When Dogen felt he was in trouble, it was like ice cubes dripping down his back. It seeped into his skin and chilled him to the very bone. Excuses were on the tip of his tongue, but like a case of frostbite, he wasn't able to defend himself.

What he could do was gaze up at Mirtala and Bobby. Mirtala had charged from her seat and pounced next to him. She clutched his armrest and leaned forward, her pupils so wide and dark he could have fallen in them. Bobby had swaggered next to her, crossing his arms and glaring at him. He wore his familiar rage like a priceless porcelain mask. Although Dogen knew it well, he still tried suppressing a tremble under the combined weight of their stares.

"So," Mirtala drawled, her bells jingling as she tightly cocked her head, "what brings you two around here?"

Dogen managed a weary grin. "Oh, you know. Watching a movie."

"Watching a movie?" Mirtala slowly tapped her chin. "Well, that would require looking at the screen instead of looking at me the whole time, right?"

Lost for words, Dogen let his mouth open and close. He searched for anything to say, his mind blitzing with responses. But nothing sounded proper, and he finished the rest of his water in awkward silence.

Bobby unleashed frustration, bellowing, "Dogen, if I don't get a goddamn answer in the next five seconds-!"

Mirtala raised her finger. "Let me handle this, Bob-o, because I'm more than certain where this is going."

Dogen was surprised Bobby accepted her request, even if he was disgruntled. He would have preferred smothering Bobby with excuses than having to peer into Mirtala's eyes that seemed all-knowing and all-consuming. He tightened his grip on the plastic bottle, crinkling it between his short digits, and he made every effort to avoid her leer.

Mirtala disallowed his retreat. She shot her long leg over him and effortlessly hopped. She plopped into Raz' chair, pinning Dogen between a rock and a hard place. Bobby was the rock, and Mirtala was the hard place, who draped her fingers around his sleeve and pinched the fabric.

Dogen paled. "Um, just so you know, this was not my idea."

"Oh, exactly. You would never stoop this low, Dogen." Mirtala giggled, but there was a glint in her eyes that frightened him more than the brutal killings. "This was Raz' ploy, right? And he dragged you along?" When he slowly nodded, Bobby growling to himself, she hummed. "Well, that explains that, but why would he do something like stalk me while I'm out actually watching a movie with Bobby?"

She wanted to hear it straight from him. The answer was obvious. Everyone understood it, but she was forcing him to say it, as if verbalizing it invoked absolute truth. Dogen sank into his chair, leaning away from her. She released him, but he ended up nudging into Bobby, who ducked his head lower for Dogen to catch a glimpse of fury etched in his features.

He didn't want to rat Raz out, but he had no choice. Mirtala was not going to ease up until she had the spoken answer. With a sigh, he pointed at Bobby, saying, "Because, um, you're with him, and Raz, uh, he doesn't like it."

Bobby flung his arms in the air, barking out a disbelieving laugh. "Oh, I knew it! I knew it, I knew it!" He jabbed his finger at Dogen's nose, forcing him to go cross-eyed. "The moment Tala said you two were here, I suspected that was the reason why. What, you guys don't trust me? Is this summer camp all over again? Do I need to apologize for stealing your arrowheads, Dogen?"

"N-no, no!" Dogen raised his hands. "It's just, uh, you know, a brotherly instinct?"

He glanced at Mirtala, hoping to appease her. Mentioning familial ties was a great deal among the Aquatos. He hoped she would have understood, but Mirtala's face fell. The amusement and delight she had in dragging out the truth vanished in an instant. He wondered if some things were better left unsaid as Mirtala pulled herself to her feet, Bobby's anger swapping for surprise at her strange reaction.

Concern for her compelled Dogen to ask, "Um, Tala, are you alright? I know what Raz is doing is probably crossing a line, but, he-he didn't mean anything by it."

