Gensomaden Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ Marionette ❯ Chapter Fifteen ( Chapter 15 )

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"Jien? Oh, Jien! Please wake up!"

Stop calling my name. I don't want to awaken in Hell. Please! Let me die.

"Jien, don't leave me all alone! If you do, I swear I'll follow you! I don't know how, but I'll figure out a way to die!"

Sighing, Jien's eyelids fluttered open to gaze into tear-filled crimson orbs. He found himself weeping as well as he said, "Damn you, Gojyo! What am I going to do with you? I can't even die in peace!" Jien tried to move, but he grimaced, feeling pain in his back. It was only then that he realized that he was lying face down on the bed, half-naked, the raw skin of his back exposed to the air.

Gojyo released his hand for a moment to lay cold, medicated compresses on his back. When Jien breathed in relief, the clone sat back down at his bedside and held his hand.

"You can curse me all you want, Jien," the marionette sobbed, "but I'm not letting you go. I'm so sorry. I did something bad again which made Mr. Gyumao angry. Because of me, you and Kou got hurt?"

"Kou?" asked Jien in surprise.

Gojyo nodded as he narrated everything that happened after he blacked out. Kougaiji had barged into the bedroom, seizing his father's arm before he could let it fall on Jien's bleeding back. Gyumao backhanded him then into a dresser. Before he could gather his wits together, a heavy fist slammed into his eye and the belt lashed across his face. He would've suffered injuries as serious as Jien's. However, when the guards finally arrived, Kou managed to grab a gun from the holster of one of the men, cocked it, and pointed it at his father.

At this point, Kougaiji entered the room, bearing a basin filled with fresh compresses. The rich man's bastard son was sporting a black eye and a welt on his left cheek.

Glaring wearily at the clone through his swollen eye, Kou said, "Didn't I tell you not to say anything to Jien?"

"You know Gojyo won't hide anything from me." Jien then praised, "That was a very brave thing you did, Kougaiji, but very dangerous."

"It's nothing. I think I shocked him when he saw me holding that gun. He just threw his belt in the corner and stormed off." Mournfully, Kougaiji remarked, "Some help I turned out to be. If I hadn't hesitated, things wouldn't have gotten this far."

"No," Gojyo put in with deep regret. "I'm to blame for all this. I shouldn't have displeased Mr. Gyumao again and…"

"Gojyo, how many times do I have to tell you that it isn't anything that you did?" Kou scolded the guilt-stricken clone. "It is we who father is angry with. He took out his anger on you instead."

"But Kou…"

"No buts." Kougaiji placed the basin on the side table. "I'll leave Jien to you, Gojyo. Take care of him. My eye hurts like hell and the doctor said that I should get some rest too. You two better take advantage of this. Father took the private jet to France a couple of hours ago to see an emergency at the research complex there. I don't know when he'll be back."

"Thanks, Kou," Jien said in sincere gratitude.

"Just don't do anything stupid next time." With a wave, Kougaiji left them alone.

Hearing the door click shut, Jien painfully inched to the right side of the bed, causing the clone to stand up at once.

"What're you doing?" Gojyo cried in alarm as he helped the wounded man. "Jien, you're not supposed to move!"

Jien patted the empty space beside him.

"I can't! I'll just sleep on the couch."

"There's enough room here. Indulge me."

Although it was against his better judgment to do so, Gojyo got into bed, making sure that his friend had a bigger space.

Jien played with an arching lock of the marionette's hair. "Gojyo, tell me how you felt about what happened."

"I was absolutely terrified…and helpless," Gojyo admitted. "I wanted to help, but I couldn't move. I didn't want to see you being hurt, but I just couldn't go against Mr. Gyumao."

"But Kougaiji did just that, and he is Gyumao's son.

In his agitation, Gojyo popped his thumb inside his mouth. "Violence scares me. I don't want to see people fighting."

"You've seen your counterpart on television. Did you ever see Sha Gojyo start a fight on his own?"

The marionette scanned through the episodes that were stored in his memory. "Uh…no…" That reply sounded like a squeak.

"The Gojyo on TV fought against those who dared to attack him and his friends. He fought against those who would oppress the weak. It was all to defend those he loved and the innocent, as well as to protect himself.

"De…fend? Pro…tect?"

