Chapter 11The Westside of Long Beach is a tony area full of old Craftsman-style houses and expensive European automobiles. Oddly, the busses don’t run there as late as they do in downtown Angel City, so Dr. Justice and Lady Truth hoof the last few miles of their journey.
It’s early morning now, but the gray of false dawn has yet to lighten the sky. The two are feeling their second wind after a short nap on the bus. The walk is good, working out the kinks from all of the earlier action.
At the end of that long walk is a stylish house with a BMW in front and a Mercedes in the driveway. The big living room window gives the occupants a beautiful view of the neighbors and the immaculate green lawn says, “I hire a gardener to take care of me.”
“This is super suburban, dude. Do we steal the BMW or the Mercedes? The Mercedes is cooler,” Lady Truth says with a wisp of want in her voice.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that LT,” the doctor says. “We are superheroes, we don’t steal.”
“Can we borrow it, then?” she replies with a now rare smile.
Dr. Justice gives her the look and she knows she’s not getting the Mercedes.
The two walk up the cement walkway to the heavy front door with its brass knocker. Dr. Justice reaches to the side of the door and rings the doorbell. He waits a few minutes and does it again.
“He’s a heavy sleeper,” Dr. Justice says and reaches out to ring the bell again when the cold click of a gun being cocked sounds out behind him.
“And just what the hell do you want here,” an angry voice says from behind Dr. Justice.
The two put up their hands and the doctor slowly pivots around, a smile on his face.
“Hey, Sarge, I’ve missed the threats,” the doctor says.
The Sarge looks at him with a skeptical eye, lowers his .45 Colt revolver and says, “Damn, Captain, you sure have gone low rent; though your lady sure is a step up from your usual honeys.”
“Hey, that’s doctor now, and that’s my partner, Lady Truth,” Dr. Justice says.
With a wave of his hand Dr. Justice introduces Lady Truth.
“LT this is my former partner the Sarge. Real name, Adam Wayne. Superhero name, American Way. Together we were Capt. Justice and Sgt. American Way,” Dr. J says with pride in his voice.
“Ya, ya. Whatever. The government assigned me to you and we kicked ass for a few years. Then I retired. Now I’m a real estate agent,” Sarge says.
Dr. Justice moves in for an awkward man hug.
Sarge backs up and points the gun at the doctor. “If you hug me, I’m going to shoot. Now, what the hell do you want?”
Dr. Justice stands there with his arms outstretched, shrugs and drops them.
“I want the Justice Van,” he says.
“Wait, you have a van?” Lady Truth says with an edge to her voice. “We’ve been tooling around on those stupid scooters and you have a van?”
The Sarge looks at the two with a quizzical look on his face. Then it brightens and he says, “You mean your old VW? Yeah, I’ve got it. I’ve been trying to fix it up, but if you want it back you can have it.”
After moving the Mercedes to the street, Sarge goes into the garage and something grinds to life with a horrific squeal of metal. A cloud of exhaust erupts from the garage as the door opens and Sarge pulls the van out into the street.
It’s not just a VW van. It’s a classic VW Type 2 panel van, also known as a VW bus. This cherry honey is a 1967 special with a camper on top and a avocado green and white paint job.
“Holy shit, it’s a hippie van,” Lady Truth says with an exhale of breath.
Sarge hops out of the driver side and opens the side panels to let Dr. Justice and Lady Truth get a look at the interior.
Hanging across the open doorway is a curtain of beads and when parted they reveal a shag carpet interior a big bench seat and a black velvet poster of a panther on the side wall.
“OMG, it looks like hell inside,” Lady Truth exclaims.
At that same instant Dr. Justice says, “It’s perfect, just like I remember her. The first Justice vehicle.”
On the back bench seat is draped an old lab coat. Dr. Justice picks it up and slips it on.
“Hey, I remember this. It’s from my first job as a lab tech,” he exclaims. “This is perfect, now my action suit is complete.”
Lady Truth looks like she wants to cry. Instead she pokes her head into the van and sniffs.
“It smells like weed and patchouli oil in here,” she says.
Sarge breaks into the conversation with, “Yeah, I keep washing it and dousing it in air freshener, but I can’t seem to get that smell out. He must have been smoking doobie nonstop in this thing.”
