Jon nudged her with his elbow. “You done thinkin’? Doesn’t look like Raggedy Ann is gonna let us ride off into the sunset without a little gunplay first. So… Michelle?”
She bit down on her lower lip to drown out her anxiety with a jolt of pain but it was no use, she couldn’t hide her trembling. “Run. Now.” I was a fool to involve you. “I’ve never faced this many before.” I won’t be able to protect you. “I don’t know if I can win this fight.” I don’t know if I can handle losing you, too.
He puffed out his chest and jabbed his thumb his way. “All the more reason ya need me by your side.” He drew his pistols and gave them a spin. “Don’t fret your pretty little self, I got your back.”
She lunged at him. “I said run!”
Jon recoiled, his expression hardening as his cocky bravado finally gave way to the gravity of the situation, but he stood his ground. “I ain’t leavin’. Not without a fight. This is my world, too.”
“Running away?” asked Mr. Buttons with a curious inhuman twist of his neck. “How inconsiderate. And after I went to all the trouble of baking you a cake and wrapping your gift.” He stepped to the cake on the cart and a large cardboard box with a purple bow tied on top. The box started to move after he gave it a swift kick. “No, Marauder, I’m afraid no one will be leaving the party just yet.”
A little girl with brown hair emerged from the box. She was no older than seven, shivering in nothing but a dirty brown sack and a dog collar.
Mr. Buttons kicked the little girl—stumbling her forward. “Well, at least, until you’ve blown out the candles and made your last wish.”
Jon’s cheeks reddened and he spit. “Son-of-a-bitch.”
The sight of the poor girl was more than Michelle could take. Her fear was swallowed up by a surging anger. “It’s good to see you haven’t changed one bit, Shadow Snake. Still a cowardly weak sack of crap who can only pick on small defenseless children.”
“Guilty as charged,” said Mr. Buttons.
The whimpering little girl grabbed hold of the cart’s handlebars and started pushing it forward. Tears streamed down her dirt-smudged cheeks and fell on her bruised and mud-covered feet.
Michelle knelt down on one knee and waved the little girl in. “That’s it, come to me, honey. I won’t hurt you.”
“Somethin’ about this ain’t right,” said Jon.
“You think,” she fired back.
“No, I mean… doggonit.” He grabbed hold of her shoulder. “We need to keep our distance.”
She swiped his arm away. “Don’t touch me.”
The little girl passed the middle point of no man’s land between the two parties.
Mr. Buttons slid his gloved hand out from inside his vest pocket. “Put your lips together and prepare to blow.” In his fist, a device with a red button on top—his thumb hovering above like a deadly scorpion’s tail. “It’s time to make my wish come true.”
The little girl sobbed so much she could hardly walk straight.
Michelle’s eyes started to water. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’ll protect you.” She already knew the truth, the bitter pill, but she couldn’t bring herself to swallow. “Everything’s gonna be okay.” She couldn’t save her, but still, she reached out for her, grasping for a future already lost.
“Michelle,” Jon shouted, “We have to—”
Mr. Buttons pressed the button.
“—move!” Jon dove, tackling Michelle to the ground.
BOOM!
A bomb exploded inside the cake sending a shockwave rippling out. Shrapnel, debris, fire, and sizzling hot pink frosting showered the surrounding walls and buildings.
Jon moaned in pain on top of Michelle.
Her own eyes widen as his slowly closed.
“Ah hell, well ain’t that a kicker…” Jon’s last whisper before he went limp.
She wiggled herself out from under him. Then she saw his back—charred, blackened, and bleeding. “Oh, Jon…” He had shielded her—saved her again. And this is how I repay you. This all my fault. I should’ve known better than to let you get too close. Everything I touch withers and crumbles to ash. “Why didn’t you run?”