"Gojyo, it's not very difficult to understand. What I'm trying to say is that there will come a time when I won't be able to protect you anymore. That's why I took great risks to let you study the fight scenes in the show. What are you going to do then if I'm no longer with you? Are you just going to let Gyumao continue hurting you?"

"But Jien…I can't…Mr. Gyumao…"

"Is your owner? It doesn't give him any right to abuse you…or those you care for." Jien cupped the confused clone's cheek. "Gyumao created you in the image of Sha Gojyo, but I am telling you to become him."

"Jien, it's impossible! I'm just a cyborg, a machine! How can I become the Sha Gojyo on TV?"

Jien reached into his jeans' pocket and pulled out a mini-disk. Pressing it into Gojyo's hand, he smiled mysteriously.

"I will give you a damned good reason to fight."

~~~~~

The week plodded on at a turtle's pace with no word from Gyumao in France. This was a thankful reprieve for all at Houtou Enterprises. They were even more thankful that the poor marionette was given a welcome respite from his owner's cruelty.

It was around 8 pm of the sixth day. Kougaiji and Dokugakuji were sharing a cup of coffee in the security office when they were interrupted by a timid voice over the speaker.

"Is anyone there?" that voice asked them.

Dokugakuji switched on the monitor to reveal Gojyo standing right outside their office. In his hands, the clone bore a small tray of cookies and two glasses of milk.

"Gojyo? What are you doing here?" Kou asked, frowning at the surprising sight of the clone.

The marionette twitched nervously where he stood. "I just thought I'd bring you and Dokugakuji some milk and cookies."

"How did you find this place?" the systems analyst inquired curiously. When he had designed the Houtou Building, it was like a massive fortress with twisting corridors and hidden rooms. The security floor, as well as the routes to the penthouse, was the most guarded in the establishment. "And what happened to your guard?"

"Sorry," Gojyo said apologetically. "I didn't mean to, but Jien insisted. He told me to access the layout of this building when you hooked me up to the computer for repairs. As for the guard, he...he..."

"Yes?" both men asked in unison.

"He told me that he would look away. I don't know why he did it. But that's what he did. In fact, all of the guards looked away as I passed by." A tear trickled from the clone's right eye. "Why is that? Don't any of you like me anymore? Is it because I leak too much? Is it because Jien got hurt because of me?"

Kougaiji and Dokugakuji, however, knew the reason why. Like they, the security men have also developed a fondness for the loving clone, especially following that terrible incident. With the notable exception of Gyumao's personal bodyguards, all of them viewed with disgust their employer's harsh treatment towards the charming new member of their family. This was reason enough for the guards to turn a blind eye to the marionette's passage.

Breathing in deeply, Kougaiji opened the door of the security office and let Gojyo inside. As the clone laid the tray on the table, he saw that strapped to Gojyo's back was a bright yellow Pikachu backpack.

"Gojyo..." Kou whispered the marionette's name, not knowing exactly what he should say.

"Please let me go to Hakkai, Kou," Gojyo begged him earnestly, his hands clasped before his chest. "I know Dokugakuji couldn't figure out what's wrong with me, but Hakkai can. Jien is certain that he could. Please, Kougaiji! Dokugakuji! I don't want Mr. Gyumao to be unhappy with me! I need Hakkai to fix me!"

"Well, we have to find a way to explain to Gyumao how you managed to escape," the young secretary began thoughtfully. "Gojyo, this is very dangerous. I don't know why Jien put you up to this. A lot of people could get hurt because of this. The guards, Dokugakuji and I, and Jien..."

Suddenly, to the two men's surprise, the security monitors started to blink off one by one. Even the security computer droned to a dead halt. As one, they gazed at the marionette.

Shrugging, Gojyo suggested, "There's one good reason. Jien showed me how to hack into the main computer." He looked at the systems analyst in reassurance. "Don't worry, Dokugakuji. I'll switch it back on when I'm gone. And you don't have to worry about the guards. I'm a very fast runner, you see. You could say that I was able to sneak past them."

Dokugakuji shook his head. "No, that reason wouldn't be good enough." He typed in a few commands on his laptop. At once, the layout of the Houtou Building scrolled on the screen. Pointing to the layout, he advised, "Remember everything that you see here, Gojyo. I've plotted out several routes where you could avoid the guards' detection. If Gyumao asks you how you escaped, simply describe one of these routes to him."

Gojyo gazed hopefully at Kougaiji and Dokugakuji. "Does this mean I could go now?"

Kougaiji smiled at him. "Yes, Gojyo. You could go. But please promise us that you would come back before the sun rises. I'm not lying about the fact that your disappearance could cause trouble for us all."

"I promise, Kougaiji," Gojyo solemnly swore, raising his right hand over his chest. Grinning, he said, "Bye, guys! Please take care of Jien for me, okay?"

For several minutes, the two men watched the marionette's so-called 'escape' through Dokugakuji's laptop, which the systems analyst connected to the various security cams that the clone would be passing by. As he had said, Gojyo was indeed a fast runner, owing his speed to his cyborg frame and advanced propulsion system. To their chagrin, though, the clone still managed to stop by a few guards and give a quick "Bye! I'll be back!" Like they had done earlier, these same guards also gave him the same warning -- to return before Gyumao arrived. When he reached the gates, Gojyo even turned around to wave at the camera before running down the road.

"Do you think he'll keep his promise, Kougaiji?" Dokugakuji asked worriedly.

"I'm sure he will," Kougaiji remarked. "Let's just hope that my father doesn't arrive earlier than expected."

