Just my luck.  

Otto thought as he looked at his broken-down hoverbike. Otto was a medium-height mutant with purple skin. The mutant looked up at the sky, his eyes glowing blue as he saw the sun setting and felt the hot wind blow his copper brown hair. He looked back at his bike to see the cause of the broken-down hoverbike. Otto crouched down to see a few sparks coming from the back of the biker.  

He saw the fuse box leaking and had fallen apart. The hover core was flickering on and off with sparks coming out of it. 

Never going to break down my butt. Otto thought as he kicked the broken-down hoverbike.  

Otto took a deep breath and pulled out his virtual map from his jacket to see a town that was ahead. The town was called ‘Viper Trap,’ and it was about a good walking distance from where Otto was currently standing.  

I hope it’s a friendly town and not a town full of psychopathic jerks. 

He made his way to the town without knowing that the hoverbike caught on fire and broke apart. 

... 

Otto arrived at Viper Trap to see the town had seen better days. It was like any other middle-of-nowhere wasteland small town in the Southwest. However, the one standout feature of the town was that it had a large clock tower that moved around in a circle. The mutant walked into the town to see a parking lot full of weaponized hover vehicles, two kids playing with a green slime football, a water fountain that had cracks on the bottom, and an old man trying to smoke even if he had a missing bottom jaw.  

Maybe I can find a ride in this town, Otto thought. 

Otto turned the corner to see a bar. When in doubt, go to a bar to find the solution to your problem. Otto walked into the bar to see a large group of men who were mean-looking. The large group all had vests with a red phoenix on the back of them. The group eyed Otto as he went to the bartender, who was cleaning a martini glass. 

“What can I get you?” said the bartender 

“Water,” said Otto 

“Clean or dirty?” 

“Clean.” 

“Sorry, we don’t have that.” 

“Red Wave?” 

“Now that we do have.” 

The bartender bent down to the cooler and took out a 24oz soda bottle and placed it on the bar. 

“Now that would be five catz.” 

This region is full of rip-offs. Otto thought as he handed the bartender a couple of blue crystals and then asked him, “Do you know where there’s a taxi or car dealership?” 

“Taxi no, car dealership yes, but you have to wait for the dealer.” 

“Why?” 

“He’s a bit loopy from the count of doing blow. I wait about ten to forty minutes.” 

“Great.” 

The bartender walked to the back room as the group of men surrounded Otto. A large man with a left cybernetic hand and a metal plate in the middle of his chest. He leaned against the bar.  

“We don’t like your kind being here,” said the large man.  

“And who’s we, might I ask?” said Otto, who then sipped his soda.  

“The Phoenix bandits, and I’m their leader, Bobby Orton.”  

“Look, I just need to get a ride, alright, and I’ll be on my way.” 

“Where to?” 

“North.” 

The bandits laughed. 

Bobby stopped laughing and said, “North is a long way from here, mutate.” 

“I know that, and let’s just say there’s something for me at North.” 

“And yet you’re still here and sticking the place up with your mutant smell.” 

“Maybe it’s your breath. Not enough mouthwash between every in your bandit.” 

“Now the problem just got worse.” 

“What’s the solution to this problem that is developing with me being here?”  

“That’s easy; you’ve got two choices: leave with bruises and broken bones or get killed.”  

Otto saw about seven men in the group; two of them had brass knuckles, one had a sawed-off shotgun, three had their plasma pistols holstered, and their leader, Bobby, had a lever-action shotgun on his back. However, the one thing that none of the bandits have but Otto does. A unique power. 

“I think I know pretty good third choice,” said Otto 

“Third choice? There is no third choice, you red sack of shit,” said Bobby 

“In one, two...” 

Otto punched Bobby square in the jaw, and he grabbed the lever-action shotgun from his back. He quickly fired off two shots, hitting one bandit in the throat and the other in the groin. 

“Somebody kills this twerp,” said Bobby 

Suddenly Otto disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke, leaving the bandits scratching their heads. 

“Where did he go?” said one of the bandits 

Outside of the bar, Otto reappeared, and he ran off. 

Man, I should ask where the dealership was, Otto thought.  

The mutant ran down the street of the town; he turned a corner, and he saw two more Phoenix bandits. They were smoking and cracking jokes when one of their pagers went off. Otto hid behind a couple of barrels. 

“Shit, a mutant killed Dave and took Bobby’s gun.” 

“You mean the gun he stole off that rich prick in New Haven.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Then we better find the mutant and Bobby’s gun before he turns into King Kong.” 

The two bandits ran off, not seeing Otto hiding. The mutant got out of his hiding place only for a little kid to come up to him. 

“Hey, mister, are you playing hide-and-seek?” ask the boy 

“Yes, looking to hide in the dealership, do you know where that’s at?” said Otto 

“You wouldn’t miss it, mister; it had this funny long balloon man waving around his arms.” 

“Noted, thanks.” 

Otto sneaked around town, avoiding Phoenix bandits and trying to find the dealership. Every time Otto avoided one bandit, another one popped up. The mutant hid behind a broken-down garbage truck. He peeked to see a long inflatable man that seemed to be patched up with tape. Otto got to the dealership and saw there were a few hover vehicles in the lot. The dealer came out of a trailer; the dealer was a short man in a tacky blue suit and a fake ponytail that was taped on his head. 

He staggered to Otto, and when he got near him, he got his stance straight and looked Otto directly in his eyes.  

“Welcome to my dealership; how can I help you?” said the dealer 

“I need a ride, fast, and I’ll pay whatever you want,” said Otto 

“Sure, kid, let me guess, show you aroun-” 

The dealer got shot in the head and dropped to the ground. Otto sees Bobby and the Phoenix bandits surrounding the dealership.  

“Time to die, boy,” said Bobby 

Otto disappeared as the bandit shot at him, even hitting the corpse of the dealer. Otto reappeared behind the 4x4 hover SUV; he shot at one of the bandits and blew his heart out.   

Think, think of a way out, Otto thought 

He leaned out to see a hover muscle car with machine guns on the hood of the car and armored windows next to the trailer, and he also saw a bandit standing near a generator. Otto shot at the generator, and it exploded, taking out three bandits. With that, Otto disappeared and reappeared at the trailer. He quickly went inside of a trailer and saw a couple of car keys on hooks. He grabbed them and ran out. 

He dodged and avoided the bullets and plasma rounds. He got inside of the muscle car in a puff of smoke. Otto went through the keys as the bandits started to shoot at the car. Otto found the right key; he stuck it into the ignition and turned it on. The car rumbled without a second thought. Otto took the car into drive and floored it out of the dealership. When Otto looked back, his thumb slipped and pressed a green button, and a rocket shot out of the trunk and exploded Phoenix bandits. 

Woah, cool. 

... 

Otto was far from town, and he didn’t see any bandits on his tail. He took his map, and much to his surprise, he was still on the path to the north. He saw half of the moon was in pieces, surrounded by stars. Otto could still drive for a couple of hours until he could find a motel or sleep in the car. Either way, Otto got his goal to go north, and he’ll be back home.