《Mecha Dragons of Mars》Chapter 9: The Vice Villa Site
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I can't remember whose brilliant idea it was that we all pile into Laurence's jeep but there we were, squished in as he raced it off towards the source of the blood-curling screams.
"It must be coming from the Vice Villa site," he stated, concern to his voice, "but how the hell do I get over there from this direction?"
"The GPS says to go straight," answered Detective LaLouf, staring at her phone.
"Lola, honey, I CAN'T go straight, there's a mountain literally straight ahead."
"Then go around it and then go straight, Laurence!"
"That's what I'm trying to do, don't you think?!"
"Don't snap at me!"
While the married couple argued in the front, Dr. Snively, Cleetus, and myself were seated in the back from left to right in that order. Boom-Boom, stuffed tightly at my feet, let out a few sad mews in regards to her fate, but generally stayed calm. I would've offered her my lap to ride on, but with all the equipment Laurence had brought, we had to instead pile that on top of ourselves if we wanted to make room.
"Be gentle with that device on your left knee, Cole!" commanded Dr. Snively from behind his own lap full of equipment, "I plan to use that once we find the form again!"
"Okay," I answered but truthfully couldn't see what he was talking about though the amount of crap now resting on me.
Cleetus, sandwiched between us with his own equipment pile likewise was doing little to help me focus on the external factors. Sure, he was serving as a wind break from Dr. Snively's gastro-intestinal issues, but the way he had positioned himself his head and mine were nearly touching; with the heavy equipment on top of us, neither he or I really could move, but we could certainly talk.
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"Don't think you'll always have this safety in numbers to protect you," Cleetus whispered in my nearby ear, "the only reason I haven't told them you blew up the Earth is because I will not let the delight of sucking out your eyeballs as I bash in your nose be stolen from me by this farting lunatic. Mark my words, Cole, as soon as I can get you alone I am going to skin your ugly mug and make a new pair of combat boots out of it."
I would assume if Detective LaLouf had turned around that from her position in the vehicle it would have seemed like Cleetus was whispering sweet nothings into my ear. But this was not a tender moment: I could tell Cleetus was quite anxious to make his threats a reality.
Suddenly, the jeep slammed on its breaks. We all slammed forward as everything on top slammed back into us.
"Cole!" Snively snapped, "I said be careful with that device!"
"Meow!" called out poor Boom-Boom at my feet.
"Jesus Christ!" exclaimed Laurence, our less-than-stellar chauffer. "What the hell has happened here?!"
I quickly freed one of my hands so that I could move things off of myself to get a better look, but I could already smell it- a smokey, cooking odor in the air. I was sad to think it, but Snively's farts almost were preferable.
There was no screaming anymore but there was slight moanings around. We finally got out and could see why- if this had been the Vice Villa site, there was not much of a site left at all. Everything was coated by black ash and still quite hot; bits and pieces of building materials lay strewn about, burned or melted. A lone yellow hard hat sat on the edge of the burn site, splattered with blood.
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And then there were people, or at least what was left of them.
As had been the case with Martha Ann and Dan's, there really was little human remains. The fire had acted quickly to destroy everything. A couple burly men, charred beyond recognition, lay at the end of a partial finished walkway- and that was it. They did not look like they had much longer to last, but they seemed to be the source of the moaning.
"Oh my God," Detective LaLouf exclaimed as she rushed over to help. I followed, more not knowing what else to do and wanting to escape Cleetus's company. But, of course, Cleetus followed me. Laurence stayed behind to retch by his jeep as Dr. Snively began pouring through the equipment in search of certain tools.
"Dr..dragon..." one of the burned men was murmuring as we approached.
"Sir, we're here to help," LaLouf did her best to be professional despite the horrific sight and smell, "what happened here?"
"Dragon..." he repeated.
"The fire..." the other surviving victim beside him uttered, "so hot..."
"How did this fire start?" LaLouf pressed. I stood watching, as, I mean, I hadn't become a firefighter overnight. Cleetus approached the first one and knelt down.
"You said 'dragon'- is that to say the fire came down from the sky like it came from a dragon?" He asked.
