Author's Note:
I'm back with chapter 2, and as you may have noticed I changed the rating to M. It was pointed out to me that the violence and gore might be too much for a T rating, so now I can describe the fight scenes in all their bloody glory. Don't worry it's not going to turn into Evil Dead or anything like that. So last chapter Mordecai helps Margret rescue her dad Frank but now he won't leave without is helicopter, and Rigby's worried about Mordecai not returning from his hunt. I do not own Regular Show or its characters, if I did they show wouldn't have made it past season 1. So let's be thankful for that.
Our worst fear has come true. The Nosoi weapon was accidentally unleashed in a residential area.
We're working round the clock to contain the situation but it's spreading quicker than we thought.
I see the images of the people affected by it, they'll stay with me for the rest of my life.
We still aren't sure how the area was exposed to Nosoi, but the investigation is still ongoing.
We will find out what, or who, caused this and we will take steps to ensure this never happens again.
User ID 4261986- 20 hours after incident
Frank and Margret crept along the edge of alleyway with Mordecai following close behind them. They reached the end of the alley, Frank peeked around the corner to see if anyone was on the street. He signaled that it was clear and they made their way around onto the sidewalk.
"So do you know where you're going Frank" Mordecai asked as they continued walking.
"Sort of" Frank answered without looking back, "I heard them talk about a park in the center of town where they're holding 'flying contests'. Apparently they're so desperate to use my chopper that they'll let anyone of these idiots try it".
They continued to make their way down the dark street, their path dimly lit by to orangish glow of the street lamps.
Mordecai hustled to get closer to Frank and leaned in towards him, "Do you know anything else about The Feral"?
Frank glanced behind his shoulder briefly before returning his focus forward, "Not much, but I did get a glance at their leader".
"Really" Margret said curiously, "What was he like"?
"He was a large grey wolf" Frank explained, "Goes by the name 'Cry Havoc'. Apart of his lip was missing, exposing his upper teeth on his right side".
"Whoa" Mordecai muttered quietly, "Wonder how he got that"?
"Don't know" Frank said before looking back at Mordecai, "But I doubt it was from too much chewing tobacco".
As they walked further down the street the sound of cheering and yelling could be heard in the distance, "We must be getting close" Margret pointed out.
Frank turned towards her, "I think you're right, I hear it too".
They picked up the pace and soon the cheering went from a faint whisper to a loud roar, "I see the park gates" Frank said, he then pointed to a building on the other side of the street, "We should go in there scope it out, we'll have a better vantage point".
Mordecai and Margret nodded and the three quickly ran across the road and into the large building. The inside was rundown and neglected, pieces of drywall were missing as ceiling tiles hanged above them. They started to carefully walk up the stairs as several steps were broken making it easy to get a foot stuck in them, or possibly even fall threw. Once they reached the third floor they exited the stairwell and entered a dark hallway. It took a second for Frank to get his bearings but when he did he pointed to a room down the hall, "In there".
Mordecai and Margret followed him into what appeared to be an old office of some sort, Frank pointed towards a large window and everyone walked to it and took a look outside. The sight was unsettling to say the least. The park was full of Feral marauders , forming a large circle in the middle of it where they helicopter sat.
"Oh shit" Mordecai blurted out from shock.
"How are we gonna get past all of them" Margret asked.
Frank rubbed his chin as he thought of a plan, "We'll need a diversion".
Mordecai scratched his head, "I guess I could run down the street yelling, get their attention that way".
"Not bad" Frank replied with a huge smile on his face, "But I was thinking more like a big ass fire".
"Oh" Mordecai said awkwardly, "That'd work"
Every got a good laugh at Mordecai's expense before Frank pointed to a building about half a block from the park, "We'll go to that building, torch that bitch, and I'm sure they'll have to go investigate. That should give us enough time to get to the chopper and get the hell outta here".
"Sounds like a good plan dad" Margret added
Frank turned to face her, "Do you still have my lighter"?
"Yeah, right here" she answered as she dug it from her pocket and handed it to him.
