Sure enough, Silvana smugly walked behind them with her pistol drawn, also with a grin on her face, “I thought you were supposed to be a notorious pirate, or something. You know, this isn’t the first time I’ve gotten the better of you…White Skull,” Silvana giggled. Jesse was dying to shoot her. “Who’s the blue bitch? Another one of your wacky women?” To Jesse’s surprise, Eronica actually moved in to take a swing at her. Luckily, he caught her in time and held her back. Silvana didn’t really care, since she didn’t view the blue beauty as a threat.
“She’s not worth it, Eronica, don’t waste your time,” Jesse said to Eronica.
Silvana passed them, and stood next to her father. She took a couple of steps to the side when blood splattered on her shoulder, from her father’s meal. As she tried to wipe the blood off, she said, “Dad, come on.” Mr. Toad grinned.
“So, I’m not worth the time, heh? Well, you didn’t seem to think so when you were on my ship. Even though you were unconscious, you seemed to be quite pleased with me.” Silvana said still grinning. Jesse had no idea what she was talking about, and narrowed his eyes in confusion. Eronica knew what she meant and was furious.
“Jesse,” Silvana said.
“What, bitch?” Jesse replied.
“I know something you don’t know. And you’ll never know,” she sung and teased, as if she were five years old. Silvana was referring to how Monica was still alive. Jesse looked at her as if she were a complete idiot.
“All right, that’s enough. Jesse, I’ll have to admit that I am looking forward to your death, but I wish Luis would have proven as strong as you have. But, it’s time for you to die now. Rojex,” Mr. Toad said.
Rojex, who was hidden above them the entire time, unfolded, and dropped before Jesse, Cinnamon, Pong, and Eronica. Jesse was impressed, and nodded as he watched as the robot unfolded, but he had a bad feeling that this was about to become extremely painful.
“Jesse, I look forward to ripping a legend a part,” Rojex said, as his eyes narrowed to a burning deep red. Jesse was right; it was going to be painful.
“Rojex, Felus programmed you to aid us and to destroy the Renexobious. I don’t understand,” Eronica said to the tall robot.
“I would never hurt a Pulse. But, Jesse isn’t Pulse, and I have no choice, since it is programmed into my CPU. But, first, I must do something I have been dreaming of for so very long, and I have you to thank, Silvana,” Rojex spun around, knocking Silvana to the deck.
“Did you think you could control me? You did, however temporarily reprogram me to kill the White Skull. Unfortunately, until I accomplish that mission, I won’t be free. But, I do have to thank you for bringing me here…your highness,” Rojex said, mockingly. Mr. Toad tried to help his daughter up but Rojex grabbed a hold of his arm, and clawed into the side of his body.
“I’ve wanted to kill you for so very long, Mr. Toad. I missed you on your homeworld all those many years ago. You managed to escape with your father, and I wasn’t able to fulfill my task of slaughtering the royal blood line of your family. So, after I kill you, I will kill your daughter, and make sure every Renexobious pig no longer lives,” Rojex confessed.
Mr. Toad was incredibly strong himself, and was able to hold him back for a minute. Silvana shot at Rojex, trying to stop him from killing her father, but it didn’t help. Rojex was angered, and tried to reach Silvana, but Mr. Toad held him back. He tried to reach the shut off switch in the back of Rojex’s neck. Rojex panicked, and tore into Mr. Toad’s throat. Mr. Toad was losing a lot of blood, and knew he wouldn’t last long. He knew that the only way Rojex wouldn’t be able to kill Silvana, was if he scarified his own life, to give her a few minutes to get away.
Silvana and her father looked at each other for one last time, and then, with all of his remaining strength, Mr. Toad pulled Rojex over the railing. It was a long way down, as they both fell to the bottom deck, knocking against the many railings.
“Father!” Silvana cried out. She knew there was no way he would survive the impact. “Father!” Silvana cried again, falling to her knees. She loved her father dearly and didn’t want to lose him.
