It was always night in The Underground. Pillars like ancient tree trunks sprouted into the dark, earthy ceiling that acted as a starless sky.

From afar, it was almost beautiful with its Victorian buildings and torchlit streets. But up close, the streets were rundown. Litter, beggars, pungent cigarette smoke with nowhere to vent. Cracked plaster, rodents, uneasy distrust of all passersby.

The feeling of this godforsaken world was familiar, like the feeling of his Scout cloak on his shoulders. But the memories of fighting for meals and thieving for survival weighed on him as if the familiar cloak were drenched in cement.

Levi had promised himself he'd never return.

But here he was, roaming the streets that toughened and scarred him. For her.

It was impossible to identify who was or wasn't homeless—everyone was filthy. That was something Levi prided himself on, keeping clean. The habit was so ingrained now that it'd become a staple of his character. And brushing past grimey pedestrians and shopkeepers in his polished ODM gear and pressed uniform made him squirm in his skin. But Karma's duffle bag bumped against his hip with every nudge of a dirty elbow or cloud of pipe smoke, pushing him onward.

He found Kenny's hideout—at least, his old one. He suspected Kenny wouldn't relocate since the whole point of kidnapping Karma was to lure Levi in. And he'd fallen for it without a second thought, just as Kenny predicted. Damn the bastard.

It was a rundown three-room shack. The busted doors and windows were boarded up with plywood and quilts. Levi kicked the door to splinters, glad to leave something for Kenny to patch up later. He'd tear the place to nails and boards if he had to.

"Kenny!" He unsheathed his blades, entering the low-ceiling shack. The living room was a stained sofa. A fridge and hot-plate made up the kitchen. Some moth-eaten rugs were strewn on the floor as an attempt to liven up the place. Levi's foot hovered over the tassels of one when he heard someone cry out.

"Levi stop—" Then it sounded like she was screaming into a pillow.

Levi stopped. One step in front of him, he caught a glint of fishing wire. He followed the wire with his eyes to the barrel of a shotgun. Levi cursed under his breath. He'd forgotten in his desperation that he was walking into a minefield.

"Karma?" Levi remained still. "Where are you?"

"She's in here, boy." The voice pricked his temples with fire-washed needles.

Kenny.

Karma's muffled screaming intensified. Levi knew she was warning him again.

"Why don't you come meet me halfway, Kenny? It's the least you could do for making me track your sorry ass to The Underground." Levi didn't dare move a muscle in case there were more undetectable traps.

"Fair is fair."

Kenny emerged in the adjoining doorway holding a writhing Karma by her braid. Her hands were bound. Her mouth was gagged. A gun was pressed to her head.

"You bastard. Let her go."

"If you insist." Kenny shoved Karma forward. Levi caught another glint.

"Dammit, stop!"

Kenny yanked Karma's braid back just before her nose could trip the wire. "So I was right to choose her, huh?" He spread that devilish grin. Levi's grip tightened on the hilt.

"If your goal was to piss me off."

"Gotta say, you made my job easy. You handed her over on a silver platter."

"You moron—I sent her away from you."

"Exactly. The moment I saw this puny girl enter that carriage, I knew I'd found your weakness. You and me have similar types." Kenny held Karma's braid to his nose and inhaled like it was a bouquet of lavender. "Ah, the feisty ones are always the most fun."

"What the hell do you want, Kenny? Karma has nothing to do with any of this."

"And I want nothing to do with the brat. Some high-ups in the interior want you gone. That ugly head of yours is worth a pretty penny. That's all I'm after."

Levi pointed his blade toward Kenny's throat. "You think it'll be that easy?"

"I'll make it very easy. You can either watch your girlfriend here get a faceful of lead, or you can take her place—the choice is yours."

"If I surrender myself, you'll let her go?"

"Easy as that."

Karma thrashed like she was being swarmed by bats. She managed to free her gag. "Don't listen to him! Run Levi!"

"Shut up, bitch." Kenny slammed the butt of the gun into her crown. Karma slunk to her knees.

Levi tossed his blades aside and held up his arms. "Fine. I surrender."

Karma squirmed. "No! Stop it! Run!"

"You heard the boy—get lost." Kenny cut her loose with a pocketknife and shoved her with his boot. "Watch the wires though, sweetheart." Karma steadied herself to her feet and maneuvered over the two trip wires to get to Levi.

"Captain, don't do this. Please." She clutched at his cloak. Her cheeks were glistening.

