Judgement Day

Andrew was uncomfortable in civilian clothing. Even if he had his Lawgiver hidden in his leather vest it still felt wrong not having a layer of bulletproof life insurance wrapped around his chest. He was wearing a v-neck plain white t-shirt, splattered with blood and other stains, cut up jeans, ankle high leather army boots, a spiked collar and cuffs and a gold chain necklace that had the word fly on it. Looking at himself in the mirror he shook his head in disgust.
The tapping of high heels made Andrew turn around, June was done getting dressed. His jaw dropped in shock. He had not been expecting June to be dressed so, provocatively.

June had a short miniskirt that would show the world her skimpy G-string thong if she bent over. Her cleavage was in clear sight with the low cut crimson tank top. She embellished her sex appeal with five-inch heels that showed off her toned and cut legs perfectly. Andrew stammered a bit.

“What? Too ridiculous?” June asked as she put a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow.

“I was thinking unexpected. I know we’re going undercover for intel, but still. ” Andrew told her as he walked to the door of the “apartment” they were sharing for the duration of the operation, it was more of a drop off zone for weapons, ammo, and the like. Even if they had an open invitation to bring down a notorious drug lord/pimp it wasn’t like he was just going to let them walk in and bring down his work.

“You look like a biker I gave five years for double parking last week.” June told him as they left “their” apartment after June grabbed her purse.

The two walked to the elevator at the end of the hall. Andrew was wondering where June was hiding her Lawgiver; it probably must have been in her purse. Because if it wasn’t then June really had to get creative on where she would stash it, and some places would be very uncomfortable.

Once they arrived at the elevator Andrew paused for a moment, after the vertigo elevator he always instinctively reached for his belt except when he was in the Hall of Justice. June gave him a raised eyebrow that he ignored as he reached over and hit the down button. A few minutes later the carriage reached their floor and Andrew slowly stepped in and pressed the first floor button. The elevator began to smoothly go down.

“When we get out put your arm around me.” June told him.
“What?” Andrew asked shocked at the request.

“We’re undercover as a couple, remember? We had an argument for twenty minutes over what we were going as.”

Andrew grimaced as the memory played its way back into his head. The argument had been about the times they were undercover what roles they would be playing, one was that Andrew would be a pimp and June his “employee” which was suggested by her oddly enough. Other suggestions had been made but Andrew was trying to repress those already.

“Right.” Andrew told her as the doors opened and his arm draped over her shoulders, which tensed up.

“Calm down, we have to play this right. Nut up or shut up remember?” Andrew told her in a revenge chastise.

“Shut the hell up.”

Andrew smirked as the doors opened up to the parking garage. June took her heels off and the two began to walk the four flights of stairs where Andrew’s motorcycle was.

“I thought you were good in heels?” Andrew asked.

“Yeah, on flat surfaces. When it comes to stairs every woman is nearly helpless.”

“Why do you people wear and obsess over those things when all they do is bring you pain?”

“Because they make my legs look fucking fantastic.”

Andrew shrugged as he walked over to the motorcycle, provided by Bumpo’s motorcycles*, and mounted it. He waited until he felt June get on behind him and wrap her arms around his chest. Grabbing the aviator sunglasses out of his vest pocket and throwing them on his face.

“This still feels weird.” Andrew told June as he turned the motorcycle and revved it.

“Shut up and ride.” June told him in mild irritation.

Andrew gunned the engine and began to drive off. Pulling onto the giant mega streets of the city and narrowly dodging a giant mobile house unit. Mega City One was filled with so many people there was not enough housing to hold them all, so many simply lived in giant R.V like units, some were junk and others were nicely furnished and comfortable to live in.

"I hate not having my uniform on. The traffic moved for me." June mumbled a bit as Andrew shot off towards the club Kaiser was seen at every night, The Maverick.

"It was useful, so when we get there do I need to slap you and call you my ho?" Andrew asked with a slight amount of mischief in his voice.

