Black Light: The Deplorable Savior

by Rich Richardson

  Bang

  Chapter 30 - Scott Vale

  “Jack, I need you to look at me.”

  “I didn’t mean to.”

  “I know you didn’t mean to hurt her, but we have to keep moving. We need to be strong right now, ok? Do you understand?”

  He nodded, but his body was still shaking.

  I opened the hatch and we climbed inside, after taking Jane and Dale’s weapons. It was a bit of a shock to go from the well-lit rave into the pitch black room, but once we shut the hatch we saw that there was a light in the center. Under a red spotlight was a man, suspended from the ceiling. Metal covered half of his body. He had tubes and wires coming out of his back, but many had been torn out and stretched in different directions, making it look as if he was trapped in a horrific spider web.

  “Is he dead?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Jack stepped forward and reached out to the creature to check its pulse, but as soon as he touched the monstrosity it raised its head, making us both jump back.

  “Help… me.” When he spoke, I noticed the speaker where his jaw should have been. It added a whole new level of disgust to the… thing. Calling it human would have been a stretch.

  “We came here looking for a man named Nearly. Do you know him?”

  “I… am Nearly.”

  “What? Vera sent us to check on a robot?”

  “Vera?” it said, responding to her name.

  “Vera is the woman who sent us here to find you.”

  “Vera… My lights…” He didn’t say anything helpful after that, just repeated those words over and over again. We cut him down, and after seeing his back and the ports where the tubing was supposed to attach, we did our best to reassemble him.

  We draped his arms over both our shoulders to carry him out of the attic. He was a lot heavier than he looked. “What do we do now, Vale?”

  “We’ll take him out the back door. The crowd shouldn’t be as thick there.”

  As we carried Nearly down the stairs, his metal leg rattled and clanked, making me worry that we’d be discovered. Halfway down the stairs to the main hall, I signaled to Jack, making him halt. I’d just seen something move.

  “Is someone there?” I called out.

  At first, they didn’t answer, but eventually a voice came. “Is that you, Scott?”

  “Fox?”

  He came out from behind a corner and ran up the stairs. “I can’t believe you’re alive! We all thought you were… what the fuck is that?”

  “His name is Nearly. It’s a long story. Help us get him down the stairs.”

  Fox carried Nearly’s legs, making it easier for us to move quietly, but it still took some time for us to move him.

  “How did you guys get in here?”

  “The hover packs. You?”

  “I’ve been hiding here for days, waiting for Byrd to be alone, so I can kill that bastard.”

  “Who’s Byrd?” asked Jack.

  “He’s the creep who’s running this district now, but he calls himself the King in Lights. The whole place went to shit after you and Tex left, Scott. Byrd got the other 80’s on his side. He drugged some of them and convinced the rest that the Men of the Temple were evil; then drugged them. Now, they do whatever he says.”

  “How did you escape?”

  “Elka and I refused to join up and were smart enough not to hang around. We knew this place was going to hell and we were long gone by the time that dog-thing showed up, and Byrd used it to set off the riots. We were living in a building that wasn’t completely destroyed, searching through abandoned houses for food and supplies, but Elka had a breakdown. She started using the drugs Byrd gives to the people at his parties; said she couldn’t live like a cockroach anymore and she needed help dealing with it. A few days later, she came back here to get more drugs and now Byrd has her.”

  “We’ll find her, but first we need to get an escape plan.”

  “I already found her. She was lying in his bed, high off her ass with a bunch of his drugged whores.” Tears welled up in Fox’s eyes. “She’s as good as dead, so I'm going to kill him.”

  “You should come with us. Tex and I have been over in the Gray District, helping the people there. We could use you.”

  “If I make it out of this alive, I’ll see you there.”

  He walked off, undeterred from his original plan.

  Jack and I carried Nearly to the back door, but we found it to be almost impassable. The streets were crammed with both ravers and a hazy fog that made it hard to see more than twenty feet.

  “That crowd is just as dense as in the front.”

  “We’ll have to risk it.” The doors were locked, but from the inside. I turned the latch and cracked them open, only to collapse immediately.

  “Vale? Are you ok?” Jack had rushed to my side after letting Nearly drop to the ground.

  All I could manage to utter was “Fog… vapor.”

  “What is it?”

  “There’s vapor in the fog.”I struggled to get up and relocked the door. There was no way we could get out that way.

  As I looked out the doors, I saw the billboards overhead. Byrd’s helmet covered face stared down at me from a thousand different directions. I have never felt so small as I did at that exact moment, watching him watch me.

  “You ok?”

  “Yeah… Just fine.” I turned around and didn’t look back outside.

  “What do we do now?”

  “I’ll figure something out, just make sure Nearly is ok.”

  “Nearly? We can’t worry about him right now. We’ll be lucky if we make it out ourselves.”

  “Just shut up and do it.”