~~~~~

Jien saw Gojyo wave at the gates via his computer.

As the marionette ran off, he prayed, "If there really is indeed a merciful god up there, please keep Gojyo safe."

~~~~~

Hakkai was listlessly playing with his food, his fork mincing through his steak. Seated with him at the table, even Goku, Hakuryu, Jiroushin and Kwannon could not eat a single bite. In the long months since the marionette's departure, they all had lost considerable weight. Progress on their latest cloning project was going slower than expected. At first glance, it seemed as if they had nothing to live for.

Before Hakkai could give in to his tears of frustration once more, he was jolted by the sound of the doorbell. Swiftly, he stood up, the chair toppling to the floor, and ran into the living room, his pets and his grandfather following at his heels. He hesitated for a moment with his hand on the doorknob.

"What are you waiting for, Hakkai?" Goku asked breathlessly. "Open it. Please!"

Nodding, the scientist flung the door wide open, and he felt his breath catch in his throat at the sight of the shy figure standing at his doorstep.

"Hakkai? Hakkai!" Gojyo stammered his mentor's name, his body straining to hold back the tears that were filling his eyes. But he failed in his attempt. As the tears burst forth, the marionette cried like a child, "Hakkai, help me! I can't stop myself from leaking. See! I'm doing it again. My eyes won't stop leaking tears. And I always have red gooey stuff flowing down my legs that I had to stick toilet paper up my bum. Dokugakuji tried to fix me, but he didn't know how. Mr. Gyumao's always so angry with me, but I don't know what to do. Please fix me, Hakkai, so that I could make Mr. Gyumao happy again! Please!"

Hearing the clone's outburst, the geneticist's eyes fell upon the region of Gojyo's thighs, and the blood that stained his jeans.

Flinging his arms around the marionette's neck, Hakkai swiftly pulled his precious creation inside the house. "Yes, Gojyo," he promised the clone. "I swear I'll fix you so that you'll be as good as new. We all will, won't you, guys?" He winked down at the animal clones.

"You have our word on that, Gojyo," Goku swore over the speakers. Kwannon and Jiroushin meowed and barked their assent. Even Hakuryu "kyuu"-ed happily.

"Oh, thank you, Hakkai!" Gojyo exclaimed in relief. "I knew you could! Once I'm fixed, I'm sure Mr. Gyumao will be very pleased!"

Hakkai scowled, hearing the multimillionaire's name. Easing the clone away from him, he gazed firmly into those startled sunset eyes. "Who says you are going back to Gyumao? I'm not letting you go back to him, Gojyo. Once I'm through fixing you up, I'm taking you far away from him."

"But, Hakkai, you can't do that. I promised Kougaiji and Dokugakuji. So many people will get hurt if Gyumao finds me gone. And Jien…"

"I don't care about them. It's you I care about." The scientist embraced his beloved creation in a tight bear hug. "I'm not letting you go, Gojyo."

The marionette leaned on his maker's shoulder. "Oh, Hakkai! It's been months that we’ve been apart and still you don't understand that I could never belong to you."

~~~~~

"THAT BASTARD! THAT GOD-DAMNED BASTARD!"

