109 Schemes

"Uhm..." Stone looked back-and-forth between Ed and Tai, confusion visible on his face. "I don't understand. Who is he?"

"Ah, I suppose he is less recognizable without the scar." Tai nodded. "Allow me to properly introduce him. This is Ed, and he is essential to our prison break plans." He turned around to walk away while waving his hand. "Make sure to show him around the factory and give him whatever he needs after you two work your differences out. I've got other matters to attend to."

"But Boss!" He shouted to no avail. Distraught, he waved his hands towards Ed, attempting to reason with him. "Look. I remember you now, but that was a long time ago, right? Why hold grudges over something so insignificant? It's not like I really hurt you, right?"

"You certainly didn't directly hurt me." Ed nodded. "However, you were a catalyst that led to Jarrod becoming twisted, which in turn almost killed me and did kill my father. If anything, you should be quite grateful I'm sparing your life at all. I already killed Jessica and enslaved World Walker. You're getting off easy if you ask me."

"Enslaved World Walker?!" He replied in shock. "That's impossible! No one can catch World Walker!"

"There's a first time for everything." Ed replied. "Actually, now that I think about it, Bolin should be in quite a bit of trouble soon. His mana-collar will automatically kill him if he isn't within range of my switch within a year, and there's only about six months remaining for that. I'll need to make a new switch when I get out so I don't go losing the world's best taxi service."

Stone felt a shiver go down his spine, but he still stood tall. He was a strong esper after all, and he'd hardly let mere words get to him. Still, the idea that World Walker and Jessica had been beaten made him feel great discomfort. Forcing himself to step forward, he rose his fists in preparation of the fight ahead. "Don't think your words will scare me. You may have become strong outside, but the cage is the great equalizer. Only the Boss and other gang leaders are a match for my physical strength down here!"

"Is that so?" Ed grinned. "I think I'd like to see it for myself." He rose his fists and gestured with his right hand for Stone to come attack him.

"Humph!" Stone snorted as he threw a straight jab.

'Boxing?' Ed wondered as he quickly took a step back, narrowly avoiding the quick hit.

Stone continued throwing quick jabs, leaving few to no openings as he did so. Ed occasionally returned fire but was also easily blocked or dodged each time. The two men went back-and-forth like this for several minutes.

"I really took you for more of a brawler." Ed laughed aloud.

"Only a fool wouldn't learn proper combat techniques." Stone frowned. "There's a reason I survived on the streets for so long. I grew up in the ghetto, and I relied on my boxing long before I ever became an esper."

"Ah, I'm sure it was very tragic." Ed commented nonchalantly. "Anyways, I'm going to get a bit more serious now." He lowered his body against the floor, adopting the combat style he had learned from Ochre. Not only was it suited to combat against humans due to the unusual methods, but it was also a particularly good technique for espers. After all, most established espers wouldn't need to worry about scraping their knees or gaining other injuries simply by fighting roughly on the ground. Yet it was these simple facts that often slipped the minds of espers that were still used to behaving like ordinary humans.

Charging forward, he lunged for Stone's legs, preparing to grapple him to the ground. Surprisingly, Stone managed to step back and return a kick, which Ed had no choice but to dodge.

"Kickboxing too?" Ed questioned in surprise before quickly growing annoyed. "Oy! How are we supposed to gauge each other's strength if you keep dodging everything?!"

"I'm not the one that wanted to fight in the first place!" He shouted back. "I've got work to do, and this is hardly the time for a grudge battle!

"Hmm." Ed stood up while rubbing his chin. "That's certainly reasonable logic." He nodded.

"Good." Stone smiled. "So, we can call this whole thing off?"

"I don't want to." He grinned while trying to stifle his laughter. Scales began covering his entire body as he initiated his chimera form. The purple lava around the cavern reflected the shadow of his claws, teeth, and tail, creating a menacing crocodilian image behind him. "Time for round two." He growled.

"What the fuck?!" Stone questioned in shock as he quickly took several steps back. "What the hell are you?!"

"I am Forge!" He said in a serious voice as he charged forward.

"FUCK!" Stone hurriedly backed up in fear. "Forge, my ass! What kind of Forge has scales? I use my forge every day, and last I checked, it definitely didn't have claws and teeth!"

Ed almost stumbled as he stopped and stared in disbelief at Stone. 'Has he really not heard of me? He should've been arrested after I had already become somewhat famous... Not to mention Tai knowing. Hell, I'm pretty sure World Walker knew before I met him in New York for the 2nd time. Shaking his head, he once again charged forward, refraining from shaming himself by explaining the name.

"GAHH!" In fear for his life, Stone abandoned his safe style of boxing, choosing instead to wind his arm back before throwing a strong right hook.

Ed hurriedly caught the punch, surprised at the amount of force behind it. 'If I was in my normal form, we'd probably be about even.' He returned fire with his left fist, slamming it directly into Stone's stomach.

"Pfft!" Stone spit out blood as he was shoved several meters backwards. Then he collapsed to his knees, holding his stomach while groaning in pain.

Ed crossed his arms while waving his tail back-and-forth menacingly. He stood directly in front of Stone and reached down to grab his black hair. "How the tables have turned." He whispered. "It feels like it was just the other day when Blood-Lust fucked me over. Tell me, are there any other members here?"

"No." Stone grunted. "They've all died by trial or within the maze. Only I survived by abandoning them to join Mr. Long."

"I see." Ed nodded. "You're a coward that abandoned your comrades, doing everything to ensure your own survival. A mere leech that was only loyal on the surface."

"I'm not!" He denied vehemently. "We all would've died anyways! I just did what any sane man would do! How could I take revenge if I'm not alive? How could I sacrifice myself for nothing?!"

