Black Bone Tower

The Other Side: Story IV
 Previous: Doctor Hurt Part 2

Everyone was so tall around Rinji. He stood in the middle of the town square of an island he was not familiar with. Above the town square was a clock tower. That clock tower read a quarter past three. Rinji moved to the side, sliding along in a mild manner, trying to look at all of the people, but they were too dark to see.

Jiro: We should get going if we're going to make the train.

Rinji looked over toward Jiro to see that his green sunglasses stood out for some strange reason.

Rinji: Trains should not exist. The world is too wide to be stuck on one set of tracks.

Jiro: You wouldn't say that if the train were here. Come on.

Rinji: But Jiro! The clock! It's... [Looked up at the clocktower to see that the time was three o'clock.] Time is running out, it's almost our bedtime yesterday.

Jiro: What happened to the people in the clock? [All of the shadows around them were passing even faster around them.] We were a victim of time, it's almost then for us to go.

"If I turn, it can stop for a second." Said Rinji as half of himself began to look into his other eye, that's when both looked at Jiro, who began to climb the wall of the tower.

Rinji: Jiro, wait! The minute before!

Jiro: GAH! [Pushed off of the clocktower's wall and flew back. His body stuck in a slow motion state away from the tower.]

That was when the tower became not a tower at all, instead it turned into a giant of a man, all wrapped up in bandages, his eyes and mouth covered as well. As this occured, every single shadow around them began to turn green, and fall to the ground, then melt.

Man: As the hour and the tides come into reality, it only inevitably leads you to me. Come to me, for the sickness is still waiting to tangle into the core. You were never warned, but you feel it. You feel the illness, it boils and swirls inside you like a pit in the void. [He leaned down and his face was just as tall as Rinji as he gazed at him through the bandages, his eyes hidden but his stare was just as horrid.] As you near, the pit runneth over.

Rinji: NO! GET AWAY FROM ME! WHO ARE YOU!?!?!

Man: As if you needed to know [His mouth opened, and green, horrific gas began to bellow out, engulfing Rinji in a cloud of sickness.]

Jiro: RINJIIIIII!!!!!

Rinji: GAH! [Jumped and sat up in bed, the fur on his chest was a mess, sticking up and pointing the wrong way all over.]

He panted for a moment, looking to his left to see Jiro sleeping in a twin-size bed on the other side of his room. Every once in a while, he would check to see if Jiro was wearing his sleep mask, which covered his eyes. They had been best friends since their childhood days, and yet Rinji had never seen Jiro's eyes, ever. Of course, it wouldn't be worth seeing Jiro's eyelids, so he shrugged it off and got up from his bed, straightening his pajama pants and putting on a t-shirt that said "Danger: Overload."

He yawned, and walked to the kitchen to see Nikk sitting on the counter, and it was strange to see her like that, without a book or writing paper. She just sat there, and her eyes turned to Rinji as he walked in.

Nikk: Hey.

Rinji: [Yawned again.] 'Ey.

Nikk: Nightmare?

Rinji: Yeah [Opened the fridge and got some milk.]

Nikk: Bad one?

Rinji: There such a thing as a good one?

Nikk: Of course, I once dreamed a tree came alive and threw all of its leaves at me.

Rinji: [Drank some milk and then thought for a second.] You know, this is the most small talk I think I've heard you say.

Nikk: Yeah, I'm bored. Alice is asleep so I just come in here because I know she'll be here soon. It's like... [took out her pocket watch] two in the morning.

Rinji: Yeah, who's on watch?

Nikk: It's Ellis's shift.

Rinji: Fun, how are you liking her?

Nikk: She's cool. I'm not a fan of cigarette smoke but I don't care. I'm use to it. Chio's better, and it's only been two weeks, so she's obviously a pretty good doctor.

Rinji: Yeah, we'll need her too. I just got the newspaper yesterday, apparently our infamy went up a little bit.

Nikk: I know, I went through your desk.

Rinji: Eh?! [Looked shocked.]

Nikk: My bounty went up to 100,000,000, more than likely because the Marines saw me with you, and considered me guilty by association. You, on the other hand are 450,000,000 now, quite the upgrade, and impressive.

Rinji: Yes, if I know the New World, it's going to be littered with Bounty Hunters. A price like that is nothing to scoff at, that's for sure. Not to mention the rest of the crew's bounties. Everyone's went up. I did the math, all together it's--

Nikk: 1,390,000,000....

Rinji: ....yeah.

Nikk: Hm, well, I'll go check our course real fast [Got down from the kitchen counter, straightening her black trench coat. She petted Rinji's head a little as she walked by.] If I'm right, the next island should be near by.

When she opened the door, however, she saw that Ellis was right in front of her, just about to open the door herself. Behind her, was nothing but rain. A gigantic wall of water poured down onto the ship behind her, and thunder began to clap in the background. All the sudden, the ship began to rock back and forth.

Ellis: Ummm.. this started three seconds ago.

Rinji: Aww.. man [Pulled out his Captain's whistle, and blew into it, hard.] ALL HANDS ON DECK!!!