Mirtala sucked in a breath, then exhaled it twice as hard. She curled her fingers into tight fists. She narrowed her eyes on Dogen, her aggravation far more palpable than Raz had been moments ago. Stray bits of popcorns scattered on the ground were flattened, their kernels erupting. Dogen sensed her psychic power in faint waves, her abilities far lesser than theirs, but still enough to cause destruction when the drinks left behind in her seat suddenly burst. Plastic and metal crumpled, and liquid gushed to the floor in quick torrents, leaking down to the front row.

Bobby jumped. "Whoa, Tala, uh, are you okay?"

"That jerk," Mirtala hissed through clenched teeth. "He's doing it again. When is he gonna stop?"

Dogen blinked. "Again?"

Mirtala pushed herself out of the seat. She crossed her arms, Dogen noticing her tongue sharply poking the inside of her cheek. She suddenly locked eyes with Bobby and stormed toward him, who was just as surprised as Dogen. Glancing at him up and down, she latched on to his arm, the physicality making Bobby's blood burn his face in a way that made Dogen's cheeks flush as well.

"Whoa! Tala!" Bobby nearly lost his balance, but Mirtala steadied him. "What's, uh, what's up and stuff?"

She giggled, a teasing air surrounding her. "Oh, just that we're going to give Raz a show he's never going to forget, if you get my drift."

Dogen hesitantly rose to his feet. His shoes still stuck to the gummed floor from Raz' episode. He tugged at his collar, asking, "Um, do I get a say in this? Because whatever is about to happen-"

He bit his tongue when Mirtala glared at him. Dogen might have been able to stare a hole through someone, but the sheer malice emanating from Mirtala's glare, the depths of her black hole pupils, forced him into compliance. He offered a stiff nod when she warned him to stay quiet and act ignorant when Raz returned.

Satisfied, Mirtala dragged Bobby to the door, saying, "Dogen, I hope you enjoy the rest of the movie. We have forty minutes until the credits."

"It's been fifty minutes already?" he muttered, and he turned his head to Bobby just as she opened the door. "Hey, why is there an intermission?"

"It's a metaphor to emulate the fifteen minute work break," Bobby said, and he was yanked through the door by Mirtala, who shouted for more snacks.

Dogen slumped in his seat. He wasn't hungry or thirsty anymore. Instead, he stared ahead at the bold intermission logo plastered on the screen. Clapping his hands together, he ignored the faint sensation of nausea in his stomach and closed his eyes, hoping it would wash away his budding headache.

He didn't count the minutes as they passed. He was already dreading what would come in those seconds. Whatever Mirtala had planned was going to cause Raz to lose his mind, and he wasn't permitted to intervene. He might have been Raz' best friend, but there wasn't an inkling of mercy in Mirtala if he tried warning him of the forthcoming terrors, which was more than peculiar.

People returned to the theater. The four women sat in the front row, one of them commentating on the water that pooled near their seats. As they moved to the left side of the row, Raz hobbled inside carrying two new bags of popcorn and water bottles. His presence instantly calmed Dogen, and he thanked Raz for the snacks.

"No problem. I owed you after making them blow up," he said, gesturing at the two empty seats. "So, what happened to Tala and our dear nemesis?"

Dogen tensed. "They, uh, they-they-they went for snacks, I think."

"I did see them at the concession stand when I was sneaking back in," he muttered, and he removed his sunglasses and mask from his pocket. Slapping them on his face, he tugged his mask to his chin and crammed in a handful of salted popcorn. While chewing, he said, "Y'know, maybe I'm just too protective, Dogen. It's not like Bobby's been a problem for years, and Tala's smart."

Dogen was thankful Raz couldn't hear the scream in the back of his subconscious. He plastered on a smile and dipped his baseball cap. "Y-yeah, yeah, that's a good epiphany. Maybe we should just go?"

But the doors swung open, and Mirtala's bubbly laughter filled the theater. The lights dimmed, but even in the darkness, they saw how she clung to Bobby. She had both arms wrapped around his forearm, keeping her head on Bobby's shoulder while he levitated two smaller bags of popcorn and soda cans.

