Ypsilon and the Plague Doctor

by Zachary Chopchinski

  “You aren’t leaving this ship until I get what I want,” Ypsilon continued.

  Maza put his hand on her shoulder. “Ypsilon, I need to tell you something.”

  “Not now, Mama’s working,” she whispered from the corner of her mouth. “I’m going to start with you.” Ypsilon pointed at Captain Silny.

  “Ypsilon, seriously. You need to—”

  “What do you say? Time to play?” she said to the captain, ignoring Maza’s pleas.

  The Plague Doctor nodded. “Kill them. But do not fire your weapons or you will further damage the ship.”

  Captain Silny’s cannons recessed into his forearm, his body jerking unnaturally as he marched towards them.

  “Ypsilon,” Maza grumbled.

  “Get on crowd control. I got this one.”

  Before Ypsilon could react, Captain Silny jumped. He smashed his thick, metal-clad fist into a pillar, only just missing Ypsilon’s head. Her headphones flew off, flipping across the deck.

  With the thudding music suddenly ripped from her, Ypsilon couldn’t think. It took her a second to realize what had happened. Infuriated, she boosted between the captain’s legs and kicked a thruster at his supporting foot. His leg slipped out from under him and he fell to the ground.

  A group of Dwellers rushed them. Maza grabbed a pipe. He swung the club and it connected with the head of a Dweller. The powerful blow caved in the front of the Dweller’s face and he slumped to the ground, lifeless.

  Silny pushed himself up, grasping for Ypsilon. He was huge, but Ypsilon was fast. The giant obliterated several beams and crates as he struggled to catch her. But she couldn’t run forever. Ypsilon needed to open the fighting field from the narrow deck of the warship or she wouldn’t be able to outmaneuver him. Without a weapon, she was a sitting duck.

  “Come get some!” Ypsilon shouted. She charged across the deck to the gangway on the other side.

  Captain Silny was right behind her.

  She jumped onto the gangway just as he drove his fist through it. The structure collapsed and Ypsilon’s heart jumped into her throat as she fell to the shipyard floor.

  Her boots lessened the impact of landing on the platform, but pain still rushed up her legs and through her back.

  The chief of the guard jumped down, his frame towering over her and blocking out the light. His arm cannons whirred to life.

  Ypsilon jumped. The sound of his cannons firing left her momentarily deaf. Small metal particles rained down on top of her, her ears still ringing as she scrambled to get out of the way of his next attack.

  As Silny’s cannons whirred again, someone charged him. She was so fast, it took Ypsilon a second to realize it was Van. A narrow blade extended from her prosthetic leg. Van jumped, spinning in the air and three of Silny’s fingers dropped to the ground.

  Van’s chest heaved, she was soaked and looked like she’d just been though the fight of her life, yet she was smiling. “You think I’d let you have all the fun?”

  24|Back In The Game

  Van felt like day old dog crap, but she couldn’t help smiling. She’d been bottled-up since everything went to shit and she needed to vent. It felt good to be back in the game. Kip had been right. She needed to keep moving forward and stop thinking about the past.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Ypsilon asked, pushing to her feet.

  “We were in the area and decided you needed some help.”

  Silny turned his rage on Van, tearing after her with his stubbed fist. The crates Van stood on exploded as he brought his heavy arm down, but she was expecting it. Flipping over the attack, she slashed her blade across the captain’s face, leaving a gash over his left eye.

  “We?” Ypsilon asked as she jumped into the air, slamming her booted foot into Silny’s face.

  The captain stumbled back but didn’t go down.

  Van shook her head, looking for an option. Captain Silny was the best fighter in the World Machine. Not to mention that they’d have to find a way to take him down without killing him.

  “Yeah. Can’t fight a virus without a cure, right?” Van asked, nodding towards Kip and Molly who were sneaking up a rope on the side of the warship.

  Ypsilon smiled, nodding. “Well, thanks for the save, Van. But I think I have this handled. You want to make sure they don’t screw up your plan?”

  “You sure?”

  Ypsilon raised one eyebrow.

