BEWARE
STANK
FOOT
(It should be noted no skaters in this feature push with stank foot)
112 THRASHER
Butcher bluntslides while the bros
chill and think, "I could do that."
Part 2
Woodwater felt a dark heat rise up inside of him.
His mind went blank and he stepped forward.
And as Strong Cloud lay in a heap on the chalky
red ground, his airway crushed, Woodwater
released his grip and stood expressionless over
him.
Strong Cloud's eyes rolled back into his head and
the visions poured in. They were not unwelcome.
In fact, he had awaited them virtually his entire life.
A dark-purple crow had visited him as a child in
the midst of a Small Pox delirium. It had whispered
to him that on his end day he would witness all
days.
"They will hurt at first," the crow had said, "but
then you'll find patterns within them."
Patterns indeed! Some did hurt. Particularly the
decimation of his people by the white man. Some
were strangely satisfying. Namely Earth's decima-
tion of man altogether.
Amid the millennia swirling before him, breath-
taking tragedy and triumphs, empires risen and
fallen, he for some reason found himself focusing
not on the ravages of war or the bold aspirations of
religion, but instead on the rise of a single man. A
poor soul who spent his days on a play thing
during an unremarkable time in an unremarkable
land. Although physically able, he was not of
sound mind. He propelled himself and his toy with
awkward, staggered motions. He went by many
names Shit Foot. Putz Push. Clod Hop.
Many ridiculed the mistaken way in which Freak
Flail used his toy. The ridicule did not hinder his
practice, though. In fact, he used it as fuel. He
became good. He became the best.
Now people loved him. Children emulated his
unorthodox style. He became a popular entertain-
ment figure. He started a ritualistic dance craze, the
Wrong-Foot Romulos.
Two well-known ex-toy riders, Bird Man and
Man of Golden Arches, tried to use their pleasant
dispositions and long list of corporate sponsors to
convince the masses that Back Pedaler was an evil
man and that he was corrupting our youth. Their
warnings went unheeded.
Dead Leg entered politics. He amassed a cult fol-
lowing. He pushed a big red button and unleashed
rains of flame. And that was that.
--Adam Creagan
INDEP
113