Chapter 4: Going Deep
-x-
The IMP van flew down a dusty highway in Wrath.
"So where is Striker's snake hole exactly?" Blitzø questioned.
"In one of the old volcano mines in the Badman Lands." answered Millie.
"Ohh, so we gotta go deep to find what we're looking for. Figures." Blitzø watched the dunes go by from the passenger seat. He had tossed Moxxie the keys back at the office and told him to drive.
"You've been there once. I'm gonna assume you can get there again" was his sarcastic reply to Moxxie's wide eyed expression of joy.
Moxxie turned off road and drove toward an ominous looking volcano with tracks winding in and out of mineshaft openings.
He suddenly picked up speed and barreled toward the rock face.
"Whatcha doing there Moxx?" Asked Blitzø nervously.
"Hang on, Sir. Its the only way in".
"Oh! This was my favorite part!" Exclaimed Millie tightening her seat belt.
"OH Fuck Yea!!" Cheered Loona gripping onto the back of Blitzø's seat.
"WHAT!! CHRIST ON A STAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Blitzø screamed as Moxxie launched the van off a raised embankment. The vehicle flew high into the air and landed directly onto a set of tracks just inside the mountain. Moxxie continued riding the tracks until they came out into the open cavern that was Striker's hideout.
Blitzo collected his nerves and leaned out the van window for a first look.
"This is it? It looks like the Pioneer Club in here."
The team exited the van and took in the surroundings. A big 'Kill Count Casino' sign hung loose from its high scaffold. A Lava fountain cascaded over the top of a tall rock formation creating a stream that flowed past a set of broken stone legs, still standing upon their platform.
"He had a statue of himself? Well, that's classy." Blitzø sneered and rolled his eyes. "What does he think, he's Vegas Vic or some shit? Who wants to suck their own dick that badly?"
Neon ad signs for Killer Venom and Killer Beer were filled with bullet holes as was a Vardo wagon that lay on its side in disrepair. A rough and rotting shack sat beyond a set of mine car tracks, completing the scene.
You and Millie did all this damage yourself?? Gotta say Im damn proud!" Beamed Blitzø.
"Thank you, Sir."
"Alright, where did you see this phone." Asked Blitzø as he surveyed the area.
"The pieces were over by the tracks."
"Satan's buscuits Moxx, you're going to have to be more specific. There's tracks all over this dump."
"The set opposite the granite debris." Moxxie pointed to the tracks on the other side of Strikers destroyed effigy.
Blitzo and Moxxie headed in that direction as Millie and Loona searched for other items of interest around the shack and vardo.
-x-
"Youre gonna have to check the wagon. No way am I gonna fit in there. I'll take the shack." Loona told Millie.
"Right," Milie nodded.
Millie pushed open the door of the overturned Vardo, propping it open with a loose plank that lay nearby. She crawled inside.
"Oh, wow!" A glow eminated from the far end of the wagon. Millie approached cautiously. There on an upright table sat a number of cases.
A collection of blessed kunai lay in a row in an open, velvet lined box. Millie picked one up, judging its quality. The balance felt amazing. Supressing the urge to do a test throw, she placed it back with its companions and closed the box, tucking it into her backpack.
She proceeded to open the other cases. The empty ones troubled her. Did Striker have all these on him now? One case had held a rifle, one had held a set of pistols. Another, had held a knife and from the shape of the mold she presumed it was the one striker had thrown at Moxxie. The last case held blessing tipped ammunition. She tucked this find in with the kunai.
-x-
Loona walked up to the shack. A tattered curtain covered the entrance. She grasped the fabric and tore it away from the opening, leaving the interior exposed. The space was Strikers sleeping quarters. A bed sat dead center, with a small table and chair off to one side. Lights were strung accross the ceiling and a dead cactus sat in the opposite corner. "Ugh" thought Loona."This guys whole vibe is 'casino dumpster'."
A series of maps lay open on the bed. Each one had a location circled in red and a number at the top that appeared to correlate with the rings of hell. She rolled each one up carefully and tucked them into her messenger bag.
A pack of Cowboy Carlton cigarettes sat on the table next to a neon cactus lamp. "Don't mind if I do" Loona mumbled to herself. She walked over and pulled one from the pack. Conveniently, Striker had left his lighter behind also. She picked it up and struck the flint. Repeatedly. "Damn" she interjected and tossed it back on the table, only to quickly snatch it back up again. "What the Fuck?" the lighter had the ensignia of a prominent mob family stamped into its electrum green surface. Loona turned and exited the shack, lighter in hand.
Loona met Milly as she exited the Vardo. "Look!" They both said in unison.
Milly presented a pack of blessed ammo. Loona presented the electrum lighter.
"Shit" again in unison.
-x-
Moxxie and Blitzø crawled over the rubble in the middle of the underground room and began searching the tracks that ran up and under the Casino sign.
Blitzø briefly glanced toward the girls as they headed to the outlying wagon before returning his focus to the tracks.
His eyes scanned the wooden rail ties as he walked along. Small dots of black speckled the boards the futher he went. As the dots grew in size he paused and let his eyes follow the line to a large dark patch on the tracks ahead. He walked to the spot and scowled murderously at the inky black stain. Stolas' blood. He stood with his fists clenched at his sides as he trembled with too many emotions to count.
"I found it, Sir!" Moxxie yelled excitedly. Blitzø, I have the card!" Moxxie had bounded over to Blitzø before he realized what had him so transfixed. "Oh, crumbs."
The silence of Blitzøs rage engulfed the space.
"They're gonna pay for this, Moxx." His tone once again dark and chilling.
Blitzø turned and walked away.
Moxxie briefly thought, at that moment if Blitzø had a full demon form it would break all the rings of hell in half trying to contain it.
-x-
"STELLA what the FUCK did you think you were doing hiring that hooligan to kill Stolas. Do you know how complicated this could get!? Even Hell has legal standards of conduct." Andrealphus stalked into the drawing room, his icy demeanor melting in his anger.
"But I am ROYALTY. surely that fact accounts for some leniency." Replied Stella, as she continued to sketch images of a mangled and bleeding Stolas.
"Youre a royal by marriage. If he dies, your status means nothing. Its why you're here living in my chateau and not in his palace! You haven't tried to connect with that Wrathian again have you?"
"Of course not. I presume he's rather cross at me for not paying him so I haven't bothered."
"You didnt pay him?"
"No, he didnt complete the job. Why would I? Do you SEE my worthless husband anywhere?"
"Stella, my beauty, you know its not a good idea to anger your own assasin, right?" Andrealphus rubbed his head. "You're giving me a headache."
"André, dear brother, if the creature tries anything I will simply find an assassin, for my assasin."
"And you feel comfortable with those choices."
"Of Course!"
"Sister dear, I fear you are underestimating the players in your little game.