Note: Sailor Moon and all related characters are the property of Takeuchi Naoko, Toei Animation, and DIC. Twisted Metal 2 and all related characters are the property of SingleTrac and Sony.
Sailor Moon: Alternity
By Daryll Pung
Part 5: So That's The Smell Of Napalm In The Morning
PG-13
Chapter 1: A Twisted Reality
The white light faded, and they found themselves standing in front of a burning building. They glanced around, gazes coming to rest on a burning sign on a hillside- a burning H, O, L, W, O, and D. Samantha gasped.
"Do you recognize where we are?" asked Melanie.
"This is Los Angeles, California, my hometown...except it's not," she murmured, gaze sweeping the destroyed skyline, burning buildings everywhere. "What happened?"
Their attention was drawn to a slowly approaching armored vehicle, with a huge gun on top. It was pointed at them, and swept the group as the vehicle came closer.
"Ummm..." said Lita. "Should we be leaving now?"
The hatch popped open, and the individual that climbed out caused them all to sigh in relief. The face was instantly recognized.
"You're a member of the Order," stated Serena.
He jumped to the ground. "Mack Zadre, at your service. I suggest, Hoppers, that we get you to a safe location. Please hop aboard, and save your questions for later."
They all glanced at each other, and then all rushed to the vehicle.
* * * *
They were moving off, when a light beeped red on the futuristic instrument panel.
"Hang on, Groupie coming in!" he shouted over the roar of the engine. He yanked the wheel hard right, and depressed the trigger. The team caught a glimpse of a group of brightly dressed hippie-types standing in a pickup, firing rockets at them. Their vehicle lurched, and the round that was fired left a bluish spiral trail. The team didn't even see the impact, just the explosion of the vehicle, flaming wreckage flying in all directions.
They held on as the armored personnel carrier they were riding in sped up, and jumped over a fence. The APC rocked with the landing, and Mack pressed a button. Suddenly, the cement slid away on the road in front of them, and they disappeared underground. Lights clicked on as the slab slid back into place, and they found themselves stopping in a parking area. A group of white-shrouded objects caught their attention, and then they noticed the door.
"Follow me," said Mack. "I'll explain in due time." He led them towards the door. They followed him into an ultramodern facility that reflected its origins from the Order. The room hummed with the sound of computers, and another doorway led to sleeping quarters.
"Please be seated," he said. He grabbed a nearby chair, reversed it, and straddled it. He surveyed them quietly.
"What...was that weapon on your vehicle?" asked Raye.
"A railgun," he answered. "It fires a depleted uranium slug at close to the speed of light."
They all glanced at Amy. "It fires a real powerful bullet really, really fast," she said.
"Why did you have to kill those...'groupies'?" asked Serena quietly.
"They were shooting rockets at me. What, was I supposed to shrug it off? They're insane, corrupted by Calypso's madness, trying to kill anything that moves, hoping to be a casualty in the tournament," said Mack.
"Calypso? Tournament?" asked Darien.
"Yeah, Calypso's Twisted Metal Tournament. Drivers pick personalized cars and weapons and kill each other for the prize....which is supposedly whatever they wish. So many innocent people are killed every day, and people laugh and joke about it. Death is now a spectator sport," he replied solemnly. "The violence caused by the contest grows daily, and its popularity is spreading. Fewer people are entering the contest to end it, and more and more are entering for their own nefarious purposes."
The Scouts exchanged horrified looks. Mina looked at him thoughtfully.
"How long do we have to stay here?" she asked.
He gazed steadily at her for a moment before answering. "The next node will drop you off in your prime one week after you left. At the one week mark, Darkstrike has begun melding the two primes, and declaring himself ruler of both worlds, but if he is defeated all will be set right. You will have to survive here for six weeks. That is my responsibility," he sighed.
"What's the problem?" queried Trista. "We'll just stay here until it's time to go, right?"
"Unfortunately, it's not that simple. The next node is smack dab in the middle of the Twisted Metal contest's final battleground in Hong Kong. To get you safely there, I have to enter and do well in the Twisted Metal contest," he said wearily.
"Can you do it? I mean, don't you have special powers through the Order?" asked Michelle.
"Yes, but I'm not the only one with unusual powers, and doing well means lots of random killing," he answered morosely.
"Not the only one with unusual powers? Who else is there?" asked Artemis.
"Well, let's see. There are a few contestants who want the contest stopped. Outlaw 2 is an LA cop named Capt. Jamie Roberts. She wants to rescue her brother and end Calypso's contest. Grasshopper is Krista Sparks, an underage girl who also wants to end the tournament. Axel is a man trapped in his vehicle; he just wants freedom. A crazed bum named Marcus Kane, brother of the driver of Sweettooth, drives Roadkill. He believes that the whole contest is an illusion, and wants to return to the 'Real World'. Shadow is Mortimer. He is an enigma who also wants the contest over. Rumor is he's a broker of souls. The rest are greedy, foolish, or stupid.
