“Where the fuck was she hiding that?”

  Noah, the older brother or Ruth, limped down the hallway. His right hand covered a deep wound in his side while his left followed the wall for support.. The red carpet grew a shade darker with the addition of his blood.

  “I’m ruined,” he muttered.

  He took out his keys and struggled to place them in the closet door. He missed several times before slowing himself down and using both shaking hands to guide the key into the lock. With a click, it opened. The light was still on in the maintenance closet, which was strange.

  “Took you long enough,” said Tana as she closed the book she was holding. “I actually was starting to reread this.”

  “That’s great, you can leave now,” said Noah dismissively.

  Tana shifted from a dignified pose into a slightly more seductive one. “And why would I want to do that?” She asked.

  Noah’s face contorted into a gaze of hatred. Tana backed off immediately, but the damage was already done. “You know you all think you are so different. If there is some silver lining in this, it's that people like you won’t bother me anymore. Leave– Fuck off – I have nothing. Your toy is broken.” Noah waved Tana away.

  Still weakening, Noah slowly cleared cleaning supplies to reveal a trap door in the corner of the room.

  Tana hummed with curiosity. “I understand less of what is going on than you think I do.”

  Noah struggled to pick up a box, eventually giving up. He responded “Well then let me spell it out for you. Ruth and I are competing for our fathers company. I’m losing. Always have been. And this.” Noah gestured all around him. “All of this was an attempt to kidnap her as a last ditch effort. Apparently I can add single combat to the list of things she is better than me at. Happy? Leave.” Noah pointed to the door.

  Tana stayed, relaxing on a large crate she swung her legs like a little girl on a swingset. Noah managed to move heavier boxes by pushing them along the ground with his back. Blood covered all of the objects he touched, but his efforts yielded the result he needed. The trapdoor was uncovered.

  He unlocked the trapdoor and pulled with all his remaining strength. His whole body shook, and the blood flow out of his wound became a river, causing him to collapse to the ground with a gasp. Tana hopped off the crate and pulled Noah away from the trapdoor. She opened it herself easily. Within the trapdoor was a ladder that descended 20 feet down to a metal floor.

  “Why not just leave? You have plenty of skills, with or without your father’s resources you would do fine.” said Tana.

  Surprised, but too tired to question Tana’s help, Noah responded. “If only it was that easy. I know it's dumb, and illogical and indicative of my desperate need for professional intervention, but I’m trapped by my own pride. I want to win, yet I also want to leave. Some days I wake up wishing that father would call me and say I lost. It would be both the saddest and happiest day of my life.” he slowly rose to his feet, making his way towards the bunker entrance. “Thanks for the help.”

  “I think I’m in a similar situation.” To Tana’s own shock, she thought this out loud.

  Before Noah could start down the ladder, Tana started down it first. “I’m coming down too,” she said. “And since I’m wearing a dress, I go first.”

  “I told you. I have nothing.”

  Tana ignored the statement. “You ever wonder what your life would be like if you never entered this rivalry?”

  “Everyday, sometimes more than once a day.”

  ‘I do too,’ Thought Tana, this time remembering to keep it inside her head. “And what's the plan now? Are you finally free?”

  Noah hopped off the ladder. The bunker contained a single panic room, outfitted with first aid supplies, food, a computer, and several pieces of premium furniture. It was the most luxurious model, and certainly looked the part. Within, Tana was already waiting with a bandage. She started dressing Noah’s wound with surprising skill.

  “Free? More like out of the pan and into the fire. I’ll lose everything from this. At least I should be able to shield myself from prison.” Noah smiled, “But I guess yes, this is the end of the biggest waste of time of my life.” As Noah said the words, he started to believe them. They filled him with a joy he couldn’t quite describe. Strangely, this was accompanied with no sadness. He was unbothered by his defeat. After a lifetime of stress and competition he finally lost and there was nothing. No blow back of pain and misery. No life flashed before his eyes.

  He didn’t care.

