mekachu04 | Machine of a dream

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"I thought we dismantled you,"

The gun moves away from where it was shoved in Kidd's face to point at the machine. The shot that fires causes a spray of sparks and Kidd's shoddy repair job of the left arm falls to the ground, along with the fire arm the machine had been using. Brathadair shook Kidd's collar roughly, still snarling at the machine where it was hesitating in the door way, "but then you went on and made yourself new friend. So this your new Ceannard. This the hill you malfunction on once again."

Kidd sees the tick in the machine's head - he's familiar with it- the mechanical soldier is looking for a way to exploit that statement.

"I have a friend?" the machine seems to ponder, "A man to replace Ceannard?"

Kidd holds his breath, Brathadair wasn't bright enough to see the trap, was he?

"Only you would consider following on orders from a scrap rat."

"Understood," was all the machine said.

"Everyone here-" Kidd said suddenly, understanding what just happened,"-they are all trying to kill me. Everyone!"

The boss didn't have a chance to understand what he just put into play, Kidd's machine didn't hesitate - immediately moving to eliminated all threats to Kidd's life.

One armed- unarmed- it was still a sight to behold. The killing machine moved with swift efficiency, slaughtering the men brutally but quickly. Hits aiming for throats & faces.

"I will kill him if you don't stop!" Brathadair tried, but Kidd clamped his jaw down and bit into the man's hand so hard he heard joints pop & bones snap. Brathadair dropped him and his firearm at the same time, and Kidd only let go once his hands were secure around the pistol's grip.

He barely noticed the quiet before multiple guns fired - including his own.

Brathadair's confused expression and the aftermath once the bullet hit his face was burned into Kidd's mind- it would lurk there for years.

The chaos of the room went quiet.

Guns that had been focused on the murder machine hesitantly had turned to Kidd, who stared as them, the blood on his face as red as the hair on his head.

"I didn't want this." Kidd croaked, focusing instead on the mechanical back to him. His machine had stepped between him and the men. The other machines in the room had frozen in place; Chain of command shifted abruptly. "I just wanted him to leave me alone."

The next youngest man in the room probably had a good five years on him, all older men who'd long learned their place in the Family.

Would they kill a teen to become the new head? It would be easy to do. It would makes sense to do it.

Did they desire power for themselves so much? They'd already watched two heads fall in such short succession. Three if they took charge now.

Would their reign be any longer?

The younger man, as pale as Kidd with just as untamable hair - unruly blue that seemed determined to grow horizontal instead of up or down - found his voice first "Is that really one of Ceannard's Soldier Boys?"

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