It ain't much, but it's a start. And it's kinda funny at the beginning:
THICKETS, MASKS, AND TREACHERY--The shadow of the Steef (cont.)
“Whoa! Yer buildin’ up a bad-ass reputation, son! C’mon over, and take the las’ bounty!” the clerk smiled brightly, as it watched Stranger and Umi stride back in to the Bounty store. The clerk left out the last poster for Stranger’s return. He slipped up the poster, gazing about the information, while the clerk gave Stranger his pay, and stamping down the poster. He waited for Stranger to ask the simple question.
“Fatty McBoomBoom, eh?” Stranger looked over the poster’s edge. “Yup. If yer gonna go after McBoomBoom, you’ll have to talk to Skycart Joe. He operates them sky carts, so he’ll help you to get up to McBoomBoom’s lair,” the clerk said. Stranger stuffed the poster in his poncho, and walked out to the townsfolk of New Yolk. Where this Skycart Joe was wasn’t a clue to them.
“Hey, pardon. You know the whereabouts of this...Joe guy?” Stranger asked a male Clakker, wearing a red baseball cap. It ruffled its feathers in anger and annoyance.
“Skycart Joe? I hate that guy...” it muttered off in space, then back up to Stranger. “...just look fer the moron wearing the hat and the pants...” it walked away from them, muttering angrily to itself. Umi wandered a little away from Stranger, looking for the description the Clakker vaguely said. She saw a top of a black top hat rock back and forth, emerging over the Clakkers in its path. The Clakkers parted away from the top hat in to a Clakker with a fancy-looking suit of black, with a glass eye spectacle on its left eye, and a small red bow tie around its neck. She grinned happily, running back to Stranger and pulling his arm.
“I think I found our guy, Stranger,” Umi tugged at his arm. He gazed over to the spot where Umi pointed, and saw the Clakker with the black suit and long top hat. He followed Umi up to Joe, the Clakker watching intently at the approaching strangers.
“Yo, Joe. I need’s yeh to-“ ”Look, piss off, poor boy! I’ve got better things to do that to talk to strangers!” Joe clucked, with strict beady eyes narrowing on Stranger, then walked by him, scoffing. Umi felt her brows furrow down in anger, touching Stranger’s arm. “Let me take care of this...” she said with teeth baring. Stranger’s anger also worked up, his green eyes becoming bright. “Nah. Allow me,” Stranger cracked his knuckles, and followed behind Joe. He formed a fist, then saying, “So, uh...You know what the, five fingers, said to the face?” Stranger slammed his fist in to his palm, watching Joe turn around to him with his beady eyes. “Hey! I thought I told you to piss off!” Joe repeated loudly, but Stranger didn’t listen. He raised his fist to behind him, his arm muscles tensioning. The Clakker didn’t even realize what came next, but the feeling of a rock-hard blow to its clammy beak, knocking him totally senseless. His blackout lasted for mere seconds, then he regained consciousness. Stranger was glaring overtop of him, rubbing his knuckles in to his palms. “Now, if that sky cart ain’t runnin’ when I get there...I may have te, tell yeh another joke,” Stranger pointed an ominous finger at the shaken Clakker. Joe rambled fearfully, then scrambled down the path through the passport gate, yelling, “I’m goin’! I’m goin’!” Stranger grinned, lowering his arm, while Umi came up behind him, applauding him for his take-down.
“Nice work with the joke take-down, Stranger. Built up the Clakker’s fear faster than a steam kettle,” Umi rung her arm around his. “Now let’s go check if that chicken nugget’s started the sky cart fer us,” Umi walked from Stranger down to the Mongo River passport gate. “Oh, I bet he has. If not, it’s joke time again,” Stranger lifted a fist up. They ran down the steep slope down to the docks and the sky cart facility. They could hear the rumbles of the motors to the sky cart as they got closer. Even the Clakkers whined about the distinct loudness, but only Joe told them to, “Quit yer bellyachin’!” Stranger walked up the ramp to Joe and his only running, rickety, old sky cart.
“So. The sky cart up ‘n runnin’?” Stranger asked, knowing the answer to come out. “Yeah, yeah! Just get on and leave,” Joe scowled, muttering under his breath, “I hope they kick yer ass...” Umi, hearing the gall of the Clakker to say something like that, made her spin around and grab Joe’s expensive suit up in her clench, saying closely to his fearful, beady eyes.
