Death in Portland

A Harrowing Experience

Martin gets down with his bad self

When last we saw Martin, he was confronting Mortimer and a small number of large men in an empty warehouse.

It did not go well for him.

Pummeled into a Harrowing, He seemingly wakes up outside the warehouse and sees a crowd across the street. There is a fancy bar there, with a long line of people waiting to get in. They begin jeering at him and mocking his attire, intellect, and general hygiene.

“That reminds me, I should take out the trash.”

“What are you, retarded?”
“Wait, who’s Todd? Is he Todd? You look like a Todd.”
“Yeah, he looks like a total Todd.”

“You know, he reminds me of my cousin Cathy.”
“The one who […]?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s so sad!”
“She can sign her name now. Her first name.”

Martin sees a figure coming out, flanked by two beautiful women. It’s him, but better-dressed, more handsome, and so on. He also has on a wedding ring and grandpa Pierce’s gold watch (that the real Marty had stolen and pawned long ago).

This other Martin, called Andrew by his friends, insults him numerous times, and the crowd encourages them to fight. As Andrew’s ’65 Mercedes convertible is brought around, they face off in front of the car.

Marty refuses to throw the first punch, but won’t back down either, especially as his doppelganger begins making physical contact. Harsh words fly until Andrew catches a beer, swigs it down, and takes a swing at him with the bottle.

A fight begins. They trade blows and knee one another in the groin. The crowd grows uglier and loudly supports Andrew. Eventually Martin tries smashing in the windshield of the convertible with his chains. Andrew catches it and unfurls an array of tentacles from behind his back. He smacks Marty across the face with one and hurls him aside.

Martin chooses the better part of valor and Blinks away to his nearby motorcycle.

“Run, Forrest, run!”

“Hey, trash that gets rid of itself!”

He drives through the jeering crowd and into a yawning black abyss.

Marty comes to inside the warehouse, now empty. He sits by himself for a little while, contemplating his unpleasant double, and makes his way unsteadily toward his parents’ house, where he had stashed his motorcycle.

Meanwhile
Connie and Vince make their way from the salon to the PDX FBI HQ. They find the place heavily patrolled by Hierarchy troops, outside, in the Tempest, and in the sewers beneath. Connie gives up and heads for the nearest sports bar while Vince tries to figure out an alternative way inside.

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