Chapter Text
The year is 2544 and Humanity
is its own worst enemy among the stars.
On the fringes of Terran space
the worst mankind has to offer
is unleashed for the sake of survival or profit.
What hope is there for those who wish to live in happiness?
The Bastard belted a laugh as the Brunette tied to the chair hit the bloody floor, hard. Leaning back against the bar, he lifted the bottle he’d been holding to his lips. After a swig, his face turning sour, he coughed and spat the whiskey onto the battered woman.
“You still drinkin shit like this, freak?” He coughed, and nodded to the Blonde Man, who swiftly kicked the Brunette in the stomach.
The Brunette tried to scream again, only for a muffle to escape the industrial tape across her face. Her eyes moved to the corpse in the corner of the barroom. It laid in the wreckage of a pool table the two of them had been circling for hours before… before… Reddish tears pooled in the Brunette's eyes as her scream gave way to a sob and an attempt at saying the corpse's name.
A pair of steel toed cowboy boots stepped into her vision and her face became a defiant glare up at the figure before her. The Bastard grinned and cocked his head to the side. A low chuckle escaped him; a joke only he knew running through his mind. The Blonde Man joined him above her, followed by the Mullet, the Meat and the fucking Pig. The Worm was long gone, but she knew he had to be watching.
She fucking knew it.
“Now there’s a look I missed.” The Bastard drawled, “Meanest sonuvabitch I ever knew, didn’t I say it?” He grabbed the Brunette by the hair and pulled her head off the ground. Her vision had already begun to blur but hate finished the image of his face. Mutton chops and nasty scar, he looked just how she remembered.
“But mean is only mean for so long, ‘fore it stops being enough.”
“Fuck does that even mean?” The Mullet interrupted him. He smacked his gum loudly, glancing down at the Brunette with distaste. The Bastard dropped her head, letting it smack against the concrete. Stars began to swim in her eyes. This was bad, she couldn’t take much more of this, and the rage building within was making it clear that death was NOT going to cut it.
“It means you can’t run forever, dumbass.”
“You’re running out of time.” The Pig cut in,” You got five more minutes. Get this over with.”
The Bastard scoffed as he stood tall again. “This is over anyway.”
“If you say so. I’ll give the all clear then.”
“You do that.”
Footsteps signalled the Pig’s departure. The others remained, watching the writhing woman like starving wolves. She squirmed and kicked but couldn’t find purchase against the binds holding her to the metal seat. A guttural cry came from within her, but it didn’t last long before collapsing into sobs. Rage was warring within with the grief at what these men had taken from her. Who they had taken.
“Here’s the thing,” The Bastard began, hands in his pockets. “I’d like to think we know each other well enough to cut the bullshit. You know damn well no one cheats me, kid. No one.”
The Meat’s boot met her face, and the world went black.