Disclaimer: The Teen Titans aren't mine by any means.
Gunsmoke and Black Roses—Chapter Thirteen.
Blackfire glared down in bemused shock at the overall-clad figure waving up at her. What the Hell was he thinking? Although she had to admit to herself… If he was trying to surprise her, he'd done an excellent job. But what if he got hurt? What if he crashed? What if…
She shook her head to put these thoughts from her mind. Besides… why should she be so worried, she insisted to herself. After all, he was just… he was just…
For some reason, she couldn't finish that sentence. She wanted to insist to herself that he was just another guy, just another person that really wasn't that important… but she couldn't. Her mind involuntarily drifted to the kindness and pity he'd shown her when they'd first met, and his reluctance to fight her… even when she'd attempted to kill him.
She stared down and him, and unsure what to do, finally just slid back in her seat and waited… she didn't know what Smoke had in his head to do, but… It was too late to stop him now.
Smoke bowed through the audience's applause and as he climbed back up into the driver's seat, he grinned widely and blew a quick kiss straight at Blackfire; causing her to blush fiercely… she prayed to X'hal that he couldn't tell from that distance…
"Now that our guest contestants have been introduced…" Blared the loudspeakers, "… The show will start in roughly… thirty minutes..."
As the announcer finished his sentence, the trucks… Gizmo and Mammoth's Stinger, Johnny Rancid's Junkyard Undertaker, and Smoke's Desperado… revved back up and drove in the garage in the same order that they'd come out…
In The Drivers' Lobby…
Mammoth sat down at a table full of food that the stadium had provided for the drivers, and started chowing down on hotdogs.
"Don't eat too much, weenie-breath…" The tiny genius warned his friend. "I don't want you getting sick while I'm in the truck with you!"
"Aww, put a sock in it, Gizmo… I ain't gone get sick." Mammoth grunted back, downing two hotdogs in one bite… without chewing.
Gizmo just grumbled back an answer under his breath, and started making some adjustments on the engine of their truck.
All was relatively peaceful, until…
"(munch, munch) Damn, these are really good!"
Mammoth choked on the hotdog he was chewing, and looked incredulously over to his right.
There was… that guy. The last one, with the tricked out army truck. Mammoth, even with his impressive senses, hadn't even noticed him sit down.
"What the—Where did you come from?" Mammoth demanded.
Not even looking up from his plate, Smoke pointed over to his truck. "Ah baz mahcin, zum lahs monutt ahjzuzmuntz…" He muttered with his mouth full.
"…Uh… What the Hell did you just say?" Mammoth grunted confusedly.
Smoke gulped loudly and belched, wiping his mouth with his shirt. "I said… I was just makin' some last minute adjustments…" He clarified.
Mammoth glared at the new… and much smaller… diner. Who did he think he was, just suddenly sitting by him like that?
"So… what's your name, anyway?" Mammoth rumbled after a minute.
"Smoke…" The gunner replied without skipping a beat.
"No, your real name…" Mammoth insisted.
"Heh… That is my real name, Bubba." Smoke chuckled.
Mammoth stared dumbly for a second, right before grabbing Smoke by the collar of his jacket and lifting him up one handed. "My… name… is… MAMMOTH!" He said, snarling the first three, and roaring the last one, causing Smoke's face to flap slightly with the force of it.
Smoke appeared relatively unfazed. He brushed his shoulder off, and wiped a bit of hotdog bun from his face. "Right… sorry 'bout that. Just kiddin', y'know." Smoke said after a moment, looking as though he was fighting the urge to pump Mammoth full of ammo.
After grumbling for a minute, Mammoth plopped Smoke back down on the stool he'd been sitting on. "Yeah…" he muttered.
"Y'know… that's a nice ride, ya got there." Smoke said, attempting to make conversation with the behemoth. "Very… technical lookin'." He added, eying the shimmering circuitry underneath the transparent areas.
"Gizmo built it." Mammoth said gruffly, pointing over to the pipsqueak in question, who was just finishing up under the hood of The Stinger.
"He must be quite the mechanic." Smoke complemented.
