Iron Manimal Vol. 3: Iron Manimal, #3

By H. Seitz

Iron Manimal has a three-way with destruction in the third and final installment of the Iron Manimal trilogy. When chaos, deceit, and savagery threaten the world, Scotty (aka Iron Manimal) must fight to preserve a way of life he finds revolting. How much is he willing to sacrifice, and will that sacrifice be enough? Torn between loyalty and survival and overmatched at every turn, he must decide whether this world is worth dying to save.

• Language: English
• Publisher: H. Seitz
• Release date: Feb 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386920991

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Table of Contents

Iron Manimal Vol. 3

C1 The Cave

Leon and I sat staring into the remainder of our little fire. The sun had just set behind the mountains and the desert air was already freezing. He was wearing what was left of his tattered ringmaster's outfit and I, as usual, was naked.

It will be grand, to be back in the thick of it. Once it gets into your blood, it's for life. I know things may look a bit bleak right now, but I'll rebuild. I've done it before, and I'll do it again.

I believed him.

How many circuses will this be for you?

I like to think of them as different incarnations of the same circus. Rebirths if you will.

I get it, but still. How many? How many ‘incarnations’?

Leon gave me a strange look, like he was trying to decide whether or not to be offended.

Do you really think I’ve become that senile?

Of course not.

At least not that senile. I breathed in the air and shivered. The fire had a calming effect on me.

Lulu and I used to talk like this. Sometimes, the things that seem obvious aren't so obvious, and what should be obvious, you just don't see until you talk it through.

Leon considered this for a moment. I had no idea what might come out of his mouth. At times he seemed almost preternaturally attuned to others, to the situation at hand. This made it all the more jarring whenever he said something cutting or inappropriate. He took a deep breath.

Fine, I'll play along. What is it you want to know?

How many circuses? Or incarnations?

He looked up at the domed roof of the mouth of the cave and scratched his chin.

Well, the original circus, there was that. You were a part of it, and a fine circus it was.

We were broke. We were on the verge of bankruptcy.

But we didn't go bankrupt. We survived.

Did we? It didn't seem that way to me.

So what happened to that circus? Or incarnation?

He looked off to the side and smiled as if recalling a fond memory.

Well you were there. Surely you remember?

I was about to remind him when he continued.

Right right. This dialectic you and Lulu found so useful. A lot of good it did her.

He cleared his throat.

If I remember correctly, we had a bit of a problem when you blew up the train. The barrels you had agreed to transport -

I opened my mouth to interrupt him and he cut me off.

"Fine. The barrels that we had agreed to transport ruptured, and whatever was inside of them made all of us into whatever we are. He paused and looked at me. So that was one incarnation."

Leon was the one who had tricked us into transporting the barrels, he was the one who had told me at the last possible second that I'd have to manually switch us onto abandoned track that hadn't been used in decades. It was impossible for any sane person not to see that most of this, at least 90%, was his fault. I gritted my teeth and stuck to Lulu's 'dialectic'.

So that's incarnation number one. What about incarnation number two?

Well you were around for that one, too. At least at the end. That incarnation ended when Roger attacked us. Most of the survivors were too cowardly to continue.

He looked into my eyes.

But a few of us carried on, and incarnation number three, well, we had never been that big before, not even in my grandfather's time.

His eyes misted over and he got a faraway look.

What happened to incarnation number three?

A gust of wind hit the fire and it glowed bright. 

You know, I am starting to see something that really is quite obvious. You and Lulu may have been onto something with this chit chat business.

What happened?

Well, things were going along swimmingly until you showed up with Phil and went on a rampage. Then the animals went crazy and attacked the people in the stands. Then Jon and the FBI showed up and threw us all in prison.

A twig popped in the fire. 

So what does this tell you?

Leon laughed and shook his head.

I’m not blind, Scotty. At least not completely. At first I blamed you for everything, but let bygones be bygones is what I say. What's the point of holding on to old grievances? Over the years, I've come to accept that we've become a family of sorts. All of us. And that there's no escape. Once you've been with a person or a group of people long enough, through thick and thin as they say -

Mostly thin.

- you're linked in a way that defies comprehension.

Leon looked past the fire and out into the night sky. I was frustrated with him, but also touched.

I miss the old grounds crew, as filthy and hobbled and ignorant as they were. Some people have no luck. They're dealt a bad hand, but they play it. From the cradle to the grave, they dance.

Leon, I appreciate all of this. I really do. But to get back to our 'dialectic' -

And Lulu could have been the greatest of us all! The Queen Bee! People would have ate that up. But yes, of course, you were saying?

I took a deep breath and watched the dying flickers of the fire. 

So what are your plans?

Leon smiled and clapped his hands together.

Argentina. We begin anew, and this will be the one. The Greatest Show on Earth!

Lightning flashed behind his eyes.

And you should come! I could use a good man like you. We've always worked well together, and honestly, I feel we balance each other out in a way. You're like a son to me, Scotty, truly you are, and I'm proud of you. The way you kept the old train running and checked in on everyone. It may not seem like much to you, but the little things like that matter. I felt you were my ally in that, in keeping up morale. Lulu wouldn't have stayed on for nearly as long if it wasn't for you.

He beamed at me and I couldn't tell if he had meant to hurt me. Lulu was dead because of me. She wouldn't have come back if it wasn't for me. I took a deep breath and tried to stay on track.

Why on earth would you want me to come with you? You blame me for destroying your circus three times -

My three incarnations.

Fine, your three incarnations. I'm trying to get you to see the bigger picture here.

He waved me off.

As I've already told you, I'm well past all of that. You know, once you're with a person or a group of people long enough, you become like family. Through thick and -

For fuck's sake, why? Why another circus? Every circus ends in disaster, so why another one? I put my face into my hands and rubbed my temples. I don’t understand this. I don't understand you at all.

This time, it will be different. I'll get emus and snakes and panthers from deepest Africa, bigger tents and better acts. It will be real magic. We are magic now.

We're in a fucking cave!

It's going to be beautiful.

I couldn't tell if it was an act. Not so long ago I would have known, but now, I couldn't be sure. Maybe he really had become a doddering old crazy person. There is no talking to people like that. They're stuck in time and hold this time back. This is why people have to die.