Hakkai pounded his fists on his computer console as he watched Gojyo heal inside the cloning chamber. Earlier, he had the unenviable task of sewing up the deep non-healing lacerations in the clone's rectum and cleaning up those ugly welts on his back with Goku's assistance.

Over the giant screen, Goku soothed, "Calm down, Hakkai! At least, he's here and we were able to help him."

"Help him? And for what?" the geneticist rebutted in fury. "So that Gyumao could abuse him again? That...damage...it couldn't have been inflicted by that filthy cock of his."

Jiroushin, who was hooked to the computer, cleared his throat uncomfortably. "No," he revealed, "fucking Gojyo wasn't all that Gyumao did."

It was a furious Kwannon who hissed out, "The damned sadist beat him, Hakkai. He stuck things up..."

Hakkai's hands flew up to cover his ears. "Don't say any more! I don't want to hear it! I could already see for myself the damage that had been done to him!"

Hakuryu, who had already learned a few simple words and phrases, put in solemnly, "Barbecue Gyumao. That Hakuryu will certainly do."

"You can't let Gojyo go back there," Goku insisted. "Gyumao could destroy him, if he hasn't ruined his poor soul already."

"Strange how his goodness remains intact," mused Jiroushin. "Despite the things that Gyumao did to him, he is always thinking about that bastard's happiness."

"He doesn't deserve Gojyo, Hakkai," Kwannon stated firmly. "Oh, if I were only human, I would've murdered Gyumao for the cruelties he had inflicted upon our dear marionette."

"No, no! Barbecue Gyumao better!" Hakuryu put in with bloodthirsty eagerness.

"And I told you," the scientist said just as strongly. "I have no intention of letting Gojyo return to him. Gyumao will have to go through my dead body if he wants Gojyo back."

The light on the computer began to flicker, indicating that the phone was ringing in the living room. With a quick "I'll be right back!" Hakkai hurried to answer it. Lifting the receiver, he said, "Yeah?"

"Hakkai-sensei? Is this Dr. Cho Hakkai?" an unfamiliar voice asked nervously on the other end.

"Yes, this is Cho Hakkai. Who is this?"

"My name's Kougaiji, Hakkai-sensei. I'm Mr. Gyumao's personal secretary."

"I know who you are, Kougaiji," Hakkai began, "and I would like to thank you, Mr. Dokugakuji and the guards for helping Gojyo escape from that bastard boss of yours."

"I'm not going to take all the credit, Hakkai-sensei. It was Jien who orchestrated everything. But that's not the reason why I called. You see, Gojyo promised us that he would return before sunrise. It's morning, and Mr. Gyumao called up earlier saying that he would be arriving in an hour, and..."

"Kougaiji, let me be direct with you. Gojyo won't be coming back."

"But Hakkai-sensei, you don't understand. You don't know what Mr. Gyumao could do." In hushed tones, Kougaiji revealed, "Chin Issou...he's dead."

Hakkai fell silent at that last. Despite the evil things that Chin had done to his precious creation, the scientist could not deny that he still held deep feelings for his deceased lover.

His jaw hardening, Hakkai replied, "As Gojyo will be if I permit him to return there. I'm sorry, Kougaiji, but as I told my friends here, Gyumao will have to go through my dead body before he could get Gojyo back."

Not wanting to hear the man's reply, the geneticist slammed the phone on its cradle and hurried back to the lab. However, the sight that greeted Hakkai shocked him. Kwannon, Hakuryu and Jiroushin lay still on the floor, their smoking cables still attached to the computer.

Goku's image on the screen was flickering as he spoke, "I'm sorry, Hakkai. We tried to stop him, but he shorted us out."

Horrified, Hakkai turned shocked green gold eyes to the cloning chamber, which was now empty of its occupant. Tears filling his eyes, he gasped, "No! Gojyo! Why did you leave?"

Hakkai made to help the animal clones when his hand brushed against something on the console, which fell to the floor. His eyes widened at the sight of the min-disk.