Dr. Justice looks away a little embarrassed and says sheepishly, “Hey, what’s Justice without a little freedom? Never mind that, we’ve got wheels, let’s get a move on.”
“Fine,” Lady Truth says with a defeated look on her face.
They say their quick goodbyes to Sarge and fire the old Justice Van up and head out to their ass-whipping in Harrumph.
Chapter 12Harrumph, Nevada is a dust spot outside of Sin City. A bump of nothing in the middle of nowhere in the hottest part of H E double hockey sticks, that’s Harrumph.
The ancient Justice Van burps and coughs its way down the interstate towards the little town. Inside Dr. Justice and Lady Truth sweat with anticipation (well, that and the 100 degree heat), knowing that they are setting off another of Rob Slash’s traps. But they also know that if they want to get to Valerie Vixon there’s no other way.
They are out of any solid leads and this is the only place that might be a base for Robert Shan, the murdering clone who started this problem. There’s also the problem of Valerie. Why can Lady Truth see her? Usually, it’s only clones that leave the ghost trail for LT to follow.
Lady Truth is bothered and it’s not just the heat in the vintage VW or the annoying AM radio, though it could be the smell of weed, but it isn’t. What bothers Lady Truth is that she doesn’t feel in control of the situation.
Dr. Justice understands her frustration. It’s not easy going into a trap. Usually one wants to avoid such problems.
He reaches over and adjusts the AM radio as they pass a sign that says “Harrumph 30 miles.”
“Welcome to Beyond the Truth with your weekday host Brian Van Hook. Fellow believers we live in an end time and we all know it. The world is falling into chaos and we seem unable to stop it. We can’t trust our government, our employers or even our own families,” he says through a crackle of static.
“The light of the day is matched on all side by the shadows of night and it’s only when we part the shadows that we find the truth. Friends, no one wants me to tell you the truth. No one wants to hear the truth but you,” Van Hook says, his voice taking on an urgent tone.
“It’s the ultimate truth that we need to find, the truth hidden by the shadows. The truth about why things seem to be going so wrong. It’s a tale of clones and magic. It’s a tale of one man’s obsession with destroying everything and re-making it in his image. We’ll discuss it after these messages”
Dr. Justice and Lady Truth are suddenly glued to the words coming out of the tiny speakers. Is somebody finally listening? Will everyone know about Rob Slash?
“Alright folks,” Van Hook starts in as the last penile enhancement ad ends. “Here’s the straight truth. A top government scientist has told me personally that aliens from another dimension are replacing key people in our government and across this country with lookalikes who are doing the aliens dirty work. And that scientist, a Rob Slash, will join my weekend co-host Steve Barrie this weekend to discuss that problem. Now, let’s get back to Mr. Tom McClure and our discussion of the disappearing Big Foot herds in the Northwest.”
Dr. Justice and Lady Truth look at each other and laugh.
“Slash is making the whole thing look like it’s a joke,” Lady Truth says with a sour expression.
“Yeah and now if I say anything else, I look like one of Van Hook’s kooks,” Dr. Justice says.
Harrumph is in front of the two heroes. Just outside of town they pull into a gas station and get out to fill the van up and stretch their legs. It might be a quick getaway later and a gassed-up vehicle is just a smart move.
Dr. Justice pays for $30 of gas and starts filling up. Lady Truth walks over to Dr. Justice and starts to stretch. Her well-muscled body is limbering up for the coming battle.
She looks at Dr. Justice and says, “I can see Slash trails everywhere. Just before we hit town I picked him up on the interstate. There was a solid red line leaving town. He must be turning people here and sending then on their way.”
“Damn it, it’s a nest,” Dr. Justice says as he finishes pumping gas and puts the gas cap back on. “That means Rob Slash himself is here somewhere. He’s the only one who can turn this many people this quickly. The clones have to channel his full spirit first, before they can make a clone.”
The two get into the Justice Van and head into the small town as the sun begins to set, aware now that it’s a den of pure Slashy evil. The pass through and follow the interstate out the other side. They both hope as night comes it will get a little cooler and hide their approach
Just beyond town they find Moneybag’s Fuckatorium.
It’s four story tall green neon sign flashes M O N E Y B A G ’ S with each letter lighting up in sequence and then flashing all at once before starting over again. The building itself is a sprawling one story behemoth.
