OWP: Thank you very much! I am working hard to put a lot of detail into this story, mainly to give life to the many visuals this version of the story is supposed to evoke. And I’m glad you took notice of Randall; he is actually meant to be depicted as beautiful, yet extremely cold-blooded.
One note I will put up before reading this chapter. The sequences decribed at the beginning are base on what are called henshin sequences in anime. These are transformation sequences that detail every aspect of a character transforming, and are mostly characteristic on anime shows that either involve superheroes, giant robots (mecha), or the ever-popular magical girl shows.
Here’s a few examples of magical girl henshin sequences, just to get an idea of what to expect:
HeartCatch PreCure transformation
Whew! Now that I got that out of the way, here’s Chapter Three!
Chapter Three: Making the Quota
The Energy Harvesters had entered their work zone. At the head of the group was James, who marched with a staunch determination written on his face. Each Harvester then headed to his or her respective station, where they faced the doors that stood before them.
“All right!” called the announcer as he shut the windows so that no sunlight could enter the area, “Everyone, initiate your transformation!”
At that exact moment, all the Energy Harvesters shouted out their respective catchphrases, which resulted in their bare bodies becoming glowing silhouettes as they each entered through colorful vortexes. James called out “I am ready to unleash the beast within!” and his form became enveloped in a white light which was thrown through a blue vortex patterned with purple polka dots. He could feel his body increasing in size and changing physiologically; arms growing longer and more muscled, hands and feet becoming paws and gaining claws, tail extending, face becoming like that of a bear, and starting from his head, hair spreading all over him like fur. He landed on the floor, emerging from a glowing light as he roared louder than the pride of a hundred lions. He introduced himself as “The raging beast whose roar will awaken even the heaviest of sleepers, James P. Sullivan!”
Likewise, Randall, James’ co-worker, also experienced a similar process. His phrase was “Winds of change, I hear you. Carry me as you wish!” His delicate physique radiated blindingly as a glimmering purple snakeskin vortex appeared and swept him through it. Light winds in the vortex swayed him around in swirling motions as his form stretched out into a serpentine shape, his two arms splitting into four arms, same for his legs. His fingers and toes were then reduced to three on each hand and foot, resembling lamellae pads characteristic of a gecko. His ponytail swirled down his long spine and became a spiraling prehensile tail, his head was flattened like that of a skink lizard, eyes bulged, and he swept a hand over his cowlicks, which then turned into a trio of antennae-like fronds. Finally, starting from his tail, scales started to appear all over his body, with a brilliant blue at the tip of his tail progressing onto his back, then changing into an iridescent mosaic of purple and violet tones, culminating in the magenta-toned tips on his fronds. A glowing globe of light blasted on the floor, in which he finally emerged, gracefully dancing and hissing. He introduced himself as “The unseen serpent chameleon, the endless fuel of nightmares, Randall Boggs!” as he blew a kiss.
After the other Energy Harvesters finished transforming, each of them had to give their powers a test run. James performed a few work out moves as he sported a growl on his face. A muscular, dinosaur-like beast extended long claws from the bases of his hands, and gave a good roar. Jeffrey pulled out a wallpaper swatch board and placed it behind Randall, switching colors and patterns rapidly as his Harvester could blend in to. A slug-like creature inflated spikes all over his back, another beast put in a pair of fake teeth, a hulking monster put on a set of 16 eyes, and a being that resembled just a giant mouth with eyestalks got a good teeth brushing from his Portal Summoner.
Over on a wall section left and above of the floor entrance, a giant LCD screen lit up, displaying a map of what looked like a Mercator mapping of planet earth. The East Asian coastal areas, Indonesia, Singapore, and part of Australia were highlighted by a red stripe, and then the map shrunk as a leaderboard for all the Energy Harvesters on Energy Floor F appeared. At the top of the listing was the name “Sullivan” (サリバン) with an energy score of 99,479, and right beneath that, the name “Randall” (ランドール), his score totaling 99,351.
“Hey,” James began affectionately as he waved a paw, “May the best kaiju win.”
Randall turned is head away, facing his door. “I plan to,” he growled.
“All right!” called out the announcer, “We’ve got the East Asian coasts online, and Earth is right now in a full moon phase. Begin energy harvesting in 10, 9, 8, 7…3, 2, 1…”
The alarm sounded as the announcer gave the signal. The session had begun.
James ran right in through a cream colored door with orange slices printed on it. Michael quickly shut it as he checked the yellow canister connected to the door. Once he heard the sweet sound of a child’s blood-curdling cry of terror, he smiled as the red bar on the canister shot up to full capacity. James ran back through the door and closed it.
“How did I do?” asked the polka-dotted beast.
The computerized screen showed James’ score shoot up to 99,513.
“Not bad,” Michael remarked as he gave a thumbs-up, “Next door, coming right up!”
Meanwhile, in the station right next to that of Michael and James, Randall tightened his fists and growled fiercely as he rapidly swirled his lovely serpentine shape around a door with smiling candy printed all over it, shooting himself right through the portal. Jeffrey nervously watched the canister on the side of the door as it filled up with an ear-piercing scream. The amethyst lizard beauty then swirled right out of the door he had entered, shutting the door swiftly. He looked up at the leaderboard, only to see that his score only raised up to 99,372; a mere twenty-one points compared to the thirty-four points James had just gained.
