Carnage! Love & Lust in the Wasteland
The Final
*FINAL - SPECIAL EVENT - SCRAPS - LETHAL HAZARD*
The heaps of twisted metal were arranged in a wheel-and-spoke pattern; teetering piles of wrecks that leaked oil all over the uneven pavement, others ablaze and letting off thick pillars of black smoke that left a noxious haze in the air beneath the stadium lights. It was too quiet for Mei’s liking, racking her nerves as she drummed her fingers nervously on the gas tank. She glanced up at the jumbotron, wondering what lethality lurked amongst piles of scrap as she watched the drone feeds that showed nothing noteworthy on the course from the outer walls of wrecks all the way through the fairly organized rows that led to an old square-bodied semi truck at the center. No room for a Killdozer to be secreted away amongst the scraps, nowhere for a Juggarnautilus to hide.
The drones flew onward and swept over the opposing team, parked at the far end of the course. Bile burned in Mei’s throat. Rosa was shouting orders, one foot in the Shithawk cruiser while she verbally abused the woman who had previously been Otis Grange’s gunner— Mei thought her name might’ve been Julia. Of all the drivers Hawk might have substituted, she was quietly furious that it was her he had landed on. Especially after their farewell in the garage.
At least it gives me another chance to put you six feet under, Mei thought, leering at the image of Rosa on the screen.
“Steady on, Mei.” Dan’s voice crackled through her earpiece. “Your heart rate is spiking already.”
“Izzy, switch to channel four,” Mei replied, tapping the side of her helmet to silence her brother. The Phoenix sat on her left, hammered back into something like a TransAm’s shape once more, the painted bird on the hood looking like a plucked chicken that had been tenderized on a butcher’s block. The roof had been replaced and didn’t match either. Truly, even having Dan back on the field was a fucking embarrassment.
“Whatcha thinking?” Izzy said, the distraction evident in her voice. Mei knew that she was still teaching herself how to pilot Teague’s compact yet heavy truck. Her hatchback had not been salvageable, and after Teague’s sudden disappearance she had not been left with a lot of other options.
“Nothing,” Mei said, “I just can’t stand Dan’s nasally whine in my ear.” Izzy snorted.
“You nervous?”
“Only slightly shitting myself,” Mei sniffed. “You?”
“Nooo,” Izzy said, sarcasm thick in her voice. “It’s going to be a super fun family reunion after the last match.” Mei shifted uncomfortably. The announcement that Rosa was facing off against them again in the final had hit Izzy pretty hard; regardless of everything, the woman was still her sister. And while it had been a bit awkward after Mei beat the shit out of her, Izzy had still been relieved when Rosa escaped death under the blade of the Killdozer.
Mei looked to the jumbotron again. Mass was squeezing into the spike-wheeled dune buggy, shouting something to Roman as he fiddled with a mounted flamethrower. Hawk, who seemed to be the unofficial leader of the team now that Grange was gone, had taken the helm of the Menace. He looked strangely small in the big steel-blue pickup truck, like a little boy trying on his dad’s boots. A smoke dangled from his lips and he exhaled a stream out the window, his face was screwed up in concentration in an oddly endearing way as he got in some last minute practice with the controls for the plow blade and harpoon turret. He pressed something on the truck’s dash and all the lights lit up, the sound of a car alarm going off coming from across the arena. Mei snorted with laughter.
“Keep it in your pants, girl,” Izzy teased.
“You have to admit that he’s adorable,” Mei said. “I’m still going to wipe the floor with him, but I do wish we had met under different circumstances.”
“You did,” Izzy reminded her. “I doubt Carnage was even on his radar when he buried his head between your legs at the Crossroads. Unless you’ve sold that as ad space.” Mei laughed and the radio crackled.
“I hate to interrupt,” Dan said. He had probably been listening in and she hated him for it. “I think we’re about to begin—”
The fanfare rolled up, cutting him off. Mei’s heart leapt into her throat. It was time.
