"Aah!"
"How the hell is he doing this?!"
One by one, the gang members collapsed in the street, dying almost instantly from the silent shots Sifo Ren fired.
Sifo Ren methodically picked them off with brutal precision, standing calm, his right mechanical arm outstretched. From under the armour plating on his wrist, a hidden gun fired with lethal efficiency.
Leading a revived charge, the ogre Maurice barrelled through the street, swinging a massive pole with its captive still tethered to the top. Sifo Ren shot multiple rounds into the ogre's skull, but they barely made a dent in its thick hide.
Lowering his mechanical arm, the mechanical knight turned to us. "This is the safest calibre I can use here. One of you will need to handle him physically."
"Guess I'll step in," I muttered, stepping forward and giving the robot's solid arm a slap as I passed. "Wukong isn't exactly great at controlling his strength."
"These noodles are just too good for me to care about your attitude, Traveler." Wukong grinned, snapping his wooden utensils before slamming his empty bowl down. He shot a glare at my back, only to meet Thorn's tongue sticking out from my shoulder, before the little creature flew off.
"Abrakerfunkle!" Maurice roared, swinging the giant pole across the street. The shockwave shattered windows, sending deadly shards flying, but I walked straight through the maelstrom of sharp wind unscathed.
[stigma: equal correlation, massively limits your strength!]
As my aether gathered in my left hand, I could feel a foreign force pushing against the power I could summon. Annoyance flickered across my face, but I'd grown accustomed to this interference over the years.
A slight shake of my arms was all it took as I neared the ogre. My skin prickled as scales formed into place, shaping into black-gold gauntlets over my forearms.
The ogre didn't notice me until I was right under his nose. My left leg planted solidly ahead, and with a deep breath, my right fist buried itself in his gut.
The ogre wheezed, puking slightly before crashing down the street, rolling over the few gang members still standing.
"Just because you're strong doesn't mean you'll save the girl!" The gang leader swung a pipe at me from behind, trying to catch me off guard.
I grabbed it effortlessly, halting his attack.
Before he could react, my other fist cracked against his nose in a swift, brutal swing. His skull cracked, spraying blood across my cheek as he flew backward, screaming in pain. "Ahh! My nose! My fucking nose!!"
"I was hoping to blow his head off," I said, as another bullet rang out from behind, silencing the gang leader's screams instantly.
The black-gold [ekrix gauntlets] vanished from my arms, and I wiped the blood off my face with the bandage covering my right hand.
I glanced back at the calm quartet, my eyes lingering on Clara. "Next time, I'm the princess who needs saving."
"We told you not to go too far, Clara." Sifo Ren chided, retreating the weaponry in his arms beneath his armour. Clara looked up at the knight-like robot, guilt in her eyes. "We're glad you're not hurt, but who are these people?"
"Uh... hehe. Requesters," Clara said, clearly nervous. As I helped her to her feet, she continued, "They recognized me from the promotions my teacher did for the crafting yard. They bought me food, and I agreed to help fix their ship... as long as they paid the proper fees, of course."
Under the combined weight of Sifo Ren's and my stern gazes, Clara's legs wobbled, but Thorn came to the rescue, slapping Sifo Ren's head with his tail and covering my face with his wing. "Alright, alright. Just stop staring! Don't lick my wing! You know how weird that feels for me!"
Thorn pulled his wing from my face, and Clara suppressed a laugh as she saw me sticking my tongue out.
"And I remember telling you not to cover my face with your feathers again," I muttered.
As I scanned the scene, I noticed the swordsman watching me closely, his eyes somewhat distant. The gunslinger, a horned man with a forehead I hadn't noticed before, was trying to wake up a blonde-haired boy lying on the ground.
The swordsman's gaze snapped to the food stand behind us, and with widened eyes, he asked, "Wukong?"
"Hm?" Wukong looked down, sweat dotting his brow. "Oh no. I know you. You're that pirate mercenary from Calban—" He clamped his mouth shut, glancing nervously at Sifo Ren and me. "Don't you dare mention what happened in the black hole. You hear me?"
