"Where…how…" Timothy was startled. Only a few people could instantly recognize the armor in its incomplete form and Timothy was one of them, because, he learned the craft from the man who designed the Black Knight's first armor.
He could recognize the craftsmanship anywhere, anytime. His master would only craft armor for the Black Knight and he didn't think the youngster was the Black Knight. Why? Because Black Knight wouldn't kill anyone.
"You're one of the few who could make the changes I need. So shall we get to work?" Draven asked as he pressed the few hidden buttons in the armor to open the armor. Draven stepped out of the armor leaving the empty armor behind.
The flames coming from the forge illuminated Draven's face and body clearly to everyone in the forge. The scars Timothy saw on his body frightened him. He couldn't imagine how many battles he would have gone through to get that many scars.
Soon, Timothy came out of his daze as he realized something very very important,
"The tracker, did you disable it?"
"I didn't find any tracker"
Draven wasn't dumb. He knew whoever sent the armor would have placed a tracker in the suit of armor. He searched for it but to no avail.
"Of course, you didn't find" Timothy wasn't surprised by Draven's answer,
He slowly yet cautiously approached the armor. Timothy ran his fingers through the armor from up to bottom.
"Where's the rest of the armor?" asked Timothy.
Draven looked at Sarah as she had the rest of the armor pieces in the sack. After seeing Draven nodding, Sarah opened the sack in her hand and took out the dark pair of gloves, the golden utility belt, the cowl, and the cape.
"Sheryl, baby, go to your room" Timothy shivered seeing the Black Knight's cowl. It felt like the Black Knight himself staring at him. That symbol on the chest wasn't just a symbol for many, it was a warning. It struck the fear of God in their hearts.
If the armor had a tracker as he was expecting, the Black Knight won't be too far. He did not want his daughter to be in the corsair between the Black Knight and this youngster who was capable of killing numerous brutes of Scarface and the Scarface himself.
"Papa" the little girl pouted, stomping the ground to let him know her disagreement,
"Hey" Sarah knelt down to meet the little girl's eyes,
"You must listen to your father Sheryl. Otherwise, heroes won't like you"
Sarah ruffled her head. As soon as Sheryl heard Sarah, her face lost all the rosiness,
"Really? no no no no, I'll be a good girl, I promise. I want the heroes to like me"
Her round eyes welled up,
"Go to bed and sleep. When you wake up, all the heroes will like you"
Sheryl looked at Draven but he didn't react at all.
"Now go" Sarah sent her away before she starts to cry,
"You could have said something you know" Sarah exclaimed after Sheryl left the forge,
"Heroes don't exist. The sooner she learns that, the better"
Timothy was surprised to see both of them share the same thought.
He was searching the inside of the cowl when he felt a bulge,
"Here it is" Timothy squeezed the bulge as a round object resembling a shirt button came off the cowl.
It was charred,
"You did this?" Timothy asked Draven doubtfully,
"Margoth, did you do this?" Draven telepathically asked Margoth,
"No. I wasn't even aware of this tracker until now. It must be the system's work" Draven could sense the shock in Margoth's voice. It was extremely rare to see Margoth whisper instead of talking loud in his demonic voice.
"Must be the work of Scarface or the Clown" Draven lied and although Timothy didn't believe either of them had the knowledge to disable the tracker without being electrocuted, Timothy didn't ponder any further.
"What kind of changes do you want me to make? I don't think we have enough time to make huge modifications. A destroyed tracker won't stop Black Knight from finding the armor and the one who sto…took it"
Instead of telling him what he wants, Draven decided to show him. He took a step away from the armor and Sarah.
Creech!
Draven gritted his teeth, spreading his wings. The crimson red wings spread open casting a large shadow on the ground.
Looking at the wings, Timothy understood what changes he wanted him to make. Timothy wasn't surprised by the majestic wings. He had seen countless superheroes and their weird superpowers. Before settling in Veland, he used to be one of the best craftsmen in UFH. He was in the team that designed the armor of the Angel of Lotus. UFH marked him as the potential to become the most powerful Supreme one until he started to kill his fellow superheroes and was bested by the UFH. To this day, the armor they crafted was lying dormant in a heavily guarded room in UFH headquarters.
"Can you turn around? I need to take measurements"
Shoving the other thoughts to the corner of his mind, he turned his focus to the task at hand
Draven pulled his wings closer together before turning back. Timothy took a roll of thread to measure the span of his wings as well as the wide of each wing.
"Miss, hand me over that chalk" While measuring the wings using the thread, Timothy asked Sarah pointing at the small charcoal piece on the table near her.
She put the sack down, picked up the chalk, and came close to Timothy.
As she handed over the chalk piece to Timothy, she noticed the blood dripping down on Draven's back.
"Hide the wings," Timothy asked after marking the thread with the charcoal,
As he was told, Draven pulled his wings into his body. They saw the wings shrinking rapidly before completely disappearing into his body.
"Spread your wings again," Timothy frowned. He thought the wings were growing out from the outer layer of the skin. He was proven wrong when he saw the wings coming out of his back cutting open the flesh like razor blades,
"So the wings grow out of you every time you summon them. It must hurt like hell" Timothy said,
"You can hide them. I have all the measurements I want unless you have something else to show me"
After closing the wings, he walked towards the sack and took out a broken sword.
"Attach this to the gauntlet and make it concealable"
Timothy saw a saw-edged blade with a copper hue to it, with the letters 'Ange' engraved on it. The blade was broken in the middle so there was no way of knowing the rest of the words. The guard was formed like a pair of angel wings and Its grip was formed like a skeletal arm.
"It will take some time but I can craft a spring-loaded mechanism to control the sword. It can make the sword spontaneously extend and retract from its position"
"And paint the armor black" Draven said,
The armor was dark but not black. Draven wanted the armor to be darker. The darkness would be the last thing the supervillains see before Draven sends them to hell.
Timothy nodded and went to fire up his forge. Sarah stood awkwardly for a moment before sitting on the ground having nothing to do. She was still pretty shaken up after seeing Draven massacre the brutes and almost beating half of the inn to death.
He used to be so happy and compassionate. She couldn't find that guy anymore. What remained of him was a cruel, ruthless, vengeful killing machine. She had no idea how he acquired a new power but if he managed to get all of his powers back, Sarah knew there would be a bloodbath in Etheria.
She hoped when the time comes, she could stop him from destroying himself by going against the UFH itself. Deep down, she knew the UFH wouldn't be able to stop him this time if he had all of his powers. Besides, she knew he was not alone, something freaky was with him and guiding him.
Draven closed his eyes, leaning against the wall.
"Draven, This is gonna sound cliche but promise us that you will always use your powers for good"
"Protect the weak Draven"
"Wear this mask Draven. It's not for you, it's to protect the people you care about"
These were the last words spoken to him by his father and mother.