The Empire Lives!-Chapter 5

DIE

The group of lame cockroaches arrived at the white vault and found Adira's corpse in a pool of blood mixed with a blue liquid.
“She's the one we needed, but she was murdered.” They stood around the corpse in a circle, on their hind-legs as if they were naturally bipedal creatures.
“And we killed him because of this. We must find them and kill them so that the blood on our hands will not be in vain.”
“Yes, we will find them. Look! Holes all around her neck!”
“Claw puncture wounds from a beast.”
“A warmblooded beast, it did not eat from her. It killed only for the entertainment, a wasteful beast. We will give it the death it deserves. Look a manhole high above! That's where we need to go!”
They split into two groups; one went back to search for life in the royal courtyard. The other stayed and catapulted different combinations of cockroaches and formations at the hole high above.

Mr. Dilwash sat in his black chrome Luz 49 parked across the street from his store, first ordering the latest sex-bots and future-threat-prevention-bots in wholesale for his store, then reading text messages from his wife hours ago.
I don't have time to get a bag of potatoes or deal with the sexually harassing stop-sign on our street corner. I have money to make! How about I stop by for a visit? She knows I work two jobs, one day and one night. I need to pay for my speed, gets the bills paid, the kids fed, clothed, educated, and I accomplish 10 million other things that I would be too tired to do without it. I'm a workhorse, a better person, works for me. Allows me to afford to employ buffoons like Willis, and keep them around to remind myself, at least I'm not as bad as Willis. God knows I need a confident boost every chance I get.
I've been looked down by too many snobs with more money and fame than me. They don't invite me to their cocktail parties, or treat me like a human being when I do talk to them. Trash is what they call me because my numbers don't add up like theirs do. The anger must go somewhere, at least I'm not like Tom, blowing people up, ending people's lives. Yeah, I make certain people's lives hell because I can, usually always for good reasons though. I don't contradict myself and I'm not a bad boss, I'm a good boss pushed to become a bad boss by employees that do not obey my laws. But they will always call me the bad one. ….Is that Willis standing over there?
Willis ducked behind a parked Vivon X-50 by the sidewalk in front of the store. “He didn't see me. He didn't see me. He didn't see me.”
The three women turned the corner of the store, onto the main street sidewalk.
Willis crawled under the vehicle.
No it wasn't him, don't be paranoid now Dale. Willis isn't going to hunt you down and kill you. No, that's just sill-hey! Wait a minute! Where are those girls think they're going? Why! They've closed the store! “Hey!”
“Oh my god, it's Willis disguised as Mr. Dilwash. He's already gotten rid of him! C'mon! Let's go! Let's go!” Frandice dashed to the driver door of the Vivon X-50, opened, and hopped in, the engine all warmed up. The other two hurried and jumped in.
“This is a bad idea!” The old toy said.
“I agree!” Jimmy said. “Crawl under the car in front before they pull off and run us over while revealing yourself to the enemy, confirming their theories!”
“You pieces of shit! Shut your mouths! You two got me here, don't tell me what to do anymore!”

“I'm not Willis!” Mr. Dilwash drove out the parking spot. “What do you think you're doing?!”

Frandice stomped on the gas and scurried out. Willis let go of the old toy and grabbed onto something with one hand. His whole back on fire, dragged on the street. He let go and the Luz 49 ran over him. The brake lights came on and the vehicle swerved into a power pole.
Frandice and the girls kept running.