“Welcome Carnage fans to the long anticipated Final Round of this year’s Western Badlands Circuit Pro Tour Qualifier, here at the Dust Bowl!” The announcers began the mandatory list of thanking the many sponsors, combatant, losers, and anyone else important enough to merit mention while Mei toggled her display and ran a final diagnostic report on her bike. The vehicle was scratched and dinged, a far cry from the pristine condition it had been at the start of the PTQ, but it felt familiar beneath her now and calmed her nerves. She trusted the bike more than anything or anyone else on her team. The display gave green checkmarks all the way. She was ready.
“Carnage fans, we’ve had our ups and downs,” the announcer went on. “We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, some have died, while others thrived! We’ve let the ragtag underdogs on the Peacekeeper team win our hearts; be it facing the lightning of the Soviets, or mucking around with the Juggarnautilus… To Hawk, Mass, and the memory of the Menace…” There was a momentary flash of Otis Grange across the screen, the fans ripping hats off their heads in respect the crowd over. “We salute you! And to the last minute substitution of Rosa Hawkins… Maybe she’ll take her top off one more time for us!”
Rosa flipped off the hover drones, trying to hide her bruised face as the crowd laughed and jeered. Mei’s lips curled and she rolled her eyes as the oh-so-tired footage of Rosa’s breasts lit up the jumbotrons regardless of her humbled attitude.
“And to our dynastic Dynasty daredevils,” the announcer went on, “who faced down the dark dealings of Hayao drivers, and scrapped the Scavengers while fending off the Killdozer, we wish you better luck than the Phoenix had last match!”
“Assholes!” Dan ground out while Mei chortled. Images of his fireball run on the circuits burned away to show the wrecking ball smash Gregor’s Baja bug had laid on him in the previous match. More clips played that were less humiliating. Teague impaling the Hayao roadster, Mei in a gunfight before trying to take their fort; Izzy throwing sparks as she drove her hatchback on its rims, Mei’s catwalk that landed her in the back of Rosa’s Ranchero…
“And while Officer Rufus Teague has also vanished from the roster – Wow, this PTQ hasn’t been easy on the Peacekeepers, eh? – to Isabella Villalobos, the Phoenix, and the Dynasty darling herself, Mei Sung… We salute you!”
The crowd roared loudest of all for her and Mei was a bit shocked at that.
“Now without further preamble,” the announcer said, his voice taking on a serious edge, “we bring you all to the final event…”
The ground began to rumble and Mei swallowed whatever pride she had been feeling, focussing up. This was it. Whatever bullshit Carnage was going to hurl was about to fly.
“The stakes have never been higher than they are now, folks. For the first time ever in PTQ history, NexGen is proud to present its most lethal attraction…”
Fear gripped her as things started to shake in earnest. A few piles of wreckage toppled over and ruined the wheel spokes, Mei wondering what the hell was going on. The drones all zipped to the center of the ring and her mouth dropped open as she saw the ground there crack, the old square-bodied semi starting to rise up.
“Ladies and gentlemen, for your Carnage pleasure, the TRUCKASAURUS!!!”
The semi truck was the head of the beast, rising higher and higher on a body that tore through the pavement like tissue paper. The body was a mess of hissing gears, the spine lined with exhaust pipes that let out gouts of flame and black smoke. Limbs detached from the body and flexed grappling hydraulic arms ending in clam-shell fingers able to lift and crush a car like it was over-ripe fruit. The Truckasaurus swivelled, mounted atop a rotating frame lined with gun turrets, lashing a tail that ended in a wrecking ball. Jerky movements tilted the semi truck head and the grille opened like a jaw, letting off a stream of fire alongside a metallic, screeching roar that drowned out the pandemonium of the fans who wanted nothing more than to see the stunned drivers ripped apart in the twisted metal teeth.
“Sweet mother of fuck,” Mei breathed.
“Anything goes in this one, combatants! Last team moving takes the match!” the announcer finished. “Drivers, start your engines! LET THERE BE CARNAGE!”
The Phoenix fired up next to her, the heavy diesel of the compact truck screaming to life on her other side, and Mei forced herself to shake off the shock, kicking her bike into life. The drone with the starting light drifted down, the ancient traffic light lit up with red.
“Fight hard, team!” Dan screamed in her ear, the light turning yellow. “For the Dynasty!”
