The Chikamori Selfacy (A Reboot)
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-451kWfI6hzI/X8bPPtEyeVI/AAAAAAAAk54/KB3_SyRJ73IFG8EkSAmOkYAyCBOz1giwgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/ChikamoriSelfacyReboot_banner.png Prologue: June 12, 1970; Sacred Spleen Hospital...
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Chapter Eight - A Different Kind of Peace (Part One)
A Watcher’s Wrath
Whether it was cosmic intervention or the Watcher’s Divine Wrath that ended the reign of terror, it was oft speculated with various theories being brought to the forefront; however there was only one definitive conclusion to be drawn from all this. Mayumi had it coming.
For years Mayumi had terrorized her family; with her narcissistic rages, her hypocritical crazy-making behaviour and her viciousness. Nearly driving her son to paranoia; she focused on him with her malevolent gaze – focusing all her energies into making sure that his life was a life of misery. It was quite apparent that her ultimate end-goal was to create a pawn from which she could extract anything that she wanted, whether that be unfettered adulation or economic benefits – Mayumi wanted a pay-day from her son and she was willing to do everything that she could to extract that pecuniary reward out of him including destroying him.
But as sand when squeezed in one’s fist, trickles out between the fingers; Haruo managed to sneak his way out. When Mayumi learned of the fact that Haruo had in fact proposed to one River Annette McIrish, Mayumi went apoplectic. Demanding that he rescind his proposal produced no action on his part; the worm had truly turned. The end result was that he told her that she should take a long walk off the nearest short pier; explaining succinctly that he’d had enough of her bullshit and that he was not going to take any more of it and that he was no cultured fancy-pants; that if she raised her hand to him again, that he would hit back; warning her that “I’m not going to put up with it any longer, if you hit me, I’m going to hit you back twice as hard.” And considering Haruo’s height and physical mass, that was not a threat to be taken lightly. Mayumi chose the wiser course of action which was to back down.
After all, as a young adult, Haruo was no longer bound to her dominion; he could do anything he wanted and frankly she could lump it as far as he was concerned. And under no circumstances was he going to follow Mayumi’s guidance any longer. He certainly was not going to call off the engagement, no matter how much Mayumi demanded it. The evil hag could pound sand as far as he was concerned. In fact, Haruo and River realized that this was the ultimate decision that they'd made; to go back from this would mean an entire dissolution of their eighteen years of friendship. They had committed to each other; for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, enduring all things that the world would throw at them till death do they part. The only thing they hadn't done yet was the formalizing of their vows and that would be after graduation.
All in all, for the rest of the family, it was something to look forward to as far as events were concerned. But if it was really for someone other than the couple getting married, it certainly seemed that way. Marriage was not only a union between two people but a celebration that all others were witness to; that others got a chance to be a part of. And for the cynical, it was a time to take bets on how long the conjugal bliss would remain. Evidently that little scumbag, VJ Alvi, after hearing that marriage was looming on the horizon for his mortal enemy and his enemy’s girl, was running a line of 25-1 that the marriage would split in the first three months. It was tempting for Haruo to go beat his face in again. But as a young adult; there were other things to think about, like getting a job and providing for what would be Haruo and River’s family which at this point was two humans and a dog.
Mayumi was incandescent with rage...something that was usually her static state; if she kept it up she’d probably end up dying of a stroke or more favourably, a brain aneurysm. All her plans had come to naught and she was looking for someone to blame. She had counted on leeching off her son in her later years and was planning to set him up with a wife who would henpeck him enough that he’d capitulate if he wanted peace. Then she would tie her strings into his spouse and control him using her. And frankly she was furious that he’d broke the mold, unlocked his chains and fled. It was in that mood that she went storming out of the house in the middle of the night. There was nothing that she could do to reverse the damage to her future plans. She was done for.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LsbXF_KaszI/YBfmRI9O_fI/AAAAAAAAm2Y/skHwNesLxKMEYuKs4JpRnEp1XxBYAyKtgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-205.jpg
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But for all of her manipulative efforts and scheming, the one thing she did not count on was the weather nor astronomical phenomenon. Up in the heavens, the skies were dark and foreboding as a gloomy counterpoint to disastrous portent. The roiling clouds were backlit by lightning flashes intermittently flickering through dense, dark condensation. There was a crackle of electricity in the air that made the hair on one’s arms stand up and heart pound in primal fear. There was no calming of the nerves, being in fear of nature’s firework’s display was hard-wired into one’s primitive psyche.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sQqaDXu1aTE/YBfomKPaD_I/AAAAAAAAm28/1Rrj0CqgE6sXrhXJ7rDaHw6E9GAd3kyOwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-214.jpg
