Darien sat there, looking at the inanimate body of his childhood friend, for what seemed like hours. It didn't seem real. Tyler was never supposed to die. Not the Amazing Tyler, who somehow managed to steal the keys to his parol officer's car when they were bored, or always found a way to make Darien laugh, no matter how upset he was.
Darien looked at the snake on his wrist with his now perfectly crimson eyes. Still only a fourth of the way full.
"I guess excess alcohol messes with the monitor." Darien said to no one and everyone. "Too bad." He stood up and walked to the door. 56 Manchurian Avenue. Time to play.
*************
"They say that revenge is the driving force of evil, with only common sense to restrain it. It's amazing what happens when the common sense vanishes, and the revenge is all that is present. As I quickly learned, pure instinct is an incredible driving force as well."
*************
With his sunglasses on, Darien walked out of his building and headed toward Manchurian. Despite his dangerous gait, all appeared to be normal, until Hobbes decided to visit.
"Fawkes," he called while trying to catch up. "Fawkes, would you wait a minute?"
Darien paused, and turned to face Hobbes. "What do you want, little man?"
Bobby was taken aback. "Little man? Might I remind you who you are talking to. Bobby Hobbes doesn't take well to being called 'little man.'"
"Oh well, he'd better get used to it. Now leave me alone. I got business to take care of."
"Business? You're on suspension. You shouldn't have any business unless we know about it."
Darien started to walk away again, but Hobbes grabbed his arm, causing him to whip back around. He moved so fast that the sunglasses slid down his nose just enough that Hobbes fully saw his eyes. Those red globes that belonged to a demon, not his partner.
"How could you get so far, Fawkes? You weren't supposed to use the quicksilver."
Darien ripped his arm from Hobbes grasp and punched him with the same fist. As Robert fell to the ground, Darien looked down at him. "Like I said, leave me alone." With that, he started off again, walking a little faster than before.
On the pavement, Hobbes reached for his cell phone and dialed the Fish and Game number. "Connect me with the Keeper."
*************
56 Manchurian. A huge building with lots of guards.
"What's a guy to do?" Darien smiled as he let the chilling quicksilver glide over his body. Screw the counteragent, this was going to be fun.
He entered the building unseen and headed toward the elevator. The one other person in the elevator never noticed him, not even when the lift unexplainably stopped on the tenth floor. Darien headed toward 10L, sunglasses now removed and intent shining in his solid red eyes.
Calmly, he knocked on the door. This apartment, or rather, this penthouse, looked as though it should be owned by Bruce Wayne, not some low-key demonic crime boss. Everything about it looked clean. Spotless windows, white carpeting outside, even the door was white and unmarked by fingerprints.
The butler answered the door. Figures, Darien thought. Leave it to Jeebes to do all the dirty work.
"May I help--" Then, the butler got a good look at the man in front of him.
*************
"What do you mean, there was another guy?" Galatea was more than upset. "I send you to take care of a simple security leak, and now there's another guy that knows who I am and saw your faces."
Lorus looked at Mr. Stephan Galatea. This guy was half his size, yet he had a aura around him that just screamed "Fear me." Despite the fact that Lorus could break Galatea in half, the big man just stood in fear, awaiting his punishment.
"You had better find this guy. Otherwise--"
"Excuse me, sir." The butler walked in, stiff as a board. "I think we have a problem."
"What is it, Fredrick?"
Suddenly, an unseen force picked up Fredrick and threw him across the room. Galatea and Lorus watched as Darien suddenly appeared before them.
"That's the guy!" Lorus cried.
"Ding ding," Darien started walking toward Galatea. "Give the man a prize. So, you're the son-of-a-bitch who ordered my friend to die."
The boss pointed at Darien. "Get him," he said nonchalantly to Lorus. And the big man went after Fawkes.
Despite Lorus' size advantage, the fact that Darien was working off of pure animalistic instinct made him the better fighter. For every punch that Lorus could throw, Darien dodged and hit with his own. Finally, Fawkes threw one massive jab to Lorus' stomach. The force of the hit caused him to stumble backwards, and Darien watched as the giant man crashed through the window and fell ten floors to the street below. Darien walked to the window to see the broken body below.
"Who the hell are you?" Galatea asked while slowly pulling a gun from under his own jacket.
Darien did not answer. Instead, he dislodges a piece of broken glass from the window and turned to face Galatea. There he stood, face to barrel with a .35 Smith and Wesson. His shoulders hunched slightly, so despite his height, he looked like a crazed animal.
"Answer me!"
Fawkes raised his gaze so that he stared into Stephan's eyes. For the first time, Galatea really saw his opponent. Those blood red eyes bore into him, actually giving him the creeps.
