by Travis Borne
Marti was at the lower bar and had been ecstatic, as well Bart; it was 4 p.m. on a Thursday. Kim’s voice blared, “Bart, clear everyone out then close up shop. And Marti, get back there and work up a batch of brews. We’re mighty thirsty.”
“Kim, what—”
“Bart—” She interrupted him like a hammer one-shotting a nail. “—you’ve never been below, correct?”
“No, ma’am,” Bart replied. Both he and Marti were stupefied seeing this new person, Jerry dutifully by her side.
“Well, if you don’t get a move on you’ll find out sooner rather than later.” Her voice was a mom’s: vacuuming the house, 105° with the A/C broken, and she was blaring at her lazy fucking kids.
“We caught some interesting species, Marti,” Jerry said during Marti’s and Bart’s hasty, fumbling retreat. “I’ll be expecting something especially good. If it’s really good, I mean fuckin’ hell in a glass, you might just save yourself, maybe even Mr. Bart here.” Then Jerry rotated, reddening like a tomato, transmuting from the puke, unhealthy green coating his skin like a cadaver’s hardened shell. And he grew like warping, lumpy, contorting clay—three feet, four! “Everyone out, NOW!” His voice brought an earthquake with it. Stuffed animal heads fell, some cracking in half, some cracking tables in half, and glasses shattered as if they’d been hit with a sonic boom. Aghast statues vivified and the bar emptied in a jiff.
84. Boron's Deputy
He knocked on the door. “Carmen.”
“Go away!”
“It’s me, Patrick.”
“No shit, I’ve heard your voice for hundreds of years. I just want to be alone right now.”
Footsteps petered out and she had to force it. A glass face, and with hardly even enough energy to lift her head, Carmen headed toward the door. She said, “It’s because she’s so smart, isn’t it?” Just before rounding the corner, Pat and Andy turned to face her, yet didn’t say a word for five, but what felt like ten, seconds.
Pat said, “I don’t think so, Carmen. I’m afraid—it’s far worse.”
“Than what? I saw the way he looks at her. She’s so smart it makes us all look like a bunch of idiots, morons who’ve been trapped in eternity—and we were too stupid to stop what they had been doing to us. Until she came, with her power.”
“We don’t have much time. Can we come in?”
She paused a good ten seconds that felt like five, looking at two sets of honest eyes, friends since the very beginning. “Yeah,” she said. Then a memory flashed: Jerry, helping her in the fields at cost of a half-dozen skin-stripping lashes—that was when he had told her, but not with words: “Never give up.”
It was the early years, and after they’d gotten back to the surface, Jerry opened up to her while they were fishing in one of the streams just outside Midtown. They caught lunch then sat together on a blanket and talked and talked. “I’ll never give up on you, Carmen,” he’d said, “and no matter how deep I travel into my own rage, never give up on me. Nothing can hurt us if we make the vow to each other.” He then paused, and asked her...
“I’ll never let the water run dry again,” Jerry said. “I finally found you and I want you to be the only woman for me. Be it living in this hell for an eternity, or out there—should we, one day, break free from this place. I vow to be your protector and I will love you until the day I die. Will you—”
“Yes!” she said. “I do.”
“—marry me.” He laughed. “I at least have to say the words.”
“Yes, yes, and yes!”
“Well, then, if I may?” Carmen nodded and a tear resembling a diamond navigated her cheek. Jerry put an imaginary ring on her finger and said, “I pronounce us husband and wife.”
She added, “You may now kiss the bride.” And she squeezed the giant red, which wasn’t too hard to do, they were both blushing, flushed with true, magnificent love.
They stayed in the apartment for three days after that and shared the most beautiful honeymoon a couple could have. Although it wasn’t an island paradise, or anywhere special, they went away in their minds, and henceforth, for at least a hundred years, Jerry listened to pragmatic Pat and stayed out of trouble, he didn’t constantly challenge the beasts or brawl with the officers. For a time, he was like any other, one that blended in with the crowd both above and below. And they shared many years’ worth of closed-apartment honeymoons—until they’d been found out. So, they agreed it would be best to take it down a notch, at least in public, for the beasts and officers would torment them more, and worse, torment anyone and everyone that was close to them. But the vow, and their mostly secret marriage, stood the test of time.
