Gensomaden Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ Marionette ❯ Chapter Eighteen ( Chapter 18 )

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

With a snarl, Gyumao jerked himself out of the battered body of his clone and snatched the ringing phone from the table.

"This had better be good. I told you I didn't want to be disturbed," the rich man mumbled menacingly to who ever it was that was calling him. A brief pause. "WHAT? Again? Damn it, Foster! I knew I should've shut down that refinery months ago!"

Gingerly, Gojyo eased himself up on one elbow to peer at his master above the dark bruise on his left cheek. He didn't have to use his special aura sensors to see how angry Gyumao was.

"All right, all right!" Gyumao shouted into the phone. "I'm going this very instant!"

As Gyumao slammed the phone on the cradle, the marionette quickly got out of bed, taking his master's robe. He offered it to the multimillionaire who thrust his arms into the sleeves.

"What happened, Mr. Gyumao?" the clone gently inquired, following the rich man into the dressing room.

As Gyumao hurriedly picked out clothes to wear, he explained, "That old clunker of a generator has shut down again. Without power, none of the machines would work."

"Is that bad?"

"Of course it's bad! I'm losing a hell of a lot of money from that refinery. Now I have to shut it down completely before I lose a much bigger fortune."

Helping Gyumao to get dressed, Gojyo nervously asked, "Do you have to go there tonight? Can't it wait until tomorrow morning?"

A smile formed on Gyumao's mouth at that query. "Why, Gojyo! I never thought you had it in you. Unfortunately, this can't wait." He reached down to cup those rounded buttocks. "But we still have tomorrow night and the nights after that."

The rich man yanked on his jacket and was about to leave, but the marionette grabbed his arm in desperation.

"Mr. Gyumao, no. That's not what I meant." Releasing him, Gojyo twiddled his fingers in agitation. "I need to talk to you."

Gyumao frowned. "About what?"

"About us."

"What about us?"

Gojyo felt the rapid whirring of the back up circuit inside his chest. The sinister look that his master was giving him nearly drove him into fearful silence. But he had to speak his mind now, hoping for the changes that it might bring.

"Mr. Gyumao...." the marionette began hesitantly.

"I'm waiting, Gojyo," Gyumao said impatiently.
Not knowing how to cushion the impact of what he was going to say, Gojyo blurted out, "I wanted to ask if things could be...different...between us."

"'Different'?" The multimillionaire's brows raised in surprise. "What do you mean 'different'?"

"I know I'm...innocent, Mr. Gyumao. And I know that you often get impatient with me because of it. But I'm a fast learner if only you'll teach me what I should do." Gojyo's trembling fingers touched his bruise. "You don't have to..."

"Beat you? Is that what you're trying to say?"

The clone shook his head. "No, not exactly. I want to love you, Mr. Gyumao, but you're making it so hard for me to do so. If you'll just give me a chance to prove myself to you, perhaps you'll learn to love me too."

"Love? LOVE?" Gyumao burst into laughter. "Is that what you want from me -- LOVE? Haven't you ever thought that I could only find pleasure when I see you hurting and bleeding in my hands? I couldn't bed the man you were cloned from, but I could do anything I want with you because, unlike Jien, you, my dear Gojyo, are my property."

"But there could be so much more between us. Don't you want our...relationship...to be more meaningful than this?"

Gyumao took a menacing step toward the weeping marionette. "Let me give you something I'm sure you'll understand."

Gojyo knew what was coming, but he was never fast enough to evade it. The rich man's hard fist connected with his mouth, sending him sprawling to the carpet. A hand to the cut on his lip revealed blood.

"You're my whore, Gojyo," Gyumao emphasized. "A plaything! Someone I could fuck wherever and whenever I want, with none of those damned emotional entanglements. You want love from me? I could never love you, Gojyo. You're not even human! You're just a machine!"

"Hakkai loved me!" the clone swiftly rebutted before he realized that the scientist's name had flown from his lips.

The sound of the good doctor's name caused a scowl to darken Gyumao's face. "Him again? How long is he going to be this blasted sword hanging over my head? Like that useless plant of mine, I think that now would be the perfect time to rid myself of Dr. Cho Hakkai once and for all. While I'm at it, I could dispose of Jien too since he is useless to me now."

"No! Don't, Mr. Gyumao! I swear I won't mention Hakkai's name ever again!" Gojyo threw himself at the rich man's feet. "Please don't hurt Hakkai and Jien! I promise I won't disobey you!"

"You'd better keep your promise, Gojyo," Gyumao muttered in his ear. "Or else!"

"Yes, Mr. Gyumao," the marionette nodded, his long hair shielding the tears that streamed down his face. "I won't break my word to you."

"Stop it! Stop it right now!"

Gyumao whirled to behold Jien leaning breathlessly against the doorway. It obviously was a great strain on his sick captive to go to the penthouse.

