Take Back the Fear

11:25

Before reaching the end of the winding coil, Max quickly let go of the man, launching them over the edge, crashing and tumbling onto the deck.

-"This hooker stuff is killing my back," he grunted on the floor.

-"Yeah, yeah, 'cause it's a real joyride for the rest of us," she said, dusting herself off.

Completely surrounded.

Gunmen, pirates, criminals of all shapes and sizes made only one side of this rowdy bunch.

On the other an army of machines closely resembling a scrapyard — tracks, legs, flying torsos, everything you could imagine was there.

Above the rest stood the aforementioned doom bots: flying death machines, jet black with a single red sensor on the top of its control unit, a slightly oval thing, barely resembling a head.

-"What now, 'Captain'?" Max scoffed at Maeve, shaking off the dust.

Her eyes darted across the massive deck, scanning as fast as humanly possible. The ship was enormous—at least four times the size of a regular one.

-"If I were a black-bearded loser, where would I be..."

-She flicked a glance at Max. "It’s a ship, right?"

-Max raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

-She jabbed a finger toward the higher decks. "So where do you sit to fly it?"

-Max followed her line of sight. A grin tugged at his mouth. "The bridge."

-Bingo

-Small issue — there's like a bajillion of them between us and there.

-Is that doubt?

-Noo, just seein' if the smartass has a plan.

-When did we start having those,again?She paused for a moment, like she was thinking. "Oh jeah, when we robbed the fucking McDonald's.”

-"I get it — no plan is better than a plan. At least in our shitty case."
-"See? You get it. There's nothing that can go wrong if you're just winging it to begin with."

She cracked her neck

-"Run and gun?" he asked while strapping the kid onto his back, tying him on with the rope.

-she nodded her head "On three... One, two..."

No odds, just survival .Scary — too many, to them — this was where they felt most comfortable.A bullet you know is coming, is way better than the one you don't.

-Three — as the last letter left her mouth, a wrench flew by her head, the speed chasing her hair as it lodged itself into a robot.

-Max rushed past her like a wild dog, yelling "GUN!"

The word rang through her ear her hands moved on second instinct, throwing the gun at him.
Catching it mid-air, he jumped on top of another — BOOM — at point-blank range he blew a head-sized hole in another robot.

Her legs jolted with energy, moving on their own. She shot past him like the wind.

Her foot slipped on the slick mixture of oil and blood, her legs frantic as Max yelled, "Catch!" He tossed her the multi-tool. She slid over the back of one of the gunmen, the wrench landing perfectly in her hand. Her body twisted mid-slide, and in one fluid motion, she swung the tool upward, catching the gunman’s jaw. A sickening crack rang out as his body crumpled, dropping like a fly behind her.

Max, quickly catching up to her, realized there was still a lot more ground to cover.

-"Dude, by the time we get there, he’ll either be dead already, or—well, I don’t really wanna think about the second option."

She exhaled, about to speak, but before she could warn him, she spotted a man swinging a sword at Max’s side. Before she could even yell, a shot rang out—the attacker stumbled down to his knees, clutching his wound.
-The hell was that?

As he turned around, clobbering the guy in the head with his gun, she saw Twinkle Toes admiring the smoking revolver.

For a moment, she was confused, the barrel pointed at her. A shot rang out an inch from her face, cutting through her hair and into another man's skull.

-"Huh so, the gun came in useful after all," Maeve muttered. "We did just make a kid commit murder, though."

-"Boy, are you late to the party. That’s like the fifth guy he’s shot. It’s like having eyes on my back—except they shoot and don’t provide any useful intel."

-"You don’t really get metaphors, do you?"

-"No, but watch this."

Max snatched a grenade off a fallen crewman, chucking it into the crowd ahead. Without missing a beat, he turned away, giving Twinkle Toes the perfect shot. The kid fired mid-air, detonating the grenade in a fiery blast that cleared the path.

-the explosion roared behind them,

-Maeve giving a judingin look. "You do know you’re directly exposing him to that, right?"

-"He’ll be fine."

A smile forming on their faces as the kid chuckled in the background, shooting and laughing as he pleased."

-"I think he's insane, actually."

-"So he'll fit right in," she said, winking at him.

They moved quickly through the crowd, slipping into a rhythm-like state, reading each other's movements like second nature, dodging and weaving, switching weapons on the fly, practically dancing to their point. Dodging a close call only reminded them they were on the right beat.

Dripping with sweat, they crashed through the door into the hall, winded and barely standing, covered in oil and blood. They saw a familiar figure in the middle of a long staircase.

Captain Rechard stood tall and mighty, propelling his arm into the air. He winked at the two, yelling, "Tally-ho! Here I go!" the hook launching, sending him soaring upward.

-"God, I hate that guy," Max muttered.

-"You're gonna hate this next part even more," Maeve said, nodding toward the long, never-ending staircase ahead.

An agonizing sigh roared out.

They panted, struggling up the endless stairs, each step growing harder than the last.

Maeve groaned, "Why the fuck does he even have the robots? The stairs are enough of a security measure on their own."

Max wheezed beside her, barely able to get a word out between gasping breaths.

-Barely muttering, "At... least... you'll fit... through the...port window... now."

Her tired look pierced through him like ice as they continued their climb.

Eventually, reaching the top, completely drenched in sweat and out of breath, they stumbled onto the main bridge, only to find something not quite what they expected.