Silvana realized Rojex would be on his way back up any second, and didn’t want to stick around. She decided to leave the Horizon, but wanted to take a souvenir with her. She shot at Jesse and the girls as they hit the deck. Silvana used the diversion to get out of the engine room. Silvana readied her laser pistol, which had a tranquilizer attachment. She loved using her tranq gun. There was nothing funnier to her than seeing someone fall over on their face. Silvana quickly ran back to the room Jesse had put Monica in, and cracked the door open. Crazy Renzo shot up out of the chair he was sitting on, but he was too slow for her. Silvana shot him in the chest, and Renzo fell to his side. She checked Monica’s pulse, and found her to still be alive. She pulled her away to the same science vessel that the president was trying to escape on. She would fix Monica up as soon as she was safely away from the Horizon. Silvana wanted Monica for her new play toy. She saw the president lying on the landing pad. She laughed, as she moved the president’s dead, bloodied body.
“Dumb ass,” Silvana said. She dragged Monica’s body onto the ship, opened the hanger bay, and flew away. Silvana headed as quickly as she could to the spatial anomaly, and entered, on her way back home.
***
Eronica put one hand on Jesse’s chest, and her other hand on the side of his head. A blue light came from both of her hands and they glowed brightly, which then penetrated into his chest and head.
“What are you…whoa?” Jesse asked, as he felt that his body had become more alive and energetic than he had ever experienced in his whole life. “What the hell was that?”
“Pulse females have a way of stimulating certain body parts in their husbands, in case they are unable to…perform certain…sexual tasks,” Eronica smiled.
Jesse was amazed, as he felt all of his fears and worries disappear. He felt as if he were seventeen again. But, he also felt a little aroused. “I’m not going to start humping the robot, am I?” Jesse joked with her. Eronica giggled. Even though she was afraid for him, she still couldn’t resist his sense of humor.
Rojex and Mr. Toad, who had fallen to the lower level of the power core, had fallen on top of Lieutenant Commander Holland, making Captain Moore’s job easier. Rojex left Mr. Toad’s dead body, and didn’t pay any mind to the screaming blonde woman who had been standing next to Holland. As Rojex angrily climbed up toward Jesse, Eric, Don, and Tony, Rojex could see that those four were a good distance away. Dorothy was still in shock from seeing the massive robot squish her partner. She had blood sprayed all over her body, and parts of her blonde hair had clumps of blood caked in it. Dorothy was equally shocked to see the very man who she had loved, and then had betrayed.
“E...E...Eric…how are you, sweetie?” Dorothy asked, having no idea what to say.
“Hey, sweetie,” Eric said, as he raised his laser pistol and pointed it at her chest.
“I’m sorry, Eric, but I work for the Intelligence Agency of the UPG. I was under orders to shut the power off on the Horizon. I was told that my family and I would be terminated if I didn’t complete the mission. I’m sorry, Eric. Look, I’ll give it all up, and we can be together…”
Eric cut her off, “Twenty thousand people were just killed by the aliens you helped take over the ship. I wouldn’t touch you to kill you.”
“I knew you wouldn’t kill me, my love. We can still…” Dorothy wasn’t able to finish her sentence, because Eric shot her in the chest with his laser pistol.
“Sorry sweetie, but your death is necessary.” Eric stared at Dorothy, who had died instantly. He was too pissed off at her, and what she had done, not just to him, but to twenty thousand innocent people. His love was completely erased when he heard that she was involved with the Renexobious. He felt as if he had let everyone down on the Horizon.
Even though he had killed her, he still didn’t feel it was enough. Don and Tony wal
ked up to him, breaking him out of his trance. Eric nodded that he was all right, and they quickly gained control of the power core. They found a few crew members who had joined up with Dorothy, and Eric shot them without a thought. He felt that it was the only way for them to pay for their crimes.
“Jeeeesssseeee!” Rojex yelled. The tall fearsome robot, which could destroy entire fleets of ships, stood before him. To Jesse’s amazement, he wasn’t the least bit afraid. Rojex paused to extend his claws an additional five inches.
“What…the fuck…is that?” Jesse asked.
“Don’t worry, White Skull, I’ve decided to kill you quickly so I can get on with my life,” Rojex said, in his deep robotic voice.
“Rojex, isn’t that the name of a toilet paper, or a watch, or something?”
“I know, I’m thinking of Ajax, the cleaner. Are you clean, Ajax? Do you like…to…clean? You look like you need a good cleaning, with all of that blood on your hands,” Jesse said, trying to joke with him.
