[Dark Elite_H2]

THICKETS, MASKS, AND TREACHERY--The shadow of the Steef


Soft humming pinched at Stranger’s ears. His ears propped up over his hat, and his eyes opening groggily to sheer sunlight burning through his pupils. The humming became clearer to a quiet melody, sung by a girl, hanging by the windowsill. He rubbed his eyes, more covering it from the intense sunlight, and yawned loudly, stretching his arms far out. The melody didn’t stop when he made al these noises, as he put back the recliner, and stood up, scratching his head.
“...Will they open their eyes, and realize we are one...On and on, we stand alone, until our day has come...” Umi sung quietly, sitting on the windowsill, gazing out below to the unsuspecting townsfolk emerging from their dark homes, and walking around town without a clue. She seemed to have more life than last night, her skin wasn’t pale, but glowing a healthy color. Her arm was covered in a blanket of white gauss bandages, covering her wound tightly. “...Will they open their eyes, and realize we are one...Till the day, we carry on, and know our day will come...” she didn’t hear Stranger coming up from behind her, with a smile spread over his face.
“Mornin’, Umi,” Stranger greeted in a near-low growl. Umi spun her head over to Stranger, and she smiled shyly.
“Hey...” her voice faded. “What ‘che singin’ there?” he asked. Umi moved her head away from his face, she felt a blush fall upon her cheeks. “Nothin’ much,” Umi lied, then hummed again. “So...uh, you feelin’ better?” Stranger asked with a pinch of concern in his throat. “Fine...have a soar throat, but I’m fine...” Umi nodded. Stranger kept silent after that, looking around him and scratching his head. “So...uh, you, think yer fine ‘nuff to go bounty huntin’ today?” Stranger asked, knowing what the answer was going to be. Umi’s head snapped back to Stranger, with a smile spreading across her face. “Damn-straight! I’m full of energy. I just want to go beat the crap outta Outlaws,” Umi swung her arms around. Stranger let out a laugh, seeing her in her full life. Doc. Hectors peeked through the door, then came in, bowing his head to Umi.
“Well, seems as if my patient’s all worked up! That’s a very good sign! Lemme just checkup on yeh, Umi, and you can probably leave today...” Hectors sat Umi on the Gurney again, and pulled out his clipboard and stethoscope. The doctor grunted positively, writing on his clipboard. He nodded at Umi, giving a bright smile. “Well, Umi! This has to be the biggest surprise outta all my patients! You have to be the fastest healer ‘round here, and that’s astonishing ter me!” Hectors patted her on the arm, then looked at the bandage. “...But I suggest you keep that bandage on fer a lil’ longer. I ain’t positive that yer wound has healed yet,” Hectors nodded. Umi agreed with the Clakker, standing up and walking to Stranger. “Well, it’s safe fer yeh to go, Umi! Be careful out thar, and Stranger,” he looked up to him. “...take care of Umi, ok? She seems to be an OK-kid ter me,” Hectors nodded.
“T’ain’t a problem, doc,” Stranger smiled down at him. “Well, ok then! You may leave! G’luck on that bounty mission, you two! Wish yeh the best ‘o luck!” Hectors waved at the bounty hunters, as they exited the office, and out to the morning sun of New Yolk. Umi stretched her arms out, groaning sleepily.
“Damn, it’s been a long night...” Umi relaxed her arms. “Well, you ready fer Lefty? ‘Cause I am,” Umi looked up to Stranger. He laughed a little.
“You don’t seem ter give up easily, don’t yeh?” he ruffled up her hair. They walked out on the cobbled streets of New Yolk, the Clakkers surrounding watching them as they passed them. Cornjaws walked up to them from nowhere, watching suspensefully as they walked closer.
“Well! I’ll be damned! You actually survived the purple-ass Sleg?” Cornjaws asked surprisingly, then turned to Umi. “I’ve heard all about you, human. I’m most surprised to see you still alive! Din’t know it’d be so life-threatening to go after a large Sleg like that! But hey, glad you didn’t die,” Rusty said, then back to Stranger. “Well, you want to learn that Sleg call now, huh?” Stranger nodded. “Well, follow me. Don’t want to start a commotion ‘round town fer doin’ a Sleg call. C’mon,” Cornjaws led them out of town, through the Mongo River passport, and at the head of the slope. Rusty cleared his throat to sound clear, then howled a weak howl of a Sleg. He coughed hoarsely, plucking out his cigar. Stranger rubbed his chin th oughtfully.
