by C. W. Ashley
Iggy scrambled to his feet with a choking cough and met Baker toe to toe, unable to put any weight on his now bleeding leg.
Why am I so useless outside of the car?
Sil had followed her nose to the other side of the hideout, ignoring the gunshots and cries from the platform, knowing that Clarissa was her priority. Navigating the network of the vehicles in the dark parking area, she stopped to sniff around, trying to confirm a location. Her acute hearing picked up the panicked shouts and random gunshots being fired off through the hideout and willed herself to not be distracted.
Sil persistently tracked the scent until she found herself at the backdoors of the workhorse van. After sliding a hand against the backdoors of the van, Sil pulled the door open, easily snapping its weak lock without noticing. After confirming the end of the scent, Sil reached into the back and laid her hand across a smooth cold surface of the large rectangular box. Pulling it out with one tug, she found it to be a coffin with the words ‘To Thorn Institute’ were engraved on the lid, though Sil couldn’t read it.
After a final sniff of the casket, she punched a hole through the top and tore the entire lid off as if it was made of wet cardboard. Adorned in a black cocktail dress with a new matching eye patch Clarissa laid still inside.
“Rissa! Rissa!” Sil barked excitedly, licking the vampire's motionless face.
Clarissa’s eye fluttered open slowly as she was met with the thick slobber of a werewolf’s saliva. She instinctively wiped off her face only to find her own movements sluggish and drowsy.
“Fuckin’ gettoff me, Sil...I’m awake!” Clarissa slurred as she draped her arms over Sil weakly. “Ah... think those cunts musta drugged me...or sumfing.”
The Werewolf picked her out of the box and placed her upright, letting the Landlady find her feet in a new pair of heeled boots that she was now wearing. She only got a chance to glance at herself with puzzlement before Sil began to drag her by the wrist out of the parking area.
“Nishin and metal-girl are near home, Sil bring you back, we all move from here!” Sil exclaimed happily.
As they came out on the middle platform both the Vampire and Werewolf were hit with the intense stench of fresh mutant blood. Clarissa’s groggy vision caught the blurry outline of a one-armed Yotie crawling to his feet, almost dead but with rocket launcher back on his remaining arm.
“What the...fuck?” Clarissa said, processing the new information slowly.
“Ey...dog-bitch…” Yotie sputtered with a bloody cough, nearly dead from blood loss. “Catch the frisbee!!”
With his last remaining strength of life, Yotie fired a rocket directly at the pair. In a split second, Sil turned to see Clarissa in sluggish motion and immediately embraced her, attempting to shield her from what she saw being launched her way.
Baker finished a powerful combo with a roundhouse kick, sending a bruised and battered Iggy skidding across the filthy platform floor. Baker retrieved his pistol and laughed as the overmatched derby driver struggled to find his footing. Before he could deliver the final blow, a thundering explosion shook the entire station as Yotie’s rocket hit one of the vans in the parking space. Jets of orange fire pushed out in all directions and a wave of heat hit Baker’s face, causing the first sign of panic to form on his face.
“What the hell!? They got bombs?” Baker said before firing his gun blindly in the direction of the explosion. “Yotie! Where the fuck are you? Where is my car? Shit.”
Completely ignoring Iggy, Baker jumped down to the rails, desperate to see if his vehicle that was holding his money was still intact. Watching and listening carefully to the glow and crackle of the post-explosion fire, Baker still wasn’t able to see Sil’s hand swipe before it sent him flying backward, catching him square in the chest.
Moderately charred but very alive, Sil lumbered towards Baker with a heavy limp and her claws and fangs baring wide. Richter scrambled backward as the werewolf closed in him, with murderous intent in her white-hot eyes.
“You’re no fucking mutant...y-you’re a monster!” Baker said before firing his pistol and hitting Sil in the chest area.
Sil paused at the gunshot momentarily before snarling deeply and continuing her approach. Her face began to morph into something more savage, spikes of hair pushed out from her shoulder area, and her well-defined muscles began to bulge, Baker could only watch in terror as the bullet he fired into her pushed out of her chest and fell harmlessly to the ground.
“YOTIE, YOTIE!” Baker screamed as he fired more shots into Sil, each one having less effect than the last. “GET HER AWAY FROM ME!”
