CHAPTER 24 – THE INFERNO ARNEA
Johnny revved the engine with a furious grin. He looked out over the arena into the center for his first target. It wasn't the Rambling Wrecker he needed to get to first. It was the sensor in the middle of the arena..
Ever since Johnny had done duels in the Banzai Bangers dueling arena. Hitting the color changing sensor in the middle determined most outcomes of a duel. Johnny needed to hit it first so he could lay claim to the arena environment. He planned on making it orange for a collapsing platform that got smaller by the minute. Beneath the floor the arena turned into a lava pit.
Johnny watched as the lights turned from red to yellow. He was even more persistent in hitting the censor now. He revved the engine even more as he gave the Exploiter a rude gesture from his car. The exploiter returned the salute back to Johnny. The light went from yellow to green. Both Johnny and the Exploiter floored out of their starting points.
Johnny and the Exploiter were driving for the center of the arena. The center rose on a circular slope. The sensor glowed with many colors in the center of the platform. The Exploiter fired his plasma beams at Johnny hoping to deter him. Johnny ignored the incoming beams of plasma as they hit the car's front armor. It left scorch marks behind as Johnny didn't slow down. This only made Johnny increase his speed.
The Exploiter then used his magnetic tow cable on the barrels of oil. He launched it towards Johnny. The barrel exploded into pieces on Johnny's car as he lost control. Johnny spun to the left as he overshot the sensor.
"Dammit." Said Johnny gritting his teeth as he tried to regain control.
At the same time. The Rambling Wrecker made the jump and drove over the sensor. The tow truck did a wheelie as the sensor turned red. At the same time. Johnny ended up t-boned the Rambling Wrecker. The impact managed to get the tow truck up on two wheels. The missile launcher and rack of six missiles were knocked loose. The Exploiter had to make a hard right to avoid flipping on his side. The impact from the collision disabled the missiles launcher. The driver's side door was now swinging freely open.
Johnny quickly assessed the impact of his car. The front axel had suffered very minor bending from going on the side of the Rambling Wrecker. There was only cosmetic dents to the plow on the front of his car. Johnny sighed with relief after checking the hits as he was lining up for another pass to hit the Rambling Wrecker.
Johnny had lost the arena selection, but he had come out ahead. He disabled one of his opponent's weapons. As well as causing significant damage. He noticed the Rambling Wrecker was having a bit harder time turning. The left front wheel had been slightly bent from the collision. Johnny smirked at the Exploiter. Who was calling Johnny all sorts of prophetic words over the radio.
The arena that was chosen had Johnny concerned though. He would have to finish this fast. The arena would heat up as time went by. Both drivers could be roasted to death if the temperature got too high. Johnny was thankful for the heat resistance on his car. He also needed to be wary of the traps. Jets of flames shot out of hidden holes in the arena floor. Another was triggered by running over pressure plates. The trap would follow an opponent with a vat of gasoline and dump it on them. This only happens after the field beneath the arena reaches 200 degrees F.
The Exploiter then tried to hook Johnny's car with its magnetic tow cable. Thanks to Johnny making his car nonmagnetic the tow cable failed to attach every time. The Exploiter was getting mad. "I took the liberty of making my vehicle nonmagnetic." Johnny said with a taunting voice over his radio. The Exploiter then began to line up Johnny for shots with his gatling rifle and plasma guns.
The two kept circling each other as Johnny occasionally would get a ram or two on the Rambling Wrecker. His opponent fired with the plasma beams and gatling rifles. Leaving scorch marks and bullet dents on Johnny's car. The Exploiter by this point was getting desperate. The tow trucks' front left wheel was now flat. While Johnny was still in one piece. The Exploiter decided to pull a dangerous gamble. He loaded five of his mines from the tow cable onto the remaining drums of oil. He then tossed one at Johnny's car.