It almost looks like a warehouse, but the evenly spaced windows give away the fact that it’s mostly made up of individual rooms. Most of the rooms are lit and the “open, cum on in” sign by the front door blazes proudly.
As they drive by, Lady Truth notices that someone is making a delivery at a small loading dock. The truck says “The Lubery: Quality lubes for your loved ones.”
“I think I see our way in, if we act fast,” Lady Truth says. “I bet we can just slip in through that door.”
Dr. Justice doesn’t hesitate. He pulls a u-ee and shoots into the parking lot pulling into a space near the loading dock.
The two heroes jump out without another word and quickly head for the open dock door.
“I thought you would argue that we need to case the place,” Lady Truth says as they crouch down by the open door to get a look inside.
“Normally, yes, but the chances of us being caught outside the place are just too great this time. All we have is speed and surprise at this point,” Dr. Justice says taking a quick look and pulling down his goggles. “Let’s go!”
They get up to dash in and the lights go out.
Chapter 13The fog disappears and is replaced by a dull darkness as Dr. Justice climbs his way to consciousness. Nothing new. He opens his eyes to find himself looking at the biggest gold medallion he’s ever seen.
“Pimpin’ is hard?” Justice says.
“No baby, Pimpin’ is easy,” a high-pitched voice responds.
“Just reading the medallion,” Justice says.
“Never mind, I’m Moneybags and this is my fuckatorium. … well was,” the dimly seen man says.
A moan issues from behind Dr. Justice and he realizes it’s Lady Truth. He can’t see her in the dim light coming from a small vent near the floor.
“Are you alright, Lady T?” Dr. Justice says with worry in his voice.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she responds in a sarcastic tone. “I just can’t believe we’re as dumb as Slash thinks we are. He tricked us and knocked us out before we could even get into the place. Geeeeeeezzzz”
Dr. Justice chuckles and surprisingly, so does Moneybags. His laugh is rolling and warm. Not what you would expect from a hardened pimp.
The door suddenly swings open and a flood of light illuminates their dungeon. Turns out it really is a dungeon. It’s some kind of S&M fantasy room with padded horses fitted with restraints and chains hanging from the ceiling as well as the ones in the walls. Lady Truth was tightly secured to the wall, while Dr. Justice lay on the floor in a straight-jacket tethered to a ring in the floor.
In the doorway stands a lanky man with a receding hairline. His tight jeans and polo shirt had that 1980s preppy flair, but his wide smirk and narrowed eyes speak of cruelty.
It was Rob Slash. Or was it? It could have been Rob Slash, but something was different, Dr. Justice thinks. No, this is that Robert Shan guy we saw in the photo, but he’s almost a perfect copy of the original Slash.
"Why hello guests," he smiles. "It's always a pleasure to entertain in a house such as this."
“Fuck you,” Moneybags shouts back. “When I get out of these chains I’m gonna kill you.”
The smile widens to a grimace as Shan gestures to two shadowy figures standing behind him
“Why don’t you indulge Moneybags, ladies. Unchain him,” Shan says with a deadness in his voice.
Two dominatrixes, one blonde and one brunette, walk into view, their leather and brocade corsets rustling as they sashay towards Moneybags. Strapped above their G-strings are grey strap-on dildo guns with gun-clip ball sacks.
They were bringing femdom to a new level, thought Lady Truth. She could also see they were Slash clones. Fresh ones since their faces were still shifting back and forth as the last of their souls were eaten.
The blonde kept her penis pistol pointed at Moneybags as the brunette loosened the tether that kept Moneybags bound to the floor. As she loosened the final loop, Moneybags pushed up, shoving his shoulder into the gut of the dominatrix who was untying him.
She let out a whoop as the air was pushed out of her lungs and she went flying back towards Shan.
“I’m gonna kill you, Shan and then I’m gonna kill all these bitches. No one takes my pimpdom away,” Moneybags screams as he lurches to his feet.
The blonde dominatrix acts quickly, shooting Moneybags in the knee. He goes down screaming in pain. The brunette is up and she pulls a small rod out of her ass and with a flick of the wrist expands it into a baton.
She beats the screaming pimp in the head. One of her expertly landed short strokes smashes into the pimps mouth sending up a spray of teeth and blood as she pulls back for another smash.
