Author's note: Sorry about the slow update. No real reason. Though I didn't want to rush into this section. As this is my favorite part of the story I had to be careful about what I put in and what I left out. I had to break this chapter into two parts simply because it was just too long. I'd also love to thank my lovely editor Marvak who has been helping me with my story. Not only through editing but by giving me inspiration.
Chapter Six: Part Two
Everywhere I turn... there’s hate,
as if my shadow.
Can I escape its power?
-Belknap
Blood... it paints the hills and shattered village. Fallen wooden walls covered in blood crumble beneath their feet. This once quiet village, with its modest establishments, is now nothing but fire and debris. So many lifeless bodies just litter the ground without motion. The Natives were no match, but they had mustered what strength they had and fought to their last dying breath. Those deaths were honorable deaths. The deaths of warriors, in combat as it should be. One of my metal soldiers bathed in crimson blood approached me.
With a monotone mechanical voice the contraption uttered, "RH-501 reporting. General Belknap, we have obliterated the opposition. There are no remaining hostiles within threat range."
I looked at the RH-unit in front of me. If it weren't for the blood that dripped from its sheen metal body I would never of thought it capable of killing. The unit's body suggested nothing of the strength or agility it contained. Its thin arms and legs looked so weak. it was tall but had such a plain looking chest. Only its red glowing eyes hinted at its inner feral wrath. I had been skeptic before... but this test had proven just how capable they were. "Good work soldier," I stated with a false calm demeanor, "Have everyone rank up and prepare to shut down."
"Yes Sir."
The robot walked off towards his blood drenched brothers. The aging Vykker, Dahmer, crept out of whatever hole he had been hiding in and presented himself before me, he was fidgeting his hands nervously. Though fear was evident on the Vykker's face he managed to create nearly convincing cocky smile. Dahmer gestured towards his creations, his hand shaking, "Are they not everything I promised?"
I was annoyed by the Vykker who had proven me wrong but none the less I replied in my usual calm, in command, voice. "They have proven themselves to be quite adaptable. I will give you that."
The scientist was obviously irked. He waved his arms for emphasis, "Adaptable? They decimated a warrior village with their bare hands!"
"Yes, however, we had the element of surprise."
Dahmer went from his normal dark purple shade to a scarlet red. Dahmer began to say something but I immediately broke him off, "I am the war expert here. If you wish to debate my statements then do so. However you will not find me listening as I have more pressing matters to address. Surely you realize Joe doesn't fund us to bicker back and forth. Good day."
The Vykker searched his mind for a come back, but finding nothing he just stood there looking upset. I listened as a anti-infantry vehicle closed in on my location, the vehicle loudly trashing against the rocks and bumpy ground. The RH unit driving the vehicle stopped moving as the vehicle reached me. I hopped into the passenger seat and allowed the robot to buckle me in. It was odd having these robots come to my every need rather then a Slig, sure it was more efficient but... machines had no souls.
The robot spoke up breaking me from my thoughts, "Sir?"
"To the barracks RH-231... to the barracks."
Jumping quickly to my mechanical feet I tried to figure out what was going on. I was still inside of Nat's small hut. Empty cans and bags of various Glukkon products littered the ground. I tried to recall what had given me such a fright... and then it hit me. It was the first dream I had ever had besides that haunting nightmare. I had dreamed I was some Glukkon... who seemed oddly familiar. I vaguely recalled robots... what had they been doing? Try as I might I couldn't remember. Hoping to calm down I walked out of the tent and looked at the stars. My nightmare must have woken me too early, the moon was still in clear sight. I just stared at the Mudokon paw on the moon for awhile then went back into the tent to go back to sleep. The moon wasn't going to do anything for me.
