Volume II
TugMug
By Lucifer Daimaou
The Gravity Moons of Plundarr.The poorest, dirtiest moons of all that can hold Lunatac life.Due to the powerful gravitational pull, few metals are strong enough to stand.Because of this, those few go into making educational facilities, as well as space ships intended to take the adults off-world for their jobs in the more developed moons.The people themselves are a sight to behold, short, but incredubly muscular so that they can move freely in their powerful environment.
For one family, the situation was only getting worse.The family was that of Bullock Quidock, his wife Nina, and their two sons, Jonathan, the elder, and Timothy, the younger.“Honey, I told you you never should have trusted those people!”Nina shouted for not the first time that week.
“Dearest, knowing that isn’t going to bring up the money we need,”Bullock pointed out, a bit angered himself, “Maybe we should work on the problem instead of shouting about it!”Jonathan and Timothy sat huddled togethar, had they been like the other children they would have been in their rooms, but living in an alley, deprived of such privaleges, they went for the next best thing; hiding under a box.The once powerful Quidock family had hit bankrupcy a generation before the money could be Jonathans, meanwhile, he had gotten himself into a debt that would eventualy be his and his family’s undoing.The money he owed was more than the governments of the gravity moons held combined.Yet for Timothy, these facts were unimportant, all he wanted was for them to stop shouting.
The shouting stopped soon enough.Within a week’s time, the powerfully armed men came and Bullock and his wife payed the ultimate price.Timothy managed to hide durring the ensuing carnage, but his brother was hauled off.“So, kid, you the only one?”Asked on of the assasins.Giving a quick glance to where his brother was hidden, Jonathan quickly replied.
“Yeah, I’m the only child.”And those were the last words that Timothy would ever hear from his brother.
“So, Tim, you sure they’re both dead?”Demanded the well, dressed, upper-class lunatac standing before Tim.The muscular gravity race grinned.“What’ve you got behind your back?”asked the man, pointing to Tim’s arms.
“Only my proof.”Tim said malevolently, pulling the heads of two Troll-Race Lunatacs out from behind him.Taken aback, the man started handing out cash to Tim, who drops the heads in order to hold on to the money.The man started to walk out of the alley.
“Don’t get caught now.”He called.
“Never have, never weeell.”Tim replied.Brushing his mowhock, he stuffed his newly earned cash into his pocket.“Not eeeven by my employer.”He snickered, pulling out a remote control and pressing the red button on it.An explosion came from the direction his ‘employer’ had walked off to.The act had not impressed Tim in the least, in all of his empoyers, he knew how to tell a traitor from a possible future job.A man as distinguished as his previous client would not risk being discovered by hiring him a second time, so he most likely would have gone to the authorities.Tim snickered at that, the authorities hadn’t a clue.
As he walked into the Poison Kat Bar, Tim got ready to make full use of his money.Leaping into the stool, Tim ordered rounds for everyone, immidiately becoming surrounded in drinking buddies.“Ah, killed ‘gain, didja Tim?”The Bartender asked, grinning, “Well, it’s always good for service when you do!”
One of Tim’s “friends” put his glass into the air.“Heeere’s to de death of a lowlife and to more booze for us!”he cheered.Tim laughed, tapping his glass against his friends’.Then he heard an all-too familiar ticking noise.His face went from a grin to a look of terror, as he tore his way out of the bar, but it was too late.There was a loud CLICK, and the bar was consumed by a large fireball.Tim had just enough time to dive out when a sharp pain in his legs erupted, and he fell out of conciousness.
“What shall we do with him, sir?”Asked a the captain of the spaceship, “Are we to bring him back to the Psychic moons?”The young teenager behind him smiled malevolently.
“Yes, I think he’ll be more useful to us there.”He replied.He stared into the frozen-time capsule, where the gravity-lunatac lay unconcious and mortaly wounded.
“But sir...”The captain said doubtfully, “He won’t even be able to...walk.”The psychic Lunatac laughed.
“Don’t you worry about that, captain,”The boy said, “Just take us home.”
Tim woke up feeling weaker than he had ever felt in his entire life.Attempting to get up, he found that he was bound down to a hospital bed.He had a strong, painful feeling in his legs and left arm, but he couldn’t see them because of the covers.“Where theee hell am I?!”He shouted.A short, teenage psychic race walked into the room and right up to his bed.
“Hello, Timothy Quidock,”The boy said, “You have had quite an experience.It seems that one of your previous employers decided to get rid of you, fortunately you managed to escape.”Tim was more than a little suspicous.
“How do you know all theees?”Tim asked, “And what the hell is wrong with my arm and legs?!”
“The problem is that they are non-existant.”The boy said calmly, “Your legs burned off by the explosion, your arm torn off by the rubble.”Tim’s eyes widened in shock.
“Whooo are you?What do you want from me then?”Tim demanded.
“You will call me Psiki,” the boy said, “and I have a proposition for you.We can rebuild your body mechanicly, and all you have to do after that is assasinate a teenage hunter for us.”Tim snorted.
“Eeeet’s not like you leave me weeeth much choice, Psiki.”He said, “Let’s dooo it.”
The operation took place seconds later.Tim was drugged asleep, and the rebuilding began.A metalic waist was melded to him, and powerful springs were attached to the bottom.His arm was replaced with a metalic claw, and the metals used for this process were the rare sort which could withstand a long life on the gravity moons.It was quickly apparent that a large amount of money and research had gone into this process, and one had to wonder why it would be used on such street junk as Timothy Quidock.However, Psiki was no fool, he knew a professional killer when he saw one.
