The Wastelander

by Tipsy Wanderer

  The crowd parted, and a thin figure hobbled towards them with the help of a cane, flanked by two lizard mutants. Academician Roste surveyed the crime scene before sparing a glance for Cloudhawk and Hellflower. His wise and peaceful face was replaced with an iron-hard dangerous look. Though the scholar was hardly more than skin and bones, the authoritative air he let off made it difficult to look him in the eye. It was an air cultivated from years of practiced command.

  “Who is responsible for this!?”

  Hellflower approached some of the bodies and looked them over, eventually straightening up and answering her superior, “These are all strangers. The only people with the ability to hire this many assassins are you, Chimp, myself… and one other.”

  Academician Roste’s voice became as cold as ice. “Get some men and bring Hyena to me!”

  Hellflower bowed slightly at the waist. “Yes, sir!”

  She took several dozen crack soldiers equipped with high-tech guns with her to arrest Hyena. Roste hobbled over to Cloudhawk and looked him over with concern written on his face. “My young friend, my subordinates are sorely lacking in discipline. What is going on?”

  Cloudhawk was preparing to share his experience in the laboratories when suddenly he thought better of it. He was so close to sharing everything that he broke out in a cold sweat.

  He’d almost done a very foolish thing! If he told him what he saw, he’d be confessing to breaking into the labs! How would he explain how he got there? Eventually, he would also implicate Hellflower.

  The Academician’s sharp eyes seemed to catch his hesitation. “What is it you aren’t telling me?”

  “I don’t know!” Cloudhawk shook his head. “I was going out to stretch my legs when they attacked me for no reason. I haven’t given Hyena any reason to seek revenge. I have no idea why he wants me dead!”

  Cloudhawk was nervous. Things were bad because once Hyena was brought here, the Academician would ask what this was all about. The story was bound to get out.

  “Is that so…” Roste knew that Cloudhawk was hiding something. The young man was not a skilled enough liar to deceive him. However, he didn’t press for any more answers. Instead, he slowly turned around and spoke to the bodyguards following him, “The two of you go help Hellflower fetch Hyena. I’ll handle this matter myself.”

  The lizard men, merely intensely mutated creatures, could not speak but were nonetheless as intelligent as young teenagers. They had no trouble understanding the order and executing it.

  Whoosh!

  In a blink, they were gone.

  Academician Roste turned back to Cloudhawk. “Come with me.”

  Cloudhawk watched as the old man hobbled down the street with the aid of his staff. The young man’s fingers itched, fighting the urge to pull out his gun. The scholar’s talents lay in his intellect. He was capable of building an army of beasts loyal to his every whim. However, his body was weak, and he was alone. Cloudhawk could kill him right now if he wanted.

  But, for reasons he didn’t understand, each time he thought about drawing his gun, a voice in his head held him back. Something was telling him that it was a stupid and fatal plan.

  1. ‘Bridge jumping clowns.’ Wtf Chinese? Also, hilariously, it also means Insane Clown Posse.

  2. According to Wikipedia, it was used commonly for poison darts. It’s a type of mulberry and is used very often in Chinese medicine to produce a variety of effects that differ based on what part of the tree was used. I don’t think it’s the same species of mulberry, though.

  114 Hyena's Capture

  “It’s no good, boss. Hellflower has us surrounded!”

  “What?!”

  Hyena growled like a feral animal but didn’t lose his cool. There was a string of gunfire from outside, followed by screams and the sounds of struggle. Something hit two of his men so hard that they were blasted through the door. They lay on the ground, still and covered in blood.

  Hellflower strut into the room wearing her safety goggles and white lab coat. An ammo pouch hung from her waist, and she held a pair of pitch-black handguns, looking as valiant as she was beautiful. She’d arrived at the base three years ago; no one knew from where. In fact, they knew practically nothing about her.

  In all that time, she had served as a scientist and researcher. There had been few occasions where she’d needed to fight. As such, most ignored or disregarded her. Most of the base’s soldiers never had an opportunity to see what she could do.

