Can words express how sorry I am? No. Can you readers forgive me? I'm not sure... But this chapter has been written with so much love and affection towards you all that I sincerely hope that I will be forgiven.
Please enjoy, and I'm really sorry for being late!
Carnage Paradox.
Chapter Eight: "It's only the beginning."
Splendid remained still, his eyes never leaving the war-vet's angry stare. What... Had just happened? A minute ago, they were being chased by a crazy, blind lunatic with a threatening AK-47, and in a second they found him on the ground, motionless... With his brains splattered everywhere.
Slowly, the hero turned to look at the quivering twin hiding behind his legs, his eyes wide with terror and his mouth completely agape. He should've known that this was all Lifty and Shifty's fault, it was all such a complicated situation.
But... he did save them, in a way, so it was kinda' like they were indebted to him.
'Damn... Guess I better man up now, eh?' Splendid thought with a sigh threatening to escape his lips, no harm was about to be done, he just had to say a warm 'thank you!' and a 'we'll be on our way now!' to avoid some sort of fight with the already very macho war-vet, and... Damn he really didn't stand a chance, did he?
Plus, Nutty was somewhere up in the trees...
"Um..." Splendid spoke, then coughed, then stared at the blind guy's corpse... "Phew? That was close..." he said with a nervous chuckle, "thanks for helping us out! Um, we'll be... on our way now."
"Hold it," Flippy interrupted the hero, who had turned halfway in an attempt to leave. Splendid cursed mentally and turned with a small smile, trying to ignore the fact that Lifty had been bruising his leg further by holding it tightly.
"Yes?" he chirped, his smile looking disturbingly friendly. Flippy ignored that though, and simply pointed at the young teen who cowered behind him.
"Hand the brat over," he said firmly, his eyes not leaving both of their forms. Splendid hadn't budged, instead; he blinked once... Twice... Then stared at the pitiful lad at his feet as if he had completely forgotten of his existence (which wasn't the case) and turned slowly to stare yet again at the war-vet.
"What for?" he spoke with a look of exaggerated innocence, Splendid had never been too keen or mischievous, but he still held a few tricks up his sleeves.
Too bad Flippy wasn't in the mood.
"I have some matters to settle with him and his brother; they both owe me a great deal," he said calmly; Lifty squirmed and tried to somehow disappear behind the tall hero, until a sudden thought came to his mind.
Just like that, the twin poked his nose out and whispered with a trembling voice, "M-My brother... What have you done to him?!"
Flippy leaned closer and gave him the ear, "Huh? What was that? I didn't hear you."
Lifty bit his lip, "Shifty... My twin, is he alive?!"
"Oh... Well, why don't you come and see for yourself, hm?" he mused with a smile and extended a hand, "I'll take you to him, what do you say?"
'This looks so incredibly suspicious that I can't help but feel scared...' Splendid thought in amazement, 'not once in my life did I see someone appear openly creepy.'
The hero had sincerely hoped that Lifty wouldn't take the bait, no matter how shitty he appeared to be; the lad was nothing but a mere teenager who still had a long way ahead until adulthood. He hated to admit, but seeing this one little guy die so easily would hurt him pretty bad.
Splendid couldn't help but be a softie.
"What if he doesn't want to?" The blue-haired hero crossed his arms, looking determined to block Flippy's view of the teen. "Are you going to force him? Huh?"
The taller man seemed to grow impatient as he took a few steps closer, "this doesn't concern you, Splendid... Move."
Both youngsters backed away at that, and Splendid took the opportunity to smack Lifty on the head while whispering urgently, "What the hell did you guys do?!"
"Nothing!" Lifty protested, until both his eyes looked at the ground in a nervous motion, "... serious..."
'OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!'
"If you were wandering in the forest, then surely; you must've been expecting to cross paths with him!"
"Not really, I was just trying to look for my bro! And... Perhaps... Get him out unnoticed."
