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Warning: Scenes of violence and mayhem are included in this story. Reader Discretion is advised!
Clockwork City
The city outside of time, that is what some of its inhabitants called it. A city of clocks, but no calendars some of the others called it. Many more of the citizens of the fine brass and steel city bore these concepts no mind and left it up to the scholars and scribes to try to figure it out. They went about their lives: working, building, and inventing and so the city grew.
The people farmed, processed goods, and raised families and so the city thrived. There was also a dark side to the city of course. The massive skyscrapers touched the sky and merged together forming entire underground neighborhoods. Here the Steam-gangs competed for work and territory.
You will learn soon enough of their stories.
This story will deal with an event that changed everything certain people knew about Clockwork City. Of course, there were some who would always remain ignorant. This event was more than it seemed and should they survive the onslaught, wonderous opportunities could present themselves! If they survive.
Steam Brutes Part 1
The scholars might say that the event began surrounding Reginald Maxwell Featherstone, the scribes would soon forget what the scholars wrote and write their own versions and regurgitations of the story as it was copied from book to book and recorded to record.
The name that stood out in the urban legend is Max Thunderfist.
It was broken.
Twisted at an unnatural angle his right arm screamed in pain. The only thing worse than the stabs of nerves screaming at him was the burning in his heart.
The two older boys laughed raucously. "Aw look now, Lewis!" The burly teenager with the darker hair exclaimed. "The little rat's paw is broken!"
"Jeez Amos. I guess that he won't be making any more annoying gadgets." The blond-haired oaf said and the two of them continued to laugh.
They were jealous and stupid. They know they could not do the things Max did with metal and machines. They hated him and he had paid them no mind. He was angry at himself for being so careless and allowing them to sneak up on him.
His broken right arm lay limply to his side. He was furious too, they had gone too far. He hated that his body was so weak. Though the City was controlled by those who harnessed the power of steam and gears, brute strength still prevailed in the streets. A calculation his young mind had not needed to fathom before.
The two teenagers left him, a twelve-year-old boy to stand there with the broken arm they had given him and just walked away, still joking.
He knew they were nervous of an adult of the Featherstone Guild complex spotting them and bringing them to question. Lord Featherstone would enact swift justice.
Yet nobody was in the street nearby. All the adults had gone to see the Blood Games. Another hint that animal instinct was still a driving factor for the supposed advanced people of the Clockwork City.
Max barely knew what he was doing, his good hand grabbed for the tool case that was looped around his waist and pulled something long and heavy from it.
Padding forward swiftly, yet quietly, his broken arm swinging painfully, he bit back a cry of pain. His pipe wrench whipped round and connected to the side of the blond-haired boy's kneecap.
There was a sickening crunch and the boy fell over sideways, pulling Amos to the ground.
"What the hell?" Amos was yelling as Lewis screamed and gripped his leg.
Max's second swing struck Amos on the side of the face and there was a snap he could feel through the tool. He would not normally use a wrench as a hammer, that was rude to the tool. Yet he was inclined to make an exception this day.
He drew back his arm for a third hit and Amos let out a dull moaning growl, he could not speak with a broken jaw. Max's third swing never connected with Amos' head.
The big, dark-haired boy had caught the wrench in his hand and pulled it from Max's grip. The bigger boy lost his grip on the tool and it went spinning down the cobbled street.
"You bastard!" Lewis said. "You broke my knee!"
"You broke my arm!" Max retorted hotly.
"Fine. What a big man you are then." Lewis carried on since he was the only one that could speak. Amos grunted at him and Lewis smiled wickedly from where he lay. "But you made a mistake thinking you are as strong as us. So Amos is going to teach you a lesson!
Amos shoved max hard and he fell into the road. The force and speed of the other boy astounded Max. He was powerless now. His anger had waned and the bigger boy had not stopped even after getting a broken jaw. Now the pain flooded into him from the break in his arm and he began crying.
But that was just the beginning.
He barely registered what it was that the other boy was doing as his arm screamed in pain as it was twisted behind and beside him. There was a flash and crunch and Max blacked out.
He woke up hours later. There was blood in his mouth and all around him in the street. There were people in the street. Featherstone Guild members. Someone was calling for help.
"Oh by the greater Cog!" Someone was yelling. "Look at what they did to his arm!"
There were yells and screams of horror and Max was barely able to stay awake as he saw a man walk towards him, holding Max's right arm in the man's hands...
Sparks flashed and arched as Max operated the cutting machine. The steel that he was cutting through was thick and strong, all the better to shape into the armor the Guild needed to protect themselves with.
He moved to the other side of his workshop and gave three pulls on the hand bellows. The forge fire flared up hot and the smell was just right.
He reached into the fire and scratched the coals around to make them even. He did this with his right arm of course. Some part of him knew when he was touching something. Without pain, he withdrew his metal hand.
Grabbing the steel from the cutting bench, he inserted the steel into the coals. He leaned back from the forge and scratched at his furry sideburns with his meaty hand. Though it was useful to have one, he often wondered what it would be like having another metal arm.
"Max." The voice said behind him.
He turned around and saw nobody until he looked down to see the woman who had said his name. She was fair haired and had a pretty face. Her thumbs were hooked into the suspenders that were connected to the denim coverall bottoms.
"The Boss wants to see you." She drawled in her lazy yet sultry way. She batted her long eyelashes at Max.
"What does he want Lyra?" Max asked.
The woman gave shrug. "I don't know, something about Wrayburn men mucking about in our outer territory. Boss said something about getting the right man for the job in chasing them off.
Max smiled grimly. He was indeed the right man...
The Dustoff - History of this story - It was a challenge prompt!
There is the first Part done and dusted. My apologies for the gratuitous violence! Yet this was a necessary component to this story. Steam Brutes is modeled after the Baki Hanma anime theme. Reginald Max "Thunderfist" Featherstone being the first in a list of crazy and violent characters that will appear in this story.
A little while ago I had asked in the Hive Pizza Discord - Writing Lounge for a suggestion of ANYTHING that I would be writing and publishing on the Scholar and Scribe community.
Someone suggested Steampunk and someone else suggested time-traveling wrestlers... so I decided to smash those two suggestions into one and make it mixed martial arts so I can get some variety in.
At the same time, I am creating yet another world with Clockwork City possibly opening up to other works of fiction.
