21st Century Orc

by Gregory Loui

  And in the same time, the Magnum Orcus’s spikes ripped out the innards of the Blight-krieg, tearing out one of the wheels, causing the Blight-krieg to lurch, tumbling to one side, and then smash into the bone mountain. The earth rumbled and dust burst out in a geyser, rushing out in a wave to wash over the Magnum Orcus, filling Gore’s lungs as she tried to stop the spinning, awaiting the coming explosion.

  Compared to all the explosions before, this one put them all to shame. Gore raised a hand to block out the roaring light. The howling faces of souls released from the Blight-krieg shone through her flesh. Then the shockwave hit Gore. her skin rippled across her cheekbones, her hair lighting aflame, bones shaking as the Magnum Orcus jumped off the ground.

  For a moment, the Warchief strode forward and raised his fist to the heavens before the flames consumed him. He screamed, “For the gods! For our people! My blood will satiate you all!”

  Then only ash remained.

  As the flames died down, Gore turned to the peak of the Mork-hador.

  Numb. Unable to process her own victory.

  The Magnum Orcus rumbled.

  Gore nodded, paused and then eased her foot down on the accelerator.

  She headed to the finish line.

  “Woohoo!” cried Debbie, dancing across the roof while Bones’s head lolled down next to Gore. The two siblings smiled at each other. “We’re on the home stretch! We’re gonna—”

  Then a pack of Warboyz cars burst out from behind the rocks to surround the Magnum Orcus.

  “No one beats the boss!” snarled one of the orcs as he slammed his car into the side of the Magnum Orcus. Her head whipping to the side, Gore cursed and grabbed her pistol. It clicked. Empty. Blight. “NO ONE!”

  “Jagding cheaters!” snarled Debbie, spitting dragon blood from her mouth.

  “Anyone actually surprised?” asked Bones as he emptied his clip into the Warboyz car. “But at least—”

  Howls ripped through the air across the desert.

  “Ah, shit… it’s a Blighted party,” growled Gore, glancing around through the bone mountains to see a horde of cops loping across the desert sands. “And everyone in the world got invited.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  Witness!

  “Jagd, where do we go?” demanded Debbie as the Warboyz screamed and slammed their car into the Magnum Orcus’s left. “Where do we go?”

  “Anywhere but here!” barked Gore, finishing reloading her pistol just in time to look up and avoid smashing into a jagged shard of bone. “Shit!”

  One hand on the wheel, Gore turned around and emptied her pistol into the window of the Warboyz car.

  The driver laughed as all shots ricocheted around him, arching his head back and slamming the car back into the Magnum Orcus. Gore growled and tried to disengage. Only for a Warboyz car to slam in from her right. The Warboyz raised their explosive spears high.

  “You are under arrest!” howled an officer, lunging off a mountain top onto the left Warboyz car, his voice booming off the mountain walls. The roof crumpled beneath him in a sickening crunch.

  Her mouth dropping to the floor of the Magnum Orcus, Gore’s heart stopped as the cop’s yellow eyes locked with hers, before the cop turned away and slammed a cudgel into the roof of the Warboyz car, crushing through the steel like tinfoil. The Warboyz car veered into the side of a mountain.

  Then a hiss pulled Gore’s attention to the right. A cloud of black mist and shadowed bats filled the other Warboyz car. As the riders fought in vain against the mist, the car’s engine sputtered and died, dragging the Warboyz out of sight.

  “What the…” gasped Debbie as the black mist swarmed the rest of the Warboyz cars, stalling them and allowing for a pack of police officers to tackle the riders. “The cops got a—”

  “That’s our cue!” barked Bones, slapping the roof of the Magnum Orcus for Gore’s attention. Her brother pointed to the left, at a solid wall of white bones. “There! Into that ravine!”

  “You sure?” demanded Gore as she spotted the tiny crack in the wall. Could the Magnum Orcus even fit in there?

  “Trust me!”

  Gore weighed her options.

  “Jagd,” growled Gore as she whipped the wheel of the Magnum Orcus around, sliding the Magnum Orcus into the tight crevice. Rocks scraped against the sides, cacti branches whipping at the broken windows. “Jagd!”

  Then the Magnum Orcus exited the ravine.

