When Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige held the Phase 3 Announcement Event in October of 2014 he laid out basically the whole plan for the third arc of Marvel's Cinematic Universe. This may have been a move on Marvel's part to counter Warner Bros. and DC's bold choice to reveal their entire line-up of films through the year 2020. This also may have been just a way to start promoting and generating excitement for their future films. In reality it became both and more.
Myself and many others are undoubtedly stoked for each of the forthcoming films. But instead of wondering what Marvel Studios was going to come out with next year after year we now already know. Speculation for Phase 3's line-up is over and put to rest. They've told us all that THANOS is the endgame and they've told us all the steps in which we'll ultimately arrive there. This will be the culmination of everything from 2008's Iron Man through 2019's Avengers: Infinity War Part II. So if we don't need to speculate on the future of Phase 3 anymore, that leaves Phase 4 and beyond left to ponder.
Not the end but the Beginning
Marvel Studios will continue to make movies and the Marvel Cinematic Universe will continue to grow. After three phases and 22 films eventually connecting back to one another what's left for Marvel Studios to do? The cinematic universe will continue to grow and maintaining continuity between everything will grow increasingly difficult and problematic. Different corners of the Marvel universe will have been established and some will have very little to do with others (the Guardians of the Galaxy for example).
Possible Solution?
Separate Phases for each corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Phase 4 can be the start of something completely different and new.
There can be a Phase of films dedicated to Earth's heroes like Black Panther, Ant-Man, and Spider-Man culminating in a New Avengers film.
Earth Hero Phase
As the outer space heroes grow and expand there can be a Phase dedicated to the cosmic heroes with Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel, and the Inhumans leading the way. These films could culminate in their own Avengers-like film.
Cosmic Hero Phase
And if Doctor Strange is a success it could open up a Supernatural Phase of Marvel films rebooting characters like Blade and Ghost Rider. Again these films could culminate in their own Avengers-like film.
Supernatural Hero Phase
If I could meet Kevin Feige and suggest to him what I'd personally want to see in the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this is what I'd tell him...
A COSMIC PHASEA SUPERNATURAL PHASE
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 3 DOCTOR STRANGE 2
CAPTAIN MARVEL 2 GHOST RIDER (DANNY KETCH)
INHUMANS BLADE
NOVA (RICHARD RIDER) MORBIUS
SILVER SURFER WEREWOLF BY NIGHT
GUARDIANS OF INFINITY <<THE CULMINATION FILMS>> THE MIDNIGHT SONS
AN EARTH PHASE
SUB-MARINER
INCREDIBLE HULK 2
THUNDERBOLTS
NEW WARRIORS
BLACK PANTHER 2
ANT-MAN 3
Now, I realize I'm not the typical Marvel comic fan. Some may claim that I have no taste whatsoever and thank the powers that be that I have no say in the architecture of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There is certainly a case to be made there. But personally I'd rather see characters that don't have six or more films already in existence (regardless of quality).
While Spider-Man is amazing I don't feel I need another Spidey film. While the X-Men are uncanny I don't feel I need another. At least not from Marvel Studios. I'll admit to being very interested in seeing what a Marvel Studios/Kevin Feige X-Men film would look like but at the end of the day there are still eight and soon to be nine and ten X-related films. I'm happy to let Fox continue making their X-Men films.
What I'm most interested in and excited for would be the Guardians of the Galaxies and the Doctor Stranges out there. The, dare I say, equally as wonderful characters that don't receive the exposure of the Spider-Mans and X-Mens.
Dear Mr. Feige,
If you're ever rummaging the internet and come across this post I just want to say thank you.
And if you haven't considered the titles mentioned above (I'm sure you have), and any of them become a reality, you'll have made this fan very happy.
Here's to an awesome Phase 3 and an even greater Phase 4 future!
For more of the Marvel Cinematic Universe check out these other posts reviewing MCU movies and television...
History: In 2002, three short years after the planet wide destruction of the Kilaak Alien Invasion, another extraterrestrial threat plunged the world into a planet wide crisis. The creature known as Hedorah emerged threatening all life on Earth. Also worth noting, scientists and environmentalists measured the pollution levels of Earth during this period as the highest pollutant count in our planet's history.
Art by Yasushi Torisawa
The creature was discovered roaming the oceans, first sighted swimming in the polluted harbors off of many of Japan's major cities. Multiple creatures of various sizes were reported in the waters surrounding Japan, all fitting the same description, that of a mammoth tadpole. Larger and larger versions of these creatures were reported until a local news chopper recorded the shocking scene of a gargantuan sized version of the tadpole-like creature attacking a Japanese oil tanker and subsequently consuming the spilled crude oil. The attack happened in Saruga Bay after an oil tanker and freighter broadsided each other by accident. No survivors of the tanker attack were found.
Soon after the oil tanker attack fishermen began reporting bays across the country devoid of fish and sea life, sighting ever-growing amounts of pollution in the waters. One fisherman caught one of these mysterious tadpoles in his net, the creature the size of a sea bass. The fisherman took the tadpole to marine biologist Dr. Toru Yano for analysis. Dr. Yano was the first human being to come into contact with one of the creatures and survive. While scuba-diving in the bay near his home Dr. Yano came into contact with an ink-like expulsion from the creature. The ink proved highly acidic, scarring half of Dr. Yano's face. Moments later that same creature breached the surface of the water sailing overhead of Dr. Yano's son who was waiting among the rocks in the bay. The boy came into direct contact with the creature's body. The boy escaped with only burns to his hand and he was the one who discovered that the creature's body was composed of sludge.
Hedorah Concept Art by Yasuyuki Inoue
The creature was thusly named Hedorah after the Japanese word Hedoro meaning "sludge." Hedorah's next appearance saw the creature upon dry land and in a different form. Now the kaiju appeared as a four legged reptile mounting a local factory's smoke stacks and inhaling the black fumes. The attack occurred on a moonless cloudy night leading some to speculate that the creature may have a natural aversion to sunlight. That night also marked Hedorah's first encounter with Godzilla. The battle was brief, ultimately resulting in Hedorah being repelled back into the sea. Witnesses to the battle claimed that Hedorah's body sparked when hit with Godzilla's radioactive breath leaving charred remains behind.
Hedorah next appeared in the city of Fuji in yet another form resembling the aquatic manta ray or trilobite. Through a kind of jet propulsion the smog monster, as many were calling it, was able to fly. While flying Hedorah emitted a sulfuric mist that corroded metal and melted flesh. Steel girders melted and collapsed. The bodies of the dead filled the streets leaving thousands in the city dead or dying. Godzilla once again appeared driving the creature away.
Art by Yasushi Torisawa
Hedorah's final appearance was at the base of Mount Fuji in its fourth and presumably final form, an upright bipedal figure dwarfing Godzilla in both height and mass. Hedorah covered the area in toxic sludge killing more bystanders. Godzilla emerged once more to combat the creature only to be beaten and outmatched. The Japanese Self Defense Force, under the guidance of Dr. Yano, erected two building size electrodes designed to emit a powerful electrical current similar to Godzilla's heat ray. The JSDF, with Godzilla's help, were successful in defeating Hedorah, effectively dehydrating the creature completely. Hedorah has not been seen since.
HEDORAH'S BIOLOGY
The Smog Monster is unlike any creature known to exist on Earth. All the knowledge on Hedorah we currently have is from the research and notes of Dr. Toru Yano. We have only theories but according to Dr. Yano's study Hedorah is believed to be extra-terrestrial in origin, perhaps arriving on earth via a meteor or as space dust attached to King Ghidorah's hide or even perhaps a mutation of the space monster Dogora. Other theories include a possible alien weapon left behind by the Xilians, Kilaaks, or the Mysterians.
