The large room that had been handed down as my office was covered in paintings, and as I looked around the room, I was pleased to see that my desk was quite large. Laying on the desk was my lab coat and an envelope with very elegant writing on it. I set down the box I was carrying and picked up the envelope. My head started hurting as soon as I touched it, my vision blurred and I heard a voice, screaming, "That man in there is the son of those people! He'll kill you!" I shook my head and it went away. A sticky note caught my eye, it said, 'This is all you need to know on the guy you're looking for, if you have anymore questions give me a call, 319-555-2357, Sincerely, Apollo Drakonus.' I put down the note and opened the file, revealing a picture of a red hedgehog in a black racing outfit. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Angel Noirez, a friend of Rileon's. "Angel, you have airport connections right?" I asked, from the other line came, "I do…" I continued, "could you get me a flight to Phoenix, I need the tickets like yesterday," I said, He replied, "Alright go pack, I'll schedule your flight for an hour and a half, be at the airport in one hour."
I walked out of my office toward my new Pontiac G6, and saw a black Dodge Charger reflected in the window, and the driver was leaned up against it, smoking. I walked out and said, "still smoking, Rye?" He nodded with his eyes squinted, and leaned in the car to put his cigarette out. "Don't judge me dammit." he said, I laughed and replied, "At least you don't put it out on the sidewalk…" Riley's smoking habits had been around since he'd moved from California, he'd smoke a pack a day, then at the end of the day he'd go, "I'm quittin' right now, I'm done!" Then he'd be outside smoking at four in the morning. He rolled his eyes, gave me the finger, then got very sullen. "I heard you're goin' after the killer's sidekick… "He said, "Be careful how much you dig, Xad. The truth will scare the shit out of you…" I scowled, "What are you talking about, dude?" He put out his hand to shake mine, and I took it. Breaking off, he limped back to his car. He stopped as his hand balanced on the door, and asked, "Do you want me to pick you up from the airport when you get back?" I shook my head, "No, Aurlium is gonna pick me up." He nodded, "Alright, have fun." And ducked away into his car. He didn't seem so scary with his limp, considering he was gigantic in muscle. I watched as the car roared into life, and Rileon pushed down the pedal all the way, like he usually does, and sped off into the city.
About four hours later I was taking a cab down 44th street to stay with my cousins, who were involved with my old hospitals security unit. My oldest cousin used to be involved with Mi6, one of the best ever. They were watching the gang banger on the city security videos. Last I heard, he was working back out of Tucson, but made frequent trips to Scottsdale and Phoenix. He was the right hand man to the fucker who killed my parents. He apparently kept everything about his old boss in his car. The cab sped up to 50 in a 40 mph limit. He swung the turn onto McDonald, throwing me into the door. "Holy shit, dude, slow down on them turns." The cabbie turned around, "Shut up asshole," He snapped, "You wanna drive this car?" I yelled back, "Hell yeah!" The cabbie never said anything back. When we arrived, the cab stopped halfway to the driveway, I paid him and he literally sped off. I walked to the steps, still wondering why they bought a house on Camelback Mountain. The oldest cousin answered the door and gave me a hug. "Hey, Xadillimus! How've you been?" I smiled and set down my bag and my guitar case. "I'm doing all right. How are you guys?" My younger cousin walked around their huge aquarium, "We've been doing just fine, it's been too long since you've been here." She said. I nodded, starting the longest conversation about the events of my life in New York.
The next day I borrowed my cousins chopper, and flew to a construction site on 28th street and Indian School, and waited with my Dragunov on the top of the building. I laid on my stomach, clad in black jeans, a black shirt and my usual wristbands. Just for safety I wore some black glasses. My cousin had said I looked like I was going to kill someone. He'd gotten quiet really quick. I laughed as the heat of the metal made my perch mildly uncomfortable. My phone rang and my cousins voice came through, informing me on the whereabouts of him. He would be coming down this road at any minute. I heard the sound of his engine coming down, and clicked off the safety. I breathed in slowly and deeply, giving my adrenaline a kick in the ass. Everything slowed down, and the car sped down the road, almost past me. I peered into the scope and saw the spines, and through the adrenaline, fired the gun. "Shit…" I'd missed. Instead I hit the tire, which exploded, throwing the car into a spin. I got up and started running to get down to the street. I heard screeching, then screaming from the street. I ran into the chopper and switched it on. "Come ON!" I yelled. It wasn't going fast enough for me.