  Jack reluctantly went back to Nearly’s side, but the cyborg did nothing but mumble, “My lights… Vera… my lights…”

  I collected my thoughts and found myself suddenly filled with energy. I ran between the rooms as fast as I could, both to try and find an escape route, and because I was unable to stand still. My whole body was buzzing.

  And then, when I was almost done searching, an angel descended from on high to guide me.

  Yeah, the vapor was really starting to kick in.

  “Scott,” he said to me, his ivory skin and piercing blue eyes shining. “Go to the lobby and break through the floor under the iron statue. You will find a tunnel to lead you out, but must close it after you go.”

  “What the fuck is happening?”

  “Do as I say if you want to live. Go through the tunnel and then seal it. Understand?”

  He disappeared as soon as I nodded back to him.

  I sprinted back to the lobby as fast as my legs would carry me and finally found what I was looking for.

  “Hey, where are you going?” Jack yelled. “I could use some help.” He dragged Nearly with him as he followed me, struggling with his injured shoulder.

  “Well, what do you know.”

  There was a tall but very thin iron statue sitting next to one of the pews in the main hall. In one motion I picked it up, lifted it over my head and brought it down, cracking the floor under it.

  I began hitting the stone floor over and over until a tunnel was revealed.

  “Oh, shit.”

  “Yeah, I can’t believe there was something actually here. I thought I was just tripping.”

  Our amazement was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. Jack quickly jumped inside the tunnel and I lowered Nearly down to him.

  “Which way should we go?”

  “This way, I guess,” I said, as I pointed to the end of the tunnel that I thought was in the direction of the Gray District.

  Even though I wanted to get the fuck out of there, I almost turned around. Just before we left, over the gunfire and electronic music, I heard Fox screaming in the distance. Over and over he repeated the phrase. “Come and get me!” Until he, and the gunfire, suddenly stopped...

  Chapter 31 - Thomas Byrd

  A touch of magic and a whole lot of love. These were t
he new ingredients to my specially made vapor, and the people just loved it.

  As I crossed my special bridge, they called out and cheered. All those eyes were pointed right at me. All the attention and praise was for me. That was my drug. Power and attention were my vapor.

  “They’ve captured more Truands and want to show them to you,” Turner told me.

  “Looks like it’s show time.”

  The extra lights and pieces attached to my armor added about ten more pounds, but the extra carry weight was worth it. A king always needed to look fabulous.

  I stood up from my throne, on the building across the street from the Temple. I’d set it there just so I could have an excuse to build my walkway, where the entire crowd could worship me from below. They just couldn’t stop applauding as I made my way down closer to their level. Those stairs were hell on my ankles, but I could handle some pain if it meant that I got to watch those drugged chimps kill each other at the prospect of being able to lick my boots.

  Several burly men held five young Sapiens hostage. The poor things were scared out of their minds.

  I motioned for the dj to turn down the music and addressed my adoring public.

  “These men and women will turn into monsters soon enough. Do you want them to live?”

  “No!”

  “Should we spare them?”

  No!”

  “Who’s the greatest?”

  “The King in Lights!”

  Manipulating them was so easy. Taking advantage of their hatred of the Truands was a stroke of genius. I knew getting them to turn on the Men of the Temple would be the difficult part, but that attack by the dog creature created the opportunity I needed. It was almost like it was planned, just for me. I had everything I had ever wanted, and I got it by stepping on the necks of the people I hated most. It was easy. So easy, in fact, that it was boring.

  “Alright. Do as you will,” I told them, starting to lose interest.

  I didn’t bother watching what happened next. Why would I want to witness something so barbaric? I took no pleasure in death, but there was this addicting satisfaction to be had by getting others to give into their more… carnal urges.

  “How goes the enslavement, Byrd?”

  “Why are you calling me?” I asked, using the radio in my helmet.

  “There’s been a break-in at the Temple. You should come see this.”

  “Can’t you handle it on your own?”

  “I could, but I thought you might like to know that Frollo’s son has been stolen.”

  “Why would anyone want him?”

  “How should I know? Just get over here.”

  Before I left to see Durango, I made another call. “Turner, turn off the gas. I want them to keep craving me long after I’m gone.”

  “Yes, my King.”

  What a loyal little boy he was.

  On my way across the bridge, I stopped to look out over my subjects, and I recited a verse I had heard as a child in the Gray District; one that had defined my life:

  O daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,

  Blessed is he who repays you,

  According to what you have done to us.

  Blessed is he who seizes your infants,

  And dashes them against the rocks.

  Once I crossed back over the bridge, I took the elevator from the roof down to the lobby and found Durango along with a few other 80’s gathered in the main hall. “Who the hell knocked a hole in my perfectly good floor?”

  “It was the thieves. This must be how they made their escape.”

  “Did they take anything else?”

  “Not that I’ve seen. We think they came in through the roof. We’re going to search there next, and then sweep the whole building. Oh, and Fox came back.”

  “What did he want?”

  “Apparently, to kill you.”

  “Did you deal with him?”