Raz' mouth dropped. Dogen thought he needed a doctor to fix his lockjaw.

"You're so powerful! Oh, my gosh! You destroyed that guy!" she exclaimed as they shuffled to new seats in the back row closer to Raz and Dogen.

Bobby chuckled, the title card giving way to Carlisle in the office. "That's just what I do, babe. When there's a bad guy in the psychic underworld needing their head bashed to pieces, the Psychonauts call on the strongman, Bobby Zilch."

Raz went numb. Dogen, just as numb, observed Raz' entire body shutting down. Sweat broke out on his brow. He convulsed every few seconds. A sputtering surge of babbling words escaped him before he seized Dogen's shoulders, dragging him close to his face.

"Did he just call my sister babe?" Raz wheezed out, dripping with desperation and despair.

Dogen stammered out an apology.

Raz' head hit the wall. He twitched, and Dogen rubbed his back. It was all he could do as Mirtala glanced over her shoulder. Dogen mentally pleaded with her for forgiveness. She refused and snuggled closer to Bobby, who wrapped his arm on the back of her chair, his palm resting on her shoulder.

Raz' blood pressure skyrocketed. A telekinetic hand formed a fist above his head, only for Dogen to hiss about a familiar rule. Pacified, Raz released his psychic energy and glared at the movie, Carlisle beginning to argue with his boss about ethics.

For a while, it was calm. Mirtala and Bobby whispered to each other. They were far too close for Raz' liking, but there was nothing that reached the level of what had just happened. Dogen couldn't concentrate on the film, even when Carlisle rebelled against his boss and decapitated the receptionist. He urged MIrtala to reconsider, but she didn't respond, fueling Dogen's dread.

Dogen assumed the third act began when the wives were brought in as victims. Evidently, the detectives had set them up for failure. They wanted their deaths as proof of the murderous scheme, and Jamie and Carlisle were meant to kill them. Jamie glared at his sobbing, belligerent wife tied to a chair and demanded to know why she couldn't keep her nose out of his business. His assistant presented him with a tray, and when he tore off the top, his wife - Dogen had no idea if she was named like the other wife - wailed.

Jamie presented her with a plate filled with rotten, spoiled meat. Raz grimaced, and Dogen pursed his lips as Jamie snatched what was once a rich hunk of beef and crammed it in his wife's mouth. He forced her to eat it, commenting how she used to love making meaty dinners while the detective, disguised as a client, urged the feeding.

"Y'know, my family eats roadkill," Mirtala said out of the blue.

Bobby jerked his head to her. "Really? That's hardcore."

Don't tell him that! Raz screamed.

"If Mama ran something over like a deer or a goat with the caravan, then we'd fry it up over the fire and eat good for the night." Mirtala shrugged. "It was mostly okay. There was this one time when Raz ate a particularly nasty hunk of turkey breast because we didn't realize it was infected. Raz had a tapeworm in his stomach for a week after that."

Raz screeched internally. Bobby covered his mouth and cackled loud enough for the women to ask for him to be quiet. He tried controlling himself, but Mirtala joined in his laughing fit, earning another shushing.

Dogen, taking it all in, sat in perturbed wonder. He looked between Mirtala and Bobby, the wife with her mouth crammed full of meat, and back to Raz, who appeared like his soul had left his body. He adjusted his baseball cap, uncertain of what stance to take on the tale Mirtala told.

He settled for asking, You ate roadkill?

I didn't control what my parents put on a plate, Dogen! Raz snapped, and out of the corner of his eye, Dogen saw Mirtala smirk at them.

The third act trucked along at a decent pace. While Jamie killed his wife, Carlisle broke his wife free. Together, in a splash of blood and glory, with special effects that had Dogen intrigued, they murdered Carlisle's associates. Intestines and skin hung from bodies. People wailed until their heads rolled. Mirtala jumped at the more gruesome slayings. She huddled into Bobby, who secured her against him. He patted her shoulder, his fingers rubbing small circles on the crook of her neck, and Dogen had never seen Raz' eyes pinpoint with such ferocity on a single gesture.