"There's Sweettooth, Needles Kane, an insane clown. He wants his own twisted reality. There's Mr. Slam, driven by Simon Whittlebone, who wants to build the world's tallest building. Twister is driven by Amanda Watts, and she wants unlimited speed. Thumper is driven by Bruce Cochrane; he wants to rule the world. Spectre is driven by Ken Masters, who just wants to be famous. Hammerhead is driven by two teenage boys named Mike and Stu, and they're doing it for fun. Warthog is driven by Capt. Roberts, rumored to be Jamie Roberts' grandfather. He wants youth," said Mack.
"So this Shadow is the only one you need worry about?" asked Hotaru.
"No. The others may have powers also. I'm not sure. And there's two more that I truly respect. Mr. Grimm is rumored to be Death himself. He wants every mortal soul on this planet. And then there's Minion. I think he is the devil himself, and supposedly Calypso stole his powers. He wants them back," trailed off Mack.
"Wow," said Melanie quietly.
"So... I've entered as Speed Demon. I chose for my car the Dodge Viper, and armed it with twin railguns. Each contestant is allowed five drones, and one real car. You drive your real car after all five drones are destroyed. The plan is, hopefully I get to the final fight. Each contestant is allowed to scout the battlefield prior to the battle. While I'm scouting, I will blast a hole in a building. I already have it selected," he said, calling up a map on a monitor. They crowded around.
"The APC will then get parked here, and a force field will erect itself. The APC is preprogrammed to the node, and is the node gate itself. When the time comes, one of you will have to drive to the node, while I cover you. With luck, we'll all make it out alive," he paused.
"I can drive it," said Amara.
Mack nodded. "Good."
"So those shrouded objects are your drones and cars?" asked Luna.
"Yes, and the converted eighteen-wheeler that is my mobile driving headquarters. I've already made all the travel arrangements, and the contest starts in two days," he yawned. "Excuse me. I think we should all retire now, and we'll start preparations tomorrow."
"Agreed," said Serena. Mack left, pausing by the doorway.
"Oh yeah. Don't leave this place, as it is extremely dangerous out there," he warned as he proceeded down the hallway.
"Poor guy," whispered Mina.
"That just means we'll have to help in every way possible," said Serena. She yawned. "Let's get some sleep!" she said enthusiastically.
They went to the open rooms with eyes rolling.
Chapter 2: The Speed Demon's Rage
Amy and Michelle elected to help Mack prepare his equipment, and so they were duly occupied the following evening. He was brooding, impatient, and brash.
"Don't let it get to you," said Amy quietly after Mack snapped at Michelle's efforts on the electrical systems. "He's got a lot on his mind, and his life is on the line almost constantly past tomorrow."
Michelle sighed. "Yeah, I know. But you would think that a member of the Order had better control over their anxiety."
"Being in the Order doesn't mean he's immortal," commented Amy. "And besides, this version of him seems to be a little... not necessarily evil, but not good either, if you get my meaning."
"I noticed that, too," said Michelle. They looked at each other, and resumed their work.
* * * *
The morning dawned bright and clear. A variety of vehicles sat ready, near a fenced off area, awaiting the word. In the trailer with "Speed Demon" painted on the side, Mack was getting ready. The team gazed around the trailer. The real car was sitting inside, covered in a white shroud. The front cab was divided in two- the driver's section and a remote control virtual reality cockpit for controlling the remotes. One remote was currently held in a tractor field by Calypso, awaiting the beginning of the fight. The other four remotes were attached to the roof of the trailer.
Mack strapped himself in. Amy called up on the driver's console Mack's view of the world. He established connection. The hatch on the VR unit snapped shut, and the rest of the team sat near Amy, watching the screen.
"Good Luck," whispered Lita.
The Scouts exchanged glances. Everyone was hoping for the best. The matchups appeared onscreen. Mack was facing off against Mr. Grimm, Axel, Grasshopper, Outlaw 2, Twister, and Hammerhead.
It was time for the next battle of LA.
At once, tractor fields dropped, and Mack jumped forwards, searching for weapons. Axel, trapped between two huge wheels on a weapons platform, began tearing into Hammerhead's red-orange monster truck, and Grasshopper's green dune buggy joined the fray. Mack found himself being chased by the little red motorcycle that was Mr. Grimm. He cut around the wreckage of a burning building as Grimm's Screaming Soul special weapon barely missed. Mack dropped several mines, and barreled away at high speed. He punched the brakes and pulled a 180, lining up the shot. He triggered his rails, and his reactions were so quick that Mr. Grimm exploded with the impact of the rail shots.
