Mad Max: Road to Salvation
Episode 11: Detour of destruction
[SilentXD7: People can surprise you, and it all depends on if a mini max enters the world.]
[SilentType1997: I wish I could give a straight answer at this point.]
[Charles: Thanks and I'll keep that in mind.]
[Review dude: Thanks, and well the mystic has his way of getting around so maybe he will.]
[Guest 1: Yes, she did.]
[Guest 2: That's possible, not saying no but definitely maybe.]
[Guest 3: So do I but I'm just not sure.]
[Guest 4: of that I have no doubt, if Yang were to find out she and Ruby have a new baby brother/sister.]
[ClearwingYuta: Thank you.]
[Helomsby: She did, and she did it because she wanted him but he was out of her reach. So she took what she could get.]
[Cloneguy: you'd be surprised and thank you.]
[Sam Hill: some people can sleep through an earthquake.]
[Skelebro: Yeah he did it even faster this time.]
[Awesomerebel55: Yeah they did but max doesn't know it.]
The day started with everyone getting a bite from Max's supply and Bruz turning on the TV he'd acquired. They watched the news again but nothing useful came on the screen, mostly things about the white fang and some criminal activity. Max thought to himself that this business was starting to spiral out of control, and now he and his crew were at the center of it, whatever it is. He, the kids, and dog, finished their food and hopped into the car to head to Ashford. As they drove along the highway to Ashford, Max contemplated the whole ordeal in his head. Qrow's offer was very tempting, but how did he know he could be trusted.
On the one hand it would be better to have less enemies to deal with, if Qrow's associate was as influential as he'd been led to believe. But it would mean allying himself with someone whose goals were unknown, and that made things very unpredictable for Max. Picking the wrong side of this shadowy conspiracy could be unhealthy. Max then saw several very familiar symbols along the road, mystical symbols. The road warrior knew there was only entity who used these, his old acquaintance Griffa. He saw a secluded hill surrounded by several boulders large enough to block vehicle access. The symbols pointed directly there to the hill near the road. Max pulled off and stopped the car next to the small trail, and hopped out.
"Stay here and guard the car, I'll be back." Max said as he walked away from the interceptor.
"Okay daddy hurry back." Anya waved to Max.
"Woof!" Dinki-di barked to his master.
Max walked up the trail, hearing he same old whispers and voices when he approached Griffa's location. Max shrugged them off and made his way to the mystic. Griffa was standing there, staring out into the vast sea of ruins and sand. Max sighed as he took the final steps to Griffa and stopped right next to his old friend. The two wasteland wanderers watched the howling wind swirl the dust, and churn the sand, just like ghosts moving across the land.
"It's good to see you again wanderer, I trust you have questions for me once more as you did before." Griffa grinned.
"I have questions, but not for you." Max said stoically.
"Ah yes, the forces of world have tangled you in their web. There are chains of events set in motion that are beyond comprehension of those who have yet to be enlightened on their clandestine nature, like yourself. The mysteries of this world abound, and the questions are constantly provided, yet no simple answers seem to reveal themselves. This world and it denizens truly are marvelous, far different from the madness that we have left behind…"
"It has yet to die, the people still have hope."
"There are forces at work here, a powerfully dark presence threatens the stability here. I cannot interfere, it is not my place, not directly at least. The light of this world has seen fit to enlist your aid, have they not?" Griffa said as he turned to face Max.
"How does this involve me? I have no stake in this conflict of light and shadows." Max said defiantly.
"I'm afraid you have more invested in this war then you understand here and now. What has happened, can and will happen again, just as it did before. This world has an ever-present blade of darkness inching closer to its throat by the day. History shall repeat itself, reaping what was sowed upon all, including you, should her malevolent plans come to fruition. We shall all pay the price, should she and her minions succeed in their bid to snuff out the light. I can already see the madness on the horizon, ready to consume and corrupt this wonderful world. It is not too late, this chain of events can be halted or perhaps at least altered, should you choose to carve your righteous path of fury through it all again." Griffa warned Max of the impending doom, urging him to take up his role once more.
"I won't let that happen, not again. Not while I'm still breathing. No one will take them away from me again." Max said with a blazing fire of determination in his eyes.
