The Wastelander

by Tipsy Wanderer

  No wonder she was one of the outpost’s best fighters! In all of Greenland Outpost, maybe only Hydra could stand against her. Panther and the others were strong, but they still didn’t quite match up to Artemis’s abilities.

  Broken corpses littered the ground. When they still breathed, they were the elite, sweepers who were among the strongest, fastest and most skilled of their number. But faced with Artemis’s hail of blows, they were as defenseless as children.

  She rested her gore-caked melon hammer on her shoulder and sashayed towards Cloudhawk. “Looks like I just saved your ass. How do you plan to pay me back, hm?”

  Cloudhawk was in no mood for banter. “It’s too early to say you’ve saved shit.”

  Artemis followed the young man’s gaze to a ruined building thirty feet high. There at the top sat a dark silhouette – a man wrapped in a black robe wearing a beak-like breathing apparatus. He was as mysterious as he was unsettling.

  It was him! Artemis’s face hardened.

  She knew the freak in black was the leader of the sweeper forces. Though he wasn’t the strongest of the demon’s lieutenants, he was the first to answer the monster’s call. Not only was he cruel, he was also smart – he wasn’t one to underestimate.

  Cloudhawk looked at him too, quivering with hatred. This was the man who destroyed the whole Tartarus Mercenary Company!

  How many lives did this creature have? Back at the Blackflag Outpost, Cloudhawk had personally beheaded him and yet, there he stood like a living nightmare.

  Stranger Black wordlessly removed a glove and his five bone-speckled tentacles writhed free. They twisted together until his left arm resembled a disgusting saw-tooth blade. It was nauseating and frightening to behold.

  What aberrant architect put this freak together? Besides his unimaginable regenerative abilities, he could also change the shape of his body.

  “Show me what you can do.”

  It was Artemis who spoke, and as she did, her leg whipped out at a nearby rock. It went rocketing towards Stranger Black like a soccer ball.

  She kicked it so hard the rock screamed through the air like a shooting star, right for Stranger Black. He waved his left arm casually, as if he were swatting a fly, and the rock was cleaved clean in two. The break was so perfect not a single flake of stone was missing.

  His bone blade cut through rock like a hot knife through butter! No flesh or bone could stop its keen edge.

  “You are reasonably strong.” Stranger Black did not rush to attack. He stared at her from behind the darkness of his hood, like a viper sizing up its prey. “I should tell you that Hydra is finished. You are only fighting to follow in his footsteps.”

  Artemis gaped at him. “What did you say?! Hydra is dead?”

  Stranger Black did not respond, but the fact that he was here and Hydra was nowhere to be found lent credence to his claim. The mutant went on. “You are a decent warrior. Our conflict is not with you. I am giving you a chance to live.”

  Cloudhawk searched desperately for a way to escape. All the while, Stranger Black’s hissing voice slithered like cobras through the air.

  “Kill the child. Join us, and you will live a better life than that traitor gave you.”

  Uncertainty was writ plain on Artemis’s face. She hesitated.

  Cloudhawk had no chance against the man in black. If he had to face Artemis as well, what else could he expect but a gruesome death? He called out to her. “Don’t believe him. He is no good man. He’ll throw you away the moment he doesn’t need you anymore!”

  Stranger Black’s icy cold voice replied. “The choice is yours. Live, or die.”

  Cloudhawk watched her with wide eyes. After a moment of quiet contemplation, she turned. As she did, her eyes filled with murderous intent and she lifted her hammer high. Fast, deadly, without mercy. Even before the hammer reached him, Cloudhawk could feel its crushing momentum like a mountain.

  Son of a bitch! She changed sides faster than she changed clothes!

  Cloudhawk flung himself to the side, narrowly escaping her hammer. A hole was left where he’d been standing, and he’d be a puddle in it if he’d been half a second slower.

  She didn’t stop when her hammer missed. Her next move was to thrust at him with her shield, whose triangular base had been ground down to an edge as sharp as a blade. Although she wasn’t very fast, Artemis wasn’t slow either. She launched her attack swiftly and maliciously, giving Cloudhawk no chance to dodge. He could only throw all his strength behind smashing his staff against the shield and redirecting it. It still caught him, though, and left an ugly wound.

