[LoboDiabloLoneWolf]

Wow, it’s been ages since I updated. I’m so ashamed. Although, I can claim writer’s block, urg, I hate that stuff.

Just ter let yer know, they’ll be a lot of too-ing and fro-ing in this chapter as we skip between Bailey’s and Stranger’s POV.

Stranger’s Wrath
The Grubbs Get Their Own Back…

Stranger was in a near blind rage. There was only one coherent thought that made it’s way into his mind;

“This is takin’ too long.” He growled to himself. “We’re runnin’ outta time.” He said aloud, irritation creeping into his tone. He couldn’t take this anymore. Every delay could mean Bailey’s end.

Stranger fingered Bailey’s soft leather hat gently, it still smelt of her. He pressed it against his furry cheek, taking a deep breath of her scent, imprinting it on his memory. His resolve strengthened, he would find Bailey, she couldn’t be dead, she couldn’t die before he’d told her that she was his world, his entire world. He really did love her, he realised, not just as a friend or partner, but as a daughter. Bailey was the only family he had, and now she was gone…

“We will be there soon Steef dude.” Said one of the Grubbs,

“We don’t have time!” Stranger growled, “Bailey doesn’t have time!”

“But if we get caught, Bailey will die.” Cautioned the second Grubb. Stranger curbed his temper and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly so that it whistled through his teeth. He closed his neon green eyes in a slow blink.

“How much further?” he asked, calmer now.

“Soon Steef, we’ll be there soon.” Assured the first Grubb shipwright.

As good as his word, not ten minutes later, the two shipwright Grubbs and Stranger came to a place where the Mongo still ran.

Stranger looked up at the huge heap of boulders before him, rising fifty feet into the feet into the air where a giant landslide had dumped them. Regardless, water still burst forth, issuing from far above, at the peak of the landslide and cascaded down to the Mongo river below, curtaining the most part of the rocks with shining water.

Stranger looked down confusedly at the two Grubbs.

“I…don’t understand.” He said softly.

“Behind the waterfall. We will show you.” Said one of the Grubbs and the two shipwrights led the Steef toward the waterfall.

¤§¤

“And when you think you're all alone,
No one's left to come around,
Drop like flies and empathize,
Cause I know that I will someday,
And I know that I will suffocate,
Suffocate, suffocate, SUFFOCATE!”

Bailey sang the most obnoxious songs she could think of. As been as Sekto came across as a sort of Classical Orchestra music person, the most annoying songs Bailey could think of for him, was Green Day.

So she sat in the cage with Sekto’s pet Meech and roared Green Day songs like there was no tomorrow, and for Bailey, there probably wasn’t. Not if she kept this up.

“YOU WILL BE SUFFOCATED IF YOU DO NOT STOP!” Sekto bellowed, but Bailey would not be silenced, instead she got up and sang at the top of her lungs.

“I want to be the minority,
I don't need your authority,
Down with the moral majority,
'Cause I want to be the minority!”

She could see Sekto getting more and more irritated and she revelled in it. She was determined to have some fun before she died. And if she drove Sekto ab-so-lutely crazy, well, that was a bonus…

“One light, one mind,
Flashing in the dark,
Blinded by the silence of a thousand broken hearts.
"For crying out loud" she screamed unto me,
A free for all,
Forget 'em all,
You are your own sight;

I want to be the minority,
I don't need your authority,
Down with the moral majority,
'Cause I want to be the minority!”

Sekto gave vent to a roar of frustration, Bailey went quiet. Sekto then made the mistake of giving a sigh of relief.

“Well reality is due,
What you say just can't be true,
When the story's stretched,
And so far fetched,
That you're lacking an excuse.
You lied!”

“SHUT UP!” Sekto had finally had enough, “MEECH!” he ordered, “EAT HER!” But Meech ignored his ‘master’.

It hadn’t taken long for Bailey to remember that Sekto’s pet, (who he’d called ‘Meech’) was the same creature on the Oddworld card deck as the Queen. She also remembered that it was Meeches that had supposedly been hunted to extinction for Meech Munchies by the Glukkons. Bailey found it very comforting to know that there was at least one left, and even more so when she found, like Scrab and Paramite back home, that Meech seemed to like her.

The Meech was a dark brown and just as tall as Bailey’s lowest rib, he looked like a cross of Scrab and tiger prawn and he seemed to enjoy Bailey’s company. Even if her singing was terrible.

Meech pointedly ignored Sekto’s order and pressed his long, segmented head to Bailey’s ribs, making a soft cooing sound. Bailey grinned cheekily at Sekto and rubbed Meech’s chin.

