02-08-2018, 04:52 PM
“Hm, one down,” Ameara said, “four to go.”
Charles glared down the barrel of her revolver. A metal guard blocked his view of the pistol’s cylinders so there was no way of knowing which trigger pull would spell the end of him. His eyes flicked past Ameara and to the shotgun-toting thug that was aiming for his chest. The Rust Queen was close enough that he could bumrush her before she could get more than a shot or two off, but Charlie had no intentions of trying to outrun a shotgun blast. He craned his neck to look at Mallory. The man’s metal arm looked shredded and an expanding pool of blood shimmered beneath him. If it weren’t for the soft rise and fall of Mallory’s chest Charlie would’ve taken him for dead. The other pump-action bandit stood a few feet away from the fallen bounty hunter, ready to give him another hot lead injection.
*click*
Charlie winced as the revolver’s hammer struck air.
“Two down,” Ameara said, “this must be agonizing for you darling, I can see it in your eyes, and believe me I’m rooting for you, I’d rather kill your friend over there, but like I said, it’s out of my control.”
*click*
“Three down.”
“Stop fucking with me and just get on with it,” Charlie pleaded.
If there was one thing that Charlie had learned about the Rust Queen, it was that she was honest. If she claimed that she would spare one of them, well, he could take her word for it. It was with that in mind that he accepted his fate, but what truly tortured him was that Mal’s fate was left to nothing more than a roll of the dice. Charlie had long ago accepted the fact that he could be killed, you had to in his line of work. What he refused to accept was being responsible for the death of his best friend.
“Ameara,” he said, “I’m not the type to beg, and I think you know that, so I won't, but I will swear on every last thing I can swear on that if you kill Mal instead of me, even Omni himself won’t be able to stop me from ripping you apart, and you better hope you don’t go to hell, ‘cause if you do I’ll be right there on your ass.”
“Oh how I love your threats Charlie,” Ameara responded, “truly, they send chills down my spine.”
*THWACK*
The sound that echoed across the bar was not that of a hammer striking air, but rather a bat cracking open a skull. Parker had blindsided the thug aiming for Charlie, knocking the man out cold. At almost the same time the other guard screamed and fell to the ground spasming as Sam’s taser lit him up. Ameara’s eyes went wide and Charlie smiled. In one solid motion the bounty hunter reached for his hand cannon, drew it, and aimed for the Rust Queen’s chest. Ameara squeezed her trigger and prayed to Lady Luck.
*click*
*BOOM*
Charlie’s pistol barked and fired a slug right into Ameara’s chest. In an instant Ameara was sent stumbling back as the bullet tore through her body. Bloody viscera was sent flying across the room as a fist-sized hole was punched through her shoulder blade. Dark blood gushed from the open wound and Ameara tumbled backwards, slamming hard against the ground. Sam and Maxx screamed and ran to their mother’s side. Parker did not say a word, but instead turned away. Astonishment swept through the crowd as reality set in. The Rust Queen was dead.
Charles stood and sweeped his pistol across the crowd before shouting, “any of you motherfuckers want the same treatment, go ahead and make a move.”
He stood before them with his chest heaving and sweat on his brow. Blood still stained his hands, long after it had dried. Smoke still danced with the barrel of his hand cannon. He did not move a muscle. His gaze trundled through the crowd, hoping to find an excuse to lay another scumbag out. Weeping filled the air as Maxx and Sam mourned the only person who had given a damn about them. When no one made a move Charlie sauntered over to his fallen comrade. He kicked the fallen thug in the gut and picked up the man’s shotgun. Charlie slid the revolver into his waistband and kept the shotgun pointed towards the crowd.
“You still with me Mal?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the potential threats.
Mallory groaned, “unfortunately, fuck, this hurts.”
“Yeah, just keep pressure on it,” Charlie answered.
He cradled the shotgun with one hand and reached into his jacket with the other. From his pocket he produced a half-burnt cigar and put it in his mouth. Again he reached into his pocket for a lighter and with a practiced motion lit the cigar. Charles breathed in deep and let out a big cloud of smoke.
“So what now Mal?” he asked.