She carefully dragged Jon’s body behind a slab of broken wall nearby. After she gently laid his head down she placed her right hand over his chest. Luckily, his heart was still beating. Stay down and out of sight and maybe they’ll forget about you, she hoped. She turned to the billowing cloud of black smoke in the middle of a ring of destruction—the stench of gunpowder lingering in the air. The little girl’s body smoldering a few feet away, her face blackened and unrecognizable. She stepped over to the small child, knelt down next her, and brushed her eyelids closed. “I’m sorry.”
Rain started to fall as if the dark clouds above were awakened by the violent eruption. The scattered clumps of flames hissed in protest as the pitter-patter intensified.
Mr. Button’s convulsed into laughter, his shadow growing in the light of the fires and becoming a Goliath against the building behind him. The monstrous shadow’s movements didn’t match its owner’s—becoming its own entity as it transformed into a horned demon with large claws. “Poor little orphans.” Mr. Buttons clawed at his mask and swayed back and forth. “Your one fatal weakness. You can’t help yourself, can you Marauder?” He stomped his feet with joy. “No matter how illogical and foolhardy the endeavor. Even if it kills you.” He spread out his arms and twirled. “You must save their worthless, meaningless lives.” He jabbed his finger at her. “Fool!” The huge horned shadow peeled itself off the wall and lurched forward, planting its two fists down like an ape—Mr. Buttons between them—and roaring. “Mercy is for the weak.”
The rain poured on Michelle’s downcast head, drenching her long blonde hair and drizzling down her forehead and cheeks. “Good to know.” She pulled her hood on, shrouded herself with her cloak, and unsheathed her sword. “I’ll be sure to remember that when I drive my blade through your diseased heart.” She showed him the fire in her eyes.
“Michelle,” whispered Lefty, “he’s trying to bait you with psychological tactics.”
“If he meant to piss me off, then I’d say he’s done a splendid job.”
“We should retreat.”
Mr. Buttons clapped his hands and his eight androids marched forward like wind-up toy soldiers, readying their weapons—their gray-blue eyes lighting up with a humming noise.
“Run, fight, or die,” said Michelle. “I don’t care. Just don’t get in my way.”
Lefty reared up and swiveled out toward the enemy. “Fine, there’s no reasoning with you when you’re this pissed off. So, if we’re going to do this—then let’s do this right.” She felt his eyelids part and his single snake eye dart around like a spinning eight-ball. “Acquiring targets. One... two… three… eight robots… ten enemies including Mr. Buttons and his shadow.”
Maiden’s Soul lit up with blue energy. “Don’t lose sight of a single one. I’m counting on you.” Androids or not—from Maiden’s Soul’s reaction I can tell they’ve been tainted with dark magics. And Lefty was made to hunt out evil auras and devour them.
Lefty screeched with glee. “Alright, Michelle. Let’s show them who they’re dealing with.”
Michelle widened her stance. “This fight will be over in a flash. Whoever blinks first—loses.”
Mr. Buttons thrust his hand forward. “Kill the blonde bimbo and her traitorous leech.”
The eight androids charged, speeding past the open ground with a chorus of clanking and clicking gears.
Michelle held her blade to her lips. “Earth,” she whispered. Maiden’s Soul shined brown. She plunged the tip into the ground. A rippling wave spread out, transforming the cement and asphalt floor into sand.
The androids slowed as the ground beneath their metal feet gave way and they sunk knee-deep into a sandpit.
Mr. Buttons cursed under his breath and shook his fist. “No, I won’t be denied.”
The hulking horned shadow
lunged for Michelle, it’s right clawed-hand stretching out and grasping for her.
“Light,” she whispered. Maiden’s Soul glowed a vibrant white. In a single slash, she cleaved four claws off the shadow hand that loomed over her—threatening to snatch her up like a hawk would with a helpless field mouse.
The shadow recoiled and drew back. Both it and its owner clutched their right hands in pain. “Curse you—you filthy bitch,” Mr. Buttons hollered.
The androids recovered and scattered, attempting to encircle her and take her from behind.
“Four in the front and four to our rear,” shouted Lefty.
She nodded. “Got it.”
One android took the lead ahead of her, raising its handless arms and spewing two streams of fire.
