Alberta, Canada
The snow was falling steadily, a light powder – the only kind that could fall in such extreme temperatures. Even though it was still daylight, the spotlight over the front door of the lion's den Bar and Grill was on. It cut through the snow but was hopeless to illuminate the few cars on the lot, the armada of trucks and the single beat up camper that was almost buried in the snow. Attached to the back of the camper was an old trailer full of cord wood and a motorcycle that looked as if it will fall apart if a single snowflake falls on the right place. A small hand lettered sign on the trailer read 'firewood for sale'.
The inside of the Lion's den was as anyone might expect from the outside. Low lighting, smoke filled, too many calendars with naked people on it and animal heads covered in dust and grease. This place was divided between a café on one side, and a bar on another.
Shadow had been in hundreds of places like this. They all had decent food that the locals liked, served in ridiculously large portions. The drinks were either strong and bitter, or so sweet that it can dissolve your teeth. The customers are either regulars, truckers, felons, drug addicts or teen runaways. The regulars act as if you are invisible unless if you do something that either results in you getting chased out by an angry mob or get money thrown at you. In every one of the places, Shadow had been a stranger. Stopping to eat and have a few drinks, then moving on. He can't imagine ever settling down long enough to become a regular anywhere. His record was 9 days, and he had no intention on beating it.
He had just finished eating on the café side of the joint, sitting in a booth, downing a bucket of coffee with his burger. Now he was at the bar, two stools down from an old very used jukebox that would be a pawnshop owners dream. A few drinks and he would be headed down the road again. There was still plenty of time left in the day just to make some miles. He had nowhere in particular that he wanted to go or nowhere in particular he wanted to be. He just liked to keep moving. It felt better this way.
Unlike the café side, with its smell of chip grease, and vanilla coffee, the bar stank of stale beer and too many cigarettes, with the doors to the exit and the toilets acting as a shield that separated the two smells. The floor was a dirty tile, and the tables were all scared with carved in initials and epithets. At the moment there were four patrons sitting at two tables staring at him as if they were astronauts on the moon and he was a MacDonalds building. They were obviously regulars, and Shadow can tell that at least half of them had been in a jail cell. Drunk regulars. Very drunk regulars.
He had ignored them when he came in, and he did the same now, sitting with his back to the main room and the main door. He knew he looked weird to most people. A black hedgehog with red stripes, too many quills, an animal like face. He got a lot of stares and had long since given up caring.
The bartender, a tiger with a round, scared face moved in behind the bar. Shadow was just about to motion him over when some loud, foot stomping truckers came in. There was a grimy mirror ser in the wall behind the various bottles of booze at the bar and Shadow can see that there were truckers, all of them were pigs, that were big gutted, no doubt smelling of too many miles on the road, it was impossible to tell if they were men or women due to the shape of their body and their faces were so ugly that it made Shadow think that their parents were siblings, as were their grandparents and great grandparents. Shadow was glad he wasn't close enough to catch that odour.
The five were escorting a hot pink hedgehog girl and a royal blue hedgehog boy, who looked to be between the age of 14 to 17. Clearly, they have been riding with one of them. The boy was attempting to shield the girl but is losing. They were all laughing, paying no attention, but Shadow watched as their eyes quickly seized up the place. No smile ever crossed their face. The two were obviously runaways.
The girl was dressed as if she was about to do the dishes in the rain. She was wearing large yellow gloves, a yellow trench coat that was 10 times too big, sunglasses that looked as if it cost all the money in the world, a red headband, a pink shirt that matched her quills and a purple shorts that looked as if it came from a clothing donation bin.
The boy was tall with sky scrapers for legs, he wore red running shoes that came a century too early, a red bandanna that looked like a relic from a cowboy movie and was wearing a large blue coat, he had the build of a world class runner, but the icy floor seemed to be mocking him, going somewhere along the lines of 'you can run on us or you will slip and look like an idiot'.
He wondered for a moment what was going on, then he reminded himself to mind his own business. For Shadow, minding his own business was what kept him going for so long. He tapped his after-dinner cigar in the overflowing ashtray then motioned to the bartender.
"Yeah?" The scarred tiger asked. He moved towards Shadow, while nodding to the truck drivers over Shadows shoulder. "What can I get you?"
"Something on the tap" Shadow replied
"What kind?"
"Surprise me" Shadow replied wryly.
The bartender turned away without so much as a blink. He was a big guy who nonetheless moved smoothly, which gave the impression he was moving slowly instead. Shadow had no doubt the bartender had taken care of himself in more than one fight in this place.
The truck drivers were crowded into a booth with the young boy and girl sitting on a chair facing them. Shadow can hear them laughing again, but he paid no attention at all to what they were saying. In front of him an ancient TV was bolted in a wall in the corner above the back bar. The news was on.
"Preparations are nearly completed for the upcoming United Nations world summit." The monotone news announcer said, "With nearly every invitation confirmed, the event promises to be the largest single gathering of world leaders in history."