The past few weeks here at Mudegasi Village had been very interesting. Berathen trusted me to Nat who showed me everything and everyone in the village. There were still a few noble hunters but most of the Mudokons were either addicts, drunks, or addicts with jobs. I did my best to assist Berathen at the rehabilitation center but no one really trusted me. In fact many of the Mudokons at the village loathed me just for being a Slig. Though as much as most of the Mudokons hated me there were a few who just couldn't live without me. Gronx was a rather stubborn old Mudokon who at first hated my guts but when he saw me going to the rehabilitation center every day he eventually began to trust me. Slowly we became friends, apparently I inspired him to quit drinking Brew. Sync was a younger Mudokon who spent most of his time hunting. He rarely, if ever, came back with food, but it was great to see one of the villagers stay true to their culture. We had gone hunting together but instead it turned into a accuracy contest. We would both shoot at far off objects to see who had the better aim. Me with my blunderbuss, him with his slingshot. Of course, me with my aim couldn't hit anything and Sync would just laugh every time I missed. Luckily he was as bad at navigation as I was at aiming so we both had something to joke each other about. Lastly, there was Tench, or Tense as everyone called him. Tench was one of the few Mudokons who would have nothing to with anything Industrial. At first he was very suspicious of me, but upon seeing my actions in the village he came to accept me. He would invite me over to his spiritual hut every once in awhile and tell me stories of the Mudegasi before the Industrials took over. These three weren't the only Mudokons who cared for me, but they were the closest, excluding Nat.
"Come on Ugai! Get up!" Nat yelled while pushing on my arm.
"Five more minutes." I replied apathetically upon hearing my name.
"I thought you said you wanted to see where I work?"
"I do.. just not right this sec."
"What ever. I know when I'm not wanted." With that the young Mudokon stormed out of the hut, the opening flaps swinging back and forth with the force of his exit.
Not wanting to get on Nat's bad side this early in the morning I stretched and hopped out of bed. I walked slowly out of the hut as my body began to awaken. "Hold on Nat I'm coming I'm coming."
Nat turned around with a smirk on his face, "I figured you would."
Seeming as if the rising of the sun qued his entrance, Sync got out his hut, stretched, and walked over to us. "Mornin’ Ugai, Mornin’ Nat. You two weren't going to leave me all by my lonesome self now were you?"
"Why of course not," Nat replied with feigned innocence, "How could we have any fun without you?"
Sync paused for a second as if to reflect on this question then answered, "Why I imagine it would be impossible. For I am the god of fun and without me there exists no joy."
"But of course, my master." Nat said as he bowed down to Sync.
I just looked at the two of them oddly and said before I could catch myself, "I swear you two are just like brothers."
Nat and Sync shared a look seemingly reading each other's minds. They both said simultaneously, "We are brothers." The two of them broke into laughter.
Sometimes I forget that Mudokons come from queens of their species like us Sligs. Though they look so different from me they are really the same.
"Seriously though are you two ready to go?" Nat asked us after he finished his laughing.
"What about Gronx and Tense?" Sync asked.
"Well lets see," I said, "Gronx is too old to travel too far and probably wouldn't make it to Eggboro and you know Tench will have nothing to do with those Clakkerz. He hates them almost as much as I hate your singing."
"Hey, what’s wrong with my singing!?" Sync asked, turning slightly red.
Nat just laughed, "Nothing, Sync. Nothing."
After a few more choice jokes at one another's expense we started off to Eggboro. The trip to Eggboro was pretty much uneventful. We marched across the simple plains heading towards the city. At first Sync had forced me to play an annoying game in which I had to guess what item near by he was thinking of. Seeing as all we ever passed were trees and rocks it wasn't too hard. Eventually Sync bored of the game and began to complain about how long the walk to Eggboro was. "Why couldn't they of built their little town closer to the village? I mean we make up most of the work force and consumers, why wouldn't they want us to be closer? If they would just build a..." Sync kept blabbering on but I had managed to block him out. Sometimes the guy would just complain endlessly about something for hours on end. He never did anything to solve his problems, he just kept whining about them. It just annoyed me to no end. But being his friend I would have to feign interest in what he was saying from time to time. But at times like now I would just let my mind wonder. I thought back to one of the mysterious things Tench had told me about.
"Listen now as I won't repeat this," Tench had said with a solemn voice, "The Mudegasi were not only the proudest hunters of Mudos. We had at one time been the guardians of a powerful stone that was not to move from its resting place under ground."
"Why not?" I had asked with honest curiosity.
