"Hey, pass me the wrench. I need it to tighten this bolt here."
"Sure thing mate, here you go."
"Thanks buddy."
Sphero's Inc was drenched in midday sunbeams, giving the place a bit of sparkle. The top bit of the building was swarming with the working class. Dressed to the nines in their day-glo yellow gear, they were zipping around like honeybees after a sugar rush. Teamed up with their robotic mates, they were a proper spectacle. Those bots, flexing their mechanical muscle, were chucking around weighty rubble like it was cotton candy, while the humans hammered and patched up the beat-up bits of the building. The sound of clattering metal and revving machinery was the backdrop to this little tableau.
Circling the site were news hounds, peering like greedy goblins at the workers. They were trying to prise the juicy bits out of the bosses about the mess inside the building and the traffic brouhaha it kicked up. But, they were keeping shtum, courtesy of Quory's gag order. So, the journos had to make do with a dry news day. They blamed it all on some product experiment that went south, but they were yanking everyone's chain.
A hop, skip and jump away from Sphero's Inc, the Imperial Hounds had pitched their mobile HQ. Diana, sporting a few injuries, was sprawled out on a stretcher getting patched up by Wiz's Bubble Bot. The bot, as delicate and exact as a sushi chef, was quite the sight to behold. Diana's scrapes and bruises were stark reminders of her run-in with Quory Vee, a memory that gave her goosebumps.
"What was she like?" Wiz's curiosity was gnawing at him.
"She was…" With her face twisted in pain, Diana managed to dish out a snippet of Quory's intimidating abilities.
In the mobile unit, you also had Colgate and Snuzzle licking their wounds. They weren't as bruised and battered as Diana, mostly because Quory had a vendetta against Diana for hacking off her son's arm. Their robot pals from the raid were conspicuous by their absence, a tribute to the repairs they were up against.
"That woman's powers are off the charts. I don't ever want to cross paths with her again," Colgate mumbled, fear creeping into his words.
"We're bloody lucky we made it out in one piece," Snuzzle added, thinking back to their skin-of-the-teeth escape. If he didn't have his ace in the hole, they'd be dead meat by now.
"The lad scarpered with the sword though, what's the plan now?" Wiz asked, eyes flitting across the monitors.
Although she was uncomfortable, Diana managed to reply, "My last strike got him real good, and completely busted his left arm. We should kick off by checking out nearby hospitals and emergency units he might pop into for some TLC."
"Sounds like a plan, I'll get cracking," Wiz shot back, dashing to his tech-laden throne. He started muttering his game plan under his breath as he set about scanning the emergency units and hospitals in the area.
***
The scene now shifts to Wranglers District, a slum that's always soaking in a downpour. It's a haven for miscreants, thieves, layabouts and the hard-up. Inside Vicky's workshop, Scar, Lanor, Boulder, Raven and a few other toughs were chitchatting about how Rector's men had slashed a few of their gang members and burgled their storage unit on Bellem Street.
"You get what I'm saying, Vicky? We should go over to Parkour District and cut a pound off that fat bastard's belly!" Scar's mouth was the loudest among the group.
"Calm down Scar," Lanor told him. "Acting rashly will only leave us exposed to unforeseen events."
Seconds after Lanor's warning to Scar, a loud bang from outside caught their ears. A gaggle of kids scampered into the workshop with their faces as white as sheets.
"Big sis Lanor! Big sis Lanor! Quick, there's blood and monsters everywhere!" they shrieked.
"What?" Lanor blurted out while her heart did the samba.
Everyone bolted outside to see what the kids were yammering about. The sight that greeted them was stomach-churning. Hao was sprawled on the ground, clutching Judgment Day in his right hand. His left arm was barely clinging onto his shoulders, blood pooling around him. Euphy lay under him, while Mentos stood nearby with a mask of worry. Acadian and Symphy were also there with them.
