LEGACY OF THE BLAZERS - CHAPTER SEVEN (Patreon)

CHAPTER SEVEN

…And made good on her promise.

One punch utterly decimated the rat bastard’s face, caving his nose in and splattering blood. His legs crumpled as his body gave out, understanding the gap between them—but she caught him by the throat, squeezing it tight enough to push the spit out of his mouth. He didn’t protest because he couldn’t. His arms hung limply at his sides.

“Ouch. Looks like your face is a little fucked up, dude,” she said. “Your brain’s probably a bit scrambled, too. I bet it’s trying to tell you all kinds of crazy stuff, right? Probably making you think there’s some way to escape, or trick me, or maybe even bribe me?”

She wrapped both hands around his throat. If she tightened her grip even the slightest bit she’d pop his friggin’ eyes out his skull.

“But let me assure you, Cheese, you’re fucked,” she said. “The fight’s over, yeah. But the massacre has just begun.”

He muttered some guttural response, one last insult, and let the still-burning blunt fall from his lips. The wolves vanished, but Lux didn’t notice—he’d said Jess’ name, so she threw another punch without hesitation. This one smashed his jaw to dust, chunks of broken teeth filling the waterfall of blood oozing out his mouth. “How DARE you say her name!”

Unaware of where he was, or honestly what was even going on, the rat stumbled backward before falling butt-first onto the pile of rotten fruit. You could just imagine the birdies flying over his head, and Lux wanted to destroy them too. She drove forward, ramming her knee into his skull and sending him rolling down to the bottom of the pile. He lay there, lifeless aside from his body’s reactionary twitching.

But it wasn’t enough.

It just wasn’t enough.

Lux slid down the pile. The world around her had ceased to exist, everything—the blunt, the wolves, Cy—just a vague memory. She needed to get them back. This wasn’t about Cheese, wasn’t a personal conquest because of the scar he’d left on her gut. No, this was a message to Blowhole’s entire crew, and wherever that stinkin’ whale was, she hoped he was shuddering with each blow.

Something momentous is happening here, and you don’t even know it.

But you will.

“Lux,” a voice called. “Stop…”

She didn’t respond; she was in another world.

“Lux…he’s finished!”

Not if he’s still breathing.

She glared at the pathetic pile of fur. This had been a general in Blowhole’s army? This sniveling rodent who was curled into a ball, gnawing his tail, and mumbling to himself? How embarrassing.

“You hangin’ in there, Cheese?”

“Mama…mama…”

“Talk to me, buddy. How’s it feel?”

“Please…mama…”

“How’s it feel to be utterly helpless?”

“Me don’t…deserve…this…mama…”

Lux, not in the mood to hear anymore of his pleading, stamped her foot onto his tail, crunching his bones. As he squealed, using the last bit of his energy to claw at her legs and try freeing himself, she crouched down and glared at him. “Sucks when death calls to you, doesn’t it? Trust me, I know that feeling. Except it was worse for me—I had people who loved me, who relied on me. You? You’re nothing. Just another cog on the wheel.”

“P-p-please…”

“Me…help…you…”

Lux couldn’t help but laugh at that, dragging her foot back and forth, grinding his skin against the concrete beneath them, eliciting more squeals. “You’re pathetic.”

“Me…pathetic,” he said. “Show…mercy…”

She stood back up. “I’ll show you the same mercy you showed the Blazers.”

He continued to beg, but she raised her foot and silenced him by bringing it down on the back of his head, killing him instantly. But. That. Wasn’t. Enough! She did it again, and again, not caring about the blood spewing onto her, or the brains soaking the ground. The more gory it got, the more rabid she grew.

“You…”

“…Bastard.”

The world around her grew dark…

“You…”

“…Monster.”

She lost herself in the pit of revenge…

“You…”

She couldn’t stop…

“You…”

She couldn’t…

“You…!”

She…

“STOP!”

Before she could bring her foot down again, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and yanked her back into reality. She fought against them, kicking and punching, screaming and biting, but they didn’t give up. They let their hands be bloodied, and kept whispering in her ear, reminding her of pleasant times. Memories they’d made together, and memories they’d miss out on if she didn’t snap out of it.

A family…

Rebuilding the Blazers…

Just…being together.

When Lux opened her eyes and saw what she’d done…

“Cy…”

“Ssssh…”

He stood behind her, grip loosened, his tears running down her shoulder.

