Yang had no sooner left her truck at the gate before Melanie left the trailer, terrified upon seeing Yang and hopping over the opposite end of the porch, hiding against it as Yang walked over to her. "Get back here," Yang coerced, leaning over the railing and continuing, "You're not even hidden. Have you got it?"
Melanie rose from her hiding spot and looked up at Yang, taking a deep breath before saying, "I-I been trying Yang, I been trying."
"Come on over here, I ain't gonna hit ya." Yang said, walking away from the railing and gesturing for Melanie to approach.
Melanie hosted herself up to the railing, repeating, "I'm trying."
"I know, I know." Yang replied as Melanie tried to swing her leg over the wooden rail, clocking her between the eyes and sending her flopping back to the dusty earth.
Melanie sat there for a few moments, motionless and gasping for air in her stunned state, finally mustering in her usual garbled voice, "I thought you said you wasn't gonna hit me?"
"I thought you said you were gonna find fuckin' Ruby Vasilias?"
"There's two Ruby Vasiliases living in Vale, Yang. One is eighty-three, and the other is in kindergarten," Melanie said, letting her head flop back to the dirt she lay in to catch her breath, raising it once more to continue, "I asked the teacher to put her on the phone just to be safe...she threatened to call the cops. I ain't no molester, Yang!"
"Shut up before I molest you, alright! Now, is there anything else?"
Melanie nodded her head as she slowly rose to her feet, stammering, "I-I looked through the phone directory. I did find a-a Ruby Rose. About the right age, married with two kids."
"What's her husband's name?"
"Neptune."
"Neptune?"
"Yeah."
"You're a genius you fucking moron! Come on, come here!" Yang cheered, lending a hand to her comrade.
Melanie took the hand with a satisfied smile and was hosted up into another fist to the jaw, knocking her flat to the ground once again as Yang roared, "Don't you ever not tell me things I wanna know!"
"Sorry, Yang." Melanie said in a weeping, raspy voice.
Yang looked across her yard and shouted at the trailer adjacent to her's, shouting, "Junior, you little bastard, get out here! We're going into Vale."
"Are we?" Junior beckoned, running through his door to please his boss with his quickness.
"Not you, me and Melanie." Yang responded, a weary Melanie climbing back up the railing for a third time.
"What about me?"
"You're CEO of Yang Xiao Long Enterprises, find us some business so that we can make some money, and tidy my shit up!"
Junior leapt into the air with joy and waltzed back into his trailer a winner as Yang called out to Melanie, "Let's go, Melanie, come on! I'm drivin', you can rub me off if I get bored," Yang turned on her heel and looked Melanie in the face, inches from it as she retorted, "I'm joking...you can lick me off."
"Are we gonna stop for ice cream?" Melanie asked in her childishly oblivious voice, forgetting the beating she had sustained.
Yang and Melanie got into the truck, Melanie upgrading to passenger seat and a seat belt, before she began her stuttering questions, "S-so, we're heading to Vale?"
"Soon, I gotta make a stop on the way."
"Oh, what's the stop? Ice cream!?"
"Shut up and let me do the talking. Where are your people at in Vale?"
"It's just my sister there, Militia, she's living with her boyfriend in some place called Valerian Beach. So, uh, what's the stop?" Melanie added, dark clouds rolling in over head, bright lighting and thunder forming in the distance.
"Family's important, Melanie, but not as important as the that's employed you, mentored you, and fed you crystal this last year, but it's important. We gotta pay your sister a visit."
"I haven't seen her in a while, Yang."
"All the more reason to drop by."
"Okay...ummmm...that might be nice, but, where are we stopping on the way? Cause, you know, I'm gettin' kinda wet over here."
She was right, the rain started a steady pace, pelting the inhabitants of the truck with only bars instead of a roof. "For fuck's sakes, another chapter of the Beacon have on this fine town, Melanie, looking to mourn and possibly avenge their dead. I was thinkin' you and I could go and pay our respects."
"Weren't you the one who caused all the people die in the first place?"
"We don't dwell on the past, Melanie, unless, of course, it's been a matter brought back to life after 9 years of absolute apathy and slipping further into the recesses of psychopathy. Look at this, camp's up here, and it's black as night!"
Yang pulled beside a standing side of scrap metal, the rain pouring down harder and faster as lighting lightened the skies, thunder cracking the air like a whip. Inside, their were trucks with caskets around every corner, bikers standing over them and mourning, many swearing vengeance against whoever had done such a despicable thing. Yang stepped out of the truck, Melanie telling her, "Did you take those sticky bombs I got, oh, and that pistol with the thing that makes it quiet?"
"Yep, let's consider it my last gift to these pricks. Now, just sit tight, little buddy, and enjoy the fireworks."
"Oh, fireworks, you sure are nice at funerals, Yang."
"I put the fun in funeral, kiddo."