“Now listen here, tater tot. I don’t like yer attitude ‘round us. Yer supposed to be damn-happy we’re even saving yer ungrateful asses! Now, I suggest you keep yer petty comments to yerself, or I’m going to do the same thing to the Clakker back in the Oppal Farms. You hear me?” she rambled him around by the neck. Joe’s eyes stared down from the human, she getting the point, and dropping him to the dusty ground. “Let’s not have this conversation again,” Umi sneered, getting on the departing sky cart Stranger started. Joe dusted off his bottom, watching the departing bounty hunters, and having the last remarks the human made clearly in to his face.
The wind blew softly in their faces. The river sparkled deeply under the evening sun. Everything seemed to be near-perfect for her, as the sky cart rumbled up and higher to the ending point of the sky cart facility, leading further inside. The Clakkers below gazed up at the hovering sky cart, pointing in awe, one cheering on the bounty hunters. The sky still showed blood-red, but they didn’t take thought to that. The platform sticking out to them stopped the sky cart, and they quickly jumped off before it climbed back down on its hinges to Joe again. Sounds from the waterfall closely next door sprayed little mist inside the sky cart’s ending perch. It was widely, halfway filled up with rusty metal crates, stacking upon each other, creating slight barricades to some smaller areas of the perch. They climbed higher up to the motor room, where a giant, but old-looking giant wheel-type machine held up inside, looked to be of a coal-powered machine. They passed on out fo the perch, through an open bridge, in to a long mine tunnel, and out to the fresh air. Mountains from the waterfall made a barrier out and over the long stretch of hillside, still hearing faintly the thunderous crashes of the waterfall. Small amounts of trees grew along the sidelines of the path stretching up slightly, but to a small building shooting out to the other end. Minions of the sort blocked the way through the building, most of them regular grunt Shooters. Using his newly-found critter, the Howler Punk, he slipped it on his bow, along with a few Bolamites. The Howler Punk looked of a regular Chipunk, but with two slightly large megaphones behind its ears, seeming to be grown in to its skull, and a microphone twisted to its mouth.
“Yo, brotha. Got someone you need talkin’ to?” it said in to its microphone, its voice enhanced making it louder. Stranger smiled at his new ammo, and aimed it right out front of the outlaws. Three Bolamites rubbed their fangs together, making a slick gooey sound. He shot the Howler Punk out to the minions, they growling even louder at the bigger annoyance, and this time, the whole five of the outlaws went over to the Howler. It was more effective than Stranger imagined. He held down a few Rabid Fuzzles, for he knew he couldn’t wrap all of them at one time. He jumped out from behind the boulder they held to, and shot the three Bolamites at the Shooters, then threw his remaining Fuzzles out to the free Shooters. The fur balls gnashed hardly at the outlaws’ flesh, and the three others struggled from their sticky entrapment. Seemed like it was going to be a good bounty mission for Stranger. He quickly bountied the trapped minions, while Umi held down the others that became free from their torture of the Fuzzles. They passed on through the building, heading down from a drop, and up to what looked like an abandoned train gate. They stepped up to the ramp, but heard another minion grumble, “What’s that sound?”
“Let me get them this time,” Umi whispered, holding out her Needler once again.
