Icafia

Chapter by Osmartazzo
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Everything seemed utterly insane. Too many robotic bodies,
machinery, shells, and whathaveyou were littered on the streets for
Mercedes' liking. Considering things like this were never supposed
to happen, it wouldn't be surprising that she was shaken up just a
little bit. Her eyes widened with wonder at an SUV that was fried
worse than her Jeep. She turned her gaze to the right and the exact
same kind of vehicle was also on fire. She gulped and tightened her
grip on the handlebars while continuing to putz and weave down the
road.

"Gee, I really don't want to mess with these folks."

Mercedes heard more ambulances and fire trucks drone and speed to
the scene. The eerie thing about the whole situation was that she
didn't see a living soul anywhere…. nor were there any human
bodies to be found.

"This is all so confusing!" Mercedes exclaimed. She didn't want
to be caught up in the chaos of cleanup and witness interrogation so
she pushed the moped to go faster. The motorbike must have taken a
beating with its previous owner or couldn't take the work Mercedes
pushed it to do because it was whining in protest. "C'mon Old
Yeller…. don't give up on me now!" It only whined louder. She put
the moped and neutral and coasted to a slow stop.

"I myself am tired. I feel your pain, girl." She patted the
seat. "But I'll help you out. Look what I can do!"

Mercedes flipped the battery pack of her railgun on. It hummed to
life. Tiny bits of machinery clicked and whirred inside as it was
getting ready to do what its owner requested of it. Mercedes undid
its straps and restrapped it onto the back of the moped, muzzle
facing the road behind the rest of the bike. The railgun purred and
began sucking air into its chambers. Mercedes put on some goggles
she found inside the seat, sat back down, one again gripped the
handlebars, and smashed one of her boots against the enter button
for air launch. The railgun thundered and let out a blast of air
that propelled the moped forward at 70 miles per hour.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAW!" the
spunky teenager yelped.


Mercedes tapped the off button so she could coast to a stop. She
tried to turn the engine on again, but it was in no better shape
than what it was like 20 minutes ago. Oh well, she tried. She could
see a campfire up around the bend. A hulking vehicle was off a ways,
and it seemed like the wheels were on top. "How silly, wheels
should be on the bottom!" Mercedes scratched her head before
realizing that the truck must have been upside down. How could these
people survive such a terrible accident?

"Holy smokes, you people must be superheroes!" she shouted to the
group by the fire. One woman was startled and sat up, two men
reached instinctively to their weapons, and another person lying on
his/her side (Mercedes couldn't tell the gender) murmured in
pain. "Oops, sorry if I scared you…" she put up both her hands to
show that she had nothing to hide. "Just, um, hey, did anyone see
all the damage done on the road a ways back? Such an odd sight, it
was!"

One man put his gun down, flicked his cigarette butt into the fire,
and sat up. "You mean all the Kumas?"

Mercedes cocked her head to the side. "Ku-what?"

"Kumas," the woman piped in. "Cyborgs that look like humans and
obviously run on machine parts. Yeah, we were the cause of the
mess."

The other man rubbed a hand on the side of his neck, "Were you
following us or something? I can't imagine you are some kind of
cop."

"Hahaha, far from one! I was following the trail of the dirty
double-crossing bastard who blew up my Jeep." The coherent woman
and long-haired man went silent; the man with the cigarette turned
his gaze towards the sleeping form and snappily answered, "Why
don't you ask Sleeping Beauty over there? She would pull that kind
of thing."

Mercedes fumed. If that man was speaking true, then it had to be
that person. She could see blood shining in the reflection of the
fire's light; how many people walked around bloody at night? It had
to be him!

"Why you…you….you HEARTLESS PIECE OF SCUM!" the flustered
adolescent whimpered. She began to pummel her fists hard on the
person's arm. "DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO SAVE UP FOR A CAR-
HEY, LET ME GO!" The woman who was awake tried to hold back
Mercedes' arms, but she squirmed. The surly man let out a
sigh. "Do you know how much of a beating she has went through
tonight? At least wait to seek revenge until she heals a little."

Mercedes paused then put down her tightened fists. She sat back on
her heels and all traces of anger vanished from her face. A look of
sorrow took place on it instead. "You're right…but what she did
was so awful…" The bloodied woman turned in place and let out a
flabbergasted "Huh?" She was about to say Mercedes' name, but she
beat her to it.

"Holy shit…IS THAT YOU BEBE!?"