“Oh my fucking god! Willis! I knew it was you, fucking idiot! Why?!” Mr. Dilwash stumbled out the Luz 49, nose bloody from smacking the steering wheel then the air bag. “Why?!” He held his ribs, heart beating, head pounding, about to puke.
The mangled corpse lay fresh on the wet street; new eyes came out to see.
Jimmy, thrown to the curb near the sewer drain, unharmed, wept. Wrong move! He didn't listen to me, now look at him. He just got dragged across the street by his coworkers and fucking run over by his boss! What the fuck! This place is treacherous!
“Why have you done this to me Willis? I'mma gonna get locked up for life. All my dreams, vanquished!”
“Don't worry. We've called the law, you're not getting away.” A pedestrian said.
“He didn't mean it! The body fell off from the other car speeding up the road! I seen the whole thing! The car pulled out and this guy was right behind them, and that's when the dead body fell from the first car and he ran over it and crashed into the pole. I saw the whole thing man, this man is innocent. The first car was trying to get rid of someone they had murdered, why else would a dead body fall from the bottom of your car?”
“He could of planted the body there and waited until the car pulled off and got right behind it so it could all look like a big accident, or both cars were in on it! You just don't know!”
“No one planted anything! Would you all shut up with your theories? I'm sick of it all!” Dale stood using the car as support. “I know who he was, he was an employee, and he wasn't murdered by the people in the first car, they were also employees. I will never sleep again.”
A law enforcement patrol tank rolled in. The officer popped her head out. “What's the deal here?”
Several different voices spoke at once.
“Alright alright! Who was the driver? You sir? Come here.”
The officer exchanged questions for answers.
She got them, and sought for more from witnesses. She made Dale jump inside the tank, and she took him to the Law Enforcement Department of Jonestown. He called his lawyer and got out on bail, and was set for a trail on the 23rd of the month; it was the 9th.

THE BIRTH OF WILLIS' GHOST:
Fire! Fire! Fire!
The world is burning.
The smoke creatures are coming to take you away.
To the heat of your desires.
Crumble, ashes, crumble.
The flames always have their way with time.
Never too late, 'til it's too late.
Like a runaway child reluctantly headed back to the foster house,
the ashes take form again. The smoke creatures did not want it's harsh incense, so they let in air for the form, and gave it what they called, life.

Willis lay on the green marble floor. He quivered trying to sit up. The large red square room had a black iron throne, with a magnificent glowing white doorway; a dried slope into the royal courtyard.
A strange beast with the head of a wolf, the body of an elephant, the arms of a giant gorilla, and the legs of a T-Rex, appeared sitting on the throne. “Are you happy with what you've done?”
Willis rubbed his eyes. “Who are you?”
“Dis-Jud-Fuzz, the ruler of the world, Emperor of The Empire. I've been watching you since you were born, always there directing your path, and here you are, the timing is right. We have captured your true enemy!” It stomped it's foot twice; Jimmy the clown appeared, ball and chains weighing down each limb, in the middle of the beast and Willis.
“I always wanted the best for you, Willis, because that's all I know. The best everything for anything. I hoped that one day you would see my good intentions, and that day has arrived.” From behind the throne, it grabbed a sword and placed it down before it's feet. “Kill it and be forever free! You can try to kill me as well, but we all know that won't turn out so well for you.”
“I never meant to cause so much pain! Please forgive me! Please don't kill me!” Jimmy said.
“I know you didn't mean to, it's gonna be okay. I'll get us out of here.” Willis walked by the clown, grabbed the sword, glanced at the beast.
“Choose now!”
“You know you need me, Willis! That devil is responsible for all our troubles! It's the reason we've suffered all this time! I've done nothing but help you survive, kill it!”
“Stupid toy, don't you see I never needed you! I helped you survive and for too long!” Willis charged towards Jimmy. Off with the head! He stomped his foot on the rolling clown's skull and pierced it.
“Yes! Well done! I grant you access to all the treasures and keys to all the doors in my kingdom! You're free at last! Doesn't it feel great?”
“I don't feel anything.” Willis wiped the blood off the sword. “What is this? Some kind of joke?”
Human dancers filled the room, dressed in sparkly bright colors, all wearing the Empire's logo on the arm band on the left. They danced and chanted dominance affirmations.
“Don't worry, your bliss will come soon. Dance my child! Dance!”
“No, this is bullshit.” Willis rushed through the dancing crowd. “I don't want what you offer!” He threw the sword at Dis-Jud-Fuzz.
“LASER BEAMS!” Light blue electricity shot out from both eyes and annihilated Willis. “Follow your own road then, it leads to nowhere.” The sword stabbed it's elephant stomach. “To me you will always return, no matter how bad we hurt each other.”

TO BE CONTINUED......