“No way, Umi. It’s too dangerous,” Stranger denied, unlocking his bow. Umi looked up to him, her eyelid up to her eye and her lip dropped down. She scoffed a little. “Tie me up and gag me to a tree, Stranger! C’mon! You can’t have all the action to yerself!” Umi argued, he digging through his ammo sack for a Bolamite. He let out a grunty sigh, glancing to Umi with one eye. “Fine. But don’t wander off too far from me, you hear?” he said gruffly. Umi smiled brightly, nodding in agreement, and crouch walked up near the stairs up. A Shooter, along with its pet Suicider, held at the top of the stairs. She grinned devilishly, raising her armed arms up. She jumped out front, holding her weapon out to the minions, and show merely a few needles to them, not enough to blow them up. They both grunted in unison, “Ow...” and glared down at the intruder. The Suicider screamed gibberish loudly, lighting up its stack of explosives on its back, and running like hell down the stairs. Umi swore under her breath, backing away to Stranger, he already prepared for the Suicide bomber. When the crazed minion showed itself over from the stairwell, Bolamite’s web wrapped around itself, tying its arms and legs together. But that didn’t keep its timer from going off. The many explosives on its back detonated, splattering chunks of meat and blood around the station. The Shooter roared loudly in confusion, rushing down the stairs and to the bounty hunters, but immediately stopped when another Bolamite tapped it and wrapped it around. Umi wiped off a speck of blood near her mouth, watching as Stranger bountied up the trapped minion. They continued up the stairs, stopping a pair of Semi-autos at the exit of the station, leading out to another cart, similar to the one Stranger rode in last time. Snipers held them off a little longer, as they shot through the barred fence. Stranger fought back harder with a Snuzi dart implanted in to its head, sending it back to the mob of minions behind the gates. They hoped in to the cart, he pulling down the lever next to it to start the travel over to the other side.
Another Sniper, placed on top of the same place his partner got shot off, hid behind the thick brush of the pine trees he luckily got the chance to hide behind before the bounty hunter caught him. He heard the heavy clank of the cart’s gates opening, he parting the branches apart to see the cart moving slowly across the tracks and the deep forestry below.
“Who the hell!? Someone’s coming up in the cart!” it yelled behind to the others below, but made an abrupt silence, when a Snuzi dart passed through its head. The other minions chattered suspensefully, as the cart came closer to the gates they held behind.
The gates bursted open, smacking aside some minions stupid enough to stay behind of. Stingbees shot through the opening and at some of the visible outlaws to stand in front of the gate. Pink crystalline needles were also mixed in to the flashes of yellow wasps darting through. Nailer outlaws, three of them to be precise, roared loudly, cramming out from a slit passage to the campsite. Semi-autos were docked on high perches, reloading their rifles quickly to the new arrivals, just awaiting their deaths.
He hummed to himself, stashing papers up to his round purple head and counting the moolah he had just gotten from some patients he took care of, if you catch my drift. The front door’s bell jangled, telling him there was someone coming in.
“The office is closed, sir. Sorry to disappoint you,” Doc spoke loudly in a whiny voice, but the shadows didn’t retreat from the office. Instead, they approached the counter to him. He became nervous, holding a surgical knife under his desk, but watching the figures come closer to him. “Uh, s-sir? The office is closed to patients. You’ll have to wait tomorrow,” Doc repeated himself. The Outlaw leaned closer to the Vykker’s face, grinning widely and maliciously.
“I ain’t ‘ere to have you checkup on me, Doc. I’m here, fer you!” D. Caste Raider snarled in his face, reaching for his throat, and dragging him over the counter. The minions behind the Outlaw sneered and jeered at the frightened Vykker surgeon. “Now, listen up, big head. You gonna do exactly what I say, or I’ma kill you,” D. Caste threatened, with his spiked-head hammer. The Doc swallowed heavily, looking back with his yellow-green beady eyes back on to the Outlaw.
“W-what d’you, want of me?” Doc stuttered. D. Caste smiled, reaching over the counter, and slammed down his phone. “Call fer Stranger,” D. Caste ordered smoothly. Doc hesitated, but he couldn’t exactly get to the phone since the Outlaw had him by his neck. D. Caste’s grin turned down madly. “I said call fer him!” D. Caste growled.
“Well, I can’t exactly call him if you have me up in a choke lock,” Doc smiled smartly. D. Caste grunted, setting the Doc on the boarded floor. He slid the phone up to Doc, watching him closely, as he dialed in the Bounty store number. A dial tone spoke through his ear, until he heard a click, then the clerk’s voice.
“Hello, this is the New Yolk Bounty store office. How may I help you on yer situation?” the clerk greeted buisness-like. “Yes, hi. This is Doc, from the Mongo River retreat,” Doc replied, keeping calm as D. Caste breathed over his shoulder. “Oh! Hey’a, Doc! What can I do you fer?” the clerk said. “I’m looking for my patient, uh, believe he goes by Stranger, correct?” “Uh-huh...And?” the clerk asked, then fell silent. Doc looked up to the outlaws, them glaring at his back.
