Now, so far it seems that Lifty is getting acquainted with and settling nicely, more or less, in his new living conditions. If you'd like to believe that after the previous chapter's events the younger twin learned how to behave and was content with staying Flaky's houseguest, or even more, then be my guest and stop reading this story. Call it an ending and click out, but it is my regret, pleasure filled regret, to say that is not the case. For who is being left out of the plot? Well, let's backtrack and remember who the cause of this story being born was. Who was the one who abandoned Lifty in the first place, leaving him with nothing but the clothes on his back?
Oh yes, you're recalling it, yes it was his flesh and blood; Shifty. But what was his reason for disowning his brother, the only family he had? Greed, want for a more efficient helper, and a clouded judgment are all correct answers, but there was one last important detail. What was it? Aha, the little robot that was promised to give him his most far-fetched wishes and shower him in stolen loot.
But you know what they say, be careful what you wish for.
"Y-you're not going to get away with this," Petunia stuttered, eyes focused anywhere but the metallic claw curled around her slender throat. "Splendid is going to come any second now, and you'll be sorry."
Shifty sat atop a counter and balanced one of the priceless vases precariously on his palm. His first choice would've been the town bank, but hitting up the artifact museum wasn't a bad idea. He could resell whatever he stole, and knowing that almost all of the displayed items were worth high cash, his profits would shoot through the roof. He'd be pocketing more money than he'd know what to do with.
"I wouldn't be expecting much help from that slip up," snickered Shifty. "He rarely stops me, and when he does, it takes a hell of a lot of time. You could be screaming the blue out of your hair for hours, and he'd be thinking that it's a yowling cat whose tail got stomped on. So go ahead and say what you'd like, but he ain't coming~"
Petunia tried to move as little as possible, for she had found out that if she struggled in any way, the claw would tighten and restrict her intake of air. Unwillingly, she looked again at the damage that had been done on the museum, her half hope that it would have cleaned itself and been restored to proper order deflating. It was ransacked, furniture such as benches and podiums vandalized, and glass from shattered displays dirtied the floor. There were times when she convulsed in tremors, her inner want to have every last thing in its place fighting her for dominance, and gagged when she could not breathe.
To keep her cleaning urges at bay, she would stare at the nakedness of the bare spots where framed pictures once hung, the amount of artifacts being hoisted into the back of the pick-up truck parked conveniently through a makeshift hole in the wall, and, she was most transfixed on this, the stout gizmo that was hauling the treasures.
"But he will," the clean freak argued. "He's going to come, and when he sees everything you've stolen, you'll be taught a lesson you'll never forget. He'll hear me."
"Aren't you a confident one?" Shifty stepped down, sharp eyes intimidating. He went to her and laced his fingers beneath her chin, smirking fully. "How are you so sure that he's not bitching to himself in the corner, crying about no one appreciating him. What if he doesn't want to assist you, it's not like you give him any sort of praise. If I were him, I would leave your sorriness to be helped by someone who could be bothered by your shrieking~" Satisfied that her eyes were narrowed at him, he bopped her nose lightly.
"You're a true joy aren't you, if your brother was anything like you, I wouldn't know how Fla—" she bit her tongue. It wouldn't be bright in a situation like this to bring up anything that involved his brother. She had finally put together two and two, and understood why her friend was hosting the younger twin.
Nobody had informed her about Shifty getting his dirty hands on a new toy; was it this toy that had put a sign of adoption on Lifty's forehead? She had assumed it to be the thieves' game that they were playing to befuddle the redhead, but if it wasn't a lie and he had been . . . disowned — what a terrible thing! — Then it was wise to not include him from her insults.
Her lips hadn't snapped shut fast enough, Shifty's face dawning in remembrance of his good for nothing sibling. He appeared to have forgotten of his existence already. "What was that? I didn't hear you, what about my loser twin?"
