Slugterra - BlakkxWar - Cliche

Something was not right with this. Enough to make Thaddius pause mid-proposition to look down at the muted midnight-blue Slug that had seemingly appeared from nowhere, carefully inching forward with antennae lowered.

Typical disgust for the creatures was replaced with surprise. In general, Slugs avoided the man altogether. This set off several warning bells, and not because Thaddius Blakk was being approached by a Slug. It was what the Slug was.

Negashades were rare enough, but this one seemed familiar somehow. Green eyes narrowed in thought. He only knew two people who had Negashades.

One was long-dead and had taken hers with her. He had seen to that, himself. This couldn’t be hers.

It was the almost timid demeanor that gave this one away. What was its name? Something devious, most uncharacteristic of the little beast itself…

Somewhere behind his right shoulder, Maurice coughed discreetly. “…Doctor?”

It was just enough to cause the corporate monger to look briefly at his assistant. “Can you remember the name she gave the Negashade?”

For a moment, confusion spread on the other’s features before it caught up with him. As Thaddius had kept his voice low in volume, just between them, he responded in kind as soon as he realized the context of the question. “Ah … I think it was ‘Ruin’, Sir.”

There was a small squeak of acceptance from the Negashade, still resting all four limbs to the ground and looking up with antennae pulled further back.

"Ruin. Of course, a name most unbecoming of the little monster." Small sneer twitched upward on Thaddius’ face at the recognition. One thing did plague at the back of his mind though; if Ruin was here, where was War? Rarely was the oddity of a woman far from her precious little Slug and she was nowhere to be seen, not even a wisp of that untamed ebon mane or glimpse of those abyssal blue eyes.

It was in that moment that he put the two together. Ruin’s approach, the distinct missing of its favored perch. Even now, the small squeaks and trills after being acknowledged were beginning to sound like a call for assistance.

"…It appears something has come up unexpectedly. My associate will have to carry on in my stead. I do hope you’ll show him the same apt attentions you have given me thus far…" There was venom in that voice, accompanied by an almost sinister smirking smile. A glance downward to where the Negashade had appeared showed empty space. That explained the sudden silence… No doubt, Ruin would show up as soon as it was needed.

Quick glance was given around the area, receiving small, discreet nods from various goons encircling the rapt audience. So long as they stayed in place, the deal was sure to go through. Attention turned to Maurice as he began passed him. “Thrill them, if you would. Sell it. I will send you coordinates later on where to send the Express.”

Maurice responded with a nod as he moved forward to take his place. “Yes, Sir.”

With Maurice’s voice booming out the planned propositional piece behind him, Thaddius concentrated his attention elsewhere. Namely, the once-missing Negashade laying as close as it could get against the bull’s head of his TH1-DR. He regarded it with the same amount of disgust as before, narrowing his eyes at it as he approached.

"Don’t get used to this. I wouldn’t hesitate to Ghoul you otherwise.” was hissed at the little creature through grit teeth, causing it to shrink closer to the metal surface under it. “In the meantime, make absolutely certain that you do not disappoint me. Else you still might be.”

It took less than a minute to mount the hulking machine, settle onto the seat, and turn the ignition. The mech roared to life, the start-up check lighting the center console first before displaying various system monitors. Green eyes looked from the console to Ruin, peering up from the crest of the bull’s head before crawling up to rest on its neck, just out of reach. Smart creature…

"Show me."

Though short, the message was clear. The Negashade picked it up immediately and looked around, antennae sticking up briefly. Before long, it anchored itself to the metal plate beneath it, antennae flattening to its head, and trilled, pointing with a stubby arm in one direction. The engine roared, the TH1-DR guided out of the area and into the main cavern before picking up speed. A dusty barren with little to no actual resources of use, it did offer a considerably shorter route to a cavern on the opposite side that was home to one of the mines and refineries owned by Blakk Industries. If this deal went through, he would be able to lay down another set of tracks through the cavern and cut eight hours off the Slugterranean Express’ journeys, to and from.

Ruin changed direction, pointed its little face to the left. Thaddius took the cue, turning the mech to change accordingly, to which the Slug faced forward again for some time. The ride itself was silent, save for the sound of the bull-mech roaring its way out of the small town into the wastes beyond. The Negashade proved unobtrusively useful, much to his chagrin of having to rely on it to begin with. Ruin did know what it was doing and where it was going, leading him by way of pointing its face in various directions until he was taking the path indicated. The way was smooth, up until the yawning maw of one of many canyons littering the area rose up in front of him.

He slowed to a stop just outside of it, looking to the Negashade still perched on the ridge of his mech’s neck. The look he gave it was none too kind. “Do you take me for a fool, you little wretch.”

