Continued From… The Curious Call Of The Carnival…

It was in that moment of absolute stillness Robert realized something was very wrong… In those frozen seconds he could only hear Marf’s uneasy breathing on the other line.



”Marf, are you still there?”



”That I am...the fuck was that?”



” I was hoping that you’d have an answer for me… I’m not sure what’s going on but it doesn't sit right with me… All of a sudden Charlie disappears off the line and then something happens to Dolly… Marf, I know that you and I have our differences, but if we don’t stick together… This might happen to us too…”



” What do you think is going on Bob-O?”



Robert chuckles under his bourbon laced breath…



” I'm thinking exactly what you are thinking, we’re being hunted like wild animals. If we don’t have teammates, we’re greatly outnumbered... Listen, I’ve got a safe location where we can meet up, we’ve got to come up with a game plan and figure out what’s going on or we are screwed come Wargames…”



Robert wastes no time sending Marf his location…



” Get here as soon as possible and stay vigilant… See who may or may not be following you.”



” I’m on my way now, see you in a couple hours.”



Click…



Robert tossed his phone on his kitchen counter, his eyes were trained on some invisible spectre, his heavy eyelids a fraction too slow to blink, his irises stationary… It was like “The Omega’s” brain was suffering from a massive short circuit struggling to compute the situation at hand… He tapped his fingers a few times on the counter before pulling the kitchen curtains back, leering out the window.



” Bob what are you still doing up?”



Robert looked over his shoulder showing signs of distress…



” Wargames…”



Drew heads to the fridge reaching for his chocolate almond milk that has no lid, taking a gigantic swig.



” You’ve always won, what’s the issue…”



Drew places the milk back in the fridge as Robert raises his eyebrow…



” Did you just put that back in my fridge with no lid?”



Drew nods… As Robert sighs…



” There is something going on with Charlie and Dolly…”



Drew threw his hands in the air..



”Charlie is a nutcase....”



Robert turned away from the window crossing his arms…



” Really? That coming from you?”



” Okay I get your point there… But, Dolly could be doing anything…”



” Drew, it sounded like someone abducted her…”



”Graves?”



Robert shrugs…



” Marf, is on the way, so we can figure out a game plan…”



Drew laughs out loud…



” Wait, the guy you just tapped out is on his way over here and you're drinking… Make sure you wake me up the second he gets here, because this is going to be a trainwreck… We all know you don’t play well with others Robert...”

A few hours later…

KNOCK… KNOCK… KNOCK…



Robert opens his front door to see Marf standing there looking like the lumbering horror movie villain he is.



” Main…”



Robert nods looking over Marf’s shoulder…



” Were you followed?”



”Not that I know of, but if I was they’ll have a real bad time with us...You gonna let me in or what?”



Robert motions for Marf to come inside, showing him to the kitchen table where a glass of bourbon is waiting on him. The two take their seats as Marf grabs his glass, lifting it into the air.



”Cheers…”



” Marf, I’m going to ask you this one time and one time only… Do you have anything to do with this?”



Marf’s jaw tightened as his brow lowered…



”What in the hell do you mean, Robert? You think that I have something to do with Charlie and Dolly coming up missing?”



Robert points to Marf with a smile…



” That’s exactly what I’m saying Marf…”



Marf leans across the table inching closer to Robert…



” Why in the hell would I do something like that…”



Robert taps the table a few times…



” I don’t know… Maybe because I made you squeal?”



Marf leaps from his chair looking off in the corner of the kitchen where Drew is eating a bag of popcorn…



” Don’t mind me… I’m not even here…”



Marf looks to Main…



” You wanna run it back Main? Then let’s do it, I smashed Jimmy’s head in at Warfare. I have no problem going two for two right here… Just know one thing, my intentions, regardless of who’s team I’m on, are to destroy everyone else in front of me. ”



Robert nods



” Easy, hoss... That was a test and you just passed with flying colors, sit…”



” That was anticlimactic… I’m going back to bed…”



Drew mumbles to himself as he disappears…



” What do you mean a test?”



” I wanted to see how you’d react in person, I wanted to look into your eyes as you answered… I can clearly see that you are telling the truth…”



Marf let’s out a long, partially annoyed sigh as he finally sits back down.



” Gee, thanks Dad! So, what the hell do we do now? For all we know half our team is dead or locked in a basement…How high are the odds this was done by the cowards in BoB?