  Out onto a cliff with no way down.

  “Blight, Bones!” roared Gore as she slammed the brakes, stopping just in time. One of the Magnum Orcus’s wheels almost slid off the edge, slapping off a large pile of stones. The rocks, bouncing against the cliff, clattered in the silence.“We’re jagding trapped now!”

  “Yeah-up,” laughed Bones, hopped down from the Magnum Orcus beside the driver’s seat. He raised his Dakka high while a cop burst out of the ravine, blocking their escape. “Now, let me handle this.”

  “What the jagd? No. Absolutely not. Get back on the Magnum Orcus and I’ll run him over,” hissed Gore through gritted teeth and boiling rage in her mind. Blight. Just when they’d repaired their differences, Bones had to go jagd up again.

  “Gore!” barked Bones, his voice all too calm and serious for once.

  Gore blinked.

  “Trust your older brother. Just let me do something right,” growled Bones as he stepped forward towards the cop.

  Pulling out a revolver, his body shifting into a massive hybrid form, towering above Bones, the cop pushed back his hat to reveal scars running over one eye. He strode forward as well

  Her heart pumping out of her chest, Gore held her breath.

  The world stood still for what felt like hours as she waited for one to make a move.

  Then someone laughed. Two someones.

  Then Bones tossed his Dakka to the side and murmured, “Remember our promise.”

  “Of course. But I gotta enforce the law…,” laughed the cop as he fired his pistol ten times.

  Gore started to scream.

  Her voice died when all ten rounds smashed into the ground around Bones.

  “Jagd,” growled Bones as he kneeled and placed his hands in front of him. “You sick bastard…”

  The cop just laughed, slapping handcuffs onto Bones’s wrist. He chuckled, “I have to give you credit where credit is due. By the Leaf… You actually did it. You managed to get all three gang leaders in one fell swoop. I mean Blight… We all thought you were gonna crack in the first day but you sure showed us. You showed us all, didn’t you?”

  “I do what I do what I do,” sputtered Bones with a nervous giggle.

  Patting Bones on the back, the cop hauled the orc to his feet. He turned to Gore and growled, “Thanks to your friend here, you can go free. You should get out of the Blight. Try not to run into my fellow officers, and definitely don’t engage in any illegal activity—”

  “Wait, what?” gasped Gore as she jumped out of the Magnum Orcus. And immediately collapsed to the ground, clutching her stomach where a burning ache clawed at her guts. “Argh!”

  Bones barked, “Gore! Shit. You got shot by the Warchief, right?” Gore grunted a yes, recalling the flash of light as the Warchief fired his bolt caster. Bones turned to the cop. “Quick, we need to get her to a hospital.”

  “Nah. I don’t smell any fresh blood,” growled the cop, sniffing the air. “The wound’s sealed. Hm… there’s bad juju in the air. Strange magic…”

  “Don’t you dare,” growled Gore as she slammed her fist into the ground and rose to her feet. Ignoring the screaming pain, she marched up to the odd union, her eyes flicking from the cop to her brother then back again. And again. “What the jagd is going on?”

  “Officer Riles, Ma’am,” growled the one-eyed cop, taking off his hat and bowing low to Gore. He smiled, showing a cavern of teeth. “I was the one who—”

  “I know who the jagd you are! I’m asking why you’re here!” The cop blinked and stepped back. Then Gore jab
bed a finger at her brother and growled, “You. Explain. Now!”

  “Um…” gasped Bones as he looked to the side and tried to step away.

  “Your brother’s coming into the ‘university’ with me. In return for y’all’s cooperation with this whole…” The cop sniffed. “Fiasco, we’re going to let you and your girlfriend go.”

  Gore’s eyes flashed red while she continued to glare at Bones. She barked, “What about him?”

  The cop raised an eyebrow and laughed, “Ha! Bones? He’s going to rot in the ‘university’ for the rest of his life. His reward, a step down from executing him for going AWOL during a operation in the Shadow Plains. Now move along.”

  “No…” gasped Gore, unable to understand her own shock, her dismay at Bones’s punishment. Then her eyes flashed grey as her voice turned cold, “No.”

  “What did you say?” demanded Officer Riles, rising his pistol to point at Gore’s head. She didn’t flinch.