  Now, the ground before her was littered with corpses, their heads having been blown apart by gunshots right between their eyebrows.

  On average, Hellflower was able to kill five targets a second, headshots all. It was a display that made those who witnessed it shudder. Now, at last, the soldiers knew that this sexy and dignified researcher was also a first-rate killer.

  Clack! Clack!

  Her empty clips hit the ground. Hellflower slapped the butts of her guns against her waist, pressing fresh magazines into place.

  Hyena and the dozen or so men that remained walked out of the room. The two faced each other across a stretch of about fifty meters. When Hyena stepped out to see his people dead all around, his anger was restrained. Not diminished. Just hidden deep in the pits of his feral eyes. His steady gaze made anyone caught in it tremble.

  “Mr. Hyena, our venerable Academician always held you in such high regard. Your actions have hurt him deeply.” Hellflower’s guns were loaded, and bullets sat ready in their chambers. She regarded Hyena with a perfectly calm demeanor. “I’m here at the Academician’s request. Will you come willingly, or will I have to smack you around a little first?”

  “So he sends his mad bitch to kill me?” Hyena knew the assassination plot had failed. He could no longer remain in Blackwater Base. His eyes began to change, and the muscles all over his body bulged unnaturally. Black hairs slithered out to cover him from head to toe, and when he spoke again, it was through a throat that was no longer human. “We’ll see who dies!”

  Hyena was strong and fast. If they let him leave here alive, he was only going to cause problems. Hellflower didn’t want to give him any opportunities to escape, so her modified pistols immediately started spraying. In an instant, everywhere he could go was blocked off by gunfire. However, Hyena was no less of a threat than the sweeper lieutenants who had attacked Blackflag Outpost. If his enemy were any average marksman – the likes of Slyfox, for example – then even a few well-placed bullets were not insurmountable.

  Unfortunately for him, Hellflower was no typical marksman. This woman was many grades better than Slyfox had been, and Hyena was not going to be able to dodge her shots. Thus, he had no intention of dodging. His hands shot out, and before they even knew what was happening, two of Hyena’s henchmen were dragged in front of him to act as meat shields.

  They were instantly peppered with Hellflower’s spray of bullets.

  Hyena’s men were the elite of Blackwater Base, and as such, were thickly muscled. Hellflower’s guns were modified to maximize rate of fire at the cost of stopping power, so they didn’t pack enough of a punch to blow through the beefy men’s bodies.

  Suddenly, the calm fled from her face. Hyena was fast.

  The two of them were equally skilled, but Hellflower wouldn’t stand a chance in close quarters combat against Hyena. Shoving his human shields before him, Hyena covered half the ground between him and Hellflower quickly. By now, the others were reacting, turning their weapons on the wolf man.

  “Fuck off!”

  His meat shields were a badly mutilated mess by now. He flung one of them at Hellflower and the other towards the men who’d come with her. She rolled to the side, avoiding the body. However, the other group was struck full-on by the dead weight flung at them by Hyena. They all hit the ground in a heap of broken bones and snapped tendons.

  He certainly wasn’t welcome in the base anymore!

  If Hyena were determined to take his enemies down with him, he would have a chance to kill H
ellflower. Only, he had no intention of dying. He leapt over the tangle of bodies, tearing out the throats of any soldier who got too close with his razor-sharp claws. Skin split in his grip like it was made of tofu. Their carotid arteries were instantly severed, and before they could start spewing blood, Hyena had already bound past them. He was several dozen feet away and free before the fountains of blood began spewing.

  Two green figures who had been lying in wait suddenly made their move.

  Hyena knew the moment he saw them; they were the Academician’s bodyguards. Though they’d once been mere beasts, the monsters were now incredibly strong. Appearing suddenly, they caught Hyena unprepared, blocking his path and inflicting several wounds on him.

  One of the base’s snipers lifted his gun and aimed at Hyena. His finger applied pressure to the trigger, but a slender hand reached out and stopped him. Hellflower slowly lowered the barrel of his gun as she addressed those soldiers still standing. “What’s the rush?” she said calmly. “There are three of them. How can you be sure who you’ll hit?”

