This Thing Don't Look So Tough

[Strazio Rockwell]

All of this was starting to become a bit too much for Strazio. For the past hour and a half he had been riding high on an adrenaline cocktail. He had been clenching his fists and grinding his teeth in anticipation for meeting Shang again, but this anxious fixation left his stomach queasy. While Gamzee did his best to keep the motorcycle steady he was no match for the uneven terrain of the moors. Every few feet the sudden impact of a rock or a pothole would violently shake the two riders. Strazio’s stomach turned. That somewhat familiar stench of burnt Faygo tickled his nostrils and he gagged. The mage sunk low in his seat, trying his best to brace himself against the vigorous vibrations. His gut bottomed out and his skin turned paler than usual. Gamzee glanced at him and shouted something that Strazio couldn’t hear over the engine’s roar. They crested a hill and the troll gunned it. There was no coming back from this. Strazio lurched over the side and horked up his breakfast, painting a line of vomit across the hillside. Gamzee slammed on the brakes and the machine skidded to a stop.

“Woah, you okay?” the troll asked.

Strazio shook his head no and climbed out of his sidecar. He fell to his hands and knees as another wave of sick washed over him. He held up a finger and tried to say something but a draft of Faygo-flavored exhaust fumes forced him to gag again. He shuddered and groaned.

“You gonna make it bro?” Gamzee asked.

“Yeah,” Strazio muttered and wiped his mouth, “give me a minute.”

After a few nausea-filled moments Strazio crawled to his feet. He spit out a glob of sour bile and took a deep breath.Tremors rattled his hands and tiny dancers performed somersaults in his empty stomach, but he felt strangely refreshed. Motion sickness released its wiry tendrils from the afflicted mage and he dusted off his cloak. Gamzee watched from the back of his soft-drink machine, unsure of what to do or say. A series of sparks crackled across Strazio’s body, dissipating into the air. He turned back to the troll and climbed back into the sidecar.

“Alright,” Straz said, “let’s roll.”

Gamzee smiled, “you sure you don’t wanna take a sick day?”

“Oh fuck off,” Strazio said with a chuckle, “just nerves is all.”

“Nerves?” Gamz muttered, “never thought you’d be motherfukken nervous.”

“I ain’t nervous,” Strawso answered, “just a bit too excited.”

Gamzee nodded and answered, “me too motherfucker, me too, it’s gonna be great.”

Without another word the two once again rode towards the horizon. Their trip, for the most part, was an uneventful slog filled with nothing but the dreary sights of the Moors. Every now and again they come to a bog or some other impassible block of terrain and have to go around, but other than that they remained unmolested on their travels. As they approached the Primordial Scar two things became quite apparent. Firstly the terrain only became craggier as they approached the crater’s epicenter, which meant that they would have to abandon their mechanical steed before too long. And secondly, they were not the first ones there. A pair of horsebound silhouettes stood at the edge of a cliff. As Gamzee pulled in close and killed the engine Strazio scowled.

“Ah, Strazio,” Shang called out to the duo, “you have a habit of turning up in the strangest of places.”

“Shouldn’t you be behind a desk somewhere?” Strazio replied and pulled himself from the sidecar.

Atelos glanced at Shang and asked, “friend of yours?”

“Something like that,” the sorcerer muttered.

Strazio sized up the spartan and said, “you must be Atelos.”

“I am,” Atelos responded, “and who are you?”

“Strazio Rockwell,” he answered and flashed the crest of Darkshire that hung around his neck, “shame you two came all this way, but Gamzee and I can take it from here.”

”What?” the spartan’s voice boomed, “I will not be spoken to like some kind of weakling, this beast is far more terrifying than you can imagine.”

Strazio scowled and said, “nothing we can’t handle, you’re free to watch if you’d like as long as you don’t get in our way.”