"We already know what happened," Thorn chimed in, still grossly shaking his wing to get my spit out of its feathers. "You got stuck under a rock and got saved by some passing pirates. Real smooth, 'Heavens Equal'—hahaha!"
Sifo Ren, catching the meaning, turned to the blue-haired man on the ground. "So, you're the pirates who helped Wukong in the Calban system's black hole two months ago. That means you're the Fire Cloud Mercenaries."
"That's us!" The gunslinger slapped the sleeping boy's face with a meaty thwack, giving up when the boy's cheeks reddened. "What, you guys fans?"
As Sifo Ren chatted with the gunslinger and swordsman, Kimaris leaned in close to Wukong. "Do they know who your allies are? Who we are?"
"Give it a second," I said with a grin, counting down on my fingers, eager to see what would happen.
Just as I bent my thumb, the swordsman's eyes widened in realization. "You're the Empyrean—!"
Clara immediately slapped a hand over his mouth. "Shh! Don't shout it out!" She stepped back, clearing her throat. "Introductions first. I'm Clara, a mechanic and engineer, as you've already figured out. Wukong's here, obviously. This is Kimaris. This handsome mech is Sifo Ren, and behind me is—"
I grabbed Clara's head and sent a mental message. "Act like I'm not here. I'm using my influence over the void to keep the Kralscell's detection off of me. Unless I choose otherwise it will keep ordinary people from seeing or hearing me."
Clara blinked in realization but quickly regained her composure. "And that's us! Please keep the fact you met us here a secret, okay?"
"Wait..." The blonde-haired boy, who had just woken up, stood excitedly and grabbed Clara's hands. "You're part of their group? Does that mean you know who I think you know?!"
"Oh no," Wukong muttered, recognizing what was coming. Clara remained puzzled as the boy, who had been asleep moments ago, now held her hand.
"You're friends with Uncle T, right?" The boy's sparkling green eyes locked on Clara's. "Is he here? I swear it feels like he's close."
Sifo Ren nodded. "He's around," he said quietly, impressed by the boy's human senses. "Clara introduced us. But could you introduce yourselves?"
"Of course!" The boy grinned. "I'm Ben Lakes, future [Nebula Tyrant] and captain of the Fire Cloud Pirates. The swordsman is Vex, and the oni with the gun is Dante. That weak sprite is Falice, our doctor. The last member's off doing her thing, so I can't introduce her. It's nice to meet Uncle T's friends!"
"You were asleep just a second ago because of that bottle you opened, you bastard!" Dante cursed, shaking the little red-haired girl awake.
Kimaris muttered, nibbling on a biscuit, "What an odd bunch of hooligans."
Thorn continued to shake his feathers, trying to get the spit out. I stuffed my hands into my coat pockets, glancing at the carnage around us. "I've done what I was asked. I'm heading back to the rendezvous. The security force is probably on its way. This wasn't exactly a quiet altercation."
Kimaris sighed in dissatisfaction. "Guess my shopping trip ends early." She grabbed Wukong's robe collar, dragging him off. "Clara, you're coming with me."
"Not the tiger silk!" Wukong complained, his voice muffled as he was dragged away.
Clara handed me a heavy metal orb. "Can you take this capacitor with you?"
I examined it, then passed it to Thorn, who wrapped his tail around it, confused. "Thanks. It's heavy."
"Sure thing, short stuff," Thorn replied, yawning. "Let's vanish, princess. I need some sleep."
As I watched Ben argue with his friends and the little girl finally woke up, I felt a strange curiosity stir within me. Beneath Ben's soul, there was something... unusual. I paused, then grinned and muttered, "Choice is on its axis to harmony. How curious."
"Hm? What was that, pisspot?" Thorn asked, still shaking his wing. "Talking to the wind again?"
I smiled. "Just talking to the wind."
Turning away, my legs moved with purpose, gathering aether beneath me, as I vanished from the street without a trace.