C H A P T E R - 2 The Tinker

The Axeman lifts up the dull side of the axe over a thug’s throat. “Unfamiliar face, which hell’s hole had you been — a vacation? for sure someone had told you about me. Talk?” Allen knee over his belly, hard enough. That was top-notch choking on him almost unbreathable. “That was for your brutality over the girl.”

“Girl? That monster — Arghh!!” Allen cut down the blade over his finger. He stuffs piece of cloth into the thug’s mournful mouth, and steps over the guy's finger lying on the ground.

“When I say talk, follow my lead.”

“Do we need any other motivation? — If one finger isn’t enough, let's have it equaled. Hmm… how shots you fire on my sister again?” As I spin my hatchet and catch it over the air I gaze upon something interesting. “— Nicholas 17A27X - Bardox Prison, Omega-Quadrant.” I read his serial on his neck, this guy, real damn MF (motherf..). How many lives he had ruined I wonder, whatever, let's focus on the mission. “You –fcing — idio–t—” Nicholas (the thug) mumbling, oh I forget to step out from his finger and.. “There you go!” I release the cloth from his mouth, as I step out of my temper again.

As he was about to yell at me, I raise his chin with my axe’s blade.

“Hmmph –hmm.” I say Nope with my finger as his last warning. The blade carve him a little bit as dripping blood spilled.

“You know, I hate violence so. Let me finish our ‘Tea-party’ and I will release you to jerk off some elsewhere, do we agree? Mr.Nicholas. — Noel can’t wait to see Mr.Hatter next, I mean we’re in hurried. — Please??” (Allen gives a cheesy smile along with his serious eye.) He deserves it, my violence.

“Tinker, the tinker —he promised for the share. But turns out, they’re on their own betraying me. That’s why I want to know, what they’re looking after. —Please spare me.” The thug, I mean ‘Sir Nicholas the 17(A27X)’ is now spitting out.

“So who’s the tinker? We had plenty here, any suspect’s noticeable?” Everyone is the tinker in that junkyard, finding a needle in this turbulent sea? Wait a minute, a tinker that knows me well. Knowing my activity…

“Does he wear identical rings? Gold one, middle finger.” Could be Fawn, maybe.

“No. Yes, he got tattoos, some tattoos. Please— loosen out of the blade.” Thug panicking, oh I bent it too hard maybe I should lower… no let’s keep compensating his depravity. The tattoo is too hard to identify, too many. Should be something more specific.

“ —Kitty? Any of it?” Ain’t joke.

“Unsure.. wait a minute.”

“You know, rainbows over the kitty. Looks vibrant.” I insist on this ridiculous tattoo.

“Yes, there’s one on his left hand. That tinker!”

“Damn it, now we’re talking, double paychecks, it will be cashed well.” I release my blade, let loose of him Mr.Nicholas, soon he disappears like nothing ever happened.

Soon enough, Noel, of course, fascinates.

“Well, braadaa, seems like you solved the mystery. Anything interesting?” Asked Noel, with her emotive acting.

“It’s Fawn’s big brother, now seems like now it’s time to be checked.”

“Isn’t it just only one paycheck?”

“There’s also another paycheck, that’s my personal one.” That bastard.

“Hmph— Do you mean that?” Noel puts on her mischievous face, tricky smile, messing my nerves. This cute little brat, maybe she deserves a lesson.

“What he has done with Noel, — another Noel.” I replied, observing her amusement.

“Do I look like an amusement park to you?”

“Nope, but if they hired you I’d be there every day. Braadaaa.” That cheeky smile, damn it, if she wasn’t my sister. Actually not, but… you know. I rolled my eyes, taking my sister for a walk, just to make this little brat shut up, sorry for my language — I meant to keep her silent.

Now we added things to our shopping checklist on our walking journey, not milk, some punches — and freshly baked, loaves of kicks. Hope he will enjoy his full course privately. “Ready for grocery, Noel?” I ask.

“Yup—” She searched a junk pile, then picked up a lovely clip-top coin purse, but …

“We don’t need a fancy wallet.”

“Whyyy—?” She is curious, drawling her lovely voice pitch.

“We’re going take no changes.”

“Oh.” Whelp she acts like an innocent one, but I can see that at the corner of her lip she is trying to resist that mischievous smugness. Now you’ve learned how to suppress that, but that wasn’t enough.

“You know you look weird little sis?”

“Hmm?”

“At your lip’s corner, noticeably smugs weirdly-ugly one Noel.” Now she fussed, abashed. That’s a rare moment of her, to see a well-crafted natural expression, I mean genuine shy part of her. I called this my redemption little brat. Even an ancient also had a hard time figuring out their own feelings huh? I guess learnings were regardless of ages.