"Yep… Smartest guy I know." Mammoth grunted in response. Maybe this new guy wasn't so bad after all…
They were interrupted by the loudspeakers on the ceiling. "All drivers, report to the garage in your vehicles, immediately! The first event it about to start!"
Smoke eyed the speakers pensively, his normally casual expression becoming a lot more serious suddenly. "This one's for you, Blackfire…" He whispered under his breath.
"…Huh?" Mammoth asked.
Smoke gasped. He'd forgotten that this guy was still beside him. "Err… Nothin'… C'mon, we better get going."
Mammoth nodded and started to make his way over to Gizmo and The Stinger. "Fair warning Smoke… We won't be going easy on anybody out there… including you." He rumbled.
To his surprise, Smoke grinned and laughed. "Good! That's the spirit! Consider it mutual, pal…" Smoke held out his hand. "So… May the best driver win."
Mammoth eyed his hand suspiciously for a moment… but eventually shook his hand, and was extremely surprised at how strong this scrawny little guy was. Why, he was probably as strong as Mammoth, judging from his powerful grip.
"Later, Bu—Err, I mean, Mammoth! And tell runt over there I said good luck!" He said, motioning at Gizmo. Then, he slapped Mammoth on the back in a chummy fashion, and ran off toward Desperado without further conversation.
Blackfire was waiting on the edge of her seat. Now that she'd gotten over the initial shock of seeing Smoke competing, she had to wonder how he'd fair against the pros… and then again, those other guys hadn't exactly seemed like pushovers, either.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Our first event… Flaming Ford Fury!" The announcer blared, causing the crowd to begin cheering wildly.
Sure enough, when the blinding spotlight shone down on the massive arena, Blackfire gasped at what she saw. Several side-by-side rows of Ford Trucks that had been set on fire…
Blackfire watched for about half an hour and cheered as she watched an array of varied Monster Trucks leap over the rows of flaming trucks… some of them made the leap clearly, and others hit the tops of the trucks and rolled off… which, honestly, made it that much more entertaining to watch the huge trucks crush their smaller counterparts effortlessly, the loud noise of sizzling flames and crunching metal echoing around the stadium.
Finally, The Stinger pulled up. Gizmo seemed to be in the driver's seat, in a special seat that allowed him to reach the wheel. Mammoth was riding shotgun, with his meaty elbow dangling lazily out of the open window.
With a revving up of the engine, The Stinger hauled ass forward towards the ramp… but at the last second, the chuckling diminutive genius pushed a glowing button on the center of the steering wheel. Without warning, a large jet thruster emerged from the back of the truck.
The thing flared to life just as they hit the ramp, causing them to fly out and over the flaming trucks effortlessly, at which point the jet died back down and the truck rolled to a stop.
After a second of stunned silence, the audience cheered loudly, impressed by the technology.
The next truck out was Johnny Rancid's Junkyard Undertaker. He also put a lead foot down on the pedal and started laying on the horn, causing most of the crowd to cover their ears.
His massive eighteen-wheeler didn't get too far off the ramp before it's massive trailer dragged it back down onto the flaming trucks… but they were utterly flattened under Rancid's massive tires. The crowd went wild, cheering him on as he turned the event into a destruction session. Johnny even went so far as to hit the brakes and then kick the thing into reverse, rolling over the burning trucks again and again before finally pulling off… the crowd loved it.
Finally, he drove off and Smoke pulled out in his Desperado.
His engine cranked to life, and he drove at high speed toward the ramp… at which point he flicked a switch on the dashboard that read, 'hydraulics'.
Suddenly, his front tires jacked themselves up just before he pulled off the ramp, launching him off into the air… he came down with a massive slam and crushed a pair of fiery trucks. Then, all four tires popped up and launched him upwards again. Coming down to crush more trucks, he jacked the tires again upon landing, and did this pattern over and over… causing his truck to literally bounce on the row of trucks, pulling off spins and 360's in midair…
Finally, he landed with a crash on the ground after the row of destroyed trucks. After the dust cleared, Blackfire leaned forward in her seat, anxiously looking into the windshield trying to see if Smoke was okay… seeing him spin and turn in the air like that worried her.