Written on its label as "To Dr. Cho Hakkai and Dr. Son Goku." It was simply signed "Jien".

~~~~~

When the four animal clones had recovered, Hakkai decided to play the mini-disk that Gojyo left behind. The image that appeared on the computer screen was that of a haggard young man, pale and gaunt, with parallel scars on his left cheek. Despite his ill appearance and the dark brown color of his long hair and eyes, there wasn't any doubt that this was the man whom Gojyo was cloned from.

The sight of the man drew a gasp from Goku's shocked lips. "My God! I always thought Gojyo looked very familiar to me. With everything that's happened, it never occurred to me to do a trace."

Hakkai frowned at the monkey clone. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Then, the man on the screen started to speak and they all focused their attention on him.

"Dr. Cho Hakkai," the young man began, "if you are watching this, Gojyo had succeeded in giving this disk to you. I hope Dr. Son Goku is with you as well, because he too would need to hear what I have to say."

"You know him?" Hakkai asked Goku, but the monkey clone hushed him up.

"You may call me 'Jien'," the man on the screen introduced himself. "I chose to simply go by my first name after the…disgrace…my brother and I had suffered from our…respectable…colleagues." This, he said with a trace of sarcasm. "I may have become a lowly television actor, but I am speaking to you now as the fellow doctor and scientist I once was…because I care very much for this poor marionette you had created from the cells that were stolen from my body."

Hakkai listened in stunned disbelief as Jien thoroughly described Gojyo's deteriorating condition. He even included diagrams showing where in the clone's cells the instability was. But what shocked them all was Jien's startling revelation.

"I have reason to believe that Gojyo may have been infected by a designer virus," Jien explained, albeit reluctantly. "A week before Gyumao had me abducted, there was an incident in his research lab in France. From what I heard, he fired his Virology Chief for an ambitious new scientist named Chin Issou. Wanting revenge, this virologist attacked Gyumao. Before he was shot to death, he successfully injected Gyumao with a virus he had created, a virus that destroys proteins by breaking the linkages between amino acids. Its mode of transmission is similar to the AIDS virus – through the exchange of body fluids, such as blood, saliva and semen."

"Oh my lord!" Goku gasped, realizing what the young man was saying.

Jien indeed confirmed, "Yes, I became infected with this virus after Gyumao raped me. And now, Gojyo is infected with it as well, and it is this virus that is hastening the deterioration process. I believe, however, that with your help, we can buy Gojyo some time."

A series of computations and chemical configurations flashed through the screen. Hakkai and Goku saw that Jien's plan involved reinserting amino acids in those broken links and strengthening them with a quadruple ionic bond. It could be done, but…

"I'm afraid this is only a temporary measure," Jien said in sorrow. "Gojyo is hampered by a weak immune system. His body is not strong enough to battle the virus. I was thinking of giving the protein bonds the ability to repel the virus, but all my calculations have fallen short. The only hope that Gojyo has is my brother. His contact details are encoded in this disk. If you want our beloved marionette to be saved, you must find my brother."

Hakkai immediately printed out the addresses and telephone numbers.

Jien let out a bitter laugh, as tears streamed down his face. "When you find my brother, please tell him that I tried to hold on…because I wanted so much to see him again. But I realize now that I'll never see him again. I'm dying, and I don't want him to see me like this – weak, diseased… Please tell him that even if he was such a damned asshole, I loved him very much. Gojyo is all I have left. Tell him to care for this gentle marionette as he had cared for me.

"Oh, and one last thing, Dr. Hakkai, Dr. Goku. Once Gojyo is fixed, if you consider yourself a decent human being, do not return him to Gyumao. I swear I will haunt you from beyond the grave and never let you leave in peace for the rest of your life. I'll be in touch."

With that, the message ended. As Goku settled back in his seat, he said, "Now we know why Gojyo was so determined to return. He was concerned about Jien. He took a great risk in helping our precious marionette to come here. I...I've seen it inside his memory chip. Chin Issou's dead, isn't he. Gojyo didn't want Jien to suffer the same fate. Oh, Jien! Why did this terrible thing have to happen to you?"

"But what about Gojyo?" Hakkai rubbed his aching temples. "What's going to happen to him if he returns to Gyumao?"

"Definitely more of the things that are being done to him right now. But you could probably consider it a blessing if Gyumao does abuse him."

"Since when did rape become a blessing? You have a twisted mind, Goku!"

"Look at it this way, son. If Gyumao hurts him, Gojyo will be coming back here for you to fix him. And when we do finally complete the repairs on him with the help of Jien and his brother..."

Despite his concern for his beloved marionette, a smile went up the corners of Hakkai's lips. "We'll be ready. As Jien ordered us, we'll never let Gojyo return to Gyumao ever again."

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