Frank took the lighter, then immediately handed it to Mordecai, "Mordecai, go in there, pile as much flammable stuff as you can find and light it. Margret and me will stay outside and keep watch, once you're done meet us outside then we'll make our way back here and wait for the building to go up in flames".
Mordecai reached over and grabbed the lighter from his hand, "No problem" he said as he place the lighter in his jacket pocket.
Rigby still sat atop the watchtower staring into the wilderness, his hope of seeing Mordecai returning dwindled each minute. His eyes grew heavy as he began to doze off, he was so out of it that he didn't even notice Fives climbing up.
When he reached the top he found Rigby half asleep in the chair, he reached over and shook him, "Rigby".
"What" Rigby shouted as he leapt from the chair.
"I'll finish the shift Rigby" Fives said quietly, "You go down and get some sleep or something".
Rigby rubbed his eyes before glaring over at ghostly man, "No, I'm fine up here".
"Rigby, you can't spend all night up here waiting for Mordecai to come back. It's not good for you" Fives said worriedly, "It'd be better for you to take your mind off of it".
Rigby let out a loud moan as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I guess you're right, I'll just go back home and play some old records or something" he said as he walked over to the ladder.
As he started to climb down Fives leaned over the ledge and yelled down at him, "I think Eileen's done with the canteen for the night, maybe you can hang with her".
"Pff, like that'll ever happen" he said while rolling his eyes, "She can keep dreaming".
Fives sat down in the chair and kicked his legs up, "He's quite the enigma".
When Rigby reached the bottom of the ladder he made his way through the settlement towards his and Mordecai's shack. The area was virtually deserted at this time of night as most of the residents were sleeping. He walked through the empty streets until he reached his home. He walked in and threw himself onto an old worn down couch. He propped his feet onto a small coffee table that sat in front of him. On the other side of that was a stand with an old tube television and game console sitting on it that was powered by a windmill that Skips and Techmo installed on their house. Rigby didn't want to play it though, it was something him and Mordecai use to do together and it would only make him feel worse.
Instead he got up and walked to an old gramophone that stood on the other side of the room. He placed a vinyl record on the turntable and gave it a few cranks. He laid back down on the couch as the first song started to play. It started with a guitar riff before being accompanied by drums.
"Ooooh yeah, yeah"
Rigby closed his eyes and started to bob his head to the beat.
"Stand up and be counted"
"For what you are about to receive"
"We are the dealers"
"We'll give you everything you need"
"Hail hail to the good times"
"Cause rock has got the right of way"
"We ain't no legends ain't no cause"
"We're just livin' for today"
Rigby raised his hand in the air and waved it back and forth to the rhythm as he started to sing along
"For those about to rock, we salute you"
"For those about to rock, we salute you"
Mordecai entered the building and took a look around, judging by the décor it used to be an old bar and grill of some sort. He wasted no time pilling chairs and tables into the center of the floor, once he was done with that he started to look for anything to accelerate the fire, sure enough he found old cleaning supplies that were highly flammable. He doused the pile in the liquid cleaners before taking another quick look around the building. Behind the bar he found several empty bottles lying on the floor, "Sweet" he said as he picked them up and placed them on the bar. He poured the leftover flammables inside and stuffed them with tattered rags. He went into the kitchen and checked for anything else useful. He knelt down and opened a cabinet, a sinister grin appeared on his face when he saw what was inside, "Oh hell yeah".
Outside Frank and Margret were waiting for Mordecai to finish. "What's taking him so long" Frank whispered angrily.
"Calm down dad" she answered, "Just give him a minute, he's very thorough".
"Well we don't have all night" he scoffed again while staring down the street.
Margret shook her head at her father's impatience, then suddenly they noticed an orange light emitting from the building. Mordecai calmly walked out carrying his molotovs.
"What took you so long" Frank scalded.
"Sorry, but I took a few seconds to make these" he held up his homemade grenades, "Though they'd come in handy".
"Good thinkin'" Margret said happily.