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. You can handle anything.” Van jumped up, grabbed the wires of the destroyed gangway and started her climb. “I can handle anything too Ypsilon. Don’t forget that.”

  “Oh, and make sure your brother doesn’t get himself killed!” Ypsilon yelled after her.

  Van glanced back down as Captain Silny charged at Ypsilon. She dodged the hit, running behind a pallet lifter as Silny obliterated it.

  Van increased her speed, the muscles in her arms and legs tightening as she pulled herself up the rope. Maza was still alive.

  Keeping an eye on Kip and Molly, Van reached the top of the deck and made her way over the ledge. As she neared the deck, two Dwellers rolled over the side and fell the hundred feet to their deaths. “Yeah, that’s Maza.”

  25|The Plan So Stupid, It Has To Work

  “What’s the plan, Kipper?” Molly asked as the two made their way over the edge of the ship and hid behind a stack of crates. So far, they’d managed to go unnoticed, but they had to remain quiet.

  Kip examined the area for his next move. They needed to neutralize the tanks before the virus was released. But he didn’t think his gun was powerful enough to do the job. “Well, so far the plan is not to die, destroy the virus and, if there’s time, blow some things up.”

  A Dweller rolled over the top of the crates they hid behind and slid off the ship. Kip peered around the side of their cover. Maza was charging a group of Dwellers with a pipe, his body covered in a mixture of bronze and red blood. Several Dwellers lay on the ground, their bodies bent and broken, but dozens more surrounded Maza.

  “Enough!” the Plague Doctor yelled. She charged, pummeling Maza and sending him rolling across the deck towards Kip and Molly. The crates splintered on impact. Kip squeezed his eyes shut, expecting to be sent flying, but the crates slowed Maza’s momentum.

  A plume of smoke crept out of the bottom of the doctor’s mask as she pushed herself to her feet.

  “Who the hell do you think you are?” Van yelled as she climbed over the edge of the ship.

  The Plague Doctor didn’t have time to turn around before Van kicked her in the face, sending her sprawling backwards into the group of Dwellers.

  “Psst, Maza. Take these,” Kip whispered, pulling a set of forged Damascus tungsten knuckles exactly like the ones Adal always wore out of the satchel clipped to his waist.

  Maza jumped, surprised to hear Kip’s voice, but he was careful not to give them away. Kip slid the knuckles to him.

  Maza laughed. “Oh, now it’s a fair fight.” He rose as several Dwellers charged at him. He drove his fist into the chest of the first one. With the added strength of the knuckles, Maza crushed the Dweller’s chest and he collapsed to the floor. “Who else wants some?”

  Taking the fight away from where Kip and Molly hid, Maza played crowd control while Van kept the Plague Doctor at bay.

  “Kipper, what about that?” Molly pointed at a propulsion gun sitting a few feet away.

  Kip cocked his head to the side, thinking how he could use the gun for his plan. The propulsion gun could concentrate energy waves to induce pressure on a target. The frequency could be set to range from disabling electronics, to crushing physical items. “What about it?”

  “Can you interface your heat gun with that and, I dunno, make that like a super cure?”

  Kip’s eyes lit up. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it first. It could definitely work. Or it would cause a chain reaction similar to a hydrogen explosion and kill everyone. Either way, it was probably their only hope and, at this point, it wa
s the only plan they had.

  He spun and wrapped his arms around Molly, squeezing her tight. “Molly, you’re a genius!”

  26|The Not So Human Punching Bag

  Ypsilon slammed into a metal wrack.

  Pipes rolled off one of the shelves and landed in her lap.

  She shook her head, willing away the migraine that was starting to form behind her left eye. She needed to find a better way to keep Captain Silny busy. Playing his punching bag while Van, Kip and Molly executed their plan wasn’t working in her favor.

  And she still didn’t know what she was going to do about Pajak. She didn’t even really know whose side she was on anymore. The only thing she knew for sure was that Silny was really starting to get on her nerves. She’d gotten her hits in, but this fight wasn’t going to last much longer without a real weapon.

