06-02-2018, 09:09 AM
As the cool dawn relinquished its hold on the Dunes, a sweltering warmth of the afternoon took its place, and Sasuke’s raiding party had finally traversed into the Baron’s territory. The transition into the territory was easily discernable, and quite honestly, gave the shinobi’s stomach a lurch. In fact, all but Kuzuru were disgusted at the sight, for row after row, numerous corpses lined the horizon, hung crucified and flayed upon the crosses they were nailed to.
The calm and collected child refugee of before was gone, replaced now, by a boy on his knees, violently puking into the sands. Sasuke placed a hand to the boy’s back to comfort him, and rubbed against the violent waves of dry heaving. The shinobi then looked up from the boy, to the rest of the party, and asked, “What do you think it means?”
Gleeful, Kuzuru didn’t answer. He was too enthralled by the gore depicted before them, and it gave the shinobi pause for thought about the mercenary’s character. Should I be worried about this guy? Sasuke thought.
“Don’t fuck with the Deathchew clan.” the desperado answered, “Baron Deathchew. Enemies of his regime get this kind of treatment.”
“What a hospitable guy…” Kuzuru snickered.
“We knew of him from his imperial mining days. He’s one of the original secondaries from that era, so the info we have on him is pretty old, it’d have to be,” the cowboy considered, “but everywhere he’s been, he’s left a trail of blood and carnage in his wake.”
“Reeeaaally warming up to this guy…” the demon joked.
“Kuzuru!” the shinobi hissed.
“Quinn Bonaparte, aka Baron Deathchew.” Ignoring Kuzuru, the cowboy continued his story. “Ex-omnilium miner from the eastern quadrant. Quit working after the day his wife got raped and killed by his own foreman.” the cowboy paused long enough to remove a cigarette from its pack, placed it to his lips, and give his lighter a flick. “Shit story really,” he said as he took a long drag, “but the baron got his revenge, and he’s been on a war path ever since.”
The cowboy tipped his hat down to shield his eyes from the sun, and with a lit cigarette clung to his lip, Sasuke couldn’t help but think he looked cool. He looked like what Town With No Name would look like, as a person, the shinobi thought, before shaking it from his mind.
“Fine by me,” Sasuke interjected, “if he wants a war, then a war is what he’ll get.”
“Good attitude. Keep that,” the cowboy insisted, “you’ll need it. Legend says, he feminized that foreman with his own blaster, took over his business, and never looked back.”
“A blaster?” Kuzuru interrupted, “What’s so scary about that?” The demon scoffed, “Any punk off the street can use one of those. It takes real skill to do what we do.” The demon indicated to the shinobi and himself. Sasuke joined in on the chuckle that followed before correcting himself, but the cowboy never broke character.
“Craziest part, I say the damnedest part of all of this...” the gunslinger paused to eye both the demon and shinobi closely, “they say his blaster got the better of the Judge. That’s what’s crazy, he won a showdown with him, and that’s how he escaped from the Empire.”
The pair of primes were quiet now and had stopped laughing. Who hadn’t heard of the Judge? The tales of his infamy were plastered all over the Dataverse. If this were true, it was indeed quite a feat.
“Anyone else, and I’d say it was bullshit,”
“-It is bullshit.” Kuzuru interrupted, just before departing from the cowboy’s tale, traveling further ahead of their pace.
“but not with Deathchew.” the gunslinger continued anyway, “His trademark is violence. Not so long ago, there were three primary gangs warring for control of the territory, the people, and the pyramid itself.”
Sasuke leaned in closer for better hearing. Unlike Kuzuru, Sasuke had been suckered into the grandeur of the tale. “There’s regular people living there too? Just trying to make a living?” the ninja asked.
“Aye, it’s like a settlement of sorts.” the outlaw answered.
“SEE,” the shinobi hollered up towards Kuzuru at the front of the pack, “the dead guy never said anything about that!” The demon barely responded, he simply kept his pace, and dismissed them with a wave of his arm, but after a few seconds, he did give them the middle finger as well. Sasuke laughed and the party trudged on.
“The Tusken Raiders,” the cowboy continued his story as they walked, “the Sons of Sand, and Sledge’s Bandit Crew, all gangs who use to have operations here. Then Deathchew arrived, took over from the top, and started making his way down. Nine months later he had control of everything, the pyramid and the few hundred square miles around it. These ‘warning signs’ came up shortly after.”