The three of them sat at the dining room table. Carmen opened the blinds to let some light in.
“Are you okay?” Patrick asked.
“Yes, it just hurts,” she said. “But I knew it was coming, sort of. I’ve been thinking about all we’ve been through, how we once kept being together a secret, until it just…just didn’t even matter anymore—until we took all they could dish out and more, and it just didn’t matter. We had only each other and we eventually realized they couldn’t take that away no matter how hard they tried.”
“We only have about thirty minutes left, Carmen,” Pat said.
As if not hearing him, she continued, “Yes, I always feared this day…”
“Carmen?”
“…the day I lost him—be it to his rage, or another woman, or any number of other possibilities.”
“Carmen, we need your help,” Patrick said, louder. “It’s not what you think, the four of them have totally lost it.”
“Jake, even the two beasts,” Andy said, “they’re toadies now.” Pat nodded.
“Whatever they got into up there on that mountain, it messed them up, and bad. Jerry yelled out for us to send in two beasts and two humans. He kicked everyone else out of the bar. We think he wants to torture them to get The Special flowing again.”
“My greatest fear,” Carmen said, “the rage unleashed. I almost knew he was going to lose himself when he went into the underworld, but he didn’t. I never expected it to happen up here.” Snapping out of it, she said, “What do you think happened up there?”
“Well,” Pat said, “it looks like—like he’s become an officer, Boron’s… Man, I don’t even want to say it… Boron’s deputy. But it seems he’s still Jerry, too, at least in appearance.”
“Let’s hope he’s still in there,” Andy said. “And let’s hope we can get him back.”
Patrick continued, “Whatever happened, he must have made contact and Boron corrupted him. Jake said we must obey. And Baldarn said the pain Jerry can inflict upon us is worse than that of underworld.”
Carmen said, “He must have lost a battle of wits after confronting this Boron. Jerry is just too strong otherwise.”
They explained as much as they could as fast as they could, for Jerry was waiting. He demanded the four individuals, and all speculation pointed to a need for pain. They each glanced at the clock then back to each other. Patrick nodded. Carmen acknowledged—and then she said, “I’m going in.”
“I’m in too,” Andy said. “If he’s still in there maybe we can bring him back.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Carmen replied. “And no smarty-pants bitch is taking my man.”
“It could work, but—” Pat rubbed his thin goatee. “I have an idea. Choose two beasts and wait until the last minute, then, when you get inside stall him, talk sense into him, do your best to bring the Jerry we know back. I’ll return as soon as I can with help.”
Two humans and two beasts entered the bar: Carmen and Andy, followed by Julio, the best friend of a beast he’d had, and a hairy one named Woolwig, as to lessen the fomenting of his new evil via bad memories. Jerry was at the bar with Kim, although, they weren’t drinking or sitting, they were fuckin’ rockin’.
Carmen’s smooth tan skin, with a hint of olive, flustered and she became her own activated version, not unlike that o
f her man. Kim looked to her, smiling, smiling bigger, then bigger, with both forearms on a stool and her ass as high as it could be bent into the air—Jerry kept his gaze down, locked onto Kim's majestic, and seemingly more voluptuous, nude body.
“Why, Jerry?” Carmen said. Jerry’s head rose up, his expression was sinister and unchanging and he had red eyes. He resembled his old self, save for being as large as the largest beast. There was blood pooling around their feet and he just kept on ramming Kim as if he was trying to kill her—although the more he worked it, the more Kim liked it.
“You’re all next,” Jerry said. “Everyone gets a turn. Ha, ha, ha ha ha, HA!”
