"T-Tony? D-did you... Kill him?" Came my friend's concerned voice. I snapped out of my rage and focused on my victim. It seemed Multiple Mike had passed out...

"He's fine." I grunted oh well, I could wait. I still need to blow off some steam, and I already chased him this far. I was about to toss him aside and wait for him to regain consciousness when suddenly the strange boy somehow managed to gasp through my firm grip, he started, his hair falling down over his left eye. He lifted his head slowly, focusing his gaze on me. I loosened my grip just a bit, startled by his sudden awakening and drastic change in demeanour. Was it just me, or did he look... Dark? This was not Mike. Mike cowered before me just moments ago... This was... Something else. This was... unsettling...I felt a chill, and It wasn't from the autumn breeze... Then I heard Ed call out from somewhere behind me.

"ooo, who's this? is it little miss ballerina? Grandpa? Indiana jones?" he taunted, though i detected a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah, i-is it captain topless?" Dan offered,earning him a slap on the head from Ed. I heard Ed mutter 'idiot' under his breath. The whole time, 'Mike' just... Stared at me. Watching, calculating, waiting. suddenly, the boy I held at arms length spoke:

"It would be wise to release me." He said with surprising clarity considering his situation. His voice was much deeper and rougher than usual. It demanded attention, and obedience as his eyes shot daggers into mine. I felt a shiver go up my spine.

"Heh, and why would I do that? we were just getting started!" I said in my most intimidating voice. I disguised the slight quiver in my words well. Why did this kid unsettle me? I have him dangling by his throat, he's helpless! But... If that is true, then why does he look so confident?

"have it your way." he said with as close to a shrug as he could manage in his current position. suddenly his hand was around my wrist, tightening. Goosebumps rose all over my body at his touch, sending chills through me.

I met his icy gaze with dread in my eyes. his remained calm and calculating. It was unnerving... Okay... terrifying. Then, he smirked. I held his gaze and slowly shook my head in horror, realizing what he was about to do. With one swift movement his other hand met the first. *snap* I howled in pain and dropped him to the ground, nursing my right arm with the left. on landing, the kid rolled forwards, swiping my legs from under me as he went.I I fell hard on my right side, sending another jolt of pain through my body. I cried out again. I glanced at my buddies to see them standing there staring in shock, as the dark figure slowly approached them. Ed stepped towards the figure menacingly, clenching his fists in anger.

"hey you, you shouldn't have done that! now me and my buddy are gonna..." Ed's voice faded as he turned to Dan, who was already running through the maze of alleyways to escape the strange boy. as Ed faltered, I watched in horror as the figure closed the distance in an instant, using his elbow to knock my friend off his feet. Ed looked up with sheer terror in his eyes. I recognized that look... it had adorned my victims many times. "Mike" met his gaze with glee, one foot poised above Ed's leg. As if in slow motion the foot came down with a sickening crunch on his leg. Ed screamed in agony. it was obvious that he was going nowhere fast.

"Don't go anywhere," he said with an evil smile, "I'll be back in a flash." then, he was off, sauntering at a casual pace into the dank, winding alleyways, whistling a creepy tune. A few minutes later a panicked shout, most likely from Dan, then all we could hear was HIS malevolent laughter echoing through the alleys as he gave chase to my friend. for a few minutes, we heard nothing but the 'tap tap tap' of his shoes, the 'slap slap slap' of Dan's soles hitting the crumbling pavement and HIS echoing laughter.

"d-d'ya think he made i-" Ed started through gasps of pain, before being cut off by a Bloodcurdling shriek.

"w-was that D-" all i could do was nod in reply.

"Hello." A gravelly, terrifying voice greeted us. He let out an evil chuckle.

"Gah!" we shouted in unison at the sudden appearance of HIM. as we looked to the source, we saw him standing at the entrance to this dead end alley, Dan draped over his shoulder. He unceremoniously tossed our friend to the ground like a sack of potatoes. I could see that Dan was nursing his knee. I flinched at this, knees are the worst injuries when you do sports like us. about as bad as wrists. I sighed , briefly considering the possibility that we may not be able to play anymore, at least, not for awhile. This prospect saddened me immensely. There may be bigger problems present, but sports are our lives, without my trophies and fans, what am I? what have I got to show for years of hard work and training?

"you boys be good while I fetch some... supplies." He said with a vicious grin. This banished all thoughts of sports from my mind. In a few minutes he had returned bearing various odds and ends he had found around. There were scraps of fabric and bits of rope, even a few newspaper ties. He used his amassed collection to truss us up securely so even without our injuries we couldn't run.

"now we can have some fun." He said with a maniacal laugh.

"I can se why you like this area so much. its's so closed off and disorienting, by the time someone tries to catch you, you'll be long gone. heh heh heh. we aren't so different you and I, you see, we both crave fear, power, control. the main difference? I LIKE it when they yell, ahah ha haha!" he said with a smirk plastered into place on his smug face as he casually strolled over to Ed, standing over him for a minute before leaning close and placing a hand on the swollen leg. Ed shied away from his touch, but didn't go far because of the restraints.

"Whats the matter? Scared?" He mocked cruelly before leaning his body on his arm, applying pressure to the broken leg.

"AAAiiiiieeeeeeeee!" Ed screeched. HE continued to torture us, flitting from one of us to the next, poking, prodding, hitting, relishing each pained scream he managed to elicit from our lips. the fear was blinding, the pain clouded my brain. our cries rang through the alleyways as we were battered and bruised by this monster, he didn't stop until I was the last one left conscious. It seemed like hours had passed since I made the terrible mistake that lead to all of this. With a final blow, he seemed finished with me and stepped back to admire his handiwork. His head perked up at the sound of sirens approaching.

"Bye bye." He sneered, then grinned and gave an extra blow for good measure. As I started to drift into darkness the last thing I heard was that whistle.