Tim awoke feeling his strength tripled.Tearing off his bonds, he found the doctors and Psiki himself standing around him.“So how do you feel, Tim?”Psiki asked.
“Tim is dead,”snarled the gravity-race lunatac, “In his place eeees TugMug!”
“Very good, a professional name,” Psiki said indifferently, “We have your weapon here, something your race holds in high esteem.”TugMug was handed a silver, cylindrical cannon.
“A gravity carbine!”TugMug gasped.
“I knew you would like it,”Psiki said triumphantly, “With this, as you probably know, you will be able to hold your targets in the air or against the ground, and against you, neither will be a satisfactory defensive stance, wouldn’t you agree?”TugMug nodded, narrowing his eyes.
“What’s dee catch?” TugMug demanded.Psiki laughed.
“My dear friend, all you have to do is kill this girl,”He said, holding out a photograph, “which, by the time you get to her, will be in no position to fight as it is.”TugMug thought it was a bit suspicous, but decided to do it.
“All right, but after that, I go freeee, right?”He asked.
“Of course.” Psiki replied, smirking.
TugMug watched in horified fasination from the rooftop as the four Sight-Race lunatacs violated the teenage hunter with no regret.I don’t like this, TugMug thought, his concious acting up for the first time in years, thees is just a little girl, I’ve never had to keeel the little ones before.Then, out of nowhere, a cry of rage rang through TugMug’s ears.He looked to see a psychic boy, using his powers to fling the Sight lunatacs around like dolls.TugMug acted, leaping down to where the girl lay crying.He looked at her for a moment.“Just...kill me...”She cried.TugMug reached out with his metalic claw...and snapped her neck.The boy turned when he heard the sound.
“NO!!!!!!”He shouted.TugMug launched himself out of there, a small tear escaping his eye before leaving.Leaving, the voice of the boy could be heard from miles. “ISSSSAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”the shouts continued through the night.
“I’m leeeving.”TugMug told his boss.
“I think not.”Psiki said.TugMug was suddenly surrounded by Gravity-Race lunatacs, all armed with gravity carbines.“you see, TugMug...you’re the only one so far who has survived our little operation, and that makes you very valuable to us.”
“I don’t geeeve a crap,” TugMug snarled, “You want me, you got me!”With that, he opened fire on Psiki, then lept out of the way of the cannons surrounding him.With his trademark reflexes, he managed to smash into one attacker while blasting another, then bounce back off the wall, and go flying down the hall, tearing at everything with his claws as he went.
Psiki stood, the energy beam that was fired at him hovering a foot from him, looking quite irritated.“Well, what are you waiting for, you fools?!”he demanded, “Grab him!”
TugMug bounced out of the mansion, and noticed the shuttle flying overhead.“Don’t know where that’s headed, but anywhere is better than here!”He shouted, lauching himself at the shuttle.
The ship shook on impact, and TugMug managed to sneak into one of the cargo passages, unnoticed.
Luna yawned.She so hated it when people weren’t punctual.At long last, the shuttle landed, and after a few moments, the Sight-Race lunatac that she had hired stepped out.“RedEye, I presume.”She said, shaking his hand in her tiny one, “I’m so glad you could make it.The Lunatacs of Plundarr are going to need your technical know-how if we are to conquer this miserable moon.”RedEye smiled.
“Ah, mistress Luna, good to meet you as well, and this must be the infamous Amok.”He said, gesturing to the gigantic white beast that she rode on, “Well, you can count on me, I have never brought trouble to any of the groups I have worked in.”As if on cue, TugMug burst from the cargo hold, lunging out at the startled guards.Opening fire with his gravity carbine, all of the guards soon found themselves unable to fight back.He then turned to Luna and RedEye.
“You two,”He shouted, “Where are we?”Luna looked calmly into the open end of the gravity carbine, holding Amok back.
“You are on the Third Moon of Plundarr, welcome.”She said cooly, “You seem to be on the run...perhaps you would like some shelter for a while?”
TugMug’s life made a sudden change when he was hurled into the Lunatacs of Plundarr.He decided to stay with them for protection from Psiki’s men, and Luna more than welcomed him.The only problem was the grunt work, but TugMug was more than capable.With the new design of battleship that RedEye had created, the Lunatacs of Plundarr were sure to become invinsible.What would be the first of many of these ships, known as SkyTomb, was completed five years after TugMug joined.And the rest, as they say, was history.
One day, Chilla, TugMug, RedEye, Alluro, and Luna, the strongest and elite of the Lunatacs of Plundarr, sat in one table, playing poker.They were soon alerted of another presence when an ice-grenade landed near them.Leaping all over the place, they managed to avoid destruction, but were soon surrounded by armed guards.“The King and Queen have ordered your immidiate exections.”One guard said, “Recent information of your criminal activities has come to our attention.”
“Has it.”Luna said calmly, “Perhaps you should have read a bit more before comming here, seargent.”WIth that, the battle exploded into action, Amok kicking and throwing and biting, Alluro using his hypnotic powers to gain more numbers, Chilla freezing and burning, and TugMug bouncing and blasting.They were, however, too greatly outnumbered, and when Amok was shot full of sedatives, they knew that they were as good as captured.They were netted and brought in soon after.
The escape was
fairly easy.TugMug and Amok managed
to break through the bars, and Alluro hypnotized the guards.They
made their ways to Skytomb, and headed towords the only known planet which
could support life and did not hold enemies; Third Earth.
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