"So, you'd take revenge if you had the chance?" Ed questioned.

"Of course I would!" He nodded strongly, determination radiating from his body.

"Good." Ed nodded. "Then listen to my orders during the prison escape, and I'll give you the opportunity. Deal?"

"Eh?" Stone made a startled expression. "And why should I trust you?" He asked.

"Simple." He smiled. "I'm sparing your life right now, and unlike you, I'm actually trustworthy. Try asking around about Forge. At least a few espers here must know about my reputation and how I got locked up."

Stone hesitated a moment before nodding. "I'll ask, but for now, I promise nothing."

"Sure, sure." Ed nodded while waving his hand. "Go ahead and show me around then. I've got work to do."

"Mm." Stone nodded, leading him through the factory.

Ed followed while leisurely placing his hands behind his head and grinning. 'If things go well, then I just earned myself a sacrificial pawn during the escape at no cost. I bet I'd make a good steam wagon salesman in another life. Come to think of it, Stone was a lot quieter when I first met him. Maybe that was just an act? It was certainly intimidating back when his body really was covered in stone.' Awakening from his thoughts, he began checking out his surroundings.

The factory was full of espers hard at work, but their creations left much to be desired. All they could create with their crude forges were cheap steel steam tanks with a thin coating of manullium plating. Other than that, it was mostly manullium spears and shields for the stronger espers and basic steam rifles for the weaker espers. To say the least, it left much to be desired.

"Tsk." Ed clicked his tongue. 'No wonder Tai was so worried about whether they could successfully escape. Hell, the ordinary men in my army had better weaponry than this.' As they continued walking, he noticed an empty workshop that seemed a bit better than the rest. He walked towards it and entered. "This'll work." He nodded while grabbing a sheet of paper and a pen. He quickly began jotting down the materials he needed that could be gathered within the cage. "Here." He said as he handed it to Stone. "From now on, this workshop is mine. Get me everything on the list as soon as possible."

Stone frowned. "But this is the head engineer's workshop. I don't think..."

"Was the head engineer's workshop." Ed corrected. "If he has complaints, then send him my way. From what I've seen around here, I doubt he's worth a fart."

Stone grimaced but retained his silence on the matter. He quickly reviewed the list, his face growing darker as he did so. "The manullium and steel is fine, but how do you expect me to get ordinary mana-cores down here?! Even if I could get them, they'd just blow up before I got them to you."

"No, that isn't true at all." Ed shook his head. "Your thinking is too narrow. Since we're trapped within the box known as the cage, then you need to think within the box. There are thousands of mana-cores down here with simple preservation methods. Just cut off espers' heads and leave their cores unextracted. Easy, right?"

"You... You want us to harvest mana-cores from the other prisoners?! Are you mad?!" He shouted in shock.

"What do I care if a bunch of racist trash get beheaded." Ed scoffed. "At least that way their lives serve a valuable purpose as cattle. Then again, that may be insulting cows everywhere. Regardless, Tai told you to get me what I need, and that's exactly what I need. So hop to it."

Stone trembled in what seemed to be a mixture of rage and fear. He forced himself to nod. "I'll discuss it with Mr. Long." He said through gritted teeth. He hurriedly turned around and left, afraid of any additional orders that may come his way. He also planned to find out what exactly Ed had managed to become through the pseudonym of Forge.

'Now then.' Ed smiled as he looked at his current supplies. 'I suppose I'll get started with the basics while I wait for better materials.' He rose his hand into the air, purple flames appearing atop it. Bypassing the furnace completely, he directly began melting down supplies of steel and manullium.

'Interesting.' He nodded to himself as he continued his work. 'It's so different from how I usually do it. Normally my mana penetrates the material and does all the work for me, but now, I have to melt and mold it with my hands. My usual powers sure are convenient.' It took him several hours to forge the basic components of a standard 3-meter-tall steam mech. It was a fairly ordinary model, except that he had replaced the usual water hose and flame thrower options with Gatling steam guns instead. The mech was mostly steel with a manullium layer covering the outside and all components, making it completely purple in color.

'Perfect.' He smiled. 'Once I get my hands on some mana-powders, I'll create some mana-ammunition. Even if the mechs are ordinary, the firepower won't be. I bet the guards will really be shocked as they try to figure out how we got mana-powder down here.'

The next several days passed, and he continued manufacturing basic mechs. Regular shipments of steel and manullium were being sent his way, though there was no news on the mana-core request yet. He had already managed to make ten standard mechs, greatly boosting their combat forces. As for the steam tanks made by other engineers? It was likely they wouldn't be that useful during the escape due to their limited mobility.

It was nearly a week before Stone finally delivered the requested mana-cores. He was very secretive about transporting them, making sure no one would see it happen by hiding the mana-cores within an armored wagon. There was a glint of both fear and respect in his eyes as he handed the materials over to Ed. It would seem that Stone had learned all about Forge over the past week. After finishing the delivery, he quickly left in disgust, wishing for no part in whatever was being manufactured.

'Lovely.' Ed grinned as he examined a pile of severed heads in his workshop. There was a healthy mix of white, black, and Latino heads. Clearly Stone hadn't targeted just one group for the resources. As for how he managed it? Maybe he killed them himself. Or maybe he worked out a trade deal with the race gangs to do the dirty work by paying them to eliminate their weaker members. Ultimately, Ed didn't really care. The important thing was that he had gotten what he both wanted and needed.

'Now then.' He rubbed his chin while smiling. 'It'd be such a waste to just make mana ammunition. I think I'll make some more advanced mechs. Maybe I'll throw in some other surprises as well.'