"Your new family and renewed sense of purpose, they are your strength. I see you've decided to stop running, haven't you? The madness that crawls inside, the demons and specters that haunt you have begun to cease their grasp on your soul, I'd call that progress. To save yourself, you must protect what you have found once more. There is still more to find though, your search for salvation and the struggle of this world are intertwined with one another. It is up to you though to grab your destiny and do what others cannot by themselves. I shall leave you with a parting gift, until we meet again wanderer." Griffa said in his usual cryptic tone before blowing dust into max's face, and disappearing. Max found himself on all fours again as he usually would whenever he had a chat with Griffa. The road warrior stood up, and went back to the interceptor, with a new long-term mission on his mind.
Max drove along the highway and turned his head back to Anya in the back who was napping peacefully with Dinki-di. He refocused on the road, his eyes resumed their serious wolf-like nature. A short distance up the road, gunshots rang out and the roar of engines could be heard. Max hit the brakes, causing the interceptor to skid to a halt. Bruz woke with a start. "What, we're here? Why are we stopped in the middle of the des-?" The teenage mechanic said as the gunshots echoed rapidly and the gnashing of vehicles battling each other could be heard.
Max put the pedal to the floor again and drove to a hill nearby to get a tactical view of what was happening ahead. He stopped as he saw an armored car with the white fang symbol being harassed by another white fang truck and buggies. It seemed that perhaps the armored truck was being protected by a woman on a strange form of assault bike. The female rider of the bike was weaving in and out of the mob of angry white fang members chasing the car. Using what looked like handguns, she began popping the tires on some of the buggies, causing them to spin out or flip over. She transformed one of said guns into a tonfa, while holstering the other, and began smacking white fang members on dirt bikes who appeared and began challenging her. She was very good at combat driving, but sheer numbers in the mob of angry white fang members were starting to overwhelm her.
Max was torn on what he should do, the wastelander within him reminded the road warrior that it just wasn't his problem, and there were more important matters to take care of. But then a new voice made itself manifest, one he had only begun to hear from again, his sense of duty as a former man of the badge in the days before the fall. That voice argued for him to help out the woman on the bike. Bruz helped the wastelander's side of argument. "Ah, one of them damn huntresses, it looks like whatever she's done, stirred a beowolf's den with all those bloody fangers. Not our problem boss, and frankly I don't want to deal with them right now." Max agreed they had somewhere else to be.
"We can't just leave them! The white fang would do horrible things if they get caught. We have to do something." Any shouted urgently. The Law man in Max urged him to do the right thing, while his honed survival instincts held their ground in defiance of this idea. Max finally made the choice after much internal debate, and decided to aid the people struggling against the white fang. He gritted his teeth as he stomped on the pedal and blasted down the hill to the highway. Anya cheered on her surrogate father's righteous action and grabbed the rifle, assuming her shooting position. Bruz just sighed and loaded the cylinder in his gunbow, ready for battle. Max passed his weapons back to Anya, who loaded them with fire dust shells and passed them back to Max.
-Several minutes earlier-
Mari and Amy Futaba had gone to save a friend of theirs from the white fang, and had to also bring along their child Daniel. The two of them owed the former white fang member, Krel Bastion. He had saved their lives from the white fang a few days ago, as he had been sent to kill them but refused and instead aided their escape. Mari is a beautiful 26-year-old fox Faunus, with fox ears on her head, and long flowing orange hair. She stood at 5'11 with a well hidden medium sized bust. Her attire consisted of a long black coat with orange trimmings, and thigh high boots, along with a dark orange and white corset, and yellow scarf. Amy is 25 and somewhat short at 5'7, with short neck length Silver Hair, a large sized (but well hidden) bust and maroon colored eyes. She wears a red Sweater, dark black pants and boots.
They had been following Krel's trail for a while and managed to locate their missing savior in a white fang warehouse. Krel is a muscular 34-year-old bear Faunus, who stands tall at 6'4, with brown hair, bear ears, and a rough beard, as well as 3 claw marks scarred across his face that he got from a fight with an alpha beowolf. His gear consisted of black cargo pants with matching combat boots and an olive-green vest and gloves to show off his bare muscular arms.