Mei screamed with fury as the light flashed green. Her bike threw up gravel as she tore off, and the match began.
The course layout forced them all toward Truckasaurus to get at the opposing team and Mei was forced to veer down another corridor as the wrecks had tumbled into the path straight ahead of her. She wove in behind Izzy’s truck, regrettably using her as a meat shield while she tried to suss out how best to proceed. She had seen a Truckasaurus event only once and hated to admit that the beast usually won instead of the teams. Currently it was chugging around to put its back to them, presumably busy with Hawk’s team as it let off a gout of flames aimed at the ground, but she didn’t have much time to consider that as they reached the center of the ring. Izzy raced forward and Mei turned, hugging the outside of the killzone while trying not to gawk at the Truckasaurus, one of its grappling hands swooping down with the hissing hum of hydraulics. She was glad she kept her wits.
The Shithawk cruiser being driven by Rosa swerved into view, rocking wildly as it adjusted course upon spotting her. Mei had a feeling Rosa would be hunting her and she grit her teeth, opening fire with her guns mounted on her handlebars. Rounds punched into the hood of the cruiser and erupted – one of her guns had armour-piercing bullets, the others toting explosive tips – and Mei waited for the inevitable smoke that would follow as the rounds ripped into the engine block…. But they didn’t come. Rosa didn’t lose speed at all; no smoke, steam, or fire from her engine. Mei registered that, wondering, and faked one way as the cruiser swerved, opening up a wide enough space between the car and the wall of wrecks. Mei gunned past her on the outside edge, pulling a side arm and firing as she sped past Rosa's driver side. The bullets sparked off a mesh screen and both vehicles were still moving, Mei’s heart hammering as she holstered her weapon again.
A barbed shaft as thick as her arm drove into the pavement half a car-length in front of her and Mei screamed as she squeezed her brakes, the bike coming up on a front tire. The harpoon had been fired by the Truckasaurus and tore out one hell of a pothole, coiling back in on a thick chain.
“Harpoons!” she cried into her comms. “It’s going to try and spear us!”
“STAY CALM!” Dan shouted back. “STAY— SHIT!”
Mei whipped about. “Oh damn it,” she muttered. Dan was on the far side of the pit, being shoved sidelong by the Menace, its wide plow blade hooked into his fenders, tires throwing plumes of dirt as Hawk shoved Dan toward the wall of twisted metal. He was slowed as they moved onto slick ground, losing momentum as his tires smoked in the mess of oil the wrecks were leaking. She had also known Hawk would go straight for Dan. She revved up her bike, doing a burnout to come around as she tore toward the fight as Dan’s ports opened and a whistling display of rockets whipped out and back down, exploding over the body of the big pickup truck. But Hawk was unrelenting.
Mei wove closer and caught movement from the corner of her. She swore as a trio of turrets mounted on the base of Truckasaurus locked onto her, chattering with a barrage of bullets that sent her reeling away, winching as a few grazed her track suit and left it smoking where they passed.
The crowd erupted with sudden fervor.
“And Truckasaurus has snagged its first catch of the day! Bad luck, Hawk!”
Mei swerved around a fallen wreck to take shelter from the bullets. She peered around and saw that the rear end of the Menace was pierced by one of the harpoons, slowly being reeled in by Truckasaurus. “Oh no,” she muttered. The rear wheels were spinning freely in the air, the 4X4 engaged and the fronts smoking as they tried in vain to wriggle free of the harpoon that had pierced the box of the truck. The frame was twisting and Mei caught frantic movements behind the tinted glass as the huge machination hummed with hydraulic fury, a grappling claw bending toward the truck.
Another volley of whistling rockets shot out of the Phoenix, now free from Hawk’s attack, and hammered into the helpless pickup truck.
“No!” Mei cried. Hawk didn’t deserve to go out like this. “Dan, you don’t have to be a prick about it! Dan!” She tapped the side of her helmet, trying to get the comms to work, but felt the divot created by a strap bullet that had ruined her radio. She watched the Phoenix drift around the trapped pickup, one of the T-roof panels flying free, her brother touting a machine gun and firing free into the Menace. Into Hawk.