The audible crunching and popping of Sil’s transforming ligaments were drowned out by the screech of tires and the roar of an engine. Sil was barely able to turn around before being struck by the front end of a Pickup Truck that sent her soaring through the air and landing through a communal bench on the platform.
The pickup truck stopped short of the Underboss, and its powerful horn blared loud enough to cause Baker to grimace and Iggy to jump back to his senses. A large, red-scaled arm waved the underboss over from the window, and Grady’s nonchalant voice was heard again.
“Money is in the back, Ricky. You got one chance to get out of this alive,” Grady said.
Baker scrambled to his feet and ran towards the passenger side only to find it occupied by Hyatt, the last living member of Yotie’s outlaw crew. Similar to Grady he had a somewhat amphibious appearance but with blue slimy toad-like skin and fins around his face like a frilled lizard. He shook his large head at Baker and pointed a wet thumb behind him.
“Get in tha back Baker, you’re a passenger,” Hyatt said with a cruel chuckle that was joined by Grady.
“Motherfuck-” Baker grumbled before hoisting himself clumsily into the cargo bed and banging on the back window over the snickering of the mutants in the front. “Alright let’s move! And where’s the money?”
“Most of that is my money now, Ricky, seeing as I just saved your fuckin life, plus all your guys are dead,” Grady said before gunning the engine and waving sarcastically to Iggy from his window before hitting the gas. “It’s a long ride back to Folsom, Rick, just enough time to re-negotiate the money me and Hyatt are gonna get when we take over the Shell-”
Grady’s demands were cut short by a trio of bullets smashing through the back of his truck, causing him to start driving immediately for the exit.
“Baker, Grady!!” screamed a dashing Clarissa as she fired Yotie’s pistol at the Workhorse as it was speeding away. The bullets narrowly missed Baker who attempted to return fire, only to find his gun was empty. He gave Clarissa a nasty grin before the truck peeled out of the station, leaving Clarissa with no target.
“Clarissa!” Iggy shouted as he clutched his swollen, bleeding face while rummaging through the broken bench “Sil’s still alive over here!”
“Good! Get her in the back with Mode, we can still catch those fucks!” Clarissa said as she snatched up the damaged android and loaded her into the backseat.
Iggy cautiously nodded as he did the same with a dazed and battered Sil who clearly had some broken bones. “You sure you want to go after them? We are all back together now and-”
“You can get your victory orgy after we splatter those two treacherous cunts, Crasher. Get in the fucking car!” Clarissa snarled.
Clarissa snapped with all of her fire and fury and none of the groggy effects of the drugs which had all but worn off. Iggy smirked with a throbbing face at her comment as he climbed in the Blockgain with Clarissa and brought the engine to life. “Your wish is my command, Landlady. I like your outfit too!”
The tires screamed intensely as the Blockgain launched from a swerving burnout and propelled out of the hideout and into the black night of the Big Waste. Iggy grit his teeth as he hit the boost function, trying to cover as much lost ground as possible as he desperately searched for the Workhorse. “I can’t see them! Clarissa, which direction?!” Iggy yelled with a shifting neck, straining
to see with a swollen eye.
“I can see them,” The Vampire said with a newly solemn tone. “That Workhorse is slow. Just pull to the left a little and they’ll come into view.”
Iggy glanced at Clarissa to see her face drop into her palms before taking a deep breath and wiping her eye. “Clarissa…” he muttered empathetically.
“Eyes on the fucking road, Crasher! They are still dangerous. Grady was raised dangerous,” Clarissa snapped before her voice dropped into a sob. “I raised him to be dangerous, smart, the best...”
Iggy saw the red and orange tail lights of the pickup truck on the horizon and lined up at its rear before pressing hard on the gas, accelerating rapidly. Iggy was impressed with how good a job he and Mode did on the clean sounding engine as they closed in on the Workhorse.
Baker was still in the back of the truck demanding that he swap seats with Hyatt but to no avail. Once he saw the menacing muscle car roar into view, he screamed at the mutants to hand him a gun. Bullets whipped by the Blockgain as Baker let off a few shots, with the panic and turbulence of the chase affecting his aim.