"Get him out?" Splendid said with a frown, "What? He held him captive?"
"Yeah, and he hurt him real bad too!" Lifty shoved a hand within his pocket, squeezing the small piece of paper Flippy yearned to have. "I'm going to be honest with you, there's something we have that... Well... We weren't supposed to have, b-but!" He immediately interrupted Splendid's look of mild terror, "It's precious to us... It might help us win the game! If we hand it over to this guy... God knows what'll happen..."
"Oo...Kay..." The hero said in concentration, "So you mean to say that you have something you clearly shouldn't have, which is also something useful to stay alive, but this guy wants it, and he held your brother hostage (after injuring him badly) in hopes to lure you towards him like the idiot you are, so he could get that precious forbidden thing from you? Is that it?"
Lifty nodded slowly.
Splendid shook his head while grimacing, "Both of you are screwed, honestly..."
"H-Hey! Come on now!" The teen grabbed the hero by the shoulder, "aren't you a (self-proclaimed) hero?! You're supposed to help us!"
"Not when you guys are at fault! Hey, ever heard of fair play?" Splendid knocked the younger boy on the forehead, "Ever heard of... Oh gee, I don't know... Staying out of trouble?! This is a survival game, for goodness sake! Don't expect to steal something of extreme value then run away all merry and cheery without a scratch!"
Flippy cleared his throat loudly, gaining the attention of both the boys. He eyed them warily whilst saying; "Are both of you done? I'd like to get what I came for."
The hero gave him a forced smile while mouthing, 'just a sec' before turning to glare at Lifty.
"... Give it back, Lifty." Splendid said firmly.
"Wha-"
"Give. It. Back," he spoke with persistence with his palm open, expecting to receive the item. Their lives weren't worth the risk, whatever that thing was... Even if it was helpful in various ways, there was no point in keeping it when the whole campers were running after it.
Lifty tightened his hold on the steel pipe, almost as if he readied himself to simply hit Splendid on the head with it and run away. But that option in itself wasn't a good idea... Flippy would chase after him immediately, and surely catch him to do... The worst of things. Th first round had only started, and yet he found too many complications already.
In the end, Splendid was right... He had to hand the paper over; it was bound to give him nothing but trouble anyway.
With a sigh, Lifty took from his pocket the paper and gave it to the hero, who eyed the item with such huge confusion that it nearly made the teen laugh out loud.
"That's... What's this..?" He asked with childish curiosity.
"That's what the massive bag of muscles over there is looking for," he grumbled and turned to avoid eye contact, "just give it to him, so we could get this over with and hopefully find my brother alive."
The hero furrowed his brows, "you're not kidding me, right?"
"No, I can't joke around when my brother's life is on the line."
There was a silent moment of thought before Splendid concluded that Lifty was telling the truth. No matter how sneaky the both of them had appeared in the beginning, they still shared a brotherly bond... One that the hero knew far too well.
Splendid pursed his lips and turned to stare at the now impatient war-vet, his eyes focused on the small piece of paper he had in hand. Judging by the sudden interest, the blue-haired boy understood that it was truly what Flippy wanted.
Slowly, he approached the taller (and much stronger) man whilst firmly holding the paper, determined to get it over with. Flippy grinned as he extended his hand, hoping the hero would take a hint and finally give the precious item over. As soon as he was at arm's length though, Splendid hid the paper behind his back and spoke.
"Wait..." He said suddenly, Flippy rolled his eyes and sighed.
"What now?" he muttered in annoyance. Splendid remained unfazed at this rude act, and simply stated the restriction.
"We won't hand it over unless you take us to Shifty." He said seriously, not averting his eyes away. Flippy had been so close to actually twist the annoying brat's neck! ... But remembered that he was Flaky's friend... Though it wasn't like he cared, it seemed simply foolish to just kill him like that, he needed to continue the act just for a while longer, THEN he'll have his delicious round of fun.
It didn't stop him from teasing, though.