"Don't interrupt!" Tench said sternly. "The stone was not to be moved as it was far too powerful and we dared not risk its discovery. Though no weapons were allowed in the room that the stone was stored in one day an unfaithful guard who believed not in the stone's power took his spooce bow in there with him as he inspected the stone. The stone reacted strangely changing from its normal blood red color to that of the sky and with this change the guard's weapon turned to dust and fell apart. As news of this spread around the village, debates over the stone roared. There were two factions: Those who wanted the stone to stay in hiding and those who wanted to use it as a weapon. The latter had almost convinced everyone in the village before a wise shaman showed them the prophecy. The prophecy stated that it mattered not what the stone would be used for, it would only bring destruction upon all of Mudos. Only the chosen one could use the stone at his darkest hour. Eventually everyone agreed and stone was sealed underground so not even the Mudegasi, the stone's guardians, could get to it. Now two years ago from today I managed to find the stone's storage room.. but it was not there. Its disappearance could spell the end of the world for us all. I don't know why Ugai, but I feel compelled to tell you this."
I didn't know how to respond to that so I just stated plainly, "Okay..."
After that talk Tench never talked about the stone again. I couldn't help but feel that he was hiding something from me.
"Look alive, Ugai." Nat said as we arrived at what looked like a farm. There was a red barn in the distance. Immediately surrounding us was a multitude of crops.
"I thought we were going to Eggboro?" I asked in confusion.
Sync just laughed suspiciously and Nat replied, "We are going to Eggboro. It's just on the other side of this plantation."
"Are we allowed to be here?"
"Of course." Nat said waving his hand as if it would melt my worries away.
We stepped across the crops making are way to the barn several Mudokons working the field gave us odd looks. Some of them were angry and others looked fearful. For once instead of these stares being directed at me they seemed to focus on Nat who was oblivious to anything but the barn that lied ahead.
We got closer to the barn i noticed a very odd thing rocking back and forth in a chair seemingly asleep. The thing was wearing overalls and a rather itchy looking straw hat. Where his arms and legs were exposed you could see they were covered in feathers. It had a odd looking head that looked like a deflated ball with a couple eyes and a beak like a bird. I think the thing was called a Clakker.
Upon seeing the Clakker I asked, "Is that a Clakker?"
Nat kept walking forward his voice low to a whisper, "Yes. Now keep your voice down we don't want him catching us here."
Unable to resist I shouted, "I thought you said we were allowed here!"
Sync had tried to hush me but it was too late. The Clakker woke up and hopped off his chair with a heavy looking gun in his hands. He immediately spotted us and roared, "You know better then to be here boy! Just ‘cus all you Muds look alike doesn't mean I don't know a good-for-nothing when I one." The Clakker paused for a sec then said, "Actually you are all good-for-nothings but I'm gonna blast you anyways!"
I didn't need to look to know the Clakker was aiming at us. Nat and Sync had already boosted off leaving me behind. I ran after them not even pretending to be as fast as those two trouble makers. I heard a few shots but kept running not wanting to get hit. Eventually we all made it pass the barn and onto the road. Nat and Sync were a bit down the road from me both gasping for breath.
"Sure did get angry that time didn't he?" Nat asked Sync.
"Angry? No. He was just trying to show us his new gun. Gotta love how it doesn't jam."
"Yeah." Nat said smiling, "He almost got me with that last shot. Definitely worth what ever it costs. Good thing we were able to prove it to him. But hey that’s what friends are for right?"
Sync just laughed at what Nat had said, as I walked over and gave Nat a good slap to his green forehead.
"Owch! What was that for Ugai!?" Nat asked as he rubbed his forehead.
"You could have gotten yourself killed! Not to mention my own safety or Sync's!" I said outraged.
"You worry too much Ugai. Old Wingnut couldn't shoot a Meep even if we placed it against the muzzle of his gun."
I couldn't help but laugh as I imagined the Clakker missing a Meep at point-blank range. Seeing my turn of mood Nat led me down the road taking me to Eggboro.
As we arrived at the small town I quickly noticed the tall wooden walls surrounding the town and the large jungle just behind it.