  Instead, his focus remained on the woman he spent the night with. She navigated the social waters of the party like an experienced captain, unshaken by anything that occurred. Noah could not even remember how she attached herself to him. One moment he looked down and she was there, as natural and expected as the sun rising in the morning.

  There was the psychopath who dragged Noah off, warning him about things he already knew. That Tana was just playing him, trying to get to his money or his power or just bored and looking for another toy.

  So why was she looking at him like that? Like she actually cared?

  “So you say you are in a situation similar to mine?” Asked Noah.

  “Yes, I have a long time friend.” Before Tana continued she paused to consider what she was about to say. She could not believe how ridiculous she was about to sound. “We compete… with lovers. We each go out, time and time again getting the best and brightest and most powerful people wrapped around our fingers. Then we compare them against each other. Determine who caught the bigger fish.” Tana looked away. “We shatter their hearts and move on. The cycle repeats.”

  Tana read Noah’s body language, looking for his reaction. His expression was… unreadable. Impossible. Unreadable to her. To Tana? Her heart pounded in her ears out of panic. The bunker, which was a cool 65 degrees Fahrenheit at all times of year, suddenly was a boiler.

  “This is actually the first time I’ve told someone that.” Tana blurted, no plan in mind. “Its really strange. I’m weird, broken even.” She abruptly made for the exit. “Sorry to bother you. Good luck avoiding prison.”

  Noah grabbed her hand. “Then I’m right there with you.” He said empathetically. “I think I get it.” He pulled her into an embrace. “If you are broken then I’m broken too.”

  If only it had ended there. Tana could go home, successfully having opened up to someone for once in her life. A real connection. Yet Noah wanted to know more, so he asked an innocuous question, or so it seemed to him. This question would go on to eat Tana alive for the following weeks. A good night's sleep would become a distant fantasy as she fought with it in her mind, day after day, night after night.

  “My fight ended today.” Noah slid his right hand up the length of Tana’s body and appreciated the curves he encountered. He gently moved her head so that their faces were only centimeters apart. A kiss would have been so pleasant, so appreciated. “When will you be free?” He asked innocently.

  ‘When do I get to be free?’ Tana repeated the novel thought in her mind. With this opportunity, it rooted itself in her psyche, taking position to torture her.

  When she froze up, Noah assumed the worst–he was right–and so pulled her closer.

  – break –

  Sergeant Killjoy cautiously entered the ruins. He was a gaunt, thin man, with blonde hair and a freshly pressed blue uniform. You could be forgiven for thinking him sickly.

  Even with the mercenary threat taken care of, the collapsing ceiling hospitalized several officers in the last few minutes. It was a miracle that the building was standing at all. The floor was covered with miscellaneous stone debris buried under a thin layer of sand. The mezzanines on either side were partially collapsed in several places. The middle of the room was slowly conquered by a lake formed from a massive ice sculpture melting. And if that all was not enough, vehicles of all shapes and sizes littered the area, giving the appearance that an intense demolition derby took place in the building.

  And the bodies. Don’t forget the bodies. So many bodies, everywhere. People were shot, burned, cut in half, and much more. Most horrifying was the piles of flesh cubes. Each cube was about 1 inch large, and one side of the ballroom was covered in piles of them. The paramedics would have their hands full for hours due to this. Already they were getting antsy outside the building. Killjoy tried explaining that proper evidence had to be collected before hospitalization could begin, but they were only willing to give him 15 minutes.

  He picked up a cube of flesh nearby, studying it carefully. A teenager behind him yelped in fear. Killjoy already profiled him as a possible witness, so kept him close. He was spotted fleeing the scene far faster than his large body should have allowed. Questioning him was delegated to a new member of the staff.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Sir, here are the notes from the first round of questioning.” said a private known as Luis. “I wrote down everything we need to know.”

  Luis was a young man with olive skin and a mustache that looked juvenile due to its lack of fullness. He handed Killjoy a notebook. Only the first page had any writing on it. The words were accompanied by a drawing of a sunflower.