  Cloudhawk staggered back several feet. Artemis wasn’t giving him any leniency. It was clear from her ferocious attacks that she’d decided killing him was the right decision. “You disloyal piece of shit!”

  “I’m not too thrilled to be killing you, either.” Artemis planted the base of her shield in the dirt and used her foot to kick the melon hammer out of the pit it’d dug. She heaved it back up onto her shoulder. She looked Cloudhawk over one more time and sighed. “But the two of us can’t take him. One death is better than two, right? You know you’ve gotta go, so be a good boy and lemme land a hit. Don’t be scared, it’ll be quick – no pain.”

  Cloudhawk answered with a string of curses. This bold bitch!

  He thought about the Queen, thought about her raging temper and, for better or worse, her unyielding stubbornness. If she were here instead of Artemis, she never would have betrayed him like this.

  “Cussin’ me out isn’t gonna do you any good. If you want something to blame, blame the wastelands.”

  It was the last breath she was going to waste on talking to him. Her powerful legs launched her forward, leading with her shield. If he was hit cleanly, the spikes all along its surface would turn Cloudhawk into a sieve. Meanwhile, Artemis’s hammer was waiting for an opening. If he tried to block her shield, that hammer would come crashing down and he’d be a pile of shattered bones before he knew it.

  He was out of options so he had to use his cloak. Cloudhawk disappeared.

  Artemis scowled, scanning all around. She cried out to him. “Come on little brother, don’t hide. There’s nowhere to run!”

  Stranger Black looked on from his vantage point. When he saw Cloudhawk vanish, he suddenly understood how they’d fled the dungeon under everyone’s noses. But invisible didn’t mean vanished. A skilled killer knew to watch the ground for signs, or listen to the changes in the wind to locate him.

  And Artemis had seen this before.

  When Cloudhawk went invisible, he was almost as fast as Panther. He was an agility metahuman and Artemis couldn’t match the small man in speed or reaction time, so to evade Cloudhawk’s sneak attacks, she swung her hammer around indiscriminately.

  “Hmph!”

  Stranger Black spotted Cloudhawk’s footsteps some distance away. The boy was trying to run? He sprang from the top of the building, bounding across the ruins and blocking Cloudhawk’s path. He hacked towards the boy with his sword-like left arm.

  His bone blade could cut through steel. The child didn’t stand a chance.

  Faced with the freak’s tyrannical assault, Cloudhawk was locked down. He couldn’t dodge and nothing he put between him and that sword would stop it from carving him up.

  Clang!

  His bone blade and the exorcist rod collided!

  Cloudhawk felt the tremendous flood of power through the impact and his staff was knocked away. His whole body lifted into the air. The freak in black kept coming, swinging his bone sword to cut Cloudhawk in half.

  From the other side, Artemis’s hammer was smashing down towards him. He could hear it whistling through the air.

  Cloudhawk’s pupils contracted to tiny black points as he realized his certain doom. He was caught on two sides – it was over! His death was certain! He needed help! Where was the Queen?

  75 We Die Together

  The Queen was not coming. She was too busy trying to save her own li
fe.

  She was being pursued by two of the demon’s lieutenants, three outpost assassins, most of their sweeper army, and their deadly airship. There could be two of her and she’d still be too weak to face them all. Her situation was no better than Cloudhawk’s, with each passing second being another step towards death. She just had to slow down for one moment, her luck had to run out just once, and she’d be struck down.

  Cloudhawk’s only option was to shut his eyes and wait for death.

  But then the unthinkable happened.

  The moment before Artemis’s hammer reached Cloudhawk’s face, her hand jerked, stretching out just a little further. He felt it graze his cheek before sweeping by. Then, with a sound like a blast of thunder, her hammer bashed Stranger Black in the center of his chest.

  Boom!!

  Cloudhawk could hear Stranger Black’s bones break and his organs tear. The mutant’s back bulged outward as everything was pushed out of place. He flailed through the air over thirty feet, whipping around like a broken kite before ultimately smashing through the side of a building.

