LEGACY OF THE BLAZERS - CHAPTER THREE (Patreon)

CHAPTER THREE – WE BE BURNIN’

Lux was stirred from the brink of death by an ear-piercing scream, and opened her eyes to a world of ashes. Smoke filled the sky, slowly suffocating the clouds with an army of embers, and her skin burned. She wasn’t on fire, but the ground beneath her was scorching, and when she tried clambering to her feet, she slipped on a pool of her own blood.

The impact sent a blinding pain ripping through her body, and she gritted her teeth until the tremors passed. Once she was able to move, she touched the gash on her belly, then raised her hand to her heart—both had been wounded by the Panty Mafia, and even though revenge wouldn’t heal either of them, she’d still kill every bastard involved.

“Blowhole,” she seethed. “Blow…whole…”

Her fingernails dug deep into the gravel as, once again, she pushed to her feet. This time, no matter how much her body protested, she wasn’t going to fall. She needed to soak in the damages they’d taken. Needed to soak in her failure. What she saw was a world ablaze—the complete and utter destruction of everything Jess had worked so hard to build.

There wasn’t a single building which wasn’t burning, and the streets ran red with blood from the mangled corpses of everyone she’d ever loved. Familiar faces. Not so familiar faces. Blazers. That was all that mattered. They were Blazers, and they were dead because of that. If only I had my wolves, I’d…

Doubt trampled that thought into the ground. The wolves hadn’t been especially helpful a few minutes ago, had they? Blowhole had blunts and panties on his side. She had nothing. Compared to him, she’d been nothing. Her legs shook as that ambitious rage from moments ago was stifled by the reality of the situation. They weren’t losing, they’d already lost, their last glimmer of hope being stolen with her Eternal Strain…

Another scream rang out, this one further than the first, and Lux clenched her fists.

No matter what kind of shit hand you’re dealt, you play until you’re out of cards, Jess had once told her. And you’re never out of cards so long as you’re breathing. ‘Cuz your final card? It’s up here, in your mind. Never forget that. If you do, you’ve lost your last card.

Lux wanted to believe those words, goddammit she did, but Jess was just different. She made everything seem so easy.

She was fearless, but when Lux had tried being fearless?

This happened.

Another scream, this time from the same person. It was familiar…

No…

Throwing commonsense to the wayside, not caring about the searing pain in her gut, she charged forward, hurrying through the cramped alleyways and ducking down when needed to avoid being licked by any flames. She passed houses she’d eaten dinner at, bars and arcades she’d hung out at, and kept her eyes aimed to the sky, knowing if she saw one more body tears were likely to come.

Gunshots punctuated the air.

Fuck.

Screams punctuated the air.

Fuck.

And then? Silence.

Fuck…

She’d narrowed the battle down to a dingy building which was seemingly unimportant, but in actuality very important—Skullcrusher used it to store his weed, and the Blazers kept this tradition going. Burning it was just stupid enough that it made sense for the Panty Mafia to do it, and the fumes leaking off it were vicious. You’d think it’d be a pleasure, but it was a nightmare. Lux felt like she was gonna hurl.

Tegan’s never toked a blunt in her life. Could she even SURVIVE in there…?

And those gunshots…

Ready for the fight of her friggin’ life, she lowered her shoulder and barreled through the door, cracking it clean in half. While she didn’t know what she’d expected to see, it definitely wasn’t Tegan sitting on the floor, giggling like a madwoman as she stabbed a knife into the head of a stuffed hamster again, and again, and again.

“Tegan,” she said, crouching down. “Tegan?”

Her eyes widened, and she purred obnoxiously as she looked up and down Lux’s body. “Daaaaaamn Lux,” she said. “You so cute—how’d I never notice you so cute? You’re stinkin’ fiiiiine and I’d drink you like wiiiiiine.”

No time for patience, she slapped her friend hard across the cheek, hoping to sober her up. “Look. It’s your first time, and I get it’s special. But we don’t have time to sit here giggling like idiots. Can you walk? Because we need to RUN.”

In response to this, Tegan pressed her hands against her cheeks and made a fart noise before giggling and falling onto her back. Needless to say, the slap was ineffective. “Luxy—can I call you Luxy? I want to call you Luxy. There’s a giant pussy behind you. Ha, ha ha!”

