“Shut up, old man,” Ypsilon yelled, but his words made her falter and his arm snaked past her staff, cutting a deep gash across her collarbone.
“You know, your father never even wanted you. Why else do you think he left? Webley had to beg him not to kill you after Cog found out what a narcissist you are. Your father hated you from the moment he laid eyes on you.”
Ypsilon didn’t reply.
Somehow, Pajak was forcing her back.
She was almost to the edge.
Sweat dripped down her face. Her muscles ached. She risked a glance behind her and Pajak swiped her legs out from under her. Ypsilon hit the ground hard, her staff retracting back into itself.
“Molly, I need you to hold it still,” Kip snapped. He was almost done connecting his pistol to the cannon. He said there would be a delay in charging the gun. Hopefully it wouldn’t be long.
Molly chewed her bottom lip. She was doing her best, but this was all a lot to take in. She’d always wanted action and adventure, but this was turning out to be a little too much.
She let out a reluctant sigh. Kip needed her and she wouldn’t back out. All she had to do was help connect the wires and watch out for gangsters.
Molly wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. Kip had told her at least twenty times how important it was to connect the right wires and not cross them. They’d all die, he said.
Molly tried to keep an eye out for Backslangers but, while she was focusing on connecting the right wires, someone had noticed them and snuck up behind her.
“Gotcha, you little troublemaker,” the Backslanger snarled.
Molly screamed.
She tried to back up, but her leg tangled in a wire and she fell. The bag that Kip asked her to hang on to flipped across the ship and landed on the control panel. Ypsilon’s Arm Pilot slid out of the bag; the headphones were disconnected but her music was still playing.
A high pitched, annoying screech came over the loudspeakers, followed by feedback as the heavy bag sat on the public address system. After a second, the drumbeat of Ypsilon’s music started to play over the loudspeakers.
29|Chills
The deep timbre of the lead singer in one of Ypsilon’s favorite songs pumped through the speakers.
Ypsilon stood, letting the music fill every part of her. Adrenalizing her. A chill raced down her spine, her body reacting to the music. She smiled. “This is gonna suck for you.”
The staff she was still holding extended.
Ypsilon charged.
Pajak shot out one of his legs to try to push her back but she expected it.
She jumped, flipping sideways over the arachnid appendage. The world around her slowed. All she had left was the music and her rage.
Ever since she was a little girl, Ypsilon had dreamt of killing the person who killed her father. She had every move memorized. Every slice of his flesh. Every scream. Now, as adrenaline pumped through her, her body worked off the muscle memory of those life-long fantasies.
30|The Plot Twist You Should Have Seen Coming
“That the best you got?” Van growled.
The Plague Doctor laughed, puffs of smoke seeping from the crevices of her mask as the two went round and round. The Doctor was fast and strong. If it hadn’t been for Van’s new leg, this fight would have been over before it started.
Van slid sideways, then used the thrusters in her boots to rush the Plague Doctor.
The Doctor charged.
She dove over Van’s head.
Before Van could react, the Doctor forced a knee into Van’s back, sending her to the ground.
“I don’t want to fight you. Give up before you get hurt,” the Plague Doctor’s mechanical voice commanded.
“Giving up already?” Van ran at the cloaked enemy once more, spinning and slicing into her shoulder with the blade from her boot.
The Plague Doctor stumbled back but sent a kick into Van’s stomach without missing a beat. Something was off about her opponent. Each time Van attacked, a plume of smoke came from beneath her mask. The smell reminded her of something, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what.
She grabbed the Doctor by the hood, tugging backwards. Her fist thrust into her enemy’s kidney, but didn’t produce the expected scream of pain.
Pulling the hood away, a braid of blue and purple hair flopped onto the Plague Doctor’s shoulder. She was human. She had to be. When Van punched her, she encountered the soft give of flesh and she had human-looking hair. “Well, this just got interesting.”
Muscles burning with exhaustion and clinging to one another, the Plague Doctor shoved Van away and pulled out a knife.