  It had all happened so suddenly. Artemis attacks had meant to kill him, without question. She’d held nothing back. Who’d have thought that she’d spare him in the last instant? How could anyone suspect she’d turn her hammer against the demon’s henchman?

  What the hell was going through this woman’s head?

  As though she had read his mind, she gave him a flippant answer. “I changed my mind!”

  What kind of fuckin’ reason was this?! This woman was unstable!

  But it was her fickle choice that took the mutant by surprise and left him no chance to dodge. It was the only way she could have gotten close enough to hit him, much less lay him out with a hit that good. Artemis had seemed careless, until the very moment when a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity revealed itself.

  “This ugly rodent nutsack ain’t worth shit!” Artemis was well pleased with herself. “I can’t fuckin’ stand people who think they’re so clever, tryin’ to screw with my head.”

  Hmph, you’re so full of shit. If your hammer had turned me to pulp, you’d be singin’ a different tune. Cloudhawk had no illusions. This woman’s loyalties changed with the wind. She wasn’t someone he could trust.

  His head was a mess. He tried to put his thoughts together. Now that Artemis had sent the man in black flying, she’d burned whatever bridge he’d been pretending to offer. Although Cloudhawk couldn’t figure out what was going through her mind, right now, she was the only one he could rely on.

  She slung her mallet back onto her shoulder and blinked at him. “Well, what the fuck are you gapin’ at? Let’s go!”

  “Go?” Cloudhawk heaved a small sigh. If only their enemy were so easy to defeat. “You don’t know shit about these guys!”

  She tilted her head and looked questioningly at him. “What do you mean?”

  Before he could answer, the sound of clattering rubble reached their ears.

  Realization dawned on her face as she stiffly turned her head around toward the source of the noise. At first, she saw the rubble stirring and then slowly, a figure rose from within. His chest was caved in, internal organs completely ruined, but somehow it did not stop Stranger Black from rising back to his feet.

  The freak had lost his mask and his unsettling tentacled face was revealed to the light. A pair of sinister eyes, burning with hatred, was fixed on the two of them. If looks could kill, they would be dead several times over.

  “This is…”

  Artemis was at a complete loss. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing, for no one had ever survived a direct blow from her hammer. She hadn’t even thought it was possible.

  What the hell was this guy? He had to be immortal!

  Cloudhawk was also in awe of the mutant’s abilities, but he had come to expect it. He’d survived having his whole fuckin’ head cut off, so a few broken ribs and a torn up organ or two wasn’t going to kill him. Unfortunately, the asshole would recover.

  He could hardly be called human anymore!

  Stranger Black did not fear blade or bullet. As destructive as Artemis’s hammer was, it was effectively useless against the black-clad man, unless she turned his brain to mush. It was part of what made him so terrifying.

  Stranger Black fixed his eyes on her. “You disappoint me.”

  Artemis didn’t know what to do.

  Cloudhawk’s shout woke her from her daze. “Stop wasting time! The longer you wait, the more time he has to heal. We’ve gotta kill him as fast as possible!”

  Artemis hammer had shattered bone and pulverized flesh, forcing Stranger Black to rely on his supernatural healing abilities to keep him mobile. Although he wasn’t dead, her blow did affect his agility and combat. They had to take this opportunity to put him down for good, because if he was allowed to recover, they were both doomed!

  Stranger Black rose from the dust, leaping clear of the ruins. He took the initiative and attacked first. His target – Artemis!

  When they were ten to fifteen feet apart, he swung his left arm, hacking the sword-like appendage at her. Logically speaking, he was too far to hit her, but the freak’s limb actually shot out, extending towards her like a whip. Not only did it catch her unprepared, it also made his attack faster.

  A deafening screech filled the air! Artemis lifted her shield just in time. Stranger Black’s bladed arm left a deep fissure in the metal.

  Her shield was made of steel, so one could imagine how deadly Stranger Black’s attack was. She didn’t manage to recover before the freak reached out with his right hand. This one was humanoid shaped but was powerful and covered in bone-like armor. He couldn’t change this one into anything but it was strong enough to crush someone’s throat.