“Stop” Shan says from the doorway. “That’s enough fun for the moment. I think it’s time to put Moneybags out of his misery.”
The two dominatrixes pout as they pull back from the bloody pimp.
“Leave him alone,” Lady Truth shouts at Shan as she strains at the chains holding her to the padded wall. “How many innocent people are you going to kill?”
Dr. Justice just stares at the blood slowly inching towards him from Moneybag’s burst knee.
It takes Lady Truth a moment to realize that the high-pitched twitter she hears is Shan laughing.
“My dear Lady Truth, what makes you think this man is innocent?” Shan says through his laughter. “He’s a pimp. He’s nothing more than a slave master and these ladies were his slaves.”
“I have set them free. Thank Slash almighty. Free at last,” he titters. “Now it’s time for this pimp to pay his price for this fuckatorium. Pick him up ladies.”
The two dominatrixes swiftly move in and grab the whimpering pimp and drag him to a table in the next room.
That’s when Dr. Justice and Lady Truth get a glimpse of a small blonde haired girl standing in the far corner of the white waiting room outside of their dungeon. It’s Valerie Vixon.
The tiny moppet is dressed in jeans and a frilly shirt and is wearing a lovely pearl necklace. Robert Shan notices their glance and smiles encouragingly at his daughter.
“Come here dear, I want you to meet a couple people,” he says and extends his hand.
She walks over with a shy smile on her face and joins her daddy at the door. “Who are these people?” she asks with a tiny musical voice.
She has her mother’s piercing eyes, Lady Truth thinks as the little girl looks into the dungeon.
“These people are enemies of the almighty Rob Slash, and they were going to do bad, bad things to your daddy,” Shan says with a cruel lisp. “You know what we do to our enemies right?”
The little girl looks up lovingly at her father and nods enthusiastically. “We kill em and eat their souls for breakfast,” she says with a laugh.
“That’s daddy’s little girl. Slash be praised,” he says.
He bends down to hug the girl and fingers the pearl necklace around her throat.
Turning his head he looks directly at Dr. Justice and says, “I gave her these. They remind me of her mother, Vicki the whore. She always enjoyed a pearl necklace.”
The little twitter of a laugh begins again and he tells the girl, “Why don’t you go wait for me in the car. We’re going to go visit Big Daddy Rob Slash. He has so wanted to meet you.”
“Yes daddy,” the little girl says with a smile and bounces away with a happy step, pausing only to punch Moneybags in his ruined mouth; then she’s through the door and gone.
Meanwhile, the two dominatrixes have put a padded horse on the table and strapped Moneybags down and ripped his pants off.
Dr. Justice looks up at Robert Shan and finally speaks.
“You are dirt and dirt needs to be cleaned up,” he says. “When I’m done with you there won’t even be ashes left. That’s what I owe Vicki and that’s what I owe Valerie for what you have done to them. Truth be told, there will be Justice.”
Shan sneers and gestures to the two dominatrixes who were just waiting for the command.
Blondie positions herself behind Moneybags, while Brunette moves to his front.
The barely conscious pimp suddenly shouts, “No, no no no!”
“Hush baby and take it like a woman, we’re gonna give you a 21 gun salute to send you off,” Brunette purrs as she rakes her claw-like nails across his ruined face.
“And we will get the honor of rejoining the almighty Slash,” Blondie says her face filled with ecstasy.
Brunette spits on her strap-on gun and puts it in Moneybags’ mouth. At the same moment Blondie shoves hers into his ass.
“mmmmmmrrrgghlllleeeee!” Moneybags says.
The two join hands across the pimp, completing their Eiffel Tower and with a couple of quick thrusts fire several rounds into the skewered pimp. The two dominatrixes fall away also fatally shot from the .45 caliber dildos.
“Thus endeth the lesson,” Shan says with a wild light in his eyes.
Chapter 14Lady Truth struggles against the chains that hold her as Dr. Justice works to throw of the shackles that bind him.
Shan looks at them unimpressed and sighs, “Batter up, who wants to go next? I’ve got lots of whores and lots of guns.”
Dr. Justice stops his struggles and looks Shan in the eyes. “You’re next.”
