TRIGGERFINGER (ORIGINAL STORY) - SEASON ONE

S01E05 A Kingdom in Ruins! Mortimer's (mis)Adventure! (Part Two)

***

Meadow and Marianne looked around through the township's streets calling out Ash's name but they weren't having much luck. The streets they walked were mostly empty now, the damage had already been done. The rioters had clearly been here and moved on, explosions could still be heard in the distance but here was quiet. Kore, Scabs, and Shade were off trying to deal with the rest of the rioting, and it was Meadow's job to stay with Marianne and keep her safe, as well as look out for Ash.

"I hope he's okay," Meadow said, her voice shaky.

"He will be," Marianne smiled, until it faded. "He better be anyway."

"How long have you known him?"

"10 years. I imagine it would have been just after he was separated from you lot that he was put into my care."

They neared a run-down house where some of the rioters were congregated. Meadow raised her guard, holding her wand out in front of her. Marianne lifted her fists. She wasn't much of a fighter but she knew she couldn't stand back and make Meadow do all the work. The rioters weren't doing much however, just standing there. They weren't causing any havoc, just loitering. One of them looked guilty, as he rolled a rock along the ground with his foot. Meadow looked at Marianne, then back at the Kingdom residents.

"Hey..." she called out, hesitantly. "Have you seen a guy around here, gray hair, tan skin?"

The residents looked up.

***

Kore, Shade, and Scabs found themselves amidst the rioting in the township center. People were throwing all sorts of things; rocks, javelins, even the odd molotov cocktail. Things were getting torn down, wrecked from inside out, and outside in. Everything was in complete and utter chaos. They tried calming everyone down but few would listen, their voices weren't loud enough to reach everyone. A man dressed in a long white gown entered the area with a megaphone in hand, he announced himself as Mr Grant and warned everybody to stop what they were doing as Queen Honey wouldn't be happy seeing her Kingdom in such a state.

Unfortunately, this only made matters worse as people started charging for Mr Grant, who ran around in circles trying to avoid them. He begged them over the megaphone to stop, let him be but the rioters weren't having any of it. They wanted Mr Grant's head. Kore decided he needed to step in, and step in he did, as he leapt over countless numbers of people to Mr Grant's aid.

A rioter tried to hit Kore with a lead pipe but Kore lifted an arm, blocked the attack, then ripped the pipe from the rioter's clutches. Others started trying to attack Kore too, screaming at him to get out of the way so they could get to Mr Grant. But Kore stood his ground, swatting countless punches and kicks away with ease, these rioters no match for him. He took Mr Grant's megaphone and screamed that everybody stay back, and having witnessed Kore's strength, they all listened.

"Okay, good..." he said. "Now that I have your attention... Why are you all acting like this? Like animals? Look, I get that you were freed from your cage and that Queen Honey is no longer a problem but why should that mean you riot? What good does this do? Honey's gone, and that means you all have the chance to start anew."

"What if she comes back?" Someone from the crowd called out.

"After being humiliated by her own handmaiden? I don't see that happening. Besides you all saw it didn't you? Even if she were to come back, what's there to be afraid of? She got herself defeated by a teenage girl less than half her size. You know what that means right? That means she's powerless against all of you if you band together. But why focus on that anyway? Why not focus on the fact that you're all finally free to reshape the Kingdom in a way you see fit? Appoint yourselves a new King or Queen, someone fair, just, someone worthy to rule this place and lead you!"