Mei grit her teeth and twisted the throttle on her bike, leaping out from behind the wreckage. She wasn’t sure what she could do, or who she was going to help by doing it, but she had to do something.
An engine screamed on her flank as the shitbox cruiser came out of nowhere, Mei swerving and missing the ambush by inches. She and Rosa came level with one another and Mei screamed in red fury, pulling her side arm and unloading in a broad spray at the car. Bullets ricocheted and punched through, the cruiser swerving to try and ram her. Mei dodged again, nearly lost her balance, and there was a hiss of pneumatic pressure. The cruiser’s hood flew off, tumbling out of the way as a six-barrel rotary gun leapt up, spinning to face Mei. She barely had time to scream as it opened fire on her. She leaned over too far in her attempts to dodge and was suddenly tumbling ass over end, the bike rolling with her as bullets flew all around her. She slammed into a wall of crushed cars upside down, the air bursting from her lungs as the bike slid into her, pinning her.
“An incredible surprise assault by Rosa in the Shithawk cruiser! Is that the Dynasty darling out? Mei, are you still breathing?! And look here, Carnage fans— The Peacekeeper team is rallying!”
There was the hissing crackle of something launching through the air, a plume of flame following an impact as Mei struggled to free herself. I can’t be out, she thought, heaving against her bike. I’m not fucking done yet!
“And the Shithawk proves itself again! A damned bazooka shot has the Phoenix limping!” the announcer went on. “Spectacular aim from the old cruiser’s gunner: Julia Capps! Too bad it won’t help Hawk— Here comes the TRUCKASAURUS!”
Something popped and the bike came free, Mei managing to flip the right way up and squeeze out from under it in time to see something special.
Rosa was tailing the Phoenix out of sight behind the Truckasaurus, the turrets following both, but they all suddenly stopped and whipped to a new target. Mass’ dune buggy barrelled through in a storm of bullets. The grapple was bearing down on Hawk as the dune buggy let loose gout of concentrated flame, superheating the cable holding the Menace aloft, and without losing any speed the buggy sideswiped the pickup truck. The cable stretched taut, then snapped where it had been heated. The Truckasaurus claw slammed close on open air as the Menace truck crashed back onto four wheels and burned rubber out of there.
Mei pulled her bike up as she leapt to her feet. It’s not over yet. She threw her leg over the bike, which was slick with oil— She paused. Not oil… Gasoline. Rosa had shredded her fuel tank and punched a hole in her engine block, the precious fluid leaking over the body of the vehicle. The fact that the integrity of her body suit hadn’t given out under such a barrage was incredible, but it also meant…
She was out.
“No…” Mei said. “No! Shit! Fuck! Shit! Fuck! Ass!”
“Looks like we are indeed three Peacekeepers up and one Dynasty down!” the announcer called, a drone camera swooping over Mei. “Back luck, Miss Sung— But it doesn’t look like the Phoenix is long for this world either!”
Hawk was pulling a wide turn to head off, presumably in pursuit of his vendetta against Dan, and Mass was trying to follow as the gun turrets continued to hammer into his wavering dune buggy. Everything that wasn’t armour plated was punched full of holes, the thing was pissing fluids like a fountain, yet inexplicably the spiked tires were not flattening. They must’ve been filled solid. Mei gasped as Truckasaurus clunked and turned, the grasping claws opening again and starting to descend on Mass.
A horn sounded and Izzy appeared from the other side of the Truckasaurus base, the plow on the compact truck lowered and taking heavy fire. She smashed into Mass’ rear fender on her way by, throwing the dune buggy into a greasy spin that allowed it to stay out of the way of the grapple for the moment. She sounded the horn again as she beelined toward Mei, tires squealing as the heavy little vehicle ground to a halt. The passenger door flew open and there was Izzy, grinning like a mad woman.
“Hey there, beautiful! Need a lift?”
Mei was in the cab and they sped off before she managed to rip her helmet off, Izzy driving like she’d stolen the truck.
“Why haven’t you been answering on comms?”
“My helmet got grazed,” Mei said, chucking the headwear into the shallow backseat. “I imagine Dan has been shitting himself.”