Hedorah: First Stage. Art by Yasushi Torisawa
Hedorah is a protean being, able to metamorph into many different forms. On Earth our scientists observed four separate stages, the first resembling a tadpole growing from a microscopic size to one larger than most seafaring vessels. These numerous Hedorai would grow by feeding on toxic pollutants in Earth's oceans, encounter each other, and merge together forming a singular larger Hedorah. The continued merging of Hedorai eventually resulted in the creation of a second bodily form.
Hedorah: Second Stage. Art by Yasushi Torisawa
The second stage the creature took on the shape of a reptile similar in size to the kaiju Anguirus or Baragon. The third stage was saucer like with flight capability. The fourth stage was even more enormous than any before it, a bipedal form larger than Godzilla. These were the only stages observed while the creature was on Earth. If Hedorah truly did come from outer space, and if multiple Hedorai continue to merge no matter the size, it is surmised that further stages of metamorphosis would occur. If Hedorah would continue to grow and change it is possible that Hedorah would wipe out all organic life on the planet and, given enough pollutants, grow to mountainous or even planet size proportions.
Hedorah: Third Stage
Dr. Yano, through his tests, discovered that Hedorah, despite its sludge-like organic appearance, is actually a living mineral. This living mineral, the core of Hedorah's being, was named Hedrion. Hedrion feeds on toxic pollutants, growing in size. When the pollutants it consumes come into contact with Hedrion sulfur is created. Veins of pure sulfur run through its body. Not only does Hedorah consume toxic sludge, smoke, and gases, it is capable of emitting the same products from its body with one-hundred times the toxicity. Everything from it is lethal to organic matter. Hedorah is also capable of energy projection via its eye in the form of a red laser-like ray. The eyes of Hedorah are the areas of its body with the highest concentration of Hedrion.
Hedorah: Final Form
The only known weakness to Hedorah is dehydration. Godzilla atomic heat ray also appears to have adverse effects on Hedrion resulting in an electrical discharge that dries out Hedorah's tissue. However as long as Hedorah has moisture it can shed its dried husk and escape. Godzilla effectively gutted the composite alpha Hedorah creature and dried out the kaiju completely. However even when dried out all Hedorah needs to assume life once more is moisture. After the final battle at Mount Fuji all the dried out Hedorah tissue was carefully collected and moved to a facility located in the Atacama desert. Significant efforts have been made in the intervening years to reduce pollutants the world over as it is unknown whether or not more Hedorai still roam the sea.
Review: Hedorah is probably the most terrifying monster of any of Toho's kaiju. Godzilla barely defeated it and it so easily could reform. The human devastation caused by Hedorah is second to none. Not since the original Gojira in 1954 has there been such a focus on the human damage inflicted. Imagine if they revisited Hedorah today in a new film, showcasing with top of the line special effects human beings putrefying onscreen? You couldn't make a new Hedorah film without going for an R rating. Anything less wouldn't do the kaiju justice and would be less than the original.
Hedorah also takes up where Godzilla left off as Humanity's punishment for destroying the Earth. He's Godzilla's spiritual brother in that sense. The Godzilla series had changed by 1971 into something different. With Hedorah we saw a combination of the new ethos of the series merge with the old. I have to give Hedorah the respect he deserves for bringing back the original message.
His only other film appearance is in 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars. His central scene was cut out of the finished picture and what is left of him in the film is so brief you'll miss it if you blink. Parts of his deleted scene can be viewed during the end credit role. This is a major let down and a major waste of a limitless character. Hedorah's mistreatment in Final Wars exemplifies my feelings toward that film as whole. Otherwise his best appearance since his 1971 debut is in the IDW comic book GODZILLA: LEGENDS #4. The comic book really captures the total devastation wrought by Hedorah. He also makes a fun appearance in the novel GODZILLA: AT WORLD'S END by Marc Cerasini.
Personally I feel he's one of the most creative and unlimited kaiju
in the entire roster. He really established the multi-form kaiju formula
that would be reused so very often in future kaiju films all over. Even
how he was brought to life, via many different types of effects, is
protean in essence. Hedorah is one of the great kaiju of cinema history. If he were revisited today using state of the art special effects it would truly by a spectacle to behold.
Threat Level: 10 out of 10
Universal Extinction Level
For more studies in Kaijuology check out the pages below
Of the fifteen Godzilla films from the Showa Era (first series) only four different directors were employed by Toho Studios to make them. Foremost among these four directors was Ishiro Honda, seven films to his credit. Jun Fukuda directed five films of the Showa Era. That leaves two films left, each with a different director. Motoyoshi Oda directed Godzilla Raids Again in 1955. And Yoshimitsu Banno directed the 1971 entry GODZILLA VS HEDORAH a.k.a. GODZILLA VS THE SMOG MONSTER.
There is no other film in the entire franchise quite like Godzilla Vs The Smog Monster. Pegging this film into a genre is an interesting endeavor too: It has elements of a Euro-Horror film from the 1970's. There's the overt environmental messages and the theme song "Save The Earth." 1960's psychedelic imagery and hippie characters. Two musical numbers, animated cartoon sequences, outer space science fiction theories, giant monsters, and super hero action. I said that there is no other Godzilla film like it but I'll go as far to say that there is no other film like it at all.
Godzilla films have always had environmental messages attached to them either overtly or as mere undertones. These messages have been the most poignant in the original GOJIRA, MOTHRA, and Smog Monster. Although with Smog Monster director Banno beats us over the head with it. Even watching this film as a child I was left feeling that pollution was bad and our planet was doomed. I really enjoyed this film as a child. As an adult I still enjoy this film for many of the same reasons but now for many more.
THE PLOT
Mankind has polluted the air, the water, and the earth. Creatures of unidentified origin have appeared in the ocean, attacking ships and consuming crude oil and other pollutants. These creatures, named Hedorah, have merged together creating an even larger and deadlier threat. Expelling toxic sludge and corrosive sulfuric gases, everywhere this creature roams it leaves a wake of death and decay behind. Earth's scientists have a plan to stop Hedorah's menace but the monster proves to be an overwhelming force. They need help if they're going to end the Smog Monster's threat. And the king of the monsters is just the help they need.
THE GOOD
Hedorah. With the Smog Monster Toho delivers a kaiju unlike any other. Combining suitmation, glowing red apertures in the skin and eyes, animation, and real life mud and black sludge all to bring this new kaiju to life. The result is something special and unique to the Showa Era kaiju. Hedorah is also the first kaiju since Mothra to undergo a multi-metamorphosis. Hedorah goes through four different forms adapting to sea, land, and air, all of which to better pollute the earth. The fourth form is a colossal form evoking images of the Grim Reaper in his hooded death shroud. All four stages of Hedorah are well designed and are done with a purpose. This multi-form kaiju design would characterize most of the adversarial monsters in the Heisei and Millenium era Godzilla films.
Horror. The threat of Hedorah to not only the cities and the earth but to people is shown with horrific realism. We see a graphic sequence of garbage floating along the water multiple times. There's what looks like a Barbie doll cut in pieces, naked, and covered in muck meant to evoke thoughts of a dead body. There's countless dead and rotting fish carcasses. A real life cat covered in toxic sludge. A real life baby drowning in mud. And human bodies melting away until they are merely skeletons dripping with putrefied flesh. Never before has there been as striking and graphic images in a Godzilla film as there are here. Add in the proto-Jaws like underwater sequence and a horror-film inspired score for the first reel and one is given a glimpse at what a 70's horror Godzilla film might look like.