“Feisty, that’s just the way I like em,” Shan says.
Dr. Justice interrupts, “But first, I want to know why you look so much like Slash and why is he here?”
Shan looks at him with some slight amazement. “But the almighty Slash isn’t here.”
“Then who is making so many clones? We could see them everywhere as we came into town,” Lady Truth says, still struggling.
Shan’s laugh is like a waterfall of tiny chirps. “Why my dear, that’s my handiwork.”
“Impossible. One clone couldn’t make so many others so quickly,” Dr. Justice says with anger in his voice.
“They can if they’re a Prime Clone, like me,” Shan says. “I’m not just a soul clone. I’ve had his DNA merged with mine as well. The twelve Prime Clones are more than just mere soul clones.
“We are physically and spiritual perfection. We are as close to the almighty Rob Slash as possible,” he concludes with the light of a true believer in his eyes.
“Shit, so what?” Lady Truth spits back at the clone.
“So what? SO WHATTTT!,” Shan screams. “SO WE WILL BE THE HORSEMEN OF HIS APOCALYPSE!!! We will spread out across this world creating the massive clone army that will destroy the pestilence of Homo Sapiens and replace it with Homo Slash.”
Dr. Justice lets out a laugh. “Homo Slash.”
“SILEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNCCEEEEEE,” Shan screams, his eyes losing their focus for a moment.
“Long after you have been fucked to death by my Slash Hookers and this world’s human population is dust, I will stand by the Almighty Slash’s side with my daughter as we start the new race,” he says.
“She is the first of many. She is the first offspring of a Slash clone and a regular human. The first of the new species and I am taking her to her ultimate father to receive my glory and my reward.”
Spittle begins to form at the corners of Shan’s mouth and he is in full rant now. Giving Dr. Justice the chance he needs.
He works his robotic cellular metal hand free from the straight jacket and points it at the chains holding Lady Truth. She sees this and pulls the chains tight.
Dr, Justice lashes out with his fingers punching through the chains that hold Lady Truth’s laser cannon. She wastes no time and with four quick movements has blown away the chains from her other extremities.
And with a quick burst, she burns through the straight jacket and tether holding back Dr. Justice.
Shan comes out of his wild rant as he hears the whine of the laser cannon. As his eyes focus on the pair in the dungeon, fear flashes across his face.
He grabs his cell phone, punching the broadcast button and screams, “We have a breach. All whores attack!” he screams into the phone.
Chapter 15Lady Truth points her hand cannon at Shan and fires off a quick shot, but the lance of light blasts a hole through the door as the clone beats a hasty retreat across the room, past the three dead bodies.
“C’mon let’s have a little Truth,” she says.
“and Justice,” the doctor echoes.
The two burst into the waiting room, leap over the bodies and into the red and white painted hallway outside. They catch a glimpse of Shan’s khaki and polo-shirt clad form running through the exit at the end of the hall.
Doorways open on either side of the hallway and 20 lingerie-clad hookers fill the wide hallway. Each of them is wearing a strap-on gun, some wearing bandoleros of what appear to be pocket pussies.
“I’ve got the left,” Dr. Justice says.
“Guess I’m the right,” Lady Truth says with a flash of a fierce smile.
Dr. Justice smiles back and HELL breaks loose.
The hookers begin thrusting their hips firing off the strap-on guns. The smell of gunpowder and the sound of the bullets ripping their way out of the penis heads is deafening.
Dr. Justice’s hand expands to form a solid wall and the ejaculate of lead splashes harmlessly off, most of the spent bullets hitting the floor. But a few bounce back with enough force to take out a couple of the hookers.
As Dr. Justice’s hand shrinks down to a small hand shield, Lady Truth fires off her laser cannon, blasting huge holes where hearts and heads should be. The dead hookers fall to the floor spewing blood onto the walls and floor, painting the white trim red to match the walls.
Several of the whores with bandoleros pull off pocket pussies and flick the clits. Rearing back they fling the pussies at the two heroes.
Lady Truth shoots off a beam, arcing through the trajectories of the approaching pussies. Each one explodes with a huge noise, tearing holes in nearby walls, and hookers.
The two walk up the slippery hall, mopping up the stragglers. Lady Truth stops to grab a couple pocket pussies from a bandolero, flicks the clits which start pulsating with a red-light as they countdown to explosion.