Paranoia had bubbled just slightly to the surface, but it was rightly justified; Thaddius was quite well-aware of his standing with many people, most especially his current with those in this particular cavern. The high rock walls on either side of the path ahead could hide almost anyone or anything and he would rather not be caught by surprise. That was inevitable, however, when Ruin lost its usual demeanor and proceeded to sound off a series of squawks and squalls he could only take as being yelled at.

It did not last long, the shock evident on his face at the Slug’s sudden change shifting fluidly to nothing short of a snarling glare. “If she weren’t so fond of you…”

He didn’t have to finish it. The spitting venom in just the spoken piece immediately silenced the Negashade into its usual cower. It slid from its perch to the ground before proceeding ahead into the constricting confines of the canyon. Green eyes scanned the high walls carefully, following along the top ridges as far as he could in an attempt to spot anything out of place. Any cuts or landfalls that might have been man-made, any wisp of another human, any unusual noises. All that met him was smooth rock, a faint whistling breeze close to the ground, and the sound of a Slug squawking away further ahead. Ruin, no doubt, complaining about its current lot in life.

A brief glance to his right hip assured him that his Blaster was where it should be and always had been, right within range in case he may need it for any reason. With a final sweep of the area to make absolutely sure nothing was amiss, he urged the bull-mech beneath him between the towering rock walls. The ambiance was drowned out with the rattling engine, Thaddius keeping tabs everywhere above, around, and behind him. He wanted absolutely no surprises. After rounding a corner further into the canyon, the path widened a bit and a glint of metal against the far wall caught his eye. Immediately, his hand moved, hovering close to his Blaster as a precaution before he saw the ornately-embossed plating, enamel-black with embellishing gold and red swirling motifs along the edges and seams.

The antique warhorse-mech he recognized as Bucephalus was resting just off the path with a dent and visible burning in the black plating on one shoulder and corresponding side that was undoubtedly detrimental to movement, its eyes dim as opposed to the usual golden glow. Even switched off, the neck was straight, the head canted slightly downward, giving off a sort of prideful intimidation. They did not make the horse-mechs like that anymore, that much was obvious. A flash of blue at the horse’s right flank caught his attention, eyes spotting Ruin bounding down with an audible huff to the ground.

Coming to a full stop next to the STL-1 and making certain the location was as secure as it had proven so far, he pulled free a small hand-held device, opened a map of the area on it, and scrolled until he found the nearest designated set of Express tracks. At least a half hour out at the closest point, here was to hoping she was not in any critical condition. With a tap, coordinates were set for the designated pick up, sent with a second tap. A third was set to his current location. If Bucephalus was unable to move, it would have to be picked up and relocated. A quick look over the area on the map was given to distinguish all possible routes to the pick-up point before the pad was replaced in its designated spot, the TH1-DR powered down before he dismounted.

Almost immediately, something near his foot caught his attention. A thick sliver of hard ceramic, white save for a polished red edge on one side. His brow knit, bending down toward it. He paused halfway, head turning slightly when he caught sight of a trail. The ground here was softer, a drag-wake prominent from the warhorse around the next corner, pocked in some places with darker spots against the pale soil. Ruin was already on its way around the corner, chittering and squeaking.

Concern was beginning to rise, worry now for her well-being once he recognized the rusty discoloration of the spots, fueling his progression after the Negashade. The uncertainty of what he might find caused a small yet noticeable tightening in his chest until a short bout of familiar melodic laughter sounded. It was followed closely by, “Villkommen zueruck, Ruin.” It didn’t sound cracked or pained and the knowledge that War was conscious and alert caused him to simultaneously sigh in relief and internally scold himself for thinking otherwise.

"I can tell by your smug little smile you actually found someone close." she continued, a squeak coming from Ruin in response. He could see her now, just enough to tell she was rubbing the Negashade’s head with a fingertip between its antennae and that she was carefully keeping her lower legs balanced on the braces’ heel supports. "So who ist mein rescuer, mein little paige?"

The opportunity for proper introduction arose and he took it, back straightening as he fully rounded the corner. “You know it is a sad day when Thaddius Blakk takes orders from a Slug.” Her head turned, fluidly and without a start, black-blue eyes giving him knowing acknowledgement. She had known he was there the entire time, just was unsure of who he was until he had announced himself. “I never pictured you the ‘damsel-in-distress’ type, my dear. Is this something new you are trying for?”

Her lips thinned a bit at his teasings, placing Ruin on her shoulder. “Stuff it. I broke somet’ing.” There was a pause, an almost disgruntled expression crossing her face as her eyes lowered off to one side. “…A couple of somet’ings.”

He bent down next to her, fingers of his right hand lifting under her chin so that their eyes were level, green to blue. “It explains why you are favoring your ankles…” He trailed off, running his left index finger along a trail of dried blood up one side of her face to a healing cut above the brow. “I do not think I would have known you were here if it hadn’t been for your Negashade.”

