As British Eddy swaggered toward her, Max just folded her arms. "Didn't you learn your lesson the last time I kicked your ass?" she snarked.
"You stole my property bitch. I paid a lot of money for robot soldier boy and you owe me. That is… you and your putzy, andy-selling boyfriend… by the way…" Eddy gestured around them and asked quizzically, "Where is the little ponce anyway? Did you replace him with this one?" He inquired, indicating his head toward Biggs.
Biggs gave a short laugh, "Don't we wish huh?" and then he got in Eddy's face. "But I have no problem painting your metal face all over the asphalt if you so much as TRY to lay a finger on her."
"Biggs, back off, I can handle this." Max tugged at his arm, but Biggs shrugged out of her grip, never taking his eyes off Eddy. They stood nose to nose smiling at each other in challenge.
"You think you're tough shit huh?" Eddy asked as he brought out a switchblade.
It didn't perturb Biggs in the least, as he pulled out the gun that he kept at the small of his back and disengaged the safety, placing the barrel right against Eddy's forehead. "Oh I know I am… and if you're smart you'll put away the knife before it actually gets turned around on you… and you know we're capable of doing that you little twerp."
"Let me at him boss, I can take him out." Bird brought out his own gun, pointing it at point-blank range toward Biggs' temple.
"Or I'll just squish him like a little bug." Tuck popped his knuckles, waiting for the word to jump in.
This time, Max yanked Biggs away and in irritation, she ordered, "Damn it Biggs! Put the gun away and stand down! And you…" she pointed at Bird, "You too. Put it away. Now guys…" she raised her hands up, showing she had no weapons, "We're just here to deliver a package for our employer. Jam Pony, I'm sure you've heard of them. We don't want trouble, but you'll get it if you keep pushing. Now, go back to your little cages and… I don't know" She rolled her eyes and waved a hand in the air, "… electrify yourselves or whatever it is you do for fun."
"We beat up poofters like the two of you for fun, little girl."
She tilted her head as if in thought, "Now that's really a shame, I think you're going to need another hobby." And without further ado, she suddenly completed a spin kick that hit Eddy on the temple and knocked him back a few feet.
Surprised, he checked his head with a swipe of his hand, and seeing blood, he seethed, "GET HER!" as Bird and Tuck darted past Eddy to fight the two transgenics.
Thinking fast, Biggs stepped in front of the bigger guy, Tuck. "I think you need to take on someone closer to your own size. Let's roll, dirtbag!"
Biggs brought his leg up, kneeing Tuck in the solar plexus and knocking the wind out of him as Max fought with Bird and the metal hand he currently had clasped around her throat. She kicked him hard in the balls and then yanked, pulling his mechanical arm right off and the circuits sparked in response. She pried the arm off her throat and used it as battering ram to slam Bird directly in the face with it. He fell over in a heap, out cold. Not giving her a moment to reorient herself, Eddy jumped in, switchblade at the ready to take over where Bird left off.
At the same time, Biggs saw Tuck swing his spiked arm in such a way that if he hadn't blurred to the right, it would've sliced his ribs open. Grabbing the arm, he pivoted and quickly elbowed Tuck three times in the nose as hard as he could. He blinked in surprise when it barely fazed the big guy. Tuck kicked out, tripping Biggs, then grabbed his leg and twisted, causing his knee to pop out of joint. Biggs yelled out in pain and brought his gun out again to shoot Tuck right between the eyes. Firing the gun, the big guy fell to his knees, his eyes rolling back as he fell backward onto the pavement.
Once that was taken care of, Biggs raised up to check his knee and grimaced in pain… he would definitely need to have that re-set. Raising his gun again, he aimed at Eddy but couldn't get a clear shot with Max still fighting him and getting in the way.
"Max… DUCK!" he yelled at her, and as soon as Max went down, he fired again taking Eddy out with a chest shot.
Eddy looked down at himself in horror, then back to Biggs with a surprised "What the..?" as he fell forward on the ground, a pool of blood spilling out onto the asphalt.
Max got up and dusted herself off as she walked over to Biggs, "Well, I guess Bird will be surprised to find he's in charge now."
"I can kill him too if you want."
"No, leave him. Let's check you out. What happened?" She could tell Biggs was favoring one of his legs as she brought her hands down his leg, feeling along until she realized his knee was out of place.
"Hold still… this is going to hurt like a bitch, but it will at least get you by until I get you to a doctor." She pulled his leg hard, popping the knee back into its socket, but with a loud yelp from Biggs.
"Jesus Max! I know it had to be done but was the force necessary?"
"You and Alec… you're both big babies about pain. Come on…we gotta get you outta here."
"Max, the package?"
"I'll deliver it tomorrow. They can wait, you can't. Come on." She saw a green vial next to Biggs on the ground. Frowning, she picked it up. "What's this?" she asked as she inspected it, but Biggs snatched it from her hand.
"A new kind of cologne… free sample thing. Can you help me up please?" He pocketed the vial as Max brought one of his arms around her shoulder and helped him to stand.
"New cologne huh? Why do I get the feeling you're lying to me?" she inquired as she assisted him in walking down the block, leaving their bikes behind.
"Where are we going?"
"We're grabbing a cab and getting you to Mercy General. It's the nearest hospital. Don't worry, we have a couple of doctors there that'll treat transgenics."