Countless warnings by Environment Canada to others to not go out in a thunderstorm fell upon Mayumi’s deaf ears as she sought to escape the debacle of her own making. Fleeing across the street, she heard the thunderclap of a lightning bolt and was nearly deafened by a roll of thunder that was exceedingly loud. Evidently the bolt had fallen close enough by her, that the crackle of lightning and the boom of the thunder was nearly instantaneous.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wrOhAz02iwc/YBfn6RoKbFI/AAAAAAAAm2s/_9NEMYLJV88nTzGD_oNS2MW0fbjm0UM4gCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-221.jpg
That should have been warning enough that it was dangerous to go out in this particular thunderstorm, but Mayumi distraught at the dissolution of her plans was not paying any attention. At least until her hair stood on end and the prickly feeling of electrical discharge raised the hair on her limbs. And then a horrendous burning feeling cascaded through her in a deluge of pain. And in the back of her mind, she realized, I’ve been struck by lightning. Well, that wasn’t going to be all.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_Yr8MNb_4I8/YBfoAeu4FQI/AAAAAAAAm2w/11ZD2gFJJwQpaddgjcbmZs_VHZ5wQ5K5QCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-202.jpg
A thunderous crackle like a fighter jet screaming through the air, but at a much faster velocity than any earth-bound aerial vehicle flew through the air, splitting her eardrums and rendering her deaf crashed into the ground in a ball of incendiary flame. It was rather unfortunate for Mayumi that she happened to be standing right where the end target of the meteor happened to be. It was a mercifully quick end for a person who had been subjecting her family to years and years of mental torture. She never knew what hit her. In fact, her body was so pulverized into bits and incinerated that there was no way to find any human remains. All that would be left would be a tombstone to mark where and how she died.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KJwp7NjGzoc/YBfo57o0d3I/AAAAAAAAm3E/uKCaPkQXA8kad9ZCzIv3CEs0O6l8NacKwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-216.jpg
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What was left was pieces of meteor that lay in a circumference of over sixty feet. And that would be picked up by townsfolk for the family of the deceased to cover the funeral costs. How convenient was it to have a burial that was covered by the object that was responsible for killing the deceased?
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WoZKwWTNc9I/YBfpzZZC-tI/AAAAAAAAm3U/mowSrVmL_Bg0Uu7HGg-AL3S6Na_4GTW5ACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-265.jpg
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With a clap of thunder, the Grim Reaper appeared above the gigantic space rock that had squashed Mayumi flatter than a pancake. He intoned the incantation that turned the remains into a spirit and Mayumi floated above the space rock. She looked around to gather her ethereal bearings and turned towards the hooded figure whose face wasn’t evident within the darkness of the hood. For all intents and purposes, Grim was faceless. His voice emanated as if from the very depths of a crypt. “It is time. Mayumi Chikamori, you are to come with me.”
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S0siZ9iyZwk/YBfqh6NrZzI/AAAAAAAAm3k/2zLNmRp3Ap4l1ph9WIdKNJU6tfU5ZXvcACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-277.jpg
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For Mayumi, this was new horizons, death had opened up a retinue of opportunities for her and she was eager to get to the afterlife. And frankly she was planning an overthrow of the overlord of the dead. Grim looked into Mayumi’s eyes as she shook his hand that he’d proffered and saw the evil, malevolence behind them and his spine started to crawl. If only there was someplace else in the afterlife that he could have put her. And then Mayumi turned her back on him and made her leap into the headstone. On the one hand, once informed, Yasunobu was shocked at first, but not very surprised and very few in the family mourned her loss. River went over to get the headstone; half a symbolic gesture of victory over her husband-to-be’s hated nemesis and partly to recognize that despite the fact that they were enemies, Mayumi was still a family member and should be properly interred at the earliest possible convenience...as far away as possible.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j0SsbGGagrg/YBfqvB3qKpI/AAAAAAAAm3w/clPptKWIijAtzMhabfFuet4DWc6bZWAQgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/SV_NewsReport_Mayumi.png
Of course the fact that the Sunset Valley News-Leader published Mayumi’s unfortunate pulverization by asteroid and the subsequent economic benefit to the community as well as the Chikamori family who stood to gain almost §46,000 by conservative estimate depending on what the pieces of space rock sold for to research facilities across the country.
Depending on who one spoke to most thought that the cosmic punishment and subsequent removal from the planet by means of massive blunt force trauma was a good thing.