  “No. You won’t take him,” said Gore.

  He pulled the trigger.

  No bullets left.

  The cop sighed.

  Marching forward, ignoring the pain in her stomach, knowing she would crumble with the slightest push, Gore growled, “I want to talk to my brother. Now. And you will listen to me. I fought criminals and cops since the day I was born. I just killed the Warchief. You think you can take me?”

  Silence. Neither beast backed down.

  Then the cop laughed.

  “By the Leaf, you got a elchite quad… Fine. I’ll let you two talk it out,” growled Officer Riles, shaking his head and letting out one last peal of laughter before he turned to walk away. Then he turned around and punched Bones on the shoulder, sending the orc flying. “I’ll give you ten minutes, greenskin. Then the cuffs go back on for good this time.”

  Officer Riles unlocked Bones’s handcuffs and strode a few feet away.

  Looking at Gore, Bones rubbed his wrists and began, “Thanks, officer. I—”

  “Enough,” growled Officer Riles as he leant against a nearby rock formation. “Don’t make me regret this partnership.”

  Gore frowned, glaring at Bones, asking, “What does he mean? Actually you know what, let’s just go back to the beginning. What the jagd were you doing with the Fuzz?”

  “Ah…” groaned Bones as he rose to his feet. He glanced at Debbie, who sat by the Magnum Orcus, and called out, “Mind if we talk in private for a minute?”

  “Take as much time as you like,” chirped Debbie while Bones wobbled and walked to the edge of the cliff.

  “Thank you,” coughed Bones, taking a seat on one of the rocks. He gestured for Gore to take a seat next to him. “Could you please sit down? This will be a lot to take in.

  Without a word, Gore plopped down next to Bones, glaring at her brother.

  He chuckled and shook his head, still avoiding Gore’s gaze as he glanced at Officer Riles. Gore glanced as well. The cop reloaded his pistol. Turning back to Gore and leaning in, Bones murmured, “So… if you haven’t guessed already, I’m working with the cops. This was part of a long-term undercover operation to bring down the Warboyz, the Squirrels and the Iron Breakers —maybe even the Corpse Crawlers— using the Grand Prix and Momma G. What you just saw back there was the clean up operation after the task force swept through and arrested the stragglers.”

  “So everything you did… was part of a ruse. You used me!” hissed Gore as her eyes went wide and her blood froze. “You used me and the Magnum Orcus to infiltrate the Grand Prix!”

  Bones nodded and then muttered, “Well… I said as much when we first started. Just I had to make everything look a little bit realistic, which is why I made you guys scramble to get parts by ourselves rather than take parts from the police commissioner. Well, except for a few things which the police cannot know that I’m ‘borrowing,’ okay? But… yeah, I did a lot of things to make sure no one could guess my ties to the cops, to make sure this operation went as planned…”

  The two orcs looked at Officer Riles, who mimed checking a watch.

  “A lot of things that I’m sorry you ended paying for…” Grabbing Gore’s hand before she could reached for her pistol, Bones whispered, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for dragging you into this mess. I just saw you wasted in the university, your engine fire smothered by machines and books. Orcs aren’t meant to be cooped up. But…”

  Bones pushed Gore’s pistol against his chest.

  “If you want me gone, just do it. I’m tired of the lies as well. Now, I just want to give you closure. If you want to start a new life, pull the trigger.”

  Her hand shaking, Gore took a long breath as she turned inside and looked back at the visions of the blood-gem. Then she glanced at her brother. The only one she had in this world. Her mother’s voice whispered in the back of her skull. Family before all else. Even the world. Gore glanced at the Magnum Orcus. The car was silent. Gore sighed and lowered her pistol.

  “Yeah… well, we all made an actual jagd-ton of mistakes. Though you didn’t force me to steal the blood gem,” murmured Gore as she rubbed her forehead.

  “But I enabled you. And I know that enabling is almost as bad as causing,” growled Bones, smiling as he mimed a drink. Then he blinked and cursed, “Blight… going sober is going to be terrible… Though I’m not gonna give up Blight bug. Need that for the nightmares.”

  Gore raised an eyebrow as a thought popped into her head. She murmured, “Was your relapse part of your ruse? Trying to throw off the Warboyz by pretending to be a drunk?”