“Listen to me! I’m the Cook sibling in charge of accounts & treasury! I have no direct involvement in petty gang-beefs, turn away now and this doesn’t have to be anything personal,” Baker negotiated through a shouting, shaking voice.
Iggy turned toward Clarissa and saw the pain of betrayal on her face along with a single tear from her eye which Iggy was certain was because of Grady. His mind envisioned what he knew about the Thorn Institute. Terrified captured women and men subjected to the wills of rich sadistic patrons. Pin torture, electro torture, starving, partial drowning, blinding, forced cannibalism and other unspeakable acts that his vampire companion would have been subject to. They filled Iggy’s mind and he was overcome with disgusted rage.
Iggy rolled down his driver's side window and shouted back at the underboss, “No, Richter Baker, you’re wrong. It’s very personal!”
Iggy flicked his harpoon mechanism to fire, once again launching the gas propelled hook from its cannon directly at Baker. The aim was perfect. The grapnel punched through Barker’s chest, skewering his body in dramatic fashion.
“Clariss...urk!!!”
Baker’s voice was canceled as both his lungs were popped by the bladed claw lodged inside him. With his dying strength, he desperately clung to the inside of the cargo bay. With his mangled body drenched in blood and eyes wide as saucers as he choked out his last few breaths of life.
A cold splash of horrified shock hit Iggy as he witnessed the gory mess in front of him before he was hit with a much stronger feeling of blood-lust rushing through him. Clarissa placed her hand on Iggy’s thigh and he grinned as wide as his busted lip would allow before flicking the retract switch.
The grappling cannon’s mighty withdrawal did not bring Baker’s back with it, but tore him asunder from the middle, causing his flesh to explode in all directions from the back of the truck.
Richter Baker, the middle Cook sibling, was dead.
As a large splash of Baker’s blood hit the Blockgain’s windshield. Iggy turned again to Clarissa who exhaled with a small sigh of relief before nodding in approval. “One more, Crasher. One more.”
The far superior Blockgain caught up to the Pickup Truck so quickly that Iggy had to brake slightly to line up the car for his famous PIT maneuver. Grady leaned out of the window and turned back towards the Blockgain. His calm and cheery expression slowly twisted into a cruel smirk as he waved a small device in their view.
“Hey L, it’s a shame I had to break Blanch’s neck, she was always so good with insurance policies, the range on this remote is pathetic, thank the Soft-neck for driving so close!” Grady yelled from the vehicle, hovering his thumb over the main button.
Clarissa’s eye widened with dread as she heard the subtle beeping from the inside of the car, immediately gripping Iggy’s arm and screaming. “They put a bomb on your car! You have to get out now!!”
Iggy snapped his head towards her with eyes of disbelief.
“What?! I just fixed it! I didn’t see no bomb and neither did Mode, he’s bluffing! I almost have him!” Iggy yelled while shrugging Clarissa off.
“No there is a bomb! I had Blanch put it on your car the night we met...but I decided to leave the remote with Grady, I... changed my mind about using it!” Clarissa said as she unlocked the doors in the Blockgain, shouting in the voice box for Mode and Sil to jump out.
Iggy’s eyes began to well up with tears as he angrily shoved Clarissa off as he tried to line up for his attack.
“No!!! Mode didn’t see a bomb! She has fucking scanners! You’re wrong!”
“Raaaandal...explo-sisisive device was located, but was assumed to b-be part of your equipm-ment.” Mode chattered through the voice box.
“Noooo!!!!! I’m NOT leaving!! Just let me drive!!” Iggy wailed as the beeping sound became loud enough for him to hear. “Just jump out! I’ll finish this myself.” Iggy unlocked the doors, motioning Clarissa to leave him.
“Mode, grab Sil and exit the car, it’s an emergency escape,” Clarissa ordered into the voice box.
“Afffirmative, I will preserrrrve life,” Mode confirmed as she hooked her arm around the dazed werewolf and yanked her out of the car with them.
Iggy screamed as he saw Mode and Sil violently tumble out of his beloved car at the speed they were at, but was cut off by Clarissa rocking his world with a swift punch and forcibly ejecting herself with him. The pair rolled through dirt at breakneck speed, compounding every bruise and cut they had received up until this point until finally slowing to skid.