Humanity's Punishment. The message of the 1954 original Gojira film was either changed or completely lost by this point in the series. Throughout the previous five films in the series Godzilla's identity has changed as well from Destroyer to Savior. Director Banno expertly returns the series to its point of origin through Hedorah. The Smog Monster takes up Godzilla's original identity as the Punisher of humanity for its mistreatment of the Earth. The focus was updated from the invisible horror of radiation to 1970's environmental concerns. Of all the films in the Showa era Godzilla series Hedorah is the only entry to have successfully maintained the original film's ethos.
THE BAD
Godzilla. Sadly our hero and main reason for watching the film is probably the weakest aspect of the film. Godzilla receives rather minimal screen time in this film and when he is in the film he is often beaten to the ground by Hedorah, either choking on toxic fumes or rolling around in toxic sludge. Then often times the score of the film is absent when Godzilla appears on screen. One of the defining traits of the Godzilla series are the triumphant musical entrances of the king of the monsters. It's an odd choice by director Banno which in many ways mutes Godzilla's impact in the film.
A Gamera of a different kind. His role in the narrative is more akin to Mothra's character as well as Gamera. In fact he's more like Gamera here than in any other film even so far as to say, "Gamera can fly? Well so can I!" Godzilla flying is a truly ludicrous moment in the film most likely borne out of direct competition between Daiei Studios' Gamera. The film also once again employs a child as one of the leads and the only character who seems to see the solution, as is the case with most of Gamera's Showa films.
THE VERDICT
This movie is a great example of one that keeps giving. As a child I never noticed the deficiencies of Godzilla's character in the film. As an adult the film loses something in Godzilla but gives more in terms of themes and inspirations. While a rather strange and unusual film in any genre or series it is one of the strongest films from the 1970's entries. Hedorah is a wonderful and deadly new addition to the kaiju roster and through Hedorah the series finally returns to its roots albeit in a very 70's psychedelic way.
Overall Ranking: 7 out of 10
Category: Transcendence
(a film for both the young and old Godzilla fan)
Missed a chapter in the saga? Get caught up as we continue the countdown to number one!
The next fantasy battle survey is here! This one is by special request from one coworker in particular. And
also cause I love both characters and wanted to see them fight. This time we’re
going with Road Warrior Mad Max Rockatansky from the Mad Max films vs the United
States’ most notorious outlaw Snake Plissken from the Escape From New York and
Escape From L.A. films. One survived the end of the world and one caused the
end of world.
Let’s get it on!
MAD MAXSNAKE
PLISSKENWho?
43561
Store Manager Choice: Snake
Plissken
Advantage: Snake Plissken
Snake Plissken wins
by a clear margin. I first posed this match-up on Facebook in which Snake won
by a landslide with only a scant few votes going to Max. The overall survey
ended with similar results. However it’s interesting to note that many
expressed their personal fondness for Max over Snake. It is also interesting to
note that many people here in the store had no idea who either characters were.
Some voted purely on whether or not they liked Mel Gibson and Tom Hardy better
than Kurt Russell.
WARNING:
Graphic violence and strong language ahead.
Both characters are from decidedly R rated films. The following story is also R rated in keeping with the world and characters of Mad Max and Snake Plissken.
THE STORY
(plot by Drew Pettey
and Mitch Nissen)
**note: as you read you will seen videos. click play on the videos and keeping reading to enhance your overall experience!
2013
The Sword of Damocles, the United
States secret self-defense system, was activated, tapping into a dozen
satellites orbiting the planet. Each satellite released an electro-magnetic
pulse blanketing the Earth. Every electronic device and power source from batteries
to computers to remote guidance systems were rendered inert including the satellites
themselves. Without the aid of computers the satellites couldn’t maintain
geosynchronous orbit. One by one the satellites fell to earth. Attached to each
satellite was a neutron bomb. The global devastation was biblical. It is
estimated that over 80% of Earth’s population was lost. For the survivors the
world became a firestorm of fear.
A few spots of earth still proved green
and fertile, the rest was scorched. But to survive in this new world man’s humanity
was cast aside. Those who lived in this wasteland were more monsters than men,
their minds warped by horror, their bodies poisoned by the fallout. They killed
each other for the only power source left, guzzolene. The MFP, Main Force
Patrol, was wiped out. No more law existed. Life expectancy grew short, shorter
for those who managed to hold on to their human decency.
Those who controlled the guzzolene had
the power.
The roads were transformed into battlefields.
It became a land of
blood and ash.
A lawless land.
A land of Road Warriors.
“The chain in those handcuffs is
high-tensile steel. It’d take you ten minutes to hack through it with this.
Now, if you’re lucky you could hack through your ankle in five minutes. Go,” said
Max, tossing Johnny the hacksaw. Gas continued to poured out of the overturned
truck, spilling toward the lighter. Rockatansky hobbled up the side of the
ditch, Johnny’s screams growing higher in the background. Max climbed into the
V8 Interceptor and drove off down the road.
He returned to the graves of Jessie
and Sprog, his slain wife and son, and collapsed beside them. Max wanted to be
with them and was ready to die. The bandage on his knee was soaked through with
blood and crusting over. Fever set in and the light in his eyes faded.
Max awoke in a hospital bed. The
screaming from the hall outside shocked him awake. Two men tackled a nurse in
front of the door. She thrashed and clawed at them but no amount of struggling
seemed to deter them. Max jolted upright. He leapt out of bed only to collapse
on the floor, a crippling pain in his knee. Dressed in only a hospital gown, he
saw that his knee had been bandaged, blood beginning to seep through the
dressing.
“Hey!” shouted one of the
attackers, a man dressed in dirty leather chaps, jacket, and headband. “Lookit
who it is? The cop what killed Toecutter and Nightrider,” he said with grim
satisfaction. Max glanced to side seeing his black leather MFP uniform hanging
from the closet door. The two men shifted their attention from the nurse and
started walking towards him, brass knuckles and chains in their hands. Max
recognized them as members of the Acolytes motorcycle gang, the same gang
responsible for the murder of his family. The one with the chain bent down,
grabbing Max by the throat. “I’m gonna drag you with this chain from the back
of my bike across a road of broken glass. Then I’m gonna flay the skin from
your—”
Max lurched forward, mouth open,
teeth biting down on the biker’s nose. In one violent jerk Max ripped the nose
from the biker’s face. The biker fell back screaming. The second lunged
forward, fist cocked. Max pulled the chain from his enemy’s hand and whipped
the steel across the other’s face. The heavy chain links broke the other
biker’s jaw sending him spiraling down to the floor. Max climbed on top of him
and bashed his skull again and again against the floor until it split open. Max
then fixed his narrow gaze on the first biker, crying and bleeding in the
corner.
He crawled over to the bloodied
biker, threw him to the ground, and placed his good knee on the biker’s throat.
“How many more of you?” he asked. The noseless man on the floor shivered and
sobbed. Max applied more pressure to the man’s throat, “How many?”
“You’ll— never kill us— all,”
choked out the man on the floor. “Johnny the boy is—coming for—you.”
“I already killed Johnny.”
Through blood and tears the biker
managed a deranged smile, “He’s missing a foot and he’s burnt up—but he’s alive.
