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Chapter 6: Dead Body and Lover 1
First release: June 4 2008, in Jump SQ 07/08 Length: 31 pages Colour pages: one
Starting right where we left off: Elm is crying in the forest because she is lost and doesn't know where Ashuhit is. Good thing that two travellers, a man and a woman, are approaching. They notice the strange little girl, who is talking to herself (giving herself a fake melodramatic voice-over narration, "to be continued" and all). The woman wants to move on without bothering with Elm, but her male travelling companion won't have any of that. He asks Elm what she is doing - yeah, turns out she isn't really "deep in the forest", but only in a small group of trees. Elm is not so bright.
Meanwhile, Ash arrives at the place where Elm is supposed to be sleeping. Of course, she is gone. So Ash continues down the road, looking for her, hoping that Elm won't cause trouble for anyone. That's really all he can do, and he does it quite stoically. Makes one wonder how often Elm pulls stunts like that.
Meanwhile, Elm and her new acquaintances talk. She tells them that she got seperated from Ashuhit and that they were going to London for a job (job offer from a noble; could be interesting). The young man, ever helpful, immediately wonders whether they can accompany her for a bit, which makes his (much less friendly, much more distrustful) girlfriend snap at him that they don't have time for this.
It turns out they are on their way to Gretna Green, a small town beyond the Scottish border, where many lovers escape to in order to get married (since the laws in England are stricter). Oh, and they have names, too: Philip Wilkinson and Azalea Millet. He's the eldest son of a wealthy overseas merchant, she's a barmaid. Of course, Philip's parents are against his choice of bride, so they are running away together to get married against his parents' will. Elm finds this quiiite romantic. Azalea mentions that Philip's family is probably already looking for them, and that's why they really don't have time to be taking care of a little crazy girl like Elm.
And Elm? Offers to become their body guard and see them safely to Gretna Green where they can realize their dream. Yeah! She tells them not to worry because she is a strong Frankenstein and can take care of herself, and of them, too. Frankenstein? Philip has read the novel, Azalea has no clue and is so angry at that point that it really doesn't matter anyway.
Without realizing that she really shouldn't be telling them this, Elm explains the basics on Frankenstein creation to Azalea and Philip, and also mentions Polar Route. But this is when she finally remembers that all of this stuff is a secret.
Well, Philip convinces Azalea that they'll take the girl to the nearest town, find a place to spend the night and find a solution to the Elm situation the next day.
Back at the little church-slash-PR-outpost: The rotund elderly priest wakes up and is damn angry about Dr. Peaberry, who was indeed rather daring in coming to that place despite being a traitor to the organization. The priest guy wants her caught and taken to Ingolstadt, and he knows who to ask: There's a Frankenstein called Cadaverick staying in another room, just about to finish his regular maintenance session. Yes, Franks need regular check-ups so they can keep functioning. And this means they need money, especially someone like Cadaverick, who has no master or home. The priest calls him a "stray", making it very, very clear that he doesn't have a very high opinion on Frankensteins, masterless Frankensteins least of all. This is not the kind of attitude you should have if you intent to survive the chapter.
He orders Cadaverick to catch Peaberry.
Aaaaand back to Elm, Philip and Azalea, who have found an inn in a town. Philip and Azalea talk. Philip's plan is to spend the night and drop Elm off at the local church or police station, where her friend, Ashuhit, can find her. He adds that Elm's clothes and overall appearance suggest that she's rather well-off. This is definitely on Azalea's mind at night. She's sharing a room with Elm, who has already fallen asleep. Azalea tries to take Elm's bag, which she's resting her head on... well, and Azalea gets quite a surprise because Elm's cheek is stuck to the bag and when she pulls it away, Elm's skin stretches unnaturally long. That's freaky. Azalea yells and lets go, Elm wakes up from the yelling and gets her bag smacked into her face, which causes her to yell as well... OK, it's a commotion.
Elm explains that her skin is special because she's a Frankenstein and this is just some special feature she was created with. Azalea is still dubious, but all in all I guess she has proof now that Elm really isn't human. Philip, in a room next door, doesn't really know what all the yelling is about, and calls to them to be quiet.
Then, Elm has a bright moment. Really, you'd think that this is something that the naive little girl would just forget about, but she actually asks Azalea why she wanted to take her bag. Because you don't take other people's stuff, unless you're a bad person.
To which Azalea replies that, well, she is a bad person, so there. She's a thief, a criminal, specializing in getting money off the children of rich families. Like Elm. (And how about Philip...?)
Baaaaack at the church. Turns out that Cadaverick didn't like the priest's suggestion of catching Peaberry. We can tell because he punched him quite violently, which sent the poor old guy flying across the room. The priest promised him that he'd make the maintenance session free this one time, but Ricky obviously thinks that there isn't enough profit in this for him. He has a better plan: He overheard the priest and Ashuhit talking, and knows that Ash is from a rich family. So catching Ash would result in more money than catching Peaberry.
The priest thinks that this plan is, like, not good at all. He whips out a pistol (special model designed by Polar Route, "rocket pistol", meant to destroy Frankensteins) and fires. Buuuut Cadaverick has a skin modification, too, which makes his skin rock-like and impenetrable even to the gun's special bullets. And that makes him quite powerful, also considering that the priest seems to have broken both his arms just firing the thing.
Ricky is mad now, grabs the priest by the head, lifts him up and asks him to give him a description of Ashuhit (because he only heard the conversation, but was in another room and couldn't see what Ash looks like). The priest doesn't hesitate for very long, but describes Ash roughly: Well-dressed, carrying a suitcase, tall, slender, handsome (Yes, that shouldn't be missing in any description...), wearing glasses and accompanied by a woman. Or girl. Does he mean Elm or Peaberry? What's he even thinking about Ashuhit being all friendly with traitor Peaberry? Sadly, we will never know, because at this point, the priest dies. Ricky was a little too rough with him, I guess. He dryly notes that humans are really too fragile. but anyway, he has a basic description... and it just so happens to fit Philip as well as Ashuhit. There's going to be a tragic misunderstanding. Poor Philip. This really isn't his day.
Continue: Chapter 7
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