“Shall we go, Noel? Back to the scavenger bay where I found you for the first time.” Now it’s time to take her back to her fatherland, to be more specific I rather call it orphanage wreckage where I adopted her there.

“But, you know you’re adopted right?”

“Braadaaa!! You’re so cruel.” I teased her, then got a reply with that furiously frown from her. Yep, her identical ‘brother’ sound soothes me nicely this time. I laughed.

An hour later we arrive at the evidence of humanity if we were about to extinct, well, we always leave abundant junk regardless of our generations. The scavenger haven, the junkyard of this megacity quadrant. It took us some time to find an elevator downward here. This place is a big plate where we called slums, I mean haven of scavengers. Some of the gray-market findings are exported here. Yep, buying junk from a pile of trash but the price was equaled to the top/upward or even more, classic market strategy — rarity.

Allen & Noel reached an underground along with welcomeful atmospheric theme, covered by fumes and streams, echoed by voices of machines clattering each other. Here, Allen will take Noel on her high school trip again, not for Girl Scouts class but for studying the scavenger’s hell factory at this bay(junks) area.

“Looking for something Allen?” A stranger greets Allen, a familiar one but not to Noel.

“I’m on my duty today.” Allen replied.

“A duty, for someone like you? — Oh… take your time.” He regrets asking Allen as he inspects Allen’s axe fully assembled.

“Would be helpful if you and your pals would give me some hand, locating me where that muscular bastard with the rainbow ones on his handsome-full biceps is.” A stranger went pale as Allen mentioned ‘the rainbow’ to whom you should never mention his lovely pride. Ain’t joke it’s lovely, more like obsessively with a reason.

“You know you should never mention that even if it’s your bud’s big brother.” Stranger advises, with his deeply terrified of consequences.

“You had seen a thing lad, any cooperation?” Allen threatens him with eyes, not yet with axe.

“Do we need motivation? —” As Allen looks away reaching for his hatchet, now they do talking.

“Out of the bunker, to the Area-6 that’s where he went.” He spits it out.

“Thanks, junior. Make sure u carry a kit later. Med one, they will need it.” Allen warns him to stay away from the area, as he heads toward Area-6 of the plate’s quadrant.

A few minutes later, taking up to fifteen or more, Allen & Noel both arrive at Area-6. Looking for a guy, muscular with a rainbow tattoo. Out of the crowds, it should be a guy that likes cute stuff. They wander around the place and seek for some hideouts they’re looking for. Wandering around the crowds searching for a light-shined rooftop. There’s no sign of that person at all. It’s quite dark here at the place, soon enough they stopped at the yard where the light shines the most. More like a battleground for a droid.

“Yo Allen, any help?” A guy came out of the shadow hideout. Tall, tan-skin, super muscular, unmistakeable man-of-steel. Noel was shocked as she saw ‘the kitty with the rainbow’ tattoo on his left arm, heartbreaking not her kind of sweet dream. Unpredictably, Allen with his mighty force released all his temper on his single blow.

“That’s one of it Warren.” Said Allen.

“Allen, what in the hell you’re thinking?” Warren split the blood and turned his head knocking the bone. *Crack*— “Do I need to recall your memory, maybe your brain dislocated, need some nudge? Maybe, a little punch will fix it.” Warren armed his spiky knuckle.

“I am all fine Warren, just some distrust issue.”

“So?” Warren asks, leaning to Allen. A deadeye gazes under his sunglasses.

“Nicholas your ex-business partner right? Given some trace, backfires you. You know maybe a glasses, only a weird one wears it in this freaking dark place.”

“Sure? All done.” Warren nods, here come his companion wearing sunglasses apart from him. “Now it’s more than two.” Warren laughs along with his crowds.

Allen laughs, studying Warren’s reaction, and stopped by Warren. He was grabbed by his collar. “You know the rule, here in this underworld. This yard, we don’t accuse friends.” Said Warren.

“Except that f-king friend worn the freaking ‘Nyan-Cat’ tattoo.” Small leap, within an instant, Allen kicked himself up. A backflip, leaving his footprint on Warren's brand new sunglasses.

“Classic internet memes, one-tenth century back in time, pretty old huh? Who else loses their mind tattooing a Nyan-Cat in this era Warren. Back to the future, perhaps? For the only trace I have, it was Nicholas your ex-business partner right?” Allen teases him in a nice way. Meanwhile, Noel laughed so hard. I mean who else ever thinks that ‘rainbow over the kitty’ will become a Nyan-Cat, hundred years old meme.

