Aurablade

12

The streets are oddly quiet when I return back to the tavern. Normally, chatter and music swamp the air. But now, as I open the tavern's door, I only hear the plinks of glass on wood, the sound of liquid being sprayed on glasses and cloths being rubbed over surfaces.

A busboy glances up at me as I enter. "We're closing," he snarls, a tooth missing from the bottom row in his mouth.

"Still got five minutes to go," I reply. "And I don't see you kicking any other customers out." I motion to the two others sipping quietly at opposite ends of the room.

"No new customers are allowed in."

My eyes sweep the interior of the dingy tavern. "Drinks on me?" The man's eyes narrow. I hold my arms out wide, and the loose fitting sleeves billowing around my arms open like a flag. "Come on, drinks for everyone."

"Fine," he says, a little less hostile. I stroll to the bar. My baggy pants trail on the floor, threatening to trip me. But I needed something loose to hide my frame. Along with the bronzed concealer I rubbed over my skin and the hood pulled low over my face, I hope no one can recognize my true identity.

"New to the Elyminai?" a man asks behind the bar.

"Brand new. First day on the job. Huge success, so drinks for anyone who'll celebrate with me."

The man just rolls his eyes and begins lining up glasses, pouring the liquor inside them. Cue slinks after him, topping each with a bright red cherry garnish. Her eyes stray to mine for a fleeting moment.

"For all the customers, too." I glance to the woman sitting in the far corner, then to the burly man on the opposite side.

I freeze in place. The man on the other side wears a silver mask covering his face. His hulking frame takes up seat seats. If he were to stand, I'll bet his head would almost brush the ceiling.

Chromeface.

The customer glances up, eyes narrowed to slits when they land on me. I school my features and begin passing out the glasses to everyone in the room. When I reach Chromeface, his eyes glance me up and down, up and down. I shove the glass in front of him, and he downs the entire drink in one gulp, including the cherry bobbing in the fluid.

One by one, they down the drinks. Cue disappears into the back kitchen with her glass. I make no motion to drink. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about Chromeface.

A busboy collapses. There's a thud on the table behind me, and I see the female Elyminai face down on the table. Cue collapses next, followed by the other staff members, all except Chromeface.

He chuckles, a rumbling, full sound from deep in his belly. "You think you can take me out with one little drink?"

"I wasn't expecting you to be here. I thought the mighty Chromeface had fallen."

He rises from his seat. His hulking shadow shifts up the wall, magnifying his presence by double. "And where did you hear that, Elyminai?"

"From my Link."

"Who is?"

I smirk. "You actually think I'd tell you? I got news: you're no longer the hot-shot Elyminai. There's some new kids in town that'll take all your business."

"You think one job will make you the next great assassin?"

Though his steps creep forward, menace dripping from the words hissed between his sharp teeth, at least he's buying my cover.

"Yes."

He chuckles again. "Not if there are no more Elyminai." In a flash, his hands hold a gun. Pellets crackle in the air, flying past me. I duck, grabbing my dagger in one hand, my gun in the other. I shoot at his feet, yet they ping uselessly off his boots.

Another flurry of bullets rains down. I deflect them with my dagger, scrambling backward to the door. My hood flies backward, dropping around my shoulders.

"Aurablade. So nice to see you've finally developed an ego." He cackles, shooting at me again while storming toward me. I shoot back. Holes riddle his arms, his clothes, and even graze his face, he doesn't stop charging. I aim at his heart, but the pellets merely bounce off his chest after singing the fabric.

Another robot? Or a cyborg? That would explain why these shots seem to be having little effect. And he's wearing a bulletproof vest, he's indestructible.

There's no way I can win.

My brain cycles through all the ways a cyborg can be killed. An electron stealer only works on robots, a shot to the heart fails if he's wearing a bulletproof vest, he's too big to knock-out.

Pain erupts in my shoulder. I nearly drop pulse gun in pain. Wincing, I press myself against the back door. As Chromeface closes in, I notice a shadow darting behind the bar.

Cue.

There's the slightest ping, a scrape of metal on metal. Chromeface's head turns slightly, his ears perked.

I lunge forward, slamming my dagger into his arm and dragging it through his flesh, all the way to his hand holding the gun. Bullets spew out as he squeezes the trigger, but they fall to the floor as he can't aim properly. His good arm flies to my shoulder while my knee connects with his bloodied hand. The shock knocks the gun from his grasp.

One strong hand closes around my neck, but I squirm, sinking the dagger into his other arm. He grunts, the glowing blade scraping bone as I drag it through his flesh. His grip loosens the slightest bit, and I twist against the wall, thrusting the knife into the pressure point at the base of his skull.

It hits something hard and thin, a segment running through his brain that shouldn't be there. I saw at what feels like a wire. Seconds later, it breaks, giving way to soft tissue.

Chromeface falls to the ground. Blood floods from the back of his neck onto the ground. I step over him toward Cue. She stands behind the bar counter, jaw slack. Wordlessly, she hands over a sack, presumably containing the gold.

"Thank you," I mumble. I take a few deep breaths to steady my lungs, my heart.

"W-what happened?" Cue sounds distant, like she can't process what happened. Tears glisten in her eyes, but don't fall, not yet. Not until her brain can catch up with the violence she witnessed.

"Chromeface attacked me," I say.

"That shouldn't be allowed. I thought it wasn't allowed."

"There are no rules," I say. "But technically, you're right. He shouldn't have attacked."

"So why did he?"

Chromeface's words ring in my ears. Not if there are no more Elyminai.

Why return after being gone for so long? Could he have been staking out the tavern, plotting a way to kill us all? But why, when he's one of us?

My eyes drift to the corpse on the floor. Perhaps he no longer is one of us. Perhaps he works for an entirely different entity, one that needs cybernetic foot soldiers.

"Thanks for the gold," I say, taking the bag. "I owe you one."

Cue nods slowly. Tears streaking her cheeks, she lays down on the floor, pretending to be knocked-out with the rest of the staff.