Within about an hour later, the party had discovered Deathchew’s pyramid, and were traveling through the settlement enclosed around it. Populated with mohawks, punk-leather, and red hair dye, the denizens here crossed off every alternative cliché from mascara and eyeliner, to tribal tattoos, and, of course, various body piercings.
“There’s people here…” Sasuke observed.
“I said there would be.” the outlaw said.
“Yea but,” Sasuke started.
“This is a lot of people…” Kuzuru finished.
“Yea. Exactly.” the ninja agreed.
“And the baron rules here with an iron fist,” the cowboy added, “unfortunately, freedom is not really a reality here.” The gunslinger paused for a moment, looked at the child refugee next to Sasuke, and said, "It's really not a place fit for children."
“I'll handle that," the ninja answered, "he's in my charge."
"You're the royal hand."
"So, how does the baron get away with all of this?” Sasuke asked as they walked, avoiding the approaching vendors peddling their sh*tty looking wares.
The desperado sighed, “You know how often we get justice in this area?”
“We?” the shinobi arched an eye brow, “You’re from here, then?”
“Told you we couldn’t trust him.” Kuzuru snarled.
You know, Sasuke thought, If the demon didn’t have a problem with the him, he was certainly damn good at acting like he did. He then reprimanded the demon, “Kuzuru!”
“I was,” the outlaw explained, “tried to escape with my family. Didn’t succeed though, and well, you were there. You saw. I was chained up alone by the time you got to me, wasn’t I?” the cowboy was somber, whatever had happened, it obviously weighed heavy on his heart, “Like I said, we don’t get much justice out here.”
“Well,” Sasuke assured him, “you’re getting it now.”
“Good,” the bandit replied, “the people here are in sore need of it.”
After thirty minutes or so, the party had finally arrived at the pyramid’s entrance, and surprisingly enough, no one had stopped them, or even asked them about their business.
“This is quite something, all these people live under him?” the shinobi asked. “There’s almost as many people here as Nippur once housed.”
“More,” the cowboy corrected him, “each level is just as populated.”
“How does he manage that?” this time, it was the demon, Kuzuru, who asked.
“He provides them their basic needs…” the desperado gave it some thought for a minute, “and it’s safer in here than out here.”
"I guess.” the shinobi said, doubtful.
“No,” the cowboy pressed, “he makes certain of it, so long as his monthly sacrifices are met…”
“Savages.” this time Sasuke snarled.
“Who cares?!” Kuzuru whined as he advanced on the pyramid, and spun around with his arms extended, “Are we going in or what? Let’s go kill some f*cking cannibals!”
And so they did, they entered the giant, five storey encompassing pyramid, and immediately regretted it. As soon as they entered, the entrance barricaded itself, and to the alarming sound of all the exits slamming shut.
“What the…”
Buzzing over loud speaker, a commanding voice began to echo throughout every corridor of the pyramid. “Fort Deathchew,” the speaker sounded, “this is this is your baron speaking.”
“Shit” the cowboy cursed, “this isn’t good.”
“Relax” the shinobi ordered as he used his hand to call for silence. Kuzuru smirked, but obliged all the same.
“Somewhere in the fort are two primes.” the voice continued overhead, “they’re accompanied by two secondaries and I want them all dead.” Sasuke looked to the young boy with them, and cursed himself for allowing his participation. The loud speaker continued, “Until I get what I want, the pyramid stays locked down. All clansmen, of every level, hunt these primes down. Everyone else clear the area and stay the f*ck out of our way until the killing stops.”
Kuzuru gave Sasuke an enticing smile. The action was about to start, he knew it, and he was clearly getting excited. Sasuke couldn’t help but feel it too, and wore a grin just as wide.
“This is our city!” the speaker declared. “Wherever you are, we’re gonna catch you, we’re gonna cook you, and we’re gonna EAT YOU!!!”
Kuzuru was laughing and grabbing his crotch. “Eat this d*ck.” he said, but the cowboy however, he seemed distraught, and in a foul mood.
“If I hear of anyone helping these primes," Deathchew's voice threatened over loud speaker, "I will kill them, and eat the next generation of their family. As for the Primes, sit tight, or run, it makes no difference. You’re mine, you’re food, and you’re already dead.”