Sure enough, Smoke was just fine and grinning manically. The audience cheered wildly, the sounds of screaming and clapping echoing all over Jump City, probably.
Smoke waved at the audience through the windshield, and pulled off into the garage again.
"Aaaaall righty then!" The announcer laughed via loudspeaker. "It seems our amateurs are packing some talent! Perhaps they should consider a professional career; this is one of the best rallies I've seen in all my years! … Let's see what the judges have to say, shall we?"
Blackfire watched a large video screen above the pressbox with interest. Apparently, they were judging the drivers from 1-10 in each event…
The pros were judged first… most of them scored between seven and 9, but there were a couple tens. Then, 'THE STINGER' appeared on the screen… along with the number 9. Apparently, Gizmo and Mammoth did quite well. Their name faded out, and 'THE JUNKYARD UNDERTAKER' came up… also with the number nine. Johnny Rancid must've made quite an impression on the audience as well. Next…
'DESPERADO'… 10.
Blackfire cheered ecstatically. Smoke had gotten a perfect score! Before she could stop herself, she flew up out of her seat with glowing eyes, and burst out:
"YEAH! GO SMOKE! IN YOUR FACES, YOU LOUSY KLORBAG VARBLERNELKS! WOOOOH!"
As quickly as she'd shot up out of her seat, she looked around and realized people were staring. Her face very quickly turned a deep shade of red, and she floated sheepishly down to her seat. Apologizing meekly for her outburst, she sunk down and wished she could just dissapear into her seat.
But then again… Smoke's destructive monster truck antics were really beginning to stir up a bit of her old 'bad girl' personality… and she kind of liked it.
"For our next event… Rumble Rally Racing!" The loudspeakers announced.
All the trucks lined up at one side of the stadium… each one had a long lane that went to the other side of the stadium in a straight line. Apparently, the idea was the see which one could cross the distance to the other side the quickest. The announcer counted down from three… and on 'Go', all Hell broke loose. There was nothing but an ear-splitting rumble as the trucks took off…
Smoke finished first. Gizmo and Mammoth tied with Johnny Rancid for second; they all crossed at the same time. All the rest followed those four.
This pattern was repeated for the next several events… no matter what place anybody else finished in, no matter what gadgets Gizmo and Mammoth had up their sleeve, no matter what crazy moves Johnny Rancid pulled off… Smoke always managed to beat them without much effort.
A couple hours later… Smoke stood on a large platform, waving to the crowd. Gizmo and Mammoth stood on a nearby platform, wich wasn't quite as tall as Smoke's, and Johnny Rancid stood on a third that was lower than the other two.
"Ladies and gentlemen… Now THIS is unexpected! Our pros have apparently been shown up by amateurs! In third place tonight… Junkyard Undertaker!" People applauded loudly. "In second place… The Stinger!" The audience clapped even louder. "And… our grand champion this year… in first place… Desperado!" The crowd really went wild.
Several Minutes Later In The Drivers' Lobby…
Despite their automotive rivalry, Smoke had actually managed to befriend his fellow contestants easily… oblivious to the fact that all three had been an enemy of his friends more than once.
Johnny Rancid, after having gotten over his sullen resentment at getting third place, had challenged Smoke to an arm wrestling match… which Smoke won easily. Afterwards, Smoke and Mammoth had held a chili-dog-eating contest… which Smoke ALSO won easily. For several minutes after this, Smoke and Gizmo discussed mechanics, while Mammoth and Rancid were throwing straw wrappers at each other…
The three victors' celebrations were short-lived however…
Smoke's acute hearing suddenly began picking up… screaming? From the outside stadium area… and gunshots, too. What the Hell was going on?
"Guys…. Shhh!" He motioned for his new friends to keep quiet.
"Wha…? What's wrong wit' you?" Johnny demanded.
"Listen…"
Mammoth, Gizmo, and Rancid all listened for a minute…. And they too, could vaguely make out these strange sounds…
"What the--? Is somebody getting shot at?" Gizmo asked nervously.
"I dunno…" Mammoth grumbled.