Iggy lifted his head just in time to see his beloved magnum opus, the Blockgain Chaser erupt into a massive explosion.
“ARRRGGGGHHH!!!!”
Iggy cried loud and long repeatedly punching the ground with his swollen knuckles and before dropping his face into the earth, soaking it with his blood and tears. Clarissa slapped Iggy forcefully, the added sting causing his howls to drop into a whimper before dragging him to his feet, forcing him to limp with her.
“Shut the fuck up!! Sil and Mode are still back there! Or would you rather mourn your car for an hour longer?” she said with a stern tone, hiding a small hint of empathy in her speech.
Iggy’s mind re-focused quickly and he called out for Mode and Sil while trying to ignore the new injuries he received from the ejection. After around five minutes of limped searching they found Sil crawling slowly with Mode clinging on to her neck, unable to stand with two fully broken legs.
“Ni...nishin…” Sil muttered before all four dropped to the ground together in exhaustion.“Where is home, Nishin…?”
Iggy threw his arms around Sil and sobbed softly into her chest, causing her to embrace him tightly.
I don’t know where home is anymore.
The Battle-Mule pickup truck started to rock violently as it approached the off-road, causing Grady’s sole passenger and only surviving outlaw Hyatt to complain.
“Ya gonna fuck up the tires, Grade! How the hell did you get to tha hideout so swift driving like that?” Hyatt asked as he was thrown around his seat by the road bumps.
“It's a shortcut. Dear, departed Baker told me about it months ago. Most cars won’t take this route cause of the terrain but a tough old Junker like this can make it through,” Grady said with a smirk before his face dropped. “And you can go ahead and call me boss now, Hyatt. Only choice you got now is Folsom and me.”
Hyatt glared at Grady before his blue face went soft with a submissive nod. He peered at the side mirror to see the glowing flames of the Blockgain’s burning carcass and blinked twice.
“Ya thank they are dead Boss-Grady?” Hyatt asked.
“They had time to eject but I don’t know if they did, can you smell any burning bodies? I don’t have a nose as you can see,” Grady said.
“I don’t have one either, these slits on my face are technically gills,” Hyatt said flatly.
Grady f
acepalmed before he took one last look behind him as the wreckage faded into the distance. “Well worst-case scenario is they survived, but they are in the middle of the badlands at night,” Grady said with a vicious smile. “Maim Creek is Cook territory so they gotta take their chances in the waste looking for an outpost or something on foot before the sun rises and cooks Clarissa alive. If they are lucky, a Radlion will munch em before that happens.
“Not tha classiest way ta go... probably betta than Yotie though, jeez,” Hyatt responded with a shudder.
Grady scoffed before punching a number into his communicator as they finally drove through the rockiest part of the area. Grady signaled Hyatt to be silent as it rang.
“Who is this?” a female voice from the communicator asked.
“It’s uh Grady Sullivan. Is this the Kitchen?”
“What do you want Sullivan? We are very busy.”
“I need to talk to Cook.”
“Everyone needs to talk to Cook. The questions is, why the fuck would Cook talk to some random affiliate?”
“Because it’s about his brother. Richter Baker is dead,” Grady stated firmly.
The communicator went silent for a few moments while Hyatt’s eyes grew wide with suspense. “One moment, Sullivan, Cook wants to speak to you directly.” the voice said in a much more civil tone.
Grady turned to Hyatt and reassured him with a very wide smile.
Chapter 26: Loose Ends
“Where? WHERE IS HOME?!” Sil barked at Iggy with moderate panic.
“It... it’s gone. Sil.” Iggy replied, drained of all energy and motivation.
Sil’s head began to dart around, barking in different directions as she dropped to all fours. Iggy sat motionless, staring at the floor as his own tears dampened them in the dark. Clarissa cradled Mode as the mangled android's voice began to slur into a hushed stream of murmurs, and her eyes lost almost their entire glow.
“GONE!? Gone WHERE!? Find home Nishin!!” Sil snarled with a tone that was more rage than panic.
Iggy was barely able to lift his head and look Sil in eyes before pointing in the direction of the burning wreckage of the Blockgain in the distance. When Sil finally turned to face the fate of the vehicle she called home, she filled the sky with the longest, loudest and most painful howl she could muster.