“Like this?” Stranger asked, then brayed a perfect howl from Cornjaws demonstration, almost like a wolf howl to Umi’s comparison. Cornjaws looked up in surprise. “Wow, that’s-that’s purdy convincin’ thar, Stranger. Much better than what I did in the old days...” his voice trailed off. “Well, now all yeh have ter do is use that Sleg call to lure out Lefty, and his ass is all yers,” Rusty nodded. Stranger nodded in thanks, and Rusty left them to their own, bidding good luck as he walked through the closing gates. “Well, climb on,” Stranger stood on his four limbs, leaning down close enough to Umi’s height. Umi hesitated.
“What about my arm?” she said in a reminder tone. Stranger stood back up, grinning a little. She knew that kind of grin, and she frowned a little. “Oh...not again...” Umi’s head dropped down. Stranger gathered her up in his arms, and sprinted down the slope, she near to the ground as his arms hung down. Traveling right near the water’s edge, and dodging trees and bushes, while Umi squeaked out cries for him to watch where he was going. Through a small passage, across a roofed bridge over the sparkling Mongo River, and now on a left plateau of land, leading down a small gorge to the Mongo River. Stranger continued sprinting through the thick brush of trees and leaves, doing what he did best at times: Scaring the crap out of his partner. Barrels and wooden crates were stocked on the sides in the brush, seeming to grow more numerous as they continued down the path. Someone was here, and they were ready for anything.
He stopped at a slight drop down to the Grubb graveyard the clerk told them about. A small pond of water streamed out through the metal gates blocking most of the water flowing out. He dropped down heavily on the grass, letting Umi down from his arms. The graveyard went by its name: Lots and lots of gravestones. But on the tops of each gravestone was the shape of a Grubb’s head, and words engraved on the stones. But they weren’t interested on the stones, but what was above the graveyard, perched near the trees. A camouflaged-colored tent, with a wooden perch was built on the rocky hills overshadowing the graveyard. Stranger walked to the middle-most row through the gravestones, tensioning his throat.
“We’re on Lefty’s turf now, Umi. Get ready,” Stranger cautioned, rubbing his throat. She kept a hand near her Needler. He cleared his throat, and inhaled deeply. Then, he let out the howl, the perfect-cut howl Cornjaws tried to demonstrate, clearly and loudly so that every bird perched in the trees fluttered away from Stranger. He relaxed his voice, listening to the surroundings. He heard mumbling and scrambling from the tent above, and hid them both behind one of the tall gravestones from Lefty’s sights.
“Hey I heard a Sleg...” he mumbled to himself. “Where are ya, you mangy beast!?” he shouted, glancing all around the bottom of the graveyard. Stranger and Umi stepped out from behind the gravestone, keeping their head down from Lefty.
“Ain’t no one here, Lefty...” Stranger kept a fist on his hip, then perked his head up. “...just, you an’ me,” Lefty’s eyes burned up in anger, “What!? You bastard! You’ve gone ‘n done tricked me out!” then he knelt down by the balcony from his tent. “Well, if that’s how you want it? Yer gonna have to fight my boys before you can even think of gettin’ me!” Lefty stood back up, then glared back down to Umi. He grinned at the human. “Well! What do we have here? If it ain’t the human that’s up fer a bounty! Yer just dumb enough to stoop in to my turf, human! Now I got’s to hunt you down, so don’t move an inch!” he ran back in to his tent, shouting out from his tent to his minions. “Get’m, boys! Make sure that human doesn’t escape! Like they even can!” he cackled, then fell silent. Minions from every side of the graveyard crawled out of open mine shafts, and growling down the hill to the gravestones. Most of them were Shredder minions, but mixed up with some Shooters and Semi-auto’s.
“Wow, there’s a lot’a them...” Umi snapped her head to each minion closing in on them. “They’re going to try and get you, Umi. Listen closely, and they won’t get you,” Stranger whispered over his shoulder. Umi nodded, still watching at each minion, growling and snarling intimidatingly at them. He kept his armed arm behind his back, loading on Boom-bats on each launcher. Umi still hovered her hand over her weapon on her belt. Then, Stranger snapped his arm up to the surrounding outlaws, and fired both launchers with Boom-bats. The Boom-bats attached to the outlaws, and an immediate chain-reaction began. All the outlaws stumbled down from the explosion, some dead, but most alive, but gave Stranger a chance to escape from them. He grabbed Umi by the arm, and dragged her away from the circle of fallen minions behind a thick couple of trees. He reloaded his bow with Rabid Fuzzles, compliments from Hectors, and Stingbees.