Yang made quick work of the task ahead of her, attaching the bombs to three houses I the center and two at opposite ends of the park, avoiding the sight of the bikers and not having to kill one, yet. Her mind was occupied with nothing but her sister. Nine years and change. She'd wept, she'd broken innumerable things, and fallen into the deepest depths of despair. All for nothing. One bomb, she continued on.
"Wait, you're serious? You want in on this?" The thought echoed in Yang's mind, the rain doing little to distract her from the tears stinging the corner of her eyes. Two bombs, she continued on.
"I don't know, Ruby. Look it's not that I don't believe in you, I just don't know if you have what it takes." Three bombs
"Alright, you've proved yourself, Little Red," the thought giggled, four bombs.
"Whoa, never seen you take charge, sis. So, what's the score?" Five bombs
"Whoa, Ruby, you sure about this? Alright, Velvet's a good call. One last score and we're out of this hellhole." Six bombs and her fist denting in the side of the trailer as if it were cardboard. Barely restraining the urge to take out her wrath of all those inside with her bare hands, she crept back along the perimeter of the trailers, getting nearer to her truck and, as she made it back, stood up, detonator in hand, whispering, "Boom."
The homes exploded out as magnificently as the first crystal lab, shrapnel tearing apart the bikers nearest to them and damaging any adjacent homes with large, tractor-tire-sized holes. She entered her truck and was immediately greeted by an awed Melanie, "That sure was a pretty firework show, Yang, but why was people screamin'?"
"No time, let's hit the road, Vale awaits. We don't have to worry about the Beacon MC no more, let's go find my dear old sister."
"This Ruby Vasilias chick must have pissed you off real bad for you to want to find her so much."
"She didn't piss me off. The guys that killed her, the federal government, they pissed me off."
"Well...if she's dead...then who's...my head hurts!"
"Now you're starting to grasp the pertinent questions? Who is this woman using my dead sister's lame-ass movie quotes? With my dead sister's maiden name? And my dead sister's family? In a house that must have been paid for with my dead sister's stashed millions?"
"Wow, that's a real mind fuck."
"Yeah, I'll show you a fuckin' mind fuck. I'm gonna rip your eye out and grind my girl against the bone of your eye socket until I rub my way through your soft skull, huh?!"
"I-I-I didn't mean anything by that, Y...Yang."
"Loosen up your eyehole, fucker, cause I'm gonna fuck your tiny mind, eh?!"
Yang released the wheel and lunged for Melanie, clasping her hands around her throat and squeezing her with all her might, growling, "I'm gonna turn you into fuckin' road kill!"
Melanie thrashed and strained for freedom, Yang taking her wheel with her free hand and switching her gaze between the road and her accomplice. The act finally gave Melanie enough room to cough, catch her breath, and plead, "Please, don't turn me into anything, I just want to be Melanie!"
Melanie's pleas brought Yang back to reality, the queenpin turning her full attention to the road as the two sat in the awkward silence, the downpour slowly steadying to a drizzle. Once again forgetting her brush with death, Melanie asked, "Are we nearly there yet?"
"Oh, don't start this! No, Melanie."
"Are we nearly nearly there yet?"
"You keep this up and you're not going to get there at all."
"Can you tell me story?"
"No, Melanie."
"Let's play a game then! Do you know Animal, Mineral, or Vegetable? I'll go first, I'm nanotechnology."
"You're what?!"
"Oops, dammit, I gave it away! I wasn't, I wasn't supposed to say what I am. Let's go again, Animal, Mineral, or Vegetable."
"Hey, hey, hey, how about this? I tell you a story if you promise to never speak again."
"I like stories!"
"Of course ya do. This is about a girl called Y...Ya...Yancy..."
"Is Yancy a girl's name?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Sounds weird."
"She was weird. She was the smartest, toughest, hottest girl in all of Vacuo...well, the Vacuo border region of Atlas. This girl, she had all the talent, looks, and popularity a girl could have, but she didn't know what to do with it."
"She should become a softball player."
"No she's shouldn't, because she isn't a fucking sellout bimbo with no tits so it doesn't impede her running skills."
"Or a hockey player."
"Well, she was weird and tried hockey, but she had to leave because her coach accidentally had a stick jammed up his ass," Yang continued, trailing off as they came over a hill and saw the magnificent city of light, "Right there. Vale. The end of the fucking world."
"This is the place! I seen it on a holiday card!"
"Good for you, you fucking simpleton, let's stop up here, collect our thoughts." Yang said, pulling her truck to the left side of the road and parking before a fruit stand.
Yang exited her car and slowly made her way to the edge of a steep drop-off, the rain ceasing as the night sky opened up above the clouds, looking over Vale as she mumbled to herself, "So, Ruby, this is where the dead come back to life. It's been nearly ten years, oh, but you'll keep for another day or so, huh, little sis? You motherfucking fuck! I grieved for you! You weren't even fucking dead. You were my best friend...well, guess who's coming to shit on your doorstep? You fuck!"
