Chapter Text
He tore the heart monitor’s cords off of his chest with a grunt, the incessant but rhythmic beeping coming to a stop. It’s not like he needed it, anyways. He could see his heartbeat no problem. Plus, the sound was just getting on his already tense nerves.
He shivered as a draft came in from the nearly shattered window. He’d… have to get that fixed sooner or later.
He stood with a sigh, the old office chair he’d been sitting on squeaking. That needed fixing, too. Even the tiles beneath his slippers were cracked and missing in certain spots. Everything here needed fixing.
Before he even reached the window, his thoughts were interrupted by the squeal-like voice of his assistant.
”Doc! You’ve got mail!”
He jolted, before snapping around to look at his assistant, his already pounding heart thumping visibly like a drum.
”I’ve told you, stop doing that!”
He hissed, before taking a deep breath, his pupil retuning to its regular size rather than a pinprick in his iris.
“Who’s the-… Who’s the mail from?”
He sat back in his chair, sighing.
His assistant fiddled with the envelope for a moment, their one comically oversized hand giving them trouble. Eventually, though, they managed to open it.
“It’s from… the Chairman.”
He had been fiddling with one of the buttons on his coat when they said that, before he tensed up, his pupil returning to its pinpricked state. His assistant continued.
”He’s formally inviting you to the Blossom Heights Hot Springs for a brief meeting where you’ll be joined by a few others.”
He paused, before tilting his head slightly.
”Is… Is that it?”
His assistant nodded, before handing him the letter., shrugging
”Read for yourself. Doesn’t even say who you’ll be joined by.”
He picked up the letter, squinting a bit. If there was one thing he could have left behind when he passed on, why wasn’t it his bad eyesight? Why did that have to carry over and not anything else, like his old body?
He shook his head slightly, trying to clear his mind, before reading the letter.
“ Dear Dr/Dir. Maddiman,
You have been formally invited to join me and possibly a few of your colleagues in a brief meeting at the Blossom Heights Hot Springs at 9PM sharp tomorrow night.
If you are unable to attend, please notify us in advance.
Yours truly,
Chairman Squidillius McKraken “
There was even a signature from the Chairman himself, a clearly quickly-scribbled “Squiddy”, almost as if it were there to confirm it was sent by him and not his staff.
He gripped the letter, crumpling it slightly. On one hand, spending an evening anywhere else but this dreaded, decaying hospital sounded like paradise. On the other hand, he had things he had to tend to, as well as the thought of spending the evening with McKraken gave him a headache.
Eventually, he passed the letter back to his assistant.
”I’ll go. Tell… Tell him I’ll be there. But—“
His assistant paused, about to leave.
”—You’ll have to watch over things. Make sure… it remains in stable condition, or I’ll let it decide what to do with you next.”
A beam of moonlight reflected off of his head mirror, causing it to glint as he stood, obscuring his expression and making the already dim room seem much darker. He could really be intimidating when he wanted to be.
His assistant hastily nodded before scuttling off, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
————
He cautiously opened the door to the hot springs, silent. He knew nobody was working at the moment, but he was still on edge that he’d be caught.
After he stepped into the men’s change room, he glanced through the glass window into the hot springs itself.
Through the steam caused by the heat of the water, he spotted them— A group of three Yokai.
Of course Sproink was there, he practically lived in the hot springs. But it seemed Chirpster had also made it, and was chatting with Sproink.
But front and centre, being fanned by some smaller Yokai— servants, assumedly— sat Chairman McKraken, strong and imposing compared to the other two.
He stared for a few moments, before realizing he’d been fogging up the glass with his heavy breathing. Why did it have to be the hot springs? The one place where he couldn’t wear his coat?? Oh well. Maybe they just… wouldn’t notice the nearly fresh scars all over his body?
He sighed and slipped his coat off, hanging it on the wooden coat rack, before glancing in the mirror.
The scar on his abdomen had faded quite a bit, and was barely noticeable at this point. Good. Not like the rest of them needed to know about his futile attempts at replacing his practically dead organs.
It was the same with the scars on his chest. He’d done that decades before he passed, but the scars had lingered with him in the afterlife, now taking on a more decorative appearance, like a swirl of sorts.
He’d learned years ago that it was pointless to try and hide those scars anyways. One look at him as a young child would reveal a lot more than he’d ever admit.
He quickly kicked his slippers off and opened the door to the main hot spring, being his with a wave of heat. Sproink had cranked the temperature, as per usual.
”Nice of you to finally join us!”
Chirpster, well… chirped. He had a smug grin on his face, eyeing him up. He felt… exposed. Even Sproink was staring.
”I, uh… Y’know, I’m- I’m not feeling too good, I’ll just—“
Before he could finish, he was interrupted.
”Come, sit with us. We have important matters to discuss.”
McKraken hissed in an eerily cheery tone, sending a shiver down his spine.
He obliged, tensing, as he slowly made his way over to them, sitting on the edge of the hot spring. The water would’ve been much too hot for his practically paper-thin skin at that point.
”So, as you may have heard, the opposing party is.. not too thrilled at our victory.”
Sproink and Chirpster nodded, while he remained still, hoping they’d all forget about him eventually.
”In response to recent events, I have had to go to drastic lengths in order to enforce the rules. This included sending traitors to… Well, I’m sure you can guess where.”
McKraken smiled, his sharp teeth nearly white enough to see his reflection in, before taking a small key from beside the spring and lifting it, showing it off.
“Th-That’s the entrance key to the Infinite Inferno!”
He blurted out, before covering his mouth with his hand.
McKraken’s smile just widened.
”Precisely.”
That word— That single word— It gave him goosebumps. McKraken had been sending opposing Yokai to—
“A-Agh-!”
He grit his teeth together, his muscles tightening as the two others watched him, dead silent.
McKraken had ran a finger along one of the larger scars along his back, and it was a fresher one too. It burned for a few seconds, before the pain died away.
”What’s this? Another scar? Surely you didn’t need a new lung or anything…”
McKraken said in a deep tone, with a dark cackle.
He shuddered. He hated when McKraken did this, and yet… his face felt surprisingly warm. Probably due to the warmth of the hot spring, right?
…
Right?