Chapter 4

When I'm Black Ops

One word about flying, it will make you never want to walk again. I soared through the griffin kingdom on my new wings, taking in every breathtaking sight around me. The griffin kingdom was a military kingdom, with guards patrolling the skies constantly. I just flashed my new badge, and they left me alone. I hoped to find a blacksmith around here, and he wasn't hard to find. His was the only building with molten metal surrounding it. The king had given me some money so I could get my own sword, but I was going to need a machinist for what I had in mind.

I landed on his front step and knocked. A Scottish voice yelled from the inside "Come in, laddy!"

I came in, and in front of me was the burliest griffin I had ever seen. "Aye, are you the one they call Jacob, me boy?"

I nodded, and he firmly shook my hand. "My, you are the strangest creature to walk in my shop yet!"

I chuckled and said "I'm getting that a lot lately." I broke the handshake, and asked "Say, do you know any machinists around here?"

He thought for a minute, and stated "You should try Ol' Farnahm up the road. I'd be careful though laddy, that griffin is not in his right mind."

I stated "I'll be back in a minute." and exited his shop, and flew up the road as instructed (It's a cloud city like Cloudsdale, only more medival, and much closer to the ground) and saw a peculiar house surrounded by many strange contraptions. I uttered a 'WTF', and knocked on the front door.

A griffin with what appeared to be a magnifying device in front of his eye answered, and with a German accent exclaimed "Welcome! I see you have ze badge of ze griffin Secret Service! I assume you are here to have me work on a weapon for you?"

I nodded and stated "If I have enough leftover, perhaps two weapons."

He clapped and asked "So, let's not keep Gregory ze blacksmith waiting!"

He grabbed some tools and scrap metal from inside his house and took off without any acknowledgement from me. I followed the eccentric tinker back to the blacksmith's forge. We got inside, and Farnahm took out some blank blueprint paper. I made a sketch of what I wanted in my sword. It would appear to be like any other sword, with a double-edged blade and a full circle double handle guard. The only part out of place would be a trigger on the handle. When I pulled the trigger, the blade would be let loose from its parallel position with the handle and would spin freely around the handle on the momentum from my swings for as long as I held the trigger. When I let go of the trigger, the blade would lock back in it's original position. The best part was that I still had enough funds left over for another weapon, but I would need time to think on a new one. They said to come back tomorrow, and I payed them and left.

I flew out to what appeared to be a bar, and I saw a group of Black Ops veterans sitting at a table. They had their weapons with them, a myriad of different-shaped blades and other pointy objects.

I walked over and asked "Hey, mind if I join you?"

Some welcomed a new recruit to the table, while a few assholes who had been drinking too much told me to piss off.

I gave them hard looks and asked "You're telling the guy who just solved your diplomatic problems to 'piss off'?"

One of the vets exclaimed "That was you? Nice job man. The king was so happy he gave us drinking money. Here, have one on me." He gave me a new beer.

I took it and said "Thanks, I'm Jacob."

The veteran stated "I don't like formalities, so you can call me Pyro."

I gave a confused look and asked "Why should I call you Pyro?"

He smiled, and pulled out his weapon, which was a sword handle with no blade. When he slammed the pommel on the table, a three-foot coloumn of flame erupted from the handle. He slammed the pommel again, and the flame shut off.

"Stop showing off, Pyro. You don't want to scare away the kid." The griffin had an accent similar to that of Speedy Gonzales. He spoke fast with a Mexican accent. He pulled out his weapons, two daggers that were curved to be thrown like boomerangs.

Pyro laughed and stated "Please excuse Cutter here, he has a faster mouth than he can handle. That over there is Boomer. He has a bow with exploding arrows. That there is Stone, he has the flail with the retractable head. He's Viper, he has poisoned throwing knives. And last but not least is our lovely lady, Kat. She uses metal claws, and can sneak up on anyone."

After the team was introduced, Kat walked up and ran her (thankfully non-metal) claw under my chin and asked "So, what's your weapon?"

I stated without moving "A double-edged sword with a spinning blade."

Stone gruffly stated "You sound like a butcher."

Pyro said "Butcher, yes, that fits. Welcome to the team, Butcher."

I grinned evilly at the nickname I was determined to live up to.

I asked "So, I guess you guys do a lot of missions together?"

They all nodded, and I stated "I hope to join you soon." as I sipped by beer.