She took a deep breath, and began…

“100 bottles of Brew on the wall,
100 bottles of SoulStorm Brew.
You take one down and pass it around,
99 bottles of Brew on the wall!
99 bottles of Brew on the wall,
99 bottles of SoulStorm Brew-”

It was surprising that Stranger didn’t hear Sekto’s howl of frustration down the river…

“-You take one down and pass it around,
98 bottles of Brew on the wall!”

¤§¤

The cavern shone blue and green and small waterfalls, tall and thread-like, fell from the high roof in silver ribbons and into the deep, underground pool. Drawn up on the shore was a wooden boat. The carved figurehead was in the shape of a Steef and on the aft of the craft was a crudely made engine of wood and cord.

For a moment Stranger could only gape around at the cave in awe. But concerned thoughts of Bailey quickly swept aside his wonder.

The two Grubbs led the Steef over to the lakeshore and boat.

“We installed the engine to make it easier to go upriver.” Explained one of the Grubbs. Stranger nodded absent-mindedly, but his thoughts were too full of worry for Bailey.

“So how does it work?” he asked, eager to get going and save Bailey.

¤§¤

Bailey sat cross-legged on the cage floor, elbows on knees, her mood now miserable. After a while Sekto had finally realised that if he ignored Bailey’s attempts to irritating him, she’d lose interest and stop, which she had.

The only problem for Bailey now was that now she was bored and had nothing to occupy her mind, her worry for Stranger gnawed at her. She missed him and Sekto’s words from their talk when she was first thrown into the cage, weighed heavily on her mind, even more so now she wasn’t annoying the megalomaniac.

Meech rested his strange, segmented head on Bailey’s knee. Bailey rubbed at his head absent-mindedly and Meech cooed.

Bailey heaved a sigh.

Doubts began worming into her heart and mind. What if Stranger got hurt? What if Sekto caught him? What if he was killed?

Disjointed worried and rambling thoughts whirled around Bailey’s mind and she felt sick with fear for Stranger.

¤§¤

Stranger steered the small Steef craft, feeling impatience stirring in his gut. This was taking too long, although, in all fairness, Stranger would never be able to go fast enough.

After navigating the river for just over an hour Stranger came upon another Grubb village.

It was burning.

The smoke billowing from the flames was dark and thick and dimmed the sun. As Stranger drew closer to the burning village he clearly heard the Grubbs screaming and the bass, cruel voices of Wolvarks. Stranger felt rage flare up inside him and the urge to fight, the warrior and protective impulse rising in him. But he felt torn. His want to protect the Grubbs battled with his parental instinct to find and get back Bailey.

For a moment Stranger struggled with conflicting emotions. Part of him wanted to pass by the burning village and continue his search for Bailey. It was a very strong part of himself. But something held him back, like a hand on his shoulder and a whisper in his ear; Not yet…not yet. Help them. Stranger felt a lump in his throat, it was almost as if Bailey was here beside him. He could see her in his mind, grinning and her gun at the ready.

Stranger knew what Bailey would want him to do.

¤§¤

Bailey knew that something bad was going to happen when Sekto entered the office looking smug and with a lit cigar. How he managed to smoke the thing was beyond anyone’s guess but Bailey failed to see the humour of the situation due to the unease stirring in her gut and niggling at the back of her mind.

“I have a very, very bad feeling about this…” Bailey stood slowly, keeping her eyes locked on Sekto as he crossed the room to the cage. Bailey clasped the bars and eyed the water tyrant with distaste. “Whadda you want?” she spat. Sekto blew a smoke ring in Bailey’s face and she had the distinct impression he was smiling smugly. She wrinkled her nose and waved her hand in front of her face. “Charmin’…” Bailey thought sarcastically.

“Your friend is slippery, so far he has not been sighted…” Bailey smiled patronisingly,

“Maybe you were wrong, maybe he’s not coming.” She said. Sekto matched Bailey’s tone.

“He’s clever to not have been seen, I grant you. But he will come for you.” Bailey simultaneously felt a tingle and a curl of apprehension. She felt hope and dread all at once. She desperately wanted Stranger to come and save her, take her away from this place, for him to hold her close and never let go, so she could feel his heartbeat again and his fur beneath her fingers and feel safe again. But at the same time she wanted him to stay away and stay hidden. “But I tire of this game.” Sekto took a step back. The two squid-ish bodyguards scuttled forward and after a moment the door of the cage swung open and Bailey was dragged out and forced to her knees. Sekto stood over her, “You will tell me where Stranger is. Now.” Bailey struggled to her feet.