Smoke, for reasons he wasn't sure of… was getting very nervous. He couldn't help but have a very bad feeling about this… and what if Blackfire was getting hurt out there.
"Guys… stay here… I'm gonna go take a look…" Smoke said slowly. Rancid started to protest, but shut his mouth. Even in the short time he'd known him, he'd already learned it was pointless to argue with Smoke.
As the others readied themselves for possible conflict… Gizmo pressed a few buttons on his control unit and caused several missile-cannoned tentacles to appear from his hi-tech backpack, Mammoth flexed his massive muscles and cracked his knuckles, and Johnny reached into the glove compartment in his truck and pulled out a pair of scoped laser blasters… Smoke slowly and carefully made his way down the huge, dark corridor of the garage towards the stadium…
When he peeked out into the stadium grounds, and up into the stands… he gasped in angry shock. Every person in the crowd had been rounded up and pushed into one small portion of the stadium, and were being guarded by a large number of figures in silvery-plated body armor, and wielding large, bizzare looking guns.
"…Blackfire…!" He realized out loud. She was in there somewhere!
Muttering angrily and drawing his revolvers… he started to dash out and attack. Until, anyway… he realized that these strange, armed figures had him outnumbered 10 to 1…
Then, he had an idea. He dashed back to the others…
"Guys! Come here, quick!"
Mammoth looked at him in concern. "Huh? What's the big deal?"
"I… I ain't sure…. Somebody's here… they've taken the whole crowd hostage, and… they're armed."
Johnny Rancid spit out the tall glass of soda he'd been chugging. "…WHAT? Somebody had the balls to crash OUR party?"
"Yeah!" Squeaked Gizmo. "And they haven't announced the winner yet, either! It can't be over."
"I know." Smoke said nodding. "So here's the plan…"
The four guys, one huge, one tiny, two regular sized… huddled around like a football team…
Meanwhile… A huge metallic monster, with a fluid filled tank for a face, stalked in the press box, it's head nearly scraping the ceiling it was so tall. It's brain pulsed vexedly, and it spoke in a static-filled mechanical voice.
"Damn… Where is it? Where is the prototype?"
One of the figures walked up and spoke in a growling, inhuman voice… "He hassss not appeared, Massssster…. He issss in hiding…" It hissed. Clearly, whatever was behind that silver helmet… was not human.
"FIND HIM! And bring him to me… alive."
The man… or was it a man?… marched out quickly hoisting it's large cannon in a pair of bulky arms…
Out on the field where the events had been held… a lone truck suddenly rolled out… it was Desperado.
Immediately, several of the figures roared and gathered at the edges of the front row, holding their cannon-like guns up…
"Ssssstep out! With your handssss up!" One snarled loudly, firing a couple warning shots of blue plasma bolts into the air.
Nothing happened.
As they prepared to open fire… the roof of the truck slid open… and a thirteen foot long, double barelled shotgun emerged. A moment later, an overall clad figure climbed out of the sunroof and took the trigger…
KAABLOOM!
The thugs had just enough time to see a billowing trail of smoke and steam approaching them at high speed, right before seven of them were splattered into green goo on the wall… the wall itself also had a pair of large, smoking holes in it.
The massive gun fired off several more times in quick succession, with each shot creating a gigantic flare like a high power cannon, and finishing off the attackers and spelling out the words, "SMOKE WUZ HEER", in gunshot holes in the wall…
On the other side of the stadium, the crowd began to cheer loudly, until the armored things pointed plasma cannons at them, causing them to cower in silence again… except for one alien who was still grumbing her anger about the situation.
"Jerks… I ought to light them up like Chinese fireworks…" Blackfire muttered under her breath. But, she was afraid of there being so many… there was no way she could take them all.
Smoke laughed and pulled out his sniper. "So… do you give up, or do I have to spank you some more?" He demanded to the attackers. However, his smile faded when he heard the loudspeakers come to life… and he recognized the voice instantly.
"So… It's 'Smoke' now, is it? Have you managed to conceal your abnormalities so well that they actually named you? Or have you not told them… prototype?" Drawled a mechanical, yet frighteningly farmiliar voice.