Nat pulled me along inside the city. He pointed at various buildings telling me what they were. "That blue one with the missing letters above the door is the drug store. Wingnut's cousin Laiden works there. She actually doesn't mind Mudokons hanging outside her store. Across the street from Laiden's place is bounty store. There are a lot of bounties put up every day. Unfortunately not many bounty hunters ever come to this place. No Mudokon in his right mind will enter that place, seeing as most of the bounties are put on Mudokons. Since most Clakkerz think all of us Mudokons look the same its easy to get jailed without doing anything wrong. Now just past the bounty store is the Eggboro Inn. The thing has been out of business for ages because no one ever visits this town on the edge of nowhere. They could of had good business if they let us Mudokons use the Inn but apparently all of us Mudokons are a bunch of cheats and aren't worthy of a crappy bed. Now across from the Inn just next to Laiden's drug store is the medical store. The place is also out of business as the Clakkerz are too stupid to buy medicine, and they won't sell any medication to us Mudokons."
I just noticed we had lost Sync somewhere but shrugged it off. After we passed the first few buildings we came across the main road. It went in four directions: Back the way we had come to Wingnut's farm. To the left were a bunch of crappy trailers and small homes that all seemed in disrepair. To the right were a bunch of stores that looked to be doing a lot better off then the first few I had seen. Lastly in front of us the road stretched forwards to really good looking buildings. Some of them even looked new. As we stood in the middle of the dirt road many Clakkerz passed us giving me weird looks. Most of the Clakkerz that were walking at first started sprinted when they laid eyes on me. Apparently not many of the Clakkerz here had ever seen a Slig. I also recognized a lot of the Mudokon workers going to and leaving from the right side of town, they were all from the village. It was weird seeing them out of their dirty brown loin cloths and wearing faded shorts of various colors. Many of the Mudokons had odd looking hats that matched their shorts.
Nat continued on, "As you can see the Clakker houses are on the left side of the town. No Mudokons are allowed over there without the Mayor's permission. To the right are the various entertainment businesses: Movies, sports, and of course the many snack shops. It's so funny seeing a fellow Mudokon on pay day take all his moolah right into a store and spend it all on Scrab Cakes. Though I'd be lying if I said I had never done that myself. Those things are just so delicious! The sweet purple and yellow icing... the soft, scrumptious pastry breaking into my mouth so easily... the world completing sour filling..."
I poked Nat, "Uh... Nat... Close your mouth."
The Mudokon came back to reality and noticed he was drooling everywhere. He wiped his mouth with his hand and shook his head, "Sorry about that."
"It's okay. It's okay. But what are those good looking buildings down the road?"
"Oh those!" Nat said bringing his mind back to track, "Those are the big wig buildings. All the important people, or at least the people who think they are important, live there. They normally meet in the Mayor's office and talk about nothing. That shiny white building that all the other buildings seem to look at is the Mayor's place. Patrick V. Wishbone is the mayor. Sometimes I swear that guy just hates everything. He can't agree with anyone and always thinks he is right. Who knows how the guy became mayor." I simply shrugged in response.
Then Nat rather cheerfully asked. "Ready to see my job?"
I nodded and we headed to the right side of town.
I looked at the many stores while walking down the road, wondering which building my friend was working at. I was staring at a broken down prospector building when Nat got my attention by saying, "Here it is!"
The building he had gestured to was a small little brick building with a red room. With an overly large letter 'M' the sign next to the building read: "McGlukkons" and just under that it read, "Over trillions served."
Nat dragged me into the store and it became apparent from the many customers eating the unhealthy food, and the complaining about lines when there was barely anyone here, that this place was a fast food restaurant.
"Let me introduce ya to my co-workers!" Nat said dragging me to a door. Nat opened it and pulled me through, we were behind the counter with all the workers. Everyone seemed busy and most of them sighed in annoyance upon seeing Nat. The young Mudokon began pointing at everyone yelling out random names, "Thats George working the register. The guy sleeping on his register is Lee. That good looking guy cooking the fries is Gregory. That stud of a Mudokon working the broom is Aaron. Don't be fooled by his muscles and simple words. He is smarter then you'd think." Suddenly an Intern wearing blue and yellow shorts, unlike the red and yellow shorts the Mudokons were wearing, came from somewhere in back. Nat bowed before the Intern and said, "Why this incarnation of benevolence is Venom. We are the meeps and he is the Shepard. Or in Clakker speak: He is our Crew Lead."