Frank just snatched one from Mordecai, "Whatever, let's just get my chopper back". He started walking back to the original building as the other two followed. When they arrived they stood by the door and waited for the fire to catch their attention. "I hope that fire of yours gets their attention Mordecai".
"Oh don't worry" he said with a grin, "It'll get their attention".
"How do you know" Margret asked intrigued by his sureness.
Mordecai looked back at her, "I found something that will definitely catch their eye".
Frank turned his head towards Mordecai, "What'd you find"?
Suddenly there was a large explosion in the building, shooting a ball of fire out and scattering glass and debris all over the street. Margret and Frank both stared at the inferno.
Mordecai looked over at Frank, "Propane tanks".
They all looked out at the park, the crowd of Marauders turned their heads towards the blazing building. Suddenly a massive grey wolf walked into sight, he pointed towards the fire and started yelling something at the others.
"Is that Cry Havoc" Mordecai asked in a shocked tone.
Frank nodded his head, "Sure is".
"Oh shit" Mordecai replied, "You said he was large, not inconceivably huge".
Frank shot him an enraged glare, "Pull yourself together string bean, there's no turning back once we go in there. Are you ready"? Mordecai smiled and nodded, then they watched as the Marauders ran towards the burning building. "Let's go" Frank ordered as they ran towards the park gate. They drew closer to the helicopter when Frank was suddenly tackled by the giant wolf.
"Dad" Margret yelled in horror.
Havoc stood over an unconscious Frank as he lifted his arm up and swung his large claws at him, but before he could make contact with Franks throat Mordecai rammed his shoulder into him, knocking him to the ground. Havoc quickly stood up as snarled at Mordecai. He stood nearly seven feet tall, and was easily four hundred pounds. He wore green cargo pants, but his chest was bare showing off a muscular physic and several scars.
"I see you're trying to steal what's mine" Havoc growled with saliva dripping from his foaming mouth.
"What's yours" Mordecai retorted as he drew his sword, "You stole that from Frank".
Havoc let out a loud devious laugh, "There is no ownership anymore you fool".
"Then I don't see why you're so pissed" Mordecai charged at the wolf and thrust his sword towards him, but he held his hand out and Mordecai's sword impaled it. Mordecai tried to pull it out but it was stuck in his paw. Havoc laughed as he swiped his other hand and backhanded him. Mordecai flew until he hit a tree and fell to the ground. "Bad dog"
Cry walked over towards Mordecai sporting a large grin, he pulled the sword from his hand as if it was a splinter and threw it down into the dirt. Mordecai tried to lift himself up as he drew closer to him, but was too sore to bring himself to his feet. Soon Havoc was standing over him, "Poor Mordecai, I guess you'll die here after all"
He lifted his foot up and prepared to stomp Mordecai's skull into the ground, but then something smashed against his back. Before he knew what was going on he was engulfed in flames. He fidgeted around trying to put out the fire before he fell to the ground and rolled around in the dirt. When the fire was finally snuffed out his slowly brought himself to his knees, a good chuck of his fur was burnt off exposing the charred flesh. He glared up at Margret who was holding another Molotov cocktail with a lit cloth, "I'll kill you for that you cunt" he snarled as he charged towards her.
She threw another bottle at him, but he swatted it in the air and ignored the burning substance on his hand. He ran up and swung his massive claws at her but she managed to roll out of the way at the last second. She pulled out two large knives from her jacket and charged in for a counterattack. She plunged the blades into his back. He howled in pain as he reached back to grab her, but she was barely out of his reach. While she hung on with her left hand she pulled out the right knife and started stabbing him repeatedly. He continued his futile attempt to grab her as she stuck him over and over again. Soon there was a large area and raw and bloody flesh on his back.
Tired of Margret's attack he leapt up to slam back first onto the ground in an attempt to crush her. Thinking quickly she jumped off while he was in the air. She landed on her side and slide just as he crashed into the earth. She quickly got up and ran towards him, she tried to sink her knives into his abdomen but he raised his hand up and grabbed her. He stood up and slammed her onto the hard ground. She gasped for air as the wind was knocked out of her. He smashed his fist into the dirt, but luckily Margret rolled out of the way and brought herself to her feet. She staggered back as Havoc turned to her.
