CRASH!

Grimjack came down like a meteor and broke through several stories of a cobbled together building before coming to a stop a few feet into the basement he just so kindly dug out. His leg’s inertia damper made sure he was fine, but Jangle on the other hand. She had managed to stay on his shoulder, but she looked a little green.

“Alright, we’re down here. Which way now.”

“Just…give me just a second.” She said as she fought to keep from tossing her cookies.

Grimjack sighed and pushed his way out of the remains of the building he had crashed through. It crumbled at his touch with ease, as if it was made out of fandel pseudo-metal. He took in the environment around them. It was dark, and there was an oppressive despair hanging in the air. The small street he stepped out onto was surrounded by cramped buildings that seemed to have been haphazardly placed one on top of the other. It was almost like being in a labyrinth, but the walls were made of apartment spires.

“Pretty bold to come here uninvited.”

A deep voice bellowed out from nearby, but Grimjack’s sensors didn’t pick anything up. There was a strange tone to the voice, like it was both a threat and a compliment.

A glint of metal twinkled in the dim light, and Grimjack leaped towards it. With lightning-fast reflexes, he grabbed ahold of the metal and pulled it up into his vision. It was a cute little teddy bear, and he had just pulled it up by the candy cane it was holding. Unsure what exactly was going on he decided not to risk it and pulled back his other fist as he prepared to activate his chainsaw gauntlet and tear the small toy to shreds.

“Whoa there, slow down big guy.” Jangle tapped Grimjack’s shoulder and then turned to the teddy bear. “It’s okay, he’s with me.”

“Jangle? Well, it certainly has been a while. What? Are you too good for us now?”

Grimjack wished he could say he was surprised when the teddy bear started to talk in that deep, gravelly voice, but that would be a lie. He sighed and tossed the candy cane away from him, sending the teddy bear flying into a pile of cardboard scraps.

“Whoa, easy on the merchandise there, pal.”

“You know your first reaction doesn’t have to be violence every time.” Sighed Jangle.

“Is this the guy?” Grimjack asked, ignoring their comments.

“No, but Freddy can probably get us there quicker.”

“Oh, need a guide, eh? Sure, I can help you out. Just might need a little help from you too.”

“Cool it Freddy, this is the big leagues.”

“Yeah? How big are we talking?”

“I can’t say around here but trust me it’s bigger than you can imagine.”

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Grimjack tuned out their negotiation mixed with light banter, and instead chose to start walking in a direction. He figured that either it would be the right one, or they would stop him and point him the right way.

It worked, because Jangle jumped off his shoulder, and stood in his way. “Seriously, you need to stop trying to lead the way when you have no idea where you’re going. You were heading right for some trouble.”

“Yeah, can’t your fancy suit tell what’s going on down here?” Freddy’s voice had a certain mocking tone that implied he knew Grimjack couldn’t.

“Enlighten me then. What’s down this way, and where’s the contact?”

Freddy twirled his candy cane as he stroked his fuzzy chin. “Fine, color me interested. For now at least. We’ll see after I find out what this is all really about.” Grimjack turned to look at the bear and Freddy chuckled. “Alright, if you’re so curious the Charlie’s collect over there.”

“Charlie’s?”

Jangle sighed. “Look, it’s not important we just need to go see Nines. Preferably staying clear of them.”

“Sure sure, I mean they’re here for a reason after all. Alright! Follow me and try not to get distracted. Lilli has been wandering around lately.”

Grimjack was sure that there was some backstory to all of this, but he wasn’t going to ask. He just wanted to get this mission over with, repel the Torellians from horde space, get back to the station, punch Gorgi’s face flat, and return to the Council despite them making this a one-way trip. The minutia and details weren’t important to him. After all, you didn’t need to know everyone’s name, just the important ones who managed to survive and annoy you later. Like the Orphan Crusher, or Platinum Bill. You just had to respect the level of skill and raw talent they had injected into them.

“Hey, you still with us there hotshot?”

Jangle’s voice on his internal comm frustrated him again and shook him out of his own thoughts. “Ready. What do you need?”

“This guy you picked is a real winner Jangle.”

“Shut it, Freddy.”

“You don’t need anything. Do you?”

“I just wanted to make sure you were on your top game. This place isn’t exactly Santa’s Village.”

Grimjack didn’t reply and just turned his visor down to stare at her. She just shook her head and continued following Freddy with Grimjack taking up the rear. It still bothered him that his sensors couldn’t pick up Freddy at all. He just showed up visually, but he may as well have been a scarecrow. No brain activity, heat, radiation, electricity, magnetic fields, nothing. Ghosts gave off more readings than he did.

A clanging of cymbals battered down Grimjack’s ears as a loud monkey screeching rang out around him.

“Uh oh…” Freddy said as his head turned from side to side. “Run!”

He was fast, and Jangle had no trouble keeping up with him, but in between these buildings the spaces went from a decent sized street to a couple feet wide alley. It took a constant series of adjustments and compensation for Grimjack to come close to keeping up with their speed. All while he heard those cymbals and the screeching behind them. His sensors couldn’t pick up any signs of life, but there was a lot of noise, and not just the screeching. It was like a small stampede of feet, drowned out by the loud screeches.

“Quick, in here!” Jangle shouted through Grimjack’s internal comm as she dove into the open door of a slanted building.

It was going to be a tight fit, but he figured that at this point, a little architectural damage was no big deal. He sped up and dove in after her, as he smashed his arm through the side of the door. With a quick roll he pulled out his disintegrator and landed facing the door with his weapon pointed at the opening.

“What’s the enemy?” he asked them as he tuned out the audible screeching and focused his sensors on the running footsteps.

“Monkeys.”

“Monkeys?”

“Monkeys.”

Grimjack sighed. “Just monkeys? What’s so bad about…” He stopped as he saw something flash past the door. Then another and another. These weren’t just monkeys; they were absolutely massive. He had no clue how they could maneuver around the streets as he would easily have fit into one of their hands. Well, he could, except each time he caught a glimpse of their hands it was just a giant brass cymbal attached to their wrist.

They rushed past the door screeching and hollering in unison. Even Freddy seemed to be nervous seeing them, and he was from here.

“Not a good thing I’m assuming?”

“No, they’re more a force of nature than anything with a sort of direction. A terrible hybrid that should never have been let into this world.” Freddy shivered as he spoke.

“Yeah, there’s a reason this is the reject landfill. Some things can’t be destroyed, and other things shouldn’t be.”

“Still don’t know what R&D was thinking when they tried to combine those two monstrosities.” Freddy was spinning his candy cane around, and Grimjack saw what had caught the light before. At the end of it, a small blade would periodically push itself out, before retreating back into the candy cane.

“It was supposedly to try and redeem the Yamani Cymbal Monkey and the barrel of Monkeys.” Jangle had a cookie in her hand and was flipping it around between her fingers as she spoke. “But it didn’t really work out.”

“No kidding,” muttered Grimjack. “Those things seem like they’d be more at home in a Yazzruo warzone than in a kid’s toybox.”

“Yeah well, we still have to wait for them to pass.” Freddy almost had a smirk on as he reached into his side and was digging around for something. “So how about we play some Go Fish?”

“Santa Edition?” Jangle asked with a hopeful tone in her voice.

“Is there any other kind?”

Grimjack let out a deep sigh as he considered attempting to fight the horde of hybrid animals rather than stay here any longer.

“Big guy, you in?” asked Freddy as he wiped a bit of stuffing off of the cards.

Grimjack turned to stare towards him before finally giving in. “Sure, why not.”