"Oh?" the war-vet smiled and leaned closer to whisper near the hero's ear, "Tell me, what stops me from simply blowing your small little brains out and steal the paper, hmm?"
"Uhhh..." Splendid tried his hardest not to feel intimidated, 'damn, I have nothing to retort with!'
Needless to say, the round wasn't going to take forever and Flippy pretty much felt triumphant, so there wasn't much to do anymore. He straightened himself and motioned with his chin for both of them to move.
"It's fine... Just move along, I'll take you to your brother." He muttered and went on his way. Both young men stared at each other, like it was the most unusual change of fate ever.
"... Huh..." The hero snorted, "Seems like... We actually did it, yeah?"
"Barely!" Lifty hissed in horror, "What if he takes us to a small, dark alley and just skins us alive there?!" He thought with wide eyes. Splendid rolled his own and started following the war-vet, with Lifty walking warily behind.
"Okay, first off... This is a summer camp, there are no dark alleys." He spoke with a confident tone, "And second! If he wanted to skin us alive (or just kill us) he would've done it along with that AK-47 bitch."
"Y-You can never know..." the dark-green haired teen whispered while looking at Flippy's broad and strong back, "he could be unconsciously taking us to our doom, like in the movies... He tells us he'll take us to a member of our family, then once we reach the house... everyone's already dead!" He bit his lip and did a choking motion with both his hands, "Just like that, he'd take the moment of shock as an opportunity to kill us along with the whole bunch!"
"What the..." Splendid held himself from laughing, "That's the dumbest thing—"
"We're in a survival game, you blue-haired retard," Lifty reminded him, "everything's possible, as long as it directly leads us towards death."
...Okay, perhaps he was right. He had honestly never thought of the possibility that... Well... That Flippy was lying and simply trying to kill them in a much more sheltered and quiet area, but in the very least they were both armed! ... With melee weapons... And Flippy had a gun, and possibly other firearms... Oh Jesus...
"We need a plan!" Lifty suddenly declared for Splendid to hear only, the hero raised an eyebrow at that but allowed the younger boy to keep talking, "Something that'll help us escape safely if anything goes wrong!"
"...Like?" Splendid began. Lifty looked around in thought... Then suddenly put his fist on the palm of his hand.
"We could bash him on the head with my steel pipe!" He said, "Then, once he faints, we'll use the opportunity to run for our damn lives!"
Splendid face-palmed and whispered 'we're so dead' under his breath repeatedly.
God help him.
The canteen's clock had been ticking far too slowly for Flaky's taste, the gunshots she had heard threatened to get closer and closer by the second, and it only made her even more worried than she already was.
It had (unfortunately) taken her quite a while to find a suitable bucket downstairs, the whole cellar had been akin to a maze and there were far too many doors for her taste. During her search she had been more than mortified to hear Shifty's screams of pain echo in the dark, humid area, making her wonder if the wound was truly that deep. Of course, she had known that Flippy had been cleaning it for the young teen (which was extremely kind of him) but to think that it'd be that painful...?
She shook her head and continued wiping the sweat off of Shifty's forehead. Coming upstairs only but to find him unconscious had been... A surprise, actually. The red-head had settled with that fact though, even if Flippy had gone to heaven-knows-where.
The wound on Shifty's leg had been bandaged neatly and carefully, she noticed how tight it had been tended to and it made her wonder exactly how much blood he lost. Well, judging by the large pool under his legs, she figured it was far more than intended but...
"Oh god..." She whispered and continued wiping the sweat off of his face, "I'm so sorry y-you had t-to go through all of this... What kind of mess have we g-gotten ourselves into?" the red-head thought in sorrow. All she wanted was to have fun, make friends, and possibly cure her social trauma. None of what was happening was worth it... None of it!
Flaky was about to refill the bucket with clean water until she heard footsteps coming towards the canteen. In a state of panic, the red-haired girl dashed towards the nearby table and grabbed a gun Flippy had left for her. She held the firearm with shaking hands and looked at the door with intense eyes; it could be Flippy for all she knew... But the steps were numerous so it was probably a group... A friendly group, if she was lucky.