He’ll—kill you.” Max shook with rage. Johnny the boy, the member of the
Acolytes that murdered Max’s best friend, Goose, was still alive. Max pressed
down with all his weight onto his good knee, crushing the biker’s windpipe.
Max painstakingly put his Main
Force Patrol uniform back on. He hobbled out into the hallway and wandered
through the hospital. The power was out. Hospital staff and patients ran
through halls while looters and robbers trashed the place. With every step Max
took the pain worsened. He shambled into a supply closet and spied racks of
medications. Finding several bottles of painkillers, he shoved a handful into his
mouth and stuffed several bottles into his pockets. On his way out of the
building he saw several wheelchairs, crutches, and leg braces. He put on a leg
brace over his bad knee and hobbled out of the building. Stepping outside he
discovered the hospital wasn’t the only place without power and being looted by
scavengers. The power was out everywhere and the sky was deep red. The ground
rumbled. In the distance Max could see a mushroom cloud plumbing higher into the
atmosphere.
2017
A man wearing a half-melted hazmat
suit with a gasmask affixed to his face entered the citadel. What was showing
of his body was discolored, sunburn red and skin-peeling yellow. Purple lesions
spotted his flesh. The others in the citadel were similarly dressed, bodies
covered with the same afflictions. Some of them wore ragged leather and
multiple belts around their limbs. Some wore very little at all, men and women
alike. Everyone wore gasmasks of various sizes and designs, some decorated with bones and bullets and numerous odd objects. The man ascended the steps to the throne. Atop
the throne sat a man surrounded by men and women. His back was to the man
climbing the stairs.
The man stopped several steps from
the top and knelt before the person seated on the throne. “Lord Nemesis, we got
him.”
“How many were lost?”
“26 dead.”
“What?!?”
“5 more were wounded bad. We’re not
sure they’ll survive the night,” said the man kneeling, his voice quivering.
“I lost 31 of my best Angels in one
night?” asked the man atop the throne, anger in his voice. The others remained
silent. “You killed the intruder though?”
“We got him.”
“He’s dead then?”
“Not exactly. We got him... alive” As
the two of them spoke a group of twelve men and women escorted a prisoner into the
citadel. Undercover of crossbows, spears, and a few pistols, a man wearing a brown
leather jacket, camo-pants, combat boots, and an eye-patch walked into the
room.
Without turning around, Lord
Nemesis continued, “You brought a man who killed 31 of our people… here? Tell
me, how did you survive and so many others didn’t?”
“But Lord Nemesis, it’s Snake
Plissken,” said the man prostrate before the throne.
Lord Nemesis tensed, “Did you say…
Snake… Plissken?”
“I know that voice,” said Snake in
low gravely tone. He walked up the steps, the others keeping a close guard on
him, none dared touching. He walked right up to the throne. Lord Nemesis turned
around and the two of them stood face to face, “Eugene Smelner,” said Snake.
“Eugene?” said a tall, well-built
woman on Nemesis’s right, disappointment heavy in her voice. “Your name is
Eugene?” Some of the others around them cracked smiles and stifled giggles.
Nemesis inhaled deeply, “My name…
is Nemesis,” he said, embarrassment showing all over.
“I didn’t know you knew Snake
Plissken, Nemesis,” said another.
“Yeah,” hissed Snake. “He and me go
way back, don’t we Eugene?” Snake pulled a pistol from his holster. He shoved
the gun in Nemesis’s face forcing Eugene back down into his chair. “Where were
you, Eugene?” asked Snake. Everyone surrounding Snake suddenly closed in tight
around him, arrowheads, spear tips, and gun barrels pressing against his skin.
“Make a move and you’re dead,” said
the well-built woman.
“Why didn’t you disarm him?!” yelled
Nemesis.
“We tried to,” said one of them,
“but... He's Snake Plissken. Everyone was too afraid to touch him. He killed 30 of us, sir.”
“Drop the gun. Now,” said the
woman.
“Sure. I’ll drop the gun. Whether I
drop Eugene too depends on what he says next,” growled Snake. “You see, a while
back Eugene and I were partners along with Taylor and Slasher McGurk. You and
Slasher were supposed to cover us once we got to ‘frisco. But you weren’t
there. Taylor’s dead because of you. I got sent up to New York.”
“That was 20 years ago. And you
escaped from New York, so it all worked out in the end,” said Nemesis.
Snake pressed the gun harder
against Nemesis’s head, “I don’t give a fuck how long ago it was. I’ve waited a
long time to kill you, Eugene. I can die happy knowing I finally put a bullet
through your skull.” Snake showed no signs of backing down.
“All right, all right! Slasher made
another deal while you and Taylor were in route. The United States Police Force
made us. Slasher made the call. We had to do something.” Everyone in the
citadel froze, beads of sweat dripped off their brows and shoulders.
“So you fed them us. You sonuva bitch.”
Snake’s finger tightened on the trigger.
“Look at me, Snake! I’m half dead
already. What happened to me was far worse than getting sent up to New York or
L.A. When the world ended they used chemical weapons on us. We need these masks
to survive! Mine has even grown into my face!” pleaded Nemesis desperately.
“You’re still breathin’ and I still
owe you a bullet.”
Nemesis gripped the armrests on the
throne and cried, “I can get you Slasher!”
The room went silent. Everyone
stood on edge not knowing what was going to happen next. Then a grin crept
across Snake’s lips and slowly he pulled the gun away from Nemesis’s head,
placing it back in its holster, “You always could talk your way out of
anything, Eugene.” Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief and lowered
their weapons.
“Just one thing… Don’t call me
Eugene.”
One of Nemesis’s lackeys standing
nearby quietly reached for Snake’s gun. Snake turned his head, his piercing
blue eye boring a hole in the lackey’s skull. The man’s blood ran cold. Without
uttering a single word the man withdrew his hand and slinked away.
The buxom woman to the right of
Nemesis lifted her gas mask and scanned the man with the eye patch up and down,
“Snake Plissken,” she said with a grin, “You’re every bit the legend says. Cept
I thought you’d be taller.”
He ignored the remark and fixed his
eye once again on Nemesis, “Slasher. How do I get to him?”
Eugene motioned to the woman on his
right, “Show him.”
Snake got back in Nemesis’s face,
grabbed him by the collar, and yanked him out of his seat, “If you think for
one second that I’m just going to take your word you better think again. You’re
going to show me, you and no one else. You’re going to give me my guns back.
You’re going to walk me right up to Slasher’s door and watch as I put a bullet
in his skull. And if at any time I don’t like what you’re doing I’m gonna put a
bullet in your head instead. Deal?” asked Snake staring him in the eye.
Nemesis
shivered and nodded his head.
Snake’s expression remained hard and
intimidating, “Weapons. Now.”
They walked out of the citadel and
into the armory, Nemesis leading, Snake behind him, the tall woman and a host
of others following after. “We don’t have much in the way of firearms, a
handful of pistols, a shotgun, rifle, and a few cases of rounds. This shit is
scarce nowadays. We have plenty of bows and arrows, spears, and homemade
explosives.” Snake eyed the limited weapons cache, grabbed what little ammo
there was for his pistols as well as a large Bowie knife that was more like a
machete than a knife.
“How do we get to Slasher?” asked
Snake. Once again they followed Nemesis to another room. They entered the
garage. There were eight vehicles vaguely reminiscent of Jeeps, each with what
appeared to be oxygen tents enclosing the cabs. Multiple tanks of oxygen were
strapped to the back of each along with nitro tanks underneath. “What the hell
are these supposed to be?”