  “Sure, let’s go with that,” chirped Bones, rubbing his neck and shaking his head. “Let’s go with that…”

  Gore blinked, paused and then sighed as she wrapped one arm around her brother. Bones sniffled and then returned the hug.

  “So… what about your debt?” asked Gore. “Where’s Momma G? Is she gonna come after you?”

  “Closer that you might think. In fact, she’s with us right now.”

  Gore sighed, “I’m tired, Bones. Tired to the bones. Just tell me the damned truth.”

  “There was no Momma G,” murmured Bones, looking away towards the distant head. “That was all just a lie spread by my officers and me. Then given life by you. Remember? The symbol of Momma G? It’s our house’s symbol. And now, soon, the whole world will know that a rider under that sigil killed the Warchief. Oh, I can’t wait for what’s to come… Hehehe…”

  “Uh oh, I know that laugh,” hissed Gore as she shook her head. She whispered, “You used me… again.”

  Bones smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes, and pulled a packet out from his pockets. A little notebook. “You have a choice. All that we have built so far, all that we’ve accomplished, all that you’ve become… that needn’t fall back into the mire of memory. If you wanted, you could become Momma G in truth. You just need to look up the contacts in this notebook and start building a criminal empire. Start with Aunt Iron Tusk. I’m sure she’s escaped and grabbed the prize money. You should—”

  “Oh, no. No. No. Nope. I only got into this game for two things, money and saving your worthless ass. Now that I have both those, I’m not going to go back in,” hissed Gore, shaking her head. “Wait a moment, you’re with the Fuzz. Why’re you looking to build a criminal empire?”

  “Because as much as I want to praise our justice system, there are massive holes in its net and corruption in its core. I don’t think I need to educate you on either of those two problems,” growled Bones as his smile turned fierce and he pressed the notebook against Gore’s warding hand. He glanced over his shoulder. Gore followed her brother’s gaze up to Officer Riles. The cop smiled and mimed shooting Gore. The orcs’ faces drained of blood. “If we build up Momma G, we can help those people. And that’s a plural we. As in both of us. No one can do this alone. I don’t have your strength, and you don’t have my devilishly good looks. You pulled me out of a dark place. If we start this, we can do the same to thousands.”

  Gore looked at Debbie. Th
ere were girls who still lived the horrors Gore and Debbie had escaped. And there were all the other people who still suffered in the criminal underworld’s grip.

  Her fists clenched tight.

  Then Gore nodded and growled, “I’ll fight. For those who can’t.”

  “Good enough for me,” chuckled Bones, tossing the notebook onto Gore’s lap.

  Even though she could fit the damn thing into the palm of her hand, the fragile notebook weighed down on Gore like a world as she stuffed the little thing into her pocket.

  Then Gore chuckled, “Blight, you really did plan for everything. Plans within plans…”

  “I enjoy preparing for contingencies and pursue alternatives,” chuckled Bones as he reached out and wrapped his arm around Gore’s shoulder.

  “Was the blood gem’s vision also part of your plan?” asked Gore, thinking about the vision she had seen during the race, in the storm of her rage, when the Magnum Orcus spoke to her directly.

  Bones raised an eyebrow and asked, “What vision?”

  Gore’s heart stopped for a moment as she glanced back at the Magnum Orcus.

  The engine rumbling within her skull, whispers of that forgotten orc echoing in Gore’s soul, Gore had a hunch of who spoke.

  Blight…

  Her mother never quite left her.

  “Never mind then,” growled Gore, shaking her head and glaring into the horizon. To the future. “So, what happens now?”

  “I am gonna go back to the ‘university’ for a little bit,” murmured Bones as Gore pressed her forehead into his cheek. He smiled and both siblings glanced at Officer Riles, who tapped his wrist again. Gore’s heart skipped a beat. “As part of the sting operation. I don’t know how long I’ll be in bars. Could be months. Could be years. But I will come out. And when I do, I promise that I’ll become the brother you deserve.”

  Gore nodded, even as her heart sunk a little. After all they went through, after they buried the song-hammer, she had to let go of her brother once again. Not fair. But something told her that she would see her brother again.