  “But, they-“

  “No chit-chat. Sweep his room. Leave Hyena to me.”

  Though she said she would take care of Hyena, Hellflower casually walked his way without any hurry. Her guns were lowered with no intention of using them. The soldiers, however, would not dare disobey her orders, so pretending as though they didn’t see her strolling away, they entered Hyena’s apartments. Inside, they fought the rest of the wolf man’s henchmen and shot them dead.

  Hellflower showed a contemplative expression. The Academician’s bodyguards were impressively skillful, which somewhat exceed her expectations. However, remarkable as they were, the things were little more than especially clever beasts on steroids. They were no match for a seasoned warrior like Hyena.

  One of the lizard men slammed into Hyena and forced him up against a wall. It struck with such force that it left a crumbling indentation in the sturdy stone. The other lizard snapped at Hyena’s throat like a viper, which the wolf man dodged. He managed to juke around behind one and grab it by its tail. He swung it around, flinging it into the wall and causing another cascade of fractured stone to shower over them. He followed by grabbing the second and heaving it into the first, making the dent deeper.

  Hyena fought like he’d lost his mind, slamming his fist into his enemies again and again. Each strike spread the cracks along the wall further. Both lizard men were reduced to pulp, smeared across the stones.

  Bang-bang-bang-bang!

  With a clear shot, Hellflower planted bullets in his shoulders and legs. Hyena, unable to dodge, collapsed to the ground with an impotent roar.

  A self-satisfied grin on her face, Hellflower slipped her guns into her holsters and absently waved at the wolf man. “Tie him up.”

  Even though he’d been shot four times, Hyena would be quick to recover. He was set upon by the base’s soldiers quickly and had his limbs bound.

  Hyena was carried to the labs and brought before the Academician. Hellflower reported what had happened, “Academician, Hyena’s been captured. He resisted quite forcefully, and during the struggle, I’m afraid your bodyguards…”

  Roste, Chimp, and Cloudhawk were all within the laboratory.

  When Roste saw Hyena’s sorry state, he broke into a fit of coughs. His withered chest heaved as he fought to catch his breath. It wasn’t clear whether it was Hyena’s betrayal or the death of his guards that set him off.

  “Hyena, you ungrateful wretch!” Chimp glared at him with two black eyes. Portions of both sides of his face were swollen with patches of blue and purple. He looked to be in bad shape, but right now, no one was paying him any mind. Before the Academician could get a word in, Chimp continued verbally abusing the traitor, “You dare betray the Academician, betray Blackwater Base?! We should never have saved you!”

  “Saved me?” Hyena slowly lifted his head, revealing his ugly and savage face. “You think you saved Hyena? No! You only kept Hyena in pain and prolonged his death! During the past year, Hyena died, little by little, piece by piece. His thinking and behavior twisted – now, I am a monster in human skin. Every day is torture, a struggle! This is what you call saving?!”

  Cough, cough! “I… see.” Academician Roste’s coughing subsided. He looked over Hyena’s bloodied, manic face, his every wrinkle writ with disappointment. “I thought you would be special. I never expected… ugh!” [1]

  Cloudhawk felt a creeping uneasiness.

  “This traitor has caused many losses,” Chimp said to the Academician. “We can’t let him go unpunished!”

  “Enough! Enough…” Roste looked exhausted. He waved his hand in exhaustion as though wiping away the matter. “Send him below. Heal his wounds. Then, wipe his memories.”

  When he heard the verdict, Hyena’s face twisted into a mask of rage and despair. He roared at them, “Kill me! Kill me!”

  The brainwashing process involved infusing Hyena’s body with drugs that did irreversible damage to his brain and synapses. He would lose all emotion but retain his combat abilities. He would become a puppet soldier like the ones he often sold.