“Yes, well...uh, I need him to be down here this instant, if you please,” Doc spoke politely, waiting for the clerk to reply any moment. “Well, sorry, Doc. But he and his partner’s out bounty huntin’ their last. But, I-I’ll be happy to tell them when they get’s back,” the clerk said. Doc blinked nervously, but hidden from the outlaws. Sweat ran down his wrinkled face. “Oh...ok. Please do so, sir. And thank you for your time,” Doc’s words quivered a bit. “No prob’, Doc! See yah!” the clerk spoke, and hung up. Doc hung up the phone as well, looking back to the outlaws sneering.
“Well...?” D. Caste asked impatiently. “Uh...he wasn’t there right now,” Doc pushed his hat back up on his head correctly, then cleared his throat. “Well, I did what you said, and we’ve agreed that you wouldn’t kill me. Now, may I ask once more for you...filth outlaws...to leave my office,” Doc pointed to the door, but the outlaws chuckled deviously. D. Caste shoved his face to Doc’s.
“Didn’t yeh hear? Outlaws don’t keep a promise!” D. Caste cackled back, snapping his head back. “Bring out the rope!” the Outlaw ordered to his minions, them laughing and chatting back to one another. A Shredder came up with a white nylon rope, snapping it at Doc’s face. The outlaws moved on in closer to him, having their knives and weapons out on their arms. Doc moved as far as he could back, until he touched the back of his counter. The outlaws chanted smatteringly in unison, “Bring ‘im out! Bring ‘im out!” D. Caste made a choke lasso, hanging it down in front of Doc’s face, and grinning evilly. The outlaws continued moving in on to him, until they all piled on to him. He knew, at that point, nothing would be able to save him, as they carried him outside, D. Caste looping the hang rope over his neck, and looked up to a long sticking out pole above his office doors. The canyon echoed with only the Doc’s screams, and his lingering death.
“Wow! These guys just don’t seem to stop!” Umi said in a loud whisper, hiding deeply in a thick brush of reeds, placed in front of a squad of minions. Two Semi-autos stood on wide perches, while two Nailers stood under them, and three Shredder outlaws stood further out front. They finished the shanty campsite further behind when they exited the cart, and now had passed through the slit passage behind to a sharp turning bend with a few road blocks. Stranger lured most of the outlaws to his pile of Rabid Fuzzles laid out in front of the Howler Punk as a defense for the little rat. He shot out further to the outlaws behind, and gave the Semi-autos a Thud slug in the gut. The Fuzzles dropped off the corpses of the fallen outlaws, their bites and scratches on their faces leaking little blood. He quickly bountied them up before moving on. They passed down the squiggling path around a right turn to an open gate, leading to a shady area of tall pine trees looking over an old barn. A stone bridge held over their heads, as they moved on in through the gate. They slammed themselves up behind a tall rock, hiding from the one that they came for: Fatty McBoomBoom.
“Uh...boss? I think we got’s a problem,” a Shooter spoke up undoubtfully up to the Outlaw.
“Well, if you’re thinkin’, son, then really, do have a problem...” McBoomBoom snickered at his insult. “Alright, now listen up. I want you and yer boys, to shoot off the head, of anybody that moseys on in ‘ere. There ain’t no way I’m not going down without a fight,” Fatty clenched his fist together, and his minion nodded up to him. He pulled up the end of his tattered white tank top up to his face, wiping off the sweat beading from the evening humidity that stung at his face. He corrected his eye patch so his sight wouldn’t be so far fetched if someone had already came on to his turf. Red faint tatoos ran all over his chest, arms, and under his shirt, markings of what looked like tribal marks, or hunting marks. He was the ruffle of someone’s tannish-brown hair flurry over the tall rock he viewed to, and became more alert. “Listen up! Someone’s hidin’ over there! At that rock! Get ‘im!” Fatty shouted, pointing a chubby finger over to the rock.
