Steampunk Shenanigans

The spider was finished, and Damien felt terrible about it. He never imagined he would be creating such a deadly device, let alone one that would be used for nefarious purposes. While he had his little trick up his sleeve, he still had no guarantee it would work. There was still a chance that the spider could turn on them and all the effort to get those cuffs off would be for nothing.

They carried to spider to Corbin and Olessa in a wooden crate, which didn't seem safe for such a dangerous device. Evie seemed nervous too, though she kept a brave face for Damien.

"It'll be alright," she said. "Once we give them the spider, they'll let you go. And without the cuff, I can run."

"Run," Damien repeated. "Run... away? Where?"

"I don't really know yet," she said. "Why?"

"Nothing, nevermind," he said. "I just hope you don't go too far. I'd miss you."

"Really?"

"Of course."

She didn't say anything, but she was blushing hard. She pulled him aside and gave him a quick kiss before they went up to deliver the spider.

"It'll be okay," she reassured him.

"You've convinced me," he said with a grin.

They tried not to look too giggly when they headed upstairs, putting on their scared hostage faces as they walked in. Damien set the crate down on a table, and Corbin stepped towards him with a satisfied grin.

"Well," he said. "Funny how quickly you seem to work when I start pushing you a little bit."

"It's still unstable," Damien told him. "We couldn't do any testing with those modifications you gave me."

"I'll find some way to test it out," Corbin smirked. "Don't worry. In fact, I think I'll start with the bank."

"Or a jewelry store," Olessa purred. "I've been meaning to get myself some new diamonds."

"That's what you want a military grade weapon for?" Damien questioned. "Theft?"

"No, I said that's what we're testing it on," Corbin corrected. "Don't worry about our plans. We've got big ones."

Damien backed up and stood by Evie as Corbin and Olessa lifted the spider out of the crate. It was in a folded form while turned off, but once Corbin switched it on, the eight legs extended and lifted the torso up. It really did look like a giant metal spider. Small enough to sneak around, but powerful enough to burn entire buildings to the ground in seconds.

It responded to Corbin since he was the one who switched it on, turning to face him. He cracked an amused grin.

"It's kind of cute," Olessa said.

"Jump down," Corbin ordered.

The spider did as he asked, jumping down from the table.

"Turn to the left. Now right."

He tested out the commands and the spider responded without fail.

"Destroy the table."

The spider turned towards the table and suddenly spit out a gooey, acidic substance. Within seconds the table melted, but once the job was done the substance turned cold and hard like glass. If used on a person and the poor fool was lucky enough to survive, the hardened substance would crush them.

Corbin chewed on his bottom lip, an amused glint in his eyes. He must have been imagining all the dastardly things he could do with this weapon, but Olessa was distracted. She suddenly snapped a hand out and grabbed Evie's wrist, yanking her sleeve down.

"You filthy little rat," she sneered. "How did you-?"

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence before Evie drew her fist back and punched her in the nose. The hit caught both siblings off guard, who had never had to defend themselves against Evie. Until then, they had been able to keep her under control with the push of a button. Evie grabbed Olessa by the hair and slammed her head onto a dresser, much like Corbin had done with her just a few days before. Olessa whimpered and staggered back, and Evie had a sort of wild and satisfied look in her eyes.

"I've been wanting to do that for a very long time," she said.

"How dare you?" Corbin growled. "When we get that cuff back on you, you'll regret this."

He reached out to grab her, but Damien blocked his path and shoved him back. He seemed to notice very suddenly that Damien was bigger than him, and there was no longer the advantage of a cuff around his wrist. Damien managed to pin him against the wall, and with Corbin's attention diverted, the spider folded up and turned off.

"Don't you fucking touch her," Damien snapped. "Don't you ever touch her."

"Oh, no," Corbin chuckled. "I knew it. I knew you two had been fooling around on the side. I can't believe you would ruin your life for her."

"You can't begin to imagine what I'd do for her."

"Corbin, let him go," Evie yelled. "I'm the one you're pissed at."

"She's right," Corbin said, bringing a knee up to Damien's gut and knocking the air out of him. "She's the one I have a problem with. So I'll make you watch."

He shoved Damien back and he caught Corbin reach for something in his jacket pocket. Damien realized it was a gun before Evie did, and without thinking much of it, he shoved her aside just as Corbin fired it off. It hit him in the chest and almost felt like a stone had been thrown at him. He fell to the floor and he heard Evie cry out.

Corbin scowled and aimed again, but the gun clicked empty. He cursed and started to dig through drawers looking for extra bullets to reload. Evie dropped next to Damien and tried to stop his bleeding. His vision was already going in and out and it hurt to speak, but he hoarsely got a few words out while Corbin was distracted.

"The bracelet..."

Evie seemed confused, then looked at the bracelet he had given her.

"Yes, I'm wearing it," she told him. "Damien, stay awake."

"The charm."

"Damien, that's not important right now."

"The charm," Damien repeated.

He didn't have the energy to explain further. He could only hope Evie figured out what he was talking about before Corbin found the spare bullets, because everything went dark after that.