“Still behind, you are, Randall,” began Jeffrey, “Re-aligning the screens, maybe—”
The lacertilian creature slapped Jeffrey on the face with the force of ten women in a reality show catfight, “Shut up! Just give me ANOTHER DOOR!!!”
“Aaahhh… alright!” Jeffrey sent the door back up, only to realize he was nosebleeding, but couldn’t stop to worry about it.
Beasts and creatures of all kinds went in and out of various doors that arrived at their respective stations, with the Portal Summoners assisting as best as they could, swiping key cards one after the other; doors parading on the zipline above. Canisters were filling up left and right, and various workers were loading them onto carts to be taken to the processing areas. Screams from the other side of the doors could be heard, filling up each and every battery-like canister available on the floor.
The manager looked on from his podium, when Mr. Waternoose entered the floor, observing the typical work scene.
“Well, Jerry,” began Mr. Waternoose addressing the manager by his actual name, “How are we doing?”
“Actually, Sir,” Jerry started, “We’re doing just fine. We may actually make our quota today.”
“Very well,” Mr. Waternoose answered as he folded his hands.
At that moment, one of the Portal Summoners was watching a canister slowly fill up, when all of a sudden, the power drained in an instant. He tapped the canister to see if there was something wrong with it, and that is when the muscular, dinosaur-like beast with the long claws burst out of the door, which was red with gold swirls printed on it. He started to cry as he buried his face in his clawed hands.
“What happened?” asked the peach-haired Portal Summoner.
“It was horrible!” the beast sobbed, “She tried to touch me! I COULD HAVE DIED!!!”
“She wasn’t scared of you?!” the Portal Summoner was alarmed, “But, she’s only six!”
“I COULD HAVE DIED!!!” the beast continued to moan, until his Portal Summoner slapped him.
“Get it together man!” the Portal Summoner scolded, “Janitors, we need a door shredder ASAP!”
The two janitors who were at the lobby earlier rushed into the scene with a large machine. The blond clown-nosed janitor pulled out a tape roller, and made an “X” over the door with yellow tape that read “VOID”. He and the other janitor pulled the door from its frame and inserted it into the machine as the one in the green suit pressed the button; the wood chipping loudly, but also rapidly. Before they knew it, all the wood was gone; only the doorknob deposited in a slot. The two young men took the machine back out of the work floor. The floor manager and the CEO were in disbelief at what they had just witnessed.
“That’s the 58th door that the company has lost this week!” Jerry was in shock.
“Human children these days,” Mr. Waternoose sighed, “They just don’t get scared like they used to.”
Over at another station, Jeffrey trembled nervously as he watched another canister fill up with an ear-piercing scream; Randall exiting the door as his assistant still shook uncontrollably, now with his attention turned to the large screen as he uttered the word “Master”.
“WHAT?!!” Randall slapped Jeffrey again with his upper-right gecko hand.
“Look,” Jeffrey pointed to the screen, unaware of the blood flowing profusely out of his nostrils.
Randall looked up at the jumbo computer screen leaderboard, watching his score shoot up considerably. As the number rose, the intercom came on; a female voice announcing, “Attention! We have a new top Energy Harvester: Randall Boggs.”
For a moment, Randall smiled at the sight of his name sitting on top of the name “Sullivan” on the leaderboard. The other Portal Summoners gathered around him, cheering him on as the beautiful reptile thought to himself, That’s right, Sullivan. Now you’ll finally know your place when you’ll be kissing the feet I walk with from this moment on—all four of them, to be exact.
The moment of glory came to a halt when Randall caught sight of Michael with over 20 of the yellow canisters, all filling up to capacity. James emerged out of a door covered in pink and blue clouds and puppies. He clasped his hands together and glared at Randall sternly, only speaking two words, “Slumber Party.”
James’ score continued to skyrocket on the computer screen well into the 100,000s, thus switching his name to be positioned right over Randall’s once more. The announcer voice came back on and said, “Oops! Never mind”.
The Portal Summoners who had previously been cheering Randall ran over to James and started applauding the polka-dotted beast.
“You rule Sullivan!!!” one Portal Summoner cheered.
“No one can beat you!” another one exclaimed.
“IT’S OVER 9000!!!” a third one hollered loudly.
Randall folded his upper arms across his chest, and placed his lower hands on his hips. He glared at Jeffrey menacingly and said, “If I don’t see another door in MY station in the next 5 seconds, I will PERSONALLY put you THROUGH THE SHREDDER!!!”
“B-but—Randall,” began Jeffrey, “If kill me you do, deliver the doors to our station, who will?”
Randall turned around dramatically as a sparkling pastel pink background appeared behind him; his fronds waving rhythmically as a light breeze of rose petals blew and his emerald eyes sparkled with tears of regret.
“Oh, Fungus,” Randall sighed deeply as his tears flowed, “You are right. How could I ever think of such a thing? Forgive me; after all, you are my only Portal Summoner!”
“The drama, please quit it Randall,” began Jeffrey, “Alright now, it is.”
The sparkling background and billowing rose petals disappeared as Randall stopped crying. He soon found his door manager hugging him tightly; his face pressed against the lizard’s smooth-scaled chest.
“You know, Fungus?” Randall started, “I’d really appreciate it if you’d get off me already.”
“I know,” Jeffrey sighed, “For sparing my life— again, I thank you.”
So, that’s Chapter Three for you. I might be posting up Chapters Four and Five this week as well, since I just had them reviewed. Wonder if my readers can hear the movie soundtrack as they read…