Badly beaten Margret stood hunched over in pain, but still kept her knives up ready to attack. "I have to hand it to ya" he chuckled as he strutted towards her, "You're one resilient bitch".
Then out of nowhere he felt a sharp pain in the back of his ankles. He yelled out as he saw Mordecai run up to Margret, "Are you ok" he asked her. Margret smiled and gave him a nod.
Havoc let out a devilish laugh, "You know what they say. Two birds, one stone". He let out a roar, but when he tried to take a step he collapsed to the ground. What he wasn't aware of was that Mordecai cut his Achilles tendons, making it impossible to stand.
Mordecai let out a loud laugh, "Lay down". Mordecai walked up to land a fatal blow, but then he heard a loud moaning sound. Both him and Margret looked and saw Frank slowly getting up.
"Dad" Margret cried as she ran towards him, Mordecai followed after her. They both helped him to his feet, "Dad are you ok".
Frank opened his eyes and looked up at his daughter, "Never better" he chuckled. The touching moment was cut short by the roaring sound of Marauders charging into the park towards them, "We need to get to the helicopter" he shouted. Mordecai and Margret helped Frank towards the helicopter.
"Kill them" Havoc yelled from the ground to his troupes.
Mordecai looked back and saw them closing in, so he lit one of his molotovs and threw it. It crashed into the ground and created a wall of flames between them.
Havoc howled out in anger, "Get the ballista".
The three finally arrived at the helicopter, "What did he say" Mordecai asked as they sat Frank inside.
"It sounded like he said 'get the ballista'" Frank answered as he crawled to the pilot's seat.
"What the hell's a ballista"?
As soon as the words left Mordecai's mouth the Marauders started to roll what looked like a giant wooden crossbow on wheels into sight.
Frank looked back at Mordecai, "That"
As they were loading a large spear like arrow into the ballista Mordecai and Margret quickly got into the chopper, "Are you ok to fly Frank" Mordecai asked worriedly.
The blades began to spin as Frank started the engine, "Do we have any other option"?
Mordecai shook his head as the chopper lifted off the ground, they slowly rose into the air. Then suddenly The Feral fired the ballista at them.
"Hold on" Frank yelled as he quickly jarred the helicopter out of the arrows path, but the rocky movement caused Margret to fall out, "Margret"!
She grabbed onto the skids as she dangled above the ground, Mordecai quickly reached out, "Take my hand". Margret pulled herself up and grabbed his hand, he pulled her back into the chopper and walked her over to the other seat, "Sit". Margret followed his instructions and sat down, as they flew away Mordecai looked back. The fire from the Molotov spread and now engulfed most of the park. As they exited the city he breathed a sigh of relief. Then suddenly the helicopter started to plummet as an alarm blared, "What's going on"?
"Those bastards burned up all the fuel" he said as he meddled with the wheel, "We're going down".
"What" Mordecai shouted in disbelief, he went through all this work just to die in a helicopter crash. Frank did his best to lesion the impact, but the chopper hit the ground and rolled several times. Mordecai was thrown around the chopper before getting thrown out. He slowly lifted himself up and looked at the flaming wreckage of the crash, "Oh no".
He ran up to the crash site expecting the worst, when he arrived Margret was crawling from the wreckage, "Mordecai" she managed to say before coughing, "My dad's still in there". Mordecai didn't say a word, he just crawled in and made his way to Frank. Frank was groaning in pain and seemed to be struggling to stay conscious. Mordecai grabbed him and carefully carried him out of the chopper and laid him on the ground. Then the severity of his injuries became noticeable. He had several lacerations all over his body, he was coughing up blood, and he had severe burns over most of his body. How he sustained such injuries while Margret's were minor baffled him.
"Daddy" Margret said as she leaned in towards him.
"Margret" Frank said, coughing up more blood, "I know you don't want to hear this but… I'm not gonna pull through this time".