"Why do you persist in hurting him like this, Gyumao?" Jien demanded, unable to hold back his tears any longer. "Is it too much for you to learn to love him?"

The rich man seized Jien by his hair and painfully jerked his head back. "Have you ever seen me love anyone? I could've learned to love you, but you spurned me!"

"You took me away from my brother! How could I not feel anything but hate for you?"

With a snarl, Gyumao shoved to Jien to the floor beside the poor clone. As Jien embraced the weeping marionette, he hissed, "Then learn to live with my hatred until the day you die!"

Saying this, Gyumao stormed out of the penthouse. When he finally reached the Ground Floor, four armed men immediately met him. Two of them were twins. The third was totally clad in black. The fourth was a cowboy, chewing noisily on gum.

"What are we going to do now, Boss?" the cowboy asked his employer.

Gyumao turned to the twins. "Kinkaku, Ginkaku, you have my instructions. You're to join us a few miles down the road. After that, I want you to back track and guard the perimeter of this place. Continue keeping an eye out for my little clone in case he decides to sneak out again." He then looked at the cowboy and the man in black. "Zenon, Zakuro, you two come with me."

"Where are we going?" Zenon inquired, making certain that the machine gun slung over his arm was fully loaded.

An evil smile quirked up the corner's of Gyumao's mouth. "We're going to pay someone a little visit."

~~~~~

Hakkai was seated on the floor in the living room, mulling over sheets of schematics about how to be able to shut Gojyo down. For some strange reason, the marionette had been successful in overriding the switch off systems that he had installed, even the ones that Jien had devised. Each time the clone came to him for his repairs, Gojyo had somehow managed to turn himself back on and return to his owner. Already, he was coming close to taking Jiroushin's suggestion of shorting out the master circuit in the marionette's head. After all, that was what Gojyo had done to the animal clones when he escaped that first time.

The geneticist nearly jumped out of his seat when there was a banging on the door. Getting to his feet, he yelled, "Hold your horses! I'm coming!"

As he flung the front door wide open to confront his intruder, Hakkai was immediately greeted by the barrel of a gun pointed at his face.

"Good evening, Hakkai," Gyumao said congenially behind his two henchmen. "If I might have a word with you for a minute or two."

The good doctor noticed Goku, Hakuryu, Kwannon and Jiroushin emerging from the laboratory, their fur bristling at the sight of the evil rich man. Rather than invite the men inside, Hakkai said a quick, "We'd better talk out here," and shut the door behind him before the clones could join them or, worse, attack.

Hakkai crossed his arms over his chest as he faced the evil multimillionaire. "Okay, Gyumao! I'm sure we won't have any interruptions. What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Hakkai," Gyumao retorted, his eyes squinting with menace. "For the past two months, I know Gojyo's been going here almost every week. I've had my spies check on his movements. Didn't I tell you that you're not allowed to see him?"

"Don't you think you should remind Gojyo of that fact? But then again, how could you stop him from coming here, with the way you've been treating him. Obviously, Gojyo will go to the person whom he knows can help him and, unfortunately for you, that person happens to be me."

"You did this, didn't you? Somehow, you programmed him to be more loyal to you than to me."

"If he was more loyal to me, Gojyo would never return to you. Many times, I tried to stop him, even went so far as to attempt to shut him down, but he always escaped from me." Hakkai rubbed the throbbing point between his eyes. "Gyumao, I gave you my report. The cloning process was interrupted...damaged in some way by that lightning strike. Gojyo's personality is a result of that freak accident. As you've noticed, Gojyo has a mind of his own. He makes his own decisions based on his own judgments. He knows that you own him and that you are impatient with his inexperience. He's trying his damned best to please you! You don't have to beat him and rape him the way you've been doing. You're losing him with your cruelty."

Gyumao's eyes flashed with daggers at that last. His henchmen instinctively raised their weapons once more. "No one, and I do mean, no one tells me how I should use my property."

"For God's sake! Can't you see what's right before your eyes? True, he's a cybernetic clone, but the way he acts, thinks, and FEELS... He's a human being!"

"BAH!" the rich man waved his hand dismissingly. "He's a cyborg with a few screws loose."

"Gyumao, for the love of Heaven, if you want Gojyo to stay with you, don't abuse him. Haven't you seen how desperate he is to get even a smidgen of love from you?"

The multimillionaire, however, ignored that plea. "I gave you ample warning, Hakkai. If Gojyo should come here again, send him back to me. Forbid him from ever returning here."

"Oh, I'll do as you say," Hakkai began, with jaw hard, "IF you stop hurting him."

"And I said I don't want anyone telling me what to do. You will forbid Gojyo, Hakkai, or else..."

"Or else what?"

Hakkai hardly noticed the discreet signal that Gyumao gave to Zenon and Zakuro. As he looked on in horror, the men raised their guns and fired into the house, the bullets blasting through the windows. Because the guns had silencers, the gunfire sounded like muffled pops, but the scientist could hear all too clearly the crashing and smashing within his home.

