Manticore To The Rescue

- Sokoro

Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap!

This really isn't my day. First, I wake up to find out that the monster that tried to eat me last night, is living in my apartment and loves pizza. Then, I have to destroy my body pillows. Not to mention I still don't know what freaking time it is and I have an assignment due tonight. All because that old cheapskate doesn't put clocks in the hallway. Now, I have to find a way to get rid of Kāma before those goons check my room and find her.

I don't know what it is, but I have this nagging feeling that those two are bad news, which means they can't find her. Gaaah, why can't this elevator move fast-

*Doooooo...*

(Elevator stops)

No.

(Pushes button to open doors, but nothing happens)

No no no.

(Hits doors repeatedly)

NO NO NO NO NOOOO!

This can't be happening. This can't be happening! Are you serious? And of course, that old hunks wouldn't pay to install an emergency button or release or something. No. No, calm down. It'll come back in a second. Yeah... yeah yeah. It'll be back on soon and I'll just wait patiently.

Yep... Everything will be fine.

While Sokoro's panic bomb begins its countdown to its inevitable explosion, let's check in on the "health inspectors".

Giorgio and Lucia made it to the second floor and were immediately met by an elderly woman,

"Are you the health inspectors?” She asked,

Giorgio tried to speak, “We-”

“I’ve been sending you messages for weeks. The building owner won’t do anything about de water in my walls. I’ve got fungus all over my bathroom,”

Giorgio once again tried to speak, “We’re-a really-”

“D-determined to get-a thees mess sorted out!” Lucia chimed in, cutting him off.

“What are you-”

She lightly stepped on his foot to silence him and met the old lady at eye level, “W-We have-a been stretched thin at the office, please show me the damage,”

“Okay, my room is this way,” The old lady gestured for Lucia to follow her to her room as she briskly walked away. Lucia gave Giorgio a quick thumbs-up, before signalling for him to keep going and that she would catch up with him. Giorgio nodded in understanding before continuing up the stairs. He knew he had to hurry, Lucia was smart (Of course, he’d never give her credit to her face), but she was terrible at committing to a role. It was only a matter of time before she cracked and blew their cover, not that he was all that concerned with keeping up the act at this point. What with the actual health inspectors on the way. Still, better not to deal with suspicious tenants slowing them down.

As Giorgio continued his ascent and Lucia listened to the old lady’s complaints, Sokoro could be heard banging away at the doors of the elevator screaming, “Let me out! LET ME OUT!”

Well, he could be if those doors weren't super thick… Perhaps it was for the best that the young man could not see the pace at which Giorgio was ascending those steps. As he hit floor after floor, he hoped that the residents had either gone out to work or school and weren’t home. That would make his job so much easier. All he’d have to worry about was sedating the manticore and getting out of the building. Come to think of it, they hadn’t really discussed exactly how they were going to get a creature that large out of this building without drawing attention to themselves.

Since this was Lucia’s plan, he’d leave that solution to her. First, he needed to get there. He made it to the fifth floor only to run into another senior citizen, a man,

"Are you the health inspector?" He asked,

"I… Yes, I am,” Giorgio said reluctantly, “My-a partner and I are here to understand-a the full situation in the this-a building."

"Took you long enough. Come on, my floorboards have been turn to sawdust and the landlord ain’t doing sh-,”

“Show-a me the way!” Giorgio interjected with a forced smile to maintain the cleanliness of their interaction. He reluctantly followed the old man to his room, just as Lucia was making her way up. She saw him and kept going only to be stopped by three people on the sixth floor. 

Meanwhile…

- Sokoro

*BANDBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG*

“HEEEEEELLLLLLLPP MMMMEEEEEE!!!!” (Gives up and falls to his knees.)

I’m going to fail my assignment. I’m going to be sent to jail or locked in some government facility and probed or something. I’m going to die in this box. (Clenches fists) All because of that money-hoarding geyser and her…

*Bang*

(Elevator shakes)

That’s not good. That’s really, really bad.

(Elevator shakes again.)

You can’t be serious. No, really this is cruel even for you. You’re going to drop this thing and crush me inside. Wow. Well, whatever. Let me at least lie down, It’ll be quicker that way. I think. I hope… You could at least do that for me.

(Elevator bangs and shakes again and again.)

I won’t even be upset about where I end up. The one thing I want is some answers as to why my life sucks so much.

*BANG-CROO*

(Kāma’s fist bursts through the roof of the elevator)

What the hell?

“Kāma?” (Sokoro)

(Kāma peeks in.) “That’s my name.”

“What are you doing?”

“Saving you? What are you doing? Don’t you know this… thing is broken?” ( Kāma tears the hole open and sticks tail inside)

No, I didn’t know that. Well, I kind of always feared it would happen one day, but I wasn’t expecting that today. Wait, how would she know that? How did she get into this building?

“How’d you know I was in here?” (Sokoro grabs her tail and is pulled up)

“I was awoken to the sound of screaming and crying and figured it was you.” (Kāma)

I wasn’t crying…

“I wasn’t crying.”

“I could hear it from your room.” (Pulls him out and looks at him with drooped eyelids) “It was loud… and pathetic.”

“I still don’t know what you're talking about…”

I’m really glad that she’s got that blanket wrapped around her or this would be even more awkward.

“Mm-hmm.” (Kāma)

“...but thank you.” (Sokoro)

(Uses tail to put him on her back and starts climbing the elevator shaft.)

“I accept gratitude in the form of pizza.”

Of course, she does.

“We’ll revisit that. First, we need to get out of you out of here.”

“Why?”

“There are some health inspectors, checking this building out,”

“What is a health inspector?”

“People who check the cleanliness and safety of buildings and report them to the authorities if they don’t meet a certain standard. ”

“We better hope they don’t see your room then.”

Ouch.

“Anyway, I get the feeling that they’re actually looking for you.”

(Kāma stops climbing) “Describe them”

“Uh, one of them was a tall, obnoxious blonde guy. The other was a brown-haired lady with a mole. I think they were European.”

*Deep Unearthly Growl*

That doesn’t sound good.

“Do you… know them?”

“Yes” (Kāma starts climbing again. Faster.) “Leave them to me.”