  Race: White

  I think hes inocent,

  “Awful detective work, Luis. You learned this at the academy?”

  “I did sir.”

  “Innocent has 3 ‘n’s, fix it”

  Luis took the notebook and quickly handed back the corrected version.

  Race: White

  I think hes inocent inocennt,

  “Everytime I think you hit rock bottom, Luis, you break out dynamite.”

  “Thank you sir.”

  “Remind me, how did you get this position?”

  “After graduating at the first percentile of my class, I applied to the local police stations and got into all of them.”

  “Any notable men or women in your family?”

  “My mother is the current elected governor of the state, serge, why do you ask?”

  Killjoy stared death into Luis’ eyes, causing him to shrink away in fear. “You will call me sir, private.” Killjoy was normally happy to respond to ‘serge’, but not in this case.

  He continued. “For your next assignment.” Killjoy paused thoughtfully. “Do you see that pile of sand over there?”

  Luis followed his gaze. “Which one, sir?”

  “Doesn’t really matter. The sand is trespassing. Beat it until the sand learns its lesson.”

  “Yes, sir!” Luis enthusiastically responded. He ran off to pound sand, delivering blow after devastating blow to an inanimate pile of small rocks.

  Killjoy almost felt bad. Almost.

  “Now to pick up where we left off.” Killjoy motioned the young man over. Slowly and fearfully, he approached.

  “What's your name son?”

  “Main.” The space warper froze then quickly added “sir.” Killjoy raised an eyebrow but did not comment.

  Questioning a witness was a game of power. In this case Killjoy opted to make the witness feel at ease. It would greatly aid the investigation if the witness wanted the investigation to succeed. Killjoy considered himself an expert in these kinds of situations.

  “I see you are afraid of the criminal that cubed these people.” said Killjoy. Main stiffened at the statement. Killjoy took this as a sign he was on the right track. “Well rest assumed, we will track down the person who did this and grind their bones to dust. They committed a despicable act that could easily see them getting months in prison, and we will not rest until they are captured and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

  Killjoy leaned in closer to seal the deal. “Between you and me, when the police department captures criminals of this caliber, we like to rough them up a little extra. Grind their bones into dust. It helps them understand the pain they caused so many other people.” He wrapped an arm around Main, who was looking increasingly frightened. “I don’t take joy in the suffering of others, but it is an effective dissuasion against others committing the same crime. If you want this process to go easier, faster, so we can put these animals behind bars– then I have a few questions to ask you.”

  Killjoy pulled out the notepad and flipped to a fresh page. “For the first question, could you provide me with a summary of what happened here? I’ll ask follow up questions as necessary."

  Main was like a statue. His face froze as his hands shook nervously. Sweat ran down the sides of his face intermittently, despite it being a cool night. Speech was beyond him.

  ‘I’m just a victim of the situation’ thought Main. His old coping mechanism refused to stick like it used to. ‘It’s just unfair. I can’t handle this, it’s out of my hands.’ The pieces were all in place, but they refused to fit together in his head. Each time Main tried to escape his emotions using his tried and true mechanisms, an image of Kevin flashed across his mind’s eye. His illusion was shattered, and it was not coming back.

  Instead Main faced the void for the first time in his life, an endless well of self-pity and loathing loomed over him. He stared back, unsure of what to do with himself. There was something there, something beyond that wall he wanted. Kevin and the others seemed to have it, so why couldn’t he?

  “Hey” Killjoy snapped his fingers in front of Main fruitlessly. “Anyone home?”

  Main faced down his current situation one last time. Emotionally and physically it was too much for him, so he fainted. To Killjoy’s credit, he caught Main before he hit the ground.

  Killjoy sighed. He gestured to the other cops surrounding him. “Gather everyone here who is not in a mercenary outfit and make sure to redirect them to my office, I’ll want to speak with them once they are conscious.” No one moved.

  “What is with everyone today?” Killjoy asked himself as he turned around. For half a second he entertained the thought that he awoke to some kind of time stopping power, but the truth was behind him. There stood Axel, the most wanted man on the planet.