(End Part One)
Chapter Eight - A Different Kind of Peace (Part One)
A Watcher’s Wrath
Whether it was cosmic intervention or the Watcher’s Divine Wrath that ended the reign of terror, it was oft speculated with various theories being brought to the forefront; however there was only one definitive conclusion to be drawn from all this. Mayumi had it coming.
For years Mayumi had terrorized her family; with her narcissistic rages, her hypocritical crazy-making behaviour and her viciousness. Nearly driving her son to paranoia; she focused on him with her malevolent gaze – focusing all her energies into making sure that his life was a life of misery. It was quite apparent that her ultimate end-goal was to create a pawn from which she could extract anything that she wanted, whether that be unfettered adulation or economic benefits – Mayumi wanted a pay-day from her son and she was willing to do everything that she could to extract that pecuniary reward out of him including destroying him.
But as sand when squeezed in one’s fist, trickles out between the fingers; Haruo managed to sneak his way out. When Mayumi learned of the fact that Haruo had in fact proposed to one River Annette McIrish, Mayumi went apoplectic. Demanding that he rescind his proposal produced no action on his part; the worm had truly turned. The end result was that he told her that she should take a long walk off the nearest short pier; explaining succinctly that he’d had enough of her bullshit and that he was not going to take any more of it and that he was no cultured fancy-pants; that if she raised her hand to him again, that he would hit back; warning her that “I’m not going to put up with it any longer, if you hit me, I’m going to hit you back twice as hard.” And considering Haruo’s height and physical mass, that was not a threat to be taken lightly. Mayumi chose the wiser course of action which was to back down.
After all, as a young adult, Haruo was no longer bound to her dominion; he could do anything he wanted and frankly she could lump it as far as he was concerned. And under no circumstances was he going to follow Mayumi’s guidance any longer. He certainly was not going to call off the engagement, no matter how much Mayumi demanded it. The evil hag could pound sand as far as he was concerned. In fact, Haruo and River realized that this was the ultimate decision that they'd made; to go back from this would mean an entire dissolution of their eighteen years of friendship. They had committed to each other; for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, enduring all things that the world would throw at them till death do they part. The only thing they hadn't done yet was the formalizing of their vows and that would be after graduation.
All in all, for the rest of the family, it was something to look forward to as far as events were concerned. But if it was really for someone other than the couple getting married, it certainly seemed that way. Marriage was not only a union between two people but a celebration that all others were witness to; that others got a chance to be a part of. And for the cynical, it was a time to take bets on how long the conjugal bliss would remain. Evidently that little scumbag, VJ Alvi, after hearing that marriage was looming on the horizon for his mortal enemy and his enemy’s girl, was running a line of 25-1 that the marriage would split in the first three months. It was tempting for Haruo to go beat his face in again. But as a young adult; there were other things to think about, like getting a job and providing for what would be Haruo and River’s family which at this point was two humans and a dog.
Mayumi was incandescent with rage...something that was usually her static state; if she kept it up she’d probably end up dying of a stroke or more favourably, a brain aneurysm. All her plans had come to naught and she was looking for someone to blame. She had counted on leeching off her son in her later years and was planning to set him up with a wife who would henpeck him enough that he’d capitulate if he wanted peace. Then she would tie her strings into his spouse and control him using her. And frankly she was furious that he’d broke the mold, unlocked his chains and fled. It was in that mood that she went storming out of the house in the middle of the night. There was nothing that she could do to reverse the damage to her future plans. She was done for.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LsbXF_KaszI/YBfmRI9O_fI/AAAAAAAAm2Y/skHwNesLxKMEYuKs4JpRnEp1XxBYAyKtgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-205.jpg
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bPWkL8M1NuU/YBfmRJzfF0I/AAAAAAAAm2c/Sq2-9K4CVBoiMM6T0IDzWuCprO6F5AcUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-207.jpg
But for all of her manipulative efforts and scheming, the one thing she did not count on was the weather nor astronomical phenomenon. Up in the heavens, the skies were dark and foreboding as a gloomy counterpoint to disastrous portent. The roiling clouds were backlit by lightning flashes intermittently flickering through dense, dark condensation. There was a crackle of electricity in the air that made the hair on one’s arms stand up and heart pound in primal fear. There was no calming of the nerves, being in fear of nature’s firework’s display was hard-wired into one’s primitive psyche.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sQqaDXu1aTE/YBfomKPaD_I/AAAAAAAAm28/1Rrj0CqgE6sXrhXJ7rDaHw6E9GAd3kyOwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-214.jpg
