene craft user in the dim light soothed him momentarily until they turned down a pitch-black passageway. The broken tiles on the floor caused the ride to be bumpy and painful, as the constant jostling disturbed Amon’s sore wounds. Robin’s long black dress caught on a fragment that jutted up from the floor, the girl nearly tumbled on the floor in an ungraceful heap. Luckily enough, Dr. Takahashi caught her and righted her on her feet.
“Remember, Robin, be careful. Especially when we get to the stairs; the boards have gotten slick with the dampness caused by the recent rain and I don’t think I could patch you up if you flew head first down all of them,” Dr. Takahashi joked, hoping to get the blonde in a better mood but only succeeded in scaring the living daylights out of her.
They continued along, though Robin was a bit more cautious and held her flowing skirt above her ankles so she could prevent another near-fall. A few times, the whole group went straight into a wall, Dr. Takahashi commenting that he thought it was a bit further till that wall was suppose to be there. Both Robin and Amon were certain they were going to be bruised after this little expedition.
“Ah, we’ve reached the stairs,” Dr. Takahashi commented, right after he nearly pushed Amon right down them, “Who wants to go first?” A faint light from the bottom of the staircase scarcely illuminated the decrepit hallway, but it provided enough light to show each of the three was looking around at the others.
“I’ll go,” Robin said faintly after a moment’s deliberation. She pulled her skirt up higher, holding the lengthy material around the middle of her shins. Warily Robin inched her way down the flight of stairs, catching herself on the cold and damp wall each time she nearly fell. Amon and Dr. Takahashi followed at a slightly quicker pace, each of them not having to worry about floor length dresses catching on a nail or broken board as they worked their way down.
Amon paused for the briefest second when they reached the laboratory, his dark eyes diligently observing the slightly dirty machines arranged around the walls of the room and the steel table surrounded by thousands of different metal instruments.
“Robin, if you like, you can go sit in that chair over there,” Dr. Takahashi said sweetly, pointing out one of antique brocade chairs set in a warmly lit corner before turning his hand towards the table in the center of the room, “Amon, you may sit there.” Each of the hunters wandered towards where they had been indicated to go, though Robin seemed more pleased about the seating arrangement than her partner did.
Dr. Takahashi made sure each of his guests were in their proper place before he strode over to a small end table that was piled high with testing devices. He snatched one of them from the stack and grabbed a scalpel on his way back to Amon.
“I’m just going to lance one of these wounds so I can get a sample of the liquid inside. Then I’ll test it,” Dr. Takahashi explained as he steadied Amon’s arm on the table and pushed the blade into the hunter’s flesh. The doctor hurriedly gathered a sample and walked over to one of the machines against the wall. He placed the sample inside and walked over to where Robin sat patiently, her green eyes languidly watching every move made in the room.
“That will take a while to finish, so I’m going to finish patching up Mr. Smiles over there,” Dr. Takahashi said, jerking a thumb in Amon’s general direction, “You can go practice your craft over there. I’ve got a lot of targets set up that can be programmed to move at different speeds.” Robin smiled and walked off towards a very odd looking machine with buttons all over it. She began pushing a few tentatively, watching the device for its reactions.
Dr. Takahashi glanced over Amon’s wounds once again, making tiny notes on a slip of paper. He poked the reticent hunter’s wounds several times, also noting the reactions that he received. As soon as the doctor had thoroughly examined Amon, he glided off with his notes and began throwing powders, liquids, and odd-looking goops into bowls. Several explosions, a batch of noxious fumes, and brand new types of acids, Dr. Takahashi presented Amon with many small orange pills in a glass bottle.
“Just take these every few hours and you’ll heal up in no time flat,” Dr. Takahashi said happily, acting as if his eyebrows hadn’t been singed off by one of the flare-ups caused by the chemical reactions. Amon looked from the delicate glass bottle to his doctor and back again, as if trying to decide if all of this was a joke or not.
“You want me to take these?” Amon inquired sharply, deciding that with all the mistakes the doctor had made with the other combinations of chemicals, this one could most definitely be a poison.
“Yes, of course. They’ll make you feel great because they’ll heal your wounds very quickly,” Dr. Takahashi said proudly, gesturing wildly with his hands and smiling like a fool. Amon was about to open his mouth to respond when a wailing alarm went off briefly and the sound of spraying water filled the room.
Robin was drenched from head to toe, her hair hung limply in her face and over her ears, which caused her to look like a very sad puppy. She looked sheepish and embarrassed, carefully flipping all of the switches on the machine back into the positions they had been in before she had played with them. In careful, measured steps, Robin walked back over to her companions.
“What happened?” Dr. Takahashi asked point blankly, grinning at the dripping wet girl.
“I tried to see if my aim had improved without my glasses,” Robin explained softly, pushing her sopping hair out of her eyes only to have it slip right back a second later. The two men exchanged quick glances, each of them wondering how they were going to take her back to the main part of the hospital without any questions arising.
“Well, did your aim improve?” Dr. Takahashi inquired sweetly; had anyone else asked, it would have sounded like schoolyard teasing, but the good doctor had a gift for sounding genuine when he wanted to. Robin looked around the room slowly, her emerald eyes languidly taking her surroundings before she spoke.
“No,” Robin stated, blushing such a vivid crimson that her pendant seemed to become a pale pink.