“Wind.” Air swirled around her sword. She spun around with a slash, meeting the flames head-on. A twister spread out from her body, catching the fire and pushing it out until she was surrounded by a tornado of flames.
She didn’t have a second to relax as a blade speared through the flames and sped past her nose. An android wielding a halberd leaped down next to her and took another swing. She deflected with a strike of her own and narrowly missed a third sweeping slash—arching her body so far back the back of her skull nearly hit the ground. She recovered in time to spot yet another android charging her—this one wielding dual katanas. The three of them danced in a flurry of steel and sparks under the veil of roaring flames—the clanging of metal echoing off the decaying skyscrapers.
Michelle held her own until a red laser zipped past her from nowhere—carving up the floor around her in short, random bursts.
“We’re sitting ducks here,” said Lefty. “We need to keep moving.”
“On it.” She caught the next encroaching laser with the side of her sword and reflected it—aiming the beam back like one would a laser pointer. She tilted her sword, slicing the charging android with katanas right down the middle. It fell down in two halves, twitching and sparking. She retraced the laser’s source and redirected it back at its owner. An explosion echoed in the distance.
“That’s two down,” said Lefty.
“You mean three.” She ducked as the android with the halberd performed another sweeping slash. “Shadow.” Maiden’s Soul turned pitch-black as if dipped in oil. She stabbed the android’s shadow.
The android jolted to a standing stop. A shadow blade pierced out of its chest—from the inside out. Motor oil sprayed and the machine slumped back into the flames—catching fire and exploding.
Michelle blocked the spraying shrapnel with her cloak and turned her sights ahead. “It’s getting too hot in here. Time for a nice chill. Ice.” Mist poured off of Maiden’s Soul like dry ice. With a forceful sweeping brush of her sword, two dozen icicles shot out from the ground, dousing the flames, and freezing the flame-throwing android in a sheet of ice like it was a fly trapped in an ice cube.
“Four bots down. Four more to go,” said Lefty.
A stream of bullets whizzed over her head and she dove for cover behind a slab of concrete. Gray dust and cement chips showered her as the bullets ate away at her little wall.
“We can’t stay here.”
“Tell that to Mr. Roboto and his machine gun,” she snapped back.
“The other three robots are circling in on our location.”
Michelle’s breaths were labored now—the mental and physical fatigue of magic overuse was beginning to set in. “Great. Any bright ideas?”
Lefty peeked out from behind the wall. “That fallen building to the west of us…”
“Yeah, and?”
“There’s a small opening under some rubble and—from what we can see—stairs underneath.”
She sat up straight. “The subway. That could be our ticket out.”
“Or a dead end if the tunnels are collapsed. It’s risky.”
“A risk is better than certain death.”
A small metal sphere dropped down with a few bounces and a gentle roll—stopping between Michelle’s legs. A little red light flickered faster and faster on the beeping ball.
“Much better…” She jumped to her feet and ran for it.
KABOOM!
The explosion sent her flying and tumbling like a ragdoll. After a short dizzy spell and a few coughs, she staggered to her feet only to be sent flying again from the punch of an android with heavy, oversized fists. It made no difference that she blocked the blow with the side of her sword—she felt the earth leave her feet all the same. The side of a building some distance away broke her fall, and she slid down. She looked up and spotted two robots charging straight for her—one of them wielding a heavy ax.
“Fire.” Flames engulfed Maiden’s Soul and Michelle sent a couple fireballs hurling at the machines. She knocked the boxing android down, but the one with the ax just cut right through the fireball and kept going. “Damn it.”
“No more magic, Michelle,” urged Lefty. “You don’t have the strength for it anymore.”
She dodged the huge ax as it embedded into the wall where she was just standing. The android had trouble retrieving its weapon, still failing after a few good tugs. She helped it out by taking off its head with her flaming sword. When she heard the whirl of the machine gun cylinders she huddled behind the decapitated robot as a spray of bullets came her way—using the android as a shield.