“We need the air filtration to
breath, Snake,” said Nemesis. “The world is a wasteland, irradiated and
poisonous. Nuclear fallout. Just breathing anymore is enough to kill you. Our
lungs were burned when they attacked us. Pure oxygen keeps us going.” Nemesis pointed
to the jeeps, “We’ll take all eight. Two to a vehicle. Snake, you can ride with
Johnny.”
They all turned around at the sound
of squeaking metal behind them. A man emerged from the shadows, scarred to
hell, missing a foot with a spiked steel prosthesis in its place. A deranged
smile crept across the man’s face as he approached them. “Snake Plissken meet
Johnny the Boy.” Snake stared at the horrific looking man, unflinching. Johnny
cast Snake a hateful gaze. The others backed away as Johnny stepped closer to
the man with the eye patch.
“I’m taking her,” said Snake
pointing to the tall woman. Her cheeks flashed bright red.
“I said you’re going with Johnny,”
shouted Nemesis.
“I wasn’t asking,” said Snake,
heading for one of the jeeps. “You lead, Eugene. We’ll follow.”
The woman looked at Snake and then
back at Nemesis silently wondering what to do. Nemesis gestured for her to go
with him. She ran after Snake and climbed in the jeep.
“Snake Plissken!” called Johnny. “I
heard of you. I heard you were dead.”
Snake paused and peered over his
shoulder, “Congratulations. You’re the same as everyone else.”
Nemesis turned to one of his men
and pulled him close, “Take the crotch rocket and drive on ahead of us. Warn
Slasher we’re coming. And don’t let Plissken see you.” The man nodded and ran
out of the garage.
“I don’t like him,” said Johnny,
eyes still locked on Snake.
“I fucking hate him. He was an
asshole then and he’s an asshole now. First chance we get we’re gonna kill him.
C’mon, Johnny. You’re with me. Let’s go.” The rest of them loaded up in the jeeps
and they all peeled out of the garage kicking up clouds of red dust.
Nemesis and Johnny led the pack
through the dry dusty wasteland. Snake and the others followed. After an hour
and thirty minutes down a vacant highway the fleet suddenly turned off road.
Snake gripped the wheel, his gaze narrowed, “Where the hell is Eugene taking
us?”
“Past the Flesh Eaters,” said the
woman next to him, her voice muffled by the gasmask. Snake cocked his head to
the side. She pulled off the mask and tossed it in back, “Phew! I hate that
thing. He’s taking us past the Flesh Eaters. They’re crazy… in case you didn’t
get that from the name. They live to the north.”
Snake looked her over. She hadn't a single blemish on her skin, nor was her face a peeling mess like the others. She looked completely healthy.
“Why not go south then?” he asked.
“To the south is the Edge of the
World. If we go that way we’re just as likely to fall off. No, our safest path
is to creep on past the Flesh Eaters and pray they don’t see or hear us.”
“Why don’t we head west and bypass
all of it?” asked Snake.
She wiped the sweat off her face
and cast him an incredulous look, “You really don’t know anything, do you? The
west is ruled by the Humungus and the Dogs of War. They’re the scariest pack of
wolves I’ve ever seen. Nobody goes west, unless they want to die.”
The jeep in front of them slowed to
a crawl and everyone else followed suit. The engines quieted to a hum and they
inched along. Snake looked to the left and then to the right. Nothing but a
desolate landscape showed on either side. “We’re right in the thick of Flesh
Eater territory. Our best chance is to slip through unnoticed. We have a mile
to cross.” Snake looked back at her noticing she had yet to replace her
gasmask. “The mask? I actually don’t need it. But if you’re going to ride with
Lord Nemesis and his Suicide Angels you gotta be one of his. I wasn’t a part of
them when the chemical wars hit. I was littler when the world ended.”
“You’re not little anymore,”
commented Snake.
“I guess not.” She looked down at
her scantily clad body, “I grew up strong. You have to be strong to survive
nowadays. You’re strong too.” She watched him intently, “I’ve never seen anyone
scare Lord Nemesis like that.”
Snake kept his eye on the road.
“Reis.”
He cast
her a confused look.
“My name’s Reis,” she said.
Snake finally turned his head
and looked her up and down. A subtle smile came to his face and he returned his
focus to the road.
She liked the way he looked at her. “Snake? When this is
over… I want to come with you.”
Again he said nothing.
“Snake?”
He sighed, “Do you normally talk
this much?”
Reis quieted down. After a moment of silence she spoke again, “I heard a rumor about you.”
“Let me guess: You heard I was
dead?”
“I heard you were dead but that’s
not what I was going to say. I heard that—” she hesitated, “I heard that you
ended the world.”
Snake gripped the wheel tighter. The tension in the car
rose.
“Did you, Snake? Did you turn the world into this?” she asked.
Snake said nothing.
Reis looked ahead, gazing out the window over the scorched earth, "What was it like before there was nothing?"
His eye glazed over. After an awkward silence he said, “Too many people back then. And even more hate." Snake looked out over the vast empty space outside the Jeep. "We didn't have anything growing up. Too expensive and jobs paid shit. We were stacked on top of each other in rooms two times too small for the families livin' there. Just wasn't enough room for everybody. Even before it was a prison, living in New York was a hellhole.
"So we fought over turf. As a kid you were either in a gang or you were murdered by a gang. I was a part of the 84th street Cobras. Coupla blocks down were the Lizzies, then there were the Orphans, and the Baseball Furies. On Coney Island were the Warriors. There were more of us gangs then there were police."
"What's a Coney Island?" she asked.
"Nothing anymore. The Gramercy Riffs, the biggest gang in New York, nearly ended the turf wars. Could've stopped the killing. But some asshole had to go an shoot the man trying to bring us all together. The police came down on us hard after that.
"One by one they rounded us up. Those who weren't beaten to death spent the rest of their lives rotting in prison, cannon fodder for the Death Races, or pressed into the service. That's how I got out. Started my first tour. Saw the world. All it was was a bigger hellhole.
"Back home the government came up with a plan to solve the population and crime problems. They created a new holiday. One night a year from dusk till dawn all crime was legal, including murder. They called it the Purge. If you had money you could buy protection. If you were penniless like most of America you locked your door and said your prayers. But even that didn't last.
"Once the rich became targets, high ranking officials in the government being offed by their own staff, their own kids, everything fell apart. The Purge ended. Then World War III started. We fought. We died. But nobody back home cared. The first nukes were dropped since 1945, but still nobody back home gave a shit.
"With the Purge gone the only way the government could restore order was to round up all the troublemakers and dump em' off in some isolated place. A place where they couldn't get out. Manhattan Island. And after the quake on the west coast they dumped them off in L.A. Whatever and whoever they deemed undesirable or offensive. What was good got bad and the bad got worse.
"The world was already dead by the
time I came along. I just helped her pull the plug.”
The roar of an engine suddenly
echoed across the dusty plain. Everyone jumped to high alert. Reis jolted
forward in her seat, fear painting her face, “Shit! We’re still in the middle
of Flesh Eater turf!” Everyone looked about them to see where the booming noise
was coming from.
One of Nemesis’s men in the rear
leaned out the window of his jeep screaming, “Road Warrior! It’s the Road
Warrior!”