When I got to about street level I put the chopper in hover, and dropped down my ladder, sliding down and dropping on top of the car. The sidekick showed his gun as he whipped it out of his waistline, firing two slugs at me, barely missing. Pulling mine out as well, I dived behind the convertible, waiting for my chance to strike. Bullets pounded the car and flew through to my side, flying past me. I reached over the car, firing back and ducking as he put another clip my way, until, 'Fuckin' finally!' I hit him in the arm. He dropped the gun and ran towards me. I tried to fire more shots, but my gun ran dry. I looked up angrily, "Jesus Christ!!! REALLY!?" I jumped over the car at the same time he did, and collided with him, pushing my boots into his face. I dodged his shoe and watched as his nose began to bleed, and his eyes practically rolled in his head. He raised a backup piece to shoot me, but I grabbed the nose before he could squeeze off the shot and whipped it away from him. I reeled back and tossed my best punch at him, it knocked him out, but didn't kill him. I needed him dead. I took the gun that I'd taken from him, and shot him right in the forehead. Stuffing the gun into my holster, I searched the whole car and found the evidence in the trunk. Looking through the files I realized why Max Dalltonis was so scared the day we met. "You motherf--" That was when I heard the sirens, wailing together in a horrible crescendo. I bolted back up the ladder just as a cop car came to a skidding stop right up to the car. The cop jumped up the ladder and tried to grab my foot, but I kicked and he flew off, landing on the car with a crack and a loud groan. I rolled up the ladder and flicked the switches that would soon allow me to fly the chopper away. I flew back to the house on the mountain where my cousins were waving from the roof. Setting down the chopper was a bitch, but my cousin had been there to teach me some cool stuff.
Two days later I was back in New York, on the way to Riley's house. The screeching tires of my brand new Pontiac brought me into the driveway. Parking behind his Charger, I jogged up to the door and knocked. I saw the large orange figure behind the glass before he answered the door. And the huge gray object in his hand. The door swung open, I said, "Hey Riley, what's with the extra security-?" But I was cut off the huge clicking sound the gun made. He had the gun up to my face, so close in fact, I could see the winding design inside the barrel. My voice broke as I realized just how close his finger was to squeezing the trigger. "What's going on here Riley?" I asked. He waved the revolver, signaling me to go to the living room. He followed me and said, "Sit." When I came to the couch. He sat down in his La-Z Boy, with the huge gun still at the ready. "What did you find, Xad?" He asked. I swallowed nervously, and looked around to find Neena standing in the doorway to the kitchen, watching me with all the tension in the world. "He killed my parents, Riley… It was Max…" Riley nodded, "I know." he said. "You knew all along?" Riley leaned forward slightly, "What did I tell you? 'The truth will scare the shit out of you' I said that didn't I?"
His words sunk in, "You knew? I said, "You never told me?" I stood up and surprisingly he hung the gun down. He stood up to my height, "Because if I had told you, you never would have listened to why and what that man has done to turn his life around..." He begin to swing his gun around as he explained. "Max had an unbelievably horrid childhood. His mother tried to run him over when he was 4, but she missed, and drove into a pole. Instead of murder one, it was suicide. Max sat there just crying in the middle of the street. My father was on the force at that time. My dad brought Max back home where his dad, incredibly drunk, attempted to kill my father and his own son. Instead," He held up the huge revolver, "This is the exact gun that ended his dad's life, right in front of his eyes. He ran away from every foster home he was ever placed in. He killed his seventh foster member, and was taken in to this.. huge crime syndicate... they're still around, but Max quit them a long time ago. Anyway he killed every third person he met, he used to be the worst criminal that walked the streets..." He looked away and set the huge gun on the table. "The point is, I'm not gonna let you kill my best friend because he killed your parents 18 years ago. It's not gonna do anything but take away a friend of many people, an established and decorated doctor, and it will eat at you for-ever..." He looked back at me, not even looking back to the gun. He wasn't trying to threaten me anymore. But I knew, if I made the wrong decision, it would be my last. "I just need to know why..." I said. He holstered the gun and went for the door. "Let's go."