A large armored firetruck is blown apart and catches on fire. Bohemian sits amongst the wreckage, with abundant visible damage. Dandelion clutches the steering wheel with white knuckles, breathing heavily. Her voice narrates in a wavering, yet determined tone.
Halfway there. I had battled my way through half of this hellish tournament so far. Phoenix was the toughest opponent I had had to face, and that battle could have easily gone his way. I’m lucky to be alive. Not the first time for that.
(Dandelion shakes her head, trying to regain her composure.)
Be strong, girl. You’re doing fine. Ugh, my head. I still haven’t decided if I’m repulsed at all this killing, or perversely satisfied with sweet justice. At least some justice is being served; I’ve rid the world of a handful of murderous freaks by now. I’m finally making a bit of a difference. I can remember all the times that I tried so hard in the past, but in vain…
(Camera fades out to a scene in a parking lot. It is night, and Dandelion sits on the curb, wearing a floral-print dress, with a number of papers clutched in her hand. Her face is unscarred. The parking lot is that of Midtown City Hall. The sound of a door being closed and locked is heard, followed by slow footsteps. A man in a suit descends down a staircase and walks to the parking lot. Dandelion stands up and addresses the man.
“Hello, Mr. Mayor.”
The mayor sighs. “What can I do for you?” The camera focuses on him, revealing a man growing old and scrawny. His hair is graying and a number of lines are etched into his weary face.
“I have here a petition with 10,000 signatures. That’s a lot of signatures, Mr. Mayor. The citizens of Midtown want an end to this annual ‘Twisted Metal’ madness. We want you to do something about it.”
The mayor laughs a worn, humorless laugh. “Oh, I wish I could do something. You think I haven’t tried? I just can’t seem to be able to touch Calypso; somehow there’s never any concrete evidence to put him away for decades. And our police do the best they can to shut his cronies away in that Blackfield hellhole, but he always manages to bust them out every year, like clockwork.”
“Mr. Mayor, please. I don’t want to hear excuses. We’re sick and tired of excuses. We just want a safe town to live in, without killers roaming the streets. When we elected you, you promised you’d clean this town up. You’re not doin’ so great.”
“Oh, believe me, I know. I understand better than anybody.”
“I don’t think you do, Mr. Mayor. We’re tired of living in a half-destroyed city all the time. We’re tired of paying mountains of taxes that are eaten up by the reconstruction every year. We want to be able to step foot outside simply without fearing for our lives. There must be something you can do, I mean, you’re the mayor.”
The mayor shakes his head and averts his eyes. “Not for much longer. Reelections are coming soon. I doubt I can hold on to office.”
“Well, just take this. You’ll think of something, Mr. Mayor, I know you will. There are still some of us who haven’t lost hope.”
Dandelion gives the petition to the mayor. He takes it hesitantly, then smiles a half-hearted, defeated smile. “I’ll see what I can do.”
The mayor steps into his car and drives away. Dandelion is left standing on the sidewalk. She slowly begins to trudge home. Rain starts to lightly drizzle the town.)
He was a nice man, the mayor. His heart was in the right place, but this city just broke him down; it took his hope. It can do that to anybody. It’s too bad he was murdered soon after our meeting…
(Camera goes to Dandelion sitting at home in a small living room, reading a book. A digital clock on a nightstand reads 11:23 pm.)
It was about a month later, and elections were right around the corner. Mr. Mayor was running again, and it actually looked like he might win a second time, considering his only opponent.
(Dandelion picks up a tv remote and flips on a small, antenna television to the news. The newscaster blares, “The Mayor is currently in the lead in the poles; Mr. Calypso trails by a wide margin. It looks like our Mayor might have this one in the bag folks.”
Suddenly, the screen goes into fuzzy static. Dandelion sighs and gets up to adjust the antenna, but just then she hears a slow knock on the door. She stares at the door intently, then at the clock. She walks over to the door cautiously, and places her hand on the knob.
The knock rings out slowly again, three short raps.
Dandelion hesitantly twists the knob and starts to open the door a crack. SLAM! A man bursts through the door, so fast he’s just a blur, grabs Dandelion and pins her to the wall. Her front is pressed against the wall, her face being crushed against the plaster, and he holds her arms clamped behind her back. She yells out and pain in and surprise. He laughs.
“This is just a pleasant visit for your friendly neighborhood election agent. I just dropped by to convince you of the logic of voting for Calypso.” The man speaks in a slow, harsh, unstable voice. He is muscular and has a shaved head. His eyes are completely obscured by large, black sunglasses, and his mouth is twisted into a demented grin, teeth barred. Strange, bloody appendages protrude from his sleeves where his hands should be. Instead of hands, he has a grisly collection of mismatched metal blades, tools, and blunt weapons.
“What are you doing?! Please let go of me!”
The man laughs again, a cold, ringing boom. “Now now, let’s not rush things. I just want to chat.”
He twists her arm harder against her back, close to the breaking point. Dandelion gasps with pain. “Now, who are you voting in elections tomorrow? TELL ME!!”
“The… the mayor. N-not Calypso.”
“WRONG ANSWER!” The man twists Dandelion’s arm violently, and a sick crack is heard. Dandelion screams.
“The mayor is dead. I killed him myself. I do hope you’ll be voting for Calypso tomorrow…”
“N-n-never…” Dandelion gasps.
The man roars with rage and throws Dandelion to the ground. He goes down on her and grabs her hips with a twisted laugh. “You sure are pretty…”
Dandelion screams again and tries to push him off, but he’s too strong. “Get off of me, you sick bastard! Leave me alone!” She sobs.
The man growls and roughly seizes her thighs and moves his gruesome appendages up her legs, cutting her skin. She moans softly. The man positions himself on top of her, and she can’t push him off. Dandelion is able to stretch her arm to reach a dagger with a flower embroidered on the handle sitting on an end table, and plunges it deep into the man’s chest. He lets out a savage yell and leaps off of her.
“You bitch…” he spits. He roars and lashes out with his hand-thing, slashing across Dandelion’s face, leaving several deep, jagged cuts. Blood starts pouring out from her face. She screams a frantic, panicked scream.
“I’ll come back for you…” he mutters, slashing through the front door until it caves in. He runs through and jumps in a strange, conglomeration of a vehicle, igniting the engine, peels out, and speeds away.)
The man who did this to me, he’s still out there somewhere…
(Dandelion runs her hand slowly across her scarred face.)
That’s why I have to keep fighting. There are so many people like him out there… I need to do something about it.
(Dandelion looks up from her reminiscence. She turns the key in the ignition. Bohemian coughs to life and gently vibrates.)
I’m really the only one left who’s still strong enough to take a stand. I need to rid the world of these creeps and killers. So many people are counting on me… I can’t let them down…
(Bohemian’s tires spin and the VW roars away from the wreckage.)
***
I hope you likey. And I noticed that my bios get longer and longer with each character. Science has no explanation for this
Endings coming soon, then perhaps new characters