Chapter Twenty One: Searching and Choosing
Blade was getting bored and tired from looking through so many legs. Some he wouldn't be caught DEAD having as a part of his body. Others were too appalling and embarrassing to even think about. Like women's legs, why the kid would include those on the list when he knew fully well that Blade was a guy he would never understand.
A lot of them looked normal enough, very few were actually made of wood, but the details stated that they wouldn't match him. They were made from tiger wood, chestnut, walnut, pine, birch, red wood, cedar and yew to name a few. He didn't know there were so many different kinds of wood!
Well, he did, but he used to be a doctor, not a botanist.
Then there were some legs that were made from metal which looked very tempting. Stainless steel, solid iron, copper, gold, silver, titanium steel, brass, nickel. But most of them were too heavy for is little body. The solid iron was automatically out, it being too heavy for him to walk around in, and there was the magnetic problem.
The stainless steel seemed like a better choice. It would be durable enough to withstand any brute force, but the durability depended on its thickness and weight. The magnetic problems weren't too much of a problem. It wasn't too attracted to magnets, but there would be subtle pulls and pushes, depending on its combination. Plus the thicker the steel, the less room there would be for the IV cord for the formula to get through.
Copper was very attracted to magnets and needed a lot of folding to make it as durable as stainless steel. But it was the best choice for use against deadly germs; but it rusted quickly and Blade wasn't keen on becoming a regular patient of the kid for constant treatments.
Gold . . . no, just . . . no. Too flashy. Light weight, no magnetic trouble, didn't need a lot of folding for durability, and its molecular structure stated that it didn't like to share its space with anything else so there was no danger of getting any rust or germs. But it was just too flashy. He could hear Six now, cracking jokes and calling him names like, Gold Leg, Captain Gold, Goldie, Gold Peg.
Silver on the other hand . . . it would match with his blade and hook in color at least. It would need to buffered from time to time to keep it shining like new. It was like gold in all the complicated variants, bu-u-ut . . . he wanted to see about the titanium steel. Its shine quality looked better than the silver and the stainless steel.
The titanium steel looked very pleasing indeed. Very light weight, no magnetic trouble, two foldings for reliable durability, and could be made skinny enough to represent a bone structure, leaving plenty of room for the IV cord. But therein lied the problem. Plenty of room.
Brass and nickel were similar as copper and silver.
"Did you pick one yet, Blade?" Six asked, scratching his bum with one arm, resting his head in another and his middle arms were scratching his belly and back.
"Who knew there were so many ways to make a leg?" Jester groaned tiredly and yawned.
Pinhead and Tunneler had nodded off as well, conserving their fluids.
"The titanium steel seems to be the best one." Blade said.
"But . . . ?" yawned Six.
"It would leave too much room for the IV cord. It would jostle around too much and get damaged." Blade said.
"So, made your choice yet?" Chug asked, coming out of his room.
"Titanium." Six yawned and fell asleep, pulling his hat down to cover his eyes.
"Do you guys need more juice?" Chug asked.
"We're fine." Jester mumbled and curled up near Blade's chair. "Jus' tired from searching."
"Yeah, I can understand that." Chug said, heading over to Blade and looking at the screen to see his choice.
"Titanium Steel, very nice. It's light, and can fit inside a new carved piece of wood. The wood would have to be yew or aspen to match your own skin color. Paint should cover any blemishes from the wood and if there's any extra space I could always fill it up with a shock absorbent so it wouldn't jostle the IV cord too much." Chug said.
"Well, problem solved then. The titanium one." Blade said and sat back to prepare for the operation.
"You still have some time yet before the operation starts. Would you like to have some company while you wait? I can give your brothers some extra juice." Chug asked.
Blade looked thoughtful and pointed at Jester.
"Just Jester?"
"Yes."
"Alright, where do I insert?" Chug asked, getting a tired chuckle from Six. "Someone's got a dirty mind." he mumbled and Six chuckled some more.
"The back of the neck or in the chest." Blade answered, trying to point at the exact locations of where the needle needed to be placed.
"I'll guide the needle." Jester mumbled, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
Chug grabbed a syringe and inserted it into the same variant he had given Blade. Jester guided the needle and the fluid was inserted.
"Blimey, you can eat." Chug smiled and extracted the needle and brought out an extra chair for Jester to sit in
"Father used to say I have such a big appetite." Jester replied, sitting down in the chair.
"Now, you guys can watch a few films or look up my history while I work on the new leg. It shouldn't take more than an hour or two." Chug said, placing a laptop in front of them and left the living space back to his room.
0~0~0
Torch had fallen asleep from watching his brothers the whole time they were choosing legs when Chug walked in. Chug smiled, having given Torch a refill of the formula before answering his front door so he wasn't worried about him running low and suddenly freezing up like they do when they ran out of fuel.
He decided to let him sleep, tucking a doll version of himself under the little pyro's arm who immediately snuggled into it.
'My wee bairn.' he thought and bent over and kissed the metal helmet, petted him and left through another room.
.
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