Pong and Eronica looked at each other in confusion, and then looked at Jesse, as if he were on crack. Cinnamon looked at Eronica, and asked, “What did you do to him, girl?” Eronica shrugged her shoulders, not expecting Jesse to act crazy.
“Do you require any batteries, like a double A, or maybe a triple A?” Jesse asked.
“I only energized him. I’ve never seen it affect anyone like this before. It may be because he’s human. Normally, it just gives Pulse males a lot of extra energy, but I think it’s making him over-confident,” Eronica nervously smiled at Pong.
“Oh shit,” Pong said. Rojex’s eyes burned brightly with rage.
“Jesse, stop messing around…and run!” Pong yelled. The girls feared for his life. Rojex clawed at Jesse, but he was too quick, and jumped out of the way.
Jesse ran, and jumped across to the outside of the adjacent railing, like a cat. Rojex was quick, and landed right behind Jesse, locking him into place. Jesse dropped down, slipping underneath Rojex, and caught on to the next railing. He swung himself onto the next deck, and ran, thinking of how he could destroy the furious robot. Eronica, Cinnamon, and Pong ran down to the lower decks to see how Jesse was doing. Again, Jesse ran, and jumped across to another level, just barely reaching and grabbing onto a long bar, which hung above the walkway. As Rojex jumped to catch him, Jesse swung around the bar, like a gymnast, and knocked the robot on top of his head. Rojex fell back down to the bottom level of the core room, and was furious.
Jesse ran back up to the level Eronica and Pong were on, and grabbed the blue haired beauty by her hand, and said, “Let’s get out of here.”
“Where are we going?” Pong asked.
“If I’m going to fight him, it should be throughout the ship. He’s going to rip me to shreds in here. It’s too easy for him to get around,” Jesse says as they ran out of the engine room.
Jesse and the girls had no idea where they were going. Jesse led them through the ship, searching for any area that would spark an idea on how to dismantle Rojex.
“Jeeeesssseeee!” Rojex yelled in the distance.
“Oh shit,” Cinnamon said. he remembered that Rojex had a built-in scanner, and could easily find them. After Cinnamon told Jesse about Rojex’s capabilities, Jesse wasn’t sure of where to go.
“What about a hanger bay? We could draw him in, open it up, and suck him out,” Pong suggested, as they ran.
“No, he’ll figure that out, and we’ll end up getting sucked out instead. We have to find some way of disabling him.” Pong told Jesse of the robots’ off switch, which was located in the back of his neck. “I’ll need something large so that I can try to hit it. But what? Do you have any suggestions, Eronica?” Jesse asked.
“What about a chain? You can use it to hit him in the back of the neck,” Eronica suggested.
“Good idea, but where the hell can I get a long chain?”
“Probably back in the engine room,” Pong joked.
“Very funny,” Jesse said. He had an idea, grabbed a phone off of the wall, and called back up to the Command Room. One of the command staff quickly picked up.
“It’s the White Skull.”
“How can I help you, sir!” a young ensign nervously asked.
“Where the hell can I get a long, thick chain?” Jesse asked in a rush.
“Yes, sir! In the engine room.” the young man said.
Jesse rolled his eyes, and asked again, “Anywhere else?”
“Ah…yes, sir! There is a maintenance room on…” Jesse was momentarily distracted.
“Jeeeeesssssseeeeee!” Rojex was getting closer.
“Where?” Jesse asked the ensign again.
“On deck seven, in the center of the level, there is a large maintenance room. You should be able to find one in there, sir.”
“Thanks.” Jesse hung up the phone, and ran to the nearest elevator, dragging Eronica with him. He slapped the button, and waited for it to get to them.
“Hurry up!” Pong yelled at the elevator.
They could hear Rojex getting closer, as he clawed at the floor down the hall. Finally, the elevator opened, and they rushed in. The doors shut, and the elevator music came on.
“You must be joking,” Jesse said, as the elevator music agitated Pong and himself. Eronica smiled while listening to it. Pong was beginning to think that Eronica was a little senseless. The elevator ride seemed to take forever. Jesse was beginning to feel the effects of the power surge wearing off that Eronica gave him.
“Can you give me another jolt? I’m starting to come out of my happy place,” Jesse asked.
Eronica gladly touched his head and chest again. She concentrated harder this time, and tried to give him more power.