"Is that Hao…?" The surprise on Lanor's freckly face was blatant, mimicked by the gobsmacked looks on Vicky's and the others' faces.
"Get him inside now!" Vicky's command cut through the stunned silence.
"On it." Lanor and Scar, aided by Mentos, promptly picked up Hao and began lugging him inside the workshop.
"What about these weird beasts?" Boulder queried while flitting his eyes to the odd creatures.
"Tie them up in the old shack," Vicky responded, wheeling her chair back into the workshop.
Boulder and Raven took over the animal duty, while Lanor, Scar, and Mentos carried Hao inside for Vicky's treatment. The kids split into groups, most trailing Boulder and Raven, while a few followed the bloody path left by Lanor and the others with their curiosity piqued.
"I expected him to pop in sooner or later, but I didn't think he'd be in this shape. What the hell happened?" Vicky quizzed Mentos while looking at Hao's pallid face.
"We had a bit of a bind…" Mentos filled her in on the day's events while the sound of his voice wavered a tad.
"Quick, put him on that table there, I need to sort his arm before it's too late," Vicky urgently declared.
"One, two three, lift!" They followed her orders and laid Hao gently on the table. Afterwards, Vicky got down to business, she used her expert Blade Forging skills coupled with her nascent medical knowledge to attend to Hao's injuries. Mentos stood with his mouth covered, apprehension was growing in his bones.
While the operation went underway, the day wore on, riddled with nail-biting suspense and guesswork. Hao's fate was hanging in the balance, while the Imperial Hounds were hatching their next scheme to nab their target.
"Erm…" Hao was floating about in the realm of dreams within a bewildering world of shadow and shimmering water. His every footfall ruffled the glassy surface, sending out vibrations that spread into oblivion. Naked as the day he was born, he found himself swordless, he was a knight bereft of his armament.
"Hmm, what's that?" He noticed a radiant blue teardrop descend from the nothingness, stirring the water into motion. From these undulations, Judgment Day rose, its blade aglow with a spectral luminescence. Extending his hand to grasp it, his left arm commenced a horrifying transformation, the skin was shrivelling and peeling away. An agonised scream tore through the abyss, marking his anguish.
"Yowza!" Hao howled and snapped back into reality with a jolt. "What the, where am I?" He discovered himself on a worn-out sofa, dust particles pricked at his nostrils, triggering a coughing fit.
"Hmm." Sat beside him was a little lass in patchwork clothes who looked completely fitted in the environment of Wranglers District. Meet Nancy, the tiny admirer smitten by Hao's prior fight with Lanor.
"Huh, he's up." Seeing this, Nancy bounded off the sofa and scampered off to fetch her older sister. Moments later, Lanor sauntered into the room with Mentos trotting in her wake.
With his face split into a wide grin, Mentos sprightly darted past Lanor. "Oi, Vee, you're up and about, mate! How're you feeling?" Mentos inquired with relief thick in his words. Hao had been out cold for a solid seventy-two hours, enough to send their anxiety soaring.
"Everything's gone black... I think that I'm blind," Hao cracked a joke.
"Still got your banter, do ya? Good on ya!" Mentos responded, enfolding Hao in a burly hug.
"Hey, hey, not so tight man, you're crushing me." As Hao tried to return the gesture, he felt something amiss with his left arm. It felt more like a machine than flesh and bones. "Bloody hell! What's happened to my arm?" he exclaimed, baffled.
"Got a new one fitted." Lanor entered the conversation, explaining, "Mum did her best to patch the old one back up but it was too far gone. You owe us one, big time," She was not quite over the bitter aftertaste from Hao's last visit to Wrangler's District.
"Ease up, missy," Mentos warned. He turned his attention back to Hao's arm. It was a curious blend of metal and wood, a fascinating piece of tech, the intricate network of gears and pistons visible beneath the wooden exterior. "Could be worse," he comforted Hao.