Mack drove off, picking up several remotes and power missiles. He ran into Axel, the sole victor of the pitched three-way battle. Axel was already weak, so it was a cinch for Mack to destroy him with several well-placed fire missiles. He blasted through Axel's burning wreckage to the final two, right as Twister nailed Outlaw 2's police car with an ice blast. Mack triggered his own at Twister's blue Formula One race car, and dropped a remote between the two, detonating as he rolled by. A fiery blast filled the sky. Bits and pieces of both rained down as Mack brought Speed Demon to a stop. He had won the LA battle. Now he would go on to Moscow.
* * * *
3 days later, they arrived at the abandoned missile silo that served as the Moscow battleground. Mack was again faced off with Twister and Outlaw 2, and also faced Mr. Slam, Spectre, and Warthog. The battle started, and Spectre's white '67 Corvette Stingray was destroyed almost instantly by Mr. Slam's front-end loader and Warthog's brown humvee. They proceeded to rip into each other as Twister and Outlaw 2 teamed up on Mack. He dodged Twister's salvo of homing missiles, nailing her with a power missile. Then, Outlaw 2's Omni-Taser attack picked him up and threw him into Twister's Tornado Spin attack. Twister slammed him repeatedly into the wall, then dropped a remote and left. Mack fell right on the remote, and he cursed loudly as his screens went dark. The first Speed Demon was dead.
But the battling had just begun...
Chapter 3: The Heat Of The Battle
Mack gazed at the deck above. He and the Scouts were on a special ferry, taking the contenders to the Antarctica battleground. Of the six weeks, only 13 days were left. Antarctica would be reached in just a few hours, and that fight was due to start tomorrow. All in all, things were going decent. Most contestants were down to one remote, and a few were down to their real cars. Speed Demon was down to the last remote.
"Mack?" asked Samantha, tentatively. He turned his head and glanced at her.
"What?" he asked.
"Were you trying to kill any of the innocents that you've killed?" she asked.
He was silent, thinking. He didn't really remember killing any innocents... Paris, Amazonia, New York. "No.. except for maybe any mimes I may have run over in Paris," he grinned. For some reason, the Scouts didn't seem to find the humor in that statement.
"You've killed twenty people," said Melanie quietly.
He propped himself up on one elbow. He looked squarely at the group. "So what do you want from me? Like I can help it if they get caught in an explosion, or if some car dodges my missiles and they hit a person, or if I'm running for my life and I run someone over. We've got bigger fish to fry, people. I've become desensitized to the violence, and it's for a good cause.. like saving the rest of the multiverse." He sighed. "I can't say I'm especially happy about things, but that's the way it is on this prime."
"I suppose," said Hotaru sadly.
"What, do you expect me to be all noble and righteous? Not likely.. not here. I'm sorry if I don't measure up to your expectations, but I'm my own person, and that's just the way things are," he finished. He leaned back, and gazed at the deck.
The tense silence was finally broken by Darien clearing his throat. He looked at Mack. "So what is this battleground going to be like?" he asked.
"Antarctica is comprised of a bunch of unstable icebergs. I think Calypso engineered this battleground to fall apart and shrink during the fighting. On top of that, it's going to be slippery and wet. This oughta be fun," he grimaced.
"I guess we'll find out in a few hours, huh?" stated Lita.
Mack just nodded, and lay back and closed his eyes.
* * * *
It started viciously. Speed Demon faced the real Grasshopper, Roadkill's red junk car final remote, Axel's final remote, Mr. Slam's final remote, Sweettooth's ice cream truck final remote, the real Twister, and Shadow's purple hearse final remote.
Mack started near Grasshopper. On a hunch, when she activated her Leap'n'Slam special attack, he took off for an edge of the battlefield. His guess proved right as Grasshopper slid right off the edge- dune buggies have no grip on snow and ice! Her scream echoed as he picked up some ricochet bombs. He barreled around a corner and almost ran right into Mr. Slam. A few ricochets knocked Mr. Slam's remote off the edge as well. Axel and Roadkill managed to blow each other up, twin explosions cratering the ice. Sweettooth was chasing Shadow straight towards Mack. He planted a remote near the edge, and began moving away. One of Roadkill's Boomerang missiles, which were still circulating, nailed him on the backswing, sending him careening wildly towards the edge. He punched turbo as Shadow hit the remote bomb and flew over the edge.
The explosion of the bomb also hurt Sweettooth, and the second he landed, Mack triggered his twin rails, nailing Sweettooth broadside and exploding him into billions of little pieces. Twister, the sole competitor left besides Speed Demon, charged right at him. He triggered his rails again, followed by an ice burst. Then he casually machine-gunned Twister to death, watching as the holes ripped into the car, and sprayed blood as several rounds hit Amanda. The fire nailed the gas tank and Twister shattered into a fireball, metal and body parts flying everywhere. Mack was quietly thoughtful as he sat there, victor of Antarctica. He was slightly shaken at Twister's death, but he shrugged it off and prepared for Holland.
