After

[4]

Cheshire slid down the sides of the ladder, spinning around and knocking several tools off a shelf with the billowing tails of his coat.
"Oh." He paused. "Oops."

Riley sighed, shaking his head. "Idiot."

Cheshire looked around, picking up the tools. He looked at the shelf, looked at Riley, and then slipped them into his tool belt.
"Hey, have you seen Wrench?"

"Your depressed robot?" Riley asked.

Cheshire scratched his chin. "Well... I suppose you could call him that."

Riley pointed into the next room. "He's in there, fiddling with some of your equipment."

Cheshire's grin vanished. "What?" He darted into the other room.

Wrench plodded along the top of the desk, and pressed a button, melting two wires together. The robot muttered slowly to himself as he did so.

"Hey Wrench." Cheshire smiled. "Whatcha making there buddy?"

The small machine looked up. "I'm sorry, father."

Cheshire took a slow step forward, and Nile entered the room from the other side. "Well, it's still acid out there."
Wrench pressed a button on the small box in front of him, and it blew up.

Riley burst into the room. "What's going on?"

Cheshire stood up shakily. "Wrench, uh... Well he blew himself up." His eyes landed on the small, slightly dented and soot covered body of Wrench.
"Well, he tried to blow himself up at least." He darted over and scooped up the shell. The camera shutter was closed, and the green light behind it was dark.

Riley looked away from the teenager, when Nile groaned from the ground, blood pooling around his face. He dropped down, and rolled his cousin over. Blood was seeping from a large cut that stretched across his eye.
"Leave the bloody robot and go get Nick." Riley snapped, and Cheshire hurried out of the room.

Nick hurried into the room, a small box of medical supplies. "What have you gotten yourself into now?" He muttered, attempting to stop the flow of blood. "If I'm not mistaken, that's blinded him. Kid, keep your robot in check."

Cheshire hunched beside him, leaning over Nile like a broken machine. "Hmm." He paused. "I could fix that."

Nick looked up at him. "Absolutely not."

"But if just need a-"

"No. You can make him an eyepatch, if you really need to." Nick sighed. Cheshire grinned, and wandered over to his desk, placing Wrench's body on the table.

A few moments later, he handed Nick a formed metallic plate. "One eyepatch, ready to go."

"How do I attach it?" Nick asked.

Cheshire smirked. "Just place it there, it'll affix itself."
Sure enough, when Nick placed the eyepatch over Niles eye, it immediately attached.
"Now." Cheshire uttered to himself. "How do I repair Wrench here." He sat down, and let the two brothers carry Niles unconscious form out of the room.

* * * * * * *

Covella opened her eyes, the dark room around her slowly coming into focus. A figure loomed above her in the darkness, and a pillow closed over her face. She struggled, trying to scream, but the sound was muffled by the feathers that were slowly suffocating her. The girl blacked out, and Nile stepped away, throwing the pillow onto the ground. He ripped the sheets off her, and took out his knife.