"Uh…" Hao flexed his new arm and the mechanical limb obeyed, though with a slight lag. "I missed my arm already. She must be smiling that she nab it from me." He remembered getting his arm cut by Diana's technique while flexing the new limb. Acclimatising to the novel sensation, his thoughts wandered to Judgment Day. "Where's my sword?" he asked anxiously.
"Easy there, tiger. It's right next to you," Lanor replied, indicating the X-Class sword resting against the sofa.
"She's telling the truth, it's right there." Mentos eyed the weapon warily, instead of touching it he directed Hao's hand towards it.
Hao took hold of it, the familiar heft of the blade was a comforting presence. "How did we end up here?" His recollections of past events were hazy. He couldn't remember most of what happened after he got his arm slashed.
"You don't remember?" Mentos furrowed his brow. "You told me to get you to Vicky in the Wranglers District when Euphy brought you to me back there in the city, you thought it'd be the last place they'd look for you instead of some hospital. I'll fill you in on the rest," Mentos offered, sketching a vibrant image of their escape from the city and arrival at the Wranglers District.
Just as Mentos wound down his narrative, Vicky made her entrance. Her wheelchair didn't do a thing to diminish her imposing figure, her commanding presence was genuinely unmissable.
Looking at her, Mentos thought, 'Blimey, that's a big woman.'
With Judgment Day in hand, Hao tried to rise to his feet, but his strength was still depleted from his wounds. Mentos was at his side in an instant, offering his support.
Right after he steadied himself, Hao spoke, "Thanks for the fix-up, Vicky. Name your price and we're square. Blade Tokens are not a problem."
"Jumping straight into it eh...? Your Blade Tokens won't cover this," Vicky retorted, halting her wheelchair next to Lanor.
"If Blade Tokens won't cut it then what will?" Hao waited for a response. "You're not going to ask me to do another heist are you?"
"We'll discuss that once you've recovered some strength and become accustomed to your new arm." Vicky's scrutinising gaze inspected Hao's new arm, before switching to Lanor. "Child, his recovery's on you."
"Yes, mum," Lanor affirmed, ready to impress her mother even with her lingering distaste for Hao.
Vicky then rolled her wheelchair out of the room, leaving Lanor, Mentos, and Hao inside. The kids were piled up at the doorway listening to every word that was said.
With Vicky gone, Lanor assumed control, shining her bossy streak. "Mum put me in charge of your recovery, so you better listen and do as I say, got it?" she asserted, poking Hao's chest.
"Hey, relax." Hao slightly swatted her hand away and steered the conversation towards the Bastians with Mentos. "Where are they?"
"These goons had them cooped up in some shack," Mentos spat out frustratingly.
"But they're not bad creatures," Hao countered, defending the Bastians.
"I tried convincing them to let them go, but they wouldn't have it. Maybe you could talk some sense into them, Vee," Mentos suggested, shooting a glare at Lanor.
"Can't see them listening to me after that showdown," Hao confessed, the memory of him cutting down several gang members was still fresh in his mind. It reminded him of Vibe Edge and his mother who had taken up the task of repairing the weapon. Was she still at it or up to something else? He needed answers, he longed for the familiar feel of Vibe Edge at his waist.
Lanor interrupted Hao's fantasies by saying, "Follow me," She began making her way to the exit. "Time for your rehab."
"Can't we get a bite to eat first? I'm famished," Hao moaned while gripping his tummy. Shortly, his stomach chimed in agreement.
"We're not your lackeys. You'll eat when we're done," Lanor's tone was strict enough to scare your P.E teacher.
"Why is she so uptight?" Mentos wondered aloud, tagging along.
Hao shrugged, "Maybe she's got a bee stuck in her bonnet."
"Hey, I heard that!" Lanor retorted, nostrils flaring with visible fumes.
They joined Lanor outside where the sounds of children's laughter populated the surroundings. The recovery process had begun.
Paragraph comment
Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.
Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.
GOT IT