* * * *
"That was a rather grisly way of killing her," said Lita. They were on Calypso's blimp for the final two battles. They would reach Holland in another day, after which 3 days of travel and one day of fighting remained.
"Does it matter? I had to kill her, and it was fairly quick," said Mack, leaning back in a chair, eyes closed.
"What's Holland like?" asked Darien.
"There's a reason its called 'Field of Screams'," said Mack. "It's a box. There are two windmills, but they're easy to destroy, and once they are, there's no where to hide, so it becomes a killing field."
"Are you nervous?" asked Trista.
"Just a little," Mack admitted. He was actually very frightened for his life.
* * * *
Speed Demon faced the real Roadkill, the real Mr. Slam, the real Spectre, and the final remotes of Hammerhead, Warthog, Outlaw 2, Mr. Grimm, and Thumper's pink hoopty. The battle was joined, and the fighting became quick and fierce. Explosions blossomed as missiles fell short. Outlaw died first, followed in quick succession by Roadkill and Hammerhead. Speed Demon was fighting for his life, as Spectre's Ghost Missiles were constantly nailing him. He nailed Spectre with a rail, sending Spectre sliding sideways, when Warthog unexpectedly assisted, sending his trio of Patriot Missiles right into Spectre's front end. As Spectre exploded, Warthog turned on Mack, who was already running. Just as Mack thought he was clear, a Screaming Soul slammed into him broadside. All Mack could do as the remote exploded and the screens went blank was sit there, holding his head in his hands.
"Now what?" asked Serena.
"Now we put our plan into action. We've made it to Hong Kong, and this is where it gets interesting. I hope we're all prepared for this.." he trailed off.
"For what, exactly?" questioned Raye.
"For the riskiest fight of our lives."
Chapter 4: Perhaps Today Is A Good Day To Die
Mack was lost in silent thought as he studied the real Speed Demon. He already knew the final line-up. Axel, Sweettooth, Shadow, Warthog, Hammerhead, Outlaw 2, Mr. Grimm, and Thumper. He also knew the layout. The APC was in place, with the Scouts in it, protected by a force field wall that resembled the wall that had been destroyed. He was a scant hour away, and it was time to get in position. He got in, and the first thing he did was check the radio link.
"Hoppers, Zadre, over," he called.
"We're here," came a voice back. There was some interference- to be expected- and there was some static.
"90 minutes, mark!" he said, glancing at his control console.
"Mark!" came the reply.
Now he just had to survive for a half-hour, long enough to get the Scouts to safety. Good thing this is a huge battleground, he thought.
* * * *
The battle started. He immediately began tearing away from the fighting, stocking up on weapons and biding his time. That's not to say he didn't get involved in the killing. First, a badly injured Shadow blundered into his path, and he dispatched him with a homing missile. Then Thumper came across him, and a similar result happened. He glanced down.
Time.
"Zadre, APC, now!"
The APC burst out of hiding, heading for the temple at the center of the battleground. Mack met them partway. They burst into the center, and headed for the teleporter.
Unfortunately, Sweettooth was sitting there, and just then Axel, Hammerhead, and Warthog blocked the three entrances.
"Oh, great," muttered Mack as he began shooting everything he had at Sweettooth. Sweettooth begin unloading his Flaming Ice Cream Missiles. Mack found himself jolted sideways by each impact, as the slower APC began coming under fire. He eluded Sweettooth, and drew Axel's fire off the APC. He saw a white glow begin to encompass the APC. Then, he heard the rattle of machine gun fire, and felt a searing pain in his chest. He looked down in disbelief at a bleeding hole in his chest, before he slumped forward. Speed Demon drove right into Axel's huge tires, and exploded when Axel detonated his Supernova Shockwave.
"We're almost there!" shouted Amara in excitement. Just then, a pale glow surrounded the vehicle.
Mina gasped suddenly. "Oh, no," she breathed.
"What?" asked Amy.
Mina pointed, just in time for the Scouts to witness Speed Demon's fiery demise.
A missile nailed them. Flames sprouted up, smoke filling the APC.
"We're not going to make it!" shouted Raye over the racket.
Axel, Sweettooth, Warthog, and Hammerhead all fired at once. Salvo after salvo of missiles raced towards the badly wounded APC.
"Oh, my, go-" said Serena as everything became white.
The APC exploded scant seconds after the white light faded, hot metal shrapnel glittering surreally as the murder and mayhem continued..
TO BE CONTINUED...