“Stay here, Umi. I think Lefty’s gonna show his ugly face real soon-like,” Stranger told, and jumped out to the ring of outlaws stumbling up. The Fuzzles were first to go, them gnashing and biting with their unnatural strength in their jaws. The outlaws even screamed louder compared to the first version of Fuzzles. Then came the streams of Stingbees, nipping at their faces with super-sharp stingers. The outlaws fell faster than Stranger expected. Then came Lefty, and his cackling voice from his tent. But he didn’t come alone. He came with his trusty boomstick: a high-powered sniper rifle, without a scope, and had a very powerful and painful shot. How they knew? He shot at the trees they were behind, and wiped out nearly half of the tree.
“Holy...sh-“ Stranger grabbed Umi in his arms, and sprinted away from the trees, and behind the gravestones. But that didn’t even hold up for long. It took only three shots to lower the gravestones down to the sights of their heads.
“You can’t escape, Stranger! I got’s you right on my sights!” Lefty cackled, purposely missing his next shot so they could scramble out in the open. Stranger kept Umi low still in the rows of gravestones, and ran lone, frantically loading his bow up with Thud-slugs. The bullets came closer and closer to Stranger. He leaped behind another tree farther on Lefty’s left, peeking out as far as he could without getting shot, and fired both Thud slugs on his bow to Lefty. The Outlaw cried in pain, falling back on his balcony. He caught his breath, glaring at the tree Stranger hid behind.
“Damn! This rifle’s over-heatin’! Be back in a jiffy, Stranger!” Lefty lied, running in to his tent again, and ordering more outlaws of his own to go out and stall. Same amounts of outlaws came from the same places near the tent of Lefty. Shredders and Semi-autos were only to come out this time, which made it more challenging. Umi came out when she heard Lefty yell and go back in to his tent, but Stranger motioned her to stay down. He shot out Snuzi darts, killing five outlaws, then squeaked when he ran out. Then Rabid Fuzzles came in to play, Stranger shooting them far out to the Semi-autos and the rest of the Shredders. Higher above the graveyard was Lefty’s grunts and hoots. He was now far right near his tent, higher than his regular post. The bad part was he had a clear shot on Umi’s hiding hide, and the really bad part was Stranger was too far to get her out of the way.
“UMI! MOVE, NOW!” Stranger roared at her. She perked her head up immediately, looking behind her back and up.
“I got you now, human!” Lefty wildly said, and pulled the trigger. She jumped up and ran faster than a jackrabbit, through the rows of gravestones. Stranger began to lope towards Umi, as his bullets got closer and closer to Umi’s legs. He knew what Lefty was up to, and it was nearly the same plan to Meagley’s. Lefty reloaded his rifle quickly with his sharp-tipped bullets, and fired again. Two out of three bullets missed. What happened to the other bullet was dramatic. Luckily, it didn’t hit any of the vital areas. What made matters worse was that the bullet shot and struck in to her wounded arm, passing through entirely her bandages and her arm. When it stuck, the pain immediately struck through her nerves, but the pain rating was much higher than last time. She screamed louder than ever, tripping down from the pain, and tears spewing down her cheeks. Lefty above, jeered and cheered at his efficient strike at the human, and ran back in to the cave behind him. Stranger stopped at her screeching self, writhing around and holding in her screams of pure pain. He lifted her arm carefully, seeing through that the bullet had cut right through her arms.
“God damn. Can’t nothing come wrong with you, kid?” he joked slightly, and lifted her up in his arms.
“Stranger...” she clenched her teeth tightly. “This hurts more than hell...” “I know, I know...Calm down...” he said in a soothing voice, but she continued to writhe in his arms. He heard Lefty coming again, through his tent again. He ran aside behind the trees they hid behind at first, but kept low in a stock of reeds. He laid Umi inside the reeds, thickening the reeds more so Lefty or his goons would find her. She was cooling down her movements, but they continued still. “You need ter, stop movin’, Umi. Or Lefty will catch yeh...” Stranger said in a deep purr quiet enough that Lefty wouldn’t hear. “Where...are you going?” Umi looked to his neon-green eyes. “I got’s a bounty to get...” he unlocked his bow, and exited behind the reeds. Lefty, beckoning the human to come out, didn’t realize that the bounty hunter was now on his tracks. Loading on a Thud slug and a Boom-bat, he aimed for Lefty behind a tree near the reeds, planning to use the Boom-bat first.
“Oh, STRA-A-A-A-ANGER! C’mon out with that purdy human, so’s I can finish BOTH of yeh!” Lefty chuckled.