Smoke staggered back on the roof of his truck, his eyes looking fearful for the first time in a long time…
"No… Wagner?" He managed to choke out, terror filling his voice. "You… YOU'RE DEAD!" He screamed angrily.
"Hmph. You're intelligence has not improved, I see. Firstly, I am not dead… I'm not alive. I'm better than alive… I am whole! I am not Wagner, either. That name died with my inferior, organic body. I am now… a wholly different man… no, god. I… am… Myntull."
Screaming in rage and disbelief, Smoke raised his rifle, and aimed quickly, firing off a salvo of explosive slugs…
A ring of explosions rained around the top edges of the stadium as Smoke's shots took out each and every loudspeaker, lighting up the night like ominous fireworks. He fired, and fired, and fired again, desperatlely trying to drown out the voice he never wanted to hear again.
Finally, he lowered his sniper with shaking hands and panted. The still subdued crowd watched him in shocked silence. Blackfire was especially horrified by his reaction… and of the way he'd used the name 'Wagner'… wasn't that the scientist who…?
For a minute there was silence, Smoke collapsed onto the roof of his truck again, panting and shaking… trying to convince himself this was all some beastly nightmare… that he was still asleep in the driver's lobby, awaiting the next event.
Suddenly, the glass on the pressbox windows shattered and… something flew out. It did several spins and barell rolls in midair and glided down to Smoke, giving him a clear view of his new enemy.
Smoke stared in horror at the mechanized abomination before him. A buzzsaw bladed arm, along with a huge gatling gun mounted to the other… a laser weapon portruding from the face area… winged jetpack… hooked tail… shoulder mounted missile cannons… and a gurgling brain in oozing liquid.
"What… What the…the Hell are… you?" Smoke stammered.
The thing landed on the roof in front of him, it's metal wings folding to it's back and it's buzzsaw whirring threatiningly.
"I… Am… Your… Worst… Nightmare."
Without warning, the tail lashed out and grabbed him in an iron grip; he was unable to get his guns again…
As he struggled in Myntull's grip, Smoke grunted various curses, the anger and fear in his voice becoming more and more pronounced.
"Did you really think that I would ever let you go? Did you think you could get away from me?" Myntull demanded, the brain glowing slightly. "If you did, I have bad news I'm afraid… It simply isn't so. You will never… get away from me."
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
Both Myntull and Smoke turned startled faces… well, Smoke anyway; Myntull had no face to speak of… towards the hostage crowd.
The armored guards were holding down a struggling girl with dark hair and a purple skirt and top. "I SWEAR TO X'HAL, IF YOU HURT HIM I'LL KILL YOU!" She shrieked, eyes glowing violet.
"Huh… Blackfire?" Smoke whispered hoarsely.
"Hmm… A girl?" The robotic madman asked interestedly. "A girl, interested in you? Perhaps she wants to keep you as a pet?" He asked this last part loud enough to echo up to the crowd so that Blackfire could hear. "However… dangerous pets like you, must be put down, I'm afraid."
With that, Myntull pinned Smoke to the roof with his tail, and his buzzsaw whirred to life. He slowly moved it closer and closer to the struggling Smoke.
"Hmm, Yes… Time for one last dissection…"
At that moment, a screech of rage was heard from the stands… followed by a flash of violet light that sent the guards flying off in different directions. A moment later, a black and violet blur sped down towards Myntull and tackled him off the roof.
Blackfire floated back up a moment later and kneeled over Smoke.
"Smoke! Oh, X'hal, are you…. Are you all right?" She asked softly.
"I… I'm fine… but… this can't be real… he can't be… alive." He murmured as Blackfire helped him up.
"Here… take my hands." She said.
He looked at her confusedly, but did as she said. Suddenly, she took off into the air, carrying him with her up to the stands. Once there, she gently sat him down and he yanked out his shotgun. He eyed the guards levelly.
He stared at them for a moment as they aimed their plasma guns. Finally, he spoke…
"Go ahead… Make my day."