Just as quickly as the barrage of bullets began, it mercifully ended. In his shock by what had happened, Hakkai fell to his knees. As he gazed up, he saw the wicked smirk on Gyumao's face.

"I hope I made myself clear, Hakkai," was all the rich man said before striding back to his limousine, entering the passenger's seat while his henchmen rode in the front.

When they were gone, Hakkai ran inside the house to be greeted by the expected devastation and.…

"Oh my God!" the scientist gasped, rushing toward the fallen form of the Persian cat. "Kwannon!"

"A bullet hit her in the leg," Goku explained, as he, Hakuryu and Jiroushin gazed down at their wounded comrade. "We didn't have time to duck and hide."

"But a bullet can't do this!" Hakkai gestured helplessly to the pink gunk of primordial serum, blood and tissue where Kwannon's leg once was.

"Hakkai, you know we're not invincible," Kwannon's voice wearily interrupted. The scientist had created a communications interface for the animal clones a month back. "Jien's right. Our bodies are not exactly as compact as normal creatures. Serious trauma such as this gunshot wound would produce these results. It's worse for us, being animals and all. And especially since we're your prototypes."

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"You had more important matters to attend to," Jiroushin reassured him. "Gojyo should take priority. He needed comforting from you, more than the medical and electronics aid that you've been giving him. We didn't want to bother you with this."

Dread suddenly filled the geneticist's heart. "This injury... Are you saying that..."

"If Gyumao doesn't stop hurting Gojyo," Kwannon began, "he could end up like me. Gojyo wasn't joking when he said he was leaking. That cellular instability, if not corrected, could lead to this if his body continues to be subjected to constant beating…or serious trauma like this."

"What did Gyumao tell you anyway?" Goku inquired in irritation, handing a roll of bandage to his friend.

Hakkai carefully bandaged up Kwannon's leaking stump. "He knows that Gojyo has been coming here for repairs. Don't ask me how. Gyumao ordered me to tell him never to return here."

"If he doesn't want Gojyo to come here, he should treat him well. What are you going to do about this, Hakkai?"

The scientist shook his head in bewilderment. "I don't know. But I did tell Gyumao to stop hurting Gojyo."

Kwannon hissed, more in exasperation than pain. "Oh, good work, Hakkai! That was most forceful of you!"

"Well, what the hell do you want me to do? If Gojyo persists in coming here, Gyumao will be sure to do him a lot worse. Maybe even kill him. You saw what he did here."

"But Gojyo is already dying a slow death at his hands," Jiroushin argued. "You're just being overcome by cowardice again, Hakkai. We're not afraid to die. Are you?"

Hakkai couldn't answer that question. In truth, he was still shaking from that violent encounter.

The Golden Retriever exhaled in disgust. "I guessed as much."

"What did you expect, Jiroushin?" Kwannon declared. "You know how he failed to save his wife and son from that burning car."

"Shut up, you two!" Goku admonished his friends sharply. "That's unfair of you to say that! How would you feel if you were in his place, staring down the barrel of a gun?"

"No, Goku. They're right," Hakkai quietly confirmed. "I was afraid, so very afraid that they were going to kill me. Then I saw what happened to Kwannon here and...."

The monkey clone gazed at the scientist in understanding. "Hakkai..."

"But as much as I don't want to die," continued Hakkai, "I don't want Gojyo to die a horrible, violent death. I wish so much that I could do something, but the new clones are not ready yet. I…I would like to have a fighting chance at least in that body instead of this fragile one I was born with."

"But what about Gojyo? And Jien for that matter?" Jiroushin argued. "They're both suffering!"

"Yes, Gojyo may be suffering now. However, I could only trust in his growing mind that, sooner or later, he would come to realize that what Gyumao is doing to him is wrong."

"Are you saying that it's all right for Gojyo to be beaten and raped?" Kwannon sputtered out, truly aghast.

"No, what I'm saying is that we can't shield Gojyo from some of the ugliness in the world. He has to know that real life is not always a bed of roses." A sorrowful little smile formed on Hakkai's lips. "With the passage of time, knowledge increases. You learn to question the why of things and, more importantly, if the course of suffering could be put to an end. With life, you can fight back against the Fates. With life, even if the present seems to bleak, you can still dare to hope." Hakkai spoke firmly. "I know Gojyo will come to his senses soon. And when he does, only Hell can help Gyumao if Gojyo should choose to fight back."

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AUTHOR'S NOTES: I apologize for the long delay in updates and especially if there are errors in these two chapters. This is a rush type. Sorry but I have serious RL problems that I need to attend to, one of which is that one of the magazines I wrote for refused to pay the four-month salary that is due me. I can't promise to update soon, but I'll try my best to do so, once I have solved this sticky dilemma I'm in at the moment.