SWNOVELS Chapter CHAPTER TWENTY
Once our heroes and their injured companion were all on their feet again, they hastily made their exit. It was a long trek to the escape point and they still had no idea exactly what they would find there. All they did know was that things were going to get a lot worse before they finally left this living Hell. The area they were heading towards was called ‘Fantasy Land’. It was the largest part of the arena and had the biggest collection of Nightmares. None of them had any idea what would be waiting for them when they arrived. The survivors had never ventured into such obvious danger; just because they believed they belonged there, it didn’t mean that they wanted to needlessly give up their lives.
After leaving the clock tower, they had made their way to a nearby building and patched Harmony’s leg up as best they could. The old, lead bullet had made a mess of her calf. The splint that Dallas had fashioned to hold the butchered limb together, his shirt acting as a bandage, had done nothing to make it usable again. The bleeding had been stemmed, but a massive infection was in her future. They headed out of the city at a hobbled pace and made their way to Fantasy land.
Their progress was slow, not just because of Harmony’s injury, but because the arena was so vast. The regular parks were designed to be traversed via automated transport, a luxury that was not afforded the inhabitants of the death planet. It ended up taking nearly 30 hours to reach the edge of Fantasy Land. They had to stop several times to rest and tend to Harmony’s wound.
It turned out that the people she was a part of didn’t agree with nano-medicine on ethological grounds and since the mobsters had stripped them of any useful items, Yukimi didn’t have a handy syringe full in her pocket any more. Harmony had spiked a fever half way through the journey and had drunk most of their water reserves to stay conscious. Things were looking bleak.
They reached the fallen gates of Fantasy Land and the skyline told them why no one came here. Swarming overhead, like leviathans of the air were Dragons, gargantuan, fire-breathing Dragons.
“If that old guy was wrong about this escape route, I’m going back and kicking his balls up through his teeth,” said Dallas watching the winged reptiles circling above them.
“Way ahead of you,” added Van, “I’m gonna beat him to death with his big, mangy dick. Seriously, that thing stank worse than Harmony’s leg, speaking of which, that smells proper funky, are you ok?”
He was right; the pungent aroma emanating from Harmony’s infected wound was beginning to be a real cause for concern. She wouldn’t last much longer without medical attention.
Regardless of this, they took another break and looked at the maps. They were heading into the belly of the beast and going in without a plan was suicide. Van’s wrist display showed the Nightmares as red arrows, there were a lot of them. If they were going to get to the heart of the area, they would have to be careful. Their destination was a mammoth volcano one kilometre ahead of them, but a direct path was not an option.
Hundreds of red markers were slowly moving all around the base of the artificial mountain. The only safe path they could see, would mean circling the edge of the perimeter wall and coming around the back. It was nearly four times the distance, but it beat certain death.
When they had rested up, they commenced their long hike to an uncertain fate. The sky above the volcano was like a tornado of fire, pulling the burning clouds downward in a funnel. The dragons followed the spin of the flaming maelstrom, giving them the appearance of evil ponies on some kind of satanic Ferris wheel.
Van took point, scanning ahead on his wrist display to check their path for roaming Nightmares. They came across the odd one or two giant rat creatures fighting over scraps of their immobilised cohorts, but had been able to sneak past the majority of them without incident. On the one occasion they had been forced to confront one of them, Yukimi had jumped into action and dismembered it with all the prowess of a ninja. She wielded her flag-knives like they were an extension of her body. Van couldn’t help but find this a little sexy to watch, though he wasn’t sure that was a ‘good’ thing. All that remained of the twisted effigies; was a scattering of convulsing body parts and a pool of blood. Yukimi didn’t even seem to mind that she was now bathed in monster blood. Van’s pants felt tighter now too, but he was surer that this made him a sick man.
Their route took them into a tunnel, which led them safely under a large cluster of red markers. As they trudged through the dark, subterranean passage, something occurred to Dallas;
“You know,” he said, “We are really unlucky. I mean, like, disproportionately, compared to the average person. By now something good should have happened to us, but it hasn’t. A night at the bar turned into a major theft which, in turn, led to you doing a fucked up job for that ‘Mondo’ guy. That then led to all that shit with the blue dudes and everything since then has just gotten progressively worse.”
“So, what’s your point?” asked Van, “Sometimes things just work out that way, it’s called ‘life’.”
“I know why it is,” harped Harmony, “You lack the grace of God. You should follow his rules if you wish to receive his blessings.”
“Delirium seems to have set in,” said Yukimi, “We should consider whether it is worth keeping her with us.”
“I’m not delirious,” snapped Harmony, “I am still a member of his flock and will be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven. These men might still have a chance of receiving the promise also, if they change their wicked ways.”
“Look,” replied Yukimi, “It is adorable that you have an imaginary friend that grants you wishes, but now is the time for pragmatism and reason. Also, not that I’m bothered, but why can they still be saved, exactly what is the implication you’re eluding to?”
“Well,” said Harmony sheepishly, “no offence, but you are technically an abomination. God created Man, you were created by a heretic. You don’t have an immortal soul, if you ever came to my home world, you would be purified.”
“Lovely,” Yukimi spat sarcastically, “Well, your belief is a lie propagated by bigots that need a way to legitimise the exploitation of others. There is no God and you sound like a moron.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” interrupted Dallas, “Too far Yukes, too far.”
“Don’t call me ‘Yukes’.”
“It suits you.”
“But I don’t like it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Am I sure? Of course I’m sure. I know what I do and do not like.”
“Pretty sure you didn’t mind the last time I said it.”
“Well next time you say it, I’ll beat you to death with your infected ‘brood-sow’ over there!”
“I’d love to see you try, Yukes!”
She lunged at him but Van got between them. “ENOUGH!” he shouted. “Listen; I think she’s an absolute twat of the first order for believing in an invisible super being that controls the Universe, but as she’s nearly dead anyway, I had the good grace to let her believe whatever makes her feel calm. And you,” he turned to Dallas, “With all due respect, you’ve known this girl for less than a week. Defending her honour like your, fucking, Sir Galahad is just plain dumb. Come on man, you’re better than that. We need to stick together if we’re gonna get out of here. According to the map, we only have another half hour of walking before we reach the Volcano. Let’s get this over with so we can leave this death trap behind forever.”
Yukimi and Dallas looked at one another and agreed upon an unspoken truce. Harmony still looked pissed off, but was far too weak to continue the argument.
They continued along the tunnel, until they emerged out of the other end. Looming in the darkness ahead of them was the volcano. Torrents of artificial magma coursed down from its peak, it pooled at the bottom creating a moat of lava around the base. Van checked the map. The Nightmares were sparse here but they were still stalking the area. They advanced cautiously, scanning the charred landscape for movement. The glow from Van’s CID was too bright to use out in the open, so squinting through the smoky air was the only option.
As they neared the burning moat, an old bridge became visible through the smog. It looked solid enough, cutting through the orange light cast by the faux lava. A wave of hope washed over them, they even smiled at one another.
They continued on, speeding up as they went. They reached the bridge and stopped to inspect it. The lava it crossed was fake, but it was also hot enough to produce steam. They didn’t want to end up simmering in it after getting this far. Across the bridge, they could see an opening like a mine entrance. They would have to spend time planning this treacherous crossing lest they suffered a painful defeat.
“Ok,” began Yukimi, “We need to treat this situation like we did the in the clock tower. By which I mean that we should take things slowly and not advance without checking ahead. Agreed?”
But before they could answer, a roar of thunder came rolling in from the far side of the volcano. A thick cloud of dust was rising and heading towards them. The cloud seemed to be following a running man in a suit. The man was screaming in terror. In the dust they could make out an army of monstrous creatures. He wasn’t sure, but Van could have sworn the man was heading for him. He wasn’t able to find out though, fore when the man was a mere hundred metres from them, he took a 90 degree turn and dived straight into the lava pool. The army of Nightmares however, didn’t, they had now spotted the group and were charging right at them.
“Normally I’d say that your plan was great,” said Van, already starting across the bridge, “But complications have arisen and I propose we adopt a more immediate approach. To this end, I’m gonna run like fuck and you guys try to keep up.”
They bolted over the bridge, Dallas carrying Harmony on his back. The Dragons had abandoned their circling and were bearing down on the stampede of death, which was heading directly for our heroes. Van looked back and saw that the Nightmares had reached the bridge. A giant, top hat wearing rabbit, with the scariest looking erection he had ever seen, was leading the charge.
As the army flooded across the bridge, the Dragons breathed fire down upon it. The bridge went up like a match, the force of the blast incinerating it, dividing the heroes from the majority of the encroaching monsters. Several dozen of them fell into the moat, emitting ear shattering screams as they sunk out of sight. The half dozen at the head of the horde had escaped their magmatic fate and continued their pursuit, flanked by the approaching Dragons.
The four heroes surged into the mine entrance, narrowly avoiding a sweeping Dragon. The tunnel was too small for the winged harbingers of death to continue the chase, for now, but the bridge survivors were gaining ground on them.