Countless warnings by Environment Canada to others to not go out in a thunderstorm fell upon Mayumi’s deaf ears as she sought to escape the debacle of her own making. Fleeing across the street, she heard the thunderclap of a lightning bolt and was nearly deafened by a roll of thunder that was exceedingly loud. Evidently the bolt had fallen close enough by her, that the crackle of lightning and the boom of the thunder was nearly instantaneous.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wrOhAz02iwc/YBfn6RoKbFI/AAAAAAAAm2s/_9NEMYLJV88nTzGD_oNS2MW0fbjm0UM4gCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-221.jpg
That should have been warning enough that it was dangerous to go out in this particular thunderstorm, but Mayumi distraught at the dissolution of her plans was not paying any attention. At least until her hair stood on end and the prickly feeling of electrical discharge raised the hair on her limbs. And then a horrendous burning feeling cascaded through her in a deluge of pain. And in the back of her mind, she realized, I’ve been struck by lightning. Well, that wasn’t going to be all.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_Yr8MNb_4I8/YBfoAeu4FQI/AAAAAAAAm2w/11ZD2gFJJwQpaddgjcbmZs_VHZ5wQ5K5QCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-202.jpg
A thunderous crackle like a fighter jet screaming through the air, but at a much faster velocity than any earth-bound aerial vehicle flew through the air, splitting her eardrums and rendering her deaf crashed into the ground in a ball of incendiary flame. It was rather unfortunate for Mayumi that she happened to be standing right where the end target of the meteor happened to be. It was a mercifully quick end for a person who had been subjecting her family to years and years of mental torture. She never knew what hit her. In fact, her body was so pulverized into bits and incinerated that there was no way to find any human remains. All that would be left would be a tombstone to mark where and how she died.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KJwp7NjGzoc/YBfo57o0d3I/AAAAAAAAm3E/uKCaPkQXA8kad9ZCzIv3CEs0O6l8NacKwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-216.jpg
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--mAHEzQL8v8/YBfpZyR39hI/AAAAAAAAm3M/QYy_N1mWjDoppLGG-9-TJ24VGpvKe7AeACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-261.jpg
What was left was pieces of meteor that lay in a circumference of over sixty feet. And that would be picked up by townsfolk for the family of the deceased to cover the funeral costs. How convenient was it to have a burial that was covered by the object that was responsible for killing the deceased?
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WoZKwWTNc9I/YBfpzZZC-tI/AAAAAAAAm3U/mowSrVmL_Bg0Uu7HGg-AL3S6Na_4GTW5ACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-265.jpg
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With a clap of thunder, the Grim Reaper appeared above the gigantic space rock that had squashed Mayumi flatter than a pancake. He intoned the incantation that turned the remains into a spirit and Mayumi floated above the space rock. She looked around to gather her ethereal bearings and turned towards the hooded figure whose face wasn’t evident within the darkness of the hood. For all intents and purposes, Grim was faceless. His voice emanated as if from the very depths of a crypt. “It is time. Mayumi Chikamori, you are to come with me.”
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S0siZ9iyZwk/YBfqh6NrZzI/AAAAAAAAm3k/2zLNmRp3Ap4l1ph9WIdKNJU6tfU5ZXvcACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-277.jpg
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https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v9IEX3M2w6w/YBfqh9mxjDI/AAAAAAAAm3o/biW44i0NuHUm8kRM5jVoM-Axo2_BqO-aACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-284.jpg
For Mayumi, this was new horizons, death had opened up a retinue of opportunities for her and she was eager to get to the afterlife. And frankly she was planning an overthrow of the overlord of the dead. Grim looked into Mayumi’s eyes as she shook his hand that he’d proffered and saw the evil, malevolence behind them and his spine started to crawl. If only there was someplace else in the afterlife that he could have put her. And then Mayumi turned her back on him and made her leap into the headstone. On the one hand, once informed, Yasunobu was shocked at first, but not very surprised and very few in the family mourned her loss. River went over to get the headstone; half a symbolic gesture of victory over her husband-to-be’s hated nemesis and partly to recognize that despite the fact that they were enemies, Mayumi was still a family member and should be properly interred at the earliest possible convenience...as far away as possible.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j0SsbGGagrg/YBfqvB3qKpI/AAAAAAAAm3w/clPptKWIijAtzMhabfFuet4DWc6bZWAQgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/SV_NewsReport_Mayumi.png
Of course the fact that the Sunset Valley News-Leader published Mayumi’s unfortunate pulverization by asteroid and the subsequent economic benefit to the community as well as the Chikamori family who stood to gain almost §46,000 by conservative estimate depending on what the pieces of space rock sold for to research facilities across the country.
Depending on who one spoke to most thought that the cosmic punishment and subsequent removal from the planet by means of massive blunt force trauma was a good thing.
(End Part One)
