“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.
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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.