  Puppet soldiers had a very limited capacity for independent thought. They were weapons and little else, incapable of performing any order more complex than murder. Sending Hyena down to get brainwashed was a great loss for Blackwater Base. With his strength and capabilities, he had been one of their most effective agents, but once the process was complete, he would just be another tool.

  Hyena screamed in anguish as he was dragged away.

  Cloudhawk could hardly believe it. The Academician didn’t even ask Hyena any questions, meaning that his excursion into the secret labs would remain unknown. His task had been entirely successful.

  “Academician, what is going on…” Hellflower still seemed at a loss. “Why would Hyena want to kill Cloudhawk?”

  Roste cast a glance towards the young wastelander before answering, “Our young guest has been hurt. Chimp, if you would see to his treatment?”

  “Yes, sir!”

  Cloudhawk only shot Hellflower a glance before leaving with the lab director.

  “Hyena was unable to resist the beast in his heart. His mind was separated from his body, and now, he sees himself as a creature and not a man. He may have looked human, spoken like one, but he was no longer anything like us. He now has more in common with the animals locked away in our lab. If it had not been for Cloudhawk’s arrival speeding up our process, he might have been able to resist for a while longer.”

  Academician Roste stopped to hack and cough, continuing after a moment.

  “As you know, we used Subject Zero in our experiment. Physiologically speaking, she is tied to Hyena like a mother. This alongside the effects of outside catalysts has affected him fundamentally. It awakened the creature within him. This is why he tried to kill Cloudhawk.”

  Hellflower suddenly understood. “I didn’t think we would lose Hyena.”

  “It doesn’t matter. We will try again.” Roste no longer seemed troubled by the loss. “He was responsible for the administration of the base’s soldiers. Now that he is no longer capable, the men will need a leader. I must request you take on that responsibility for the time being.”

  A light glimmered in her eyes, but beyond that, she betrayed nothing on her face. She respectfully bowed to him. “Don’t worry, Academician. I’ll take care of it. I’ll take my leave.”

  “Wait a moment.”

  Academician Roste slowly turned around, leaning heavily on his cane. His face was pale and sickly, but the weakness of his body didn’t diminish the keen bite in his eyes. He fixed Hellflower with his stare, like a pair of scalpels that cut down to her soul.

  Hellflower froze, meeting his gaze with a puzzled expression. “Is there something else you’d like me to see to, Academician?”

  “Do not disappoint me.” He held her frozen with his gaze for a moment longer, and then the strength drained from his eyes. Once more, he seemed to have become t
he frail old man. “You may go.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Roste shut his eyes and quietly listened to Hellflower’s receding footsteps. Her gait was perfectly even, in speed and rhythm, all the way until she was out of earshot.

  When Hellflower was clear of the labs, she took off her glasses and wiped her brow. Beads of cold sweat had accumulated on her forehead.

  Strange… how could this feeble old man be so imposing?

  1. “Ugh” in Chinese is “ai”. It is a character used in several ways, sometimes meaning pain, sometimes meaning surprise. Here, it means disappointment and regret.

  115 Secret Room, Secret Intrigues

  The world was divided up into two parts, each completely different from the other.

  The first, the Elysian lands.

  The second, the wastelands.

  The wastelands were a cruel place, barren and blood-soaked, where the denizens used whatever tools they could scavenge from the old world to survive. The ancient and modern lived side by side without order, without law, and without civilization.

  In contrast, the Elysian lands were refined and beautiful. Fertile tracts spread far and wide, replete with flora and fauna. Their tools and weapons were filled with magic that technology could not explain, and humans lived in peace and harmony.

  The differences were such that it was like the two halves had come from entirely different realities.

  For thousands of years, the wastelands’ harsh environment twisted its denizens. People desperately sought to realize their potential, molding themselves in order to become stronger. The Elysians, bathed in divine favor, had faith that they never would need to worry about staying clothed and fed. Under the guidance of their gods and with the artifacts provided to them, they each were possessed of superhuman abilities.

  No one from the Elysian lands could explain where their powers were derived from. They were considered miracles, inexplicable but for the glory of the gods.