"If you deem it necessary." June replied through gritted teeth. "Oh look, the club."

Andrew smirked as he pulled into the giant parking garage right next to the club. He had difficulty finding a parking spot until he reached the fourteenth floor of the complex. Once there he tied his bike up, the public transportation was suspicious at best around these parts, and then patted his jacket to make sure his Lawgiver still sat in his pocket.

The two walked to the elevator, which took them down to the club; from the name one could guess that it was a local sports club. When the elevator arrived Andrew, did the pause that would plague him for the rest of his life, walked into the carriage and let it take him down to the entrance to the club.

Andrew swallowed and began to sweat a little as he saw the people outside the club. Druggie’s lined the side of the building, forming a meat wall in case the club was invaded, women dressed in clothing so skimpy it made June look conservative. A large bouncer stood in front of the club’s front doors, letting some in and punching others in the face. Even though Andrew could have taken the bouncer he was still nervous, he didn’t need to draw attention to himself.

The two stood in line and waited. It wasn’t a very long line and it was moving quickly because of the bouncer’s unorthodox tactics. After the next three people in line were punched in the face and thrown over to the side it was Andrew and June’s turn to receive judgment.

The bouncer has muscles the size of bowling balls, a nonexistent neck, a baldhead someone could have used it as a mirror, basically everyone’s stereotypical view of club bouncers. His thin eyebrows rose as he pulled up a list of people on a holo board.
“Name?” he asked in a deep rumbling voice.

“Matthew Red and Jane Winters.” Andrew said as he perfectly mimicked a lower class pleasure district citizen, an accent that sounded slightly different from his natural voice but not enough it wouldn’t be easy to pull off.

“Looks like someone is going all the way to the top. Head on in.” he told the two as he lowered the barrier to the club.

Andrew nodded and walked in, surprised at the fact that they had gotten in so easily. Once inside Andrew could really see the club.
Lights bounced off walls, flashing and probing, it was an epileptic’s nightmare. Strippers were aplenty in this place of booze and sex, grinding against polls or each other. People run around in a drunken frenzy attempting to start a fight with other bar members. In the corners there were people using various types of drugs, some snorted a line of white powder off another girl’s body. Others used a bong or needles to achieve the high they craved. The patrons of this bar creating a climate that could be representative of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Andrew and June walked through the club, a man with a spiked Mohawk and golden teeth looked up with a toothy grin.
“Nice chicken man, you up to peach her?” he asked.

“Wasn’t talking to you, get back to your lichen powder.” Andrew said slowly. The man turned back and sniffed up some red powder on the table.

“What did he mean by peach the chicken?” June yelled, trying to be heard over the loud bass of the music.

Andrew rolled his eyes, at the academy he had told June to take the course over slang, so naturally she refused.

“Sex, that’s about all you want to know.” Andrew replied as he managed to push through the crowd to the elevator guarded by two more bouncers, somehow bigger than the one up front.
Once he reached them he told them their, fake, names. After one of the bouncers called up they were free to go up to the VIP longue. Walking towards the elevator he pushed the button and the doors opened. Stepping in he noticed something odd, there were no buttons.

The elevator jerked up suddenly, June was thrown off her feet and she grabbed onto Andrew who caught her without a moment’s notice. Looking down at the girl in his arms he helped her up and the two separated. After another awkward five minutes the elevator doors opened to show them their destination.

Stepping out to reveal a room more horrifying beyond belief and he had fought down some pretty terrible things in his short time as a Judge. It was a long hallway full of rooms similar to a mental asylum. Plexiglas windows revealed some of the most terrifying torture and mutilations ever been concocted in human history. The first one Andrew saw had a woman encased fully in a metal suit, the head was shaped like a horse head and there was a tail that had been nailed into her skin. The next room had a woman blindly stumbling around; a thick piece of rubber had been sewed over her eyes. Another woman had no hands or feet, they had been sawn off. Every room had a new horror that Andrew had a tough time not puking in disgust, holding himself back from hitting the button on his necklace that would bring a brigade of Judges flying in.