Yang trotted back to her truck, a clueless Melanie babbling to the talk show on the radio, Yang quickly switching it off as she sped back onto the road and looped into Vale, Yang hissing, "Vale, the city of shitheads, where else would she be?"
"My sister's on Valerian Beach...hey, what about your story...about that girl?"
"Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah, where were we? Right, right, right, so this girl had a tough childhood. Her mom left her with her abusive dad and wicked stepmother, the unholy fuckfest that ensued led to the birth of a silver-tongued bitch, R...Ru...Ruben."
"Is this a boy bitch?"
"No, she had tits like a 12-year-old boy, but she was a girl."
"Ruben is a funny name for a girl."
"Oh, this was a funny girl. Yancy and Ruben didn't talk to much, Yancy setting out to commit petty crimes like grand theft, robbery, and murder to support herself. Well, Ruben's mommy got killed for fucking the wrong men and joined Yancy in some crimes with an accomplice named Vince. The robbed many evil kingdoms and gave to the poor...namely, themselves. It was going good, the sisters were bonding. But, Ruben met a stripper named Nelly and made plans to marry that fuck of a needle dick. Ruben got sloppy, wanting to leave the business for a life of honest wage and starting a family. Yancy talked her into one last job, bringing Vinny along for the ride. But, they both got killed, and Yancy had to flee via a plane. She flew through frigid altitudes and landed in Vale, quickly catching the attention of the military and got to become a pilot. All was well, but, just before she got her wings, an evil witch in charge of psychological evaluations told her she was unstable and grounded her for life."
"That's terrible!"
"It was! So, Yancy was broke, stuck in a deep pit of doubt and despair, and was unable to support herself or do so much has feed herself. She had to turn to prostitution, bum fights, and that one porn for the Japanese thing she doesn't like to talk about. But, one day, Yancy got started her own legitimate business that manufactured drugs and smuggled arms. It was good, she had two idiots doing her dirty work and worked as good punching bags."
"Wow, so it ended with, 'And she lived happily ever after', right?"
"For a while. Then...one day...when Yancy's delicate flower was taking a mighty stabbing from the minuscule sword of an impotent, cowardly knight, she saw on the magical television that someone exactly like Ruben had stolen from a castle."
"Really, that's spooky!"
"Then, Yang flew into a rage over Ruby being alive and killed all of her competition and lost an important deal with some Chinese fucks!"
"Did all the names change or am I missing something?"
"Shut up! And then Yang had to drive all the way into the most godless city on Remnant just to find out if this sack of shit was alive and how she was going to find her. To make matters worse, she had to listen to some bumbling dipshit ask her questions and demand stories, which our hero was telling right now!"
"I-I'm sorta following, but, what happens in the end?"
"That is for our hero, Yang, to decide, whether to crush her sister's skull, rape her husband, or burn down her house, or all three at once!"
"Oh, we're almost at Militia's, I remember it on the I-Stalk map, it's the third right, not the second, or the first, but the third, not the fourth..."
"I understand, shut the fuck up!"
Yang turned into the street and Melanie pointed to the white condo, the duo parking beneath the complex before heading to the stairs. "Militia! Militia!" Melanie called out as she hopped up the stairs one at a time, Yang trailing behind with what little patience she had left.
"Militia, it's me, Melanie?"
"Who?" a man's voice asked from beyond a door.
"Melanie, your sister."
Yang shoved Melanie aside, shoving the door open as she growled, "You're sister!"
A man with gray hair, a massive bald spot dominating the top and front of his dome, behind the door went flying back, holding his bleeding nose. "Who the fuck are you?"
"I'm Militia's fiance, Michael."
"Well, we've come to visit, you rude fuck! Now get up off the floor and fix me a fucking drink." Yang demanded, making her way into the quaint condo's living room.
"Wait, Melanie? I heard you were smoking crystal out in the desert somewhere." Michael asked, still pinching his nose to stop the blood flow.
"No, not somewhere, here. She's gonna smoke crystal here. Get me a fucking lighter." Yang demanded once more, plopping down on one of two identical blue sofas.
"You can't smoke here, okay! This is my fiance's place...sh-she's at a business conference. Y-y-you can't smoke here, and you can't stay here!"
"Well, she's not much of a fiance if she won't even let her own family in her home. Now, would you get me a fucking drink, I'm not gonna ask again!"
"Okay, okay," Michael said, taking two steps into the kitchen before backtracking, "Wait, we don't have any booze."
"Well, you go out and fucking get me something! You too, Melanie!" Yang roared, shooting out of her seat and staring the two of them down.
Yang collapsed back into the couch once more, her body completely limp and head resting against the back cusion, staring blankly up at the ceiling. She slowly rolled her head to her shoulder and stared out the sliding-glass door and into the night, muttering, "Fuck," before rolling her head back again and unwillingly dozing off, fighting her eyelids open until she conceded.