“Cy…”

“Ssssh…”

The mess of guts in front of her barely resembled anything but the leftovers from a sleazy back-alley butcher shop, and she had to cover her mouth to keep herself from puking. This…wasn’t Cheese. This was…nothing. She’d reduced him to nothing. And that had been her goal.

Where was the honor in a victory like this?

Blazers defend, and Blazers win, but Blazers never brutalize.

We ain’t criminals, Lux, Jess had once told her. We sign peace treaties whenever we friggin’ can and don’t hold grudges—we fight back when someone steps on our toes but always think about protectin’ our people. Holdin’ grudges…that ain’t good for nothin’.

Her eyes were watering now…

“Blazers are survivors,” she said. “Not…monsters.”

“Lux…?”

“Jess would call me a monster if she saw this.”

Cy pulled himself in front of her and harshly pressed his hands to her cheeks, an aggressive move for someone rarely so forward. “You’re going to sock me for saying this, but forget Jess. You’re the leader of the Blazers now, Lux, and dammit, you aren’t Jess.”

She clenched her fists. She did want to sock him. “What are you saying?”

“You think Jess never bloodied her hands to keep the Blazers safe?”

“…”

“You didn’t do things the ‘right’ way, but you won. You can beat yourself up after this stuff’s over—right now? We’re in a goddamn war. And if we lose, everyone you loved died for nothing. You want to avenge them, right?”

She nodded.

“I said right?”

He wanted her to yell. To get pumped up. But she just didn’t have the energy for anything like that. Instead, she fell against his chest and hugged him tight. “I’m scared, Cy. Real scared.”

“You don’t think I am?”

They spent a few minutes cuddled against one another, hearts beating together.

And when the finally pulled apart, he flashed her a smile. “You’re only human, Lux. Sometimes we lose our cool, sometimes we do things we regret. But Cheese was a monster, and if you’d let your guard down, he would’ve done far worse to you.”

His eyes drifted up toward the pile of fruit. “The blunt…”

“The blunt…?”

She pulled herself up the pile, digging her feet through mushy bananas and moldy apples, until she reached the still-burning blunt, and though the thought of putting her lips where Cheese’s had just been made her retch, she took a long, lung-scorching hit off it. Smoke billowed around her as the wolves…no, her wolves, materialized.

The three of them, best friends separated far too long, immediately embraced, with Lux wrapping her arms around their necks and hugging them tightly as they licked that ever-so-ticklish spot behind her ears. Normally she’d shove them off and tell them to stop but she couldn’t—just being near them, inhaling their smoke, was all she wanted right now.

“God, I’ve missed you two so friggin’ much.”

One yipped, another sneaked beneath her arm and sniffed her belly, digging its nose into her scar. When she winced, it pulled back like it had just made a grave mistake, and she scrubbed its head to let it know it hadn’t done anything wrong. “You’re okay, dude,” she said, lifting her shirt up to show off the malformed skin. “It’s still kinda sore, but better than bleedin’ out, you know?”

A fresh excitement had awoken in them, and both wolves began bounding around like they were at a park instead of atop a pile of stinky fruit. The greatest tragedy in the world could happen—had happened—and yet they still brought smile to her face. A hand landed on her shoulder, and when she looked up, she saw Cy wearing one as well.

“I’m gonna get an update from Tegan. It’s been a while,” he said, pressing the button on his earpiece. “But does it feel good to have them back?”

“Good? It feels fucking great, dude. I can’t wait to feed them Blowhole’s bloated friggin’ ass.”

“You let your wolves eat ass? Not to judge, Lux, but that’s pretty gross,” Tegan said. “And you won’t have to wait long to indulge in your sick little fetishes either, because…”

Her voice faded as there was a thump which shook the entire building, the wall behind them filling with spiderweb cracks which spread like wildfire. It soon broke, crumbling into a pile of rubble as The Nightmare plowed through it, a state-of-the-art, all-black tank invented by the same dickheads who pumped out a dozen panties a day—The Panty Mafia.

When they’d told Lux about a backdoor they’d discovered, and how easy it would be to hack into it and take control of the tank remotely, she hadn’t believed it. Even with the thing sitting in front of her, she still didn’t believe it! This…was theirs? Just like that? This and the panties and an Eternal Blunt…?

Oh, Blowhole, she thought. You are so, so fucked.

END OF CHAPTER SEVEN