"Karma." Levi held her shoulders. He swiped her tears with his thumb. "It's alright." Then he embraced her, clutching her like a buoy in a storm.

He fought with the three words on the tip of his tongue. He wanted her to know, but he didn't want his last moments to be so vulnerable. Instead, his three words were, "I brought this." He handed her the duffle bag.

"Thanks." Karma laughed and wiped under her eyes with her wrist. She dropped the bag and pulled Levi by the neck, lips to his ear.

Kenny scoffed as they whispered their final words—their sweet goodbyes. The girl pressed a kiss to Levi's cheek. Kenny chuckled, loading heavy golden bullets into the chamber. "Get it while you can, boy."

Levi rolled his shoulders. "Let's get this over with."

Karma clutched her bag to her chest.

Kenny aimed the barrel between Levi's eyes. "Goodbye, nephew."

Just before his finger pulled the trigger, something pink and plastic smacked him in the temple. "Ow." On the floor by his shoe was a hairbrush. He whirled in Karma's direction. "Stupid girl. Now you're both dead. What a waste of a pretty face."

But before Kenny could take aim again, Levi was grabbing him by the arm. They wrangled with the gun. A metal compact smacked Kenny's head. A sneaker. A tube of lipstick.

"Dammit, would you knock it off!" Kenny was seething and grunting in his attempt to overpower Levi. While both of his arms were occupied, Karma hopped the wires and fished through his pockets. Kenny swung his hips to knock her off until she pulled out his pocket knife and held it to his neck.

"If you don't want to get ripped, Ripper, I suggest you let go of the gun," Karma said. The blade hovered a breath from his jugular. The knife grazed his skin when he swallowed.

Kenny growled and let the gun go, keeping his hands raised. Levi aimed it at his uncle.

"So you two were hatching a plan, not confessing your love. Should've known better." His toe inched forward. "I won't be so generous next time." Before his toe could set off the trap, Levi shot his foot. Kenny collapsed, clutching his bloody shoe. "The hell?!"

Levi cocked the gun again. "I won't hesitate to kill you, Kenny."

Kenny scoffed. He spit in Levi's direction. "You don't have the balls."

Levi shot his hand. Kenny shrieked and clutched it against his chest. His shirt blossomed red. Levi cocked the gun again. "I don't have to kill you. If you promise to leave us alone, we can stay out of each other's lives for good."

"Sorry, kid. I need this payout."

Levi kicked Kenny's face until his nose was crooked and bleeding. Kenny coughed up a glob of blood with another humorless chuckle.

"Told ya you can't kill me," he said. "You'd have done it by now."

"Fine. You're right." Levi hoisted Kenny up by the shoulder. "But you can kill you." He heaved Kenny into the wire. A gunshot blasted into his shoulder. Kenny tumbled into the second trap. A bullet lodged in his gut.

He collapsed onto a threadbare rug. In seconds it was soaked through like a towel in a bathtub.

Levi shoved his foot, rolling Kenny onto his back with a pained grunt. "Dammit, kid. You might've actually done it." He hacked another spray of sticky blood. It dribbled down his chin like a clumsy sip of wine.

"It's too bad I had to ruin a perfectly good pair of shoes in the process." Levi sneered at the blood stains. "Was all of this shit really just a cash grab?"

Kenny laughed, but the movement made him flinch. "Guess it's over for me now anyway. Here." He pulled a black box from his pocket and slammed it on the floor.

"The hell is this?" Levi picked it up.

Karma peeked from around his shoulder to inspect the box. Levi forgot about the box and blood for a moment and just looked at her, relieved. He watched her delicate shoulders rise with each breath. He stared at her lashes, her tinted cheeks. He almost smiled.

Kenny's pained laugh snagged his attention again. "Everyone is a slave to something. For you…it's this girl…" A soft exhale. Kenny's chest stopped moving.

The gun and box slipped out of Levi's hands and clattered to the floor. He cursed and crumpled to his knees, staring at his uncle's corpse, waiting for the crashing tidal wave of grief or regret to slap him. But he felt nothing. It was as if all of the emotion had seeped out of him, mingling with the blood soaking the floor.

"Levi?" Karma knelt beside him and laid a hand on his shoulder. At her touch, a warmth returned to him. There were tear tracks on her cheeks and more ready to spill from her eyes. "Are we—can we go now?"

He nodded. Karma picked up her impromptu weapons and put them and the box in her duffle bag.

Without a backwards glance, Captain Levi led them down the dingy roads, past the heckling produce stands, and to the stairway that would lead them home.