AN: This is the prequel story to Mad Season. You don't need to read this in order to understand it but it gives good back story to the character Franz Kaiser.  I really loved his character so I thought he deserved his own little story. Just for warning this story will have adult and dark themes in it like sex, rape, and murder. If that bothers you in any way then you probably shouldn't read it. Also themes of sexuality are present like homosexuality and such. If that bothers you either then yet again, don't read

Chapter 1

Don't worry Franz. Mama will protect you. A loud concussion of sound filled the dim room with offending noise. A figure in bed jolted awake only to find a small clock next to their bed that was the harbinger of their stress. A hand flew out from the covers and maliciously crushed the offender in one fell swoop.

The hand snaked its way back to the cocoon of blankets with an irritated groan not far behind. The figure angrily removed the covers, revealing themselves. It was a man with sleep in his eyes and a foul look upon his face.

He ran his fingers through blonde hair, or rather a strip of hair running through the middle of his head. The muscles in his arm flexed and contracted as he rubbed his face, showing his obvious strength. Which explains the earlier demise of that unfortunate clock.

He quickly sat on the edge of the bed to observe what was left of the clock. He groaned again and pushed the hair away from his eyes. He could smell it again. Their smell. It's just the same. He slammed his fist into the side table, causing clock pieces to scatter. Instead of lingering further he quickly got up and headed to his bathroom.

When the light came on it flickered momentarily before coming completely on. The mirror's light came on and the interface came up on the corner. It showed the time, date and temperature outside. A monotone female computer voice then greeted him good morning.

"Would you like to shower this morning sir?" He stood there for a moment in silence before closing the interface. He stared into the mirror intently as if trying to absorb every detail. His bloodshot cerulean eyes looked back into themselves. Trying to looking beyond the image. Trying to find something beyond the surface. His hand caressing the scar between his septum and lips. His birth scar. To think, because of this his whole world went away. Don't worry Franz. Mama will protect you.

Franz grabbed his head in frustration, his hair interwoven tightly between his fingers. That voice. Why must it torture him? Why won't those thoughts go away? Standing there musing he almost forgot about the voice in the background.

"Sir? Would you like to shower this morning?" He groaned before reopening the computer's interface. "Yes computer...I will." The voice audibly confirmed his request and automatically started the water. "I'll warm the shower for you sir. Feel free to get in whenever you like." The shower door began steaming up with vapor in seconds, heating the room rapidly.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed something strange. It was a vague female silhouette standing behind the obscured glass. Although initially surprised, he only watched in curiosity as it beckoned him. After the initial shock wore off he quickly ripped the shower door open. To no surprise nothing was inside. Of course not. There never was. Don't worry Franz. Mama will protect you.

Grinding his teeth in anger he aggressively slammed the door closed. He was in no mood to play games today. Then again, he never was. He pulled his shirt off and discarded it like week old food. Sweating in your sleep is disgusting. It's filthy and disgusting. Just like those pigs. Putrid human pigs. I must cleanse myself and wipe away my human impurities.

As he thought to himself he gave his body a once over in the mirror. The body was such a beautiful instrument. Though like all beautiful things they can become tainted and soiled. His body was tainted long ago. Countless scars were etched across his chest and arms. He rubbed the scars across his arms as if they'd tell him a secret he had always wanted to hear. Before he could continue to explore his flesh the voice interrupted again.

"Sir? Your shower is still running. Would you still like to get in?" Instead of answering he simply got in and let the water cascade over him. It was so very cleansing. Wash it away. Wash it all away. As he was enjoying his bathing, noises echoed in the adjacent apartment. A woman and man could be heard. They were moaning like wild animals as they slammed against the wall. It was the young couple next door who, apparently, like to have violent animalistic sex in their shower.

God damn them. Stupid fucking animals! This is my cleansing and they dare tarnish it with their chemical induced primal lust! Before he knew it he could feel it. It was that beautiful yet terrifying feeling. It was a sort of tingly feeling that traveled from his finger tips to his toes. Like the surge of a bodily epiphany. Protect me Franz. Protect your mother.

Before he even realized it he had slammed his fist against the wall with such force he cracked it. "Shut the fucking hell up! Have decency you foul, loathsome and pathetic excuses for flesh! If you don't shut the fuck up in the next five seconds, I'll give you guys something to really moan about!" After his momentary breakdown he was left out of breath and panting. His voice was hoarse from yelling.

The noises finally stopped. He didn't know when but it stopped and that's all that counts. He did hear one thing though. A faint "What the fuck?" was muttered by one of them. He couldn't help but smile and laugh to himself. Well that solved that problem.

After his hectic yet enthralling shower, he changed into more suitable clothes. Ones that were preferably not coated in human secretion. He threw on jeans and a burgundy hoodie to hide his head in the hood. Sometimes it's ostentatious to go unseen.

As his apartment door slid open, he looked back to his dark room before leaving. No matter what, it always felt like someone was watching. Maybe it's just his own paranoia or maybe it's something much more sinister. He smirked to himself. Was it something sinister? How titillating. The smirk was instantly wiped off his face as the door next to him opened. A skinny and tan man in a purple robe strolled out nonchalantly to get his mail, unaware of Franz's presence.

It's that other animal that lives next door. Should I torture the little worm this morning? He mused over the thought for a moment, thinking about how fun it would be to see him squirm in fear. Though before he could act upon anything the man noticed him and reeled away. "I-It's you! W-W-What do you want from me?!" Franz just simply smiled in response. Not your normal everyday happy-go-luck smile. No, this was a smile only a crocodile could appreciate. So in turn this gave the man the impression he was indeed going to die here. And it would be violent. Very violent.

He flattened out against the doorway, too afraid to move. His chest heaved as Franz slowly walked towards him, his killing intent prominent in his eyes. "P-P-Please D-Don't kill me! I'll do anything!" As Franz was face to face with him he stared him down. Like a predator playing with it's prey. Knowing he was hopeless he closed his eyes and hoped his death would be quick.

Instead he felt something warm against his forehead. He slowly opened his clenched eyes and saw Franz's hand playing with the hair on his forehead. "Such a waste of flesh. If only I could reshape you into something amazing." He then leaned in closer and whispered gently into the man's ear. "You said you'd do anything right?" The man's eyes widened in fright as he scrambled to get away, only to be held down by Franz. He stared him down until the man was like jelly in his arms. Franz just merely chuckled softly and patted him on the forehead. "Don't get your hopes up."

He continued to laugh as he strode away. The man fell down to the ground trembling. Never before had he been so in intimidated by anyone. He truly believed Franz was going to kill him. Completely brutalize him. Maybe even rape him, but he didn't. What was that man?

Franz continued down the empty stairwell in a drunken stupor of adrenaline. It seems that scaring his neighbors half to death gave him the kick he needed to start his day. After all, they were practically asking for it anyway. He was just giving them what they expected. Before Franz exited the sad excuse for a stair well, he whipped out his residential I.D. card and scanned it at the door. "I suppose it's time to greet the world today."

Bright light blasted its way through the open door. He shielded his eyes momentarily before they begrudgingly adjusted to the harshness. Before him was the vast city. It was the institution of humanity and the very embodiment of self-destruction. The true epitome of disgrace in this world. Sounds of the unmanned transport vehicles across the street polluted the air with noise. There were information airships with massive screens attached to the bottoms floating around the top of the city. They were videos of people he'd never seen offering him products he'd never buy.

The city itself was so massively tall it obscured the sun and you couldn't quite see the top. And here he was, down at the bottom of civilization. The city was also dark, dank and filled with endless graffiti. It was like years of human filth decided to have a siesta around his apartment complex and decimate the surrounding area. So instinctively he pulled out his black leather gloves and slid them on. If he was going to traverse this god forsaken land he'd need another layer of protection. Then again, he was only going out to get milk.

He began to walk through the Unitarian style city until something caught his eye. Instinctively, he turned around to see a seemingly ordinary man in a trench coat walking behind him with his head down. Though seemingly ordinary wasn't the right choice of words. No, he recognized this man. So to test his inquiry he walked down an alley and the man followed. Of course he did. He definitely knew him and his intentions. Franz couldn't keep himself contained and smiled in utter joy. It was about time he showed up.

As Franz continued strolling casually the man quickly approached him, thinking he was completely unaware. He slowly slid a knife from his grey trench coat's pocket. He lifted it high in the air above his head and thrust it down with all his might. Before he could even make contact his hand was caught. Franz had gripped his wrist mid-strike without even facing him. Before the man could even react Franz twisted his arm to behind his back and slammed him against a brick wall.

He held his hand against his assailant's neck, pinning him against the wall. The man had black combed back hair that reached his shoulders and curled slightly at the tips. Now all of which was now was quite frazzled. He was fair skinned and actually quite slender. Which gave the appearance of frailty but he knew appearances were deceiving. However, his most prominent feature though was the burn scar across the left side of his face. It covered his eye, ear, and the end of his lip down to his neck.

"I knew you'd come after me. I'm not an idiot you know." The assailant laughed heartily before responding. "Last time I checked you were." Franz twisted the man's wrist in retaliation, causing him to yelp and drop his knife.

"You pathetic excuse for a low life. Why are you here? He send you to kill me?" The man just chuckled and looked back at him and winked playfully. "Well if you let go I'll tell you everything." Franz just merely huffed and loosened his grip. The man attempted to explain but a fist decided otherwise. Franz punched him square across the jaw, knocking him back against the wall.

He was in a daze as he slid down the wall onto the cold ground. Warm blood dripped down from the crease of his lip and down his chin. He sat there for a moment until he reached up and felt his jaw. He winced in pain which caused him to realize what had happened. "Hey! You fuckin' punched me!" Franz couldn't help but smile. This guy was such an idiot.

"What? I thought you liked it rough Karl?" Karl leaned up against the wall and attempted to stand up and using it as leverage. "You know I do baby." He gave Franz a half-assed smile and winked at him again. "Enough of the pleasantries Karl. You here to do business? Or do you just like being smacked around?" This time both of them gave a slight chuckle. Karl shrugged his shoulders in response. "You know me. It's always a little bit of both."

He wicked away the blood from his mouth and spit a wad of crimson blood on the ground. "Damn baby. You've still got it. Though last time you broke my jaw. You ain't gettin' soft on me are ya baby?" Franz held Karl's chin and lifted it to see the damage. "You want me to even you out? Thought compared to that scar of yours this looks like child's play. Didn't your mama tell you not to play with fire?" Karl smirked and playfully smacked his hand away. "My mama told me about lots of things, but fire ain't one of 'em."