"Wow. These effects are…killer," she said, and Bobby puffed out a snicker.

"Yeah, you would make that pun."

"But you like my puns."

Bobby paused, then grinned down at her. "I guess I do. You're a pretty fun girl, Tala."

"And you're not so bad yourself, hotshot."

When Bobby winked at her, Raz lunged out of his chair only to slip on the mess he made. His knee buckled into the chair in front of him, and he toppled back in his seat. His sunglasses flung off his face, and Dogen bounced them between his hands. Raz collected himself, stupefied, and he slowly resumed sitting in a way that Dogen deemed incredibly tense and unnatural.

Dogen pursed his lips. He wished he could have been like Milka with the ability to turn invisible for days on end. He would have walked right out of the theater and went to his car. Then, he would have driven for hours until he had completely blocked the events that transpired over the course of the day. And when he got home, he'd lie down and let his purring cats crawl across him.

He took a chance and asked, "Are you doing okay, Raz?"

Raz jabbed his fist in his bag of popcorn. He heaved it out, dropping popcorn on his lap, and he smashed the pieces to his mouth. His teeth gnashed down on them, and Dogen was worried when he heard a cracking sound, hoping it was just a large kernel crushed by Raz' molar.

The movie seemed to be wrapping up. Carlisle and his wife suddenly drove a chainsaw through his boss. They skewered him from head to chops. His blood, bones, and guts gushed out like a sideways waterfall. Mirtala cried out, nestling into Bobby. He continued smiling, commenting that the kill was iconic, and he urged her to continue watching, which she did with renewed interest.

Slaughterhouse 9 to 5 ended on a bittersweet note. Covered in viscera, the couple kissed with the police surrounding them outside of the insurance company. The townspeople gawked, appalled and amazed while mutilated corpses fell through the windows. The building burst with decaying and fresh bodies, painting the town red and camera red, with the movie dropping its end card.

Mirtala started the applause with a short cheer. Bobby offered a few weak claps. The women in front hurried to leave, one of them appearing sick. As the credits rolled, Mirtala crumpled her bag of popcorn and beamed at Bobby.

"That was a blast! Literally! I didn't expect the building to explode with bodies and blood," she said, cupping her cheeks.

He took a quick swig of soda. "Haha, yeah! It just shows how long they've been in the business. Can't pay the bills without dirty dealing."

Dogen breathed out a sigh. It was over. All they needed to do now was leave. He made an attempt to stand up, but Raz grabbed his hand and pulled him back. Dogen winced, ready to ask why they remained despite the lights flickering on, when Raz slowly, methodically, raised his finger at the delighted duo that had gotten far too close for comfort.

"Thanks for the ticket, Bobby. I had a great time," Mirtala said, and as quick as a bee sting, she kissed his cheek.

Dogen froze. The only parts of his body that dared to move were his eyes. They darted over to Raz, and working his jaw, he whispered, "Raz? Are you-?"

It was at that moment Dogen realized a blood vessel in Raz' left eye burst. The scarlet color seeped across his sclera. Dogen leaned into his armrest, knocking his water bottle out of the holder. Raz rose like a ghost, his bones popping and mouth twisting a grimace that would have made the most vile of psychic criminals blush.

"Um, Rule 38?" Dogen squeaked out.

Raz was off like a rocket. He lunged for Bobby, hydrokinetic fists forming out of soda and water. They launched for Bobby's head, and he flinched in his seat, panic flashing across his entire body, too stricken with shock to fight back.

But Mirtala jumped up. She crossed her arms and confronted Raz. He was inches from her face, and Dogen saw her eyes slightly narrow, her disapproval evident.

"Raz," she growled, "we need to talk."