“Damn, they got us...” Umi scornfully said, reloading her Needler. She was running low on her Needler cartridges, but she didn’t notice. She only cared if she had some to grab for. Minions began to swarm near the rock. Stranger setted down Fuzzles around their perimeter, loading on when he ran out Stingbees and Thud slugs. Umi kept an eye on her side, while Stranger watched his. The Fuzzles attacked the first few outlaws that came near, but some got through without a scratch. Minions appeared at Umi’s side as well, getting a face full of pink needles, spined and exploding bits by bits. Little shards came from over the side of where she was, sticking in to one of the trees next to her in a glowing pink shape. The minions died down one by one, them still flowing in a stream up to the rock.
Fatty squinted over to the rock, seeing his men being blown to bits and being knocked out with rock-hard bugs. He growled impatiently, grumbling to himself, “Why do I have to do everything myself? Can’t get good work these days...” “Give me a rocket!” he shouted to his closest minion, which was a Shooter. The Shooter jumped to his boss’s unexpected shout, and ran in to the barn, and rolled out a thin rocket up to Fatty. He snatched it up, and loaded it in to his rocket launcher. “I suggest you step back. Unless, you wanna be fried,” Fatty snickered, squatting down slightly and holding down his rocket launcher. “GET READY STRANGER!” he shouted out, holding tightly on the trigger. “‘CAUSE YER GONNA DIEEEEE!” he screeched, pulling down the trigger. He jumped high, and the rocket shot under his feet, sending him flying over to the rock.
“What the...” Stranger mumbled, seeing the Outlaw fly up above the trees, then back down. He snatched Umi by the arm, and ran away from the rock. Fatty then came soaring down like a rock, nearly above them. He jumped down on the ground, holding Umi under him. Fatty impacted the ground, the earth rumbling under their bodies. Stranger looked up from the grass, seeing Fatty standing before him. His impact left a pretty decent size crater behind his legs. No wonder why they called him “Fatty”.
“Well, well. What do we have here? Stranger, and...no, it can’t be!” Fatty nearly screamed, looking at the head of the human. “It’s the human! It’s still alive!” he yelled behind him to his minions, then came back to them with a grin. “We heard all ‘bout yer lil’ conception between the big purple-ass Sleg you’s fought with. Kinda impressed me thar, human,” Fatty gave a sly grin to her. She scowled at him, moving up from under Stranger’s heavy legs. Stranger stood back up, still watching Fatty for any sudden moves. He had his arms down by his sides, his bow still unlocked, but had a Thud slug still on, but hiding it from Fatty. “But...since yer head’s still on bounty, I’ma just have to kill yer Stranger friend ‘ere, and take’s you in m’self,” Fatty approached Stranger, with his rocket holstered on his shoulder, with one arm hanging down.
“I don’t think so,” Stranger’s neon eyes sparkled, snapping his arm up, and firing the Thud slug he kept on his bow at Fatty’s gut. He suppressed a loud groan, supplanting it with a heavy exhale of wind. Fatty thumped down on his knees, keeling over his arms and holding his stomach, moaning painfully. He lifted his head to Stranger, giving a mucus-caught growl up to him. He held his bow up to Fatty’s face, with a Bolamite rubbing its two fat fangs in front of him. He nearly squealed at the spider, trying his best to stand upright.
“Oh, this ain’t over yet, Stranger. C’MON OUT BOYS!” he yelled over his shoulder. Two Snipers up in an open shaft lit their rifles with a red-green spark. Two Flamer outlaws emerged from the barn, refilling their gas tanks with propane, mumbling and growling through their white stained masks. They were evenly matched. The Flamers were the ones to start the match, scorching out blue-hot flames from their long nozzles of their flamethrowers. Stranger backed away from the flames, loading on his last two Thud slugs, and firing them through the stream of flames, blocking in to their nozzles, and backfiring in to their gas tanks. The flames reached the gas tank’s supply, and exploded in to a bluster of metal shards, white flames, and chunks of meat and blood. Fatty had reached back up to the roof of the barn, reloading his rocket launcher again. The Sniper were last, red streams of smoke passing by Umi’s and Stranger’s ears. They hugged back again to the rock, Umi peeking over to the Snipers. She hoped that her needles would reach the Snipers, and shot the entire clip at both of them, with eyes shut tight. When she opened, all she saw was the pink dust in the shaft blow out in the wind, and parts of the minions blew out as well. All were defeated, except one.