Quirk of her lips turning up. “Honestly, given who followed him, I’m surprised Ruin came back to me in ze same condition as ven he left.”

"To be perfectly blunt with you, I rather like my skin and head attached and in one piece." A quick inspection of her showed the mask resting at the crown of her head was cracked, the sliver he had found near the horse-mech from the red painted spot in the forehead. She had the cut over her brow on top of her ankles rebroken. There were likely other cuts and bruises beneath clothing and armor that weren’t shown at the moment. "What exactly happened?"

She shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t really know. Vas scouting ahead, sudden cloud of red und ze ground dropped out from under me, I left Bucephalus, landed flat on somet’ing. Felt ankles snap, fell forvard, hit mein head, hit ze ground, told Ruin to find help, pulled meinself under cover. I vasn’t sure if zey’d come back to try to finish ze job, but I vasn’t going to be a sitting duck for it.”

There was a twitch in one corner of his mouth, a prominent snarl forming. Someone had caused her harm, with intention of doing so. It set off a chain reaction internally, a holocaust to be contained in little more than a twitch. It would be bad to lose composure here. “Did you happen to see who it was that opened fire?”

The question had come out with more malevolence than he had intended, saturating the air enough to make Ruin shrink back and hide among her loose ebon mane. It did not make War back down, her brow furrowing as she shook her head in response.

"It happened so fast, I didn’t even catch a glimpse before I vas falling. Ze only t’ing on mein mind at zat point vas to correct und redirect ze fall so I could sustain as little damage as possible."

He let go of her chin, directing his gaze to her ankles. “There is still damage done.”

She offered him a sheepish smile in return. There was a light strain across her face with it, no doubt trying to hold in how much physical pain she was feeling in that moment. “Maybe zey’ll heal right zis time.”

Her attempt at lightening the mood seemed to work, a small quirk of one corner of his lips given to reassure her. Still, there was a storm brewing beneath the surface, a resolution to find closure to the situation, one way or the other. He had to keep it contained, for the moment. There were still priorities to attend.

Green eyes snapped back up to her blue. “You can be moved, yes?”

Her hands moved, checking the braces, before looking back to him. “Ja. I should be fine to move, so long as zey don’t bend und I don’t put any veight on zem. Tightened ze support bands earlier, so zey should remain stationary.”

He gave a single nod of understanding, extending an arm behind her. “Lean back, if you would.”

She was practiced in this, likely from the accident that had broken her to begin with. Slender body leaned back against his supporting arm, legs lifting the braces carefully off the ground. He moved fluidly, one motion to sweep her up and hold her supported at back and knees, one arm of hers wrapping about his broad shoulders as extra support. Without moving his upper body too much, save minute changes to keep balance, he rose to stand. His grip shifted to better situate her weight against him before starting off back toward his mecha-beast.

After a moment of silence, she placed her head against his shoulder, her free hand against his chest. “T’addius…?”

He tilted his head to look down at her. Realizing she likely couldn’t see the acknowledgement through the chin-edge of the cracked mask, he settled instead for a low questioning rumble, something she would feel through her hand.

She took the cue, though he could see her lips draw themselves into a thin line before she responded. “I’m sorry…”

What was it with her and the Negashade today? Both had managed to draw that same twinge of confusion out of him.

Before he had a chance to reply, she continued. “I pulled you avay from somet’ing important, didn’t I.”

Low rolling chuckle escaped him at that. Was this what she was worried about? “It’s nothing Maurice cannot handle, I can assure.”

"I still pulled you avay from somet’ing important to save mein ass." she huffed, fingers against his chest curling in a show of sudden emotional instability. "You are using resources you shouldn’t, for me. I’m sorry."

Again, he attempted to reassure her with that low laugh. “To be perfectly honest, I thought we could use a small element of the cliche in this relationship. Me carrying you out of trouble and the resulting clean-up seems to fill this niche. Besides.” Upon approach to the parked mechs, he placed her at the front of the seat of his before continuing. “If I really thought of you as a burden, my dear, I would not have come at all.”

That drew those thinning lips into a small smile for him, returned to her in full. “I suppose you vouldn’t. Probably haf even caught und Ghouled mein Ruin in retribution.”

"Oh. Now there is a thought.” He was teasing now, saw the exaggerated scowl on her face at it. She knew it, just as well.

"Zat’s not funny."

Of course, the retort still didn’t stop her from moving against him once he settled in behind her, carefully helping her into a more comfortable position before starting the engine. “Well. I thought it was rather amusing.”

She scoffed at him, hand reaching up to grasp the mask at her crown, pulled it back and down to allow her the ability to look him straight in the eye from below. “Of course you vould. It doesn’t affect you.”

With the systems lit green, he urged the TH1-DR forward at a steady pace, looking down briefly at her with a tsk. “Such an attitude. Your mother would be shocked and ashamed.”