Snake opened the door of the jeep
and peered out into the desert behind them. Something far away was kicking up a
massive cloud of dust. As the sound grew louder the dust cloud plumbed larger
and Snake could see a tiny black image moving closer. And then he saw it. A
black V8 turbo charged nitro boosted Main Force Patrol Interceptor roared
straight through the center of their ranks like thunder rolling across the
plains. There in an instant. Gone in the blink of an eye.
The dust cloud came and visibility became
zero. A voice cried out from somewhere in the dust, “Go! Go! Get the hell out
of here!” The eight jeeps revved to life and took off in the wake of the
Interceptor. Snake punched the accelerator driving blindly through the dust,
“What the hell was that?”
Reis reached into the back seat and
recovered her gasmask, “That was the Road Warrior. The hunter of the highway.
They say he was a lawman who went mad right before the world ended. Everyone went
mad at that time.”
“The crazies outnumbered the
normal? I’ve been to a few places like that,” said Snake flooring it.
“Now it’s the whole damn world
that’s gone crazy,” said Reis.
She opened the passenger door while the jeep was
moving at top speed. She peered out through the dust storm catching glimpses of
the others. She kept looking. Between gusts and whirlwinds of dirt and sand she
spied a dune buggy leaping over a hillside speeding straight for them. Her body
tensed and she ducked back inside the cab. Leaning in front of Snake she
pounded her fist into the car horn.
“It’s the Flesh Eaters!”
Snake looked
behind him and could only make out vague shapes moving in the dust behind them.
Suddenly they were out of the wall
of dust, open wasteland in front of them, blue sky above. Ten dune buggies
tailed them, each one decorated in human bones and fleshy human remains. They
zeroed in on them from the north, pushing the fleet south. The men and women
inside the dune buggies were clad similarly to their cars, tribal tattoos,
light clothing made from human skin, armor fashioned from bones, and little
bits of bone piercing their bodies. They shouted and hollered and thrashed
about as if high on crystal meth or speed, cackling like maniacs.
A Flesh Eater buggy drove up
alongside them, two crazed cannibals climbing onto the outside of the buggy. At
once the two cannibals leapt through the air and onto the jeep. Snake pulled
out his pistol and put a bullet into each of them. The buggy rammed them from
the side pushing them more southbound. Another Flesh Eater climbed out on top
and dove onto the jeep.
Snake went for his gun and felt a hand
on his arm, “Save your ammo for when it counts,” said Reis. “Keep her steady. I
got this.” She climbed out onto the roof coming face to face with a gruesome
Flesh Eater. It lunged for her with knives in both hands. She slipped the
slashes and dodged in and out between them. She caught his arm, snapped it at
the elbow, drove her fist deep into his gut one two three times, and booted him
off the jeep. The cannibal fell to the ground rolling under the tires.
The other eight jeeps of Suicide
Angels were likewise besieged by bone encrusted cannibals. Vehicles rammed into
vehicles, bolts from crossbows and spears flew through the air, and hand to
hand battles occurred on the hoods and roofs. Reis jumped from the jeep to the
dune buggy beside them. Only one Flesh Eater remained inside. There were no
walls on the dune buggy, just an exposed steel frame skeleton. She reached down
between the bar and gripped the driver by the neck. She pulled his head up
between the steel, bent his neck over the bar, and stomped on his head. The
buggy zigged and zagged without a driver. Reis swung into the driver’s seat
from the side and took control. Snake and Reis drove side by side, each one
covering the other.
Then the sound of the Interceptor
roared in from out of nowhere. It sped up along the outside and herded the
group of vehicles further south. As it drove by, Snake caught sight of the
person inside, a man dressed in black with a mad look in his eyes. Two vehicles
drove up on both sides of the Interceptor, one of them a dune buggy and the
other a jeep. The Suicide Angels tossed spears and Molotov cocktails. The Flesh
Eaters rammed to the passenger side, two of them leaping onto the roof. A hand
reached out of the driver-side window of the black V8 holding a sawed off
shotgun.
BOOM! BOOM!
The bodies of the two men on top of the car burst open,
rolling off to the sides. The Interceptor slowed down just enough to get behind
the jeep. A shotgun blast to the oxygen tanks blew the jeep apart, annihilating the whole vehicle and everyone inside.
All the vehicles continued veering
southward in an attempt to escape. Another blast of the shotgun to the oxygen
tanks blew a second jeep sky high, erupting in a ball of flames. Reis, in her
commandeered dune buggy, sped closer to the Road Warrior’s car until she was
cut off by another Flesh Eater buggy. Two cannibals jumped from their vehicle
to hers, biting, slashing, and clawing. Two more gunshots rang out, bullets
flying through the heads of the cannibals. Reis looked to her right seeing
Snake’s arm out the window, pistol in hand. He waved her over. She tied off the
steering wheel with the belt around her waist, jammed the accelerator, and dove
from the dune buggy to Snake. The buggy veered to the left taking out another
vehicle of Flesh Eaters.
Reis held on to the side of the
jeep face to face with Snake.
He pulled her head next to his shouting, “Grab
the tanks off the back! Throw em’ at these assholes and hold on!”
She nodded
and climbed around to the back. She unhooked one of the four tanks and tossed
it towards another dune buggy. Snake aimed his pistol and fired. The tank
exploded blowing the buggy off the road.
The Interceptor closed in on the
jeep ahead with Nemesis and Johnny the boy inside. Two shotgun blasts ripped
through the side of their jeep. Johnny stood up out the passenger window firing
a pistol and screaming, “MAX!”
Reis looked ahead seeing her boss under fire.
She signaled to Snake to get up next to the V8. Snake’s drove up between the
Interceptor and Nemesis.
Snake slammed into the side of the
black car, he and the mad man in black sitting only one seat apart.
Max, with
a wild look in his eyes, pointed over to the other vehicle at Johnny saying,
“He’s mine!”
Snake rammed into the side of the Interceptor once again pushing
Max away. There was now a little distance between the three vehicles. Johnny
and Max kept firing on each other. Reis unhooked another tank off the back,
climbed up top, and prepared to throw. A bullet ripped through her chest.
Snake’s eye opened wide. She dropped off of the side to the ground.
Snake’s whole world froze for a
moment. He looked back just as Reis was pulled under the tires of the vehicles
in pursuit.
Suddenly the world rushed forward again, faster than ever. Snake
rammed into the side of the Interceptor, aimed his pistol, and squeezed off six
rounds.
Max’s passenger-side window shattered, bullets whizzing by his head,
grazing his arm and shoulder. Max slammed on the breaks and ducked back behind them.
Looking over his shoulder Snake saw that there were still two oxygen tanks
strapped to the back of his jeep. Max already had his shotgun out the window
and aimed at the tanks. Snake threw open the door and jumped. The shotgun fired
and the jeep exploded. The force of the blast launched Snake through
the air, landing on top of another dune buggy, one of the few remaining.
“Snake Plissken!” shouted a voice
over a megaphone. Looking ahead, a dozen rusted out Chevy Impalas, Dodge
Challengers and Chargers raced towards them head on. Every one of them was
loaded to the teeth with machine guns, rocket launchers, and patchwork armor. Each
of the cars were tricked out with powerful speaker systems and subs, all
blaring the same song, Motley Crue’s Kickstart
My Heart. Along with them rode one tiny crotch rocket driven by one of
Nemesis’s own men. “You want me, Plissken?! Here I am!”
Snake knew instantly who it was
yelling his name. “Slasher,” he said through gritted teeth.