Shadow watched as the image on the screen changed from the announcers bored face to an aerial shot of Ellis Island, with the statue of liberty in the background.
"The leaders of over two hundred nations will discuss issues from climate change, weapon treaties to the mutant phenomenon and its impact on our world stage."
Shadow snorted, then shook his head. This mutant thing really had people spooked if it was coming down to discussing it at a world conference. And scared people had a habit of becoming dangerous. The bartender put down a beer in front of Shadow then turned to move away.
"Is there anything else on?"
The bartender shrugged and headed to the television. "Satellite is busted today. Only got two channels"
He changed it from the news to a fuzzy image of a movie that seemed to have been written and directed by someone who read the stock exchange for laughs.
"That all right?"
"Perfect." Shadow said, taking a swig of his beer. It was cold and tasted fresh. At least places like this usually had good brews. Good food, good beer, what else can a guy ask for?
"Hey Joe!" One of the drunk sounding regulars shouted
The bartender looked up and frowned. "You ever seen a mutant before Joe?" The regular asked pointing at the television and slurring his words.
Joe casually tossed the towel over his shoulder as he moved to take the trucker's order. "My son is a mutant, so watch your words carefully Rick."
"Sorry, I forgot" The drink laughed, he clearly did know, he just wanted to get a reaction.
Shadow watched in the mirror, sipping his beet and smoking his cigar, as the bartender moved to the drivers. He asked the young couple if they wanted anything, but they both shook their head. Then they both stood and came towards Shadow at the bar. The boy moving significantly faster than the girl. He masked his curiosity as they moved closer to him. He can smell their unwashed odour. The girl smelt like what a city smelt like after new years day with the strong smell of fireworks, the boy smelt strongly of sweat and cheap sports drinks. But he can also sense the overwhelming fear in the two of them. Deep fear.
"Listen, can you help us?" The boy said quietly
"Please! We were hitchhiking and these men and women won't let us go! I think they are going to…"
"Hey!" One of the truck drivers said loudly.
Shadow looked in the mirror. He was the largest of the pigs, and he stood and moved towards the bar. This guy moved like a lumbering elephant, though. Shadow sized him up and decided that even the mouse who was as skinny as a shrimp who worked in the kitchen can take him.
"I thought you were just going to the bathroom" the trucker said to the girl's face loudly.
"Yeah! What gives?" Yelled the female pig, who was walking to the bar, eyeing the boy as if he was a pile of gold. Both of their tones clearly indicated that the truckers had decided that the couple that they picked up was their property.
The girl and the boy looked at Shadow, panic showing clearly in her eyes, the smell of fear spreading from them like a wave of sickness, choking the air.
Shadow just sipped his beet, trying to ignore them, minding his own business was how he managed to get along and minding his own business was exactly was he was going to do. He had his own troubles and they had their own. Life is just tough that way.
"Come on honey" The truck driver said. He reached out and grabbed her arm, attempting to remove her gloves.
She pulled back, hard. Freaked. "Don't touch me! I told you don't touch me!"
The hedgehog boy attempted to help, but he found himself embraced tightly by the large pig woman.
He grabbed he again, successfully removing her glove, catching her hand "I said come on! Do as a I…"
But the instant his hand touched hers there was the blinding colourful light, and a loud explosion like a firework and in seconds the pig was on the floor, clutching his hand that was now burnt as a crisp, screaming his lungs out in pain, the smell of fireworks overwhelming the other smells.
Shadow glanced down at where the trucker layed screaming, then he turned his attention back at the girl who was shaking in fear and anger. "Nice Job" He said, betraying a voice of amusement.
"Told ya not to touch me!" The girl said
The woman who was embracing the hedgehog boy and the other truckers seemed to have frozen like a statue at this scene, and it was at that moment when the boy made his move, moving his legs at an otherworldly like speed, he kicked as hard as he can at the woman's legs. Perhaps a bit too hard, because there was a loud crack, and then a cry and the woman came crashing down on the floor, destroying an ancient stool that was carelessly left in the middle of the bar, and then she was out cold.
The boy looked down at the sleeping woman and in a nanosecond, he was standing next to the girl embracing her in a large hug and whispering inaudible words to her ear. Shadow looked at this scene with something close to amusement. He can tell that the man pig will never use his right hand for a very long time, and that the woman will be on a wheelchair for a while.
The woman's collapse seemed to have take the other three truckers out of their trance and they moved fast for a bunch of overweight bunch of rednecks.
"Hank" One of them asked the man "Are you alright?"
"Gina?" Another of the truckers yelled at the woman pig's face
But the pig named Hank was screaming so loudly that he had gone deaf, and the woman called Gina had apparently decided to play sleeping beauty and had taught herself to sleep through anything.
The couple instinctively stepped closer to Shadow, standing between the bar stools. Their individual smells putting him out of his beer.
"Get her head up and get something for his burns!" another of the truckers yelled. Shadow laughed inwardly. That was always good advice if a person might have a broken neck, it would kill them instantly, and if the truckers were trying to stop the man's burns they may as well be the first people to step on the sun, it was pointless.
