"He's got like, teleportation powers, n stuff. Dude's a wizard, seen it with m'own eyes. He can like, shoot electricity from his fingertips. Reminds me of a movie... Anyway, the lad with the blue eyes seems devoted to 'im. Like e's 'is son or sumfin. Entire thing gives me the jitters."

Keith

"If it isn't mophead. To what do we owe this visit?"

Keith brushed aside his messy hair, purposely, to piss of the weasel-looking man in front of him.

"Step aside, Steven. I'm here to see Set."

"No can do, tin boy."

"Are you literally everywhere? The fact that you might be here the moment I show up is a little too coincidental."

Steven sneered, holding his ground.

"Yeah, I'm what you might call a -

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Keith frowned. Maybe he spaced out or got distracted, because Steven was already talking about something else. The weasel never shut his gob.

"... and Master Set put me on guard duty out here because I was picking fights with Blue Boy. So yeah, not gonna disappoint him again by letting you in."

"Actually, I think you'll disappoint him if you don't let Keith in," Slade said smoothly as he materialized from the Glass Dragons headquarters. The door was clear glass (just like the rest of the building), and it was miraculous how he managed to sneak up on them unseen, considering Keith's mechanical eye and uncanny awareness.

"You can go screw yourself, Blue Boy. I'm not letting him in."

Keith watched with interest as the two men faced each other. Yes, they had been fighting. It was clear in their tense positions and fight-like poses. But Lapis had definitely been holding back. Otherwise Steven would be in pieces. Keith wasn't sure he could take Slade himself, mechanical parts or not.

"Unless you forgot," Slade spoke slowly, the anger barely controlled by some last remaining nerve of self control. "I am second in command. You will listen to my orders."

"My ass you're the second in command, you're Set's boot licker."

As much as he would've loved to stay there and see what would unfold from their disagreements, Keith cleared his throat.

"Gentlemen, please. Step aside Steven. Don't force us to move you ourselves, and I am quite sure you are aware we can do that effortlessly."

Slade crossed his hands, challenging Steven to keep arguing. And for a moment, he was going to. Then he shut his blabbering mouth and stepped aside, grudgingly.

"I'll take your place one day, Blue Boy. And you won't be happy when that happens. I promise you, you'll -"

He crumpled to the floor, the rest of his sentence cut out as Keith swung his metal fist into Steven's jaw, knocking him out cold immediately. Slade cracked a smile, and gestured for Keith to enter. Keith gladly complied.

°°°°°°°°

"It's good to see a friendly face, Keith. Even if we disagreed before about the gems. I'm glad to have you back."

"Mmm. I'm not exactly 'back', I'm just visiting. With information. In return for information."

"Master will want an explanation."

"I bet the madman will."

Slade paused, more of grieving silence than anything else.

"That's what makes you so hard to like," he said quietly. "You always speak what's on your mind when it suits you. It'll get you killed one day."

"So be it," Keith replied smoothly.

"Very well. I will not judge your choices. Except for leaving us on short notice. That was foolish."

"I do what I want, when I want. No one, especially not that old fool Set, can decide what I do in my life."

"I heard you found Jade then lost her."

"So what if I did? It doesn't concern you."

"Actually, it does. Tell me how."

"I will speak to Set and only Set."

And that was that. The pair traveled in silence across the halls of the Dragons, making their way to the great chamber at the end of the hall. Figures of dragons painted on the glass walls reflected dim beams of sunlight into dancing silhouettes of the scaled beasts in the empty hall.

Two guards stood by the grand door. At first, Keith thought the massive armored figures were statues, and he had to force back the shock as they drew their weapons in synchronization, two blades of pure energy, and pushed them together in an X shape blocking the door.

"Machine men?" Keith asked quietly. That was unfortunate, because it meant part of his information was useless. They already knew about war robots.

Slade stared at him oddly.

"No," the man with the ponytail said, cautiously. "I assume you're going to explain what that means."

Keith paused, examining the gargantuan men in front of him. They towered over two meters, and metal covered every inch of their skin. They had strange symbols etched into the bronze armor.