Luxy wanted to call her dumbass, but the truth in her words was immediately revealed—a hiss came from behind her, and a leap sideways saved her from a set of razor sharp claws which would have sliced her into filets. Nowhere near fighting condition, this sudden movement turned her legs to jelly and sent her stumbling butt-first onto the stuffed corpse Tegan had left behind.

An imposing stuffed cougar loomed over them, claws stained with blood and lipstick splattered lips curled into a smirk. She towered seven feet from the ground and was ripped to high hell, veins bulging out her arms, legs, and especially her neck. If you looked up steroid junky in the dictionary—not that dictionaries are common in Panty’s Landing—you’d probably find a picture of her.

“Aw, stragglers? It’s so adorable to find some of you alive!” she said in a bubbly, almost motherly voice. “Don’t worry—I’ll slice your wittle, ittle heads off and save you the embarrassment of continuing to live, okay?”

Because of the weed, Lux was seeing triplets. Thankfully it dulled the pain in her gut, but not enough to make her confident, and Tegan’s inability to quit giggling was really giving her a headache. She needed a plan, and fast, because if she died here, then Blowhole would win, and she couldn’t have that.

“You’re laughing? That’s perfect. Enjoy your deaths! You both deserve it!”

This bitch is mocking us…

But what could they do…?

Run, Lux thought. That’s ALL we can do…

Knowing Jess would be ashamed, and knowing her body would call her a bitch for pushing it to such limits, she jumped to her feet, seized Tegan’s hand, and dragged her out the back of the building.

“Fleeing will only get you punished, dearies, so I suggest you don’t.”

Outrunning her would be impossible, but hiding from her? If they could reach the pot fields, which weren’t more than a stone’s throw away, they could manage that—so long as Tegan stopped her goddamn giggling! The cougar was already closing in, just missing them as they rounded each corner, snarling like she had friggin’ rabies.

Seeing the fields soothed Lux immediately, for she’d probably spent more time here than in her home and knew ‘em like the back of her hand. Plus, they weren’t burning, which was a welcome sight, and so she crouched low and slid between two plants, keeping her hand over Tegan’s mouth to stifle any unwanted giggles.

They moved briskly, twigs cracking underneath their feet as they ducked and dodged the various stuffed animals who roamed the place, searching for survivors. Her heart ka’thunked in her chest, and her fingers shook endlessly. Every time she heard a grunt or growl from the cougar she was certain they were dead.

But, somehow, maybe through pure dumb luck, they escaped the fields unscathed, stumbling out onto the dirt road before hurrying down it. At the end, by the old signpost, was an inconspicuous bush that, if they were lucky, the Panty Mafia hadn’t noticed—beneath it was a crawlspace which led into the sewer system, something the Blazers had relied on to sneak to various parts of Panty’s Landing.

She’d gone through it more than a dozen times to see Cy, and it was awful. The whole place reeked, and she’d have to smoke three blunt just to get that garbage-y stench off her. For once, however, she welcomed that stench. Removing the plant and catching a huge whiff of it assured her that they were safe.

Tegan, who hadn’t come close to sobering up, lumbered down the awkward and clunky ladder as Lux stood there, soaking in the view of her burning home one last time. She didn’t know if she’d ever return here, and even if she did, it’d be changed forever. The Blazers, no matter how many of them had survived, were done.

“Blowhole,” she hissed. “I don’t know where you are, or what you’re doing, but you celebrate. You drink, and you smoke, and you fuck those babes of yours. Enjoy your life, because once I’m healed up, I’m coming for you, and Blazers, we never give up, not until we’ve breathed our last breaths.”

She wanted to say more, to spew venom so toxic that a chill would tickle his heart, and he’d wonder who was cursing him—but she didn’t have the energy, nor the time. She followed Tegan down the ladder, making sure to cover the entrance carefully, and both girls made it barely five steps before exhaustion overcame them. Collapsing against the wall, they both embraced a slumber they’d earned, a slumber deeper than any they’d had before.

And when Lux finally awoke, Sam stood over her, the same meathead she’d pummeled into the ground just a few hours earlier for insulting her pancake ass. But she barely minded him, because standing next to him, hair slicked back, leather jacket with the spiked shoulders on, was someone she never imagined she’d see here.

Someone she loved dearly.

Cy.

END OF CHAPTER THREE