Fatty frantically loaded his rocket launcher, hearing all his minions dead, and the jingle of the bounty hunter’s boots rattle out from behind the trees. He locked down the loading chamber of the rocket’s ammo, and held up his launcher shakily. “C-c’mon out, Stranger! Fight like a man!” Fatty shouted, aiming around to find the bounty hunter. The trees rustled calmly under the cool evening winds. The sun setted low on the rocky mountain tops. Everything seemed quiet to Fatty...wa-a-ay too quiet...
There wasn’t any fast movements behind trees, nor were there behind him. It seemed as a suspense movie in real life. But what he didn’t notice what was right above him...
Stranger hung off the branches low below the pine tree. He kept his movements silent as possible, as he lowered more down near Fatty. He left Fatty linger more in suspense, then came the pounce. He jumped off the branches, suppressing the shaking of the trees and his voice that was nearly to come out. When he got quarter near Fatty, he let out a gigantic yelling roar at his head, then wrapped his arms around Fatty, holding tightly down on his neck. They wrestled for a while, Stranger beginning to win. Fatty was fatiguing quickly with all his wrangling and running around. All Stranger did was hold on tighter, as Fatty kept crawling around.
“All yer gonna do is get more pain, Fatty! The more you wrestle, the harder I hold on!” Stranger shouted in to his ear, but Fatty didn’t heed Stranger’s caution. He panted heavy, sounding like he was going to have a heart attack any second he continued his sprawl. He thumped down on his knees, bending down near the boarded floor, and spitting on the floor.
“D-damn you...bounty hunter...” he mumbled, still heaving heavily. Stranger grinned behind his ears, and kicked off his back, knocking him down with ease. Fatty didn’t get back up, instead continued to catch his breath. With the advantage at hand, he wrapped Fatty up, with him not even trying to break free. He bountied Fatty up with ease, and giving a grin of excitement. His last bounty, with more than enough moolah for his operation.
“Boom, boom, I say,” Stranger cocked his head aside. Umi climbed up the ramp to Stranger, on top of the flat roof of the barn.
“Wow, easier than you thought, huh?” Umi asked. Stranger nodded in agreement, perching his hand on her shoulder. “Let’s mosey on back ter town, so’s we can, cash ‘im in, and get to, Doc’s,” Stranger smiled, looking down at an open gate under the barn. They ran through, following down the deep tunnel, opening another gate, and continuing down. They heard the familiar sound they started off with, feeling a cool mist brush over their faces. They turned down the exit of the tunnel, feeling the mist becoming stronger when they faced. The waterfall thundered over the exit of the tunnel, falling steeply down in to the deep end of the Mongo River. Umi smirked up to Stranger, he looking down at her face.
“You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?” Umi asked in a cool tone. Stranger grinned with her, looking back to the waterfall. “Oh, yeah...” he purred happily. She ran on without Stranger, sprinting out to the exit. She leaped off the edge of the tunnel, and curling herself in to a tiny ball, screaming, “CANNONBALL!” The heavy force of the waterfall splashed across her back, parting it slightly through, and down to the river. Stranger chuckled, following faster behind. She splashed down in to the river, the river gulping her up in a high wave. Stranger came flying down in a swan dive, pulling his arms and legs together in to a dart shape. He darted in to the river, diving deep down to Umi, she beginning to resurface. He kicked off to her, grabbing her around the stomach and carrying up to the surface. She grunted, releasing a series of air bubbles following up to the surface. They broke through the water, inhaling deeply and looking up to the orange setting sun. Umi shook her head full of hair off the water soaking in, looking up to the soaked Stranger. He looked like a wet dog, she almost laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Stranger asked childishly. She suppressed a smile, stopping her giggles. “Nothin’,” Umi lied. Stranger smiled slightly, pressing his nose up to her soaked head and kissing her. He swam back to shore, shaking off the water on his poncho and fur. Umi swam back out to fetch his hat that unexpectedly washed off, wringing it out her best of the water absorbed in it, but he managed. They walked back off the shore, up passed the sky cart facility hoping Joe wouldn’t show his ugly face again, and back in to town, with Stranger’s heart filled with nothing but joy.
Last edited by Dark Elite_H2; 09-21-2005 at 02:22 PM..
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