Flaky gulped and squeezed the gun tightly, her finger shaking on the trigger. The steps got closer and she still didn't feel mentally prepared for... Well... Facing anybody.
'Please be it Flippy, please be it Flippy, please be it Flippy...' She continuously thought as the doorknob twisted only but to reveal-
Warm green eyes met with dark grey orbs and Flaky instantly allowed a relieved sigh escape her lips. The war-vet smiled and gave her a small wave, "My bad... Did I make you wait long?" he said with a chuckle. Flaky felt her bottom lip quiver, but smiled anyway and shook her hand.
"N-No, I was just... W-Worried..." She stuttered shyly and lowered the gun, which Flippy immediately noticed. He had felt bad for going out without letting her know, but the sounds of rapid fire were too alarming to be ignored, whatever threat was out there... He had to face it, and protect the one he held dear to.
Besides, he did the right thing; and he was frankly happy that she attempted to use a gun, she needed to use one sooner or later anyway.
He was about to walk towards her and pat her on the head until something strange collided with his back, followed by an 'oof!' of pain.
"Geez, try not to stop so suddenly!" The hero whined and glared at his back, hating the way the muscles on the war-vet's back threatened him by flexing... Ninety nine per-cent of the time...
Flippy sighed and side-stepped inside to allow said hero access, he looked around; waiting to find a series of corpses only but to find a confused, yet very happy red-head.
Both their eyes widened.
Flaky opened her mouth slightly, only barely spelling Splendid's name until said hero dashed towards her and hugged her so tightly that she barely managed to breathe.
"Flakes!" He spoke her nickname with so much joy that she couldn't help but smile too, despite nearly getting choked to death, "You're okay! You're alive! You're doing good!" He kept saying as if to reassure himself. Flaky patted him on the back repeatedly, as if to both console him and tell him to move, for she was pretty sure that her face went blue...
Splendid seemed to understand and so he let go, taking in the time to look at her face. He looked at both her cheeks, neck, and turned around to inspect her body for any potential bruises, but found none. He sighed in relief, "I'm so glad you're not hurt! Me and Nutt-case were worried about you."
"I know, and I-I'm sorry for making y-you both s-so worried..." she said, allowing the hero to hold both of her hands in a brotherly motion. He grinned boyishly and she smiled in return, both unaware of the war-vet's sharp eyes on them.
Flaky then suddenly noticed the amount of scratches and bruises on the hero himself and gasped, making the tall boy raise both of his eyebrows in alarm.
"Wh-what?!" He suddenly said, looking at his very own body as if a hole he hadn't been aware of was there.
The red-head pursed her lips, "You're full of b-bruises..." she whispered in mild-fright at his muddy and bloodied state, "Wh-what happened to you?"
"Oh..." He smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, "Well, you see um..."
Flippy looked at the hero, who was about to tell her of his encounter with the blind man. He watched as Flaky's teary eyes widened at each and every phrase Splendid told her, as if the story in itself had been terrifying. Though he couldn't deny... A blind man with a firearm was certainly a rare sight, he still didn't think it was something to be all worked up for. Besides, the hero hadn't been really that injured anyway.
While crossing his arms, the war-vet looked at Lifty, who was already shaking his brother in hopes to wake him.
"He's unconscious... Won't wake up after a while..." He spoke with a bored tone, Lifty looked up and glared at him.
"What did you do to him?"
Flippy put his palm near his heart in fake hurt, "Why... I only cleaned his wound! How could you assume I would've done anything to actually harm him?"
"You're the one who shot him in the first place!" He nearly roared and Flippy couldn't help but look at him in annoyance.