” I know you are annoyed, but listen, in Wargames anything can happen… You’ve got to expect the unexpected… And this right here is very unexpected… It’s just you and I... And if you want to kick everyone's teeth down their throats you’ve got to listen to me man… I’ve been there and done that several times now… I know how to win this fucking thing… It could be B.o.B… Yeah, we all know how badly they want us gone so they can do whatever they please with as little resistance as possible… But that would be an easy guess, my bet is another team… Team Powers is my bet. We all know they don’t stand a chance with the fire power we wield, so they are taking away our bullets…”



” Those are definitely some strong points you’ve made. As much as I struggle to believe Team Powers actually possess the combined brain capacity to come up with...well...any plan at all, they might actually be behind this. So that leaves us with an important question...Where do WE go from here?”



Robert extends his hand to a former enemy…



” The only place that we can Marf… We stick together…”



Marf stares Robert in the eyes and then glances to the hand. The hand that was balled into a white knuckle fist being driven into his face just a few weeks ago. Marf reaches out and firmly grasps that hand and they shake.



” I know this may come as a shock but I don’t exactly trust people outside of my own tag team partner...But I see it in those eyes, going forward I can trust you Robert. And for what it’s worth, you can trust me.”



” Marf, that’s all I wanted to hear… I’ve got your back, now let's go win this son of a bitch…”



They both seem satisfied with one another, power shaking as Drew walks back in holding two bags full of trash.



” Thought you went back to bed…”



” I did Bob, but remembered the trash needed to be taken out... Hope I’m not interrupting anything special here ladies… Marf, be a sport and toss these out on the curb for me? Raccoons be damned, I’m not waking up early to take out the damn trash anymore.”



Marf is about to protest when Main beats him to it, getting into a mild argument with Drew. Marf grumbles and gets up, grabbing the trash bags and heading outside. He walks down the dark driveway and drops the bags at the edge of the curb. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, Marf looks up at the night sky, clouds blocking the stars from his sight. The cloudy night softens the vibrant colours of day to soft pastel hues, the kind that awaken the soul and let it stay in serene comfort. Marf abruptly starts to mumble aloud to himself.



” The hell have I gotten myself into. Half my team is missing and I’m doing Drew’s chores...Christ almighty! I guess it could be worse...I could be on limp Dickpoclypse arguing over who takes the most viagra. Or I could be on one of the so-called golden boys’ teams, likely being forced to sit around a campfire listening to Thad or Corey drone on about what great captains they make. Hell, I could have even been stuck on Betsy’s team, slowly dying while Atara and Reggie argue over who’s seen more dick pics since 2015. I guess if doing some chores is the worst of my problems I can…”



Marf stops and cocks his head to the sound of a branch snapping somewhere in the darkness. He slowly shifts to the side of Main’s house as there’s some more muffled noises and more snaps. Marf steadies himself right by the edge of the house. It goes quiet for a moment and then Marf hears a low rustling. He rears back his fist ready to brawl when a wild bunny comes hopping out from the side of the house. Marf snorts at his own paranoia and the sound causes the rabbit to take off. As Marf watches it go, a looming figure suddenly rounds the corner and Marf jumps back and throws a kick, knocking the overfilled leaf bag right out of Drew’s hands.



” Dude what the actual fuck!? You scared the shit out of me man, the hell are you doing!?”



” I scared YOU!? The hell man you just made a mess! It’s leaf bag day tomorrow, they only come once a month for those pesky things out here. We keep things tidy, if I miss that I’ll have to wait while my full leaf bags just sit around killing the lawn. Ask me what I’m doing, what the hell are you doing ninja kicking people in the dark!?”



” Shut up I’m sorry alright? Guess I’m a bit on edge with the disappearance of Dolly and Charlie… Here I’ll fuckin’ help clean it up.”



Drew runs off to get a rake while Marf once again grumbles to himself and picks up the fallen leaf bag. As he’s trying to put the leaves back in he hears another branch snap much closer to him. Marf groans but doesn’t look up.



” I swear to God if you try to jump scare me again Drew I will punch you directly in the dic…mmmph mmm!!!”



Marf is cut off by a filthy rag being shoved into his mouth and a brute of a figure jumping onto his back. Marf struggles for a moment but has nowhere to go as the light in his eyes fade to black. The figure, dressed in black with a black ski mask, drags Marf away as we fade from the scene.

---

Shatter the mug








BREAK.






A harbinger




A Stone






No it isn’t






A Tone.




Its relevant








How about this?






A King






The Waters Drowning The Waves

---

Dolly’s eyelids flutter open and squeeze shut again. A combination of blood, dirt, and sweat irritate tears from the edges of her skin. She tries pulling her hand up to wipe her face, but finds that it’s bound by ropes.

Same for the left hand.

Dolly swings her head down, letting her hair act as a visor. She opens her eyes again, allowing them to drip on the ground. All around her is darkness, spare for a few rays of starlight poking down from overhead. Her head is splitting, and her mouth is dry and tastes like copper.