  Unlike the men lower on the command chain, Killjoy reached for his gun, leveling it against Axel in a moment. The actions after that were less clear. If he simply opened fire, Axel would violently retaliate, no doubt resulting in the deaths of everyone within a few miles.’I’m alive.’ thought Killjoy. ‘Which means he wants something from me.’

  “What are you doing here, criminal?” Asked Killjoy, doing a fine job preventing his fear from leaking out in his voice.

  “I got some favors to ask.” Responded Axel, “I was hoping you would be willing to hear me out. Everyone else seems to go brain dead when I so much as breathe on them, but you… well I can tell you are made of tougher stuff.“

  Killjoy combed over his brain for information that could help him negotiate with the international war criminal, but found nothing. Information on Axel was somewhat easy to find, but the quality was absolute garbage. For one reason or another, Axel was an enemy of most of the richest men of the word, so they demonized him in all media articles. Simply by meeting the man in person, Killjoy could tell how many news articles parroted baseless claims. Axel did not smell like dead babies, and he seriously doubted he could suck out someone’s soul through their ears.

  “And what is it you want?” Killjoy said without lowering his pistol.

  Axel scratched his head. “What do I want? I think the simplest way to put this would be: Two skateboarders were hired to reinforce the mercenaries. I captured them, preventing them from actually joining the fight.--”

  ‘That's fantastic information’ thought Killjoy ‘Skateboarders are known for their disloyalty, they will sell out their employer at the drop of a hat’

  “--I want you to not investigate either of them” Finished Axel.

  Killjoy frowned. The investigators were completely unaware of any skateboarders at the moment. No witnesses had mentioned them yet. To fulfill Axel’s request, all Killjoy would have to do is pretend this conversation never happened.

  “I’ll do it on one condition.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Tell me exactly what happened here. It sounds like you were around for the duration of the fight.”

  Axel smiled. “I sure was, I was lucky enough to be tailing the mercenary group before they arrived.”

  He described the events of the night with great detail, focusing mainly on the accomplishments of Kevin and Annie. Through the whole explanation Luis continued beating piles of sand into submission with determination.

  “To be honest I’m kind of disappointed with Kevin’s performance, he really let his lady friend do all the heavy lifting. Then again Kevin was going all out from the very beginning, that is what I like to see. I got the feeling robo-girl was constantly holding herself back, if you can believe that.” Said Axel. “I think its fixable. I just need the right kind of training. They are all gems in the rough honestly. I have not been this excited for an up and coming generation in a while.”

  Killjoy considered how he could phrase that in the official report. Something like “Axel is excited for the future, please triple funding to the police department and military" might be underselling the events to come.

  “So in conclusion the belligerents are Kevin Curber, Brenna Barbariaus, Annie Heath, Oswin Garcia, Main Delgoah, and the leopard mercenary group.”

  “Yessir” responded Axel casually.

  Killjoy spoke clearly, so that there was no chance Axel misheard him. “I will now take them all into custody for questioning. You are fine with this.”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Its best if they learn how to deal with the police during minor incidents like this so they can handle the bureaucracy right when something more important happens.”

  “Minor incidents like this.” Killjoy slowly repeated. A section of roof fell onto an as of yet undetonated red barrel, causing an explosion towards the back of the ballroom. “Minor incidents…” He walked outside and observed the hundreds of destroyed vehicles and craters in the ground wrought from police conflict with the retreating mercenary group. “...like this.” Bodies by the hundreds were packed into ambulances like sardines in a can before being driven off to the nearest hospital. “Minor.”

  Axel put a sympathetic hand on the shoulder of Killjoy. “Anyhow I’m a busy man. So I’m gonna head out.” He strolled down the hill, flashing the peace sign to any cops that looked at him. “Have fun with the cleanup,” he yelled from down the hill.

  Killjoy buried his nose in his notepad, verifying all his notes were legible and fixing any spelling mistakes. Tomorrow he was going to have a hell of an interrogation.