“No.”

“There will be consequences if you resist me. Tell me.” Bailey looked Sekto eye to eye and uttered one word.

“No.” Sekto suddenly lashed out and struck Bailey a hard, harsh blow across the face.

“TELL ME!” he shouted furiously. Bailey kept a cool eye contact and her voice was calm;

“I will not.” Sekto screamed and struck her again, Bailey sagged and fell to her knees as pain exploded in her jaw.

¤§¤

Stranger moored the boat downriver of the village being ransacked and jumped out. He loaded his crossbow with a couple of Boombats with a feral grin on his face. These were Sekto’s minions, and Sekto had taken Bailey. Stranger was going to get his revenge.

As he approached the village Stranger heard the shouting and laughing clearer and the anger bubbled in him.

Without a second thought the Steef charged through tress and shrubs that surrounded the village before crashing with a roar into the open. For a moment all activity stopped and everything went silent, Grubbs and Wolvarks alike, gaping at the furious Steef.

Taking advantage of the Wolvarks’ surprise Stranger fired a Boombat at them. The explosion jarred everyone into action.

“GET THE STEEF!” one of the Wolvarks yelled. The Wolvarks contemptuously turned their backs on the harassed Grubbs and began circling the Steef. It was a stupid move. Seeing a Steef guardian again in the Mongo Valley bolstered the Grubbs courage. Seeing the Steef, hemmed in on all sides by Wolvarks made them angry, very angry.

With savage yells the Grubbs attacked, for the first time in decades, the Wolvarks, taken by complete surprise were defeated easily. The Grubbs crowded round Stranger, cheering and chattering excitedly, drowning each other out as they tried to get themselves heard.

“Okay, quiet, quiet!” The Grubbs went silent, looking at Stranger intently, “How many more Wolvarks’re in this place?” he asked, the Grubbs looked at each other,

“There’s a group on the other sidea tha village Steef dude.” One Grubb said.

“Whadda ya want us ta do Steef?” asked another Grubb excitedly. The Grubbs looked up eagerly at Stranger, a perfectly willing fighting force that had discovered it had guts. Stranger grinned and crouched down to their level,

“Alrigh’, here’s what we’re gonna do ter get them Odd-damn ‘Varks outta here fer good…”

¤§¤

If Bailey concentrated in the right way, she found she could distance herself from the pain, she could almost even ignore it.

Almost.

But at least she could keep silent and not give anything anyway. She didn’t even give Sekto the satisfaction of even a whimper.

Bailey guessed she was bruised and bloodied up pretty bad by now. She could feel blood dripping down her arms and from her face. One eye was swollen shut and throbbing pain pulsed through her entire body and she felt tender patches all over, but these were merely facts to be looked on objectively, as if they had nothing to do with her. Her body may have been trapped in the pain filled world contained in Sekto’s office, but her mind was far away, deep in happier memories.

“Wonder where Stranger is now?” she thought idly, “Wonder what he’s up too…” her thoughts became less lucid and more random. “Wonder why he never overheated…” she suddenly thought, “I mean, he was wearing those overall things, shirt, pants, poncho, hat…and not only that, he’s got fur as well …surprised he didn’t keel over from heat-stroke already…” Distantly she felt another blow been dealt to her body, “Wonder when this is going to stop?” she thought lazily. “It’s getting’ kinda borin’…”

Eventually the torture did end and Bailey’s battered, broken body was carelessly dumped onto the floor. Hazily aware that it was over, Bailey allowed her mind to return from it’s drifting state.

The pain hit like a bulldozer.

Bailey gasped but uttered no other sound as she twitched painfully on the carpet of the executive office. Bailey felt very cold, her fingers felt numb and she shivered. She closed her eyes painfully. She felt a foot nudge her hard in the ribs.

“You may have kept silent this time, but you won’t be able to forever.” Sekto sneered. Bailey spat bloody spittle from her mouth,

“You’d be surprised.” She said hoarsely, chuckling even though pain seared along every nerve.

Bailey expected to be thrown back into Meech’s cage, so she was very surprised when Sekto directed his two bodyguards over to a corner where it looked like a dog had previously been chained to the wall. Bailey felt weak and beaten, she didn’t have the strength to fight then, as they snapped the collar around her neck and left her chained to the wall in Sekto’s office. Bailey sank to her knees, watching Sekto sit behind his desk and regard her over steepled finger, through her one good eye.

Bailey knew this was far from over.

This was only the beginning.

-----

Songs used and Meech piccy attached.