"Nothing," said Petunia. She had to lie, he was suspecting her reason for bringing up Lifty. "I was just going to ask . . . where's your, um, brother at? Doesn't he help you with these kinds of things, r-robbing and stealing?"
"Ah," he blew a hot breath on a turquoise painted egg, emeralds and finely cut jewels embedded in the golden band encompassing it, and rubbed it so it shone. "You're thinking of how it used to work. I ditched his stupid ass, I think it was over a week ago. His skills were getting rusty, so I didn't have use for him anymore~"
Scoffing, she turned her eyes on her shoes. "But he's your brother, how could you say that you didn't need him anymore? He's not a toy that you throw out when it breaks or you find it boring, he's your family, doesn't that mean anything?"
"Oh look, she wants to give a lecture along with being lippy," Shifty opened the egg's case and placed it inside with care. If he broke it that would be a million knocked off his final profits.
"I'm just having a hard time wrapping my brain around that." She was keeping him talking, because somewhere in the back of her mind she sensed he wouldn't let her go free after his heist was over. "It seems like it would take a lot of strength to be able to leave your brother to fend for himself."
"It really didn't." It sickened her how he had almost said it lovingly and without guilt as though it'd been a walk in the park to abandon the teen. "Why would I have any problem with getting rid of a pesky fly? Do you feel guilty when you wipe away germs? No, you don't, because they don't have a reason, they're there to annoy the shit out of you, and you couldn't care about them more than the trash you throw away~"
Petunia frowned at the harshness. If this was what Lifty had put up with for his whole life, it wasn't a surprise he was as mean as he came across to be. The analogy was twisted in itself, his brother comparing him to a bothersome fly along with trash—how messed up was their brotherly relationship?
"I can already imagine where he is right now," Shifty chuckled in bemusement at the imagined hell the thief was going through. "He's probably died already, and I'd love to see him trying to figure out what to do without me~ what an idiot—"
"He's doing fine without you for your information." She hadn't known what overcame and pushed her to defend him. Most likely guilt at her disapproving of Flaky housing him, unaware of her cause.
His snarky smile changed into the curious quirk he'd have when watching a mildly amusing TV show. "Oh really now? And how would you know such trivial information? You aren't stalking my brother, are you~?" It was around this time of the robbery where there was next to nothing left to take. Everything that was worth monetary value was in the pick-up truck's back.
"No! I-I've just seen him around town and—"
"With who? If he's not dead by now, and also not weak enough to just be sitting in one place, don't you think he'd been helped by someone~?" This mystery person had caught his interest, because there was no one he knew who'd be caught dead aiding the street dweller.
Petunia was silent. How was she to answer him and keep her friend's identity hidden . . . Unintelligible noises exiting her lips, she was not respondent. "I—who he was with—no one."
Coming back, Shifty drew his lips back over pointed teeth and pursued what he had to know. "You're hiding something, aren't you. You know something that you don't want to share~" He drew a rectangular controller from within his pocket, tisking. This hadn't been the road he wanted to take, though it didn't bother him in the least of ways, but because of her short answers and lack of compliance, well, it was the only path open.
Petunia's breaths began sounding huffy and scared, her hands coming up to wound around the contraption trapping her neck. She hooked her fingers onto the collar similar hook and pried. "W-what's happening? Knock it off!" The cold metal pressed snugly into her skin, shrinking a ring as Shifty toyed with the control more.
"Don't worry~" he cooed. "So who was it that Lifty is residing with~?"
"I-I," her stare darted anywhere but the cunning eyes. "I can't tell you that."
"You're going to be smart? In the position you're in? You must be screwing yourself."
The collar—It was far too tight. Petunia couldn't breathe right, chest expanding rapidly as fear was established in her. "I-I can't b-breathe! S-Shifty, stop!" He took his hands off the control so she could inhale and tell him what she knew, but the collar continued constricting of its own account.