“I told you, Sasuke,” the demon cooed, “if nothing else, this guy has pizazz!”
The calm and collected child refugee of before was gone, replaced now, by a boy on his knees, violently puking into the sands. Sasuke placed a hand to the boy’s back to comfort him, and rubbed against the violent waves of dry heaving. The shinobi then looked up from the boy, to the rest of the party, and asked, “What do you think it means?”
Gleeful, Kuzuru didn’t answer. He was too enthralled by the gore depicted before them, and it gave the shinobi pause for thought about the mercenary’s character. Should I be worried about this guy? Sasuke thought.
“Don’t fuck with the Deathchew clan.” the desperado answered, “Baron Deathchew. Enemies of his regime get this kind of treatment.”
“What a hospitable guy…” Kuzuru snickered.
“We knew of him from his imperial mining days. He’s one of the original secondaries from that era, so the info we have on him is pretty old, it’d have to be,” the cowboy considered, “but everywhere he’s been, he’s left a trail of blood and carnage in his wake.”
“Reeeaaally warming up to this guy…” the demon joked.
“Kuzuru!” the shinobi hissed.
“Quinn Bonaparte, aka Baron Deathchew.” Ignoring Kuzuru, the cowboy continued his story. “Ex-omnilium miner from the eastern quadrant. Quit working after the day his wife got raped and killed by his own foreman.” the cowboy paused long enough to remove a cigarette from its pack, placed it to his lips, and give his lighter a flick. “Shit story really,” he said as he took a long drag, “but the baron got his revenge, and he’s been on a war path ever since.”
The cowboy tipped his hat down to shield his eyes from the sun, and with a lit cigarette clung to his lip, Sasuke couldn’t help but think he looked cool. He looked like what Town With No Name would look like, as a person, the shinobi thought, before shaking it from his mind.
“Fine by me,” Sasuke interjected, “if he wants a war, then a war is what he’ll get.”
“Good attitude. Keep that,” the cowboy insisted, “you’ll need it. Legend says, he feminized that foreman with his own blaster, took over his business, and never looked back.”
“A blaster?” Kuzuru interrupted, “What’s so scary about that?” The demon scoffed, “Any punk off the street can use one of those. It takes real skill to do what we do.” The demon indicated to the shinobi and himself. Sasuke joined in on the chuckle that followed before correcting himself, but the cowboy never broke character.
“Craziest part, I say the damnedest part of all of this...” the gunslinger paused to eye both the demon and shinobi closely, “they say his blaster got the better of the Judge. That’s what’s crazy, he won a showdown with him, and that’s how he escaped from the Empire.”
The pair of primes were quiet now and had stopped laughing. Who hadn’t heard of the Judge? The tales of his infamy were plastered all over the Dataverse. If this were true, it was indeed quite a feat.
“Anyone else, and I’d say it was bullshit,”
“-It is bullshit.” Kuzuru interrupted, just before departing from the cowboy’s tale, traveling further ahead of their pace.
“but not with Deathchew.” the gunslinger continued anyway, “His trademark is violence. Not so long ago, there were three primary gangs warring for control of the territory, the people, and the pyramid itself.”
Sasuke leaned in closer for better hearing. Unlike Kuzuru, Sasuke had been suckered into the grandeur of the tale. “There’s regular people living there too? Just trying to make a living?” the ninja asked.
“Aye, it’s like a settlement of sorts.” the outlaw answered.
“SEE,” the shinobi hollered up towards Kuzuru at the front of the pack, “the dead guy never said anything about that!” The demon barely responded, he simply kept his pace, and dismissed them with a wave of his arm, but after a few seconds, he did give them the middle finger as well. Sasuke laughed and the party trudged on.
“The Tusken Raiders,” the cowboy continued his story as they walked, “the Sons of Sand, and Sledge’s Bandit Crew, all gangs who use to have operations here. Then Deathchew arrived, took over from the top, and started making his way down. Nine months later he had control of everything, the pyramid and the few hundred square miles around it. These ‘warning signs’ came up shortly after.”