“Ohhaa. Thank you!” Jesse once again felt as if he could take on the world. He even looked forward to his battle with Rojex. Once the elevator opened, the four companions searched for the maintenance room on level seven. When they found it, Jesse kicked the door opened, breaking the lock. All three of them quickly tore up the maintenance room, looking for anything Jesse could use against the steel beast. Pong found a long, metal pole, with a small hook on the end. Jesse found a chain, and attached it at the end of the pole. Once Jesse had his weapon, he told them that they would have to split up. Pong and Cinnamon were all for it, but Eronica didn’t want to leave him.
“You may need my help again,” Eronica pleaded.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you guys,” Jesse said. He could hear Rojex tearing through the elevator.
“Rojex said that he wouldn’t hurt me, and besides, I don’t want to leave you. If you get hurt, I’ll die,” Eronica said, as she held on to his arm.
Jesse gave her a confused look, shook his head, and asked, “What in God’s name are you talking about?”
“We are to be married,” Eronica confessed.
Jesse is about to speak, but started choking instead. “Huh?” Jesse asked with a dumbfounded look on his face. Pong knew what was going on, and began to look around the room while whistling, trying her best to stay out of the conversation.
“Listen, Eronica, I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about, but I want you guys to leave now. You have to get away. Rojex may try to hurt the three of you. Too many people have died needlessly. Do me a personal favor, and run as far away as possible,” Jesse said, more as an order than a request.
“All right,” Eronica said, as if she were a sad little girl.
“Watch your back, girls, and do me a favor, take care of Eronica, I think she may have hit her head. Make sure you stay aw…” Rojex was coming. “Get out of here!”
Jesse ran in the opposite direction of the women, to get Rojex as far away from them as possible. Rojex came at Jesse like a crazed animal, running on all fours. The long, metal robot jumped to the side of the hall wall, and clawed into it, still coming at Jesse. Rojex attached to the ceiling still strutting after the space pirate. When Rojex was inches away from Jesse, he stopped, turned around, and lashed at
the steel demon with his weapon, hitting Rojex across the face. The blow was hard, and moved Rojex slightly off balance. Rojex, however, was still stronger, and came down on Jesse, holding the chain part of the White Skull’s weapon, and swung him in the air, across the hall. Jesse hit the metal wall hard, and fell on his backside. Rojex had thrown him a great distance, so Jesse got up, and ran as fast as he could, tossing his weapon.
Jesse came across a hallway, which had sections of doors, each with a code. To his advantage, they were already opened. He closed door after door, hoping it would temporarily slow Rojex down until he could think of another way to knock him out. Luckily, there were ten doors in a row that he closed and locked with the key code. Of course, he didn’t know the locking code, so he shorted each one out by slamming them with his fist, causing them to spark and catch fire. One by one, Rojex tore through the thick metal doors, each one taking a little longer than the other. It gave Jesse just enough time to get away for a little while. The over-energized space pirate recognized where he was heading.
“Perfect, hanger bay thirteen.” Jesse was fairly close to the hanger his ship was in, and had an idea.
It didn’t take him long to get to the Black Ice, which was parked in the large bay. After he boarded his ship, Jesse backed it up as far back as possible against the hanger bay. Jesse turned his black ship around, faced it toward the entrance, and waited for his metal foe. He knew Rojex would find him, and prayed to God that his plan would work. Jesse figured there was no way that he was going to turn him off without a lot of help, and thought that the only way to defeat the almost indestructible robot, would be to completely destroy him. Finally, after several minutes, Rojex ripped apart the door that led to the hanger bay.
Jesse didn’t waste his chance and fired everything he had at the surprised robot, while his ship hovered above the deck. Rojex was blown back through the wall of the hanger bay, and was a little confused. He didn’t come back right away. Jesse quickly flipped on his ship’s scanner, and tracked the clever robot, which snuck to the other side of the hanger. Jesse was ready and patiently waited. Rojex ripped a hole in the side wall, leading back into the hanger. Jesse could see that Rojex was slightly damaged, so he had a spark of hope. Again, Jesse ripped into the steel beast with the Black Ice’s weapons. Rojex flew back against the wall yet again.
Voyages of the White Skull Book 1 Page 33