Andrew and June shuffled quickly to the door at the end of the long hallway. Opening the door to reveal the enemy they had sworn to bring down, Kaiser Culverton.

Looking at the man he was nothing like Andrew was expecting. Alone by himself he sat on a throne of human bones. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties instead of being in his fifties, considering his thirty year long career thus far. Culverton was dressed in an elegant grab not seen commonly amongst the pimps and drug lords of the Pleasure District. His attire consisted of white magician gloves, each finger having a different ring on his hand, a black suit with a white shirt and a black and red checkered vest, finishing it off with a top hat and a cane, which he tapped in rhythm as they approached.

“Hello Judges Grey and Summers.” he greeted them in a low voice. “Is this the best the Hall of Justice has available?”
Andrew was shocked; he had been invited to negotiate a “business” deal that was going to get him in league with the man so he could bring him down. It had been a set up and he hadn’t even considered this possibility.

“How do you know who we are?” June asked as she ripped the high heels off of her feet and threw them at him. They bounced harmlessly off an invisible wall separating them from him.

“Simple. So simple I’m not going to tell you.” he said in his low whisper of a voice. “All I know is if you want the next three blocks to survive you’re going to do what I ask.”

Andrew’s hand moved up to cover his necklace and to scratch his neck.

“I wouldn’t press that button; any emergency signals that go out will trigger the explosives.”

Pulling his hand down in disgust Andrew snarled at Culverton. “What do you want?” he growled.

“I’m going to believe Judge Summers is your ‘chicken’. I want you to peach the chicken.” Culverton explained.

Andrew felt his stomach drop to the center of the earth. In order for them and the next three blocks to survive he would have to screw Judge Summers. He looked over with an expression of rage and sorrow. Knowing the man wouldn’t bluff he walked over to June, attempting to look tough, her eyes scream no.

“I’m sorry.” Andrew whispered into her ear.

Culverton stood up and began to leave. Andrew was furious, he was going to make them degrade each other and he wasn’t even going to make them watch?

“I take my leave, the explosives deactivate in one hour. If you stop the love making then I trigger them. The doors will open when you can take your leave. Have fun, I know that you two have been so eager for this to happen.” Culverton told them as he disappeared out a side door.

“Shit, I’m so sorry.” he whispered as he closed his eyes and unzipped his pants.

*******

An hour and many tears and other fluids later Andrew and June drove out onto the streets of Mega City One, in shame Andrew hadn’t looked at June since the incident. They drove off and headed back to the apartment. The only thing they had agreed on was calling Judges to bring down the club and free all those trapped inside.

The two went into the apartment, Andrew changed into his gear while June went into the shower. He could hear her crying, something he had only heard once after her Hot Dog Run. It was the most heart wrenching sound in the world. Someone as tough as her breaking and crying at something he did.

An hour or so later she was ready to go and dressed herself in her gear. Leaving the apartment they went to the garage’s hidden level and mounted their Lawmasters. Engines roaring as they flew onto the street and shot off towards the Maverick. H-Wagons and other Judges converged on the club like a pack of wolves on a wounded deer. What happened next would haunt survivors for years to come.

The Maverick exploded, triggering a chain reaction of the Mega Blocks within a mile radius of the clubs. Giant building collapsing and falling on each other in a torrent of foundation and metal, squealing as supports were crushed and snapped under the tons of weight. Explosions going off every second, as a roar of fire and shrapnel shot out in the unaffected parts of the city. Screams of terror suddenly cut off or amplified by unknown means.

“No.” was all that Andrew could slip out as stream of light slipped out from the ruins and exploded in the sky, writing the words, is that all you have? Andrew pulled over and so did June. Looking in her eyes he gritted his teeth and looked back up. “We’re bringing him down. I don’t care what I have to do, that man is dead.”