Patented Peril

Motor City, in Venus' opinion, was the place to be. Mechanic shops, vehicles, machine parts, and the fact that she could carry a spanner and not be looked at as though she had desecrated some ancient yet unknown inviolable tradition handed down to Fioreans from their ancestors in days long past. Not like she was carrying a spanner anyway, but spanners could hardly be her problem. As a matter of fact, even though she was enjoying the sights and sounds (but maybe not smells; burning motor oil was hardly ever anything anyone with a relatively normal brain and olfactory sense would want to go sniffing) of Motor City, she hadn't come here for shopping nor sightseeing.

She looked at the paper in her hand once again, the items bearing details of the latest job she had brought upon herself. Its contents were as simple as they were strange: Find Engineer Lockwood at *insert difficult-to-pronounce name* address, and help him with his problem. Oh, and there were a number of legit stamps on the job parchment, courtesy of the city's police department, to assuage the fears of anyone who felt that such a mission with such an amount of secrecy was likely more suited to unscrupulous talents. So the job was legit, but whatever it was about would be anyone's guess, until they found the address...

...which Venus eventually succeeded in doing. She tried once again to pronounce the name of the street, and decided to keep silent so as not to embarrass herself. But by the stars in the heavens, whoever would come up with such a terrible name? Venus could only pity the owners of the language that had birthed the name of this street, if there indeed was such a language that could exist, being so out-of-this-world. Walking up to the designated door, she rapped against it with her knuckles, and as though someone was waiting behind the portal, it sprang open immediately to reveal a short man, even shorter than Venus was, which was saying something, with copious red hair, and a ridiculously bushy, equally-colored mustache.

"Come in, come in," he stuttered hurriedly, without even bothering for a greeting, as he grabber her hand and yanked her into a small room littered with notes and old books.

WC: 392 words

While Venus was being dragged into the small room, she caught the scent of two people approaching. One was definitely human, of the other she could not be sure, although she felt the smell reminded her of a dog. Turning her head, the silver-haired mage caught sight of the people she had sensed. The first was a redhead with a boisterous air, and there was a fox. Most likely the redhead's pet. It looked so cute too, but Venus didn't want to attempt to touch it for fear that it could nip her. It was a fox, after all, and Venus had never seen herbivore foxes.

A tug on her arm made her realize that she had been staring too long at the fox. She looked down at the man with the bushy mustache and gently shook him off. "Take it easy, fella," she said. "It isn't like anyone's waiting to shank you in the street...." The sound of a shoe tapping against pavement alerted the Demon Slayer to the fact that the two newcomers had drawn sufficiently close. "Lockwood?" Venus repeated, in response to the other young woman's question. "No, that would be Short, bushy and handsome here." The short man glared at her and jabbed a stubby finger in the air at Venus' face. "I won't have you being rude to me, you brat," he intoned menacingly.

Venus was unfazed. "Well, it isn't like you were polite to me in the first place," she retorted while managing to look quite innocent. "It isn't much in the way of manners to grab at the first girl who came knocking on your door and try to drag her into your room. The outrage! What would people think?" The man looked at her, obviously stymied by her response, then he turned to the girl with the fox. "I am Lockwood," he stated with an air of magniloquence, trying to stand as tall as he could, which was still unfortunately very underwhelming. "Engineer Bartimeus Lockwood. You both must be the mages sent by the Magic Council. Come in, and we shall discuss on what you are to do for me." He led the way into the cramped room.

"'Engineer Lockwood' is a full five syllables," the Ascendant Demon Slayer wailed comically as she followed the shorter man. "Can't we call you 'Timmy' or 'Bart', or just 'Lock'?" There was only a sigh in response.

WC: 412 words
Total: 1166 words

Venus was absolutely tickled at Lockwood's comeback, as he mentioned their difference in ages as the reason he wasn't interested in her. She chuckled merrily and nodded her head. "Do we sense even a modicum of humor there?" the Demon Slayer intoned with an amused smile. "My my, it would seem there's a lot of hope for you yet, Lock." She would just go with calling him 'Lock', since he hadn't bothered to state his preference for what he would be named.

The interior of the cramped room, which judging by the looks of things was most likely his office, seemed to have been designed solely for Lockwood's convenience. Everything was small, no rather, short. As the engineer sat at the central table and motioned the two girls to do the same, Venus complied, and immediately realized that the chair she had chosen was rather lacking in leg length. Unfortunately, all the other chairs had similar dimensions. She sighed and drew both legs to one side, as she tried to make herself as comfortable as she could afford. Lockwood didn't seem to notice, as he pulled out some papers from underneath the table, went through them briefly, and selected one with schematic drawings on it.

