*Duncan's POV*
We watched in horror as Klaus marched ahead of us into the factory. He was all zombie-ish again... I was really worried he'd get hurt, with all these dangerous machines around.
"Whakla?" Sunny asked nervously. She meant "What's wrong with Klaus?"
"We wish we knew..." I answered unhelpfully.
"Lucky boy, would you like to turn on the stamping machine?" Foreman Flacutono asked Klaus over the intercom.
"Yes, Sir." He said and climbed up into the machine's operation seat. He made the large stamp dip into the paint and stamp the Lucky Smells logo onto a set of wooden boards, and the workers pushed aside one set and put another into place. Violet set Sunny down and we went to help. Working close to Klaus would be our best bet to keep an eye on him.
Phil came over to help move the boards. "There's nothing to worry about!" He said, seeing us looking at Klaus worriedly. "He's operating the machine perfectly!"
"He would never operate a machine without reading the manual first." Violet insisted.
"He hasn't been acting like himself at all recently," Izzie added.
"Work faster!!!" Flacutono yelled in the speakers.
"Dr. Orwell did something to him and now he's acting nuts." I explained. "One moment he's normal and the next, he's like a zombie..."
"I saw a scary movie like that once!" Phil said.
"Was it Zombies in the Snow?" Violet asked.
"What? No-"
"Work as fast as you possibly can!!! And then work faster!"
"No it was Hypnotists in the Forest. To be honest with you I didn't really get it, but I loved that it was in black and white!"
"Did you say hypnotists?" I asked, getting an idea. It was probably stupid but a lot of my ideas are stupid so I decided to entertain this one.
"Yeah! So at least your situation could be worse. If you look on the bright side-"
"Look on your right side!!!"
"Get outta the way!!!"
The stamper machine was beginning to smoke up and spin out of control. "Code red!!! Code red!!!" Flacutono was shouting loudly. I saw Klaus rip out some wires from the machine as some chains attached to it took out the debarker dispenser, knocking it over. The stamp was coming for us and I pulled my sister and Violet out of the way. The three of us ended up on the floor, but then we heard loud screaming. We scrambled to our feet and saw Phil's leg was crushed underneath the stamper.
"I'm okay!!!!" He screamed. Several workers tried to lift the machine off of him.
"It's too heavy! It won't budge!"
I watched Violet leave out of the corner of my eye and hoped to God she would be able to think of a way to fix this! Trying to lift the stamper off remained futile. The machine powered back up and I saw Violet up in the chair fixing some of the wiring. She pulled a lever and the stamp lifted up. Phil sat up with a groan and screamed at the sight of his flattened leg. "Oh boy!!!" He exclaimed, and began laughing nervously. "Half-priced pedicures for life... If somebody can help me to my foot, I'm pretty sure I can get back to work!"
"No, you need to go to a hospital!!!" Isadora cried.
"We earned coupons last month!" Norma Rae said to the other workers. "50% off Ahab Memorial!"
"Two of us will chip in." Jimmy said. "We'll get your leg fixed up."
"It can't be fixed!" Sir said from the door of the factory.
"I wouldn't say that," Charles said hesitantly. "It will need some... Help, but we're fortunate the damage wasn't worse!"
"'Wasn't worse'? The debarker dispenser is destroyed. Who's responsible for this?!"
"Klaus Baudelaire caused the accident!!!" Foreman Flacutono shouted in response. "He said he knew how to operate heavy machinery!"
"You liar!!!" Izzie exclaimed. "He said nothing of the sort!"
"This is a mistake!" I added.
"Excuses, excuses. Just like your parents." Sir groaned. "They burned down the town and now you've come back to finish the job."
"How dare you-"
"Izzie..." I said quietly, grabbing her arm. There's a time and a place to get angry with adults, and this was not the time. She pouted, glaring at Sir.
"Be reasonable," Charles said. "This is exactly why we need to reevaluate our safety procedures, or, I don't know, not put children to work!"
Sir glared at Charles. "I have a better idea. One more mistake, orphans, and I'm gonna send you away to a place where you'll learn the value of discipline and child labor. As it happens, I have just the place in mind... Now get back to work!!! This mistake has cost me an inordinate amount of money!!!" He left, and Charles went to leave too. Violet grabbed his arm as he walked past us.
"It was an accident!" She said.
"Klaus didn't mean to hurt Phil." Izzie added.
"He isn't acting like himself!" I said too.
"I'm sure he didn't mean to. I don't know where he'd be sending you, but I have a feeling it won't be a good idea. I can try to convince him to see things my way, but he hasn't been listening to me for a few days... This mill has too many secrets, some I don't even know apparently... And it's time you learned one about your parents." He was about to pull something from his coat pocket, but frowned. "Wrong coat... Drat. I'm sorry, my dears. Meet me after lunch in the library."
"You can't tell us now?"
"I would but I have an appointment."
Charles left and Klaus came up to us, looking frightened out of his wits. "I don't understand... Everyone is staring at me like I'm a pariah." He said. We looked him over, trying to figure out if this was him or not. "'Pariah' means 'outcast.'" He added.
"Klaus, you're you again." Violet said, relieved. We hugged him and he saw Phil go by on a stretcher.
"What happened to Phil?!" He asked, trying to follow.
"I'm okay!!" Phil said, smiling even though he was, without a doubt, in a lot of pain.
Violet grabbed Klaus' arm to stop him. "We need to talk..."
YOU ARE READING
Family Comes First- ASOUE
Fanfiction"Family isn't always blood. It's the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what." Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire were intel...