He attempted at salvaging his ravaged hair and turned his attention elsewhere to the ground. "You know I could get it removed. But I thought it looked badass. Figured I'd be like you baby. Plus, people think scars are sexy and I'm trying to impress people." Franz couldn't help but laugh at him. What the hell is wrong with him? Ever since he met this man he couldn't help but feel that this man didn't really understand how people functioned. Then again neither did he so he shouldn't be the one to judge.

He looked closely at Karl's left eye. There was scar tissue fusing the ends of his eyelids shut. He looked like he could barely see out of his own eye. Franz couldn't help but run his finger across the scarred eye. Karl flinched then completely froze up. He closed his eyes shut tightly like he was about to have his face beaten in. Instead his scar was caressed by Franz with unusual gentleness.

Karl felt uncomfortable to the maximum level and smacked his hand away. "Da fuck is wrong wit you baby? It's just a damn scar!" Karl turned away trying to hide his embarrassment. The beating he could handle, but playing with him like that wasn't something he would take kindly. "What? You ready to speak up yet? Tell me why you're really here. Cause I know you didn't come all the way here for my company." Karl simply nodded and motioned for him to come closer.

"We got a job for you baby. I know you're goin' to like dis one. It's right up your alley." Franz folded his arms and scoffed at him. He stared him straight into the eyes, piercing his soul trying to get what he wanted out of him. Before long Karl gave in and threw up his arms.

"Alright that ain't the whole reason I'm here. Though the whole job thing was true. I ain't pullin' your leg baby. Promise. And I did come here to kill you. That was on my own accord though. Figured I'd pay you back." Franz smiled fiendishly and grabbed Karl by the throat. He clambered to pull his hand away but Franz had a vice grip on him. "I could easily break you like a toothpick. So give me a reason why I should keep you alive. Tell me quick cause I've got somewhere to be."

Karl's face was completely red and he was gasping for air but all he did was smile. He spoke in between gasps which were barely audible. "I don't got one baby." Franz smiled at his response. This guy was truly something wasn't he? He let go and let Karl drop to the ground, gasping for precious air. He gripped his red neck and coughed hard. He wiped the saliva from his mouth and looked back up at Franz with his tear stained eyes.

"Wasn't that a little harsh baby? It's not the first time I've tried to kill you ya know." Franz's face was blank as he crouched in front of him. "I know. I just figured you'd be smarter about it. I was just disappointed." Karl smiled then suddenly started coughing harshly into his hand, causing his eyes to well up. Franz reached up and wiped away the tears still in his eyes. Karl just looked back at him in minor shock.

"You know that scar wasn't my fault Karl. You were the one being a dumbass." Karl smirked back him and pushed away stray hairs on Franz's forehead. "I know baby. It's just that ever since that set-up you've been keeping your distance from the Syndicate. You know we need ya baby. We're in a real tight situation." Franz gripped Karl's hand and helped him off the ground.

"Alright. I suppose you've got me intrigued. But you've got to give me details before I make any final decisions. However, first..." Franz trailed off as he pointed to an indiscriminate direction. "I've got business over there." Karl followed his arm to the direction he was pointing. Not understanding what he was pointing to he tried asking but Franz hushed him with his hand and began walking away.

"Hey asshole ya just going to leave me 'ere? Where in the hell are you going baby?" Franz kept silent and kept walking. Karl just looked up into the smog covered sky and groaned. He was going to have to following him huh? He looked back at Franz strolling across the street with his hands in his hoodie as if nothing had just happened. Yep, he was definitely going to have to follow him. Great. Karl ran his fingers through his messy hair again and huffed. He could never stay mad at that man for some reason. He finally gave in and chased after Franz. He just hoped Franz wasn't aware of that.

"So are you going to tell me where we're going baby? Or are you going to keep it a surprise?" Franz's face stayed blank and he didn't respond in the slightest. "Now you're keepin' secrets from me? That hurts me real deep baby. Right in the left ventricle." Karl made an overly exaggerated sad face to try and get something in response.

Franz eyed him from the corner of his eye without turning his head. He quickly turned to Karl's direction catching him off guard. "Whoa baby! What going on? It was just a joke!" Franz walked closer to him until they were face to face.

"You're in my way Karl." Karl froze and stared blankly at him. What did he do? Did he make him mad? Franz reached his hand out and pressed in on Karl's shoulder. He flinched and hoped it wouldn't be too painful. Instead however, Franz literally pushed him out of the way. Karl opened his eyes in shock, expecting much worse.

He whipped around to see Franz standing in front of a convenience store called Lucky Tom's Quick Stop. He stared at it for a moment, confused. "Wait, what in the hell is this? Why are we here?" Franz just rolled his eyes and shook his head. "To get milk remember?" Karl looked at him completely dumbfounded.

"You fuckin' serious? You dragged me all the way here for fuckin' milk? And here I thought it was somethin' important." Franz rolled his eyes again and scoffed. "I didn't say you had to go. You just invited yourself along. Plus I told you earlier didn't I?"

Karl threw his hands in the air clearly feeling frustrated. "Was that before or after the greeting punch? Cause it's kinda hard to remember that shit after being punched and choked to near death!" Franz just laughed at him and strolled towards the store.

"You coming or what?" He didn't wait for a response and headed inside. Karl put his head in his hands and groaned. "God dammit. Of course I am." His arms fell limp as he pouted and begrudgingly went inside as well. This was going to be a long day wasn't it?

2: Chapter 2

Chapter 2

    The door sensor made a ping as Franz and Karl entered the store. The place was filled with shiny and colorful objects guaranteeing your satisfaction. Things ranging from Do-It-Yourself plastic surgery to canned bread. To Franz though, all these objects were examples of humanities failed attempt to contributing to group survival.

    He browsed the store until he finally came upon what he came for. Chilled processed breast secretions from another animal. Or what others my call it, milk. The freezer the dairy product was in had an electronic notepad on the front interface of the glass door. Underneath the milk was the number 112793. Franz popped in the number to the notepad and the door slid open.

    A squeaky mechanical arm took the jug from its confines and held it out to him. He hesitantly took it from the hand before it quickly disappeared into the freezer as the door slid back shut. He examined it carefully, looking for any possible impurities. You could never be too careful with animal breast secretion these days.

    Karl soon became frustrated as Franz intensely observed the milk. "Uh...You done yet baby? Cause I'm gettin' pretty damn bored over here." Even after Karl spoke Franz still deeply examined the jug. His eyes were practically touching the carton. Karl's patience was worn thin and he began to become irritated. He quickly snatched the jug from Franz's hands and clutched it close to his body. "It's just fuckin' milk! I doubt there's some freaky ass shit floatin' in there! What's wrong wit you baby?" Franz blankly stared at him before holding his hand out.

    "I was checking for impurities. I don't want to drink impure dairy product." Karl slapped his hand away and kept his grip on the carton. There was no way he was letting him have it back. "No way baby! If I give this back to you we'll be here all day! Plus, I have to add that this is fuckin' milk. It's the most processed shit you're ever goin' to find! I don't even think this shit came from a cow! It probably came from some big titted woman in Indonesia with big ass dinner plate nipples! You might as well not even get it!"

    Franz couldn't help but smirk at that one. Even though his argument had absolutely no valid points, it made sense in a Karl sort of way. Justification of things that had no validity was one of his best points. Well maybe it's his only one. Either way there was no way he was going down without a fight.

    "Alright. Since you're so hell bent on keeping it away from me, you buy it then." Karl soon became wide-eyed and quiet. His face soon wrinkled and turned into a distorted scowl as he grumbled angrily to himself. He always did that when he lost. Karl had always been a bit of a sore loser.

    Both men went up to the front counter where a blonde man stood there smiling. He greeted them with unusual chipper. "Did you find everything okay sirs? Is that everything?" The blonde man keep his perpetual smile as both men stared back at him in silence. After a few moments Karl put his hands on the counter and leaned in close.

    "Hey boy. You a synthie? Cause ya sure as hell look like one." The man looked back at him with his unblinking eyes and responded without hesitation. "Of course sir! I am unit 22486719. I have been programmed to work at this store. I am a official 10th generation model of Titan Corp. and I'm here to make your life easier."

    Karl lowered his eyes and glared back at the machine. The machine however, made no response. "Disgusting. I hate machines. Titan Corp. is takin' people's jobs away just to replace them with fuckin' synths like you. So tell me Mr. Machine Man, why are you so perfect? Cause those whack jobs at that church, or whateva they are, think your some kind angel or some shit. So why are you so much better than me? Cause so far I ain't seen shit tin man."

    The machine's smile disappeared for a moment before instantly reappearing again. "Sir I am not obliged to respond to that request. I am sorry for any inconvience sir." Karl raked his nails across the counter until his hands were balled up into fists. He narrowed his eyes into a glare and stared down the droid like a hawk.

    "What the fuck did you just say? I outta tear off your god damn face!" Before Karl had a chance to mutilate the emotionless machine Franz stepped in and covered his mouth. "Sorry about my colleague. He has a big mouth and a little brain. It's a bad combination." Franz quickly turned his attention back to the other. He glared into his soul as an irate mother would to her child. Karl just looked back at him in confusion as he tried to pull away the gloved hand. Franz whisper angrily into his ear so as not to alert the droid.

    "Are you a fucking idiot? You're picking a fight with a god damn droid! Do you not realize that's completely idiotic? You're making us look even more suspicious than necessary! You look like a fucking gangster with a half burned face, and I look like a punk with a hoodie on which makes us look even more like we're going to rob the store!"

    Franz's scolding did more than just get the point across. It left Karl half deaf after having his words bash against his defenseless eardrum. He nodded in agreement and threw up his hands in defeat. Karl had an obnoxious grin on as Franz let go of his face, leaving red finger marks in its place. Karl whipped out his credits and held it annoyingly close to Franz's face.

    It was a blue rectangular box with golden etchings. Without hesitation he aggressively snatched it away from its owner and handed it to the machine. The droid thanked him cheerfully and inserted it into another machine. It made a loud buzz before a chime and the mechanized clerk gratefully handed it back to him. Franz shoved it back into Karl's hand and exited the store with haste.

    Karl quickly caught up to him outside and latched onto him. He tried to shake him off only to have him grip his clothes tighter. "Come on baby. Don't be like that. You know I was only messin' around right?" Franz stopped in his tracks and stood still as a statue. Obviously confused he tried to peak a look at his face by trying to climb him and looking over his shoulder. Before he could look at anything however, he was thrown onto the hard concrete in front of him straight onto his back.

    He cringed and locked up in pain as the wind was knocked out of him with such shear force. When his vision cleared though, he could see Franz's demonic scowl aimed right towards him. He'd really fucked up this time apparently. Karl attempted a smile as an offer of piece but a boot slammed into his left shoulder instead. "You dumb sack of shit. You do realize you're worthless and a complete waste of my time right? If you had caused anything I'd be my ass on the line, not yours! You're nothing but a nuisance and I've had my fair share of you today. I deserve a metal for not killing you seven times over. The only reason you're alive is so you can go back to that fat fuck of a boss and tell him you've got a deal. Got it?"

    Karl nodded in agreement as he tried to keep Franz's boot from obliterating his shoulder. "You got it baby. Whateva you want! Just please don't break my shoulder again. I'd like to keep it if ya don't mind." Franz grinned fiendishly as he continued to bear down onto his shoulder. Karl groaned in pain as his shoulder was compressed beyond its normal ability. Franz however, was quite enjoying himself. For him it was like squashing an annoying little squirming bug.

    "Damn baby! Your gunna make my insurance go back up again! You know how expensive that shit is?" Franz rolled his eyes and pulled his foot away. This was getting boring. Plus his milk needed to be refrigerated. You're damn lucky Karl. He grabbed him off the ground and hoisted him up like a rag doll.

    He winced in pain as his shoulder was jostled around. "Damn baby. Why you bein' so nice? Figured you'd crush me like an ant. Is it cause you like me? Cause I know ya do baby. Who could resist all this?" Karl gestured to his body, pretending to be provocative. Both men chuckled slightly at Karl's not-so-sexy impression. "I'm pretty sure a lot of people could."

    Karl jokingly scoffed at his remark and trailed his fingers across Franz's jacket zipper. "Whateva baby. You know you don't have to do this job. But I know you'd be the best for it. It's why I came to you. The boss doesn't quite see eye to eye with me on this so I went and found you myself. I can always lie and say I never found you and we can forget about all of dis. It's up to you baby." Franz smiled slightly at his companion and lifted Karl's chin up gently so they were looking each other in the eye.

    "I'll do it. Not for the money or the thrill, but as payment. For my mistake." He ran his finger across the end of Karl's scarred lip, feeling the misshapen scar tissue. Karl slowly closed his eyes and smiled. He held his hand against Franz's before gently pushing it away. "You're too sweet baby. You're gunna give me diabetes." They bothed laughed before staring back at each other. "Forget about it baby. It's old news. I forgave you a while ago so you don't have to do such things for little old me. You know, since I'm such a stand-up guy and all."

    They both laughed softly before Karl's fist made friends with Franz's stomach. He lunged over as the fist pressed against his flesh straight into his muscle and organs. He held his stomach after, trying to regain his stature. "That's much more satisfying than bein' nice though. Sorry baby, guess I'm not such a stand-up guy after all." Franz looked back up at Karl with an aggressively joyful grin.

    He clocked Karl right into the same shoulder he tried to crush earlier. Karl whimpered in pain as he held his severely bruised arm, pleading for it not to fall off. Both men stood there trying to get over their ailment and stand up straight again. They both couldn't help but smirk at each other when they made eye contact. They both were wallowing in pain they inflicted on each other for fun. Any bystander would have thought these two as circus freaks had they seen their erratic behavior. One minute they're friends the next, they're going for each other's throats. Though for them this was normal.

    "Damn baby. You tryin' to break me in half today? Cause I think it's workin'." Franz laughed as he tried to fix his frazzled mohawk, his hair jetting out in random directions. Meanwhile Karl tried to tidy up his clearly lopsided coat. Franz began walking away until a hand quickly gripped his shoulder to stop his progression.

    "We ain't done here baby. We still gotta talk business." Franz didn't respond and continued walking, but Karl whirled around in front of him and stopped him again. "Whoa baby! Where you goin'? You said we got a deal. You ain't flakin' out on me are ya?" Franz just lifted up the milk jug to Karl's face with the condensed water dripping down the sides. "I've got to get home. Otherwise this whole hectic trip will have been for nothing." Karl laughed and patted him on the shoulder. He reached into his coat and pulled out a crisp white business card.

    He held it between his fingers and presented it to his friend. "Alright I get it. I'll get outta ya hair. Here's my new number. We'll talk business tomorrow 'kay baby. I'll pick up at let say...noon! And don't argue with me on this one alright? In the meantime enjoy your cow juice." Karl winked at him before the card was snatched away from his fingertips. "Alright. It's a date." Both men spoke their goodbyes before parting ways.

    Franz felt immediate relief once he was alone. He couldn't handle people for very long. To him it always felt like a worm digging into your brain trying to eat away what sanity he had left. He threw his hood back on his head to hide his disheveled hair.

    As he got back to his abysmal apartment complex he scanned his I.D. card on the door's scanner. A green light scanned across the card and made a Bing as the door slid open. He quickly made his way back to his room. He was at his front door when he heard something faint. It almost went unnoticed had it not been for the deathly silent corridor. At first he thought it was another one of the tenants talking to someone else.

    Then he heard it again, this time louder. It sounded like a faint whisper. Though after a few moments the hallway was silent again. Franz merely shrugged it off and opened his door. "Franz...protect your mother...don't leave me here alone..." He immediately whirled around to find nothing. Absolutely nothing. He looked around for someone or something. Still nothing.

    "Why Franz? Why didn't you stop them? Why..." This time he definitely heard something. And this time it came from a location. It was across the hall and two doors down from his room. The voice sounded like it came from inside the room. The strangest part was that no one lived there anymore and the room was in shambles, no thanks to their oh-so-loving slumlord. The apartment complex was now quiet and void of life. It was like time itself had stood still just to witness this very moment. He could feel a chill run up his spine, something which he hadn't felt in a very long time.

    He slowly inched forward to investigate, with each step the floor seemingly moaned in anticipation. As he got within five feet a large object slammed against the door and shook the door with extreme force. He immediately jumped back several feet, his heart in his throat. He looked around frantically for a sign of anyone. Someone should have heard that right? He couldn't have possibly just imagined that right? What in hell just happened?

    Though before he could even attempt to answer his own thoughts he heard crying. It was a woman's voice mostly likely. It came from behind the door again. Whoever it was, was balling their eyes out. It was the like a symphony of pure agony. It washed over him with a distinct familiarity. He could feel something itching inside his brain begging to get out. But what was it? Why did this seem so familiar?

    He attempted to reach the room again and as he got close the cries stopped. Everything stopped. As curiosity got the better of him he knocked on the door. No answer. He finally put his ear to the cold door and listened. He could hear nothing. He then tried to communicate and spoke a simple hello. Yet again no answer. He was about to walk away when he felt something beneath his shoe.

    When he looked down he notice red. A red fluid leaking from out beneath the door. This was blood. He could smell. Taste it even. The metallic aroma of freshly spilt blood is something one doesn't easily forget. Then what ever hit the door before hit it again but this time extreme force. He was surprised the door just hadn't buckled and fly from the frame. Now the previously whispering voice was at a full throttle scream as it verbally attacked him.

    "Don't you dare touch him! You stay away from us! You leave us alone. Leave us both the hell alone! Stop it you bastards! Keep away from him! Stay away from my baby!" Franz for once felt extreme fear. Though this wasn't normal fear. It was something different. It was fear of something familiar. Fear of something he already knew.

    He decided standing there and trying to understand the situation probably was going to do him any good. So he ran. He was raced back to him room and closed the door behind him without even thinking. He stood there pressed against the door, his hands shaking and his breath shallow. He slowly slid down the door to the ground with a thud.

    He couldn't comprehend what had just happened. It was surreal. Like a dream. Or more like a nightmare. He then started the laugh. A nervous confused laugh but a laugh none the less. What seriously just happened? Whatever it was, it was strange as hell. It was almost ridiculous. So ridiculous in fact, he began to laugh even harder. After a few minutes of his nervous breakdown laughing fit he calmed down. He felt sweaty. Way more sweaty than he cared for.

    So he grabbed the milk and finally threw it into his tiny fridge in his eve tinier kitchen, which was conveniently also part of his living room. One of the wonderful joys of living in a studio apartment in the bad side of town in the bad part of the neighborhood.

    He kept his flustered head inside the cool fridge for a moment before closing it. He quickly pulled of his gloves and hoodie and tossed them aside. He put his head in his hand and rubbed his eyes. What a day. It wasn't even dark out yet he felt unbelievably tired. He blamed Karl for everything. Even though didn't really do anything except get in the way like usual. He chuckled at that.

    He didn't expect to see him again. Though he was somewhat happy he did. Barely though. He slipped his white shirt off and wiped his face off on it before throwing it aside as well. He then removed the remainder of his clothing before slipped into bed. He needed sleep and he needed it badly. He couldn't stand to be awake another minute. Plus, he needed to save his energy for tomorrow anyway. He had a lot of work ahead of him and he wasn't quite a happy camper about it either.

    He wrapped himself in a blanket cocoon and buried his face in the pillow. Many thoughts raced through his head a million miles per hour but the only clear thought was to sleep. So his body did just that. His consciousness faded and his mind was pulled away into a world of his own creation. He was at peace, if only for now.

3: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Warmth. The soft touch of another person. Feeling the texture of their skin. A hand runs its fingers through his hair. With every touch signals flare and give off an indescribable feeling. The hand caresses his cheek, rubbing circles in his skin with its thumb. His body reacted to every sensation. It felt alive in a way he'd only imagined.

The hand flows across his lips, the very sensation brings pins and needles to his skin. Now there was a new sensation, but this time it was different. Something soft against his lips. It was completely foreign. He tried opening his eyes but all he could see was light.

Though he saw something in the distance. A vague figure. Was it a man or a woman? He couldn't tell. All he knew now was that the sensation dissipated and whatever was doing it was now gone. He felt empty now. Longing for that feeling once more. Now the figure came closer. He couldn't make out what it looked like no matter how hard he looked. All he could tell was that it seemed like it was male. Well most likely male anyway.

It came closer to him and reached out for him. He instinctively reached back but it seemed completely out of reach. The figure was now standing in front of him yet he still couldn't make out what it was. His eyes felt like they were burning from the light so he closed them tightly. The figure's hand caressed his face again. He felt the softness against his lips again. Except this time it did not go away, as if it was waiting for a reaction. So he decided he would give it one.

He pressed his lips against the warmth, feeling something he had never felt before. The simple touch of a man. Something he'd denied himself for far too long. Guilt started to wash over his body, taking all sensation hostage. He shouldn't be doing this. This was wrong. It was all wrong. This spat into the face of everything he stood for. He would not stand here and be corrupted. He had to get away.

The figure held onto him and held him close. It was mouthing words frantically, almost like it was yelling at him. Though he couldn't hear a single thing. His world fell silent a long time ago, he just didn't notice. The world was seemingly crumbling away to oblivion. As the figure dissipated it mouthed its last words. Open your eyes Franz. Don't be afraid.

In the distance he could hear something. It was a ringing. It got loader as it came closer. Soon it filled everything in his world. Everything shattered. A million pieces of shattered thoughts and feelings gone in an instant. This was goodbye. If only for now.

Franz jolted awake as a ringing filled his apartment. He lied there waiting for his brain and body to try and sync together again. The annoying ring repeated it's assault with a repetitive melody that pierced his very mind like a dagger. He turned to his night stand to see his phone going crazy with vibrations. He glared at it with all his might. He figured if he stared at it long enough it would explode with his mind. Sadly nothing came of it.

He gave in and grabbed the see-through blue cube. The call came from an unknown source but at this moment in time he could care less who it was. He pressed the screen and an image popped up on the screen. Oh great him again.

"Sup baby! Any particular reason you're naked and still in bed? Cause I thought we had a date man. You ain't flakin' out on me for a little sleep are ya baby?" He scoffed and pushed his hair out of his face. "I guess I forgot to set a timer on my phone. I didn't think I'd sleep that long. I'll be ready in a minute." There was a rapping at his front door which surprised him. Who the hell could that be?

Karl laughed and scratched his head. "Um...don't get mad but I'm kinda at your door. We kinda need to get goin' so..." Franz immediately ended the call and slammed his phone down on the night stand. That little brat! I can't believe he came to my apartment. He wrapped his blanket around his waist and quickly walked over to his door. He looked through the door's peephole and low and behold Karl was on the other side.

Karl looked back through the peephole which greatly distorted his face. "I know you're there baby. Don't try and pretend you're not looking at me. Cause I can feel your evil aura on the other side of the door." Karl gave another one of his childish smiles and backed away. Franz groaned and smack his head against the door. "You want in don't you? And I'm guessing you're not going to take no for an answer." Karl smirked and pushed his hair back. "You guess correct baby. Plus, I'd love to see your humble abode. It has that I-live-in-a-rat-infested-hell-hole kinda feel to it ya know?"

Franz ran his fingers through his hair and tried to keep himself calm. He was seriously going to kill this man one day. Reluctantly, he pressed the button and opened the door. On the other side was Karl with his usual cocky attitude. He was wearing a black suit with a white dress shirt that had thin green stripes underneath. Though of course such a nice suit was disheveled and messy when Karl wore it. "You gunna invite me in or what baby? Though I'm perfectly okay with you standing there half-naked in the doorway."

Franz gripped Karl's jacket and quickly pulled him inside. When the door closed behind him Karl was slammed and pinned against the wall. "What in the hell is wrong with you? What if someone followed you here? We're both on the police's naughty list if you haven't forgotten. This isn't exactly what I expected when you said you'd pick me up." Karl threw up his hands in peace and tensed up in case things got ugly. He was met with a flick to the forehead instead.

"Whatever you idiot." Karl stuck his tongue out at him and pushed him back. "You gunna get dressed or what? Or are ya just gunna run around with junk flyin' around?" Franz smiled slightly and walked over to his closet and opened it. "Would you kindly look away? I'd like to keep my dignity if you don't mind." Karl just nodded without thinking as he stared at Franz's body. "Whatever you say baby..." Franz snapped his fingers to get his attention and motioned to his eyes. "My eyes are up here Karl." Karl just waved him off and looked off somewhere else.

While Franz got dressed Karl casually strolled around his confining apartment. He didn't really have any decorations of any kind. It was almost like no one lived here. He felt a hand on his shoulder so he turned around. Franz was behind him with a nice suit on and with a red tie hanging around his neck. "Hey can you help me? I suck at this." Karl trailed his hands down the ends of the tie before grabbing it. He expertly tied it perfectly and fit it exactly around his neck.

"Feel okay baby? Not to toot my own horn here, but I am pretty good at this. I wear a lot of suits you know?" Franz shook his head slowly as he fixed stray hairs on Karl's head. He suddenly remembered his dream. This position they were in almost felt nostalgic. He then grabbed Karl's hand, much to his confusion, and pressed it against his face. He could feel it again. The same feeling he had before. The simple touch of a man. It was nice. He wasn't a man of pleasantries but for once this felt good.

Before Karl could even question though, Franz let go and threw on his suit jacket. "So where are we going?" Karl stood there for a second before shaking himself out of his daze. He point straight up into the air without a word. Franz stared at him a quizzical look on his face. "We're goin' up baby. If ya didn't figure that out already. The boss has got a new place up there and it's real nice, yeah. I'm sure you'll love it man." Franz felt the urge to question him but Karl clearly wanted to keep it a surprise. So instead they left his apartment without another word.

When they got outside they walked towards the downtown. The sky was extra grey and smoggy that day. People were out and walking around the pathetic excuse for a downtown. The people were even more of a pathetic excuse for living beings. Everyone who lived in Lowtown was poor. Dirt poor for that matter. The social hierarchy deemed them unfit for life up above. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Like it's always been. Like it always will be.

"Hey so ain't you curious baby? You ain't ever been up there have you?" Franz shook his head as he looked up the massive skyscraper that's top wasn't even visible. I guess when you run out of room to expand horizontally, you expand vertically.

They finally got to a large outside elevator next to a building entrance. There was a sign on the elevator that read: The Blooming Rose. Come and indulge your senses. Franz rolled his eyes and then stared down Karl. "What? It's not that big a deal is it? It's just a smoking lounge...and a strip bar...and a brothel." Franz glared at him even harder until Karl finally gave in as always. "Okay, okay fine! I know it's of your particular tastes but it's not like I choose the place baby. I would've taken you somewhere nice. Not a seemingly nice shit hole like this."

Franz lessened his glare and let his anger fade. It's not like it was his fault anyways. Karl whipped out an I.D. card and scanned it on the door. "V.I.P. baby. Only certain special people get in. People like me." Karl winked at him as they both got in. Though before the elevator door closed Franz punched Karl in the same shoulder he abused the day before. He let out a yelp and several curse words followed not far behind.

"What the fuck was that for man? It's not my fault!" Franz smirked as he kept his eyes forward, watching the world pass below them. "I know. That's just cause I like you." Karl turned away feeling suddenly flustered. He hated compliments. They always threw him off and made him uncomfortable.

As the elevator went up in the air the buildings below became less visible, mainly because of the murky smog. Though the world above was quite spectacular. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes he wouldn't have believed it existed. First of all the top of the city was clean. That in and of itself was a step up from Lowtown. Though what was amazing was that it was like a completely different world. Everyone looked so different. They all looked like they were wearing high fashion designer clothes with strange and also colorful hair. It was all so foreign. It was like an alien world above his own.

Though before he had any more time to observe this new culture the ping of the elevator rang and the doors opened on the opposite side. He reluctantly pulled himself away from the glass and followed Karl into an unnecessarily dark lounge. It was filled with cigarette smoke which obscured the lounge's patrons even more. Then again that wasn't such a bad thing since smoking non-electric cigarettes was made illegal. Though the people he got glimpses of weren't all that pleasant to look at anyway. He felt a little less curious knowing he wasn't missing much.

The lounge was separated into three different areas. One of them was a highly decorated hallway with trashy looking half-naked woman and sketchy looking men going in and out of the rooms. Obviously the nasty brothel area. How vulgar. Next was a larger area that was more segregated from the other two areas. It was filled with flashy lights and loud music. Inside was a large bar with almost no one at it. Towards the center were platforms with poles down the middle. Topless women swung around them and danced provocatively for the questionable looking men around them. To Franz this was a depraved place. It was sickening to look at and be around. He definitely wanted out as soon as humanly possible.

Karl pulled him towards a set of chairs in front of one of the larger platforms. They both sat down and sat there for a moment in silence. Though as if on cue Karl broke the silence. "Okay so I know you're probably insanely uncomfortable with this and such, but the boss will be with you shortly. We're actually kinda early ya know?" Franz glared at him which caused Karl to cower away. Uncomfortable didn't even begin to describe what he was feeling. There were so many new things. It was too much to take in at once.

He could feel it again. The tingle emanating from his body. It was that need. The need to protect himself from harm no matter the cost. It was also invigorating and titillating. He liked it but he also feared it. It was his greatest enemy yet also his greatest friend. It protected him and kept him from harm, but it also forced him away from others. Self-alienation for his and others safety. He sighed deeply as his thoughts ignited his mind. It wanted him to get away. His conciseness was on the verge of lapsing as he fought that feeling.

He could hear it again. That voice that never left his mind. Don't worry Franz. Mama will protect you. He shook his head, as if it would shake out the words. Before his mind could completely shatter away the tethers of morality he felt hand against his face. He turned to see Karl looking somewhat concerned.

"You alright baby? You look a little like your about to barf out your organs and such. You know I can take you out if here if you want. Maybe the boss could schedule you in some other time?" Franz felt a smile creep up on him. Little old selfish Karl was worried about him. Surprisingly that made him felt more in control. No Franz! Don't let him touch you! I won't let him hurt my baby! As if some unseen source took control Franz aggressively gripped Karl's wrist and wrenched it off. Karl made a pained face and nearly yelled out. Quickly realizing what he did he let go. Not again.

The closer anyone got to him the more violent he became. It was like his own personal curse. Karl held his wrist and tried to rub the pain away. He looked back at Franz with a hurt look on his face. He'd really hurt his feelings for once and not just his body. The guilt washed over Franz like a flood so he quickly got up and walked to the restroom.

Once he got in he instantly noticed the bathroom smelled putrid. The smell assaulted his nose with such sheer force he had to cover his face. Oh sweet God! What the hell died in here? Of course though he couldn't hardly see any detail because the bathroom was also unnecessarily dark. Either the boss was a cheap asshole or overly paranoid of being seen. Either way he had poor taste.

The bathroom door slowly slid open and Franz immediately hid behind a corner. Why he did he had no clue, but it seemed the most logical for some reason. "Hey baby you in here? Oh sweet Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! It smells like dead whore in here!" As Karl covered his mouth Franz grabbed him from behind and pulled him into his corner. Karl was about to scream until Franz's hand latched onto his face at a nearly inhuman speed.

"Be quiet you idiot! It's just me! Who did you think I was?" As soon as he let go of Karl's mouth he gasped for air, but as soon as he got a mouthful he coughed and covered his mouth again. "Sick! I can taste it! And why in the hell are you hangin' out in here man? It better not have been you who defiled the urination station like this. Otherwise you better get your sweet ass outta my face!" Franz just snickered and patted Karl on the shoulder, much to his annoyance.

"Urination station? And also it already smelled like a prolapsed asshole when I got in here. So you don't have to worry about my sweet ass." The last two words he decided to use as air quotes. Karl turned away looking flustered. Even in the dark he could tell Karl regretted his wording. "Whatever man. Let's get the hell outta here. I'm gunna puke any second. And if I do you're my target."

Both men then exited the horror scene of a bathroom and worked their way back to their chairs. Though this time a woman stood in front of the chairs, waiting for their return. She had perfect posture and stood with an almost arrogant poise. She obviously had a higher standard upbringing. She wore a sleeveless sheik dress with a deep brown undertone. She wore black heels and very expensive looking jewelry around her neck and wrists. Her hair was long and had a dark, almost black, brown color that was pushed over to the right side. All in all she looked like the kind of doll that was made for looking, not touching.

"Hello boys. Enjoy your bathroom break?" Karl smirked and looked at Franz from the corner of his eye. She scrunched her face and averted her eyes. "Never mind. Don't answer that. Just go on inside Franz. Those doors behind me lead to his office." Franz nodded and walked towards the double doors, but not before giving Karl a goodbye punch to the other shoulder. Karl obviously held his arm in pain yet again. "God dammit! Now I can't feel both my arms!" Franz chuckled to himself at Karl's pain. Karl was just too much damn fun.

He opened the large double doors and noticed a short hallway leading to another set. In the hallway were paintings of random men he'd never seen before illuminated with artificial light. As he walked down the hall he could smell the aroma of cigarette smoke emanating from the room. He slowly opened the doors to a large dark red office. The room was filling with cigarette smoke from the large man at the opposite end of the room.

"Ah! Franz! So nice to see you again my boy. Come! Have a seat." The rotund man gestured to a couch across from the couch he was lounging on. Franz cautiously walked over and sat down. Though he only sat on the edge in an uncomfortable looking posture. "Relax my boy. We're just talking here. No need to feel afraid." Franz blankly looked back at the man, hiding his contempt deep inside. He was a large round man in a dark green pinstripe suit. A cigarette sat in between his lips.

"I'm not afraid. I'm just staying alert in case you try and kill me again. If that's the case, I'm more than willing to slit your throat fat man." The man sat there for a moment before bursting out in laughter. "You've got quite the tongue on you boy! That's why I love you!" The man continued his boisterous laugh much to Franz's annoyance. This sack of shit is making fun of me. I'm three seconds away from reaching over there and ringing your fat little neck! Before Franz could strangle the man he suddenly stopped laughing. It surprised him but he soon regained his composure.

"Okay I know you don't like me. Or any of us for that matter. But I would like you to lend me your services once more. You see I've come into a bit of...trouble. And I need you to get rid of that trouble. I'll make it worth your while of course." Franz glared at him as the man sat there with a look of self-righteous confidence. "After what you guys did you thought I'd come crawling back didn't you? You think you have the balls to ask me to help your sorry ass? Why the fuck should I even give you a second thought? What do you have that I could ever want?"

The man laughed softly to himself, his stomach shaking as he did. "Oh my boy. You're pretty damn funny you know that? Cause if I were guessin' I'd think you were a comedian or somethin'. See we need to come to an understanding here. I don't like you, you don't like me. But we both have something the other wants. You've got the skills to take out this man, you see. And I've got someone you wouldn't want to see hurt. Well dead actually."

Franz just scoffed and rolled his eyes at him. "And who the hell would that be Mr. Von Blut?" Von Blut laughed a little at the negative use of him name. It was kind of like a child who was mad at their parent. "See I've got Karl. I love the boy like he was my own son. Hell I wish he was! But sometimes sacrifices need to be made in order for everyone to be a-okay. You understand me boy?" Franz continued to glare at him. He hated when people talked down to him while threatening him. "What the fuck would I want with Karl? You can have his worthless ass! He's more pain than he's worth!" Yet again Von Blut burst out in laughter. He face turned beet red as he chuckled.

"My boy you really are funny!" It took him a few minutes to completely calm down and stop his laughing fit. He soon wore his usual smug grin and interlaced his fingers together. "You're a terrible liar, anyone tell you that? I see the way you look at him. There's somethin' goin' on between you two. Call it a father's intuition. I can see more than you think I can. See I don't care if you like bumpin' uglies with other men. Nothing like that. See all I care about is if you care if I blow the brains out of his pretty little head. And I know you do, whether you'll admit it or not."

God fucking dammit. He hated to admit it but Von Blut was right. Karl annoyed him but he didn't hate him. He's one of the few people he thought didn't deserve to die. Especially not this way. After all he was doing this for Karl anyway. He just didn't want to tell anyone that's why. He huffed and slouched over. Looks like he had no choice. He rubbed his eyes and looked back up towards Von Blut.

"Alright fat man. You've got yourself a deal. But if I find out you hurt him in any way I'll have your head." Von Blut boisterously laughed again and slapped his leg. "I knew it! The Lowtown Devil has a heart after all!" He laughed heartily for several more minutes before becoming serious again.

"Good choice son. Nice to know you'll be on our side on this one. But just to make sure... I've got somethin' all little extra to further convince you." Von Blut took a file that sat next to him and plopped it down on the coffee table that sat between them. Part of the contents fell out and a picture of a man was among them. This was no picture of some random person he'd never met. It was someone he'd never forget. His mind pulsed with distant memories that haunted him. He was one of those men that were there that day. He'd never forget his face, ever.

Franz slammed his fist against the table and shook it violently. "God dammit!" He clenched his fists deeply, his nails biting into his flesh. "What do you want me to do?" Von Blut smiled in triumph and leaned back into his seat.

"See this guy is a real pain in my ass. It's a long story but I know you don't care about that. He's got a lot of highly trained guards that killed all my men I sent after him. And I knew that the only person who could possibly get close to him would be you. Plus, a little birdie told me that you know this guy. I don't care how or why. All I care about is if you tear this asshole apart. I want him and his guards dead as a door nail, understand?" Franz nodded as he took the file in his hands and flipped through it. Everything he could possibly know about him was there. But all he wanted to know was where he'd be and when.

"He'll be at his own little club tomorrow if you wanted to know. Get in and get out. That's all I'm askin' for." Franz nodded again and got up without a word. Though before he left the room he turned his head back to take another look at Von Blut. "This is the last thing I'll do for you. After this it's over you got that?" Von Blut chuckled slightly and waved him away. "Don't worry about it my boy. I've got better things to deal with than you. I don't wanna see your ugly mug around here more than necessary you got me?" Franz scoffed at him and left immediately.

When he got back to the strip club he saw Karl and that woman he saw earlier chatting. She pulled out a cigarette and put it between her dark red lips. She seemed to be looking for something when Karl tapped her on the shoulder. He motioned her closer and they pressed the ends of their cigarettes together. His being already lit caught hers aflame too. They pulled apart and puffed out a tuft of grey smoke from their mouths. Franz just shook his head and walked towards them. Apparently everyone smokes in here. The fumes were starting to get to his head.

Once they noticed his presence the woman got up and greeted him again. "I'm guessing it went well since you came back out alive. I'll uh... leave you two to chat. Have a nice day dear." The woman quickly walked away back through the double doors. Though she glanced back at Karl for a moment and smiled before she went inside. Karl smiled back cheerfully and waved. His smile quickly faded when he notice Franz's glare directed towards him.

"What in the hell was that?" Karl nervously shrugged and made a mumbled sound. Franz grunted and plopped down in the chair next to him. "Care to elaborate? Or are you just going to sit there and look like an idiot?" Karl groaned and slumped his shoulders. There was no way he could ever hide anything from him. Ever. "Alright, alright! It's just that me and her are friends and all. She was talking to me about some recent...drama. I figured I'd let her confide in me since I'm so great and all. We've know each other for a long time so it's not anything unusual. So you see, we were just talkin'. No need to get you feathers all ruffled up. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were jealous baby."

Karl gave Franz a playful nudge with his elbow which he didn't react to. He kept nudging him but Franz still didn't react. He was about to give up when Franz finally spoke up. "I want you to be more careful from now on. You could be in danger. Just watch your back okay?" He turned to Karl and looked at him sternly. He said what he meant and he meant what he said.

Karl sat there for a moment before smiling back and nodding in compliance. "Sure will baby. It ain't the first time. I'll keep in touch. You know, to make sure that you keep that head of yours attached." Franz smirked back before rising out of his seat. He fixed his suit so it was back in alignment again. Karl got up too and put his hands in his pockets while he waited.

"So what did the boss say? You still gunna get this guy?" Franz nodded silently as he adjusted his tie. Karl huffed and fluidly grabbed his tie and put it back into place. "Looks like we've got another date huh baby? This outta be fun." Franz gently pulled Karl's hands away as he looked at him dead center in the eyes.

"Fun is not the first word to come to mind. This will be dangerous. I want you to stay out of the way. Can you do that?" Karl scoffed and turned his head away. Franz reflexively grabbed the sides of his head and directed him back to his line of vision. "Can you do that Karl?" This time his voice was much more firm and stern. Karl lowered his eyes for a moment before looking back at him.

"Sure baby. Whatever you say." Franz finally smiled and brushed the stray hairs on Karl's face. They both stood there with each other almost forgetting their surroundings, though after a few moments they broke apart. "I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow. And next time, don't come to my apartment alright?" Karl just laughed and waved him away. "Yeah, yeah! I getcha! See you around baby." Karl snapped his fingers at him before walking off. That man was seriously ridiculous. Though he'd never admit it out loud but in a way he really liked that about him.

Franz stopped his train of though and shook his head. Now's not the time for that. Shit was about to get serious real fast and if he wasn't prepared he'd lose. He didn't waste time hanging around the deplorable strip club any longer. He got on the elevator and headed for Lowtown. He needed time to think before tomorrow. This wasn't just some regular job. This was personal. This was something he'd been looking forward to for a very long time. And there was no way anyone was going to get between him and his pray. That man was going to suffer and Franz was going to make sure he enjoyed every last minute of it.

4: Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As the elevator door creaked close Franz noticed something outside. The sky above was a dark and distorted amalgamation of grey. The clouds swirled and danced across the gloomy sky. This must be a storm. He'd never seen a storm before. It was beautiful yet somehow sad. It was like the sky was melancholy. Maybe it was because the world below it had set itself on fire. The world it had watched over for a millennium was self-destructing before its eyes and there was nothing it could do about it. So all it could do was cry.

The rained poured from the clouds at an angle straight into the building. The water splashed against the glass on the elevator and spread in every direction. Franz placed his hand against the cold glass that separated him and the rest of the world. The sky seemed to understand him better than anyone else.

The elevator slipped past the top of the city and gradually reached the bottom. It came to a jolting stop and the door swung open. The rain was pouring heavily upon Lowtown and drenching unsuspecting citizens. This city and its people did need a deep cleaning though. He did wish, however, that he'd brought an umbrella. The A.I. in his apartment more than likely warned him but like usual he ignored it.

He walked out into the chilled rain as it cascaded down him like a waterfall. His suit soon became soaked as he stood there motionless with his jumbled up mind. Like always he was stuck with thoughts and contradicting emotions, not knowing what to do with any of it.

His hair lay flat across his forehead. When he moved the wet strands from his eyes he saw something on the edge of his line of sight. He turned to look and noticed a person in a hooded cloak standing outside a store. It stood there motionless until the door flew open. A middle aged man with an obvious bald spot reached out and grabbed the person aggressively. "We don't serve your kind here! Now get outta here and quite staring through the window!"

The elderly man shook the person and was about to smack it when Franz intervened. "Hey! You've done enough!" The man scoffed and threw the person to the ground with a thud and slammed the door. The person lied there leaning on its elbows. Franz's curiosity was piqued so he went to investigate.

Before he could get close enough to see who it was they scrambled to stand up. They stood there in a defensive posture waiting for something to happen. When nothing did it relaxed and stood straight again.

"I was going to ask you if you need help getting up but clearly you've got that handled." He turned away and began strolling away when something caught his wrist. He expected to feel a hand but all he could feel something hard and cold. When he turned he saw the figure holding onto him with its head bowed trying to obscure its face.

When did it get this close? It somehow got instantly close to him and latched on. He decided that he'd had enough and wretched his wrist away. The figure cowered away slightly at his aggression and held its hands in front of its face to shield itself. Though they weren't quite hands. No, they were something entirely different.

Its hands were made of metal. The hands looked skeletal with the tendons and joints blending effortlessly together. The fingers narrowed down to a point and gave it the true skeletal figure. It was like an organic machine.

"Please sir. I just wanted to thank you for your earlier hospitality. Please don't hurt me." Its voice was soft and effeminate but gave no real clue to its gender or if it was human. Franz stared at it with childlike curiosity. Was it a synthetic or human? He grabbed its hand carefully and looked at it. Initially it panicked and tried to pull its hand back, but soon it realized that he was merely observing it.

"That's just my hand sir. Do you really find it interesting?" Franz didn't break his eye contact from the hand and grabbed the other one. It was the same. Both hands were synthetic arms unlike anything he'd seen before. The figure suddenly panicked again and slid its hands away.

"You're a thief aren't you? You want to take my arms!" Franz was not going to let this specimen go. He wanted to see who or what it was. "Please sir, I don't want any trouble. Please don't kill me." Franz held his hands up and smiled slightly hoping it would understand he meant no harm. "Don't worry. I'm not a thief or anything like that. Your arms just intrigue me is all. Where did you get them?"

The figure looked at its hands and then back at him. It turned to an alleyway and motioned for Franz to follow it. When they were halfway down the alley it abruptly stopped and turned around. Franz tensed for a moment until he relaxed but stayed alert. Who knows what this thing could do.

The figure wrapped it hands around the edges of the hood and yanked it back to show its face. It was a young adolescent boy with freckles, light brown hair, and large brown eyes. Any other person in the world would have thought of him as adorable. Not Franz. He was an impenetrable wall of emotionlessness that could care less.

"So, you're a human. I figured you were a synthie." The boy's eyes got even larger as he quickly shook his head side to side. "No, no, no, no sir! I'm a human. Well part human anyway." Franz cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. What was that supposed to mean? How can you only be part human?

"What do you mean part human? Are you saying you're a cyborg? I thought cyborgs were for military use only." The boy blushed nervously and played with his fingers. "I-I'm just a...a member of the church. T-They help everyone. I'm not special or anything..." The boy looked at the ground as he trailed off. The church huh? I guess that makes sense.

Franz spoke up with unusual loudness which startled the boy. "So you're part of the Church of the Machines then, right? Those guys are complete wack jobs. You should stay away from them if you know what's good for you." The boy immediately became angry and balled his hands into fists. "How dare you! They help people like me! People with no jobs, no family, and nowhere to go! My arms and legs were damaged in the car accident that killed my parents. I was crippled because no hospital would take me in. But they helped me! They took me in when no one else would and replaced my arms and legs!"

After his rant he huffed and gasped for air. He'd never yelled so hard in his whole short life. Franz however started to laugh. No one had ever verbally assaulted him like that and it was a kid no less. The boy looked confused and walked up closer to him. "What's so funny? You making fun of me?" When he stopped laughing he patted the boy on the head.

"You improved my mood kid. By the way the name is Franz." The boy nodded and put his hood back on. "I'm Charles but everyone calls me Charlie." Franz smiled and held out his hand. The boy gripped his hand with a vice grip and shook. The bones in Franz's hand felt like they were going to snap under the pressure. Damn this kid was strong!

"Nice to meet you Mr. Franz!" Charlie looked truly grateful and happy. The boy told him all about how the church helped put him back together. At first he said he was confused and upset, but then felt truly happy to get a second chance at life, though that new found life had a price.

There was a social stigma attached with getting upgrades. People thought it was unnatural and blasphemous to modify your body. The Church of Machines thought it would herald a new future for mankind. But with such backlash the Church became more aggressive in its approach. They were accused of brain washing and indoctrination. And with all the poor people in Lowtown without a credit to their name, they became easily sucked into the church with its promises of a greater future.

This boy standing in front of him was no different. He was a product of his environment and was doomed to a life of solitude from the rest of society. This boy reminded him a lot of himself. All alone as a child with no one to truly guide him.

Charlie then suddenly stopped and looked around him frantically in every direction. "Oh no! Mother Patrice is coming! She wants me to come home. You can't be seen with me! She doesn't like outsiders!" Franz held onto the kid's shoulders to try and keep his frantic body in place. "Hey calm down kid. How bad could this lady be? I'm pretty sure I can handle myself. Plus, how do you even know she's coming?"

Charlie suddenly frozen in his hands with his stare locked onto something behind him. He followed the boy's gazed to the opening of the alleyway. There was another cloaked figure standing in the rain. Its cloak was different though. It was blue with gold trimmings and metal adorning it. To him though, it just looked gaudy.

It finally spoke up in a soft almost hushed voice. "Charlie. It's time to go home. There's no more time to play with your friend." Its hand slid out of the sleeve and reached out to Charlie. The fingers were the same as the boy's except the synthetic parts stopped at the knuckle instead. The blur between metal and flesh was even greater. Charlie hesitantly held onto its outstretched hand. It began backing away with the boy until Franz finally spoke up.

"Wait! Where the hell are you taking him?" The figure stopped and stared back at him. It brought up its other hand and rhythmically tapped its fingers softly against its chin. "And who might you be?" Franz glared at the dark figure and stepped forward. "I don't gotta tell you shit. Tell me where you're taking him." Charlie shook his head silently, hoping Franz would stop. The figure laughed softly and pulled its hood back.

A flash of bright red fell from the dark hood. It was a red headed woman with long wet hair stuck to her face. She had a black vertical line tattoo across both her eyes with two horizontal lines underneath each eye. The irises in each of her eyes where pure white unlike anything he'd seen before. There was a black circle on her forehead with six evenly spaced triangles around it, but the middle ones on the top and bottom were longer.

She smiled at him with such kindness that it almost overshadowed her earlier creepiness. "I am Mother Patrice. I am here to escort one of my children back to the church's orphanage. I mean him no harm." Franz continued to glare at her. He could see through her facade. This woman bothered him deeply. Something was amiss.

"So you're part of that church right? Those people who spout their dogma in the streets trying to convert every man down on his luck in Lowtown. Well convert is too kind of a word. More like indoctrinate. I can't believe you'd do this to children. You guys are some sick fucks you know that?" The ends of the woman's lips curled higher in excitement. She was interested now.

"We're the sick ones? This world is the one that is sick. We are curing this world from the tyrannical flesh that controls us. We will be free from monsters like you. Isn't that right Franz?" He frozen in place as the words echoed in his mind. How did she know his name? Did she hear him earlier? The woman laughed and threw her hood back up.

"I'll be seeing you around. Destiny awaits us both." With her last words she grabbed the child and instantly whirled around the corner. Franz went after her but by the time got to the corner she was already gone. Damn she was fast. The only sounds audible were the drops of rain hitting the ground and running off the buildings.

He stood in the rain contemplating his encounter. Who was that woman? What did she know about him? He looked down at the waterlogged ground covered in filthy brown water. He stared at his murky reflection that shifted around with the barrage of rain drops hitting it. That woman was right. He didn't even know himself anymore. He promised himself he'd never kill again. That he'd be the better man if he did. But he was a monster through and through. There was no redemption waiting for him. Von Blut knew that too.

He knew he couldn't refuse this prey. The temptation was too great. This man deserved to die, and he was going to make sure he understood why. No matter how much of a monster he thought he was, he'd never be an abomination like him.

Franz slammed his fist against the wall, causing chips to fly off. It was getting hard to control again. He could feel it in his soul, eating away at him little by little. He rubbed his fingers in circles on his temples and tried to calm himself down. He needed to go home and mentally prepare himself. He spotted a nearby underground train station and went inside. The inside was filthy and covered with graffiti beyond all comparison. He was hesitant to even touch any surface, let alone breathe the air.

Grungy and surly looking people sat on benches and hung out in the darkened corners. This wasn't cliché at all. He walked over to a rusted rectangular machine and whipped out his credit chip. He jammed it into a slot and it rang before making a high pitched chime.

"Thank you for your purchase! Enjoy your services by Titan Transit!" Franz rolled his eyes and tore out the chip. Titan Corp. apparently owns everything. He never actually used the subway in Lowtown before. He wasn't really expecting some wonderland amusement park ride anyways. Hell, he wasn't even expecting the train to be remotely sanitary.

Franz pushed his way through the rotating security bars, the rust making it resistant against him. When he finally lunged through he stumbled out, catching the attention of other patrons. A couple of them laughed before Franz shot a ferocious glared at them. They quickly stopped and turned away to hide their guilty faces. He brushed himself off and leaned up against a pillar, waiting for the train.

He closed his eyes and rested silently. His tense muscles relaxed as his body went slightly limp. Franz...are you going to punish him? Make him suffer? Make him bleed? Watch him die? Will you enjoy it? He snapped his eyes open and looked around. His eyes quickly darted in every possible direction within his line of sight. When he spotted nothing out of the ordinary he relaxed again. It was just another one of those again.

Franz sighed and rubbed his eyes. He had a long day and he needed to go home and relax. A distant sound of a horn ricocheted against the walls alerting every one of its presence. The brakes squealed as the train darted across the tracks causing gusts of air to blow ancient garbage across the floor. The doors creaked open and people squeezed their bodies inside like worms.

He patiently waited until they sufficiently wiggled inside and got on. The door slid shut right behind him and caught his suit jacket in the door. Today just wasn't his day. He yanked his jacket out of the door when the train lurched forward, sending him toppling backwards onto someone else.

When he peeled himself off the other person he instantly recognized them. It was his next door neighbor that he always scared half to death. From the looks of it, he did it again. "Holy fuck! What are you doing here?" He scrambled to get him off of himself but Franz grabbed his jacket lightly and pulled him close. "You better shut the hell up before I rip that god damn tongue outta your head child!" His mouth slammed shut and he stood there frozen like a Popsicle. That was more like it.

"Good to know that you're obedient." Franz smiled fiendishly and patted him on the forehead. He looked down at the dusty metal seat and plopped down with a huff. He rested his arms on the backside of the seat and stretched his back. I should probably exercise more. Though Karl is my punching bag so I guess that counts in some way. As he was thinking to himself he looked back over to his neighbor Tim. He was still standing there trying not to make a peep or any sudden movements. Franz laughed inwardly at him. He was such a good pet.

When the train finally reached his destination it abruptly stopped and everyone lurched forward. He quickly hopped off the train, noticing Tim wasn't getting off. He wondered if he it was because of him, or maybe he had business elsewhere? He shook the thought from his head, deeming it unnecessary. What the hell did it matter to him anyway?

He made his way back to his less than welcoming neighborhood and went inside his apartment complex. When he got up to his floor through the stairwell he heard voices coming from one of the rooms. From the sounds of it, it was two people arguing. He noticed it came from the room directly across from his. He had scoured his mind for memories of who lived there. Then he remembered it was the old couple Mr. and Mrs. Alabaster.

They argued from time to time, and every time it was loud as hell. He had no idea that old people could yell like that, then again it was mostly Mr. Alabaster that did the yelling. He was a crotchety old bastard who always got what he wanted. He was just waiting for him to die so he'd finally shut the hell up.

When Franz got to his door the door behind him flew open, causing his hair the flip around his head. "Fuck you, you old bitch! You're just trying to poison me!" Since the hall way was so narrow Franz blocked almost all the hallway with his body. The old stout man with crazy grey hair forcibly pushed him out of his way. "Move you little faggot!" He stormed off down the hallway into the stairwell, stomping the entire way like a child. Well that was certainly a show.

Franz felt a light touch on his forearm causing him to turn around. There was a short and old grey haired woman with a large welcoming smile on her face. She spoke softly and kindly with warmth that you felt inside. "Hello dear. It's so nice to see you again. I'm sorry about Harold. He just gets a little...grumpy when he doesn't get his regular treats when he wants them. Any who! How are you?" Franz smiled back at her and held his hand to her small frail one.

"I'm good. I just had a business meeting with my boss. Turns out I'm working tomorrow." Mrs. Alabaster beamed with joy and scurried off into her apartment. "So that's why you look so dashing today! I figured it was something special. Oh! I just baked some lemon bars. I figured you might want to try one dearie. And don't worry, they're not poisoned."

She shuffled back to the door with a tray full of yellow blobs. Her cooking was horrific looking but always tuned out delicious beyond comparison. He plucked one off of the tray and shoved it into his mouth whole. He gave her thumbs-up to signify that it was good. She beamed with joy at his praise. She didn't need much to make her feel happy.

Franz tried to escape to his room but Mrs. Alabaster caught him. "Oh! Just before you go dear, I was wondering. Who was that man at your house today? You know the one with long hair?" Franz inwardly clenched in anger but kept his facade perfect. "Oh that's just Karl. He's an idiot." She giggled at his comment and patted him on his arm and walked halfway back into her apartment. "He's quite cute dear. You got yourself a good one." She winked at him and closed the door before he could respond. Franz felt flustered and quickly went into his room. It wasn't like that. Karl was a worthless piece of shit that occasionally made good target practice. That was all.

Franz pulled off his jacket and tossed it on his bed. He loosened his tie as he walked over to his closet. He stood there hesitantly before putting his thumb onto the scanner. A green light flashed beneath his finger and made a ping. The door then slid open completely revealing its contents.

Inside there was a long black leather trench coat hanging in the middle of the closet. There were two dark red boots at the bottom perfectly centered beneath the coat. Two dark red shoulder-length leather gloves hung to the left of the coat. Finally, a large black duffel bag sat to the right, clearly filled to the brim with something.

He gripped the bag with one hand and pulled it out but had to quickly grab it with both because of the weight. He plopped it onto his bed which shook the bed with a rippling creak. He unzipped the bag and pulled out a dense rolled up medical tool set. He unrolled it revealing a large set of several silver medical instruments. He slowly slid out a handheld bone-saw and held it close to his face for observation.

His fingers caressed the serrated edges lightly across the length of the blade. This one was his favorite. He sucked in air deeply and closed his eyes before breathing out slowly. This always relaxed him. It also stirred up something deep within his core. It gave him butterflies and filled him with excitement. Oh how he longed for his beautiful work to be done again, to etch his art upon the infinite canvas of the human body.

His body felt sensitive as the excitement flowed throughout his very being. In his carelessness of the moment he accidentally caught the tip of his finger on one of the edges. Red blood dripped out from his wound and fell upon the sheets. He gazed upon the crimson fluid he'd come to love. Nothing else made sense to him in this world except his. This was all he knew. His niche in the world was not to contribute to human survival, but rather the opposite.

He didn't belong with the humans. He never did and never will. But this gave him purpose. This was truth that no other human could possibly give him. He looked closely at his wound and watched himself bleed. He stuck out his tongue and slowly slid it across his finger, savoring the taste. It had been awhile since he saw himself bleed. It was exciting.

He slid the blade back into the tool set. He couldn't get too excited yet. The fun hadn't yet begun. He sadly had to wait his turn, but he was patient. He'd waited eighteen years for his revenge. He could wait one more day. Franz pulled off his tie and removed his shirt. He ran his fingers across the various scars on his chest. His body had been marked by countless others though some of these were by his own hand. He just wanted to watch himself bleed. It made him feel real again.

When you pretend to be human like people expect, you sometimes lose yourself somewhere along the line. This was to reassert his existence and his purpose. Though his purpose was unclear at times, the fact that he felt he had one was enough to exist. He would never be a meat puppet like the rest. They simply live and all they do is take. Beings without reason serve no purpose in this world. It was his purpose to ride the world of them. And he'd do it one person at a time.

5: Chapter 5

Chapter 5

    The dark apartment was deathly quiet as Franz slept. He was almost wasn't visible under the copious mounds of blankets. He looked almost like a corpse wrapped in sheets. The only sure sign of life was his rhythmic fall and rise of his breath. He shifted slightly in his sleep every so often. The muscles in his face would twitch, suggesting facial expressions. He eventually shifted over onto his side, leaving his bare back exposed. The skin had long laceration and bullet hole scars running down the length of his back. The scars were like art etched upon the canvas of his skin, each telling a different interesting story.

    When the sun hit his eyes he finally rolled back over onto his back and yawned. His hands rubbed the crust and tears away from his tired eyes. He had slept hard like a rock last night. It didn't help that last night Franz felt anxious like a child on Christmas. Today would be the end of this eighteen yearlong charade. He'd finally get the last one on his list. It would all end here.

    Franz sat up and stretched his body with a groan. He popped his neck causing the bones to crack loudly. A sigh of relief escaped his lips afterwards. The sound of the room's AI spoke up seemingly out of nowhere. "Sir. Would you like to watch the news? There seems to be more breaking news today." Franz rolled his eyes. Wasn't there breaking news every day? Well whatever, he could go for some TV for a change. "Sure computer. On." With a flash of light a holographic screen popped up on his foot board at the end of his bed. There was black smoke and a building engulfed in flame. The police were wearing white head to toe armor, and holding assault weapons aimed at a figure in the smoke filled building.

    "This morning there was an attack on an office building in Lowtown. Many were injured by the initial assault by multiple attackers. It is believed to be orchestrated by the infamous criminal, dubbed Slaughter Girl, who is known for her random acts of violence and terrorism. It seems there were multiple bombs placed around the building that were detonated around the same time. After the initial attack the woman and her affiliates started their assault on the civilians inside. It seems they have taken several hostages and are threatening to detonate the rest of the building if people don't comply with their demands. More information comes to us now by our reporter John White at the scene. Over to you John."

    Franz rubbed his eyes and groaned. He'd given up on humanity long ago. He made his way into the bathroom, ignoring the news broadcasters. The light popped on instantly, but not without flickering once or twice before fully coming on. As he looked into the mirror he shuffled his erratic blonde hair trying to tame it. When his hair didn't comply he decided to give up. It's not like he was trying to impress anyone anyways.

    When he was done in the bathroom he worked his way over to the kitchen counter. Instead of being a true kitchen it was more like a couple of feet of tile with a various kitchen appliances. He popped opened the moderately cold fridge and scanned its contents. He quickly spotted a brown cube which he snatched up immediately and threw it into the microwave. The microwave only went for several seconds before stopping. When he opened it up a brown muffin sat in the middle of the box steaming hot.

    He sat down on his bed with his lips covering the baked good ready to devour it when his phone began vibrating loudly. He groaned and grabbed the cube and held it to his face. Why did he always call so damn early? He was seriously going to block his number. Or kill him. Whichever one came first. Reluctantly he answered it and his oh-so-joyful companion popped up on screen. "Hiya baby! Just calling to make sure we're still up for that date tonight." Franz just glared back at the holographic image, imaging Karl dying painfully. "What do you think dipshit? Of course I am! Why the hell would I change my mind now?" Karl laughed at him, much to his annoyance.

    "You just gotta love that good morning attitude! So anyways I see you're enjoying yourself a muffin there baby." Franz closed his eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath trying to keep his calm. "So what's it to you? You never fail at always interrupting my mornings. Can't I enjoy this time to myself for once?" Karl snickered at him and turned away. "Whateva baby. I never knew you liked muffins is all. Didn't figure you as a muffin kind of guy. Thought you were more of a meat kind of guy." Karl ended his sentence with a smug look plastered on his face. Franz felt somewhat confused at his response. "Uh...I don't really like meat. Plus what does my breakfast preferences have to do with anything?" Karl kept his devious smile as he turned away.

    "Just a shame is all. You don't know what you're missing out on baby." This time Karl winked at him suggesting something Franz obviously wasn't getting. "Uh...I don't think we're having the same conversation here." Karl just laughed and waved goodbye. "See you tonight baby." He winked before the called ended. Franz still felt confused afterwards. He just pushed Karl out of his mind and went about his daily routine. Karl was just an idiot and whatever he had to say was either useless or in poor taste.

    After his daily cleansing ritual he slipped on some civilian clothes and stood in front of his closet. There awaited his artistic medium. The very tools he used to carve endless shapes into the tainted human form. With this he'd show them what they really were. Monsters. Monsters that deserved punishment for their sins against the world. And today he'd finally make her proud. He’d give her the vengeance she so rightfully deserved. He'd finally end her suffering.

    He stood there for a good long while before he inhaled and opened the door slowly. The light inside popped on showcasing his possessions like trophies. Franz exhaled deeply as he caressed his leather jacket between his fingers. The worn leather purred as it crinkled beneath his hand. How he wished she could see the work he'd done. She'd light up with joy and hug her little boy. He had brought justice to all those who hurt her. She could finally be at peace. He yanked his jacket off of the hanger and held it close. Don't worry Franz. Mama will protect you.

    He gripped the dark leather tightly with his fingers interwoven between leather and his flesh. This jacket brought back so many memories. All of which were painful. He could feel tears start to well up in his dry eyes. He tried hard to hold back but the floodgates of emotion stormed out of him with extreme force. It had been so long since he felt himself cry. The hot tears streamed like rivers down his face. Before he knew it foreign words escaped his lips. Words he'd wanted to say out loud for so long. "Don't worry Mama. Franz will protect you..."

    The dark sky loomed over the forlorn city. The forsaken land was covered in lights as far as the eye could see. Not just any lights though. Lights that sold you a night you wouldn't soon forget, or get rid of without some sort of ointment. The town's infamous red light district. Even though most of Lowtown basically was all one big red light district, this area was special. People around here liked to call it the Alley of the Scarlet Harlot. What a fitting name to a place such as this. It was all one long street filled with nothing but brothels and strip joints. There was so much crime here the police didn’t even bother with trying to control it all. So now this place was nothing more than a haven for crime and depravity.

    Franz was leaned against a sad excuse for a building illuminated with red flashing lights. There were large windows on the front of the building showcasing their employees, or what they were commonly known as, whores. Though the girls in the windows were holographic and were set to repeat every two minutes. He'd seen that woman grab her ass the same way more than he needed to. He pulled up his hoodie over his head trying to obscure his face. He didn't really want to be seen or even noticed for that matter. He just wanted Karl to finally get here already. It's not like he needed him to pull this off, but Von Blut wanted him along for the ride to ensure everything was "A-okay".

    A crackle of light flashed high above the sky and several seconds later the boom echoed. Not long after it began to rain. Soon Franz was watching rain-soaked people walk past him, looking at the places around them out of the corner on their eyes. Because obviously they were just passing through and so happened to glance at the brothel and go inside for shits and giggles. What truly pathetic people.

    As Franz stood there brooding over the people he saw in the streets his phone began to buzz. It was obvious who it was. He whipped it out and flipped the rectangle down together into a cube shape. Karl's hologram so popped up with several other unknown women. They were scantily clad and fawning over him like a predator would play with its prey. They were playing with his hair and rubbing his shoulders trying to be sensual and playful. In the background he could hear one of the girls asking who Karl's cute friend was, but Karl just hushed her so he could hear. "Hey baby! I uh...got a little side tracked. Ya mind if we meet up latter? I've got some... business to take care of." Franz felt anger build up inside him like never before. He nearly crushed the phone but instead left stress cracks in its wake.

    "Where the fuck are you? Tell me now!" Karl looked drawn back at his vehement response. He scratched his head before nervously responding back. "Uh...the Red Curtain? Why?" Franz looked up at the sign of the building he was leaning up against. It read 'The Red Curtain' in big bold red letters. "I'll be there." Karl tried to talk but was cut off when Franz flipped his phone back up and shoved it in his pocket.

    When he went inside he immediately noticed it was dimly lit and smelled quite unfavorable. Half-naked women walked around entertaining their customers, which were mainly greasy looking overweight men. After scanning through all the depravity he eventually found Karl with four woman fawning over him. Though Karl wasn't even paying any attention to them. His gaze was somewhere else. When he followed it, it went straight over to a rotund man with two women. He had a big bushy black mustache and slight goatee underneath. Soon he realized who he was looking at it. It was his target. Franz's heart skipped a beat but soon started to beat hard with adrenaline. It took every ounce of willpower to not charge at him and choke the fat bastard out. He decided to go great that little bastard Karl first. For some reason that rage became his overriding factor. He didn't like seeing Karl covered with whores.

    Franz approached quietly without Karl taking notice. One of the girls tapped him on his shoulder to get his attention. When he turned around he nearly flew off of the couch at the sight of Franz. "W-What the fuck? T-This isn't w-what it looks likes baby!" Franz gripped Karl by his suit jacket and pulled him close. "It kind of looks like you're covered in women and not helping me with my job. Or do I need to beat that idea into your stupid little melty head?" Franz's venomous words sunk deep and left him in a puddle in his arms. "P-Please calm down baby. I was helpin' ya, I promise. I was doin' reconnaissance and such. Just sit down and let me explain."

    Franz glared at him, then the women, then back at him again. He begrudgingly sat down next to him with a woman eagerly sitting down next to him. "You saw that guy over there right? Earlier when I was waitin' for you I saw him go in here. I figured I'd follow him. It's not like he knows who I am. So I figured what the hell? I guess he's just stoppin' here before ha heads back over to his own strip joint. So I figured if I'm gunna tail him I couldn't look suspicious. So I paid these lovely ladies to sit around me so I fit in and such. I figured hiddin' in tits was pretty good idea." Franz just glared back at him with suspicion. "Are you sure it's okay to be saying all this around them?" Karl just waved him off and acted as if he had everything handled.

    "Duh! Otherwise I wouldn't be sayin' this shit. I'm not that dumb baby. I go here all the time. Some of my friends like to go here for parties and such. So I know these girls pretty well, ya know?" Franz glare intensified as he grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him up from the couch. "We're leaving. Now." One of the blonde girls blew a kiss to Karl goodbye which he graciously accepted, making Franz push him forward even harder.

    When they got outside he let him go rather forcefully, causing Karl to stumble a couple of feet. "What the hell is your problem baby? I thought I was doin' good?" Franz grabbed him by the collar and held him against the wall. He held him face-to-face and narrowed his gaze. "You think that was good? Do you realize we're wasting time? We're not here to watch him and mingle with whores. Where here to fucking kill this guy! Do I have to repeat that to you every twelve seconds or did it finally sink into that thick skull or yours? Because I'm more than willing to break it open so it can! You fucking understand?" Karl nodded back at him quietly with minor fear and surprise in his eyes. After several seconds without a verbal response Franz grew irate and let him go in a huff.

    He stood there for a second before punching the wall behind him causing pieces of it to crumble off. Karl jumped back slightly in shock at his aggression. He hadn't seen him this angry for a while. Franz rubbed his eyes and ran his hands through his hair trying to collect himself. "Look...I'm...I'm sorry. It's just that when I saw him I...it made me remember okay. You know how hard it was to contain that rage? I wanted to disembowl that man while he was still alive. I wanted to watch him bleed."

    Franz held his body close to the wall trying to contain himself. It was like a bug in his brain trying to eat its way out. All the fear, the rage, and the pain he felt for so long was boiling up to the point of no return. His hands clawed and the brick, tearing away piece after piece. Kill him Franz! Tear him apart! Make him suffer for Mommy! Make him feel the pain I felt! Make him know what he has done! Out of the cloudy corner of his eye he saw her. Every time it was never clear but she was always there watching him. No matter what. Her beautiful blonde hair was unmistakable. Her red dress flowed with the wind like it was dancing to a silent song. When he turned to look she was gone. Like always she disappeared. Then again maybe she was never there to begin with.

    As he stared off into the distance and hand wormed its way onto his shoulder. He turned back to see Karl's worried face. Though he only looked half worried because he couldn't fully articulate the rest of his face. Franz smirked at him and gently pushed his hand off. "Don't worry. I'm not going to go berserk. If I was you'd already be dead." Karl gave him a playful look like always and responded flirtatiously. "Oh I'd love to see that baby. Would it be slow and painful? Or quick and painless?"

    Karl slowly trailed his hand up Franz's chest up to his neck where he slid his spindly fingers around the back of his neck. "I'd want it to be nice and slow. So we could watch each other as you die. I'd want to be the last thing you see. I think I’d choke you death. It's classier that way if you ask me." Karl couldn't help but give a little chuckle as his smile grew wider. "Oh I love it when you talk dirty baby." Franz pushed the long stray hairs on Karl's face back to their original place. He couldn't stand it when his hair was so messy. "Enough pleasantries for now. We've got work to do." Karl rolled his eyes and let go of him. He was obviously disappointed but knew what he had to do. "Fine, fine! We'll do it your way. Which by the way, sucks. You're no fun you know that?" Franz just laugh at him and started to walk off. Like always Karl had to chase after him. This was almost starting to become a running gag between these two. Franz never waited and Karl was never far behind.

    When they arrived at their destination Franz stopped abruptly. The place they were looking for was a part of another larger building it was inside of. The top wasn't visible like always but the flashing lights gave the location away. The infamous strip joint, and a not-so-secret brothel, called Down in Mexico. They were known for having a wide array of Latina women who would do anything for you, for the right price of course. Franz of course was disgusted as always by it. He was getting pretty damn sick of seeing twat parades everywhere he went. People have obviously lost their dignity and self-respect a long time ago.

    As he grumbled to himself he felt a sharp elbow dig into his ribs. "Hey! So how are planin' on pullin' this shit off? Are we gonna be ninjas or go in guns a blazin'?" