House Call: Chapter 1 (One Piece of Music and One World)

"On this isle of Nal-mosiq. Never is a plain in sight. To them such a saying makes the isle quite unique," sung a preteen House  to the tune of Bink's Sake as he practically frolicked along the rocky ground of a tunnel with his eyes closed into jolly-looking  squints and his mouth opened to reveal a toothy grin. In spite of the fact that the tunnel was only sparsely illuminated by the  torches that were mounted upon its walls, House advanced through it as casually as one would the hall of a school building. "Born  within the grotto. Never beyond the homely stone. Resounded Ol' House like the family mo-"  "Moshi moshi!" suddenly heard House, having the skip knocked right out of his step as he did so. Immediately afterward, House  came to an abrupt halt. He then took a look around and found that his frolicking had brought him to a crossroad. Under normal  circumstances, there would have been three paths available to House. Unfortunately a cave in had rendered the path that was  directly in front of House inaccessible. Thus it was only possible for House to take the path that was to his left or the path  that was to his right. Before House could make a decision, he found himself being greeted once more. "Moshi moshi!" "I wonder who that could be?" pondered House aloud as he turned towards the direction (left) from which he heard the greeting and  then beheld a peculiar trio. The largest amongst the trio was a familiar sight to House, for it was simply a Brobdingnagian  Ratel. The Brobdingnagian Ratel was a honey badger whose enormity was superior to the size of even the largest of lions. Amongst  the populace of Nal-mosiq, the Brobdingnagian Ratel was revered as the most gung-ho of beasts. Thus House was not surprised that  the other two members of the trio were individuals whom were attempting to flee the nigh-inescapable wrath of the Brobdingnagian  Ratel. What House was surprised by was the aforementioned individuals' appearances. Like House, the individuals were preadolescent boys. Unlike House, the individuals were also winged. One of the individuals  possessed a most impressive wingspan. Said individual was endowed with both shoulder-length hair which was as green as the grass  on the other side and a pair of eyes which irises were as sanguine as the red moon. The other individual's wings were small  enough for only the tips of them to be noticeable from House's point of view. This individual was endowed with chin-length and  blue hair which shimmered like the ocean and a pair of eyes which blue irises possessed a hue which was reminiscent of ice. Both  of the individuals were dressed in naught but a sarong and a myriad of accessories. "Moshi moshi!" exuberantly hailed the short-winged individual as he scampered away from the Brobdingnagian Ratel that was tailing  him and the long-winged individual. The short-winged individual was also waving the both of his hands as if he was greeting the  entirety of a ship rather than House. "Moshi moshi!" "Somebody please help Gog and me!" desperately wailed the sprinting long-winged individual whom was far more aware of how dire of  a situation he and the short-winged individual were in. "Hausu... (House...)" begun House as the trio drew closer and closer to him. The very moment the Brobdingnagian Ratel came within  a step of House's striking distance, House took that step before practically hurling his right fist directly into the face of the  Brobdingnagian Ratel. House's punch halted the momentum of the Brobdingnagian Ratel, temporarily scrunching the Brobdingnagian  Ratel as it did so. Within an instant of being thrown, House's punch discharged a shock wave which both propelled the  Brobdingnagian Ratel into the dark depths of the tunnel from which the Brobdingnagian Ratel had come and blew the individuals a  ways up the path that had been to House's right. Afterward House blew upon his knuckles as if it were the smoldering barrel of a  recently fired gun. "...Ko-ru! (...Call!)" ==Later...== "So," murmured House while sitting in the middle of the crossroad and munching upon his portion of a single sandwich that had  been divided between himself and the individuals. "Who are you guys?" "I'm Gog Fairchild," gleefully announced the short-winged individual whilst smiling and waving at House as if he were a  politician and House was an audience of voters. "And I'm Magog Fairchild," stated the long--winged individual with a nod. Magog then directed a quizzical look at House. "And you  are?" "I'm Power House the Four Hundred Eleventh," answered House with a raised chin, prompting a sweatdrop from Magog. "You can just  call me House though,"  "W-will do," agreed Magog in a stammer brought about by the fact that a family had actually managed to utilized the very same  name 411 times. "E-e-excuse me. But you wouldn't happen to have met a man named Reggie or some such have you?" "Reggie?" parroted House with a gleam of curiosity upon his eyes. "Reginald, Reggie, Reg, or anything of the sort," further explained Magog. "Y-you see. That man is-" "He's our daddy!" interrupted Gog before waving at no one in particular. Magog sighed at Gog's antics while House merely  chuckled. "Hello papa!" "Daddy isn't here Gog," declared Magog, earning himself a heartbreaking expression of disappointment from Gog. "B-b-but he'll be  here soon! I have no doubts about that!" "Yay!" genuinely cheered Gog, the both of his arms erupting into a number of waves as he did so. "We're gonna say hi to daddy!  We're gonna say hi to daddy!" "So you're looking for your dad down here?" asked House of Magog as he swallowed the last of his portion of the sandwich. "If so  then I'm sorry to say that you're out of luck. Most of these caverns have been entirely stripped of their accessible saltpeter  for about a year or so. Thus it's highly unlikely that your father has been mining down here anytime soon,"  "Well. The thing is..." sniffled Magog before he took hold of his sarong and then clenched the both of his hands as tightly as he  could. "...we aren't looking for him. Or at least we aren't supposed to be doing so. He's-"  "Looking for us! Daddy is going to come get us after he takes care of the bad men!" Gog finished before doing a farewell wave. "Bye bye bad men!" "Bad men?" parroted House before quizzically raising an eyebrow. "Pirates," explained Magog, clenching his teeth in fury as he did so. "Daddy told us to stay here while he dealt with some  pirates. Supposedly they said some awful things about our mother-"  "So daddy is going to make them pay! Gooo..." begun Gog as he gradually waved a hand through the air. It was only after he  completed his wave that Gog finished. "...ooodbye!" "He said he was leaving us here because the pirates' influence would make it unsafe for us to be in town during the fi-" "NO PIRATE HAS INFLUENCE IN HOUSE COUNTRY!" angrily spat House at Magog, stunning Magog and even the babbling Gog into silence as  he did so. For a short while, there was naught but silence. And then, much to House's horror, Gog begun to cry. "Gog! What's  wrong?" "I-I-I'm s-s-sorry!" wailed a now saddened Gog with a torrent of tears waterfalling from his eyes and then settling into a puddle  underneath him. House visibly cringed at the sight of bawling Gog, prompting a response from Magog. "Stop that Gog! You're making our friend feel uncomfo-" "It's alright Magog," interrupted House only a moment before he surprised Gog and Magog by abruptly pulling Gog into a hug. "Gog.  There's no need for you to apologize. You've done nothing wrong,"  "B-but-" "No buts!" stated House as sternly as a preteen such as himself could manage. Just as House was about to break the hug between he  and Gog, he caught sight of something that would've been terrifying to even a veteran of the Paradise. Shining from within the  darkness of the very depths House had launched the Gog and Magog's assailant, were ominous pairs of lights. Immediately  recognizing the pairs as the furious glares of a vast horde of Brobdingnagian Ratels, House hastily shifted from hugging Gog to  hauling Gog and Magog by their hands in order to move the two of them down the path that had once been to his right and away from  the soon-to-be incoming horde of Brobdingnagian Ratels. "R-r-run away!" "Run away from wh-AH! IT'S BACK! WITH FRIENDS OF ALL THNINGS!" screamed a horrified Magog whilst struggling to keep up with  House's pace in order to avoid being dragged along the ground by House. "T-t-thank you for forgiving us," sobbed Gog whilst matching House's pace with ease and utiliziing an arm to wipe tears from his  eyes, as oblivious to danger as always. "For the last time Gog, you've done nothing wrong! In fact, I wasn't even mad at you guys. I was mad at your father for being a-"  was all House manage to utter between sprinting-induced gasps for air before he, Gog, and Magog found themselves exiting the path  and entering a spacious room which had a sizable lake situated within it in spite of the fact that it was as subterranean as the  path. Throughout the room were an innumerable amount of individuals whom were each garbed in an attire which would have been  befitting of a samurai. Due to the fact that each of their faces were thoroughly concealed, the only way the aforementioned  individuals could inaudibly express their fear of the horde House, Gog, and Magog were unintentionally leading towards them was  by gesturing. Needless to say, there was a lot of gesturing being done at this time. Primarily arm flailing. "Are those giant honey badgers?" gawked one of the aforementioned individuals an instant before House, Gog, and Magog flashed by  him as if they three of them were a lightning bolt arcing throughout by the sky. Not long afterward, the individual and his  companionss were each set upon by a Brobdingnagian Ratel or two. "H-h-help!" "There are still one or two after us!" screamed Magog as House, Gog, and he continued their flight from those Brobdingnagian  Ratels whom decided to ignore the aforementioned individuals; however, the three of them were nearing the shore of the lake and  as a result running out of places to run to. "There!" said House before pointing towards a ship which was floating within some waters that was quite a distance from the lake  shore. Magog was just about to question how they could reach a ship that was so far from the shore when House begun to spin  around and around, swinging Gog and Magog through the air as he did so. Eventually House let go of his hold upon Gog's hand and  later Magog's as well, tossing the winged duo through the air as a result of doing so. "YOU CRAAAaaa..." yelled Magog as he soared away from House and towards the ship. House chuckled at the sight of Gog waving at  him from midair before hopping over a Brobdingnagian Ratel's attempt to eviscerate him with a swip of its claws. Immediately  afterward, House clamped the both of his feet onto the cheeks of the Brobdingnagian Ratel and then backflipped into a somersault  which ended in him dropping the Brobdingnagian Ratel onto its head with enough force to produce a rather large crater. "Meri-Go- Hausu! (Merry-Go-House!)"  "To arms! To arms!" called one of the few individuals who had managed to avoid being pummeled by Brobdingnagian Ratels. The  aforementioned individual then proceeded to withdrew naught but a guardless hilt from his person. Much to the surprise of the  Brobdingnagian Ratels, the hilt begun to densely spew a gaseous substance in response to its withdrawal. The individual then  swung the spew of his hilt into a Brobdingnagian Ratel. Immediately the Brobdingnagian Ratel went from standing upon the stone  floor of the room, to rising into the air like a baseball that was in the process of being knocked out of the park, and then to  being deeply embedded within the room's ceiling. It was as if a cannonball had impacted against the chest of the Brobdingnagian  Ratel. "Come on lads! Let's rid ourselves of these vermin!" "Yeah!" cried the other conscious individuals before each of them withdrew hilts from their persons. Once their hilts begun to  spew, they fearlessly charged the ranks of the Brobdingnagian Ratels. "D-damn their persistence!" cursed House as he cartwheeled into balancing upon his left hand in order to avoid the fangs of one  Brobdingnagian Ratel. House then utilized his left arm to pushed himself into the air in order to avoid the claws of a second  Brobdingnagian Ratel. In response to House's retreat into the air, the first Brobdingnagian Ratel somersaulted into tackling an  airborne House onto the ground. Without so much as even a moment of hesitation, the Brobdingnagian Ratel thrust its claws towards  the grounded House. Astonishingly, House managed to counteract the first Brobdingnagian Ratel's maneuver by high-fiving the  incoming hands of the first Brobdingnagian Ratel with enough force to halt their movement. House then followed up with a headbutt  which knocked the first Brobdingnagian Ratel onto its back. "Heddo obu ji Hausu! (Head of the House!)"  "Take this you nasty bugger!" growled an individual right before he brought the spew of his hilt onto a Brobdingnagian Ratel and  as a result sent the Brobdingnagian Ratel flying. With a sigh of relief, the individual took a look around in search of another  Brobdingnagian Ratel to clobber. Upon doing so, the individual caught sight of House and the second Brobdingnagian Ratel. House  was seated upon the ground with his hand resting upon his forehead while the second Brobdingnagian Ratel was slowly approaching  House like a predator stalking up to its prey. "Hausu Pa-ti! (House Party!)" yelled a seated House an instant before the both of his arms blurred into a multitude of punches. Unbeknownst to a  groggy House, the second Brobdingnagian Ratel was much to far away for any of his punches to connect. From House's the second  Brobdingnagian Ratel was eating his punches as if they were dessert. Needless to say, House was frightened by this "development". So much so that he threw rationality to the wind and simply begun to punch faster rather than come up with another strategy. By  the time the second Brobdingnagian Ratel was actually within range of Houses punches, House had tired himself to the point where  he couldn't even lift his arms much less punch with any amount of ferocity. The second Brobdingnagian Ratel was about to pounce  upon House when a spew exerted enough downward force upon it to embed it into the floor of the room. "You should consider yourself lucky young man," said the individual as he tightened his grip on his hilt and as a result caused  it to cease its spewing. The individual then wasted no time in slamming the pommel of his hilt into the back of House's head,  knocking House unconscious as a result of doing so. "If we were not in need of more personnel so to speak, I surely would've  killed you for leading such a scourge to us!" ==Later...