***
Within about an hour later, the party had discovered Deathchew’s pyramid, and were traveling through the settlement enclosed around it. Populated with mohawks, punk-leather, and red hair dye, the denizens here crossed off every alternative cliché from mascara and eyeliner, to tribal tattoos, and, of course, various body piercings.
“There’s people here…” Sasuke observed.
“I said there would be.” the outlaw said.
“Yea but,” Sasuke started.
“This is a lot of people…” Kuzuru finished.
“Yea. Exactly.” the ninja agreed.
“And the baron rules here with an iron fist,” the cowboy added, “unfortunately, freedom is not really a reality here.” The gunslinger paused for a moment, looked at the child refugee next to Sasuke, and said, "It's really not a place fit for children."
“I'll handle that," the ninja answered, "he's in my charge."
"You're the royal hand."
"So, how does the baron get away with all of this?” Sasuke asked as they walked, avoiding the approaching vendors peddling their sh*tty looking wares.
The desperado sighed, “You know how often we get justice in this area?”
“We?” the shinobi arched an eye brow, “You’re from here, then?”
“Told you we couldn’t trust him.” Kuzuru snarled.
You know, Sasuke thought, If the demon didn’t have a problem with the him, he was certainly damn good at acting like he did. He then reprimanded the demon, “Kuzuru!”
“I was,” the outlaw explained, “tried to escape with my family. Didn’t succeed though, and well, you were there. You saw. I was chained up alone by the time you got to me, wasn’t I?” the cowboy was somber, whatever had happened, it obviously weighed heavy on his heart, “Like I said, we don’t get much justice out here.”
“Well,” Sasuke assured him, “you’re getting it now.”
“Good,” the bandit replied, “the people here are in sore need of it.”
After thirty minutes or so, the party had finally arrived at the pyramid’s entrance, and surprisingly enough, no one had stopped them, or even asked them about their business.
“This is quite something, all these people live under him?” the shinobi asked. “There’s almost as many people here as Nippur once housed.”
“More,” the cowboy corrected him, “each level is just as populated.”
“How does he manage that?” this time, it was the demon, Kuzuru, who asked.
“He provides them their basic needs…” the desperado gave it some thought for a minute, “and it’s safer in here than out here.”
"I guess.” the shinobi said, doubtful.
“No,” the cowboy pressed, “he makes certain of it, so long as his monthly sacrifices are met…”
“Savages.” this time Sasuke snarled.
“Who cares?!” Kuzuru whined as he advanced on the pyramid, and spun around with his arms extended, “Are we going in or what? Let’s go kill some f*cking cannibals!”
And so they did, they entered the giant, five storey encompassing pyramid, and immediately regretted it. As soon as they entered, the entrance barricaded itself, and to the alarming sound of all the exits slamming shut.
“What the…”
Buzzing over loud speaker, a commanding voice began to echo throughout every corridor of the pyramid. “Fort Deathchew,” the speaker sounded, “this is this is your baron speaking.”
“Shit” the cowboy cursed, “this isn’t good.”
“Relax” the shinobi ordered as he used his hand to call for silence. Kuzuru smirked, but obliged all the same.
“Somewhere in the fort are two primes.” the voice continued overhead, “they’re accompanied by two secondaries and I want them all dead.” Sasuke looked to the young boy with them, and cursed himself for allowing his participation. The loud speaker continued, “Until I get what I want, the pyramid stays locked down. All clansmen, of every level, hunt these primes down. Everyone else clear the area and stay the f*ck out of our way until the killing stops.”
Kuzuru gave Sasuke an enticing smile. The action was about to start, he knew it, and he was clearly getting excited. Sasuke couldn’t help but feel it too, and wore a grin just as wide.
“This is our city!” the speaker declared. “Wherever you are, we’re gonna catch you, we’re gonna cook you, and we’re gonna EAT YOU!!!”
Kuzuru was laughing and grabbing his crotch. “Eat this d*ck.” he said, but the cowboy however, he seemed distraught, and in a foul mood.
“If I hear of anyone helping these primes," Deathchew's voice threatened over loud speaker, "I will kill them, and eat the next generation of their family. As for the Primes, sit tight, or run, it makes no difference. You’re mine, you’re food, and you’re already dead.”
“I told you, Sasuke,” the demon cooed, “if nothing else, this guy has pizazz!”
Dante's Abyss 2015
GRAND CHAMPION
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