Johnny was just expecting to get hit by oil. His thought process changed when he saw the blinking light on the drum of oil. He realized then he made a fatal mistake as the barrel of oil exploded. Johnny tried to dodge it at the last second as he yanked the wheel to the left, gritting his teeth. The blast sent him rolling on his roof several times landing on all fours. Johnny got a warning on the terminal. The car's suspension had received moderate damage. A good portion of armor was blown off from the blast. Johnny groaned as he lifted his head up to see another barrel flying for him. He floored the accelerator. The explosion had left Johnny partially deaf from the noise. He had a cut down his forehead from hitting his head under his right eye. Flaming oil had splattered against the windows as the next barrel barely missed Johnny.
The Exploiter launched the three remaining barrels at Johnny, He managed to dodge them, but the flaming bits of metal did a number on the windows. The fourth barrel shattered all the windows. The fifth explosion sent in flaming hot chards of oily metal. Johnny was struck in the chest by flaming oil. He screamed in pain as the hot oil burned his suit. He was lucky none of the oil got on his skin as he battled out the flames on his suit.
Johnny couldn't see where the Exploiter was with all the burning oil. He scanned the area. He must be hiding behind one of those walls of fire. By this point Johnny was sweating nervously. Also, because the temperature was getting unbearable in the arena. Johnny's car was smoldering but still in action. He kept circling looking for the Exploiter.
He was caught by surprise as the gatling rifle rounds pierced throw the wall of fire. The bullets pounded the right side of Johnny's car. The bullets tore the remaining armament on the right side of the car. Both of the right side tires popped from the barage. The car was now filled with so many holes the right side looked like swiss cheese.
Johnny gasped in pain as a few rounds shot into him. He had been shot in the abdomen, neck, and torso. He began to have a coughing fit as blood poured from his mouth and wounds. He was bleeding severely. Even with his injuries he kept going.
The damage to Johnny's car was bad. The car was now leaking fluid and smoking. Johnny gunned it so the Exploiter couldn't line him up for another shot. Johnny drove past as he saw the Exploiter positioning the Rambling Wrecker to fire at Johnny again. The man had a face of pleasure of killing others. The Exploiters face turned sour when he had run out of ammo. Johnny watched him curse under his breath. The Exploiter was so busy sulking he didn't see Johnny make his next move.
The pressure plates had been activated and Johnny drove over one. The Exploiter realized his mistake as he now tried to chase after Johnny shooting beams of plasma at him. Johnny for his part sped up as fast as his car would go. The right-side tires tore apart in doing so. The right side of the car was shooting up sparks as he drove. When he was far ahead of the Exploiter. Johnny slammed the emergency brake. This caused him to fish tail, slamming into the Rambling Wrecker with his rear end. The Exploiter was caught off by the move. The tow truck was thrown onto its side as it slid. It eventually came to a holt with the drivers side on the ground smoldering.
Johnny watched in horror and awe as he tried to do his best to stop his bleeding. His vision was getting fuzzy. The pressure plate he had triggered homed in on the Exploiter who was trying to get free of the wrecked vehicle. He watched on to see the Exploiter struggling to get free. Johnny focused his head to the noise of a cable carrying a giant vat of gasoline. It too a few moments for the cable to position of the Rambling Wrecker. The vat was then dumped right on top of the smoldering Rambling Wrecker. The tow truck immediately ignited and exploded. Johnny watched the Exploiter climb out of the burning wreck before it exploded.
The Exploiter was covered in oil and burning as he screamed in pain. "You haven't seen the last of us Johnny!" He cried out in agony. Before he succumbed to the flames. The man's body melted into a pile of black tarry goo as it burned. His body soon turned into a puddle of black inky liquid. All that was left was a black void core that was the size of a basketball. Johnny got out of his car still bleeding and picked up the orb.
The next thing Johnny knew he was back in the red Crystal palace. He was sitting in the Exploiter's throne with the chosen's crystal in hand. He tried to stand up but quickly fell flat on his face. He forgot he had been rittled with bullet holes. He groaned as laid in a puddle of his own blood. He heard footsteps heading his way. He then heard Julia scream as she called for someone to find Qin and Margaret. Johnny turned his head to smile at Julia with a bloody smile. She was now accompanied by Albert as they began to work healing magic on him.
"Well, we did it." Johnny said with a weak voice as he gave her the thumbs up as Julia rolled him on his side.
"Don't you die on me." She said in frustration as Johnny closed his eyes…