Highway Showdown
So, I wanted to play with a villain this one, and was trying to go for something that wasn't the typical mustache twirling "Gonna rule the world" 2-D motives. Please let me know what you think, and how I can do better.
Highway Showdown
By: Lu-Man
Oil and gasoline mixed with the coppery scent of blood and made Grayson's stomach twist into a knot. The world swam as the bear opened his eyes, attempting to focus on the world above him. Glass was scattered around just inches from his muzzle as he looked up, a small dark pool of cherry syrup right above him. But if that was cherry syrup, where was the scent of blood coming from? What was going on? His cell phone on the floor below him next to his head and his paw was resting next to it. If he could just grab the phone....
PAIN shot burned through every conscious thought waking him up. He wasn't looking up at his ceiling, he was looking down on it. The seat belt digging into the bear's waist and shoulder was brought into sharp focus. What had happened? He looked at his right shoulder, and saw a steel twisted tube sticking out of it, blood dripping from it every so often as he moved. That's right. There was a car chase. Drake was in an SUV ahead of him and....oh shit. Angela!
POW!
A shot rang out in the distance ahead of him. Through the shattered remains of the windshield he watched as a poor hapless wolf lost half of his head with the pull of a trigger. His tail lost its nervous wag and dropped as his body fell into the road. Drake swished his gray equine tail as he spun around away from the now dead trucker and began to almost strut up to Grayson's over turned truck. Drake was naturally as large as Grayson, being a gray shire horse. His fur was the color of morning fog, blending into his black suit. A grin was on his entire face now, his ears almost laughing. "You just don't know when to die, do you?" He said as he squatted down, his hoof absently kicking a fire extinguisher in front of the truck.
"Mom always said I was hard-headed." He gritted his teeth through pain as he answered, own ears folded back in distress. The horse had a Glock trained on him, his own weapon on a few inches from his left hand.
"Ha! Talk about your understatements." He lowered his weapon just an inch and pointed it down towards the ground nonchalantly, as he leaned down on one knee. "You killed quite a few of my guys tonight for a fight you just can't win. I told you what would happen if you fucked with me, right?"
The horse leaned in closer towards the windshield "Now that's two women you failed..." he began, but didn't get to finish. Grayson snatched his pistol and fired off two rounds. The fire extinguisher exploded with a soft POP and billowed white fog and smoke. Drake jumped backwards in surprise, his own gray muzzle lost in a cloud of smoke. Two more shots rang out.
POW! POW!
The horse jumped back to fire. A fist punched him in the chest and another in the gut, causing him to collapse backwards. Gasping, gasping. It was as if the horse couldn't catch his breath all of a sudden. He was wet from something....His fingers touched his chest and brought them up to see in the growing morning light. It was blood. His vision was shrinking as he looked up at the brown bear, snarling over him.
He had dried blood from the twisted piece of pipe in his shoulder. Drake remembered being chased by the bear after the dinner party. After he had attempted to ransom all of those people. The gunfight, followed by the car chase. He saw the truck hauling the pipes on the highway and fired three shots, two at the ratchet strap holding the large pipes on the semi-trailer, and one through the cab of the truck. He remember looking back in his rear view mirror with satisfaction as the truck slammed into the railing and the pipes going through the windshield of Grayson's old pick up truck, and watching Grayson jerk the wheel and tumble over. He was supposed to have won. Angela should be dying in front of Grayson. What the hell happened?
The bear aimed the weapon down at the equine below him. The horses face had grown pale, his nose and ears gaining a bluish tint. His eyes bulged out as he focused up at the bear, not quite seeing him any more. "What...happened..."
"I shot the fire extinguisher, than you. You're dying." Grayson said matter-of-factly.
"I....just....have.....one....question...." the horse said looking up into the bears muzzle. The snarl never left the bear's face. Every word was a struggle. A stab of pain shot through his chest with each syllable.
"Shoot." he replied, never lowering his pistol. The horse grinned. Shoot indeed.
"Do....you...ever...think....of...her?" The pain was getting excruciating now. His vision grew fuzzy as he looked up, not quite being able to even see the bear or his gun anymore.
"Your wife?"
The horse nodded in reply. Grayson sighed deeply even though it pained him to do so with the twisted piece of pipe in his shoulder. It sounded like he had the weight of the world upon him as he did so. "Every day of my life. It was supposed to be easy. Rescue a diplomat's kid. She wasn't supposed to die. It wasn't supposed to end with four dead." He adjusted himself, kicking the horses pistol away before squatting down. It wasn't like he could use it, but some habits never die. "Where is she? Where is Angela?"
"Right....pocket." He grunted out. The horses windpipe pulled to the right, bulging out unnaturally in his neck now. "You....should....have....kept...her....safe" he gasped then sighed. Grayson reached down and pulled the paper from his pocket. Drake always knew how to have the last word.
"I tried" he said now to no one in particular. "I tried to old friend." The pipe in his shoulder shifted slightly as he stood up, sending a jolt of pain back through him. He opened up the crumpled piece of paper reading the address in the early morning light. 1223 Frontier street. Of course. Back where everything started. Drake would set something like that up on purpose.
"I'm coming Angela" he said as he tried to activate his smart phone. A spiderweb of colors greeted him. Shit. His eyes scanned the road. No one was coming. That didn't surprise him. This road was not very well traveled anytime of day. He could sit here for hours before anyone actually passed by. His ears picked up a sound though. The diesel engine of the semi chattered along happily in the early morning, unaware of the carnage on the street. Beneath that though, there was another sound that Grayson heard, the quiet hum of a well tuned V-8.
Grayson half limped, half walked forward towards the sound of the second engine. A large SUV slowly came into view in front of the wrecked semi-truck. Its tail lights glowed bright in the dim morning light, as the horizon had just begun to be kissed by the first rays of the rising sun.
With a grunt and a groan, he painfully lifted himself into the expensive vehicle. Buttons, dials, chrome, all surrounding a large touch screen display. Drake didn't skimp on amenities it seemed. Grayson tapped a few buttons, snarling as the pain caused his vision to swim for a moment. It didn't take long to find the GPS function on the vehicle.
"I'm coming Angela" he said as he typed the address in. Grayson had 30 minutes left. The system said it would take twenty minutes to get there. "I'm coming" he said again as he put the truck in drive and stomped the throttle forcing himself to focus on the road.