“And who else allowed you to laugh miss? If you were about to dishonor my daughter’s favorite mascot that would be your last moment.” Warren pointed the gun towards Noel's head, swept his eyes towards the crowd that dare to ridicule his daughter's favorites. All paled, he saw. “Do we need the outro?” Said Warren as he is about to trigger the gun, Allen countered:

“How about an intro? Let's throw up the party?” Double studs (Allen’s), stumble on Warren’s face creating full warfare as the crowds join on Warren's side.

Suddenly Allen armed his axe, slicing those gangster handguns within a few combos.

At the same time, Noel with her flying scissors moves takes down Warren to his surprise.

“Where’d you learn those moves?” Fascinatingly, Allen questioned her.

“Internet.” Short replies, Noel went back to the crowds of the fight. She leaps, stepping over gangsters like stepping stones then pulls down the wreckage on the roof creating a massive debris impact.

“Oh, that looks heavy, wondered how she breaks that. Anyways she wasn’t human so —Nah.” As an apology for bothering his gangster clients waiting. Allen, without hesitation, stepped back to step over one of the gangsters' crotch. “My bad, no more lead generations huh?” Later, unexpectedly, an anonymous punch directs toward him. As he dodges, he spins —twisting the leg. “Oww… That was a scrambled one, purely accident. —Before that was an intention.” *Winks* Whilst having no time, once again a backflip transferring his weight load over that leg. *Cracks* “No hard feeling fellas.” As Allen release the pressure and flipped over the air landed beside Noel (along with that poor guy shrieking). Both of them spend some time bullying the crowds. To create more wreckages over the messy fights, breaking some noses, arms, but not balls, even Allen has done one time, but an accidental incident doesn’t count, right? Later, the gunshots fired over the sky consecutively. Breaking the crowds’ pattern, catching our attention.

“Enough of playing.” Yelled Warren, rejoining the fight with the horde of machines. He brings a bunch of tin-man, terrifying-looking but still labeled as out-of-date robots. Still, anything with deadly weapons is a threat.

“Hands up attendees.” Allen is warned, raising his hand up, disarmed by Warren. Even if those old battle droids surpass their’s exp date that junk is still combatable, it’s enough to control the crowd.

“How do you feel being harmless Allen?” Without finishing the sentence. Warren was smashed by Allen’s bare hand once again.

“Now it’s perfectly debt-to-equity ratio now, only the debt part paid.” Allen smiles, afterward heavily punched by Warren. Alongside with fury of Noel, she could do anything stupid action, Allen, therefore, cuts up the upcoming consequence.

“Stop Noel!” Allen shouted, he stopped his sister from interfering with his and Warren’s business while the horde of soulless droids redirected their gunpoint towards Noel. Allen splits the blood to the ground as Warren starts talking.

“Noel? Your lost sister? I have heard about her before, my good friend Allen.” An absurd mimicry on Allen over his sister's gaze, Warren having fun mocking Allen's past as he continues saying. “So tell me, Allen. Even if I sold your information to them, what bothers you? The Spectres promise us an abundant amount of mints for assisting them in finding out their missing trinket. I have done what I needed to. In order to make them stop messing us in our playground, our yards. All for our people Allen, if you don’t tell us where that Automata is, they, the spectres, would be utmostly pissed.”

“She isn’t Automata!” Allen, without his thoughtfulness, slipped out a word.
“She? — So this…” Warren turned back pointing the gun over Noel's head. “You look alike his sister, so you’re a monster?”

After a moment of the dead air, Noel released her deep cold breath telling her last sign of warning. “You know Allen was right, I am not an Automata.” Noel, mad, gazes up at Warren's sight while she looks down, persevering her own temper.

“And how you monstrous being should be called? Miss?” Warren shot the air, triggering his gun’s hammer and aiming at Noel for the next shot.

“We —called ourselves —the Maestro, also known as ‘the conductor’ it is something by far more powerful than any Apex’s seekers. And all you here shalt shattered.” That gaze generates powerful electrification emitted from Noel's eyes releasing shockwaves around her body, hacking and interfering with all surrounding droids. All guns are now redirected to Warren by the commands of Noel. She pointed her hand saying:

“The conductor, by far, is also known as the commander that will run an Apex’s armies by the single individual. —So Warren, do you mind leaving Allen untouched?” Deep cold gleaming gazes with the superior terrifying aura that conquers all living to frozen moments of time, Noel dominates all mortals leaving them constrained by their instinct, including Allen leaving aghast.

At that moment, I Allen Godfrey, witnessed and understood why the Apex zealously seeks Noel.