"What are you gonna do?" Darien asked, his voice calm and collected. Then, without warning, he swung his arm around, slashing Galatea's hand and causing him to drop the gun. The unarmed man now gripped his hand tightly and tried to run away. However, the quicksilver madness took full hold, and Galatea never made it to the door.
Darien pounced. Holding the glass shard in his hand, he lept onto Galatea's back, knocking him down, and began pummeling his victim. Stephan tried to free himself, but his stuggling had no effect. Finally, Darien got bored of beating the crap out of him. He raised the glass shard high above his head, preparing to slam it down between Galatea's vertebrae.
And was stopped by a needle into his neck. The last thing he saw before he passed out was the concerned faces of Claire and Hobbes.
*************
Darien awoke in the lab, surrounded by familiar faces. However, the previous look of concern had been replaced by disappointment.
"I hope you're happy," the Keeper said to him. "Your little drinking party completely upset to monitor. I had to reconfigure the entire thing so that alcohol would not block the concentration readings."
Darien looked over at Hobbes. Bobby now had a bruise on his lower jaw, but it was nothing to be upset about. Or so Darien thought.
"The moment you get up," Bobby started. "You're going down. I am taking you down, my friend, 'cause Bobby Hobbes doesn't take that from nobody."
"What happened to Tyler?" Darien was not listening to Hobbes. "Did you--"
"We're taking care of it." Ebert said from the doorway. "Even in your madness state, you helped the Agency's reputation by hunting down this know criminal, and so we managed to find it in the budget to give your friend a descent burial."
"How'd you do that?" Hobbes asked.
"Sorry, Hobbes. No vacation for you this year." The Official chimed in.
*************
Three weeks later, Darien was finally able to visit Tyler's grave. He was doing that a lot lately, visiting graves.
"I'm sorry," he said to the tombstone. "I should have done something better. I just don't know what."
Darien looked up from the grave and notice that it was not too far from where his brother was buried. Next stop, he thought. He took one last look at the grave marker: "Tyler Bardeaux. 1966-2000. The End of An Era."
"Goodbye, man. Remember your time." With that, Darien got up and walked away.
*************
"It is difficult to fight against anger, for man will buy revenge with his soul. A heavy price, but one that some will freely give. Me? I went bankrupt with this sale, for I nearly lost it all and gained nothing back but pain. Guess that's what happens when you overdraw from the bank of life."
Darien looked at the snake on his wrist with his now perfectly crimson eyes. Still only a fourth of the way full.
"I guess excess alcohol messes with the monitor." Darien said to no one and everyone. "Too bad." He stood up and walked to the door. 56 Manchurian Avenue. Time to play.
*************
"They say that revenge is the driving force of evil, with only common sense to restrain it. It's amazing what happens when the common sense vanishes, and the revenge is all that is present. As I quickly learned, pure instinct is an incredible driving force as well."
*************
With his sunglasses on, Darien walked out of his building and headed toward Manchurian. Despite his dangerous gait, all appeared to be normal, until Hobbes decided to visit.
"Fawkes," he called while trying to catch up. "Fawkes, would you wait a minute?"
Darien paused, and turned to face Hobbes. "What do you want, little man?"
Bobby was taken aback. "Little man? Might I remind you who you are talking to. Bobby Hobbes doesn't take well to being called 'little man.'"
"Oh well, he'd better get used to it. Now leave me alone. I got business to take care of."
"Business? You're on suspension. You shouldn't have any business unless we know about it."
Darien started to walk away again, but Hobbes grabbed his arm, causing him to whip back around. He moved so fast that the sunglasses slid down his nose just enough that Hobbes fully saw his eyes. Those red globes that belonged to a demon, not his partner.
"How could you get so far, Fawkes? You weren't supposed to use the quicksilver."
Darien ripped his arm from Hobbes grasp and punched him with the same fist. As Robert fell to the ground, Darien looked down at him. "Like I said, leave me alone." With that, he started off again, walking a little faster than before.
On the pavement, Hobbes reached for his cell phone and dialed the Fish and Game number. "Connect me with the Keeper."
*************
56 Manchurian. A huge building with lots of guards.
"What's a guy to do?" Darien smiled as he let the chilling quicksilver glide over his body. Screw the counteragent, this was going to be fun.
He entered the building unseen and headed toward the elevator. The one other person in the elevator never noticed him, not even when the lift unexplainably stopped on the tenth floor. Darien headed toward 10L, sunglasses now removed and intent shining in his solid red eyes.