As if to answer the question a distant explosion rocked the building. Blaster fire followed the explosion. Somebody came running through the front doors shouting that the EPD was coming. That was all it took for the bedlam to reemerge. Druggies, gangbangers, and pariahs all began a mad scramble to escape. Charlie stood over Mal and bulldogged anyone that got too close. Parker grabbed his siblings and tore them away from Ameara’s corpse. Charlie locked eyes with the Grave’s children one last time before they disappeared in the confusion. He chuckled and shook his head. By the time the blaster fire had reached them the crowd had dispersed and only a few stragglers either too injured or too intoxicated remained. Charles threw the shotgun aside and raised his arms in anticipation of the EPD.
Stormtroopers in their signature snow-white plastoid armor charged into the trashed bar. Each of them barked various orders at anyone who would listen. Charles scowled as a familiar face stepped into view. The officer from the checkpoint,now wearing a set of trooper armor sans helmet, smiled plainly at him.
“How the hell did you find us?” Charlie asked.
“You really think we’d just let you waltz off with a criminal just on good faith?” she said, “at the checkpoint we put a tracker on your friend there, been following you since, you’ve got a lot to explain.”
“That’s fine,” Charles said, “we’ve got nothing to hide, but uh, think you could get my friend here some help?”
“Sure thing.”
After a few minutes of waiting a pair of medics came in through the doors and began to stabilize Mallory. As they carted the man out on a stretcher the officer began to grill Charlie. Charlie took the questioning in stride. They had done everything more or less by the books and hadn’t acted far outside their bounds. Once the officer was satisfied she begrudgingly dismissed him and went about her business. Charlie sighed and flicked the butt of his cigar across the room. He sauntered over to Ameara’s corpse and took a good long look at his former lover.
“Damn shame, Ameara,” he said, shaking his head.
As he went to turn a glint of metal caught his eye. It was just barely peeking out from behind her bra and covered in blood, but it was unmistakably the credit chip that they had won. His jaw nearly hit the floor. He had all but given up any notion of recovering their money at this point, but perhaps Lady Luck had chose fit to smile on him. The bounty hunter looked around the room. Everyone was too busy wrangling criminals to bother paying attention to him. A smirk slipped across his lips as he bent down to retrieve the chip. There was a slight bit of resistance as he pull the chip from her bra. His heart sank. The chip was mangled. His bullet had torn a hole right through the damn thing and grenaded half of it into Ameara. He could practically hear the Rust Queen laughing in hell.
“Now that’s a damn shame,” he grumbled and let the chip fall back into the puddle of her blood.
Charles glared down the barrel of her revolver. A metal guard blocked his view of the pistol’s cylinders so there was no way of knowing which trigger pull would spell the end of him. His eyes flicked past Ameara and to the shotgun-toting thug that was aiming for his chest. The Rust Queen was close enough that he could bumrush her before she could get more than a shot or two off, but Charlie had no intentions of trying to outrun a shotgun blast. He craned his neck to look at Mallory. The man’s metal arm looked shredded and an expanding pool of blood shimmered beneath him. If it weren’t for the soft rise and fall of Mallory’s chest Charlie would’ve taken him for dead. The other pump-action bandit stood a few feet away from the fallen bounty hunter, ready to give him another hot lead injection.
*click*
Charlie winced as the revolver’s hammer struck air.
“Two down,” Ameara said, “this must be agonizing for you darling, I can see it in your eyes, and believe me I’m rooting for you, I’d rather kill your friend over there, but like I said, it’s out of my control.”
*click*
“Three down.”
“Stop fucking with me and just get on with it,” Charlie pleaded.
If there was one thing that Charlie had learned about the Rust Queen, it was that she was honest. If she claimed that she would spare one of them, well, he could take her word for it. It was with that in mind that he accepted his fate, but what truly tortured him was that Mal’s fate was left to nothing more than a roll of the dice. Charlie had long ago accepted the fact that he could be killed, you had to in his line of work. What he refused to accept was being responsible for the death of his best friend.
“Ameara,” he said, “I’m not the type to beg, and I think you know that, so I won't, but I will swear on every last thing I can swear on that if you kill Mal instead of me, even Omni himself won’t be able to stop me from ripping you apart, and you better hope you don’t go to hell, ‘cause if you do I’ll be right there on your ass.”
“Oh how I love your threats Charlie,” Ameara responded, “truly, they send chills down my spine.”
*THWACK*
The sound that echoed across the bar was not that of a hammer striking air, but rather a bat cracking open a skull. Parker had blindsided the thug aiming for Charlie, knocking the man out cold. At almost the same time the other guard screamed and fell to the ground spasming as Sam’s taser lit him up. Ameara’s eyes went wide and Charlie smiled. In one solid motion the bounty hunter reached for his hand cannon, drew it, and aimed for the Rust Queen’s chest. Ameara squeezed her trigger and prayed to Lady Luck.