“Water,” she whispered. Maiden’s Soul reflected rolling tides of crystal blue waves.
“Michelle,” shouted Lefty. “What did we just say?”
“I don’t have a choice,” she fired back as she thrust her blade toward the sky. The rain changed direction, swirling and pooling together into a sphere high above the machine gun android. Soon the sphere took form—the shape of a giant fist. She let her arm and sword drop to her side. The watery fist fell too—on top of the android—mashing it like an aluminum soda can with a cannonball splash.
Michelle pushed her headless android shield away and lumbered toward the opening of the subway. “Six down…” Her world was spinning—she was so exhausted she could barely stand.
“Where do you think, you’re going?” asked Mr. Buttons, still massaging his right hand—his giant horned shadow doing the same. “You think you can walk away after what you did to me?”
She glanced back over her shoulder. The last two androids were coming her way—their frantic pace evolving into a patient, predatory stalk—two wolves gauging their limping food with a curious hunger.
Her exit was only a few feet away but the distance might as well have been three miles. She fell to one knee and rested her brow against the hilt of her sword. “Steam.” A cloud of warm white steam leaked out of Maiden’s Soul, engulfing and shrouding her in a veil of pure white.
“No, don’t let the whore get away,” Mr. Buttons screamed.
With the last bit of her strength, Michelle made a mad dash for the subway.
Two shadowy figures were gaining on her and a giant dark hand hovered above. She slid for the opening gap like she was stealing home plate. Darkness overtook her and a thunderous crash followed.
Chapter Five
Little Michelle swung her wooden sword so hard that she knocked off the dummy’s sack head clean off its shoulders. The smiling sack launched into the green sky, sprinkling golden straw into the hot summer air before its inevitable plummet to the grass field. The sight of the headless practice dummy brought about an involuntary jump and fist-bumping cry of victory from the young warrior queen.
The dummy’s head rolled to a wobbling stop before Atlas’ large, mud-stained boots. He glanced down at the misshapen blue and white button eyes and goofy stitched smile staring back at him with a purse of his lower lip and a twitch of his bushy white mustache.
Michelle wiped the dirt and sweat from her brow with the back of her forearm, firmly planted her hand on her hip, and gave her old master a prideful toothy grin. Her long blonde hair had grown past her waist now and glistened in the light of the sun. Though she had gain
ed some muscle since she began her training, she was still too scrawny to fill out her white tunic and green pants and her proportions were growing more uneven and awkward with each approaching day toward puberty. But even so, she was beautiful—the kind of beauty claimed by neither child nor woman but by the fleeting twilight of change.
Atlas stopped chopping wood and planted his ax into the tree stump. “Don’t look too pleased with yourself, little one.” He clapped his hands free of dust and splinters, snatched up the head, and tossed it back into her arms. “Scarecrows don’t fight back.”
“Not without a head he won’t.” She tossed the head up and down as she made her way back to the dummy, snickering to herself while she fastened it back on its shoulders. “And stop calling me little. I’m almost twelve. I’m almost a woman now.” She puffed out her chest and jabbed her thumb her way.
He raised an eyebrow. “Are you now?”
“Yup. Pretty soon I’ll get boobs.” She cupped her flat chest.
Atlas laughed so hard he lost his balance and nearly toppled over.
The old warrior’s bear of a laugh shrank her grin. “What’s so funny?” She folded her arms across her chest, raised her chin, and turned slightly away from him. “Arthur said I would.”
He slapped his knee and brushed away a single tear from his cheek. “So that’s who you learned that absurd word from. Figures. That boy’s been filling your head with nonsense.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Arthur knows all about it.”
“It?”
Michelle looked around—as if she was about to divulge a secret—checking to see if there might be eavesdroppers nearby. “You know, boys and girls, the birds and bees.” She tilted the back of her hand toward her mouth to hide her lips from possible onlookers. “Sex.”
Atlas laughed even harder, grasping his stomach in a joyous retch. “That boy knows as much about sex as I do about quantum mechanics.”
The Marauder Page 5