Venom shook his head in annoyance then gestured at me asking, 'How are you?'
I replied, "I'm fine. Nat here was just introducing me to everyone. Oh and sorry about my curiosity but why do you wear different color pants then everyone else?"
Nat quickly lost his cheerful mood and said, "He’s Crew Lead. Remember? He got promoted as soon as he started working here."
"How did you get promoted so fast?" I asked Venom.
Venom pointed at the sleeping Mudokon and gestured, 'Who is he?'
"Uh.. he’s Lee right?"
Venom shook his head then gestured, 'What is he?'
"Um, a Mudokon?"
Venom nodded then pointed at each Mudokon asking the same question for each. Then he gestured at himself gesturing, 'What am I?"
"An Intern."
He nodded. It took me a second but then I realized what he was getting at. "You got promoted just becuase you're not a Mudokon!?"
Venom nodded again and left back to where ever he had come from, waving goodbye.
"This is outrageous!" I growled. "I thought this place was an Equal Opportunity Employer!"
"Well it is by Clakker standards." Replied Nat.
"Who’s the boss here? I want to give them a piece of my mind!"
Nat shook his head and said, "It's not boss's fault. It's the mayor. He makes all the rules around here. Those who disobey are banned from returning into the town and get flung into the jungle."
"Well I'm giving him a piece of my mind." I left the building before Nat could stop me and I stormed off towards the mayor's office.
If Clakkerz had been afraid of me before they were panicking now. It was obvious that I was pissed and no one got in my way as I walked up the stairs to the mayor's door. I forced the door open and it banged into the wall it was hinged onto with a loud slam. A female Clakker buying herself with a mirror and make-up said without looking at me, "The mayor is very busy right now. If you want to talk with him please fill out the application on my desk."
I paid the female no mind and went straight to the mayor's room. The white door had black letters that read, "Mayor's Office - Patrick V. Wishbone" Though I wanted to slam the door open like I had done with the one before something told me no to. Instead I slowly and quietly opened the door. The room was all white and had a large window on the back wall. The window had red curtains flung to the side so sunlight could enter the room. The floor was mostly white neat tiles, save for the red oval carpet that the mayor's smooth, wooden desk covered. Sitting at the desk was none other then the mayor Patrick V. Wishbone. Patrick, not noticing my entrance continued what he was doing. The mayor was holding what looked like a wrapped chocolate bar, staring at it intently. In the centre of the bar it read, "Seax." Patrick was fondling the bar gently as if it were his lover. He slowly opened the wrapper of the chocolate bar neatly and brought it to his mouth. He was about to lick the head of it, however, it was just then that Patrick noticed I was in the room. The Clakker threw the chocolate bar across the room as if it were a dangerous creature and yelled, "It's not what it looks like! I wasn't about to eat it! Eating junk food is a choice. I don't want to eat chocolate, I don't need it, and I can't have it in my diet. It’s a useless, disgusting thing that is unnecessary because it’s unhealthy!"
Weirded out by what just transpired all I could manage to say was, "Have you ever had chocolate before?"
The mayor didn't seem bewildered by my presence as much as what ever he thought I was thinking so he replied, "No. I'm too busy being mayor to go around eating chocolate. I mean something in chocolate might be good for you. But I can't imagine needing to eat it more then once in your life. With all the time people waste eating chocolate we could be doing something productive. Like manufacturing guns or drawing art!"
This mayor definitely had problems. "Uh... you know some people just have urges to eat chocolate. It's not that big a deal. You shouldn't say 'no' to chocolate before ever trying it. You just might find out that you like it."
"I don't have urges to eat chocolate!" The Clakker screamed. We both looked over at the discarded chocolate bar and were silent for a moment.
Just then the Clakker girl from the lobby ran into the room and said with fear in her voice, "Mr. Mayor Patrick V. Wishbone sir! There are Outlaws in the town! They are rounding up everyone and are demanding you pay a ransom!"