"No" she screamed out, tears pouring down her face.
"Margret" he said as he lifted his hand up to her face, "This isn't the life I want for you… I don't want you roaming this world alone. Promise me, you'll settle down somewhere. Start a quiet, peaceful life with other people".
Margret sniffed as she lifted her hand up to his. She nodded, "Ok".
"I love you" he choked out with blood dripping down his chin.
"I love you too dad" Margret cried out.
Frank then looked over at Mordecai, "Mordecai" he leaned in closer to him, "You're a good man, and I'm glad I got to meet you". Frank held his hand out.
Mordecai looked at it in disbelief, he lifted his hand up and shook it, "Me too sir".
"Promise me you'll take care of her" Frank groaned out painfully, "Take her to that settlement you were talking about and make sure she's safe".
Mordecai started to choke up from his final request, "I will".
"Good" Frank said as he rested his head against the ground, "Now I just want to spend my last moments listening to the sound of nature with my daughter".
Mordecai nodded as he stood up and walked away to give them some privacy. Margret took her father's hand and held it tight, she could feel him holding on tightly too. They both sat there and listened to the peaceful silence. After a few minutes Frank's chest stopped moving, and Margret felt his hand go limp. When she realized he was finally gone she broke down. She leaned over his body and began to sob, her tears dripped from her face onto his chest.
Mordecai walked over to her and placed his arm on her shoulder, "I'm so sorry Margret"
Margret looked up at him, "It's not your fault, you did what you could" she wiped the tears from her eyes, "I just don't like the thought of leaving him here like this, he deserved better".
Mordecai took a second to think, "You're right". He walked over to the wrecked helicopter and crawled in. After a minute he emerged with a shovel in his hand, "Let's give him a proper burial".
Mordecai packed the last bit of dirt onto the grave with the shovel. He laid it on the ground and wiped the sweat from his forehead, then he stuck a makeshift cross made from scrap metal in front of the grave. He made his way over to Margret, who was staring at the burial site speechless. They both stood silently, Mordecai looked up and saw the sun rising in the horizon. He cleared his throat before giving his eulogy, "I didn't know Frank for long, but in the little time I did I could tell he was a good, honest man. I'm glad I got the chance to meet him, and he will be truly missed".
Margret slowly turned her head to him, "Thank you Mordecai, that means a lot".
"It's the least I could do" he said before picking up his coat, "We can head back to the settlement whenever you're ready".
Margret looked back at her father's grave and nodded, "I think I'm ready to go". Mordecai turned and started to walk towards the settlement, but Margret walked over to the grave and put her hand on the homemade headstone. A tear dripped from her eye and crashed into the fresh dirt, "Goodbye dad, I love you". She turned and followed Mordecai, but not before looking back one last time on her father's resting place.
Rigby's eyes slowly opened, he took a moment to adjust to the light as he sat up on the couch. "Hmm, must have fallen asleep" he said as he stood up, then he suddenly remembered his missing friend. He ran to his room to see if Mordecai was in his bed, but he was met with an empty room instead. Rigby started to panic and ran all the way from his shack to the watchtower. He quickly scaled the ladder to the top, Fives jumped when he saw Rigby emerge over the edge. Rigby took a moment to catch his breath before looking up at Fives, "Did…did Mordecai come back".
The look on Fives face was one of complete sadness, "I don't know what to tell you Rigby".
"Just answer the question" Rigby blurted out angrily.
Fives took a deep breath as he shook his head, "No… I'm sorry".
Rigby went numb, he just stared at the floor. It felt like there was a weight crushing down on his chest. He turned around and descended from the tower, unsure of what to do he went to talk to Skips, "Maybe he knows what to do".
Meanwhile Mordecai led Margret to the marked tree in the thick grove, "We're almost there, this way". He went from tree to tree, following the marks back to the front gate.
"That's pretty clever" Margret commented smiling a little, her eyes were still red from crying.
"Yeah" Mordecai said as they exited the grove, "We need something that could help us find our way back, but wasn't obvious enough for outsiders to follow. They've been doing it long before I got here". Mordecai walked up to the gate and looked up at the watchtower, "Hello"!