She flagged down a taxi and helped Biggs into the back seat. Crawling in next to him, she told the driver where to go and sat back with her head tiredly laying on top of the seat.
"Hmmm, so did that fight work out any of the soreness that you had earlier?" he asked cheekily until Max elbowed him in the ribs, causing an "Ooomph" from him.
"Shut up. One more word about last night and I may have to knock you out for a while."
"You should be congratulated Max, you reset that leg better than I probably could have." Dr. Carr placed an x-ray on a whiteboard and flipped the switch to turn on the light behind it to see better. He pointed at the x-ray of Biggs' leg. "As you can see, nothing is really broken, but he does have some very bruised tendons that will be painful for a little while. He will really need to stay off that leg."
"How long?" Max asked as she glanced through the glass to where Biggs was having his knee fitted into a brace by a pretty nurse. She had to laugh to herself when she saw Biggs smile at the nurse, and receive a shy, blushing smile in response. She could only imagine what was said to cause the blush.
Flirting seemed to come easy to the male X-5s that she'd been around… or at least the ones that were left behind in Manticore, and it made her wonder if they took a class in how to relate to females or something?
"Well, considering how quickly your bodies recover from injuries, I would say about a week? Maybe less? I'll make another appointment for a week from now and give him a doctor's excuse to take to his employer."
"I'll take it for him… I called Normal. Seems Alec and OC had their own run-in with another gang. Although they fared better than we did I guess. No need for medical treatment anyway."
"Well that's good to hear. But if any of you need anything, you know where to find me, and you have my cell phone number."
"How much is this going to cost us?" Max inquired.
The good doctor raised his eyebrow in surprise, "Max, this is pro-bono, especially since you did most of the work anyway. I really don't need the money and I'm happy to help. Besides, you're doing me a favor. The advances in medicine that Manticore had may actually help me treat my other patients in ways that no other doctor could. Your physiologies are extraordinary, and the science geek within me loves to study them. Although of course, what I find stays confidential."
He tore off a sheet of paper and handed it to Max, "That's his doctor's excuse to give to his employer. And if you'll wait a moment, I'll go see if I can find some free samples of pain killers." He smiled kindly at her, "I'll be right back. You can go in and see him if you want."
"Oh wait, I do have something else…" Max stated as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the green vial she pick-pocketed from Biggs when he fell asleep in the cab.
"What's this?" Carr asked as he took the vial from her and examined it curiously.
"That's what I need you to tell me… Biggs had it in his pocket and he claimed it was a free sample of cologne. I can spot BS a mile away, I think this is something else. Can you put this under a microscope and let me know what you find?"
"I'll do that right now. Can you stick around for a little while?"
"However long you need… I want those results as soon as you can get them."
"Consider it done Max. Give me about twenty minutes."
After Dr. Carr left, Max walked into the examination room just as the nurse gave Biggs a kiss on the cheek. Finding that unprofessional as well as inappropriate, Max cleared her throat causing both pairs of eyes to turn her way.
Biggs turned back to the nurse and gave her a flirty smile, "So, 7:00 tonight? I won't be able to handle a lot of walking but with a nurse close by, I'm sure I'll be in good hands."
"See you then." She patted him on the shoulder, gave Max an uncertain look, then turned and left the exam room.
Max folded her arms and raised a brow, "Really? You made a date with your nurse?"
"Her name is Carmen, and yes I did. Got a problem with that?" he challenged.
Max gave a short laugh and shook her head in derision, "You are all alike." She muttered.
"X-5 males?" he asked and she responded, "ALL men. Not just X-5. See an easy lay and you all jump at the opportunity."
"Well in my defense Ms. High and Mighty, she's hot and I'm single, so I don't see the problem. Unless you're jealous?"
"In your dreams Biggs."
He shrugged, "Well you don't know what you're missing then. As for Carmen?" He winked at her, "She'll find out soon enough."
"Ugh! You're all pigs." She rolled her eyes causing Biggs to chuckle as he struggled to get up from the table.
"Oink oink baby. And proud of it." His smile was wiped off his face when he grimaced after attempting to lower his legs from the table. He sat there for a second with his leg straight out in front of him due to the brace and gritted his teeth through the pain.
"Lie back and relax for a bit Biggs. Dr. Carr is rummaging the hospital for samples of pain killers. He'll be back in a moment."
She stepped forward to simply assist him back onto the hospital bed but at that moment, Biggs' eyes widened a bit and he was on full alert. Now that they were in a room alone and she was closer to him, he sensed it.
She was beginning to dump pheromones. And he knew she probably didn't even realize it yet.
"Don't touch me!" he demanded suddenly, causing Max to raise her brow in irritation. She huffed, just thinking he was simply being macho and didn't want help.
"Fine, have it your way. Fall flat on your face for all I care."
He understood what she thought and regardless of his teasing of 494, this is technically his best friend's girl. According to the X5 way anyway. So feeding on her misconception, he snapped, "I'll be just fine. It's obvious you don't want to be here anyway so just do yourself a favor and go home. Carmen will help me if I need anything."
"Suit yourself you jackass! I'm out of here!"
She turned angrily, hair flying as she pivoted and marched out the door, slamming it for good measure. Biggs breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was close!"