“He was calling all hands when Hawk rammed him,” Izzy snorted. She hammered the truck around a harpoon that slammed into the ground in front of them, veering to come up behind where the other combatants had gone. She gestured to an old radio mounted on the dash – because of course Teague used one of those instead of an earpiece – and Mei took the old receiver.
“Dan, come in.”
“Mei!” her brother crackled back. “Where the fuck are you and Izzy? I’ve got the Menace and the Shithawk trying to run me down! These fucking Scavs!”
“My bike was totaled,” Mei said. “Izzy just picked me up. Where are you?”
“In the spokes! Hold on, I’ll send up some flares.”
Bullets pinged into the side of Izzy’s truck as they got too close to Truckasaurus. Fuck, where wasn’t this thing?! She lurched the truck to the side and they flew around the outer rim of the central arena.
“There!” Mei cried, seeing a shower of red sparks. The turn was coming up.
“Hold on, I’m going to hit it at speed—” Izzy was cut off as their rear end was hit hard, the truck fishtailing as the big diesel engine gave a tired cough. She managed to regain control of the vehicle but they missed their turn and Izzy growled.
“Damn it, Mass! If you’re going to ride my ass, at least pull my hair!”
Mei glanced in the side mirror and saw the dune buggy trailing them, Roman perched half out the window, dreadlocks streaming behind him with an RPG on his shoulder. The buggy wove around another harpoon from the Truckasaurus and he nearly toppled out, screaming something unheard to Mass, but then he was taking aim again.
“Weave!” Mei cried. “Do you have anything to return fire with?”
Izzy threw the truck sideways as another rocket whistled past, exploding against a burning wreck. She swore; they had missed their turn but dodged the shot.
“Grenade launcher in the back!”
Mei dug into the shallow backseat, finding the big black case with the grenade launcher inside. It was a Soviet model, six chambers loaded and ready. She hauled the heavy weapon out and rolled down the bulletproof glass, dropping the screen on the outside of the truck as she stuck her head out into the gritty, speeding air. Behind them, the dune buggy was keeping a distance and Roman was coming back out of the vehicle as Mei took aim. She saw him blanch with surprise as she let off her first round, the hissing thump of the launcher followed by an incendiary blast that left the hood of Mass’ buggy shrouded in flames that crawled over his windshield. The dune buggy swerved blindly, grazing the wall of wrecks, and Mei let off a second pop, howling with delight as it struck one of the big tires on the passenger side. It was instantly ablaze, the fire keeping Roman tucked away.
“Oh fuck!” Izzy cried, jerking the truck wildly to the side so that Mei almost fell out the window as she aimed her third shot. The air was suddenly full of shattered pavement and dust, whipping by and cutting up Mei’s cheeks as the percussion of the wrecking ball tail coming down rang in her ears. As Truckasaurus lifted its heavy tail, knocking over a pile of burning cars, Mei tried to suss out whether there was another assault coming and only just caught the roar of an engine as she looked around again. The buggy was coming up fast, a lot of the flames tamped down by the dust.
“Izzy, look out!” Mei choked out, but Mass smashed his front end into their rear bumper. Instead of backing off, the buggy screamed with mad effort and wedged itself underneath, what fire still burning licking at the diesel engine mounted in the truck’s box. It was a good play, she had to admit. Mei crawled back into the truck; it was too risky to fire a grenade at this distance.
“Mei, Izzy!” Dan crackled through the radio. “Where the fuck are you two? I lost track of that bitch in the cruiser, but Hawk is still on my tail!”
“Hold on,” Mei said, snatching the radio receiver. “Mass and Izzy are having a little lovers quarrel!”
Izzy frowned. “I wonder where Rosa got to— Oh!”
The Shithawk hammered the corner coming out of the next turn and bore down on them. Izzy screamed and slammed on the brakes, the truck slowing a touch but pushed relentlessly forward by the dune buggy behind them. Mei scrambled, buckle her seatbelt as the Shithawk came closer and—
The truck and cruiser slammed into one another head-on, the dune buggy behind crunching into their rear end. Mei was thrown against the dash on impact, tossed back into her seat as the truck cab twisted around them. She groaned as everything came to a grinding halt, moving gingerly as she felt bones grinding. She had broken ribs for sure.