While everyone was
staring ahead at the oncoming armada, Snake pulled his Bowie knife from its
sheath and shanked the three cannibals in the buggy. He tossed the driver out
and took the wheel. The remaining Flesh Eaters and Suicide Angels continued
on a head-on course towards Slasher's fleet. No one showed signs of turning.
“Let’s get this party started!”
shouted Slasher. In seconds the gap between the two fleets closed.
None of the drivers turned off. Half of the cars missed one another while the
others slammed head-on into each other shattering to pieces. Blood, rubber,
human limbs, and twisted metal flew through the air in an industrial organic
rain shower. The Interceptor, Snake, Nemesis and Johnny, one dune buggy, and
three jeeps survived along with Slasher and six of his assault vehicles.
Slasher and his crew skidded along the desert floor coming back around. With
the pedal to the metal they sped on after them.
Snake ran up alongside Nemesis and
Johnny, “You set me up. Eugene!”
“Of course! What did you think was
going to happen?”
Snake aimed his pistol and fired.
The Interceptor rammed into Snake’s side at the same moment. Plissken glared
across the cars at Max shouting, “He’s mine!”
The music grew louder once again as
Slasher and the remainder of his group closed in from behind.
Max gave Snake a
dastardly smile, “Watch your right,” he shouted over the roaring engines.
The
Interceptor peeled off as the rest of the vehicles headed to the horizon on the
right. Suddenly they met the horizon and instantly corrected their course.
Snake’s buggy slammed into one of the Suicide Angels knocking them
off the horizon. Snake immediately corrected his course upon seeing the cliffside
they now drove along. Now Snake understood what Reis meant by Edge of the World. Where once was land
now it had all fallen away, swallowed by the earth leaving nothing but a deep
chasm behind. The Edge seemed to run forever in both directions. A thin stretch
of road ran along the edge of the chasm, rising and falling.
Max slowed enough for Slasher and
his crew to drive up on the others. Max drove up alongside the Charger in the
very back and broadsided it. The Charger spun out and went over the edge. Max
hammered the accelerator and rear-ended the car in front of him, forcing it
into the next ahead. Both lost control, one sliding perpendicular with the road
and rolling while the other launched off the cliff. The Interceptor kept moving
its way up, picking off cars as it pressed onward.
Slasher stood out of the sunroof of
his Impala and peered behind at the black V8. He pulled out a rocket launcher,
“I am a turbo charged nitro induced death machine. I am a fuel injected engine
of the destruction! I am the four cylinders of the Apocalypse! What are you,
Road Warrior?! What the fuck are you?!”
Max swerved, narrowly avoiding the
rocket. It struck the road behind him lifting the backend of the Interceptor
several feet in the air. The nose of the car scraped along the asphalt as the
backend came down hard. The car zigzagged as Max struggled to get it back under
control, the right side tires riding halfway over the edge.
Slasher signaled his remaining
three men to take out the Road Warrior. The three cars turned off and let Max
speed on past. They motored after him, machine guns blazing and rockets firing. The
road along the edge went from flat to hilly, rising and falling without
warning. Bullets and rockets flew every which way as the cars sailed up and
down along the road and through the air. The three cars boxed him in against
the cliffside, one in front, on the left, and behind. Max shot out the front
tire of the car to the left sending it tumbling in the dust. The car in front
launched over the top of a steep hill. As Max came to the top he breaked,
slowing just enough to keep his car on the ground. The car behind kept going at top
speed and launched overhead through the air. As it sailed above Max shot the
vehicle’s gas tank. The car burst in a ball fire and crashed to the ground. In
no time Max caught up with the last of Slasher’s men, a lone Challenger. The
man in the Challenger, desperate to out run the Interceptor, hit the nitro. One
last hill headed their way launching the Challenger high in the air. The front
end of the car tipped too steep while flying through the air and crashed upon
landing, the driver flying through the windshield headlong into the pavement.
Up ahead Snake and Nemesis drove
neck and neck at the front of the pack. Both of them jerked the steering wheel
into the other. The jeep rammed against the dune buggy, neither refusing to
turn away. Nemesis peered through the goggles of his gas-mask at Snake, “You
know, a while back I heard you were dead. Then you showed up in Cleveland. I
heard they killed you after that but then you showed up in L.A. They told me
you were dead I don’t know how many times. Truthfully, I knew you weren’t.
You’ve always been the pain in my ass, Snake. A pustulent hemorrhoid that never goes
away!”
“We’re all dead. Jus’ some of us
need reminding,” said Snake in a raspy voice.
“Snake!” called Slasher’s voice
through the megaphone. “I am the piston powered, guzzolene drinking, engine of
combustion destruction!”
“I may be the same guy, Snake, but
Slasher? He’s embraced the madness,” said Nemesis. Snake looked out the back
watching Slasher aim a rocket launcher at his dune buggy. At that moment
Nemesis veered away from him and waved, “You can die now, Snake.” The rocket
flew. Snake darted across the seats and flung himself through the air. The
buggy exploded and Snake landed on the hood of the next Jeep back. Nemesis
stared out the window in disbelief, “For fuck’s sake, just die!” He stuck his
head out the window shouting to the remaining three jeeps, “Kill Snake!”
A Suicide Angel leaned out the
passenger side window and trained a crossbow on him. The bolt flew and struck
Snake in the leg. He yanked the arrow out and thrust it into the head of his
enemy before they could reload. Snake ignore his wound and climbed overtop the
roof to the back. He unhooked one of the oxygen tanks.
“Snaaaaaaaaaake!”
screamed Slasher as he unloaded a clip. Plissken chucked the tank straight for
Slasher, one of Slasher’s own bullets striking the bottle. The tank blew up in
midair, the concussive force breaking Slasher’s neck and crushing all the
weapons mounted to his car. Snake unhooked the rest of the tanks, throwing them
at all the remaining vehicles. One tank was sucked underneath the tires, the
intense banging of the bottle causing it to explode and launching the jeep high
into the sky. One bottle crashed through the windshield of a jeep but didn’t
detonate until Snake put a bullet in it.
The final tank struck the last of the
Flesh Eaters and bounced off the metal frame of the dune buggy. The three
cannibals inside the buggy whooped and cheered. Then the Interceptor drove up
beside them. Max aimed his double barrel shotgun and killed all three with one
shot.
Snake stabbed his knife into the
driver of the jeep, tossed his body out onto the road, and hopped in the
driver’s seat. He drove up on the left of Nemesis and Max drove up on the
right. They sandwiched Nemesis and Johnny between them. The burned out ruins of
a city lay ahead, the three of them speeding straight for them. Nemesis tried
to swerve but he was stuck. A hulking warehouse ruin rapidly approached, the
three of them headed straight for a brick wall.
“Are you crazy?! You’ll kill us
all!” screamed Nemesis. They flew straight for the wall. The Interceptor turned
off at the last second but the others plowed into the bricks. They
smashed through to the other side. Their jeeps crunched like tin cans, rolling
onto their sides over and over until finally grinding to a halt.
Max searched for another pair of
shotgun shells but came up empty. He still brought the shotgun despite not
having any ammo. He hopped out of the car and moved as fast as his leg brace
would let him. He climbed through the hole in the wall and hobbled over to one
of the overturned jeeps. There was no one inside. The second jeep was empty
too. Other than a pack of feral dogs there was no one in sight.