  Silny kicked aside a pipe as big as she was, and it tore through the wall of the docking facility.

  Ypsilon grabbed one of the pips in her lap and launched it like a javelin towards her attacker’s face.

  He snatched the projectile out of the air and tossed it aside.

  Seizing the chance, Ypsilon used the thrusters in her boots to boost herself into the air at him. Her heel connected with his armored chest and, with another thrust, she flipped backwards.

  Captain Silny stumbled. Pipes bent and snapped beneath his gargantuan feet. He stepped on a cluster of pipes and slid into an elevator. Losing his balance, he fell, crashing to the floor.

  Ypsilon landed atop another set of shelves.

  By the time she landed, the captain was already getting up.

  She shot her gaze around, looking for her next move, when she saw several long arachnid legs slide from one beam to the next. “You!” Ypsilon yelled. “Get back here.”

  Pajak didn’t acknowledge her. He increased his speed towards the ship.

  Hatred, like hot coals burned in her chest.

  She’d been set up.

  Pajak had known she wouldn’t survive this attack. He probably hoped she and the Plague Doctor would kill each other and save him from having to do the dirty work.

  Changing focus, Ypsilon decided she was done playing with the captain; it was time to go spider hunting.

  Charging up the wall, she jumped, grabbing the edge of a beam and using her momentum to swing herself onto it. She sprinted the length of the beam, leaping when she got to the end. Landing on a beam just below, she charged, closing the gap between her and Pajak.

  A distant whir sounded as several small explosions ripped through the beams around her.

  Ypsilon dove.

  She twisted through the air. The best way to avoid getting blown up was to keep moving.

  Just as she was within arm’s reach of her uncle, a crash below drew her attention. Adal and Arija landed on the platform wearing mechanical suits identical to the one Captain Silny wore.

  27|Robot on Robot Crime

  “You go low, I go high!” Adal shouted, glancing at his girlfriend.

  Arija nodded and then raced forward, taking Captain Silny’s legs out from under him. Adal drove his fist into Silny’s chest.

  The captain crumpled backwards and collided with the wall.

  “What’s going on here? It’s like World War III,” Arija yelled.

  Adal was just about as clueless as she was. Al had only saved them a short while ago. He’d worked some intense mechanical magic to fix their suits, then sent Adal and Arija here.

  Adal and Arija had never actually seen a Creator build anything and watching Al work was something Adal would never forget. It had been like watching a sculptor create a masterpiece. His hands moved unbelievably fast, a blurred mixture of mechanic and magician.

  When he finished, Al helped Adal and Arija get situated in the suits and gave them a quick play by play of the controls. Then he went back to tending to Webley.

  At the thought of Webley, Adal’s brow scrunched. He couldn’t fathom what would happen to the World Machine or Earth if Webley didn’t make it. He shook his head, forcing the thought away. He couldn’t think like that. Right now, he needed to focus on saving the world… again.

  Even with their freshly repaired suits, Captain Silny was still almost twice his size and that realization sent a feeling of dread to the pit of Adal’s stomach. Not only was he bigger and better trained than they were, he was infected, fueled by rage, and couldn’t feel pain.

  “Listen, big guy, maybe we should all relax,” Adal cooed, trying to reason with the captain.

  “That’s not going to work,” Arija warned.

  Just then, Captain Silny charged. He swung his arm at Adal, narrowly missing his head.

  Arija moved under the hit and threw a fist into the side of Silny’s thigh. The metal of his suit crunched under the impact, but Silny twisted and drove his knee into Arija’s chest. She rolled over a conveyor, crushing the small machine as she went.

  Rage deafened Adal. The world quieted as his girlfriend let out a pained whine. His heart thundered behind his temples.

  He rushed Captain Silny.

  His hands at the ready, he jabbed once. Then again, and again.

  Each hit found its mark, forcing Silny back against the wall.

  The captain of the guard threw an elbow into Adal’s shoulder. The crippling blow sent an unbelievable pain shooting across Adal’s torso. His arm fell limp. Something must be wrong with his suit's electronics.

