Interlude Twentyfour point One,
The Cowboy Gets his Butt Kicked
The Cowboy moved across the street toward Tina. She was back out
under the lights when he had told her not to be there.
Suspicious, the Cowboy pulled out a pack of Marlboro's from his vest.
'Surely she wasn't this stupid', he thought, the Cowboy knew that word of
what happened to Mohawk was on the street. 'Could be a trap,' he whispered
to himself and looked around the area.
He didn't see anything, but Tina certainly looked more nervous than
alluring.
He sighed, and lit up the cigarette chuckling at how they called them
coffin nails. Into the light he stepped, crossing the street. Tina
shivered in the night air and caught his movement out of the corner of her
eye. First she thought, 'Finally, some action to get me off this corner,'
then recognition of the man swept across her face.
"Hu..hi, Cowboy," she said.
"Don'tchu Hi me, with yer thin lips an' scrawny legs." The Cowboy was upon
her quickly and grabbed her arm. "Didn't I tell yew I didn't want ta see
yew out workin on my street?" The smoke wafting out from the dancing
cigarette which looked like a conductor's wand in his mouth.
"But we told her otherwise," came a voice from behind him.
The Cowboy turned to face the newcomers. He recognized them
immediately as the villians the papers called PowerFist and
SpeeDemon. SpeeDemon was the closest, only about ten meters away,
PowerFist was six meters behind that. PowerFist spoke again, as he walked
closer, "You're a hard man to find, especially for someone causing so much
trouble."
"Then I reckon she needs to learn who ta listen to," said the Cowboy
releasing her with a gentle shove that put her on the ground. "I take it
yew've been looking fer me?" he asked.
"That's right, 'partnuh','" said PowerFist coming up next to SpeeDemon.
"There are some things you just don't do in this town, and cutting in
on the Dark Lord's business is one of them. Believe me, we learned that
the hard way. Now, I'm afraid it's time for you to learn that lesson."
"So yew cusses gonna stampede me, eh?" said the Cowboy readying himself.
"Then do I get hired ta work fer the Dark Lord too? I'm a helluva more
valuable ta him alive than dead. But if means taking out one of ya then
that's fine with me. Who's the lucky volunteer that gets clubbered?"
"Well," smiled PowerFist, "first we gotta beat you up some, you know,
as a sort of lesson. Then, you might get hired."
"PowerFist," said SpeeDemon. "He is doing something, I feel heavy!"
"Right, let's see about that," shouted PowerFist as he closed in.
Behind him, SpeeDemon struggled to get his heavy legs moving.
PowerFist swung a steel-encased fist and somehow missed. It seemed
that for a split second, the Cowboy just wasn't there. He fired
another punch, and this time it seemed like the Cowboy flickered,
then both the Cowboy and PowerFist screamed. For an instant, both
PowerFist and the Cowboy were trying to occupy the same space and
space time reacted violently.
SpeeDemon continued on course for the downed Cowboy.
The Cowboy stared up at the oncoming SpeeDemon, and readied himself to
deliver a punch. "That thar was a helluva mule kick, come git some of yer
own!" he taunted.
Seeing the belt around SpeeDemon's waist he commented, "That's a purty belt
ya got there, jess like the one on that feller I fought a couple a days
ago, he your kin?" The Cowboy dropped to his knees and struck the
sidewalk.
The sidewalk ruptured in several places and SpeeDemon staggered
just a step, "You have seen this design before?" he asked in
a Russian accent.
"Yeah, some feller in black. Real sidewinder that ran his mouth all the
time, I got a score to settle with him and his friends," the Cowboy barked
out. Crouching down, he picked up a sizable chunk of concrete and hoisted
it back in a defensive posture.
"Da, I know him," SpeeDemon said, "The Wanderer."
"We've got a score to settle with them, too," said PowerFist coming
up next to SpeeDemon. "But first, we've got to give you a beating.
Unless you want the Dark Lord on our backs," he directed this last comment
at SpeeDemon.
"Nyet, I do not want that," said SpeeDemon.
The villians closed in on the Cowboy.
SpeeDemon swung first, but missed. PowerFist's punch was on target.
The Cowboy blocked PowerFist's exuburant but unschooled blow,
which left him open to SpeeDemon's rabbit punch.
PowerFist tried to capitalize, but the Cowboy was able to block
his attack.
The Cowboy lashed out with a fist of his own catching a surprised
PowerFist on the chin.
The Cowboy fought valiantly but sank beneath a hail of blows.
As he faded into unconsciousness, he heard PowerFist say,
"In this town, no one cuts out the Dark Lord. You're
out of the pimp business. You want in on the action, find
Reno." Then PowerFist administered the coup de grace.
Visions of cheese fries climbing a chocolate mountain, planting celery
stalks with cherries on top danced across the Cowboy's mind as he
remained unconscious after his major league butt kicking at the hands of
PowerFist and SpeeDemon.
Last Updated 7 August 2002