Plissken burst out of the shadows
sucker punching Max across the face. Three punches to the gut and a knee to the
face dropped Max to the ground. The former patrolman jammed his finger into
Snake’s leg wound. Max swung his braced leg around taking Snake’s feet out from
under him. The two of them rolled on the ground kicking and punching. The dogs began skittering about and howling from all the
commotion. Max rolled on top of Snake and head butted him twice in quick
succession. He opened his mouth to take a bite out of the one eyed man. As
Max’s jaws opened wide Snake shoved a piece of brick debris in the cop’s mouth.
“Try that kiss on someone else.” Snake thrust his knee into Max’s groin and
jabbed his elbow across Max’s face. Max rolled off of Snake and the two of them
rose to their feet.
Snake pulled his gun and aimed at
the man across from him. Max likewise trained his shotgun on his opponent.
Snake only had a few shots left in his pistols, shots he was saving for
Nemesis. Snake took a deep breath, “Who are you?”
“Nobody,” said Max.
“They call you the Road Warrior.
You look like a cop.”
“Used to be. I don’t know what I am
anymore. What I do know is you’re between me and what I want.”
“Looks like me have something in
common,” said Snake coolly. “I don’t give a fuck about your war. I’ve got a
debt and I’m about to settle it.”
“That’s man’s life is mine. I
promised a friend.”
“So what do you suggest we do about
this?” said Snake in his gravelly voice.
Max had no shells in his shotgun.
There was nothing he could do from this position. All he could do was risk it all
on a single gambit. Slowly Max lowered his shotgun.
The corner of Snake’s mouth curled
into a grin, “Good boy. It wouldn’t have worked out for you.”
“Well, was that anti-climactic or
what?” came Nemesis’s voice. He and Johnny stepped out from behind the
overturned jeep, guns blazing. Max and Snake both dove behind a pile of rubble.
Bullets bounced all around them, striking a few of the feral dogs roaming around. Max grabbed one of the dogs and pulled him behind the rubble too.
“Forget the damn dog,” growled
Snake. “You’re out of shells, right?”
Max nodded.
Snake rolled his eyes,
“Thought so. Here, take these.” Snake reached into his pocket and revealed a
pair of shotgun shells. Max grabbed the ammunition and loaded his weapon. “All
right, once these idiots have emptied their clips that’s when we make our move.”
The shooting stopped and the dog
ran off. “Whatsamatter, Snake, too scared to face me?” Nemesis taunted, “Or are
expecting me to waste my bullets on some stupid rocks?” Nemesis pulled a
homemade explosive from his pocket and handed it to Johnny.
Johnny lit the wick, “Rockatansky!
This is for Toecutter, Nightrider, Bubba Zanetti, and the rest of the Acolytes
you’ve hunted down these last four years. And for the missing piece of my leg.”
Snake peeked his head up over the
rubble just as Johnny tossed the bomb their way. Snake dove out of the way as
the bomb exploded. The blast took out the floor, Max and the pile of rubble
free-falling down to a sub-level of the warehouse. Max’s sleeve caught a piece
of rebar sticking out from the concrete. He dangled like a worm on a hook at
the mouth of the hole.
Nemesis and Johnny approached the
newly formed hole. Snake laid unconscious on the floor nearby. A cruel smile
came to Johnny’s face once he saw Max. Nemesis edged cautiously toward Snake,
gun at the ready.
Johnny squatted on his haunches at the edge of the hole
looking down over Max. “You know, it was Toecutter who forced me to burn your
friend, Goose. I wanted no part of it. After you forced me to saw my own leg
off, I’m glad I lit up your partner. And I’m glad Toecutter and Bubba killed
that bitch of yours and your pup. But not half as glad as I am to do this.”
Johnny aimed his gun at Max’s head. As Johnny squeezed the trigger the dog that
Max had saved dove for them, sinking his fangs into Johnny’s hand. Johnny
tossed the dog away and aimed again. Max’s sleeve ripped clean off above the
elbow, Max himself dropping down to the room below. As he fell he pulled out
his shotgun and fired. The blast tagged Johnny in the shoulder, knocking him
back.
Nemesis averted his gaze for a
moment when the dog ran in and attacked. His attention was elsewhere. At the sound of the shotgun blast Snake
surged to life, driving his Bowie knife deep into Nemesis’s gut. Snake dragged
the blade down his abdomen from sternum to groin. Nemesis fell down clutching
his belly. Snake knelt beside him, gripped the gasmask and ripped it off,
skin and chunks of flesh coming with it.
“I thought about not killing you at
one point today, Eugene. But then someone died today. Someone I kinda liked.
Another good person died for you. The more things change, the more they stay
the same, eh Eugene?”
“Fuck you, Snake,” said Nemesis
with a mouthful of blood.
“The name’s Plissken.” Snake walked
over to Johnny who was writhing in pain and reaching for his gun. Snake kicked
the pistol away, “How about you and me wait here a while till your friend pulls
himself out of that mess.”
A half hour had passed when Max
limped his way up the stairs and over to Snake and Johnny. They were seated
next to one of the overturned jeeps. “I’ll leave you lovebirds to it,” said
Snake walking out of the building.
Max hobbled over to Johnny and
grabbed a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. He took Johnny by the good leg and
placed a cuff around his ankle and the other on the axle of the jeep. “No! What
are you doing?! No, man! No!”
“Let’s try this again,” said Max in
gruff voice. “That’s high tensile steel. You may be able to cut through it with
this, but I doubt it.” He dropped a jagged shard of metal at Johnny’s feet.
“Will it cut through your leg? Better chance than it cutting through steel. You
have until I walk back to my car.” Max turned and limped slowly towards the
hole in the wall where the jeeps crashed through. Johnny screamed and cursed Max
as the former Main Force patrolman staggered towards the exit.
Johnny grabbed the edged piece of
metal, preparing to throw it at Max. The dog from before ran in again, biting
Johnny’s hand, and ripping the weapon from his grip. Johnny struck the dog and
it ran off to Max’s side. Max looked down at the animal beside him. The dog was
different than the other ferals running around. He had a red bandana tied
around his neck, most likely from his former owner.
Max and the dog climbed outside to
where Snake and the Interceptor were waiting. He turned back seeing Johnny
still cuffed to the jeep and screaming. Max aimed his last shot and fired. The
shotgun blast struck the oxygen tanks on the back of the jeep. Johnny became a
cloud of red mist. The explosion destabilized the building struts and the
entire structure came down.
After several minutes and a strong
wind that helped blow away the dust, Max and Snake stood face to face. “You
gonna kill me now?” asked Max.
Snake rolled over the idea in his
head, then with a sigh he said, “I’m too tired.” He pulled a cigarette from his
pocket and lit it up, “What about you?”
Max looked out over the desolate
wasteland and then at the dog by his side, “I finished what I started a long
time ago. There’s nothing left for me here. Maybe I’ll head west.”
“I hear that’s not a nice place.”
“Tell me one place that isn’t,”
said Max. “Where are you headed?”
Snake stepped away from the car and
started walking, “I’m not headed anywhere. All I’m looking to is escape.”
“Hey,” called Max. “Who are you?”
Snake took a drag from his
cigarette and threw it on the ground, “Call me Snake,” he said and walked off.
Max and the dog climbed into the Interceptor and
headed west as the sun set.
ESCAPE FROM THE WORLD
MAD MAX: ROAD OF VENGEANCE
MAD MAX VS SNAKE PLISSKEN
Story/Movie Timeline
Here's the list of movies referenced in the story and the order in which they take place with the story's timeline.
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
**Mad Max Vs Snake Plissken**
#9
#10
GET CAUGHT UP ON ALL THE PREVIOUS BATTLES LINKED BELOW:
