Gifted | Sleepy Bois Inc

Chapter Twenty-One

What was it that Philza had said the other day? "I can already tell what sort of person he is. Being wounded will only make him stronger. He has his pride to protect, and that gives him the strength to carry on."

We had known, and yet we had still brought the death weapon into our quarters.

We had known, and yet here we were, in the exact situation we knew would happen.

"Don't do it," I warned. My voice was a lot more level and calmer than I felt.

Smiley smirked, letting the metal strap that had once covered his eyes fall down to the ground with a clang. "Or what?" he teased. "You'll kill me? You can't do that, and you know it. The tragedies of a hero, I presume, along with the sorrowful backstory and pain embeded into every corner of your body."

He was covered in dried blood from our fight. His clothes were in need of repair and there was no way he wasn't uncomfortable, but that didn't seem to bother him.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at my own thoughts. Of course. Because if villains stopped killing and terrorizing every time their clothes were uncomfortable or they were caked in itchy dried blood, there'd be a lot less deaths in the world.

Beside him, Niki made a quiet, whimpering sound. She stared down as best she could at the knife at her throat and tried not to swallow too hard.

I was sure that she was the accomplice. There was no one else. Niki had been heading downstairs, very suspiciously at that, with a mask and everything. She must've let out Smiley. She was the helper. And now, Smiley was using her against me.

"You know, you guys are really dumb," Smiley said with a dramatic sigh. "I'm sure you've already got a good read on my personality. You know how I act. I am sort of predictable, I suppose. And yet you still chose to bring me here." His smile widened. "To Tryxel, where most Gifted come to work. Where I could swing my knife left and right and take down those I hate."

"I won't let you do that."

He gave a delighted laugh. "Oh, really? What are you gonna do about it? You can't do anything, and you know it."

What was I supposed to do? He was right; I couldn't do anything. He had a hostage. I had nothing.

Nothing, the voices sang in my head. But you have a weapon. You have the desire to kill him. End his life. Who cares about the hostage?

A new, slightly less chaotic voice said, Use his code against him.

His code. That was right. He only killed Gifted, as if that somehow redeemed him from his slaughters. Niki was as far from being a Gifted as you could get.

"You can't hurt Niki," I said. "Your rules. She's an ordinary person. So let her go."

There was an awfully long pause as Smiley considered my words. His knife hovered right over Niki's throat, barely an inch away from ending her life right then and there.

Finally, he retracted his arm and stepped back. "You're right, Techno," he said with grudging admiration. "I nearly crossed the line."

"You've crossed multiple lines already," I said in mild annoyance.

"Fair." He watched as Niki slowly stepped away from him, then turned and started up the stairs as fast as she could, muffled sobs echoing through the room. Then he turned to me. "But I won't let you go so easily."

I tilted my head to one side, regarding him. "Oh, really? I'm sure you already know that such a threat is useless against me."

Smiley narrowed his eyes, then smirked. "Ah, yes, Mr Teleportation Gifted. You know, I really thought that you might be different from the rest. When I found out that you were one of them, sure, I was mad, but then I realized that you hadn't ever used your powers before. I thought that you were better than them." He waved his knife in the air, the way a conductor waved their baton half-consciously after a preformance. The dim light glinted off of its pristine surface. "In a different world, we might even be friends."