Issue #4(January 2020)
Written by John Cheese Featuring: Flintlock
Silver Sidewinder
Centurius
Hooded Haunt
Mala Mujer
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Someplace in Mexico - 24.3 Hours Battery Remaining
"What did you do!?!" Rachel hissed as she ran to Sarah’s dead body only for a wooden hand to reach out and restrain her. "Let go of me!!" She snapped as the Living Totem drew her away from the corpse. "Your life is mine; I won't let you throw it away to that creature." The Living Totem wheezed as the body on the ground began to writhe, red and black thorned vines reaching up and snapping the dead woman's neck as a figure sprouted from the red dirt. "What did you do to my friend?!" Flintlock stated as she broke out of the Living Totem's grasp and levelled her shotgun at the woman dressed in black that had replaced the Zombie Master's corpse. "That serpent isn't a friend to anyone and you know it, after all she's the reason that your love was lost." The new arrival purred as the others caught glimpses of painful looking blisters spread across her skin. "You were like me, were punished for being a rival for Nero’s affections." She added as two of the cacti demons shuddered forward and muscled Flintlock forward. "Call off your puppets nymph, we mean you no harm but should you attempt to take the lady you will get what you deserve!" The Heathen warned as he removed the pistol holstered on his thigh, it's barrel flashing as both the demons were cut down. "This one knows of magic, you could be useful to me." The woman hissed as she made a grab for Flintlock, her fingers brushing against her skin leaving a painful blister, one that caused Rachel to squeal in pain as a pattern of burns and boils spread across her body. "I think not!" The Heathen snarled as he opened fire, the machine gun fire joined by the crack of the Living Totem's rifle as the woman was shredded into rotting plant matter. Almost immediately the burns across Rachel's skin retreated back to the point of origin, while the boils burst, leaking plant sap out onto the ground. "You okay?" Silver Sidewinder asked as she picked Rachel up, carefully avoiding touching case, it's countdown timer now normalised. "No, I'm not, who or what was that?" Rachel groaned as she looked towards the sky glow on the horizon. "She's a killer, probably sent to get the case, possibly by the same person who sent me." Silver Sidewinder stated as the group of four headed towards the glimmer of the city in the distance. "It is more than that, the woman could control plants like me." The Living Totem creaked as he tried to match his stride with the more fluid movements of the others. "It could control the demons and was able to simulate the touch of the plant the Spaniards called Mala Mujer." "As I said, the creature is some sort of wood nymph, only cast into a barren desert." The Heathen stated as a car drove past in the distance. "It may have designs on the case and its contents, but suspect other motives as well." "Whatever the case." Rachel groaned as she looked at the remaining blistering burn shaped like a handprint. "Let's keep moving, we need to find a phone signal and transport before another battery discharges." She announced while making a mental estimate of how long they had left. Last time there'd been pandemonium when the case discharged even when only a few people had been around. Rachel couldn't imagine the chaos that would ensue if they'd been in a city. She prayed she wouldn't have to find out. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania The red and gold glistening Iron Man suit was considered a harbinger of justice, and today the people of Pittsburgh needed someone to step in and save the day. Banking round the U.S. Steel Building, Tony Stark saw the path of destruction his adversary of the day had left, the tossed cars and cracked concrete leading to the giant metallic rhinoceros charging down the road. "Remind me to cancel my donation to the WWF." Tony snarkily told the digital notetaking software in his armour. "Or possibly double the amount." He added as he landed a good 100m in front of the rhinoceros mech, the device coming to a gentle stop, excess heat venting from its nostrils. "Okay listen, I have more important things to do today so climb out of that tin can and surrender." Tony ordered as electricity began to run up the mechs horn before arching to where Iron Man was standing. "Damage report?" Tony asked only for the HUD to report minimal system damage, not to mention an incoming call from the AI Jocasta back at Stark Tower. "Jocasta how's the scanning for residual Van Doom radiation?" Tony asked as he fired a repulsor blast at the Rhino only to see the energy to diffuse across the armoured surface. "Enlightening Tony, and I have discovered an anomaly," Jocasta answered as the Rhino charged towards Iron Man. "How is playing bush ranger?" "A little more problematic than I first thought." Tony stated as he took to the air, the Rhino stampeding under him and through a set of traffic lights before skidding round. "You said all you needed to do was distract him with a golden sponge pudding," Jocasta replied as the armoured shoulders of the Rhino popped open and four mini rockets burst out up towards Tony. "I must admit I didn’t understand your logic." "Neither did Bill." Tony answered as he blasted the leading rocket out of the air before shooting upwards, the rockets following, their presence triggering the Iron Man armour's collision alarm. "Note to self, use something other than giant rockets to propel this thing." "You sound as if you're in distress do you need assistance?" Jocasta asked calmly as one of the rockets exhausts spluttered out and if fell backwards, colliding with the munition that had been racing behind it. "I only said a little more problematic." Tony stated as the final rocket detonated its proximity sensors reading the suit in range and showering the armoured greaves of the exoskeleton with shrapnel. "Besides this Zoo Crew reject took his best shot and missed." Tony announced as he dove back down to street level, narrowly missing a flying SUV tossed by the Rhino. Opening fire on the mech suit's rump, Tony watched as the Rhino wheeled round and charged towards him. Rolling his eyes behind his helmet, Tony fired two rockets of his own at his charging foe only for the munitions to detonate harmlessly off the armoured hull. "Okay, not good." Tony mused as he fired his repulsor jets only for them to misfire. "Also, not good!" Tony gulped as he fired the Uni-Beam at the rampaging Rhino, the horn cleaving the energy before smashing into the armoured hero, all four legs turning the suit over and over, the Uni-Beam sparking and carving a gash into the asphalt. "Damage report." Tony groaned as he was kicked out the back of the Rhino, the suit sparking while black smoke rose from the head of the armoured mech even as it wheeled round again. <Failed shock absorbers, Uni-Beam generator cracked and needing replacement, dorsal armour compromised, micro shrapnel detected in jet thruster fail safe mechanism.