“Izzy, you alright?” she groaned, looking around. Panicked adrenaline surged and she shimmied across the seat. Her friend was limp in her seat, head lolling and bloodied from where she had struck the steering wheel on impact. The crowd outside was going nuts beyond her ringing ears and she leaned in close. Izzy was breathing, the pulse moving in her neck. She was alive.
“A spectacular pincer maneuver from the Peacekeeper team!” the announcer cried. “Another Dynasty vehicle bites the dust, but at the expense of two of their own! It’s just one vehicle apiece now, folks! Which bird will reign supreme: Hawk or Phoenix?! And, oh! What’s this? The lovely Rosa seems to be crawling out of her wreck!”
Mei grit her teeth in a growl. Pain left her as rage overwhelmed and she put a boot to the passenger door, forcing it open with a whining squeal as it came free of the bent frame. She leapt from the truck and saw Rosa had just pulled herself free of the cruiser. She gasped, looking up and seeing Mei, who closed on her.
“Ooooo! We’ve got us a catfight!” the announcer squealed.
Rosa dodged Mei’s first swing, but her second slammed into the woman’s abdomen and the air exploded out of her. Mei tried to grab hold of her hair, but Rosa twisted and slammed her boot into Mei’s knee, a bolt of pain shooting up her leg as she lost her balance. They broke apart, chests heaving from the effort as the screams of the fans drowned out the announcer, the drones circling above their fight. Mei leered at the other woman, who spat blood and bore red-stained teeth in a snarl.
“Come on then, you little slut!” Rosa growled. “Come on—”
A series of explosions made Rosa whip around as the last two remaining vehicles smashed back into the central area, but now it was the Phoenix trailing the Menace pickup. Dan’s car was smashed to shit and smoking, but still gained on Hawk. More importantly they had provided a distraction. Mei dashed forward and tackled Rosa, the pair slamming into the Shithawk. They raved at one another; pushing, punching, grabbing, grappling. Mei smashed Rosa’s head into the roof of the cruiser, Rosa’s fist hammering into her broken ribs in response.
The rumbling groan of hydraulics sounded behind them and Mei screamed bloody murder, smashing her forehead into Rosa’s nose with a spurt of hot blood. Disoriented, Rosa went limp for a moment and Mei managed to shove her torso through the window of the cruiser, throwing her legs up as she felt heavy blistering on her back. Truckasaurus loomed above, its jaws open and full of fire that poured out in a mighty stream, immolating the cruiser. Rosa screamed from within, the sickly smell of cooking meat wafting alongside the tang of heated metal and burning oil.
There was a crunch as the fiery jaws closed over the cab of the cruiser. The crowd screamed now. Rosa had fallen silent.
Mei choked out a pained laugh, regaining her feet as the Truckasaurus reared and roared, its many gears clanking as it began to turn toward the last two combatant.
Another whistling strike from the Phoenix’s hood rockets brought her around. They erupted, some of them hitting Hawk while others smashed into the swivelling Truckasaurus. Not out yet, she thought. She found the grenade launcher, still loaded with four rounds, and hobbled off in pursuit of the final fight.
“For the second time in this PTQ, the darling Mei Sung is on foot and in hot pursuit of the action! I swear she has bigger balls than anyone else I’ve ever seen play this game!”
Mei dodged between the debris to keep the turrets off her as she came into range of the brawl. They were circling around one another in the tight space, neither giving an inch, and she wondered what weapons they even had left. As if in answer, she saw Hawk try to sideswipe Dan, leaning out the window with a submachine gun that flashed, bullets ricocheting off the glass. Dan lobbed a smoke grenade through the T-roof he had blown off earlier, the blast going wide as his trunk opened and let out a stream of oil, but Hawk piloted through it without much notice. Mei brought up the grenade launcher, knowing that this last bit of firepower could decide the match. She took a knee, wincing, and aimed it at the pickup truck.
Images of Hawk flashed through her mind, sweet and savage in a way that caught behind her navel. Hawk, who had been good to her since the moment they met. Hawk, who had been put into tight spot after tight spot due to these damned games, wriggling free of each. Hawk, who had been betrayed by her brother… The same brother she was going to help now.