"No...it was a literal fucking dragon..." the man was in pain but very clear as he spoke.
"A dragon?" LaLouf cocked her head.
"The fire...so hot..." the other man repeated.
"I'm...telling you...with my dying breath," the first man started to shake, "It was...totally...a giant, fire-breathing dragon...that did this..." with that he collapsed.
"The fire...so hot..." his companion said again before collapsing himself.
LaLouf was back on her phone. "I need a medical and fire team here STAT!" she yelled into her phone, "at the Vice Villa site! Yes, right now!"
I looked about but all I could see was charred remains and carnage. Then, from behind me, I heard Boom-Boom's mew.
The cat had run over to a non-burned area close to the site and was jumping in and out of an odd hole. I hadn't noticed it when we first pulled up on account of so much more to see but in light of the recent events I froze.
"Hey, Cleetus," I said, speaking to him as if it were old times, "take a look at that."
"What?" He didn't seem happy to talk to me but looked anyway. He too froze. "Say, isn't that hole Boom-Boom's in shaped remarkable like a footprint? Maybe from a dinosaur?"
"Or a dragon," I remarked.
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Our Shattered Realms
*This is a learning experience for me so please keep in mind that I am attempting to work on some of the issues brought to my attention early on. However I haven't yet gone back to redo the early chapters.* Less than two days ago every piece of electronics in the world stopped working for more than two hours. The death toll was immense. Hospital equipment failed, cars stopped in the middle of the street, planes fell from the sky, and homework was lost at the worst possible moment. We found out that it was just the flicker and hum of The System warming up. Now we see the true cost of our new world. A Dark comedy that focuses on a few of the many people who aren't stuck in a high level dungeon when our world is translated and joined to Our Shattered Realms. This is my first story that I have published. I welcome any criticism that you have for me. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!
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8 149Uprooted
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8 249Beyond The Sky
This is not a battle between good and bad, in a realm that defies those things, good or bad were counted on which intention to keep. Ansel Cakara and Maven Kalila once had an encounter between two gods who fight against each other for the greater good. Maven, who was traumatized by the encounter, wrote her experience in a web novel. Ansel noticed it, and then they met and discuss the event. When they discuss those things, something happened. They were transported to another world, where those gods reign. Unfortunately, not only Ansel and Maven were transported, their friends too. Thabit promised if they fight for the greater good, they could be taken back to their world. The problem lies whether which greater good that they have to choose.
8 55Tahneen
Is life fair? Of course not. Have you ever considered yourself lucky? Of course not. Do you have a family? Of course I don't. Do you know who the people who are the really lucky ones? The people who have something they can call a family. Once you actually lose them, you question the whole world, wondering what God or the Gods have planned for you next. The really unlucky ones see the death of their entire family within grabbing distance and still couldn't do anything. You think your life should just cease to exist because you have nothing if you don't have your family. Now what happens to people like this? Simple. Most of them either kill themselves, move far away so they aren't haunted with ghosts, or get revenge. Now what if you have accomplished the revenge part. What's the point of your life now? You actually think you can finally move on with your life but what if there's something you never knew about your family. That there are secrets so hidden that everything you knew about your family is just the tip of an iceberg.Author's Note: The story will not progress in the fantasy and adventure part of the story until much later. All pictures will be drawn by me and might possibly lengthen chapter timings.
8 267Grasping
A former general doctor dies in an accident and meets a R.O.B. who tells him that he will be transmigrated into another world and would grant him one wish as long as it amuses him. The doctor seized the opportunity and tells the being that he wanted to be the embodiment of the concept of grasping. This way he would be able to grasp his dick better. The R.O.B. laughing up a fit decided to grant him the ability and sent him off. New sequel in writing: The concept of games (This one is not an isekai) The first route of my isekai series: The intelligent one.(There are a total of three routes in this series, it is a shared universe. This series symbolises 3 ways an isekai can go, from mortal to the highest level of existence.)1. The intelligent one2. The gifted one (Writing in progress)3. The forced one (Writing in progress)Alternately,1. The one that doesn't want to die.2. The one that cannot die.3. The one that keeps dying. Already completed on scribblehub
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