Grabbing at the blade, Van clutched the mystery woman’s arm and wrist. Both struggling for control over the knife, they backed towards the edge of the ship.
The Plague Doctor brought her knee into Van’s stomach, but she refused to let go. The beak of the Doctor’s mask jabbed at Van’s eye as she smashed their heads together.
“Shit. That hurts,” Van yelped. Twisting her prosthetic leg sideways, she dragged the blade up the Doctor’s shin. The woman shifted her stance but, once again, she didn’t cry out.
Another puff of steam.
It was like the woman couldn’t feel pain.
Frustrated, Van used her momentum and spun her enemy. The change in pace gave her the advantage and she yanked the knife from the Doctor’s hand. Van let go, pushing the Plague Doctor back towards the center of the ship.
The Doctor stumbled, not expecting to be let go. Van kicked her in the chest, sending her flying backwards, her cloak splaying out as she fell.
The Plague Doctor, stood, examining Van.
“What? Is this when you give up?” Van squeezed the knife, sweat making the handle slippery.
The Plague Doctor didn’t reply. Her chest heaved with exhaustion as she reached up and placed her hand on the tip of her beak.
“Finally going to face me?” Van asked.
With a slow flip of the mask, the sickly skin and colorful hair of the Doctor emerged. Her once beautiful face was marred by veins. Her black eyes were huge, the pupils so wide Van couldn’t see the whites of her eyes. But even under all that, Van recognized her girlfriend.
“Soisha?” Van’s mind reeled.
She was dizzy, her stomach ready to bring back everything she’d ever eaten.
Tears welled in her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks before she even knew what was happening. Time slowed. Everything around her disappeared. It was just her and Soisha.
Soisha’s eyes dropped. Her hand trembled as she raised the mask to her face, taking a hit of what Van now realized was GoGo.
The narcotic from her home planet was used by some Grinders to increase speed and strength. The unfortunate side effects were physical and mental deterioration. Her Soisha would have never touched the stuff. But this wasn’t her Soisha.
Van took a timid step towards her girlfriend, having to physically force herself to not rush her. “What are you doing here?”
“I came for my own reasons.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? What the hell are you doing here?” Van demanded, anger replacing her confusion.
Soisha took another hit of GoGo as tears raced down her cheeks. “They took you. They took everything. Kip came to our world. You got hurt. Then everything changed. I… I couldn’t be there for you. You shut me out. You left me.” Soisha’s face was an ever-changing mask of emotion. “They had to pay!”
“Are you kidding me? None of this was their fault! I lost my leg fighting the Stronzi!” Van was screaming now.
Her mind was blank.
This couldn’t be happening.
“Kip saved me. He gave me a new life! I left you because you couldn’t let it go! You were obsessed.” At some point Van had started walking towards her girlfriend.
“No. No. No.” Soisha vigorously shook her head. “They took you from me.” Soisha took another hit of GoGo, her words slurring together as the drug took hol
d. “They took you and now they need to pay. I’ll kill every last one of them for you, baby. Don’t you see? I did this all for you.”
“I don’t want them dead, Soisha. I want this to stop. You need to stop,” She yelled back.
Soisha shook her head, her movements erratic. “It doesn’t matter. This will all be over soon. Then we can be together again.” She took a step towards Van. Somehow, they had made their way over to the tanks containing the virus.
Van stepped to the side and blocked Soisha's path. Looking into her girlfriend’s eyes, she could tell she wasn’t there. This wasn’t her. This was something else.
“How long have you been doing GoGo?” Van asked, tears dripping off her chin to the harsh metallic ground.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s almost done.” Soisha took another step towards the virus.
“Don’t do it.”
“I have to.”
Van was bawling now, her sobs coming in big hiccups. “Please, baby, don’t. Please.”
Soisha was shaking her head. “I have no choice. They have to pay for what they did. What they took from me.”
Van pulled Soisha to her chest.
Her girlfriend shuddered, her body twitching a few times.