"S-Shifty!" her voice heightened to a squeak, heel clacking the floor as she pounded her foot down. "O-okay I'll t-tell you! J-just—I'm telling y-you c-can't breathe, sto—!" Her whine turned choked, her heart pounding as the metal sunk into her skin and the inner walls of her throat tightened around her trachea. Spinal cord trapped, part of it being bent forward while the other half stood straight, it was another ring tightening before it was unable to withstand the pressure.
Snap.
Shifty was used to seeing and hearing deaths all around him, but the swaying of her head to the side as her neck cracked earned his grimace. But he had stopped pressing down on the button that controlled the robot's arm, what had . . ?
"Fuck," he muttered. "Right when she was about to tell me, dammit. Splendid's going to kick my ass if he finds her body in here too." He climbed over the counter and set the control down, inspecting the bionic arm.
Neck emitting crunching sounds of broken bones mashing together under the weight of her head, Shifty poked at the choker in disgust. "What the . ." He turned and glared at the empty circles that acted as eyes for his helper. "Hey, did you do this?"
It was sullen, the white circles blank.
"Hey, M.A.C, I'm asking you something." Even if he hadn't heard a peep from the bot before, Sniffles was an over achiever and no doubt put a talking box somewhere. "M.A.C, do you hear me? If you do, I want you to retract your arm and get back to work. I'm going to take Petunia's body out back, M.A.C?"
He knew it, the voice command was junked up. Already the stupid thing had stopped working, probably why Sniffles had been so lenient while trading it.
"Stupid piece of crap," Shifty sighed out. He would have to leave the heavier artifacts now, the pricy ones, because he'd be unable to lift them by himself. "That's great, and now I have to deal with taking you to Sniffles. He's giving back that action figure for doing such a fucked up job on you."
He tapped on the hollow head of the gizmo, muttering over and again how it was as worthless as his brother. This would be a good time to break and throw it out, then the space for his new assistant would be open and maybe Lifty would redeem himself. "Alright, let's see what I can salvage from you." He could make a quick buck off the scrap metal; better than just throwing it to the curb.
Shifty opened its back and ogled at the red, black, and blue wires, complex appearing digits mixed with numbers — IE729I4 — and at the waves of electricity that traveled amongst aluminum coils. "Sniffles you are a fucking nerd . ." He scoffed and saw the simple power switch in the center of everything.
For a scientist, Sniffles did make things convenient and straight out.
"Heh," cracking his knuckles, he barely laid the tips of his fingers on the switch when a shock sent him jerking back and onto the ground. The skin above his nails was singed and blackened. "Dammit!" He put them in his mouth to cool the burn down and eyed the open back.
"You wanna do it the violent way? Have it your way, I'll get violent." Shifty growled. He got up and shifted through the stolen loot, picking up the bat he had threatened Petunia with. Glaring down at the silent robot, he said, "Junk. Why do I always get the things that are broken and useless." He raised the bat above his head, elbows by ears, and prepared for the wrecking.
The twin swung down and awaited the smashing of its head being bashed in. But instead, he was faced with the bat frozen in midair, his hands slipping from their grip at the abruptness. He had faintly considered the chance of Mime having put up an invisible wall, no matter that he hadn't been in the museum, but he blew off that idea.
His change of mind had come from the bionic hand firmly hooked on the bat's middle.
Shifty wasn't unnerved in the slightest why his helper had moved without a command, more angry that he was interrupted during his demolition time.
"Let. Go." Again, the little robot was unresponsive and refused to remove its tri-clawed hand. He fisted his hand and gave it one last warning. "If you don't let go, I'm going to fuck you up even more than I intended to."
Well, he had warned it.
He was confident of his punch . . . and he was more confident that the distinct cracking wasn't coming from M.A.C.
A flare of pain shot up his arm and Shifty recoiled, hissing and holding his hand to his chest. What had just happened!? He looked at the bruising hand, blood angrily rushing to the skin and purple splotches expanding around his knuckles. His fingers were curled, a stab of pain exploding in them when he tried straightening them out.