"Ankhs," Slade supplied. "Those symbols. They're called Ankhs. Symbolize life."

"How do you know that?"

Slade shrugged. "Master Set told me. I didn't ask questions."

"Of course you didn't."

It was Slade's turn to ignore Keith's words now. Slade Lapis turned to the guards, pounding his fist to his chest four times.

"Sobek, Anubis, hear my plea. Let us in to see the seer."

Instantly, the energy blades retracted into their small sheathed form, and the door swung outwards as if by some invisible force.

'Oh boy,' Keith thought as the guards stepped aside. 'Here we go.'

°°°°°°°°

The room was grand and lavishly furnished with curtains and chairs scattered here and there. A dining table stood on one side of the room. It was designed to be some sort of throne room with the throne being the center of attention, elevated on a small platform. A great red carpet connected the set of stairs leading to the throne with the oversized door, which shut behind them as they entered.

A handful of men and women stood by the throne. A counsel, Keith supposed. They weren't here when he was still part of the organization. A lot of things had changed. These men and women fell into silence as the newcomers padded across the carpet. Counsel meeting with the Master, obviously. Had the chain of command changed so much that Set had to have a counsel to help him take decisions? Or was it just an illusion to fool the members of the Dragons, making them feel like less of a dictatorship than they were?

The figure on the throne was unsmiling and grim, just as Keith remembered. However, there was a hint of amusement in his light red eyes. That was a relief, at least he was in a good mood.

Master Set sported his classical sandy robes, pure white hair, and light red eyes. Keith activated his cybernetic eye's abilities, scanning Set for any unusual sign. Or maybe a sign for humanity.

The man on the throne scowled, tilting his head to the side. Keith's vision instantly became limited to his single normal eye. He was stunned.

"My eye... What?"

"Hello, Keith. You came back. But we don't take kindly to deserters. As you are about to see."

°°°°°°°°

"You jammed my cybernetics... My heart could stop beating any second now. And you won't get my information."

"I disabled only your eye, to stop prodding in the wrong places. As for your heart and... Liver, I am able to stop them any moment I want. So tell me what you have. Now."

"I have a few conditions first."

"You are not in a position to make conditions!" Set boomed, and Slade left Keith's side to stand by the throne, with the counsel. Keith had almost forgotten about him, he was so silent.

"Actually, I am. I -"

Keith stumbled as his heart stopped for a moment, and he felt - well, didn't feel anything would've worked more in this case - a void where his beating plastic heart used to be. Then it was back just as fast, pumping blood into his body like nothing happened.

"Now that we have established what I can do," Set continued smoothly. "As it seems you have forgotten."

One of the women in his counsel cackled, a shrill laugh that pierced the ear. Set raised his hand and she flinched, falling into silence. Definitely still a dictatorship.

The Master laced his fingers together, continuing his speech.

"Now, you will tell me what I wish to know. Or I'll stop your heart, permanently this time."

"You may do so," Keith replied. His nerves were as steely as ever, and he wasn't willing to give up just yet. "You can kill me. But you'll never get the information out of me. You see, I came here with the purpose of harvesting some information of my own. I'm not here to give you free information from the kindness of my plastic heart."

"You're a brave one. Or just very foolish."

The woman shrieked her laugh again. A single bolt of electricity shot out from Set's palm, striking her square in the chest and blasting her backwards onto the floor.

"Anubis, take Nekhbet out of the room. And clean the remains."

"Yes Master Set."

"Keith, tell me what sort of information you have." The man crossed his arms as Anubis dragged the charred body out of the room, leaving a trail of blackness on the bright red carpet.

"I have detailed information on the locations of the Underground rebellion. And their new weapon system."

Set raised his eyebrows, unable to hide his interest.

"Alright. I'm listening."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey there guys.

Been a while, once more. How are you all doing?

Been writing this chapter for a while, I hope it's as fleshed out as I intended it to be. More Keith. More Slade. More Set.

As always, thanks to all who are voting and commenting! I appreciate that a LOT. Thank you. And thank you for being patient.

Have a great day/evening!

#CilyberSaturday