Confusion masked Van’s face as she looked down. The knife she’d been holding was sticking out of Soisha’s chest. Soisha locked eyes with Van, her vision clear of the drug for a split second.
Soisha’s breathing was already shallow when Van’s head cleared. She didn’t mean to! It was an accident!
No, it had to be done.
She had to be stopped.
“Babe, I…” Van began, her tears falling onto her girlfriend’s face as they slid to the ground.
“It’s okay.” Soisha’s voice was almost a whisper. “I did this for you. You’re proud of me? Huh?” The adrenaline and dopamine dump must be counteracting the narcotic. Damn it for that.
Van squeezed Soisha’s hand. She glanced down. She’d expected to see the hook Soisha always wore but, instead, the leather-clad fingers of a prosthetic squeezed back. Van wrinkled her nose at the humanoid hand. Soisha had always been against prosthesis.
At the pleading look in her girlfriend’s eyes, Van said, “Yeah, babe. I know. I love you, you know?” She choked back tears as she kissed Soisha’s forehead. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry. I love you so much.”
Soisha gave Van a weak smile as Van leaned down and kissed her, their lips meeting one final time. When she pulled back, Soisha was gone, her final smirk forever emblazoned on her cheeks.
Big heavy sobs wracked Van's body. She leaned over Soisha and cried into her girlfriend’s chest.
31|Itsy Bitsy Spider
Pajak wrapped one arm around Ypsilon, holding her away from him as she jammed the end of her staff into his chest. A satisfying scream burst out of his mouth and his grip on her loosened.
Taking advantage of his loss of focus, Ypsilon pulled herself out of his grip, spun the staff and took his feet out from under him.
Pajak lay writhing on the metallic floor of the platform, one of his hands pressed against the hole in his shoulder.
“There there, little spider, I promised myself I’d rip off all your legs and I always keep my promises. That’s something you ought to know about me if we’re gonna be family.” Ypsilon twirled the staff, retracted the ends and slid it into her pocket.
Eyeing a jagged piece of metal, she cocked her head to the side and picked it up. “Perfect.”
She slowly walked back to where Pajak was cowering on the ground, bronze blood leaking out of the shallow hole and pooling around his body.
She bent down.
Placing one knee on her uncle’s chest, Ypsilon flipped the makeshift knife in her hands. A wide smile creased her face. Adrenaline and excitement raced through her system.
As if understanding what she meant to do, Pajak flailed, his blood covered arms grabbing at her. She gathered his arms and forced them underneath her leg, pinning him down.
“I’m going to destroy you,” Pajak growled.
Her heart pounded in her ears blocking out the surrounding noise. “The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout.”
Her father used to sing this song to her as a child. It only seemed fitting that it be the last thing his killer heard.
She pulled one of his legs out from beneath her.
Pajak struggled, trying to pull out of her grasp, but she was stronger.
Fueled by hate.
Fueled by revenge.
She pulled his arm taut, bringing the piece of metal to his shoulder joint.
“Down came the rain and washed the spider out,” she continued through clenched teeth as she forced the metal through his arm, severing it. Blood shot out of his stump, covering Ypsilon’s chest and face.
A pained scream erupted from Pajak’s mouth. His cries sounded so tormented, she faltered, her body wanting to let him go. Wanting to make the screaming stop. Surprised at her reaction, Ypsilon shook her head.
She grabbed another leg.
“No! Stop! No!” Pajak wiggled underneath her.
Ypsilon’s heart slammed against her ribcage. She couldn’t take the begging, the sound grating on her nerves. She clenched her teeth, reminding herself this was the person who had killed her father. He wasn’t innocent. He deserved every ounce of pain. She raised the back of her hand to her face, wiping the blood away as best she could.
Somehow Pajak managed to pull out of her grasp.
His arm wrapped around her throat.
She couldn’t breathe.
Ypsilon pushed away from him, her hands dropping the piece of metal and flying to her neck.
32|Here Comes The Boom
“Incoming!” Arija shouted as she and Adal crashed to the deck of the ship. Arija pushed herself up, shaking off the pain in her shoulder.