He felt the deadpan in the stony silence that followed more than he saw it creep over her face. “Mein mutter ist dead, you ass.”

Her retort did little more than draw another rumbling chuckle out of him, though he made no verbal response for some time, leaving the navigation through the remainder of the canyon to silence. It helped him keep a vigilant eye on their surroundings, in the case her fear of the unknown assailant returning proved true.

The high walls petered out into nothing and the tracks for the Express were glinting in the distance when he felt her shift closer to him without agitating her carefully-placed ankles. It was an interesting movement to glimpse, the way the muscles in her thighs did the work and the lower legs remained completely still. A fine display of precision and control. Once she was comfortable and had stopped moving, she began.

It wasn’t too much, small talk. He learned of the progress of the Horsemen across Slugterra, that they had found a lead that lead them off in a completely unexpected direction. About how someone in some cavern or another only remembered the caravan they were chasing because the protective cover had come off one of the carts and the exposed magnet sheets shut down everything in the cavern…

Thaddius merely listened, offering a counterpoint here and there, but kept her talking. He recognized the tactic, quickly. Heard the continued strain in the undertone of her voice. War was proud. It came with the title, the element she personified. Pride kept her from curling in a ball and sobbing in pain. He could barely imagine the amount she could be feeling and though the broken ankles were properly stabilized, the movement of the mech below them both likely caused irritation. The thought merely dredged the anger he had barely tamped down before. When he got his hands on the little wretch that did this…

"So, vat vere you doing so close?” she asked, punctuating his bloodthirsty musings like a pin in a bubble.

He answered with little more than a half-smile. “Industry, my dear. Progression, expansion.”

A small smile crept across her face. “Ah. Ze usual.”

He loosed an equally small laugh at that, but before he had a chance to respond properly, the familiar sound of a train’s horn rent the air and resonated around the vast chamber. Green eyes were directed to the tracks again, catching sight of the sleek silver bullet-head of the Slugterranean Express gliding along the tracks towing a single car. The suspension on the Express was considerably better than any mechabeast and would be better for her on the long journey back to the Citadel. The brakes were put on, the engine coasting to a stop right where he had indicated before with a squeal of metal on metal. As soon as the Express had come to a full stop, the door on the side of the car slid open, revealing the stocky frame of Maurice.

"Everything alright, Doctor?" he asked, stepping down to meet the pair halfway. He gave a small nod of greeting to War, who returned it with a slight cant of her head as the mech was braked to a slow stop.

Thaddius dismounted first, offering his arms to her again as she moved and slid back into them with favor to her ankles. “We seem to have had a bit of an … altercation.”

Maurice chuckled a bit, following him into the car. “Isn’t that usually how it is.”

Usually, the bout of humor would have at least drawn something amused out of Thaddius. This one drew nothing short of a seething glare, accompanied by a hissed, “She didn’t start this one.” His companion backed down with a muttered apology, giving him cue to continue. “I do hope there is good news in concerning our visit.”

Seeing he was back in good graces, Maurice delivered the results. “Blakk Industries owns this cavern as of an hour and fifteen minutes ago. The contract was signed and is currently filed appropriately to wait your attention, Sir. We’re maintaining a strong presence while the rails are being laid and a continued presence after to keep the rabble down, so to speak.”

"Expecting trouble, are we?" There was that amused tone, creeping up from seemingly nowhere once War was properly consulted as to where was best to set her down. One of the armchairs in the sitting area of his personal car was her first choice, a good spot to keep weight and strain off the breaks.

"Apparently, there’s a rebel group that frequents this particular cavern who is strongly opposed to … industrial takeover." The taller man looked briefly toward the stricken Prussian as she was placed per her orders across her chosen seat. "My guess is they caught sight of the red and black color scheme and opened fire."

"How astute of you." The snarl was back, though not directed at any one person. He managed to reign it in again, just barely, giving one of her hands an affectionate squeeze. Something reassuring. He was greeted with her eyes finding his, a small nod. Understanding, she remained silent, gave him a soft smile to better reassure him of her position as well. "That is what I needed to hear. Stay with her, Maurice."

Maurice moved out of the way to allow him passage back to the door before following along behind him briefly. “Sir?”

"There should be something in terms of basic painkillers somewhere in here. They will not do much, but it should help in-transit…" As soon as he stepped outside, he turned enough to look over his shoulder. "I will be back to the Citadel on my own time. See that she has everything she needs, what she wants. I have … unfinished business to attend."

The taller nodded. “I’ll keep her safe, Doctor. See you back at the Citadel when you make it back.”

Thaddius gave little more than a nod of acknowledgement before the door closed, turning his attention instead to a pair of his men standing near the engine, awaiting any further orders. “You two. Come with me. We have a loose end that needs to be tied up.”

No longer needing to keep a calm facade, his voice now bubbled raw malevolent venom.