She pitches them through the hallway opening. An explosion gouges out chunks of the wall at the end of the hallway and a few satisfying screams reach Lady Truth’s ears.
“Score,” she says with a laugh.
“Wait, are we keeping score?” Dr. Justice says with a smile. “I wasn’t counting.”
“Don’t worry, it doesn’t matter how many you tea bag, it just matters how many you finish off,” Lady Truth says, flashing him an incredibly white smile, made whiter by the carbon marks across her face.
A wounded hooker groans from the floor and struggles to rise. Dr. Justice whirls on her, his hand expands to four times its regular size and he slams it across her face. The hooker’s head snaps back with a wet, crunching sound and she falls dead, her neck broken.
“Now, that’s a bitch slap,” the doctor says.
“Hey, I don’t like that word,” Lady Truth says. “Try pimp slap instead.”
“Yes ma’am,” the doctor says with a scolded little-boy look. “I think that’s it for this area. Let’s move on.”
The two carefully work their way to the edge of the hallway and peek around the corner into the main reception and bullpen area where the hookers would be brought out for the clients.
Several dead hookers were piled near the edge of the hallway entrance, having been killed by the powerful pocket pussies. Across the lounge area, filled with tiger striped couches, stripper poles and a very large bar, waited the last of the Slash Hookers.
They have built a small wall of beds to cover the way leading to the main entrance and are huddled behind it waiting for the attack by Lady Truth and Dr. Justice.
As soon as Dr. Justice sticks his head around the corner, the hooker leader, another dominatrix in a leather cat suit, shouts, “FIRE!!!”
Two hookers stand up from behind the bar with small, narrow rocket launchers and fire their payload at the superheroes.
Dr. Justice and Lady Truth leap backwards, the doctor expanding his hand into a shield. Two rocket-powered dildos shoot across the room and as they reach the head of the hallway the multiple pleasure-bead warheads scatter outwards and explode, knocking the two heroes off their feet.
“I think we got them ladies,” Doctor Justice can barely hear the cat-suit dominatrix saying.
But nothing is further from the facts. Dr. Justice’s cellular metal hand can withstand blasts much larger and more sensual than that. As he retracts it back to normal, Lady Truth plucks off several pussy grenades from the dead hookers lying around her and rushes to the hall opening.
She flings them expertly across the room, bouncing them off the mirror and behind the bar where they explode, sending the two rocket-launching hookers, well parts of them, flying into the air.
Dr. Justice is right behind, bursting into the room with his hand in personal shield mode.
The last of the hookers jump the wall of beds and begin firing at the good doctor, thrusting their hips and laughing maniacally.
Lady Truth is exposed and too far away from Dr. Justice to take advantage of his shield as four Slash Hookers bear down on her. Luckily, at her feet is the headless body of Cat-suit hooker. The blast from one of the pocket pussies must have hit her head on and taken it off.
Lady T picks up the body, holding it upright as a shield as the hookers let fly with a load of lead.
She can feel the impacts of the bullets as they hit the body. Lady Truth has a bright idea and reaches around to grab the strap-on gun. Grabbing the shaft below the head she expertly jerks it back against the Cat-suit hooker’s body and it fires at the advancing hookers.
Her first shot hits one full in the face and she goes down screaming. Jerk, twist, fire, she mercilessly fires round after round at the four hookers, who scramble to get out of the way.
Once they begin to retreat, she throws aside the body and brings up her laser cannon and begins attacking in earnest.
Lady Truth spares a glance over at Dr. Justice and he has the last two hookers on his side running for their lives. In that instant, he lashes out, his hand a sword and decapitates the last two hookers.
She returns her focus to her side of the room and discovers that her random shots have already done the job. The last of the Slash Hookers is dead.
Chapter 16“Light this place up,” Dr. Justice says to Lady Truth as they walk towards the exit.
She looks around and sighs, “But there’s some good work here, no one’s ever going to see.”
“That’s for the best,” Dr. Justice says. “This isn’t pretty and the public doesn’t want to know that sometimes their heroes have to get a little dirty.”
“Hmmm. OK,” she says with a pout. She trains her cannon on what’s left of the bar and fires off a blast just hot enough to set the alcohol ablaze. Then she lights up the mattresses and the couches.