Evident fear popped onto Patrick's face and he inquired, "H-how much do they want?"
"They want 250,000 moolah in bags sir."
"250,000 moolah!? I can't give them that much? How will I be able to donate for Spore's production!? I mean.. how will I be able to build new roads to bring in tourists?"
"Spore?" I stated confused.
No one answered me. Instead the female Clakker said, "Sir they are going to kill everyone!"
Patrick turned his back on the both of us, "It's not my problem. Those trolls deserve what’s coming to them."
Just then the female Clakker noticed the abandoned chocolate bar, "Why is there a chocolate bar in the middle of the floor?"
I had no idea what Patrick meant by 'trolls' but I knew Nat was out there and in danger. "Well you see..."
Afraid I was about to reveal his secret Patrick waved his arms and cried, "There’s no time to be worrying about candy! Open the safe and bring the moolah outside. Me and my... business partner here will try to calm down the Outlaws before anything happens."
With that the female Clakker ran out of the room with a determined look on her face. I walked over to Patrick behind his desk and asked, "Shall we?"
The upset Clakker didn't say anything but led the way to the building's exit. Just down the road at the town's centre were dozens of Clakkers and Mudokons, all tied up. Surrounding the captured inhabitants of the town were the viscous Outlaws, each carrying their own weapons. They varied from pistols to rocket launchers and everything in between. The ugliest one, who may have been uglier mainly because he was bigger and had more ugly to show, stepped forward and said in a deep harsh voice, "Why your majesty how nice of ya to join us all. I was just talkin’ ta one of your green friends ova here. He tells me ya won't be paying to save everyone. Is that true? Things sure won't be to pretty if I don't get my moolah."
Patrick said defiantly, "I'm not paying to save a single one of those dirty Muds. They are just a bunch of cultists, haven't you seen them worshiping the trees!?"
I was shocked by what Patrick was saying. However when he mentioned it I realized that the only Mudokons in the village I had ever seen care for nature were: Berathen, Tench, and that odd Mudokon Doe.
But Patrick just kept going, "All of these cultists are nothing but terrorists! Surely all of us can agree they are nothing but rotten monsters. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!"
Everyone including the Outlaws just stared at Patrick. The Outlaw leader seemed very confused and scratched his deformed head with his gun before saying, "Well I know that they all like trees and stuff but are they all really terrorists?"
Patrick went on saying, "Of course! Haven't you read M.O.M. news? They are all filthy barbarians! They want nothing more then to ruin us all!"
I had read M.O.M. news back on the ranch. Joe would steal it from Jonuk and pass it over to me to read for him becuase he couldn't read. I knew better then to believe anything it said. Apparently Patrick didn't. I said to him, "You do realize that M.O.M. news is nothing but Glukkon propaganda?"
The Outlaw was nodding his head to what I was saying. Then he finally remembered the situation he was in. "Well if your not gonna pay up then I'm gonna have to start killing these Clakkerz one by one."
The female Clakker came out of the building with a wheel barrow full of bags of moolah. There were so many bags they had to be stacked on top of each other. It was taking everything the girl had to not drop the bags all over the floor. She brought it over to Patrick and looked at him smiling. Only to frown upon seeing the stubborn look on the mayor's face.
The Outlaw placed the muzzle of his gun against a young Clakker's head, "I'm warning you Mr. Mayor. If you don't pay up everyone is going to die."
Patrick didn't say anything he just stared stubbornly at the Outlaw. The leader of the Outlaws shrugged and cocked his gun.
"Wait!" One of the tied up Mudokon's shouted. I recognized the voice to belong to Nat. "No need to kill everybody why don't you just kill the mayor and take the moolah. Nobody here is going to stop you."
A lot of the captured inhabitants of the city nodded their heads in agreement. The leader of the Outlaws just look dumb founded and said, "What’s wrong with all you people?"
"It's quite simple Chief." Nat said, "Nobody likes the mayor he is just a big lump of Sloggie poo. Then again so are most elected officials."
Confused to no end the Outlaw roared, "Everybody just shut up!" The leader of the Outlaws turned his gun to Nat. My blood froze in their veins. I never heard the shot. I just saw Nat fall to the ground.
