[Munch's Master]

The moment you've all clamoured for! Chapter 7! As said, this doesn't pick up from where you'd want it to, but I myself am pleased with this. It has a nice little action piece too, and sums up life for this character rather aptly. Hope you enjoy it:

Chapter 7: Barracks Life

Arthur watched Larry limp off to his Zulag, supported by Max and Trevor, and then sighed, shaking his head in thought and regret before walking off to his own station, as delivery loader. A boring job, which simply required taking the packaged food up onto a factory train then radioing the Depot or factory it was to go to when he was done.
‘Just like my job at RuptureFarms, in the old days. Gee I miss ‘em. Wonder what they’re doing now.’ Arthur thought to himself, thinking of the friends he had made at his previous job. He shrugged dejectedly and continued on to his station.
2 hours later

Arthur headed off back to the lunch hall after the morning session, quickly took a Paramite Pie and then began towards the Barracks. Seeing as his job relied on the trains he often had a decent amount of free time, and today he decided to spend it on three of his favourite pastimes, drinking, reading the paper, and sleeping. He saw Larry entering the mess hall out of the corner of his eye, and watched him check the work rota board. He hurried out quicker, not wanting to have to talk with them now about what occurred earlier.

He entered the Barracks room and sat down on his bed. The Slig bunks were marginally better than the slave quarters, they were bigger for a start, and had no dried blood, but were just as hard and rusty. He began eating his Paramite Pie with a bottle of Brew at his side, deeply immersed in thought. That is, until the whirring of fellow Slig’s pants brought him back to reality. He looked up and gave an inward cringe. It was Lak. But not alone, he had a few buddies of his with him.
“Why’d ya do that earlier freak?” He yelled at Arthur, who ignored him and continued eating.
“I said, why’d ya do that earlier freak!?” He screeched louder, pushing the pie away.
Arthur gave him a look of extreme annoyance, reclaimed his pie and muttered
“I’d appreciate it if you’d let me eat my food in peace, sh*tstirrer.”
Lak and his four cronies looked angry, but then laughed, Lak retorting “I’m sure you would mudlover, but why should we? Go off and sleep wit’ one of your dear mudokon friends.”
Again, Arthur reacted to Lak’s taunts quickly, and physically, by standing and simply swinging the half-eaten pie right into Lak’s face, and following it with a left hook again to the head that floored the cocky Slig.
“Well, seein’ as I can’t eat in peace, leave me be and lemme have my drink, cause if ya don’t this’ll end badly for you.” Arthur snarled, reaching for his brew.
But before he could even take off the top, two of Lak’s cronies lunged at him, one striking his stomach, the other punching him in the chin. Arthur dropped a little, winded and dazed, but retaliated by driving his own fist into the first Slig’s stomach, and braining the other with his bottle, which cracked but didn’t break. It broke though when he stuck another of Lak’s pals who went for him, two of them now down with glass in their bodies and Brew all over them. The fourth and first ones however, got him down, one tackling him while the other swung at his face, catching him just below the mask.

They pinned him down as he kicked, bit and struggled, scratching them and weakening their grip, but Lak had got back up, and planted the ball of his pants foot right into Arthur’ chest, then kicked him sharply in the mouth (just under his tentacles). The two bottled ones didn’t get up, but Lak hauled up Arthur and punched at him while his friends pinned Arthur’s arms back. They shoved him onto his bed, and Lak reached for his throat to pay Arthur back for earlier, but soon found Arthur’s mouth clamped tightly around his fingers. He kicked and punched, taking Lak down again, but soon was down himself after getting clouted and ganged up on by three of the Sligs, one having recovered from the bottle blow. Arthur soon had the fight knocked out of him, and Lak and his goons beat him up a bit more, other Sligs who had lunch break having wandered in to watch the fight and cheer on Lak’s gang.

Arthur lay in a bruised and bloodied mess, while Lak grinned, still clutching his bitten hand, and leaned down, hissing “Don’t start what you can’t deal with mudlover.”
The other Sligs, bored now that the fight was over, and merely having to squabble over winnings form bets placed on the confrontation, ambled out, leaving Arthur to drag himself wearily onto his bed, spit out a broken tooth, and slip mercifully into unconsciousness.

~~~~~~~~~~

There! Done, the first all-Arthur chapter, and I think it was a good-un! Dave you can now update your fic, seeing as you said you wuldn't update 'till I did, so now everyone's readers are happy! Read and Reply pelase. Chapter 8 hopefully up by Sunday.