"I did it because he was about to hurt her," he pointed with his thumb towards Flaky, who was still in a heated conversation with Splendid. Lifty looked at the red-head with both confusion and irritation, as if he didn't understand what was the big deal. That girl... Was she like... Precious to him? To a monster like him?! So much that he'd hurt Shifty because of-
Ahh, what the heck.
"I don't care anymore..." Lifty said with disgust as he tried untying Shifty, "I'm going to take him, we better be together before the next round."
Flippy looked at them for a mere five seconds before walking towards the talking duo, interrupting the two. He cleared his throat and tried not to appear too hostile near Flaky as he spoke;
"I think it's about time you give it to me, eh?" he gestured towards Shifty and Lifty, "as promised, he's fine."
"Oh..." Splendid said dumbly and took the piece of paper, which had just a bit of his blood in it. After wiping some of the stains clean, he gave it to the war-vet with a small smile of appreciation, "Here, sorry for dirtying it."
Flippy waved it off and opened the piece of paper, his mouth instantly curving into a... Smile... Not a smirk, a smile, he was near Flaky, no stupid mistakes.
Splendid noticed him smile and nearly shuddered, somehow it still felt creepy to see him so...
Nevermind.
He looked at the paper for a good minute before tucking it in his breast pocket, seemingly looking normal. He then walked out of ear sight while motioning them to continue their conversation, like he had never interrupted them in the first place.
Splendid felt a cold chill run down his spine and asked Flaky quietly, "How does he treat you?"
"H-Huh?" Flaky had been put off-guard with that question, "Just f-fine, why?"
"I don't know, he looks really... How should I put it...?" He said with a frown whilst looking towards the war-vet's direction, who was sitting quietly while cleaning his knives, "dangerous... Hostile... Barbaric... Beastly..."
"Woah!" Flaky chuckled, "Flippy isn't like that! He's th-the complete opposite!"
"I don't know, Flakes..." He whispered and tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear, "my sixth sense is telling me that this guy's no good... So all I'm saying is that you should be careful around him, he might be protecting you now, but he'll surely change for the worst later on, believe me."
Flaky gave him a small, reassuring smile; "I... I know we only met not so long ago, but... I have faith in him, somehow I..." She looked away for a moment, thinking that it might be best not talk but... She needed to tell somebody.
"What is it, Flaky?" Splendid looked concerned, she shrugged and smiled at him again.
"I feel like I've known him for a long, long time..." she spoke slowly, like she was truly remembering something. Splendid's brows furrowed and he tilted his head in confusion.
"You knew this guy?"
"I'm not sure... Maybe? I just feel like we've known each other."
"Huh..." the hero scratched his chin and shrugged, "Alright then, if that's the case then I guess it's about time I leave."
"Wha... Wait! Aren't you going to stay with us?" She said in small panic, Splendid shook his head with a grin.
"Nah! There's a small squirrel waiting for me somewhere, and he's feeling pretty sick! I've got to take care of him," he said while looking outside, "In fact... He's probably calling me names right now... Anyway, talk to you soon!" He waved and was about to dash outside, but stopped to throw Flippy a small, warning look.
The war-vet looked away from his weapons to answer that look with a much, much fiercer stare that nearly petrified him. The hero hadn't flinched, but settled with sticking his tongue out like a small grumpy child before running away.
Flippy tsked and continued cleaning his weapons, ignoring Lifty's groans of effort as he tried holding his brother piggy-back style. Flaky immediately ran towards the two and offered for help, to which the frailer twin refused.
"It's fine, we'll be heading out now." He muttered and glared at Flippy, who rolled his eyes; seemingly tired of all those guys glaring at him for weird reasons.
As the twins headed out, Flaky approached her friend and sat next to him, waiting for what comes next. He raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't say a thing, allowing them to sit in comfortable silence. She fidgeted every once in a while, like she wanted to say something, but had second thoughts.
Flippy wrinkled his nose and spoke, "what is it, Flaky?" he asked warmly, so as to not startle her. The red-head twirled her thumbs and thought for a minute or two before finally talking.