  “The other 80’s did, but he took a few down with him.”

  “Excellent. That takes care of yet another loose end. Keep investigating.”

  “I think you owe me a bonus for this.”

  Durango was one of the few 80’s who had adamantly refused vapor, but this had turned out to be a blessing; he was the only servant I had with any brains left.

  “You want money? I have stacks of it in the basement, next to the electronics and truckload of jewelry. If you want a girls or servants, I’ve got them lining up by the boatload. Take what you want.”

  Durango went back to work as I walked away, stripping some of the extra lights and flare from my armor. Not the mohawk, of course. That was my favorite piece.

  I went over to the glass front doors, and the people outside started smothering one another to be close to me. I gave a big smile to the girl who clubbed her friend so she could take her spot by the door. Their devotion was so beautiful.

  “They really are loyal,” said Elka.

  “Yes. Yes they are.” I had created a perfect little flock of sheep who would do absolutely anything for me. However, it grew more boring by the minute. There was no politics or argument. There were no great battles or struggles for power, and there was nowhere near enough bloodshed; just drugged chimps.

  I looked back and asked her. “Do you need something?”

  “I have information. I think it might be important.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s about the Gray District. There is a new faction rising there. These men have been beating up our distributors, and are, apparently, very well trained.”

  “Do you know anything else?”

  “Just that they identify each other by the black jackets they wear. It’s their signature.”

  A new faction rising from the Gray District, fighting dealers and training soldiers? One particular name came to mind. I’d left him bleeding in Frollo’s office, but his body had disappeared when Tex did. Perhaps Scott was alive after all.

  “Do you think it’s nice there?” said Elka.

  “What?”

  “I just… Everything here is so loud and… the people… and the killing…”

  “Shh, sweetie. Calm down.”

  I took off both her helmet and mine, and ran my hand down her cheek. Her eyes had just the slightest pink tint to them. “Things here are exactly how they should be.”

  “But you’re…”

  “Stop. I think maybe you should go take your medicine.”

  “No,” she stated to me.

  “But don’t you remember what it’s like? Do you remember the euphoria? Being able to unlock parts of your mind you’ve never used before? Seeing colors you've never witnessed? Sounds you've never heard?”

  Her skin began to tingle and her breath caught in her throat. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small vial.

  “Let me,” I said, taking it from her. She shed her armor of her own accord, but tensed up when I tried to unzip the back of her jumpsuit.

  “Don’t you trust me?”

  Her tension didn’t lesson. Fortunately for me, I had a hidden feature installed in my armor. I loaded the vial into a slot in my forearm and ran my fingers against her once again. With the press of a button, a hidden needle shot from my index finger, sending a full dosage of vapor directly into her veins.

  She looked as if she was about to scream, but stopped short. Instead, as the pink glow to her eyes grew brighter, she whispered as if post-orgasm, “It’s amazing.”

  “Do you trust me now?”

  “Of course, my king. I would do anything for you.”

  I looked behind her and saw that the other 80’s had joined her in taking their dosage. All except Durango, who had disappeared.

  The rest of them ran through the lecture halls, tearing down curtains and works of art.

  “Who do you love?” I asked her.

  “You and only you.”

  I tore off the last off her clothing, and she screamed with arousal as I pressed her bare chest against the glass.

  “Who is as g
ood as me?”

  “No one even comes close,” she told me, as I ripped off my clothing. “No one compares to you. No one is as strong, or as bold, or as amazing. I never want to have any other man inside me.”

  “Turner! Get the fuck over here!” I shouted, as I fucked her against the glass.

  “Yes sir?” asked the bitch, twitching with energy.

  “Take off your helmet and get on your knees.”

  He did it without question or pause. He did exactly what I said, revealing his glowing green eyes.

  As I kept fucking Elka, I smacked him across the face.

  “Who’s the greatest?”

  “You are!”

  I smacked him again, hard enough to knock him to the floor and turn the back of my hand red. All the while, the rest of the 80’s screamed and ran and swung from the rafters as their medicine took hold.

  “Who do you love?”

  “You and only you!”

  “Who owns this pussy?” I screamed at Elka.

  “You, my King! You own every part of me!”

  “Turner, who owns your ass?” I screamed at him as he tried to pick himself up off the floor.

  “You, my King! You own me!”

  “Who do you love?” I screamed to the crowd as they clawed at the glass doors until their fingers bled, just for the chance to touch me.

  “The King in Lights!”

  “Fucking right you do!”

  Chapter 32 - Paige Wilson

  They were tearing each other apart. In between the dancing and the screaming, I saw people taking bites out of each other and bashing their own heads into the concrete. It was sickening.

  “Well, Madam President, how are you going to handle this?”

  “With a strong and concentrated effort by Jamestown’s police force, spearheaded by myself and the chief of police,” I said, still looking at the Sunset District from the rooftop. “Together, we will put an end to the chaos that has broken out, and restore order.”