“That should do it,” she says with a smirk.
The two walk through the front door of Moneybags’ Fuckatorium and into the scorching Nevada desert night.
Just then, a dildo missile explodes close by, throwing the two into the air. The doctor is out, but Lady T is up in a matter of seconds. Valerie is climbing into the back seat of a white 1975 Cadillac Coupe De Ville with fur trimmed seats and pimped out rims.
Vicki’s daughter had almost hit them with her missile launcher. Daddy Shan started the car and was about to back it up when Lady Truth blasts out the driver’s side window.
She grabs the pencil-necked geek by the throat and drags him out of the car, putting the business end of her cannon against his head.
But before she can blow his head off, she hears a click and a sweet little voice saying, “Let my daddy go or you’re gonna gag on a dildo.”
Lady Truth looks up and there’s Valerie standing on the trunk of the car with the missile launcher pointed at her head.
“Valerie, put down the launcher. You just don’t understand what’s happening here. This man killed your mommy and he needs to pay for that,” Lady Truth says in her sweetest voice.
“I know that,” she says. “But this man, is also my daddy and he’s all I have left. And I love him,” she says with tears in her eyes.
“Can I say something here?” Shan says. “Honey, put down the missile launcher and sweetie pull back the laser cannon.”
The two females lock eyes and they have an understanding. Lady Truth pulls back her cannon arm and Valerie lowers the launcher.
“Good,” Shan says. “Now we’re going to leave and you’re going to leave. No harm. No foul.”
“No harm, no foul,” Lady T says with naked anger in her voice. “Look at all the death around here and tell me there’s no harm, no foul.”
He takes a quick look around and sighs, “You’re as much to blame as me. Most of the deaths here tonight are by your hands.”
“Deaths, what deaths. You already killed those people when you took their souls,” she snarls back.
Shan laughs. “Not completely. You seem to be alive and well. I don’t know why you were able to reject the master’s soul. But I can tell he has laid his hand upon you as a chosen one.”
Lady Truth stands stunned, unable to move.
Shan takes that moment to leap into his caddy and put it in gear. Valerie slips in beside him and they speed off into the night.
Lady Truth staggers back over to Dr. Justice who is struggling his way back to the waking world.
As she walks up to him, he finds himself staring up her skirt and sees that her panties say Hello Kitty.
“What day of the week is Hello Kitty?” he says with a slight mumble.
“Huh?” Lady Truth says as she snaps back to reality. Was what Shan says true? Is that why she can’t remember her past? Is she a clone? Never mind, she decides. I can deal with this later.
“We need to get going before the cops show up. What are you going to do, stare at my snatch all night? Let’s move,” she says.
The doctor struggles to his feet. He is fine, just a little sore.
Lady Truth and Dr. Justice fire up the VW and take off in pursuit of Robert Shan. He has a good head start and he can move faster, but they are both determined to end his days.
The old van chugs into the night as the first fire truck sirens can be heard in the distance. Lady Truth hunkers down in her seat, her mind going over Shan’s final words to her and she wonders what horrible thing is going to happen next. Beside her Dr. Justice is intent on his driving. She wonders if she should tell him and thinks, not yet.
EpilogueThe ruins of the whorehouse smoke in the early morning light. Tendrils of vapor escape from the tips of still glowing wood. The fire trucks have come and gone and the police are taping the place off.
Across the street, two lanky feline forms slink back and forth behind the police barricade.
Mousie and Meaux sniff at the smoky air, tasting the intense charcoal flavor in the back of their throats. The stench almost drowns out the smell of Lady Truth and Dr. Justice that lingers in the air. Their ears twitch, trying to pick up any useful sound.
“They were here,” Mousie says.
“I know, but they’re long gone,” Meaux replies. “Her smell goes north. And she’s upset.”
“We should have kept up with them,” Mousie says. “I wanted to play with the laser, and we said we’d help.”
Meaux leans over and licks Mousie’s face, “I’m sorry, but we got distracted and we’ve been playing catch up ever since.”
Mousie’s tail flicks and he pouts. Meaux boxes him around the ears.
“That’s enough,” Meaux says. “Let’s take a nap back at the hotel.”
The two slink off back to their cheap motel. Some help they are.