"I'll call an ambulance" Joe the bartender said in a bored fashion, then he turned to the phone in the back of the bar, and seemed to take his time dialling 999. Shadow was beginning to like joe more and more.
The trucker closest to Shadow grabbed the back of his shirt, and spun him around on the stool "Are you trying to be funny?" perhaps Shadow might have let out a tiny giggle after all "Come on, give me a reason not to stomp your ass!"
Shadow put his cigar down in the ashtray. It still had half way to burn, and he didn't want to waste it. Then with a quick spin, he drove his elbow directly into the trucker's face. The feeling of smashing flesh and the sound of the guy's nose breaking were beautiful. Pure poetry.
The trucker dropped to the tiled floor faster than his two friends had. Shadow shook his head. These guys were big, which meant they had more weight pulling them down. And clearly, they had no threshold for pain.
"That excuse enough for you?" Shadow asked the driver as he lay there, clutching at his nose. The other two were on Shadow quick, considering their size. He let them pin his arms, let them think they had him, as they held him one on each side.
If they really wanted a fight, he might as well enjoy himself a little. Might not get this chance again for a while. The guy with the busted nose slowly climbed to his feet and faced Shadow, who was now pinioned between the trucker's two friends. Blood streamed down the guy's chin and dripped on his fat gut, turning his already stained shirt dark. Shadow just smiled, which further infuriated the guy even more, and he reared back, he loaded all his anger into his fist and hit Shadow square in the face.
Shadow moved his head slightly, timing the turn with the punch. The blow hit him solidly across his chin. He'd felt worse before. Not only was this gut fat, he betted that he can lose a fist fight to a 13 year old girl.
The guy looked surprised, and he held his hand as if he had hit a metal wall, which in a way he had. "Pathetic" Shadow said.
A trucker with a broken nose took another full swing, this time hitting Shadow in the gut. Shadow doubled over, pretending that the guy had actually hurt him. As he was bent over, he clenched his fists and pushed the knuckles of each and against a leg of one of his approaching captors.
Then he popped his claws. Twelve-inch metal claws shot from behind his knuckles. Six razor-sharp claws stabbed through cloth, skin, and muscle as if it weren't there. The sound of metal echoed across the room.
Shadow pulled his claws back in quickly. Both truckers suddenly shouted in pain and let go, each grabbing his leg. The bloody-nosed trucker stared at his two friends as they collapsed to the floor and screamed in pain, blood flowing from their legs. "What did you do?" he demanded, panic beginning to edge into his voice.
Shadow stepped toward the man. He was no longer grinning. "You always ask the same stupid question?" The guy backed away, slowly, grabbing glasses off of tables and throwing them on the ground between them. Then he picked up a metal bar tray, holding it between himself and Shadow.
Shadow's fist shot out. His claws extended again and skewered the tray. He yanked it out of the trucker's hand and tossed it away. Then Shadow grabbed the man's bloodied shirt, shoving the guy's head hard against the rough wooden wall. He was going to scare this guy, and scare him good. While holding his opponent against the wall, he held up his fist, claws extended. Then he reared back and made a forward motion, as if to punch the guy, claws and all. Behind him, the girl and the boy screamed as his claws sank into the wall on both sides of the guy's neck.
His middle claw had withdrawn just enough so that it only pricked the surface of the guy's neck. The trucker looked as if he might faint, or be sick. Either way, this just wasn't fun any longer. What Shadow really wanted to do was fight. So he withdrew his claws. "Run," he said into the trucker's face. The man tripped over himself as he scrambled for the door, clearly not caring about his friends, who were still writing in pain on the floor.
The all too familular sound of a gun being fired and emptied reached Shadow's ears, but before he can feel the all too familiar stinging pain, the was a loud rushing sound like the wind, and then a cry, and one of the drunks who was standing right behind Shadow and was holding a cheap revolver was lying down on the floor, the boy hedgehog standing over him, clenching his fist that was full of something. Shadow realised that somehow the boy had not only caught all the badly aimed bullets aimed at Shadow, but had knocked him out. Then the boy and the girl simply vanished.
Shadow moved back up to the bar. "Sorry about the mess, but they started it," he said, nodding at the men on the floor. "Add the repairs to their check." He picked up his half-finished cigar, put enough money on the bar to pay for his beer, and headed out into the snow.
There was still time to make some miles. Outside, he stopped and looked around. The girl and the boy was nowhere to be seen. Too bad for her. He might have offered them a ride if they had waited around long enough for him to get finished with his fun. He shrugged and climbed into his camper, turning the key and gunning it to life. Then he drove hard and fast through the snow to get it out onto the road. He was a half mile down the highway when the odor reached him.
He took his cigar out of his mouth and sniffed again just to be sure. He smelt fireworks, burnt skin, bullets, beer, sweat, and cheap sports drinks. Shadow sighed and hit the brakes. No one was going to hitch a ride without his permission. He didn't care how young they were, he didn't care if one of them had apparently saved his life and he didn't care how much trouble they could be in.