“My legs are feeling tired.”
Hao found a tunnel beneath a bridge to shelter from the rain. The area was deserted except for a few rats he spotted scurrying around. The dirty state of the place was off-putting; there was garbage strewn about, human faeces piled in corners, filthy walls, and a deep, stinking drain coursing through the centre. Hao peeked inside the drain and thought he saw something moving. He quickly recoiled, hesitating to take another look into the uninviting space.
Much to his surprise, the puppy followed him inside the tunnel. It wasn't until after he found a clean enough carton box, laid it out on the ground, and sat down with his back against the wall that he sensed the puppy approaching. They greeted each other warmly, and the pup snuggled up against him, seeking comfort and warmth.
Together, they listened to the rain pelting around them, the sound both soothing and melancholic. For a moment, they were able to forget their troubles, finding solace in each other's company. In the cold, damp tunnel beneath the bridge, Hao and the puppy found a temporary refuge from the hardships of their lives, united by their shared struggle to survive in a harsh world.
At the same time elsewhere, the three thugs who had stolen Judgment Day from Hao made their way to a large warehouse on the outskirts of the district. The interior of the warehouse had a dim ambience, with a vast array of mechanical elements, scraps, old robotics, spare parts, and a bin of broken blades piled high. The air was heavy with the smell of grease and metal, an exemplification of the skilled Blade Engineer who called the place home.
Seated behind a counter tinkering with a complex-looking device was the leader of the group, a colossus of a woman reigning from her metallic throne: a custom-built wheelchair. Her underlings paled in comparison to her size and presence. Despite being in the wheelchair, she was well over seven feet tall, her actual height only diminished by a quarter due to her seated position. Her upper body, a monument to strength and endurance, showcased bulging muscles that appeared chiselled from the very bedrock of the Earth. Those mighty arms donned a pair of multifunctional gauntlets, capable of transforming to tackle any task thrown her way.
As she rolled out from behind the counter, her lower half was revealed. From the knees down, her legs were replaced by an artistic fusion of sharp, silvery, double-edged swords. These lethal extensions of her body tapered down to menacing points, proudly displaying her identity – "Vicky" engraved on the right blade, and "Gonzalez" etched into the left. Her ragged clothes hung loosely on her imposing frame, doing little to diminish her intimidating presence. The gauntlet on her left hand held a secret – the ability to morph into a submachine gun at her command, ready to unleash a hailstorm of bullets upon anyone foolish enough to challenge her.
The three thugs – Scar, Patch, and Twist – had been working for Vicky Gonzalez for several months. They had met her in a seedy underground Blade Token gambling den, where she had saved them from a dangerous debt collector. Since then, they had been fiercely loyal to her, running errands and doing her bidding without question. However, they still couldn't shake the fear they felt in her presence.
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"Boss, you won't believe what we've managed to scrape in the Wranglers District," Scar spoke with a bit of a tremor in his voice.
"We've scraped a valuable item from a clown. We think it's worth over 30,000 Blade Tokens. With your expertise in forging, you should be able to bring the price up a notch," Patch chimed in, trying to sound confident.
"Yeah, that's right, boss. We scored big today, although whenever it rains, my luck dwindles," Twist added with a nervous laugh.
Vicky raised an eyebrow at their excitement, her gaze was calm and calculating as she asked, "You scored big...?"
The three thugs exchanged uneasy glances before presenting the stolen sword to their leader.
"Gimme that!" Patch impatiently grabbed the weapon out of Scar's hand and came forward with the unknown sword. Wanting to impress his leader, he hurriedly unwrapped the cloth that had kept it hidden, revealing its dark and mysterious appearance. "Boss, take a look."
Patch, however, fell victim to the sword's unexpected curse when he grabbed the naked hilt and attempted to unsheathe it. Judgment Day reacted viciously, baring its malevolence. As he tried to pull the blade from its scabbard, Patch's body began to convulse. The slow and agonizing process of his life force being drained from him began, turning him into a dark, shadowy mass that was then absorbed by Judgment Day. Only his tattered clothes remained, hitting the warehouse floor with a soft thud. Judgment Day itself fell beside them, seemingly belching in satisfaction.
“Huh!”
“What was that?”
Shock and horror were written on everyone's faces, for they had just witnessed the horrifying fate that befell Patch. They were all bewildered, including Vicky, but this piqued her interest in the mysterious sword. She pulled out a mechanical eye monocle, which extended from her forehead and zoomed in on the unique dark scabbard. The monocle was a device that allowed her to examine items in great detail, and she noticed a faint blue glimmer within the scabbard's design.
"Twist, you try," Vicky commanded.
“A-alright…” Fear gripped Twist as he approached the sword. He glanced back and forth between Vicky and Scar while trembling. Reluctantly, he picked up Judgment Day and attempted to unsheathe it, foolishly disregarding what had just happened to Patch.
The same gruesome fate that had claimed Patch now took Twist as well. His absorption was more brutal and gory, blood splattering the floor as his body disintegrated. Judgment Day fell to the ground once more with a hungry thud, as if thirsting for more.
"What the hell is up with that bloody sword!?" Scar quickly retreated to the entrance of the warehouse, his lips shaking and his face pale.
"Interesting..." Vicky ignored Scar's outburst. She used a grasper, a mechanical attachment that extended from her right arm, to carefully pick up Judgment Day. The grasper had several fingers, each made of reinforced metal, and it easily held the sword without her needing to touch it. As expected, Judgment Day had no effect on her through the grasper.
She placed the sword on a workbench under a large magnifying lens, where she meticulously analysed the scabbard. She was careful not to touch it directly, using various tools to manipulate it under the lens.
"Huh, this is...?" Vicky discovered a unique seal on the scabbard that she hadn't noticed before. It was intricate and faint, barely visible to the naked eye.
"This is Bio Esp!" Vicky's countenance portrayed an astonished glow before it twisted into a frightening expression as she pondered the implications. It was as if her eyes were about to pop from her skull.
"Do you know what it is, boss?" Scar, his fear momentarily forgotten, slowly approached the workbench to investigate, his curiosity now piqued by Vicky's reaction.