Dwarfin' Pt.1 of 3: The Great Escape

<Snip>
He tried to squeeze free but the creatures' grip was tight.
Ducking to get through the door whence it came, the creature ran away taking Davie with him back to it's lair.
<End Snip>
Davie hammered with the butt of the Bazookoid against the hugs claw gripping his mid section, squeezing the air from his lungs. The creature continued to speed off away from the stasis bay, and Davie twisted the Bazookoid upside down in his hands to shoot himself free of the claw, the makeshift gun sling around his shoulder. He fired and missed as he was jostled by a sudden turn the creature made, causing him to drop the Bazookoid from his grip. It tagged along by the sling hung over his shoulder and skidded across the floor.
The beast leapt into the air, and the sinking feeling in Davie’s gut told him distinctly that they were going down, somewhere he really didn’t want to be right now. He had no idea what to expect. The creature landed hard with a thump, and the shock caused Davie to lose consciousness.
* * *
Davie came to sometime later to find himself propped up against a wall in a dimly lit, damp, and musty room. He suppressed a loud groan, opened his eyes and looked around without moving. From the dim light that illuminated the room, he could tell that it was as large as it was squalid. Skeletons and bones littered the floor. The smell of rotting flesh filled his nostrils and left eye twitched and ached. His entire body felt wet and slimy, as though he’d been sneezed on by King Kong.
He looked directly across from him to see the huge creature outlined in silhouette through his right eye, and in thermal silhouette through his left, feasting on a freshly killed victim. Guess that means I’m desert then. He looked down and to his right to see his Bazookoid laying on the ground a few feet away, and to his left to see the light of an exit. He looked back at the creature, then at the Bazookoid again. He tried to inch his hand towards it but found he was held in place by a sticky, hardening resin-like substance sticking him to the ground. The resin stretched across his lower legs and mid section.
He prodded his quietly with his fingers as the creature continued to eat. He came to the conclusion that if he tried to muscle his way out the creature would hear him and he’d be dead before he even gripped the handle of the gun. But maybe if he cut his way quietly out…
He slowly moved his hand to his hip and drew one of his two combat knifes from it’s sheath. The second knife he wore on his vest, paratrooper style. He dug the knife into the resin slowly, edging it forwards through the sticky, hardening, mess. The creature stopped dead and sniffed the air. Davie froze, and tensed, tightening his grip on the knife. He watched as the creature turned, sniffing the air coming in from the entrance to the room. It walked out, dropping the half eaten body to the ground. Davie listened closely to it’s heavy footstep fade away into silence.
He seized the moment and began to cut quickly and tear free from the resin. He placed his knife back in its sheath and scooped up his Bazookoid. He headed out the door cautiously, checking for sings of the creature so he could head in the opposite direction. He started down the corridor quickly with his weapon constantly pointed in front of him. From what he could tell he was near the promenade, and from what he’d gathered that meant Simulants. And considering that Simulants are psychotic, half crazed, mass murdering, super strong mechanoids that would rip off your arms and spit down your throat, and that can withstand a volley of Bazookoid fire at close range with only minimal damage, and certainly survive ling enough to make balloon animals out of your lower intestines, Davie’s only choice would be to run. After all, he didn’t want to find his limbs scattered around deep space and his neck full of saliva.
He slowed down after a few minuets as he came across a large hole that had literally rotted through the wall. He peered through it to see just over a small metal outcrop that hung above the promenade one floor down. Below was a Simulant patrol, waving guns about. /Ah…shit!/ Davie began to back away, keeping his eyes on the Sims. Suddenly, a small, but powerful explosion detonated amidst the group of Simulants, and a swarm of Huzard Warriors descended from the rafter and attacked the Simulants. /Well I’m getting the smeg outta here!/ Davie thought as he turned to run off down the corridor and away from the battle.
As he turned, however, he found himself face to face with half a dozen reptilian/human Huzards blocking his path.