With sounds of crackling plasma, the air was lit up as they shot rapidly at him all at once. Reflexively, Smoke yanked up his chainsaw, and flipped the swich. The blade popped out instantly, and the plasma shots ricocheted harmlessly off of it.
He aimed his shotgun, and started pumping shells. The needles flew as he pulled the trigger, splattering the armed guards into green goo again. More of them, however, came pouring out of the stadium entrances… an army of them…
"Halt!" Mytnull roared, just recovering from Blackfire's attack.
The whole huge group stopped dead in their tracks.
"I suppose I should introduce my new projects…" Myntull hissed. "Remove your helmets!" He bellowed at the guards. They did so, and everyone gasped, a few people screamed.
The guards were NOT human… they had green skin, pointed and pierced ears, beady black eyes and greasy gray hair. Long yellowed tusks jutted up from their portruding lower jaws, and long forked tongues flickered in and out of their fanged mouths. Green slime dripped from their mouths like drool, and their faces were covered by strange designs and tattoos…
"Allow me to introduce…" Bellowed Myntull. "The 'Oppressed Ravenous Created Soldiers'… or, O.R.C.S." The evil brain explained. "They are perfect in every way… just as You were intended to be, Smoke. But… the one flaw you so flamboyantly demonstrated has been corrected in them… free will. They have none… only bloodlust and loyalty."
"Really?" Smoke snorted, cocking his shotgun. "Good… because that means they won't run away when I start kicking their ass, now will it?"
With an angry roar, Myntull bellowed the word, "ATTACK!"
The Orcs snarled and ran up, opening fire upon Smoke.
Smoke jumped up into the air, and came down with his chainsaw, slicing one into two bloody halves with a splat. He ducked another's claws, and came up with the butt of his shotgun to stun the bugger. It stood dumbly for a second, before Smoke blew it's head off, the body sliding to the ground as green slime spurted up.
"HYAH!" Smoke cried, dodging shots and blasting away with his shotgun. Each close range shot in the crowd of Orcs instantly caused his targets to burst into pieces as a cloud of needles tore them apart. It seemed that Smoke's new flechette shells were good for something after all!
"Hah! I KNOW you guy aren't trying!" The gunner taunted a nearby orc. "Or am I just that good?"
Another Orc came shot at him, but Smoke ducked onto his knees and lashed out with his chainsaw, cutting the thing's legs off with a shrill whir. The thing shrieked and looked around, propped up on knee-stumps… right before Smoke walked up and blasted it's ugly noggin off it's shoulders with a point-blank shotgun blast, causing the maimed critter to fall back dead.
He sliced a few nearby Orcs, sending green limbs flying like kites. He stood and surveyed his work, when another one came up behind him… but he abruptly pointed his shotgun over his shoulder and blasted him in the chest without even turning around.
Another platton came running in, letting fly with plasma. Smoke yelled and cranked his saw into overdrive. Running straight at them, he deflected every shot with his chainsaw blade… until he was finally right at them, at which point he let loose a single, mighty swing that chopped them in half.
By this time, Blackfire was realizing she should be helping, so she added to his attack with some energy blasts of her own.
There was a lapse in combat, and Smoke observed the piles of dead Orcs all around…
"Okay…" he said after a minute. He ran up to the railing over the stadium's field and yelled. "GUYS! NOW!"
Afterwards, Gizmo and Mammoth's Stinger, and Johnny Rancid's Junkyard Undertaker hauled out of the garage. Smoke turned to the crowd and pointed to a flight of stairs.
"Go, now! Get out of here!"
The crowed filed down and got into the trucks with Gizmo, Mammoth, and Rancid. A large group of people got into the back of the Stinger, and another huge group got into the trailer of Rancid's eighteen wheeler. Those that were left immediately began evacuating by foot.
Smoke watched Myntull hovering calmly in midair. He didn't know why he wasn't trying to stop them, but… he didn't care.
"Smoke…" Blackfire floated over to him. "I'm staying! I'm going to help you fight hi-"
"Go." Smoke whispered.
She looked startled. "… W-what?"
"Please… go. It's not safe. And besides, this is between him and me."
She argued, but he insisted, and finally she gave in. "Okay.. but… before I leave… let me do one thing." She asked.