Calmly, he knocked on the door. This apartment, or rather, this penthouse, looked as though it should be owned by Bruce Wayne, not some low-key demonic crime boss. Everything about it looked clean. Spotless windows, white carpeting outside, even the door was white and unmarked by fingerprints.
The butler answered the door. Figures, Darien thought. Leave it to Jeebes to do all the dirty work.
"May I help--" Then, the butler got a good look at the man in front of him.
*************
"What do you mean, there was another guy?" Galatea was more than upset. "I send you to take care of a simple security leak, and now there's another guy that knows who I am and saw your faces."
Lorus looked at Mr. Stephan Galatea. This guy was half his size, yet he had a aura around him that just screamed "Fear me." Despite the fact that Lorus could break Galatea in half, the big man just stood in fear, awaiting his punishment.
"You had better find this guy. Otherwise--"
"Excuse me, sir." The butler walked in, stiff as a board. "I think we have a problem."
"What is it, Fredrick?"
Suddenly, an unseen force picked up Fredrick and threw him across the room. Galatea and Lorus watched as Darien suddenly appeared before them.
"That's the guy!" Lorus cried.
"Ding ding," Darien started walking toward Galatea. "Give the man a prize. So, you're the son-of-a-bitch who ordered my friend to die."
The boss pointed at Darien. "Get him," he said nonchalantly to Lorus. And the big man went after Fawkes.
Despite Lorus' size advantage, the fact that Darien was working off of pure animalistic instinct made him the better fighter. For every punch that Lorus could throw, Darien dodged and hit with his own. Finally, Fawkes threw one massive jab to Lorus' stomach. The force of the hit caused him to stumble backwards, and Darien watched as the giant man crashed through the window and fell ten floors to the street below. Darien walked to the window to see the broken body below.
"Who the hell are you?" Galatea asked while slowly pulling a gun from under his own jacket.
Darien did not answer. Instead, he dislodges a piece of broken glass from the window and turned to face Galatea. There he stood, face to barrel with a .35 Smith and Wesson. His shoulders hunched slightly, so despite his height, he looked like a crazed animal.
"Answer me!"
Fawkes raised his gaze so that he stared into Stephan's eyes. For the first time, Galatea really saw his opponent. Those blood red eyes bore into him, actually giving him the creeps.
"What are you gonna do?" Darien asked, his voice calm and collected. Then, without warning, he swung his arm around, slashing Galatea's hand and causing him to drop the gun. The unarmed man now gripped his hand tightly and tried to run away. However, the quicksilver madness took full hold, and Galatea never made it to the door.
Darien pounced. Holding the glass shard in his hand, he lept onto Galatea's back, knocking him down, and began pummeling his victim. Stephan tried to free himself, but his stuggling had no effect. Finally, Darien got bored of beating the crap out of him. He raised the glass shard high above his head, preparing to slam it down between Galatea's vertebrae.
And was stopped by a needle into his neck. The last thing he saw before he passed out was the concerned faces of Claire and Hobbes.
*************
Darien awoke in the lab, surrounded by familiar faces. However, the previous look of concern had been replaced by disappointment.
"I hope you're happy," the Keeper said to him. "Your little drinking party completely upset to monitor. I had to reconfigure the entire thing so that alcohol would not block the concentration readings."
Darien looked over at Hobbes. Bobby now had a bruise on his lower jaw, but it was nothing to be upset about. Or so Darien thought.
"The moment you get up," Bobby started. "You're going down. I am taking you down, my friend, 'cause Bobby Hobbes doesn't take that from nobody."
"What happened to Tyler?" Darien was not listening to Hobbes. "Did you--"
"We're taking care of it." Ebert said from the doorway. "Even in your madness state, you helped the Agency's reputation by hunting down this know criminal, and so we managed to find it in the budget to give your friend a descent burial."
"How'd you do that?" Hobbes asked.
"Sorry, Hobbes. No vacation for you this year." The Official chimed in.
*************
Three weeks later, Darien was finally able to visit Tyler's grave. He was doing that a lot lately, visiting graves.
"I'm sorry," he said to the tombstone. "I should have done something better. I just don't know what."
Darien looked up from the grave and notice that it was not too far from where his brother was buried. Next stop, he thought. He took one last look at the grave marker: "Tyler Bardeaux. 1966-2000. The End of An Era."
"Goodbye, man. Remember your time." With that, Darien got up and walked away.
*************
"It is difficult to fight against anger, for man will buy revenge with his soul. A heavy price, but one that some will freely give. Me? I went bankrupt with this sale, for I nearly lost it all and gained nothing back but pain. Guess that's what happens when you overdraw from the bank of life."