This wasn't right, Sniffles hadn't brought anything up about his invention breaking his hand in the near future, nor had he said it'd be staring at him, unfazed, with lifeless eyes. He was paralyzed, those dull circles pinning him to the spot and hand still clutching the bat. It wasn't until the buzzing of gears winding and wheels turning on the floor that Shifty snapped from his anxious state.
And he snapped out of it quick enough to avoid having his head hit off by the swinging bat.
Shifty landed on the ground, hissing again as he landed on his hurt hand, and looked at his oncoming assistant. "M.A.C?! What are you doing!? Are you trying to fucking kill me?!" He had barely rolled from his spot when the smashing of the wood, splintering as it hit marble flooring, sounded.
The mini dude hadn't been acting up this way earlier! He had listened to what he had told it; he hadn't ignored or defied him. What was happening to him? Sniffles always had bugs and glitches in his inventions, but none had ever been as extreme as one wanting to bust a friend's head in with a bat!
There was not a reason for why he'd be rebelling now, Shifty had given him things, like . . . like the responsibility of cleaning out an entire store, deal with Splendid, and get them away safely? But he was made of metal, it was his job and he wasn't supposed to revolt against that!
"G-d Sniffles, you're a screw up of a scientist!"
xXx
Sniffles looked up from his beakers of popping chemicals. He had felt as though someone, somewhere, had delivered a blow to his abilities of understanding science. Like a person had thrown a pebble at his wall of self-esteem. It had done little damage, a scratch that could be buffed out, but it had still caused a disturbance.
". . ." he pushed his glasses up his nose and said off handedly, "I really do hope Shifty's not angry that I put a rebuttal chip in M.A.C's system . . Never mind, I doubt he hasn't noticed a thing."
xXx
Shifty skidded to a stop and pushed his hand on the floor to keep from slipping before running up the next corner just as a vase shattered, a puff of dust and plaster film exploding around it. He shouted another stop, throwing down an empty podium and hoping it blocked M.A.C for a time.
They had been playing this game for a while now. Not because Shifty was actually holding his own against the small bot, but because M.A.C seemed to be having fun, if that was possible. His software had already connected the reason of why the other twin, Lifty he was told, to the high levels of defiance and anger towards his elder. It could do with their heritage, but it was likelier the way he would work his assistant, whether it be his brother or the newer helper.
Nonstop were his requests to get this and that for him. At times it was requests that dealt with what he was programmed for, grabbing a diamond from its guarded case, but other times it'd be simplistic tasks, like handing him the remote that was inches from his reach. He knew the word that would fit the twin and his actions perfectly: Infuriating. So, he took it upon himself to eliminate him and his idiocy.
The world was full of imbeciles as it was, one less wouldn't hurt anyone.
It would have been humorous, seeing the thief struggle with the door that he had barred, if he had had a laughing ability. But alas, Sniffles hadn't implanted that chip in his head, so how the male rattled the handle bar and whipped his fearing eyes back wasn't amusing. It wasn't funny, but it gave him the strange sense of power and satisfaction that was brought on by revenge, when one rose against the man who he was meant to obey.
And when that man was brought to his level, Shifty kicking out and reaching for any item he could use as a weapon, the feeling only grew. The longing to see that smirk wiped away and replaced by a scream of pain was nearing its climax, M.A.C raising the bat once more and staring plainly at his boss.
No. Not his boss; that was no more.
As Shifty watched the wooden stick snap down and the bot's eyes transform from an empty stare, to a coldness as cold as the icy winds of the tundra, he knew one thing and one thing alone.
He needed to get his brother back.
Crack.
xXx
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. They are the monsters we created, they will be the ones who destroy us. Who's the real monster here then?
Crystal, I'm going to slit your pretty little throat while you're in the bathtub and use your blood to bathe myself in, I'm not kidding.
It's the least a jerk like you deserves~ :}