Punk Wars... When two or more sci-fi "Punk" worlds collide!
The Mothership returns for a third outing to the furthest reaches of space, where one world bleeds into the next!
PUNK WARS 3.
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One minute Captain Snaggletooth C. Pierre was engaged in a deadly naval battle with his greatest rival—Benjamin B. Boullier, captain of the SS Swill Swallower—the next minute his ship was doing the unthinkable: Falling from the sky in an unfamiliar land!
He thought fast, because his crew weren't the brightest bunch of scallywags. "Brace yerselves, mateys!"
Most gripped the nearest rope, cannon, or clothesline. Some jumped overboard. Others scrambled towards Snaggletooth's quarters, tripping over all the cannonballs rolling every which way across the deck.
Snaggletooth himself joined two others in his own quarters, where Ensign Fuchbeard wrestled Major Perkins over who would claim the wardrobe as their place of safety.
They never finished their battle, however, as the descent ended as abruptly as it began. The ship crashed into the foreign body of water, rocking it in ways Snaggletooth had never been rocked. He landed on the floor with merely a sore toe. Ensign Fuchbeard wasn't so lucky, though. He died—horribly—by sustaining a fatal neck injury when the sudden jolt caused him to slip, fall, and smack the back of his neck on the door knob.
"Everyone alright?" Snaggletooth asked, looking at the state of his quarters. The waterbed had popped in the crash and was emptying quickly. Major Perkins had somehow sustained a stab wound, and she lay on the floor dying. Snaggletooth splashed over to her, immediately stripping off his longcoat to press it against the wound.
Just then, a flash of fire swirled and spat into a widening circle. A hazy, dark jungle could be seen through the circle. Snaggletooth squinted, trying to see more. Three women with skin the colour of gold came through. They wore feathered helmets and carried bows. One held a strange ball-shaped lantern with a cool-blue flame burning inside.
"Wha—?" was all Snaggletooth could manage.
"Here," said one of the women, the tallest one. She held a bowl full of some sort of foul-smelling purple paste.
Snaggletooth grimaced. It didn't look appetizing.
"For the wound," she added.
Understanding the paste now, but not understanding who these intruders were, where they'd come from, or how they'd come here, Snaggletooth accepted the bowl. He removed his longcoat from Perkins and went white at the sight of the blood. It was a lot of blood.
He got himself together for his major and began applying the paste to the wound.
Perkins hissed back to life. "Grrrgh, what the hell is that shit?"
The women were nowhere to be found. The circle had disappeared, too.
Just then, an ear-deafening explosion greater than any thunder or naval battle Snaggletooth had ever heard.
"What the fuck was that?" Perkins asked, standing up and readying her pistol. "So that purple stuff worked a treat."
Another explosion. Then what sounded like gunfire, but rapid like horses.
Snaggletooth moved to the door and peered outside. The ship sat at the base of a mountain, and from what he could tell, multiple wars were going on. Men in advanced armour he'd never thought possible were fighting against ships that walked. Tiny birds with automatic pistols zipped around the sky, raining endless supplies of ammo upon another group of troops, these ones wearing all black and armed with similarly automatic weapons. He heard voices, screams, shouts. He left his quarters and saw the sad sight of his own ship. The golden women were tending to some of his fallen crewmates.
Another circle opened up, this time way up in the sky. This circle must have been damn close to the size of his ship. From what he could tell, this circle showed the stars at night, but not any stars he'd ever seen before. A colossal flying ship came soaring through like an eagle, firing green blasts that melted whatever they hit.
Perkins squeezed Snaggletooth's shoulder, and he became aware of her voice.
"We can't stay here, Cap."
He nodded. They moved. Up over the edge of the ship, down some ropes.
Then they moved swiftly up the slope, trying to stay hidden from any of the skirmishes going on. They had no idea where they were going, or how they'd get out of here. They just needed to find safety. A cave looked promising, and they hid in some nearby bushes to observe it. When they thought the coast was clear, suddenly a hundred marching men in drab grey uniforms emerged from the entrance. They had red-and-white armbands with a matching black symbol. They carried guns of some kind, similar to the troops in black, and they looked deadly.
"Shhh." Snaggletooth put a finger to his lips.
"No shit!" Perkins said, giving her head a shake.
The soldiers didn't notice them as they walked the path, their eyes staring straight forward at all times.
They waited a minute or two, and were about to make for the cave, when they heard a sneeze.
Perkins went rigid, her head cocked to the left. Her pistol was ready. She bolted away and Snaggletooth followed, coming to a hollowed-out tree trunk.
A man was hiding inside. His hands were raised.
"Please, don't hurt me. I just came here."
"What's yer name, matey?" Snaggletooth said.
"Jeremy, sir."
Jeremy was a well-built lad. His clothing was as unlike Snaggletooth's as it was unlike the grey- or black-uniformed soldiers'. Where Snaggletooth wore a puffy white shirt and pantaloons, Jeremy wore a tight-fitting, rather comfortable-looking shirt that showed his biceps. The front of it read "BOSS."
"Did you guys come through a portal, too?"
"A portal?" Snaggletooth said, testing the word. He liked the way it sounded. "The golden women did..."
"We did, too," Perkins said. "I was up in the crow's nest and saw it before we went in. Thought I had calenture or some shit."
"You're not feverish." Snaggletooth heard voices coming, so he hushed Jeremy and Perkins.
The three of them sat huddled together, watching the path. The soldiers were coming back.
They didn't hear another portal buzz open behind them.
Nor did they hear the silent footfalls of an apex predator who's suddenly found itself in unfamiliar territory.