He bore a mark of reason against the white fang that had been branded on his back for his refusal to carryout his orders to kill the former huntress Mari Futaba and her family. In a fit of rage, he attacked his fellow members to buy the family time to get away. After he was captured he was brought before Khan, with Adam Taurus and his underling Blake Belladonna present, and was branded for turning traitor. They threw him into the back of an armored car that had been stolen from Atlas and repainted with white fang colors and chained down the mighty bear Faunus. The plan was for him to sent off to one of their facilities to be imprisoned, but before that could happen, Mari, and Amy snuck into the warehouse. Amy boarded the truck and started the engine, while Mari stood ready on her bike. The guards spotted them and alerted the rest of their comrades. Amy wasted no time and floored the pedal to escape the building, with Mari following close behind. They thought they had managed to outrun the white fang and picked up Amy's son Daniel on the way. But soon enough, their pursuers had found them and the chase was on.
-back to the present-
Now more white fang vehicles where coming after them. Mari smacked a lizard faunas in the face and off his dirt bike as he tried to swing an axe down on her head. Amy, with her scarf covering half of her face, was in the middle of a shoving match with a big flat-bed truck as they battled to stay on the dirt highway as white fang members tried to get into the armored car by climbing over the thing and get in through the passenger door, only to meet a hail of bullets as Amy unloaded her SMG she scavenged from one of the guards. The hail of lead sent one unlucky guy tumbling onto the asphalt, killing him.
"Daniel! Stay in back the honey!" Amy said as she tried to juggle staying on the road and keeping the white fang off. Daniel was in the back with a chained up and in pain Krel. Daniel was slightly scared of the man's large size rather than his demeanor. Krel noticed this and attempted to comfort the kid as he tried to tell him how to help get him out of his chains. Krel told Daniel to step back and began thrashing around, desperately trying to break the chains the white fang had locked him up with. His weapon (rumbling mountain), a mighty Warhammer that could transform into a 20mm auto cannon with 15 per magazine, had also been left in the back of the truck with him for some reason. Krel heaved and grunted angrily against his binds causing them to give way slightly. Krel could feel the chains loosen bit by bit and eventually they snapped. He stumbled over to his weapon and checked it for any remaining ammunition and grinned at the fact that the grunts were dumb enough to forget to remove the magazine. He kicked open the rear doors of the truck and began firing at the white fang vehicles.
Mari was busy dealing with another group of bikes, and a single buggy managed to get past her. The zealous white fang driver attempted to pit maneuver the Armored beast. Suddenly out of nowhere, Max T-boned the buggy, practically breaking the frame in half and sending its occupant flying. At first everyone was surprised, but this gave Amy just enough time to get the initiative and she rammed the flatbed into an old power transmission tower. The badly wrecked flatbed truck exploded in a huge display of fire and flames. Max pulled up next to Mari and signaled for her help him take down the stragglers. Mari nodded and they teamed up to brutally destroy the white fang bikers. Any shot one in the head, sending him to the pavement and breaking his neck. Bruz fired his gunbow's explosive bolts, and sent another two bikers skyward. Max finished it up by using his sawed off to take down the last biker. With their white fang problem neutralized, the small convoy halted and pulled off of the road. Mari walked over to Max's interceptor to thank him for his assistance. As she approached, Max opened the door and stepped out of the car.
"Thanks for the help back there, appreciate it. Hey wait, you look familiar. I think I saw you on the news, yeah that's it, you're the road warrior." Mari thanked and recognized Max, as his reputation preceded him.
"Why were the white fang after you?" Max asked her getting straight to the point.
"See the big guy over in the back of the truck? He's a good friend of my wife and myself. To make a long story short, they wanted to lock him up so we set him free." Mari pointed to Krel who was paling around with Daniel.
"I'm headed to Ashford, if you want you can follow me, or go your own way, it's up to you." Max said as he started walking back to the car.
"Thanks, I'll go tell my wife Amy." Mari said as she ran over to the cab of the truck. She told Amy what they were going to do and hopped back on her while Max fired the interceptor back up.
-END CHAPTER-