* * *

Davie was marched forwards into the Arboretum, Huzards surrounding him. At the front of the group was a Huzard carrying his all of his combat vest and weapons. At first the Atrium looked as though only a few trails and tree houses had been added on. The occasional guard post scattered throughout the dense indoor jungle. They pressed on, pushing and pulling Davie along like bag of luggage past large, thriving botanical gardens and fields of large tomato like beasts of burden, exactly as Holly had described.
After a few minuets later Davie and his captors arrived outside of a high wall surrounded by a moat. A thick wooden gate lowered downwards and Davie was pushed roughly inside. He looked up at a Mayan style pyramid, stretching from the lowest point of the arboretum floor to the highest peak of the ceiling. “Smegging hell…” Davie gawped.
He was shoved towards the pyramid steps, and he looked around himself to take in any information that he could. He didn’t notice very many warriors, the population seemed to made up of mostly civilians, women and children. He figured that the majority of the warriors were off fighting the Simulants and fish people, and whatever else was onboard, for control of the ship.
They reached the top of the pyramid and he was shoved to his knees. Stood several feet away to his front were two Huzards. One wore a thick, brown cloak with a hood that covered most of his face. The second was taller, and covered with ornaments.
One of Davie’s captors, the one carrying his weapons, walked over and joined the other two. “My lord,” he began respectfully, “we’ve captured another of the Humans for sacrifice.”
“Very good,” the regal one replied as the one wearing the cloak stepped over and looked closely at Davie’s face, examining the scars and his miss colored eye, “I will ask The Great One how we should sacrifice him.”
“Wait!” the cloaked one announced, “I believe he is one of the guardians of our ancient protector of eons ago.”
“What?! Him?!” the royal replied, snickering at the thought. “He couldn’t even protect himself from our warriors!”
“But prince, I’m sure he’s--”
“Nonsense! He shall be sacrificed!”
The regal looking one turned towards a wall protruding from the top of the pyramid containing a large screen. “Oh Great One!” he called, “Appear, and tell us how we may make this sacrifice pleasing to you so that you may favor us with your glory!”
/Man, this is one backwards ass culture…/
The screen lit up and Holly’s face appeared, crown and all. “Holly!?” Davie exclaimed, “What the hell?!”
“Hello Dave.” Holly replied flatly with a smug grin. “Holly what the hell is going on here!? Who are these psychos!?”
“These are the Huzards! A creature empowered with a perfect balance a human and lizard DNA, and I am their king!”
“Holly they’re smegging nuts!”
“Of course! I used the DNA of the descendants of Earth’s royal families of the 20th and 21st centuries. Genetically speaking that one there is a direct descendant of Prince Philip.” Holly said, nodding at the Royal figure standing next to the cloaked Huzard.
“How shall we sacrifice this one, my King?” asked Prince Ph…the Prince, turning to Holly, who rolled his eyes thoughtfully. He smiled. “To the pit with him. No one has escaped the pit.” he said viciously. Davie was hauled to his feet and shoved towards the steps. “Goodbye Dave.”
“Holly you bastard!!” Davie shouted struggling against the two Huzards holding tight to his arms.
They reached the end of the steps and Davie was led to a circular metal grate covering a large hole in the ground. The grate slid back and Davie was shoved roughly inside. He tumbled in the air and landed, submerged in murky water.
He stood, gasping for breath and blinking water from his eyes. His head darted from left to right as he took a fighting stance. It seemed to him that he was in an old sewage shaft that had been converted to a killing zone. Human skeletons littered the walls and bones floated in the water. The entire room was ripe with the stench of death. Spikes protruded from the wall. He looked around in the silence, the water reaching up to his waist.
A small splash echoed from behind him and he spun to find only ripples left in the water. Another splash, much louder and closer. He spun and came face to face with a man sized bipedal creature, basically humanoid, but with a mouth full of more teeth than you can count. It roared and smacked him hard in the head, sending him sprawling backwards. He quickly came to his feet in time to see the back and of the creature diving under water.
His legs swept out from under him and he was drug down beneath the surface. The crowd that had gathered above to see the sacrifice cheered wildly. Davie kicked the creature in the face several times, trying desperately to regain his footing and hold his breath until he could get his head above the water. He kicked again, harder this time, and the creature released its grip. He stood, gasping for air. The creature rose from the water in front of him and Davie punched it hard in the gut.
The spike covered walls began to close in on either side and Davie glanced at them and threw his knee into the creature’s groin. It grabbed him by the shoulders and he hugged close to its body. /What I wouldn’t give for a gun!/ He thought. The creature roared again in his face and he grimaced. /Or a bottle of Listerine!/
He grabbed the creature and flung it over his back. “Strange one!” he heard a voice call to him from above. He looked up and saw the cloaked Huzard holding a long machete. The Huzard tossed it down and Davie put out his hand to catch it, the spike getting slowly closer and the creature regaining its footing. The grip fell perfectly in his open hand. He drew back the machete as the creature prepared to lunge at him again. He stared into its eyes and it leapt into the air. He swung the blade at the beast, cutting deep into its left shoulder. It howled and fell into the water. Davie raised the blade and severed its head from its shoulders.
He turned his attention to the spikes closing in on him. He trudged over to the far wall and tried to climb up it to escape the pit. As his boot touched the wall beneath the water and he pulled his weight onto it, it fell suddenly out from beneath him and the wall began to collapse. He fell through into a dried out continuation of the sewage system. He sprung off the ground and broke into a run. He followed the pipe as it veered left, his boots clanging against the rusted interior of the pipe. Suddenly the bolts connecting his section of pipe to the next gave way, and the tunnel titled downwards at an obtrusive angle through the ceiling of the deck below, dumping him out into a dark room.
Davie’s head spun around him as he lay face down on soft, but dusty carpeting. He groaned and raised his head. Much to his surprise, he was staring into the glowing red eye of Scutter. Davie pushed himself up on his arms and froze as he looked around him to find that he was surrounded by a ring of them, all beeping and whirring, shining small lights at him. They all wearing cowboy hats and each branded a pistol, which all happened to be pointed at him. “Uhh..howdy partners!”

<To be continued in Dwarfin’ Pt.2: True Grit!>
<OOC – Thanks goes out to SilverSoul for coining the term Huzard to describe the Human/Lizard people.>