Her finger hovered over the trigger. She couldn’t pull it.
“Hesitation from Mei Sung, the last gun on the field aside from the Truckasaurus!” the announcers called. A drone swooped and she caught a flash of herself on the jumbotrons… looking rough. She snarled and took aim at the drone, popping off a grenade. It stuck home and exploded, much to the delight of the crowd. “Has young love won out in this Carnage PTQ, or has her nerve simply failed? Well, Carnage fans, it looks like Truckasaurus is going to have to decide this one!”
There was a bang as the Truckasaurus launched countless harpoons into the fighting area, jets of flame and smoke erupting from its spine. Mei gasped as they came down, ducking into cover as the crowd screamed its approval.
“Here’s your chance, Phoenix!”
Mei popped back out and a cold lump settled into her guts as she saw that once again Hawk had been skewered, the thick shaft stuck fast through the body of the truck. Weapon held limp in her fists, Mei watched as the pickup came off the ground, the engine revving high as its horsepower went into nothing but spinning tires.
Tires squealed and her brother came about, grinding to a halt. The ports on the edges of his hood opened and Mei gasped as what must’ve been his final rocket volley whistled out, peppering the aloft pickup in jeering fury, salting the wound.
Something snapped inside her. Mei brought up the launcher, levelled it the Phoenix, and popped off a round. It struck the hood in a blaze of glory, the car aflame as the crowd gasped in surprise.
“She attacked her own team, folks! Her own brother! Never in my Carnage career—” Mei let off another round as Dan threw the door open, the hissing pop cutting off the announcer’s voice. The grenade struck close to him, fire licking through the door and into the cab of the Phoenix. She heard him cry out as he threw himself back into the car, slamming the door and burning rubber out of there.
Mei took off running after Dan’s tail lights, not entirely sure what her plan was. She glanced up at the pickup truck as she ran past, spinning in the air as the Truckasaurus’ claws closed in on it, but focussed up when she heard squealing tires. Dan had come around to face her, revving his engine threateningly. Mei skidded to a halt, staring down the Phoenix. They held each other for the space of a few heartbeats, then she brought up the grenade launcher for it’s final shot. His tires burned as he shot toward her, clearly intent on running her down, and Mei made a quick decision.
She turned, aimed, and fired.
There was an explosion that sent a pulse through the cable holding the truck and it slammed back to the ground, dodging the claws of the Truckasaurus for a second time, and Hawk kept his foot hard down on the accelerator. He didn’t have time to ask questions or puzzle it out as the Menace shot forwards, its suspension groaning, and Hawk’s shock fading as spotted that piece-of-shit Dan Sung through his badly cracked windshield, coming right at him. He let loose a war cry as he flew into the head-on collision, pedal to the metal.
The world lurched in a surreal twist of groaning metal and shattering glass, the Menace and Phoenix collapsing in on themselves as they slammed together. The TransAm folded against the plow blade on the truck, its back end curling over itself as the chassis snapped. The truck did not fare much better, the body looking like an accordion from the front grille and reaching back through the cab.
Mei took a shuddering breath, trapped firmly between the ruined vehicles. She could not feel her lower half, her vision blurry, the inside of her mouth tasting of hot metal. She coughed.
“Mei…” His voice came as a wheeze as she twisted, the movement nearly causing her to black out, but then she saw Hawk. Shards of glass were pressed into his shredded skin, leaking blood all over the crumpled hood of the Menace where he had landed after flying through the windshield. He was laying at an awkward, broken angle, reaching out to her with shaking fingers. She reached for him too, the effort to breathe pure agony from the metal piercing her lungs. Her fingers brushed his. He smiled, the stupid grin of his, and she returned it, tears welling in her dimming eyes.
As a final act, they laced their fingers, falling still together.
A gloomy peace this evening’s Carnage brings,
The replays filled with blood and broken dreams.
Go hence, sports fans, and forget not these things,
Where life was lived in terrible extremes.
Ashes to ashes, rust to rust they say,
So mourn the toxic love of Hawk and Mei…
!
I Thoroughly enjoyed this, and will gladly reread.