Free Metal Deep 4: Soul on Fire by G. X. Knight Page A

brilliance, it left, and I found myself standing on my home beach outside Harbor House.
     
    Nobody was home. I traipsed through almost the entire house, but I could find no signs of life. It was as if everyone had been going about their day and then had suddenly vanished. Largo’s pipe lay on his desk still smoking. Maid Mary had a batch of Diablo Peppers sizzling on the stove. Sway’s computer was in the middle of doing some tests, and Kata’s electric closet was spinning like a never-ending carousel of pink.  I took the staircase that led to the training studio, when all the lights in the house clicked off, and I was left with only my green glow to keep me company.
     
    It was there, in the training studio, where I found what I was looking for. In the middle of the room Yel was waiting for me. His Ripper tattoos glistened and were ready to Rip. He was standing where I once stood. He was a picture of anger and destruction accentuated by the broken pieces of all the bots I had destroyed that night I had lost my temper.
     
    “There’s something that connects you to this place,” he said to acknowledge my arrival.
     
    “How about I connect you to this place by slamming your head into the floor?” I said as we faced off in the middle of the room. “Or we could just skip to the part where you tell me how to stop the ship.”
     
    “So brazen,” Yel admired. “I assume it’s because you have those freakish mechanical monstrosities.” He pointed to my arms. “Let’s see how quick your tongue is when you’re just another man.”
     
    Yel snapped his fingers. All my senses returned to how they were before I was a Cyborg. My metal parts were gone, and I could see, touch, and feel as a normal human again. I wiggled my fingers and ran my hand across the tiny hairs that pricked to life goose bumps across my flesh. It hadn’t been that long since my transformation, yet it felt like an eternity since my brain had registered those sensations.
     
    I wanted to get lost in the feeling, but I had to stay focused. I took a step toward Yel. He seemed undaunted by my effort to remain on task.
     
    “Still not good enough, eh?” He snapped again and suddenly beside me there was Largo. His eyes were kind, his smile genuine. 
     
    “Let’s go play some Xbox,” Largo said. “We don’t spend enough quality time together. You know I love you like a son, and I know I can be the father you need right now if you’ll let me.”
     
    So this was his game. I hated to admit that it was working. I let my guard down as I stared at Largo’s salt-and-peppered features. His beard crinkled within the deep lines carved from a thousand smiles, and right now he was smiling because of me. I was making him proud, but then again, it wasn’t him. I knew the only way I could make Largo proud would be for me to carry on.
     
    I pushed the imposter away and took another step closer to Yel. He didn’t seem to be surprised at all. Jackass. I, for one, thought my will power was simply… inspired.
     
    “Not enough to have a Daddy? I suppose you are too old for that now.” He thought for a moment and then grinned, “I know what you want.” He snapped his fingers again.
     
    Bikini-clad Sway and Kata slinked into the room with sultry high stepping walks that echoed with each pronounced clip of the heels they wore. Sway was back in that black and red number that about sent me overboard earlier. Kata rocked a very similar, but even smaller, pink and green ensemble that literally stopped my breath. The girls let their hands rest on nearly-bare hips as they sidled up on either side of me. Their hands traced across my chest, their lips moved closer to mine, and I suddenly found myself painfully aware of why cinnamon and sugar made such a tasty combination.
     
    Of all the difficult steps forward I had taken to get me there, none were as painful as the one backward stumble I took to get away from the girls. Their lustful gazes remained trained on