== "Ugh," moaned House as he awoke to a killer headache. To make matters worse, he couldn't even hold onto his aching head due to  the fact that his ankles and wrists were both chained to a foul-smelling floor of visibly rotting wood. "W-what in the world? How  could I have possibly ended up in this situation?" "By bringing a horde of some the largest honey badger I'd ever seen down upon the heads of the World Government," House heard to  his left. Immediately House turned towards his left and beheld a towering man in possession of a muscular physique which appeared  to be utterly devoid of fat, an immaculate complexion, shoulder-length hair which individual strands were each perfectly capable  of being mistaken as threads of silver, and a pair of eyes with aquamarine-colored irises. The man wore a loose-fitting robe and  had bandages wrapped around the entirety of his limbs. "Or maybe it was because you're a ginger with no soul,"  "Gingers do to have-" "So what's your name kid?" abruptly asked the man of House, earning himself a glower from the interrupted preteen. "Huh? Don't tell me you're one of those "you should introduce yourself first" kind of people. Whatever. The name's Sky. Lindon Sky. And you?" "Power House the Four Hundred Eleventh," proudly answered House with a toothy grin upon his face. Shortly afterward, House frowned and then narrowed his eyes in displeasure. "You wouldn't  happened to have seen a pair of kids with wings have you?" "You must mean the Birkan Boys," sighed Lindon with a shake of his head, unintentionally prompting House to deepen his frown by  several degrees. "Yeah. I've seen the lads. The two of them have been the talk of the "town" ever since their arrival. Those  government dogs figure they can make themselves a pretty penny by selling them off instead delivering them to the place the rest  of us-"  "Hausu Chein, (House Chain,)" despondently muttered House more to himself than to Lindon an instant before a saw chain protruded  from the underbelly of each of the fingers of House's left hand. Within moments of their protrusion, the saw chains begun to  cycle quickly enough to become as incandescent as molten steel. House then gradually raised his left hand as far into the air as his chains would allow in  preparation for hacking said chains apart; however, before House could perform the deed Lindon took  ahold of House's left wrist. Immediately House locked eyes with Lindon and conveyed to the silverette man the innumerable amount  of pure, unadulterated hatred he was feeling towards Lindon at the moment. Though Lindon could not help but to somewhat shiver in  fear at the sight of House's fury, he did not release his hold of House's wrist. On the contrary, Lindon  tightened the hold. "Let go of me. Now,"  "Not if you're going to do something stupid," promised Lindon with more than a glint of resolve in his eyes. In response to Lindon's determination, House begun to tremble  with a  truckload of unexpressed anger. Before House could lash out him, Lindod suddenly  pointed towards a window that was situated overhead. House looked  out the window as best as he could and was surprised by the sight of  an up-close and personal view of the clouds. "How  is-"  "How is it possible for us to be among the clouds? Isn't it obvious? Have you not noticed that we aren't rocking like most ships  that are in as poor condition as this one would? Were you not aware of the absence of the sound of splashing water?" rhetorically questioned Lindon before chuckling to himself and then releasing his hold of House's left wrist. "To be truthful, I'm not one to talk. For I too was unaware of the obvious until they brought me topside in an attempt to make me spill the beans with a most unique brand of interrogation if I say so myself. Unfortunately for them, the view was much too nice for me to be bothered with their oh-so pathetic attempts to intimidate me. Either way, escaping is pointless. Even if we did manage to usurp control of the ship from the World Government, none of us are capable of piloting this vessel. So the only thing cutting those chains of yours will do, is reveal that trump card of yours! "  "A-are you trying to tell me that the ship is flying?" incredulously asked House of Lindon, prompting a groan from the prisoner to House's right. "No. He's trying to tell you that it's traveling underwater," murmured the prisoner to House's left as sarcastically as he  possibly could. House snorted at the sarcasm before having his saw chains retract back into the underbelly of his left hand's  fingers. House then slumped miserably before silently bursting into tears. "Gog. Magog. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," quietly cried House. It wasn't long before House felt a hand upon his shoulder. House  looked up and was surprised by the fact that Lindom was smiling down at him. "Sky-san?" "There's no need for you to be all down in the dumbs my lad," chuckled Lindon as if he were sitting in a bar with a drink rather than in the hull of a slave ship. "All is not lost. You need but bide your time. Though you may not be  able to escape from this ship, you can certainly escape from where they're taking us!" "B-but wont such a place be heavily guarded?" questioned House. "Yep. But you know what?" outright laughed Lindon with a mischievous grin on his face. "I could use the exercise!"