‘I don’t think so...’ Stranger growled, and shot the Boom-bat first. Lefty caught the Boom-bat flying towards him, and shot it down. The Boom-bat exploded in mid-air, making one final squeak in pain. “I ain’t stupid with yer lil’ plan, Stranger! C’mon out, and fight like a....whatever you are!” Lefty jeered loudly. No reply, but Stranger launched the last critter on his bow. Now, Lefty didn’t realize the Thud slug coming at him, which knocked him down flat on his porch. He grumbled in anger, glimpsing around to see the bounty hunter. “So! Is that how you wanna play!? Fine then! Time to get up close and personal!” Lefty jumped from his balcony, and landed heavily on the ground.
“Good...” Stranger whispered a growl, loading on now the last of his Fuzzles and Thud slugs. Lefty wandered around the graveyard, not even noticing the trees the bounty hunter is behind. Fuzzles flew out from behind the trees, and on to Lefty. When the Fuzzles worked their part, the Thud slugs then came out, knocking in to Lefty’s gut like rocks from a slingshot. He regained his breath from the Thud slugs quickly, showing a slight sign of fatigue. He looked over to the trees, growling angrily, and stomping towards the trees, holding his rifle up. He jumped over behind the trees, roaring at the sight of...nothing. He grumbled confusedly, having his rifle above his arms and looking around wildly. Then, he looked to the reeds, silently ruffling in the wind. His eye squinted at it, slowly approaching it with his rifle now at his gut. Stranger, perched up in the tree above Lefty, growled protectively, and swung down, kicking Lefty back from the reeds, and holding down his bow. Lefty glared at Stranger, then chuckling maliciously.
“There you are, ya pussy outlaw! You finally show yer face!” Lefty struggled up with his heavy gear on his back. “Now, I can truly show the many signs of pissed off, I’M in!” Lefty roared, swinging his rifle unexpectingly at Stranger’s jaw. He flung to the pond of water, stumbling on his stomach, and weakly lifting his face out of the water. Lefty came up to Stranger’s back, striking the butt of his rifle in to the back of his neck, sending him back down in the water. He stepped a heavy foot on Stranger’s back, and put the rifle at his head, chuckling more evilly. “You ain’t the bounty hunter...no more...” he nearly pulled the trigger. Lefty groaned in pain, as prickles of something sharp stuck in his skin, and more and more of the prickles came in a gathering on his back. Pink needles flurried from the reeds, sticking straight in to his back, as they gathered more and more. Umi slid herself out of the reeds, using her full clip of crystalline needles through her weapon. She lowered her arms, grinning at the corner. “Why you lil’-“ then a massive explosion came before he could even finish his sentence. Pink dust shrouded his corpse, as it fell down in to the water and bubbled painfully. The dust settled down and showed Lefty’s entire back blown off. His mumbles of pain quickly stopped, blood trickled heavily with the calm current of the water, trailing small rivers of red along with the river. Stranger coughed hardly, holding his throat and gagging all the water that was caught in his lungs. He exhaled heavily, shaking the water out from his hair, and looking over to Lefty. He blinked widely, gazing back over to Umi, her head down in the grass.
“Umi!” he growled, scrambling over to her. She mumbled in acknowledgment, keeping her head down in the grass. He lifted her off the grass, her face having a streak of dirt across her cheek.
“Saved yer ass, didn’t I?” Umi smiled tiredly. He chuckled, “Yeah...you did,” Her face was returning slowly from her pale state, but her eyes red of tears. Her arm was slowly coming to a stop of bleeding, but the bloody gash still was wide open. “You feelin’ ok?” Stranger asked, surprised at her critical state. She shrugged. “I’m used to pain. Always have been. It’s nothin’ new to me,” Umi replied. “I can see...” Stranger stood up with her in his arms. “Thanks...” he nuzzled down to her face, giving her a small cuddle. She swung her arm around his neck, kissing him on the nose. “Ain’t a problem. That’s was partners do,” Umi smiled, then looked over to Lefty. “Ooo...Did a slight number on him...Sorry fer messin’ him up,” Umi looked innocently in to his eyes. He shook his head. “Eh...I bet the clerk’ll give us something...” Stranger shrugged. “Yeah...I bet,” Umi said hopefully. They walked back to town through the mine shaft that was wide open from one of the outlaws’ exiting gates, and back on the trail they went on to get to Lefty in the first place, and back across the bridge. The ripples of the waters shone off from the light of the mid-evening sun. The sky was turning an unusual red, near the color of blood. They knew something bad was about to come...Especially to Stranger...