> The armour diagnosed as the Rhino came charging at Tony again. "No not again." Tony stated as he fired a Repulsor beam into the smoking section of the Rhino mech, the munitions stored their detonating and causing the machine to stumble mid-charge and slide to a halt. "Okay so you were saying?" Tony groaned as the pilot of the Rhino popped out brandishing a PDW, only to be blasted unconscious before she could fire by the armoured Avenger. "I detected traces of synthetic Infinity Fractal and Antimatter in Mexico heading to the US border." Jocasta announced as Tony jettisoned a broken section of thoratic armour, catching it mid-air. "Shall I inform the Avengers?" "Skip the jocks and head straight to the nerd team." Tony replied as he lasered a target onto the cracked ground for his Orbital Refitting Chamber to land. "Tell them I'm just changing my pants and then I'll be running point." He added as a massive red canister landed the front peeling off to reveal a gleaming new set of armour. "Also make sure the police pick this up before she wakes up." El Canaria, Mexico - 22.1 Hours Battery Remaining Rachel looked at the timer as she sat down on the tiny rustic bench in what had once been a thriving town. Now it was abandoned, admittedly long before the Central American migrants had moved in and set up temporary abodes in the structures. A number of traffickers moved through here and one had been kind enough to bring a US style school bus. "They return." The Living Totem stated behind her, his words causing Rachel to jerk out of her obsessive vigil as time counted down. True enough Silver Sidewinder and the Heathen were returning the later slotting her silver dollar back into a pocket in her trousers. "The smuggler folded and granted us his bus." The Heathen announced in a cheerful voice as something glinted from the bell tower of the church. "I did the heavy lifting; he needed a little hypnotic suggestion to give up his ride." Silver Sidewinder hissed as she held out a pair of keys. "We even checked, it works and everything." "Well we need to leave; in five minutes another battery fails and reality gets turned upside down again,” said Flintlock as she got to her feet. Seconds later something bronze streaked across the sky and propelled Rachel into the wall. "Where the fuck did that come from!?" Silver Sidewinder spat as she and the others looked at the two-pronged spear pinning Rachel's hand to the wall. Walking over to remove the projectile, the Heathen tensed up us a hail of gunfire lanced out causing him and anyone else that wasn’t restrained to scatter behind cover. "The same place as that!" Flintlock stated as the gunman dressed in blue and white armed with an assault rifle walked across the street flanked by a man dressed in red and a woman clad in a dark gi. "Nero!" "We'll be taking that case Flintlock." The Enforcer stated only to be answered by a hail of bullets, forcing him and his cronies to scatter behind their own cover. "Many have tried before and it didn't end well for them!" Flintlock yelled as more projectiles streaked down from the church roof towards Flintlock's allies, blinding light causing them to cease fire. Taking advantage of the distraction the man in red, Chemistro, sprinted across to where Rachel was pinned. "We know about the reality changes, we're professionals who listen to our briefings." Chemistro snorted as he fired up his alchemy pistol and aimed it at the chain tethering Rachel to the case. "You can't handle them, nobody can." Rachel hissed as she kicked Chemistro in the groin, causing his shot to go wide and part of the wall to transmutated into water. "Stay still or lose an arm!" Chemistro spat as the Heathen came charging towards him, his machine gun raised like a club over his head. Eyes wide Chemistro rolled out of the way just as the woman in black darted forward, her drawn katana slashing through the weapons barrel. "Thanks Ronin." Chemistro coughed as he recovered his alchemy gun and quickly checked the weapon for damage. "I'll handle the brute!" Ronin stated as she slashed at her foe forcing him to sacrifice more of his machine gun to defend himself. "Then I'll take the wooden man!" The Enforcer announced as he cocked the under - barrel grenade launcher on his rifle and fired a round over the section of wall before exploding into a shower of flame, forcing Silver Sidewinder to bail out from behind cover even as the Living Totem was engulfed by fire. "What not good enough to take me on?" Silver Sidewinder asked as she fired a shot at the Enforcer, his armour defending him against the worst of the impact. "I'll take her." A new voice stated as a woman dressed in red completed with tinted lenses and a wide brimmed hat drew a trio of knives. "I've been in a coma for two months so I'm a little rusty." "Bring it on, Crossfire's glorified secretary doesn't..." Silver Sidewinder hissed before feeling a blade embed in her shoulder. "You threw a knife at me!" She snapped as her opponent threw two more, the first knocking the gun from her hand and the second slicing past her chin leaving a vicious cut behind. "Fuck I am rusty." The woman sighed as Silver Sidewinder removed her dollar from her picket, the sun glinting off the coin. Lowering her glasses, the Headhunter revealed eyes that were pools of red. "Let's see what else I need to work on." She announced just as a siren sounded from the case, warning them that another power cell was seconds from being fully discharged. "You want to handle it, then handle it." Flintlock stated as Chemistro looked at the others, then at the case before aiming his alchemy gun at the later. "Screw this I'm committed!" He growled through gritted teeth as he transmutated the chain into water, the case dropping to the floor just as a crackling energy field radiated from the device across the entire town. To Be Continued… |