Up in Smoke

Doc stops the Jeep a hundred feet from the burning wreck of the Escalade.

Doc undoes his seatbelt. "Brother Broderick, I know this must be strange and confusing but I need you to stay in the car and keep your head down between your knees. Stay as low as you can get."

Brother Broderick looks at him, deeply concerned. "[What is happening?]"

"I'll explain later. Right now, you need to stay down."

Broderick nods and puts his head down.

Doc leads Mark and Thunderhorse out of the Jeep. They open the rear hatch and grab their weapons.

Meanwhile, the Exkoreans scramble out of their burning vehicle. They're shook up, but they draw their guns as they retreat from the Cadillac.

The creek is lined with small clumps of trees. Doc leads his troops towards them for cover. Mark breaks off to the right in an attempt to flank them.

"Stop where you are! Put down your weapons!" Doc shouts at the Exkoreans.

Neither of them obey. The driver runs wildly from the car, disregarding them altogether. The other scrambles up the bank of the creek towards them and takes cover in the trees. He fires his Pulse ion pistol.

The violet beam leaps from the device and scores a direct hit on Thunderhorse, who hasn't yet made it to cover. The beam splatters against the magnetic field of his body armor. A miniature aurora flares around his head, and for a moment it looks like he's wearing a crown of fire.

Mark moves into the trees and opens fire on the fleeing driver, but misses. The Exkorean flees deeper into the trees. His passenger steps around the tree he's taken cover behind and fires again at Thunderhorse before ducking back. This time he concentrates the blast. It overwhelms the magnetic field and burns a giant hole in his Manowar shirt, scorches his body armor and burns the skin underneath.

Instead of crying in pain, Thunderhorse screams in rage and charges his assailant, battle axe drawn. He swings it laterally as he goes around the tree. The axe implants its self in the wood. The Exkorean falls to the ground. His head follows shortly.

Doc moves towards Mark's position. He calls at the Exkorean driver again. "STOP OR YOU'RE DEAD!"

The Exkorean turns to look. He sees what's become of his partner. He sees Mark aiming at him, and he sees his car on fire. He realizes there's no where for him to go. He puts his hands in the air.

Doc, Mark, and Thunderhorse begin to approach him, weapons pointed. The driver gets down on his knees.

"Put down the gun!" Doc shouts. The driver tosses it to the ground in front of him.

Doc sees the man thumb a button before tossing the weapon. And now a red light on the weapon is blinking.

Doc yells. "Shit! Overload! Run!"

Just in time, too. The team ducks into the banks of the creek as the Pulse Ion pistol's power pack detonates with an intense flash of light followed by an incredible shockwave. Seconds later, the Escalade explodes behind them. The second blast is not as powerful, but is almost as loud.

Thunderhorse is out of the blast range of the power pack, but not the SUV. Distracted by the first explosion, he doesn't react in time to avoid the second. He gets pelted by the remains of the Cadillac's windshield. Fortunately it's not serious.

A small mushroom cloud billows into the sky. Two trees are on fire, and a sixty foot circle of ground is scorched. The wreckage of the Cadillac burns away in the creek, blowing thick black smoke to chase the mushroom cloud.

The gunner lays on the rocky banks, his back bent backwards. The passenger is in the woods bleeding while his head has rolled into the trickling water. There's no sign of the driver save for the floating bits of burning ash.

"Hoooo-weee," Mark says as the smoke clears. "What a mornin'."