It was horrible, just standing there, just waiting for them to finish, and it seemed they never would; they knew time went on forever, here, and were gluttons…no, prisoners to it. Andy pleaded, stirring old memories of camaraderie, times they shared hunting huge, elk-like creatures in the forest outside Midtown—he pointed to a few of their trophies around the bar—and he evoked the other memories: times below, when they’d been there for each other, really, really been there. But Jerry just laughed, and Kim looked back and up at him saying, “Pitiful. Now pump me, big man, is that all you got? Fuck, big boy, FUCK!”
Carmen found it hard to look at him, but dug deep. She recited his vow, and the words only she and he knew, when she’d made her own vow to him in the form of poetry, recently, a virtue of her new mind. Jerry spit and told her to fuck off.
Then the hairy one stepped forward, dutifully. He exposed his eye. It was the first time anyone had ever seen it. The eye was a planet, large and brown, and beautiful, and sad. It spoke worlds and said—
Just then Pat exploded through the double doors.
“Guys, it’s time,” Pat yelled. “Come on, let’s go! Quick, before—”
85. Midtown Unite!
Carmen sent one last stabbing glare to the man she loved, then bolted. Jerry roared as he finished and Kim released a wolf’s full-moon howl.
The ground shook and the front of Marti’s Place exploded like a claymore. Jerry was taller than ever, but, so were the beasts; every brute in town surrounded the building as if Marti’s was center stage in a nightmare’s gladiator pit. At their feet like weeds were the hairy ones, goblins, and swollen, pale-green workers who looked like they’d just popped some pumpers. The living jungle glared at Jerry, and Jerry huffed and returned to each eye alike, his defiance; Jerry’s activating potential was a cold freezer bag shrinking around every hot heart. And the battle began. Jerry leapt fearlessly, followed by Kim, who had transformed into a pinkish-red, fat abomination after having received Jerry’s seed.
Twenty-six minutes earlier…
“As I speak,” Patrick shouted, “Carmen and Andy, and Julio and Woolwig, are going in.” He addressed every citizen. Word of mouth, thanks to the workers and goblins, had brought everyone to the grand steps; the half-circle mountain of steps weaved like cement on acid, only two blocks up the hill from Marti’s. “They’re going to try and talk him down, although, I believe it’s too late for that. You all know Jerry and his power. He has been corrupted and I believe, through him we will see the reemergence of the officers. And then—” Pat lowered his head.
“What, Pat?” someone yelled.
“The system as it was, underworld and all. It’s a cancer and it’s coming back with a vengeance.” Somber cries and grunts fluttered like a plague of burping toads. “But we can’t let that happen. We have to—”
“Stop him!” someone yelled.
“Stop Jerry?” another mocked.
“I don’t know,” Pat replied. “But we can’t go back to the way things were. I’d rather die—and I know each and every one of you would too.”
“There will be death, if need be,” Lion blared. He was closely surrounded by the group from Jewel City. “Pat, may we address the citizens?”
Patrick nodded and stepped aside. Lion and the crew from Jewel City stepped up to the top of the steps.
“We fight,” Lion said. “Every beast, every worker, every human. Now, and this needs to happen fast or things will return to the way they were, and then none can stop it. It’ll be another 500, or 500 million years, even an eternity and there will be nothing anyone can do.”
“How would you know?” blasted a woman three rows down.
“I hadn’t shared in the hell you experienced but I know for damn sure, I do not want to—I want out. I want my freedom!” After mild cheering settled Lion continued, “I experienced a limited mindset in a black and white world, creativity lost, another system of control. If we lose our creativity again, I fear it’ll be gone for good. We’ll all, even my fellow citizens being held, out there, will be at the mercy of this system, forever.” None spoke this time. “Now, I witnessed Jerry’s behavior. To me and many others I’ve talked to, he resembles an officer now, one hopped up on drugs, as if all of the officers, all of their power, had been passed only to him.”
“To spread out, to a new team of officers!”
“Yes, Pat,” Lion said. “And when he’s done spreading his seed we’ll all be forced down, into the underworld.”
“So how can we possibly stop him,” someone yelled out, “if he does have that much power?”