  Spinning around, Adal forced his working fist into Silny’s stomach. The second his hand connected with the captain, he ducked and rolled out of the way. “Not killing him is becoming a real pain in the ass.”

  Arija’s shadow soared over Adal. She tucked herself in and collided with Silny shoulder-first.

  “This isn’t going to work! We need to find a better way to stop him,” Adal yelled. He joined Arija in pressing the captain backwards. Looking for options, Adal noticed the large pulse cannons on the top of the warship. Maybe there was enough firepower in them to deactivate Silny's suit.

  28|Family Sucks

  “Get your ass back here!” Ypsilon snarled.

  Pajak whipped around the beams, but she was faster than him. He was only a few feet away and running out of pillars to cling to. Ypsilon was going to hold herself to the promise she’d made and rip his legs off.

  Pajak turned abruptly to make his way towards the ship. With a powered boost from her boots, Ypsilon charged him. As she made contact with the arachnid leader, she wrapped her arms and legs around him in an attempt to restrict as many of his legs as possible.

  In a tangled mess, the two fell to the deck of the warship.

  “Shit!” Maza growled as Ypsilon and Pajak landed next to him. He punched his balled-up fist into the face of a round Dweller. The knuckles he wore were now drenched in blood, the sticky substance seeping into the crevices of his fist. “You good?”

  “Peachy,” Ypsilon grunted, pushing herself up.

  “I need to get to Van. She needs to know something about the Plague Doctor.”

  Pajak grabbed Ypsilon around the waist with two of his arachnid legs.

  “I’m a little busy here, Maz,” she said, forcing the back of her head into Pajak's forehead until he let her go.

  Maza slugged another Dweller that charged him and turned to watch Van and the Plague Doctor. Ypsilon glanced at Van, trying to figure out what was so important that it would pull Maza away from a fight. “She can handle herself Maza. It looks like Kip did a pretty good number on her leg.”

  Maza didn’t reply, he turned and pummeled a Prowler, punching it in the face until it was unrecognizable.

  Ypsilon spun around, kicking Pajak in the stomach.

  “You seem a bit angry.” Pajak backed off, his hands raised. “Tell me, have I done something wrong?”

  “Oh, let me see...” Ypsilon began, rushing him, her head down and arms ready.

  Pajak braced himself for the hit.

  Ypsilon ran right up the middle. No sneaky moves, no swift misdirec
tion, she charged right up the middle and jammed her fist into Pajak’s jaw.

  The leader of the Kleinmasch stumbled backwards, fury taking hold of his expression. “I think we may be beyond conversation.”

  “Just tell me why?” Ypsilon demanded. “All that talk about family. About setting up the Plague Doctor.” Suddenly Ypsilon’s eyes welled. Confusion set in. She shouldn’t be upset about this, but she was. “You set me up!”

  “Of course I did. You think I want you to succeed? You are the spawn of my putrid brother. I have no use for you nor did I for him. I trusted my associate would rid me of you, but it looks as though I will have to do it myself.” Pajak smiled. He whipped one of his arachnid arms at her.

  Ypsilon ducked and the arm pulverized several Prowlers fighting Maza. Straightening up, Ypsilon didn’t know what to say. Why did she actually think that Pajak wanted to show her who she really was? Turning on her heels, Ypsilon ran.

  She led Pajak around the deck and away from the others. She’d reached the end of the boat, leaving her out of options other than jumping. But that would leave her friends outnumbered. “Damn it!”

  Pajak was still making his way toward her when Kip shouted, “Take this.” He lobbed a small tube at her. As she caught it, the device automatically extended into a staff.

  Cog’s staff.

  Her father’s staff.

  A strange change filled her as she clutched the weapon. It felt right.

  She smiled at Pajak. Just as he reached her, she spun, swinging the staff at him. He shot one of his arachnid legs at her, and she smacked it away. “Now we can play.”

  Pajak laughed. “You’re nothing, Ypsilon. You think you’re special? That anyone would care if something happened to you?”