"This thing," he said, "the actual item of what is represented on this paper, was stolen from me from hoodlums some time ago. I want it back, because it is quite important to me. Now the reason for my secrecy is that I know those criminals have been watching me. If I am seen to be trying to get this thing back..." At this point, Venus butted in, "pardon the interruption, but should you be calling that item a 'thing'? It's a lachryma fuel injection system, right?" Lockwood looked at her stunned. "How did you know what it is?" he asked in wonder. Being the mechanical genius she was, even if she didn't think herself so, Venus had recognized the vehicular engine component from the schematics. "Never you mind, Lock dear," came the response. "Let's hear the rest of the story."

"Alright, so if the thugs knew I was trying to get back my twelve-valve, tungsten-galvanized closed-system catalytic lachryma fuel distillation, pressurization and purification prototype injector--"

"Heavens! Just call it a thing already. Sorry I asked."

"So if the thugs knew I was trying to get back my thing, they would surely come to silence me," Lockwood continued, "and I realized that they would eventually know I was trying to get it back, so I have been as furtive as possible, so that it will be now that they saw the both of you entering my office that they'd know I was up to something. And most likely, they'll come to interrogate me, which is where you two will come in. Find out from them where they've kept my device, and return it to me. Any questions?"

A little while after came a loud, abrupt rap on the door, and then the handle turned suddenly and forcefully a number of times, as whoever was on the other side was trying to get in by force, but couldn't due to the fact that the engineer had bolted the door once the girls were in. "They're here," Lockwood said, evidently scared.


WC: 558 words
Total WC: 1990/3000.

Venus watched with a bit of curiosity, as Ilda removed her glove and attended to the door. The redhead dragged a whining and struggling goon in, and shoved him roughly into the room, where he stumbled to the floor, while the redhead's pet fox sat on him and stared at a strange mark on his hand. It looked like a burn, and from the words of the fox, it seemed the burn was something that Ilda was responsible for. Ilda's response to her pet's words made Venus arch an eyebrow ever so slightly. "Well now, it seems we all have our own little dark secrets..." the Demon Slayer thought silently, as she rose to her feet and approached the sniveling goon.

"Well, hello there," she said rather congenially, squatting down beside the miscreant. He put on a tough face, but Venus could see he was scared. In some cases, like this one, she was certain, exposing him to more fear could reduce him to a shivering wreck, and as matters stood, Venus didn't think anything about her physical form was scary. It was time to play a mind game or two. "What's your business with Engineer Lockwood?" The thug ignored her question and turned to face the short engineer, who was quite unnerved at the sight of the hooligan in his house. "You think two little girls and a poodle will save you from the Black Gears?" he said in a shrill, hoarse voice. "We wanted a business deal with you, but you're too stupid to see an opportunity. Well, the boss wants you to hand over the blueprints for that engine thing, or there'll be trouble. And if any of you hurt me, you'll be sorry."

Lockwood was evidently cowed, but Venus wasn't. Seeing that the thug was growing more confident at observing the engineer's discomfort, the Demon Slayer prodded the goon more. "So the Black Gears send an inconsequential lackey to broker an inconsequential business deal with an inconsequential engineer?" she asked. Lockwood glared at her, but she pretended not to notice. "Inconsequential?!" the goon raved, his pride stung, momentarily forgetting his fear. "When we, the Black Gears get the blueprints of that engine component, we'll use them to upgrade our hover bikes to be the best and fastest in Motor City. You think that's inconsequential?" Venus looked surprised and a bit confused, so he pressed on, eager to express as much dominance as he could. "With the fastest vehicles in the city, even the stupid cops won't be able to interfere with us, and we'll be able to take over all the gangs in the city. Then when we have enough assets, we'll begin mass-producing inferior models of the engine, so that the economy of Motor City will eventually be dependent on us. You think that's inconsequential?".

"But the engineer said the device is too complex to be used by your likes, so it's of no use to you, and he won't give you the blueprints...", Venus said, sounding like one trying to hold on to her confidence. "Even if he doesn't give us the blueprints, we're already taking the prototype to our workshop, where we'll tear it apart and eventually figure out how you made it, all its secrets. Without the blueprint, it will take much longer, but we'll get it done...."

"Aaaand there you have it," Venus said happily, grinning at the goon, who suddenly realized that he had revealed the intentions of the gang, as well as the location of the prototype engine part. "See? It wasn't so hard. You're such a darling. I'd have probably kissed you if I wasn't scared of contacting an oral disease." She rose and turned to face Ilda. "Now we know where the component is, if Lockwood would be so kind as to tell us the location of the Black Gears' workshop." The engineer scribbled an address on paper and handed it over.

