Little Maw, not so little at all

Cruising with Ghost was a different feeling than cruising with Boss. Both of them are old, but they're different models from different eras.

While Boss was a classic, Ghost was a beast.

Axel zoomed through the streets, dodging debris and abandoned cars, making a ton of noise. Then he headed straight for the long, empty road, with nothing but desert stretching out on both sides.

This road went all the way to Little Maw. Along the way, there's a junction called Fork Road. If you turn left, you'll end up in Pelagos. If you go right, you can keep heading straight to Far Reach.

But Axel's goal was Little Maw, the gnarliest city overrun by criminals.

As he passed through the gates of Lykos, a massive sign hung over the road, shouting,

"Thanks for stopping by. May the Three-faced god bless you."

...

Two days later, his mental map told him that Little Maw was just 60 kilometers away. Yet, he spotted it even before the notification pinged.

The towering skyscrapers punched through the sky, and the neon lights lit up everything, blinding him even from a distance.

As Axel drew nearer, the contrast between Lykos and Little Maw, or even Rusty Ridge for that matter, became glaringly apparent. If both Rusty Ridge and Lykos were black, Little Maw was white.

The disparity between this town, with its advanced cyberneural technology and futuristic vibes, was stark.

The sleek and modern architecture stood in sharp contrast to the more rustic and worn-down landscapes he had traversed earlier. Little Maw seemed to hum with a different kind of energy, a pulsating beat of progress that Axel could almost feel in the air.

"If this is what's happening outside, I wonder what wonders await us inside, huh, Byte?"

"Meeowww."

Byte was deep in slumber, giving zero cares to the outside world. Boredom had struck, and her tummy was rumbling with emptiness.

"I promise you a feast fit for a queen. Let's find something, shall we?"

She responded with another meow.

Axel covered the 60-kilometer stretch in less than an hour. Unlike before, he didn't make any pit stops; he just cranked the throttle to the max and practically soared through the desert.

Approaching the city, he spotted a massive wall, towering about 6 or 7 meters high, wrapping around the entire place. The gate was sizable, with checkpoints on either side.

The guards, decked out in black and red armor, were posted there solely to ensure no Necro-Bots sneaked in. Oddly enough, they didn't bother checking the folks passing through, almost acting like a full-blown war would erupt if they did.

These weren't the Authority, not the police, and definitely not locals, because, well, there aren't any natives in Little Maw.

'I mean, who in their sane mind would want to start a family in a city run by gangsters and criminals?'

Even though there's supposedly an Authority headquarters tucked away somewhere inside the city, nobody dared to make any arrests. They were just there to jot down reports if anything fishy went down.

A metal wire gate stood at the forefront, stretching a few hundred meters from the main gate. The area was scattered with dead Necro-bots' bodies. Vehicles were meant to pass through the metal wire gate, navigating carefully among the debris.

Axel steered Ghost right into the checkpoint, and one of the guards, spotting him, frantically waved his hands, signaling for him to stop. Ghost screeched to a halt, producing a loud noise and a puff of black smoke.

"That's one sweet old bike you got, man."

Remarked the guard, his black helmet hiding any trace of his features. Axel couldn't make out anything about the man; he was covered head to toe in armor. And then there was something peculiar—numbers. Specifically, the number 14 was etched in red on the side of his helmet.

'14th Street Gang? The one the fixer mentioned running the Golden Snake bar?'

Even though Axel acknowledged his own brand of stupidity and naivety, he wasn't foolish enough to blabber about something as big as this. The questions swirled in his mind, but he kept them on a leash for now.

"Yeah, pretty old boy. The name's Ghost. Couple of centuries old. Still uses Gasoline Stems..."

Axel couldn't contain his excitement when someone brought up cars and bikes. Once he started, he just couldn't stop.

"Really? Never seen a bike this old."

The guard crouched down, giving the bike a thorough inspection, feeling the surface and admiring the design.

"I've got a 200-year-old car back at my place. I call her Lost Lady, inspired from my sister. She's a beauty, yes she is. But she's just for show now. Can't risk using her around here. These old folks can't be trusted when things go south."

The guard ran his hand over the bike, emphasizing his point.

"That's true. My Boss was a real ancient piece too, got wrecked just a few days back. But lucky for me, I got Ghost here."

Axel gave Ghost's fuel tank a friendly pat, grinning.

"Oh? Missed a little cutiepie here, huh? Hey there!"

The guard waved at Byte, who was peacefully lost in dreamland, not giving a single fuck about cars, bikes, or the folks blabbering about them like a bunch of idiots.

"She's a grouch. Just ignore her."

"No, no, no, that won't do. Hey, kitty, come here. Here."

The guard attempted to lure her with something from his pocket. But Byte remained unmoved, as if the guard was invisible.

"She's a tough cookie. Give her something to eat, and she'll be your best buddy."

"Food, huh? That's what you want? Hm."

The guard scratched his head in thought, then fumbled around in his pocket and produced a pack of biscuits.

"Here."

He set the packet close to her, on the bike. Byte opened her eyes, glanced at the guard, then at the biscuits. After sniffing the packet for a minute, she seized it and scurried over Axel to the backside, sheltering herself from the stranger who offered her treats.

"See."

"Smart girl, huh? Anyways, head on in. The place is pretty chaotic with the Triumvirate meeting and all. Just try not to get yourself offed in there. It'd be a shame."

'Triumvirate? Like some meeting of three powerful rulers or something?'

The fixer had mentioned something about this—a gang war or meeting or something. He also stressed reaching Little Maw within a week because the meeting was going down in two weeks. Well, things didn't exactly go as planned, but what can you do? It's life, and it has its own twists.

"Aight, man. Take care."

"The name's Raidan, you can call me Rad. I've got a feeling our paths will cross again."

Raidan reached out his arm, and Axel gave it a dab, a distinct sound echoing on contact.

"If we cross paths, make sure to say hi. I might not recognize you, what with all that...armor."

And so began a potentially beautiful friendship, one destined to be filled with moments of death and betrayal.