Ypsilon had Pajak down on the ground. Her staff was covered in blood and Pajak was missing one and a half of his arachnid legs. Ypsilon laughed, a wide smile across her face as her music blared through the loudspeakers. “You’re right, uncle. I do enjoy the kill. But there is a big difference between you and me.”
Pajak was cowering, his arms raised as if to block the blow to his face. The last and only time Arija had ever seen Pajak cower was when Webley finally decided he had enough of his creation’s destruction.
“The difference is,” Ypsilon continued, “I only kill assholes who deserve it. I don’t go after innocent victims. I may be a bitch, Pajak, but I’m nothing like you.”
Captain Silny climbed over the side of the ship. Arija thought it was strange that he had some semblance of control over the rage virus compared to the Prowlers, who seemed to have no control at all. It had to be the way the virus reacted to the original Dwellers. His body was fighting it. So why was it so hard to reason with him?
Arija slammed into the captain and wrapped her arms around him. Adal jumped on his back, pulling him backwards into the center of the deck.
Ypsilon let go of Pajak and jumped out of the way as the three of them stumbled across the deck of the ship. Most of the Prowlers were dead and the remaining Backslangers were jumping over the side of the ship, desperately trying to get away from Maza.
“Need a little help here!” Adal yelled.
Maza pulled Ypsilon to her feet.
“Where’s Pajak?” she yelled from behind Arija. “I wasn’t done with him.”
Arija didn’t have time to look as Silny wriggled in their grasp. Adal dug his elbow into the captain multiple times. The large guard grabbed Adal, wrenching him free and throwing him to the ground.
“Hey guys! Here comes the boom!” Kip yelled.
Arija glanced over her shoulder as Kip oriented one of the cannons at them. The kid had a huge grin on his face and Molly stood behind him looking terrified.
Arija kicked away from Captain Silny. “Adal!”
Kicking his opponent in the stomach, Adal rolled away. As he cleared the line of fire, the air was suck
ed from around them as the giant cannon revved up and fired. A flash of light and a bolt of energy erupted from the end of the weapon and tore right into the captain.
Captain Silny was thrown from the deck of the ship, hitting everything on the way down.
“Papa!” Molly yelled, running to the ledge.
“He’ll be fine,” Kip yelled. “I think.”
“Where the hell is Pajak?” Ypsilon spat, getting to her feet again. She frantically looked around the ship, clutching her staff. But he was gone.
Maza’s voice demanded everyone’s attention. “Oh my god!”
The entire group turned to find him standing over the body of a woman.
Ypsilon rushed to her. “Soisha?”
The corners of Arija’s mouth turned down. She knew Soisha and Van had been having problems, but why would Soisha do something like this? She knelt next to Ypsilon. She couldn’t imagine what Ypsilon was going through. Soisha had been Ypsilon’s second in command and her best friend. Did Van know yet? This was going to destroy her.
Maza leaned down, his hand on Ypsilon’s shoulder. “This is what I was trying to tell you and Van earlier. I don’t know why she did it, but she looked pretty far gone on GoGo.”
Ypsilon pulled Soisha’s hood over her head. “She shouldn’t be seen like this.”
“Guys... Where’s Van?” Adal asked.
33|Finding Yourself Is Better Done Alone
Kip and Molly raced towards Captain Silny. Adal and Ypsilon were still huddled around Soisha. Maza and Arija had set out to find Van. No one knew if Van was alive or what had happened.
Kip didn’t know Soisha very well but he knew she hated him. She blamed him for what happened to Van. Maybe he blamed himself a little too. But did that give her the right to do all of this? He didn’t know. All he knew was he needed to be with Molly right now, just in case the heat gun hadn’t worked.
Captain Silny lay on the dock platform rubbing the top of his head.
“Molly, stay back until I know it’s safe,” Kip said, placing his hand across her shoulder. Molly didn’t respond, she just nodded, her eyebrows knit together and her face scrunched with worry.
Ypsilon and the Plague Doctor Page 20