The tunnel snaked in all directions as they pushed deeper into the volcano. The Nightmares were so close now that Van was sure he could smell the killer rabbit’s dick-cheese. It smelled like fear. The tunnel began to head upwards, spiralling through the solid rock, taking them toward the summit. A few of the wretched creatures were cut down by security defences along the corridor, but they only seemed to be targeting them.
Eventually, the tunnel straightened out once more. Ahead of them, a reassuringly heavy door stood open. From inside; the glow of halogen lights was spilling into the darkness. Dallas was the first to reach it, but before he could cross the threshold a powerful dick slap sent Harmony flying through the air in a bloody spiral. Dallas crashed to the floor and turned to see a lethally ‘rapey’ rabbit monster towering over him. He threw a hand in front of his face. This was how it would end. Then CRUNCH!
Dallas opened his eyes and saw Van standing over him. His whole right arm was in the beast’s mouth. Tears were in his eyes, a look of pure shock and terror engulfed his face. He clenched his eyes shut as the creature exploded in a blast of blinding light.
When the inhabitants of the tunnel regained their vision, an odd sight awaited them. The rabbit was completely gone, as were the other Nightmares that had been following him. Van’s arm was still there, but it wasn’t quite as anyone remembered it. Rather than a pale, fleshy forearm, his elbow now sported a long metal gun barrel, with deconstructed hand parts jutting out from his elbow.
He was staring at it, the terror in his face now replaced with one of confusion. He turned to Dallas and Yukimi and saw that they too, shared his utter incredulity at what had just happened. The large ion canon was making a humming sound like it was powering down. The humming stopped and the arm returned to its original state, in a flurry of whirring mechanical components. Van stared at his arm as if it was someone else’s, that had a mind of its own.
“What the absolute FUCK?!” yelled Dallas. But, before Van could say anything, the door ahead of them slammed shut. There was a face looking at them from the other side, it was Harmony.
Yukimi was face-to-face with her, a thin piece of reinforced glass separating them. “Open the door, Harmony,” she said in a stern tone. Harmony smiled a ‘cunty’ smile.
“You have done your part,” she remarked, through the fop sweat coursing down her brow, “you have saved one of God’s people, you may yet find redemption.”
“Not this shit again,” interjected Van, “Look bitch, I’m sure your imaginary friend doesn’t promote leaving people to die. So, you either open this door, or I figure out how this- arm- thingy works and I blow you away!”
“The Lord would not let that happen to me. You see, I am pure and I follow His word. You, however, are all abominations in the eyes of God.
“You; are a demon from another world. You, have parts which were not given to you by the Lord. And you, my sweet Dallas,” she looked down at him, “You have immoral desires.”
“Didn’t stop you though, did it?” asked Dallas defiantly.
From the depths of the tunnel, came the roar of Nightmares that had finally made it across the moat. Yukimi sighed, ”This is your final warning, Harmony; open the door, or I will…”
“Say what you will, Demon,” she spat smugly, ”but I have already set the destination. In only two minutes I will be on my way to Eden and you will remain in the Hell you came from. You can do noth-“
She never finished her last sentence, Yukimi hadn’t allowed it. Quick as a flash, she had punched through the window and punctured a hole in Harmony’s face. She was dead.
Yukimi let the body fall and leant in, unlocking the door. They darted over Harmony’s corpse and found themselves in a control room. An escape pod sat in one corner, a countdown above the door told them they only had less than a minute to climb aboard. There was no time to reset the coordinates. They bustled in and strapped themselves into the chairs, closing the door as the countdown reached zero. The force of acceleration pulled them into their seats, as the pod blasted upwards.
They cut the cloud line and burst through the artificial sky. They peered out onto the white plumes of real clouds, sinking below them. Bean stalks poked out from clouds and in the distance, the bodies of, what appeared to be, dead giants littered the massive branches. The Happy World scientists had forgotten to factor in the need of large creatures to have more oxygen to live; when they tried to create this particular fairy tale trope. The thin atmosphere at this altitude had killed these particular Nightmares within minutes of their arrival.
As the pod made its way from the planet’s orbit, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Yukimi pressed a few buttons on a control panel, then turned to her companions.
“Well,” she said, removing her seat harness, “we can’t change the course of this vessel now that it has launched, but we should reach this Eden place in less than 14 hours. So, while we wait, we need to figure out our next move. Before that, however; Mr Morrison, you have some explaining to do. You gave your word that you would share how you gained the old man’s trust and I would also like to add to that an explanation for your arm.”
Van looked at her reluctantly. “I don’t have an explanation for the arm,” he said, “I didn’t even know it did that ’til today. I did say I’d tell you about the brand on my stomach though, so let me explain…”