"So, what do we do with our fair guttersnipe?" she asked, prodding the goon's side with her boot.


WC: 697 words
Total: 2986/3000

Engineer Lockwood seemed unwilling to be left alone with the hooligan, although he had no choice but to agree with leaving the downed man there as the two girls left to retrieve his engine component. Before leaving, though, Venus came over to Lockwood and whispered some instructions in his ear. The trip to the Black Gears workshop wasn't too long, fortunately, and after a few minutes of following the directions they had received from Lock, they arrived at the place. Shabby looking, obviously owned by people with not so much money and less patronage, the name 'Black Gears' was even hand-painted and not very professional.

"Really?" Venus asked, placing her hands on her hips as she looked at the sign with distaste. "One would think these dimwits-- eh?" Venus was cut short in her tirade when she noticed that her red-haired partner didn't even wait to formulate a plan or do anything of that nature. Before Venus could even call out, Ilda had barged in like she owned the place. The Dragon Slayer sighed and shook her head, before following her partner into the workshop. It looked like a rat den, untidy and disheveled, and it didn't smell healthy.

At the challenge thrown by Ilda, the denizens of the workshop, about half a dozen, began clamoring as they slowly approached the two girls. Suddenly a door banged, and they all froze. "Who's asking for the boss?" said a human tub of lard as he emerged from the shadows. Dressed in dirty overalls and holding a large spanner, the Black Gears boss lumbered towards the girls, his henchmen scattering before him as he came. "Let me guess, the engineer finally got the balls to try to kick back against us, eh? Well, Little Miss Red, you look intelligent, so how about we cut a deal? You seem like you can hold your own in a fight, so why don't we have a bout? One on one, no interference. If you win, I'll never disturb that sissy again, and I'll even return his dear engine component. If I win..." one of the hoodlums interrupted, "We get the girls--" A crack from the spanner in the boss' hand silenced him and laid him out flat on the grimy floor. "If I win, Lockwood will work for me. Deal?"

Venus looked uncertainly at Ilda. "Would that be wise?" She asked, watching the boss warily, as he waited for an answer.


WC: 415 words
Total: 3575/3000

Venus looked down as Ilda's fox approached her and pointed out with a smile that the likelihood that the Black Gears boss was little more than wind was quite high. "Your perceptiveness is interesting," Venus replied with a smile of her own. "Fatty over there is the boss alright; the body language of the other lowlifes shows that they seem to defer a lot to him. However, I'm certain your second scenario should be more correct. If he were any more dangerous than a giant farm pest, this would probably have been a higher-ranked mission."

Ilda seemed rather confident about the fight, so Venus decided not to sweat it, although she hoped the boss of the Black Gears was as incompetent as she hoped he would be. The most dangerous types of people were those who attempted to make themselves underestimated. Fortunately, the match didn't so much as take more than two minutes, as Ilda got her hands on him, and, like the goon back at Lockwood's office, the tub of lard was already swooning. Venus, for her part, wondered idly. Ilda called that ability of hers Reaper Touch, and the Demon Slayer, having a name, decided to do her own research on the matter, as opposed to asking her redhead friend exactly what the Reaper Touch was capable of.

With their boss already whimpering and resorting to calling names, rather than throwing punches, Venus was certain that the fight was over. After all, "get away from me, you freak" wasn't the best of war cries. Some of the goons seemed to want to assist their defeated boss, even when the match had been decided as a one-on-one, for they seemed to be furtively looking around for if they could find a weapon or two. At that moment, seeing that no one had eyes on her, Venus quietly but quickly made her way to the back of the workshop, from whence she had heard the sound of a door slamming before Irving the Lard Tub showed himself.

Soon she found what she was looking for: the door to the boss's office. It even had the words "Boss" written crudely on the door. The Demon Slayer turned the handle and slipped in. The room was empty, but what she sought was there. Lying on a table was the engine component. Quickly retrieving it, Venus returned to the main workshop area, where people were still trying to make up their minds on whether to attack Ilda, or avoid her Reaper Touch. One of the punks, deciding against common sense, suddenly screamed like a dying chicken, and ran at Ilda, brandishing a grimy stick.

Just then, the door burst open, and half a dozen policemen spilled in, followed by Lockwood. "Nobody move!" the commanding officer yelled. "We have this place surrounded." It was about time. Before leaving Lockwood's office, she had told the engineer to count a minute after the girls had left, and bring the cops. Wordlessly, she held out the engine part towards the engineer, who ran towards her and grabbed it happily.

"A job well done, I suppose?"


WC: 518 words
Total: 4442/3000