He looked at her strangely. ".,..What?"
She leaned over… and kissed him on the cheek. "That." Then, she turned and flew off towards the city.
He watched her go, as well as the last of the hostages, and turned to Myntull.
"So… just you and me, Doc."
"Yes… it is time."
Instantly, Myntull brought up his chaingun and blasted outwards with a spray of bullets. Smoke blocked with his chainsaw blade, and returned fire with his shotgun. However, Myntull flew away…
"Take this!" The robo villain roared.
He let loose a flurry of miniature sidewinder missiles from his shoudler cannons, which homed in on Smoke and sent him flying with an explosion. He got up groaning and returned fire with his Sniper.
This time, his shot's hit home and Myntull was knocked out of the air by the explosive shots. He landed with a metallic thump, and smoked.
Taking advantage, Smoke cranked up his chainsaw and charged, intending to finish off the downed bot once and for all… but at the last moment, Myntull's buzzsaw reached up and their blades clashed.
The two whirring saw blades screeched against each other with a horrid noise, and sent a cloud of multi-colored sparks everywhere, burning Smoke's face and singing Myntull's metallic armor. They put off as much strength as they could, trying to force the blades back at each other…
Smoke would've reached for his shotgun, but… if he took a hand off the saw, he was afraid he'd be overpowered…
With a grunt, Smoke finally swerved the blades back onto Myntull, slashing him and cutting away a small portion of his metal covering. Exposed wires sparked and sizzled.
Angrily, the robot fired off a laser from it's head, hitting Smoke dead in the shoulder.
Smoke screamed in pain as his shoulder was charred by the laser. He fell to his knees grasping it.
Myntull lunged forward with metal wings outstretched…
At the last moment, Smoke ducked and cocked his shotgun. As Myntull flew over him, he whipped quickly around and let of a powerful burst that sent the madman crashing down into the ground.
While he was down, Smoke made a dash for his truck…
When Myntull finally pulled his mechanized body up, he was greeted by the sight of a monster truck coming at him and 114Mph…
Smoke ran him over… and once over, he popped it into reverse and ran over him again… and again… and again….
Then, he climbed out of the sunroof and gripped his giant punt shotgun. Aiming at his roadkill enemy, he popped off a couple of massive shots that blew away large chunks of Myntull's body…
The sparking, malfunctioning baddy heaved himself to his feet, and wavered there…
Suddenly, it's wings extended and it's jets fired up. Myntull launched himself into the air and flew at high speed to the city.
"Mark my words… I WILL RETURN!" He bellowed in wicked rage… and then, fast as a comet, he was gone.
Smoke collapsed back down into the driver's seat… and cranked up Desperado. Then, he sighed heavily and began his long drive back to Titan's Tower…
At The Northernmost Part Of The World…
Sub-Zero was excitedly gathering Jinx's bags… they were here! He hadn't been outside yet, but Jinx was out there now. He wanted to get up as soon as possible, but he had to get her stuff first.
As he was carrying up the baggage, he was stopped by Jinx stumbling below deck.
He dropped the stuff and walked over. He was startled to see that she'd been crying. And she had a confused, afraid look in her eyes.
"W…What's…wrong?" He asked urgently.
She sobbed and was unable to answer. She pointed up to the deck, where she'd just come from… her hand was trembling.
Puzzled, the knight climbed up and stood on deck… he took a look at his home.
And almost screamed.
He should've seen a sprawling white coastline, with snow and ice everywhere and frozen water offshore… Instead, there was a desert of gray ashes… dotted with spires of black stone and small, dead bushes.
He should've seen a horizon covered with frosty fog and snow-capped mountains. Instead, he saw a horizon of active volcanoes with trails of glowing magma, and clouds of smoke and brimstone…
He shouldv'e seen his home. He saw a barren wasteland of fire and death.
Okay, I'll admit: that was one of the worst cliffhangers ever. But I'm tired... it's now 11:12 P.M upon my completion of this and I need some sleep so... I think I'll stop here.
Anyway, Review!... Please...
--The Mad Phantom...