"Um, a-are we going to... Well... Remain a d-duo for the entire g-game?"
He stopped cleaning his firearms suddenly to look at her; she pouted and avoided eye-contact whilst still talking.
"I-I mean...! There could be others wh-who don't play, and who p-probably need help, s-so I was th-thinking if it m-might be possible to look f-for those people and—"
"And let them join us?" he said with a smile, she nodded reluctantly with expecting eyes. Flippy pursed his lips and looked outside the window before sighing. She appeared to be confused, but god... Was she so incredibly naive, how was such a sheltered girl capable of surviving?
"Flaky," he said suddenly, with a tone so firm that she nearly jumped, "What are we in right now?" he asked calmly. She fidgeted some more and answered;
"In a... Survival game..." She whispered.
He nodded, "what did Lumpy say yesterday night?"
She looked down, "It's... Kill or be killed..."
He nodded again, then turned to look at her, "How many are we...?" He spoke softly.
"...Dozens..."
"And do you think they wouldn't play? That they'll somehow cope with us against this game?" the war-vet said, she bit her lip and tried to scoot away, but he reached out to caress her cheek, his hands large and calloused, "Flaky, this isn't something all of us can escape from; this game could only have one winner..." he paused and brushed his thumb right under her eye to wipe a tear, "... And I'll make sure that winner is you."
Flaky had remained momentarily shocked at that sudden confession, but Flippy made sure that she wouldn't ask anything unnecessary for the moment. So he smiled and stood up, making his way towards the door while declaring that it was grand time for him to stand watch.
The red-head touched her cheek, still feeling the lingering warmth of his hand on it.
His hands had felt safe, yet somehow dangerous... For she had smelled the smallest of scents that reminded her of blood.
'But I still trust you, Flippy...' She thought while looking at his strong back, 'I always will...'
Somewhere nearby, Lifty continued to piggy-back Shifty towards a safer area. He had been downright furious at the pale state his brother was in, but remained silent regardless. There had been no point into fighting Flippy, for he was much stronger than both of them combined. Losing that map meant losing a chance in winning, but he didn't care.
All that mattered was their safety, and their precious lives.
As the minutes went by, Lifty felt Shifty's eyes flutter open slowly. He smiled and slowly shook him, "Hey! Bro? Bro! Can you hear me?"
Shifty groaned in displeasure and furrowed his brows, his eyes half-lid, "U...Um... Lifty...?" He whispered his name, looking every bit tired and weak. Lifty nodded eagerly.
"Yeah! It's me! How are you feeling?"
When Lifty's eager and joyful voice finally reached the other twin's senses, panic ensued.
"Y-YOU IDIOT! LET ME GO!" He shouted suddenly while trying to jump away from him, but felt suddenly dizzy real quick. Lifty looked at his brother with both worried and confused eyes, as if said twin was hallucinating.
"C-Calm down, Shifty! What's gotten into you?!"
"Shut up! Leave me be and run! RUN NOW!" He yelled, startling him.
Lifty remained dumbfounded until he heard a weird, ticking robotic noise emitting from Shifty's wounded thigh. Upon laying his eyes on it, he noticed a small, red light flashing right in the middle of the wound, under the bandages.
Before he knew exactly what it was, the sound quickened along with the light...
And along went with their lives as they both blew into shreds.
Somewhere, a certain war-vet smiled in triumph.
'A problem solved... Dozens to go...' He thought in wicked amusement as he awaited for the round to end.
Everything was going well.
To Be Continued.
Chapter late, chapter done. Reviews come! (Sorry, review whenever you want...) I apologize for taking so long to update! I haven't forgotten this story, honest! It's just that with school and studies kicking in, I can't help but be busy. I promise though, I'll finish this story, no matter what the cost!
I hope this chapter was to your licking, I'm sorry for the TYPOS/Mistakes you encounter, I'll be sure to edit them soon when I have the time. Take care, all of you!