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What is TL Noir?
TL Noir is a detective story about a dapper Moderator named Cow who works in TL City. He is tasked with hunting down a troll who is terrorizing TL's populace. Join him on his perilous search through the dark streets of TL and be prepared to experience mystery, adventure, suspense, horror and many, many other intense words.
You can start reading here: Part 1
TL Noir is a detective story about a dapper Moderator named Cow who works in TL City. He is tasked with hunting down a troll who is terrorizing TL's populace. Join him on his perilous search through the dark streets of TL and be prepared to experience mystery, adventure, suspense, horror and many, many other intense words.
You can start reading here: Part 1
We find ourselves not far from TL City, as the sun slowly and reluctantly starts its rise through the thick early morning fog. Mickey Mouse, myself, and a grey legion of banished criminals behind us, once human, now ghoulish creatures, warped by their own malevolence. I have to say, it's not exactly the kind of situation I ever thought I'd find myself in. You know what they say, though: if life gives you lemons, raise an unholy army and send those damn lemons straight to Hell.
“They must have spotted us by now, right?” Mickey asks, with a steely look in his eyes, the kind you'd expect from a general who has seen too many wars.
“Yeah, probably,” I reply, trying to imagine the commotion that must be going on right now at TL HQ.
“Good.”
We had started the march from Disneyland almost a week ago. Mickey had mobilized every last one of his minions. It was an exodus. As we left, it didn't seem like he was planning on ever coming back to that place. Can't blame him. There was nothing left for him there but ruins and painful memories. He knows there's no way to bring back all the things he's lost. I think he's content with one last chance at some form of vengeance, however flimsy or risky it may be.
The trek to TL City was hard, but mostly uneventful. A monotonous journey through a deserted, dusty wasteland, with only a small few settlements along the way, which we ignored. It must have been an absurd sight for the settlers to behold: an eerily silent expedition of shuffling grey figures passing by, led by a man-sized humanoid mouse and a guy in a scruffy trench coat. Ghouls collapsed in the dust every now and then. They didn't get back up. Mickey didn't seem to care. We just kept marching until the dark towering buildings and bright neon lights of TL City appeared before us.
Here we are now, preparing to go all in. I gulp down the last bit of water I brought from Disneyland. My stomach feels like a nest of beetles is crawling around in it. Do beetles have nests? I don't care. I'm nervous. I glance over at Mickey. He looks more determined than ever. He turns his head towards me, as if he sensed my gaze.
“Are you ready to do this, Cow?”
“Ready as I'll ever be, I guess.”
Without saying a word, Mickey slowly lifts his right fist into the air. Like well-trained dogs, his minions immediately direct their attention to him with their dead, hollow eyes. Their stringy muscles visibly tense up in anticipation of a command. Then, he brings his fist down in a swift motion, pointing towards the shining citadel a few hundred meters ahead of us. As one, the horde starts moving. Running. No drums, no battle cries. A silent wave of grey flesh, kicking up a dust cloud in its wake. Mickey and I wait for a few seconds, and then we start running behind them.
It's hard to spot until you get very close, but TL City exists within a shimmering, translucent dome. A force field of sorts, conjured up long ago by Rich, the Cyber Wizard, to repel any possible invaders. Clear as glass, but stronger than the thickest steel. There are entry points at regular intervals, like futuristic airport terminals, heavily guarded by automated systems, where aspiring citizens are able to register and be allowed access to the city. They would never let me back in, of course, so I need a diversion. A big, grey diversion.
As the horde stampedes towards the nearest entry point, large guns emerge from hidden alcoves and unleash a terrifying barrage of high-velocity bullets. The rounds cut mercilessly through the front lines, sending limbs and chunks of grey flesh flying through the air, but the unholy legion pushes on with no hesitation. True cannon fodder.
I make my way to the terminal alongside Mickey, jumping over carcasses and body fragments, bullets whizzing past over our heads. This could all be over in a second, I think to myself. One of those rounds to the torso and there'd barely be anything left of me to bury.
Losses are heavy, but the automatic guns are soon overwhelmed by the clawing mass of ghouls. They surge on and burst through the terminal's turnstiles like water through a papier-mâché dam. Boom, we're in. I grab Mickey's shoulder and motion him to hold. We gave TL staff plenty of time to prepare, so there's going to be quite the welcoming party on the other side. It only takes a second or two before we hear a new salvo of gunfire. The Moderators are unleashing hell on the remains of Mickey's decimated army.
“Okay, go! Follow me!” I yell, as I pull Mickey by the arm and start running past the broken turnstiles. We enter the city to see the last pack of ghouls get massacred from up high by the Moderators, who had taken up position on top of the buildings overlooking the entry point. I'm still dragging Mickey along and we immediately dive into the shadows to our right and move through an abandoned alley, where we take a quick stop behind a dumpster to catch our breaths. Feels good to be home again.
“Okay, good, we made it,” I say, still panting heavily. “I don't think anybody spotted us. Now, we make our way to Hot Bid's place. He lives in a penthouse suite, not far from here. We can wait for him there, and look for any evidence that could clear my name in the meanwhile.”
“And what if we can't find any evidence?”
“Then at least we'll both be able to get some revenge,” I reply.
“Sounds good to me. Lead the way.”
– TO BE CONTINUED –