"No!" I screamed wishing my objection would take back the bullet.
"Now what’s his problem?" The Outlaw said gesturing to me. He was annoyed to no end.
Then out of nowhere I heard some shouting, "Let’s get 'em!" Several Mudokons led by Sync ran into the town with their slingshots and spears. The Outlaws just stood their dumbfounded until they noticed their brothers getting impaled by spears. The Outlaws started shooting poorly aimed shots. None of them had been prepared to fight. Not wanting to just sit by and watch everything I ran down the stairs and charged at the Outlaw leader. In my fury I didn't think to simply shoot the Outlaw with a well placed shot. The Outlaw leader turned around when he heard me approaching but his face turned right into my outstretched blunderbuss which I was using as a club. The force of my blow knocked the Outlaw to the ground, dirt flying into the air from his landing. The Outlaw's gun had been lost in his fall so he decided to lunge at me, knocking me painfully to the ground as I had just previously done to him. The hulking Outlaw placed his legs onto my mechanical ones, using his weight to make it impossible for me to wrestle free. The Outlaw suddenly asked me, "Whats wrong with you!?"
Not caring to respond just yet I rammed my head at his as hard as I could, my visor smashing into his overgrown nose. The Outlaw jumped up in pain holding his nose. He just screamed, "You're a Slig! What do you care about others?"
"I'm not a Slig." I replied. "I'm me."
Calming down I realized I could just use my gun to shoot him. But it had been knocked to the side when the Outlaw had lunged at me. We both looked at my blunderbuss at the same time. Somehow it was evenly between the two of us. We both broke into a frantic run. Only one of us would come out the winner. The other would most likely die. The Outlaw was too fast he was going to get it before me. I screamed the first thing that came to my mind, "Clakker women look oddly a lot like the men!"
The Outlaw just stopped where he was and said with great confusion, "What?"
That was all the time I needed. I grabbed my blunderbuss and pointed at the Outlaw's chest. "The games over, Chief. You and your guys are leaving and never coming back."
The Outlaw simply laughed and said, “There’s no way I can convince my men to retreat or surrender. They only know victory."
The Outlaw and I looked over to the battle that had been going on around us. The Outlaws had thrown down their weapons and were surrendering to the Natives.
"Okay. You win." The Outlaw said angrily. "Come on guys. Let’s go."
The Outlaws slowly started to leave the town, grumbling about things being unfair.
The Outlaw leader took about five steps away from then started laughing. "Do you really think I would quit this easily?" He turned around and he pulled a gun from his boot and pointed it square at me.
Spontaneously a mighty roar came from nowhere. Freezing everyone in their tracks. A giant dark shadow leapt from a building to the Outlaws leader's immediate right. Faster then I could follow the dark shadow attacked the Outlaw and the leader's head fell to the ground, his body slowly following. The dark shadow moved quickly and grabbed Nat's body then ran straight towards me. I tried to get a good look at the dark thing but it was just too fast. The giant thing jumped over the Mayor's building and over the wall that hid the town from the jungle.
Everyone was in shock and wondering what to do. The Outlaws just stared at their decapitated leader in awe. The fact that the dark thing had just stolen Nat's body caught up with me and filled me with anger.
"Wait!" I shouted after the dark thing that had already disappeared into the trees. I ran to the cities exit, pushing away anyone who got into my way. A Clakker grabbed onto me and said to me calmly, "Settle down boy! The Mud is already dead there is nothing you can do for him! That thing is the ghost of that jungle. You can chase after it if you want but you won't ever be coming back out of that jungle. You hear me?"
Not caring about anything but my friend Nat I glared at the Clakker till he let me go. I ran out of the city and towards the trees. They were so massive. The trees just stretched on forever, nearly reaching the sky.
A single Mudokon stood just there at the border of the jungle. It was Doe... Nat's best friend.
"I'm coming with you." Doe said.
"No, I..."
Before I could even finish Doe screamed, "Nat has been my friend for two years! I'm coming with you!"
Last edited by Venks; 08-05-2007 at 03:57 AM..
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