Ugh. I feel like shi-

Nauseated, she catches herself mid-retch as she groans. The bile swimming in her mouth does little to dampen the dryness or mask the zinc.

Make it, stop, make it stop……

Dolly flips her hair back and looks toward the mumbling voice. She squints her eyes and sees through the tattered lighting of the moon she sees a shirtless man tied to a black St. Andrews Cross set up a few yards away from her.

The man is panting and mud stained, with dried blood crusting from out of his ears and down into his beard. His blue jeans are ripped and torn in several places. His shirtless body is marked by lacerations and congealing cuts. The flabs of fat rolling down his chest and waist are bruised and discolored, quite possibly due to infection.

Make the beatings stop...

Charlie?

Ch-ch-ch-charlie?

Atop the cross, Charlie Nickles is barely able to twist his neck enough to see the bound Dolly Waters out of the corner of his eye. Charlie’s eyes flutter constantly as he’s unable to summon the strength needed to force his eyelids to remain open for any significant length of time.

I swear it’s been….years since I’ve heard that name….

Dolly’s face twists with dismayed incredulity as Charlie’s head rolls around aimlessly on top of his beaten body, as if his neck were made of shifting clay.

What in the FUCK is going on, Charlie? Where are we?!


A choppy track plays over a blown-out PA system, chopping and repeating itself as if the record were scratched. The extravagant instrumental screeches behind the vocals, stuttering and screaming as the grainy voice scrapes through the grooves of the choppy melody.


They do?


This is so fucked...


The PA system cuts off as a bright white light flashes down from overhead, creating a fully illuminated circle in the dirt a few yards to the side of Charlie's crucifixion. Dolly’s gaze is immediately drawn to the irradiated circle.

The one time that Lycana isn’t here to soak up my spotlight….shit.

Marf!

The man spits some blood on the ground as he wriggles around, encountering immense resistance with every movement. Marf looks down and finds himself tied to a chair with hands behind his back and plenty of rope wrapped tightly around his chest and his legs. His body seems relatively unscarred, save for one fresh bruise gaining color on his forehead. Dolly turns her gaze back to Charlie before barking harshly at him.

Did you do this, Charlie?!

Charlie groans quietly as his head rolls around limply on his neck. Marf looks up at Charlie’s limp body hanging on the cross before turning back to look at Dolly.

Why would Charlie do this?

I don’t trust him, he’s a fucking narcissist! He’s Charlie! He’s just like the rest of these gatekeeping hypocrites in War Games. Only he doesn’t hide behind some pretty mask. I’m not sure if that’s a redeeming quality or not. He tricked everyone once with that Thrax shit, and now he’s trying to do it again!

Exactly! He tricked everyone! If this was Charlie’s work, he wouldn’t even be on your radar. Charlie creeps like a goon and slides on you when you least expect it. When you DON’T think Charlie’s up to something, that’s when he’s REALLY up to something! Look at the guy- looks like he’s got worst of it.

Oh yeah? Well you sorta' look like you just stepped out of the hair and makeup booth! You in on this, Marf? Is this another hackneyed satanic ritual? Baphoment going to pop out from behind the curtain and make us all watch as he plays with his tiny little dick?!

The Left Hand is dead, over. Ok? Just like Geri’s career in the XWF, there’s nothing there. If this is the Baphomet’s work, I’ll cut his dick off before he starts that fucking routine again.

Dolly’s eyes swell in the glow of the spotlight,

DICK!

You sound excited about the concept.

The guy who kidnapped me….he had a huge, disgusting erection!

It’s starting to sound like this whole thing was your idea…

Think about it... Who needs us out of the picture at this exact moment? This is all Drippy fucking Dicky’s work! He knew his bottom of the barrel team couldn’t beat us on the up and up, so he’s trying to keep us from the show!

Damn it! I bet Caedus followed me to Robert’s hideout after I flayed his hide on Warfare!

Caedus...

Does that goofy assed bitch have a reason to want you out of the frame, too?

A bit of bloody spittle is propelled from Dolly’s mouth as she tugs firmly on her restraints.

Let’s just say that Jim and I have a bit of history.

History?

This ain't our first tango, and while I'd expect better out of Jim than taking things too far - it's his nature.

Marf grunts as Charlie groans. Dolly takes a few moments of silence to look around her surroundings. Her facial features harshen as Marf squints up at the spotlight still shining down upon him.

If it's him, I wish he'd... SHUT THAT FUCKING LIGHT OFF!!!

On command, the spotlight dies, shrouding the trio in darkness once more. There's a faint sound of footsteps running over sheets of metal. Everything fades to black.

-To Be Continued-