*click*
*BOOM*
Charlie’s pistol barked and fired a slug right into Ameara’s chest. In an instant Ameara was sent stumbling back as the bullet tore through her body. Bloody viscera was sent flying across the room as a fist-sized hole was punched through her shoulder blade. Dark blood gushed from the open wound and Ameara tumbled backwards, slamming hard against the ground. Sam and Maxx screamed and ran to their mother’s side. Parker did not say a word, but instead turned away. Astonishment swept through the crowd as reality set in. The Rust Queen was dead.
Charles stood and sweeped his pistol across the crowd before shouting, “any of you motherfuckers want the same treatment, go ahead and make a move.”
He stood before them with his chest heaving and sweat on his brow. Blood still stained his hands, long after it had dried. Smoke still danced with the barrel of his hand cannon. He did not move a muscle. His gaze trundled through the crowd, hoping to find an excuse to lay another scumbag out. Weeping filled the air as Maxx and Sam mourned the only person who had given a damn about them. When no one made a move Charlie sauntered over to his fallen comrade. He kicked the fallen thug in the gut and picked up the man’s shotgun. Charlie slid the revolver into his waistband and kept the shotgun pointed towards the crowd.
“You still with me Mal?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the potential threats.
Mallory groaned, “unfortunately, fuck, this hurts.”
“Yeah, just keep pressure on it,” Charlie answered.
He cradled the shotgun with one hand and reached into his jacket with the other. From his pocket he produced a half-burnt cigar and put it in his mouth. Again he reached into his pocket for a lighter and with a practiced motion lit the cigar. Charles breathed in deep and let out a big cloud of smoke.
“So what now Mal?” he asked.
As if to answer the question a distant explosion rocked the building. Blaster fire followed the explosion. Somebody came running through the front doors shouting that the EPD was coming. That was all it took for the bedlam to reemerge. Druggies, gangbangers, and pariahs all began a mad scramble to escape. Charlie stood over Mal and bulldogged anyone that got too close. Parker grabbed his siblings and tore them away from Ameara’s corpse. Charlie locked eyes with the Grave’s children one last time before they disappeared in the confusion. He chuckled and shook his head. By the time the blaster fire had reached them the crowd had dispersed and only a few stragglers either too injured or too intoxicated remained. Charles threw the shotgun aside and raised his arms in anticipation of the EPD.
Stormtroopers in their signature snow-white plastoid armor charged into the trashed bar. Each of them barked various orders at anyone who would listen. Charles scowled as a familiar face stepped into view. The officer from the checkpoint,now wearing a set of trooper armor sans helmet, smiled plainly at him.
“How the hell did you find us?” Charlie asked.
“You really think we’d just let you waltz off with a criminal just on good faith?” she said, “at the checkpoint we put a tracker on your friend there, been following you since, you’ve got a lot to explain.”
“That’s fine,” Charles said, “we’ve got nothing to hide, but uh, think you could get my friend here some help?”
“Sure thing.”
After a few minutes of waiting a pair of medics came in through the doors and began to stabilize Mallory. As they carted the man out on a stretcher the officer began to grill Charlie. Charlie took the questioning in stride. They had done everything more or less by the books and hadn’t acted far outside their bounds. Once the officer was satisfied she begrudgingly dismissed him and went about her business. Charlie sighed and flicked the butt of his cigar across the room. He sauntered over to Ameara’s corpse and took a good long look at his former lover.
“Damn shame, Ameara,” he said, shaking his head.
As he went to turn a glint of metal caught his eye. It was just barely peeking out from behind her bra and covered in blood, but it was unmistakably the credit chip that they had won. His jaw nearly hit the floor. He had all but given up any notion of recovering their money at this point, but perhaps Lady Luck had chose fit to smile on him. The bounty hunter looked around the room. Everyone was too busy wrangling criminals to bother paying attention to him. A smirk slipped across his lips as he bent down to retrieve the chip. There was a slight bit of resistance as he pull the chip from her bra. His heart sank. The chip was mangled. His bullet had torn a hole right through the damn thing and grenaded half of it into Ameara. He could practically hear the Rust Queen laughing in hell.
“Now that’s a damn shame,” he grumbled and let the chip fall back into the puddle of her blood.
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