Suddenly a pale translucent face peered over the edge, "Mordecai" he said in a surprised yet relieved voice.
"Yeah it's me" he answered, "Could you let us in".
"Sure" Fives said, then he pointed at Margret, "Who's she"?
"This is Margret, she's looking for shelter" he replied.
"Oh, cool. Just give me a second" Mordecai looked as Fives moved out of sight. He waited a few seconds, then the gate slowly lifted up. Fives leaned back over the edge again, "There you go, head right in".
Margret and Mordecai walked through the gate into the settlement, "Thanks Fives" Mordecai yelled back at the watchtower.
As they were walking through the settlement Margret looked around at her new surroundings, "This is a nice operation you guys got here".
Mordecai looked over at Margret, "Don't be polite it's a dump, but we do our best".
"It looks like you're doing well".
"We get by" Mordecai replied, "We need to find Benson, he's the one in charge".
As they were walking Margret noticed a short raccoon walking down the path with a depressed look on his face. He was wearing a dark green military jacket with the sleeves rolled up just below the elbow. It was undone with a black shirt underneath. She couldn't read what it said because of the jacket so the only letters she could see were 'is' with the letters 'um' below it. His right hand was wrapped with dirty white bandages up to his wrist. The last thing she noticed about him was his brown baggy pants and bare feet. He glanced over at them and his eyes widened.
He quickly ran over to them, "Mordecai" he yelled loudly as he gasped for breath, "You're back".
"Hey dude" Mordecai said happily before turning to Margret, "This is Margret. Margret this is Rigby, he's my best friend".
"Hi Rigby" Margret said as she extended her hand out to him.
He reached up and shook it, "Hey nice to meet ya" he said unenthusiastically before turning to Mordecai, "So where were you all night dude, I thought you were dead".
"Pfff naw" he said while waving his hand, "I ran into Margret and she needed some help".
"Oh I see" he scoffed while crossing his arms, "So some random chick's more important than you're best bro".
Mordecai let out a loud groan as he rubbed his eyes in frustration, "No, it's nothing like that. I can't just turn my back on a person in need".
"More like you can't turn your back on lady pecks".
Mordecai jabbed Rigby in the arm and pulled him to the side away from Margret. He leaned in towards his ear, "Her dad just died, so be cool".
Rigby lowered his head, he felt bad for acting the way he did towards Margret when she was going through a tough time, "Fine".
"Good" Mordecai said while nodding his head, "Now, I need to talk to Benson so I'll see you later".
"Alright, see ya" Rigby said, then he walked off towards the canteen.
Mordecai made his way to Benson's shack with Margret following behind him. They entered and saw the strange mechanical man sitting behind a desk. He heard them come in and lifted his head up, "Oh hey Mordecai, glad to see you're back".
"Thanks Benson" he replied while walking up to his desk, "So Benson, this is Margret. She needs a safe place to stay so I was wondering…"
"And you were wondering if she could stay here" Benson interrupted.
Mordecai shrugged his shoulders, "Well, yeah".
Benson looked over at Margret for a few seconds, then he turned his sights back to Mordecai. He was silent for a moment as he thought it over, "No, I'm sorry but she's gonna have to leave".
So close no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters
Never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words I don't just say
And nothing else matters
Trust I seek and I find in you
Every day for us something new
Open mind for a different view
And nothing else matters
Author's Note:
Well that's chapter 2, I hope you all enjoyed it. A special thanks to everyone who left reviews for chapter 1, it means a lot. I'll work on making future chapters longer too. I'm gonna point out a few thing real quick before I finish here. First the name 'Cry Havoc' for The Feral leader is from the saying 'cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war', fitting since he's a wolf and the leader of a group of canine mutants. Secondly the song Rigby's listening to is 'For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) by AC/DC from the album of the same name (and it is the first track). Finally the footnote for this chapter is from 'Nothing Else Matters' by Metallica. See you again in chapter 3.
(the numbers aren't meaningless)