  Boom!

  Artemis was punched a dozen feet away. She felt like she’d been run over by a rhinoceros. Every inch of her body hurt. When the warrior looked at her shield, her frown deepened. Now, in addition to the gash was a hand-shaped dent.

  He punched with as much force as the horned guy! He was a walking horror!

  Stranger Black advanced on her, ready to finish her off when suddenly, he froze. Likely some of the damage he’d suffered was slowing him down.

  Cloudhawk didn’t waste a moment and launched a sneak attack at the freak’s back. His exorcist rod vibrated as power surged through it, and knocked the mutant off balance. Cloudhawk struck with such ferocity, he ruined another area of bone and muscle, adding to the monster’s wounds.

  Seeing his attack land filled Artemis with hope. “He’s pretty hurt! Let’s kill this piece of shit together!”

  Artemis unceremoniously threw her shield away and grabbed her hammer with both hands. She brought it down towards his head with every ounce of strength in her while Cloudhawk plunged his staff towards the mutant’s gut.

  Stranger Black tried to defend himself. His bone sword cut at the exorcist rod and knocked it away with a loud clang. Surprisingly, whatever the staff was made of somehow stopped the sword from cleaving it in half.

  He blocked Artemis’s hammer with the bare hand of his bone arm. The impact shattered the outer carapace and a crack traveled through his appendage into the bones in his body.

  He hacked and coughed, fresh blood pouring from his mouth. One could see bits of bone and organ mixed in.

  Strong as he was, Artemis’s sudden betrayal had wounded him severely. He needed time to recover, but he found himself surrounded, facing attacks from all sides. He started to recognize the serious danger he was in.

  Cloudhawk noticed him slowing down. Now was their chance to kill him for good!

  Stranger Black let loose a bestial roar, filled with fury and hatred like a cornered animal. “You think you two can kill me?!”

  Cloudhawk felt the resistance against his staff disappear as the freak’s sword-arm suddenly changed. It unraveled, separating again into five bony tentacles and lashing out at each of them at the same time.

  Not good! This trick ag
ain!

  The mutant’s arm was versatile. In addition to transforming into an impossibly sharp blade, it could also change into five barbed tentacles. The former was deadly in close combat, but the latter was flexible. Mad Dog hadn’t been able to protect himself from them.

  Artemis was much stronger than Mad Dog had been, but she wasn’t as agile. These tentacles were a dire threat.

  “Get back!” Cloudhawk shouted.

  Artemis recognized the danger too. She reeled back and lifted her hammer to protect her vitals. She managed to block one, but the two others caught her: one in the right shoulder and the other in her left leg deep enough to reveal bone.

  She screamed in agony.

  Her right hand couldn’t lift the hammer anymore and let go, sending her weapon tumbling away. Without the support of her left leg, she lost balance and hit the ground.

  It was all over! She was too wounded to keep fighting.

  “Now it’s your turn!”

  Stranger Black’s voice was as shrill and angry as an evil spirit. His two remaining tentacles lashed out at Cloudhawk. The young fugitive’s mind was blank, fixated on the knowledge that if he dodged or blocked these attacks, any chance of defeating the man in black would be gone.

  Fight!

  Don’t stop!!

  His eyes were invaded by a blood-red hue, turning everything into a sanguine hell-scape. Every ounce of his body was saturated with power and focused into the exorcist rod. His simple demon hunter weapon vibrated as unprecedented levels of energy permeated it.

  Mad Dog!

  Slyfox!

  Here’s your revenge – vindication or death!

  For any other creature, trading one lethal blow for another might give it pause, but this was not so for Stranger Black. Even the most well-placed blow was no threat so he reached for Cloudhawk with the tendrils of his left arm and brought his mangled right around to block the staff.

  Thud! Squelch! It was the sound of rending flesh.

  Artemis watched with wide-eyed horror as the mutant’s barbed limbs buried themselves deep in Cloudhawk’s body. She could foresee the young man’s death. Yet in the same instant, spurred by mortal peril, Cloudhawk felt the stone around his neck pulse with intense psychic energy. It rose from somewhere deep within him and poured into the exorcist rod.