“There are a few towels in that supply closet over there,” Dr. Takahashi said soothingly, “Go dry off as best as you can and then we’d better head back before they start to wonder whether or not we were abducted by aliens.” Robin graciously nodded, grateful for the ability to remove the freezing cold water from her clothes. The laboratory had been cold before, but now Robin would be ecstatic if she didn’t catch a cold.
Robin fumbled around in the small, dark room, reaching around to try and find a light switch. She found a slimy, dangling cord attached to one very old light bulb that hung from the center of the ceiling. Quickly, and desperately trying to ignore the gnawing feeling that she was being watched, Robin wrung out her clothes and dried off as best as she could given the present circumstances.
“All dry? Good, now let’s go,” Dr. Takahashi said brightly, overlooking both Robin’s damp discomfort and Amon’s general loathing of the laboratory. As they were heading towards the staircase, a piercingly loud and incessant beeping resounded through the now darkened room. Dr. Takahashi turned on heel and sped off in the direction of one of his dust-covered machines, his white coat flaring out cheerfully behind him.
“I completely forgot about the reason I dragged both of you down here!” Dr. Takahashi explained, tearing a little slip of paper off of the machine and promptly scanned over the fine print scrawled across it, “Just as I suspected… I suppose we’ll have to test it, and pray it works well.” A few clicks of his tongue finally annoyed Amon to the point where he had to inquire about what the doctor was muttering.
“Test what?” Amon asked sharply, his dark gray eyes narrowing dangerously as he stepped forwards slightly.
“Well, it seems that I was correct in assuming that Orbo was in your arm,” Dr. Takahashi began, backing up nervously, “And we will have to test the strength of the concentration of the Orbo. That’s where Robin comes in. She can send flames of varying intensity at you until you can no long block them with your arm. Of course, we will wait till those pills I gave you take their full effect in a few days.” Both of the hunters stared at the doctor like had gone crazy and would have to be put down like a rabid animal.
“You want me to try and burn Amon?” Robin questioned innocently, though she seemed slightly more pleased about the test than Amon did. He knew that he hadn’t exactly been nice to Robin during the time he knew her, so this could be the perfect chance for her to get back at him in a big way.
“Yes,” Dr. Takahashi responded, inching his way to Robin’s side, “Now we need to get Amon rested up for the test. So lets head back, shall we?” Amon went up the stairs first, silently seething and thinking of a way to kill the doctor without anyone finding out about it. Robin went next, her mind fluttering about over whether or not it would be safe to send her craft at her partner. And finally, Dr. Takahashi brought up the end, frantically trying to come up with a plan so his patient didn’t kill him. He really couldn’t think of any that the other members of the hospital staff wouldn’t notice.
They hurried back, only to be greeted with a tense nurse who thought she had lost one of her patients and a very hyper Javan whom had been given all the pocky and candy she wanted from aforementioned nurse. Amon was forced to settle back down on his bed and was told to go to sleep by everyone in the room; he needed his strength for the upcoming test.
Author’s Note: {glomps everyone} I love you all!!! I love you!!! Group hug!!! This story is currently the most highly recommended in the Witch Hunter Robin category. {cries} You love me!!! I’m so happy. {glomps everyone again}Ah, yes, before I forget. I may not be able to update next week. Just thought I’d warn you. Please, still vote and review. {grins}
To the Reviewers:
Beautiful Witch Hunter Robin: Here’s the update! I hope you enjoyed.
Amon’s Angel of Darkness: I’m not very patient either. I like to get stuff done. And I like schedules… {giggles}
Wake-Robin: I’m all-better now. Yeah, Robin was being sweet.
Jazzywolf: Thank you, a late review is better than none. {grins}
Suki1: Hm, let’s see, what can I feed you now! {rummages in kitchen} Ah ha, here, you can have this triple fudge cake. I don’t care for milk chocolate much. I prefer a nice white chocolate or vanilla. Sensitive taste buds. {grimaces}
CrazyFemaleDragon: Hehe, did you enjoy the chapter?
Carri: Puff-chan is the baby of the family! I don’t have to worry about little siblings, but I can sympathize because I have little cousins.
Goth Musician. {stares in disbelief} The man was in a coma for over a week. {giggles} But I see now how that could be taken in… different context.
Shawn Provancha: That’s good, right?
Kaidence: Well, were the wounds something bad or do you think it’s going to be an asset?
De Lethe: I would glomp Amon. I would glomp anyone who looked like Amon. Ooh, let’s make hot chocolate! {pulls De Lethe in to the kitchen}
Sakura Rain: I’m curious too! I want to know. Oh, wait, I’m the author. Scratch that. {grins} That probably wasn’t that comforting, was it? {laughs}
Jcgamer: I know I’m going to sound really stupid, but could you tell me what that little symbol and number thing means? {bats eyelashes} {looks mischievous} Well, I suppose I could wait till Monday…
Gennie Kag’s and Sess’s Child: Does this mean I getting better with cliff hangers? {smiles}
X.W.: Thank you, I’ll try to keep your advice in my mind when I write. But, really, I’m just trying to keep the moods with the chapters as I see fit.
Sala: I’m calling it hyper. {glomp} Yay, you’re like Puff-chan. I do, how do I put this, my kind of humor. Unfortunately, a lot of times people don’t get it because it’s threaded into the weave of the chapter. {smiles softly}
Cat: Here’s the chapter, just don’t hurt me… {puts up hands}