“Look around,” Lion said. “Look the fuck around at each other. Have you forgotten so quickly the new power you possess, each of you.” Louder, as if his voice had become that of a god’s, he said, “Will you fight?” And like thunder had just rained upon them, the crowd roared to life. Then, Madron pushed his way up and through what resembled a hodgepodge sea of living, colorful crust.
Madron nodded to Lion, and Lion stepped aside. “Beasts, we will fight—” His voice, like Lion’s, became stentorian. “—for we inflicted much pain onto the humans.” Madron looked to his right: Pat and Kate, Luke, Roger, Marti…he knew them all. His head fell and shook slowly, then he faced the crowd. His eyes were passion flooded. “When we were finally able to rein in our objectivity, able to see what we had done, we conversed in the caverns. We wanted to pay penance for the pain we caused. This, beasts of Midtown! This! This is how we will make up for it. We will fight for the humans. Now empower yourselves!”
The roaring was the cacophony of Hell itself, thick, changing in the air like a living, floating aura: red for ferocity, orange-yellow for un-fucking-stoppable, and pinks and blues, sorrow, regret for what had occurred, down there, lastly green for go and penance being paid, gladly! Twisting, intertwining, powerful was the aura, a rainbow of power.
Madron raised his muscular red arms. He roared, “We’ll head out. We’ll surround Marti’s Place where this new cancer resides. And we will not give up. Jerry will not escape and we will work together, and we will die if we must. We will contain Jerry at all costs! Now, Lion, I hope you have a plan should we fail, should Jerry’s new power be too great.” Madron’s face displayed confidence, however. He knew Lion and Crisp and a large group of others had been talking, calculating, planning. Lion stepped forward—then a worker name Artemis stepped forward and touched his shoulder.
“May I?” Artemis asked. Lion nodded and again stepped back. He and his friends from Jewel City had Madron’s left: Crisp, Hugh, Joey, Ivy, Kelly and three others, even Jake who was still a bit out of it.
Artemis spoke, “Workers! We too will join the fight. We’ve never been down and could only console the humans amid their pain, but today we will contribute with a might of our own. I ask that every worker contribute, just as Madron so elegantly pronounced. This is also our time to pay our dues. Workers, join me in the fight!” The workers roared, matching equally the beast’s cacophony save for a higher pitch. “Perhaps when this is over we too can find a way out!” Artemis stepped aside with a nod, and Lion stepped forward.
Lion said, “We have discussed many options in a short time, thanks to many a human, beast, and the workers alike.” Lion acknowledged Ivy. “We’ve already talked with Jake and he allowed Ivy, our town optimist and expert psychologist, to hypnot
ize him. We’ve learned about the source, that which Jake, along with Jerry, Kim, Julio, and Baldarn, entered. The session was brief but we believe with more time we can find out exactly what happened up there.
“Right now, Crisp is making modifications to the Griffonizor, refitting it with a fresh set of batteries, as well a new vehicle is ready for travel. The plan is to head back, and along the way learn more about the source before entering it. Hopefully we can use the power up there to our advantage.”
“But it took them four weeks,” Luke said.
“Ivy learned from Jake, the journey up took about a week, and they made many stops for hunting. He told us quite a bit during the short session so we do believe this plan could work. But we must put it into action now, get up there as soon as possible. And we may not even need to make the trip back!”
“Are you saying what I think you're saying?”
“Yes, Pat.”
Then Lion looked at Madron and his eyes said, “NOW!”
Madron took in a world of a breath and exhaled a thunderstorm, then said, “You heard the man. We fight! Surround Marti’s Place, beasts! Let not Jerry and this new plague escape.”
And the beasts roared—and grew. As well the workers. Like never before.
86. Baldarn's Session
Through the night the garage kept busy with preparations, as well the new tailor shop. Hugh and his team of workers fabricated uniforms that would keep the humans warm; outfits for two beasts took the longest. And first thing in the morning, two crafts set out while beasts, workers, and humans alike, were busy containing Jerry; no one slept a wink. As they ascended the mountain road, looking back revealed all-out war—Midtown was ablaze.
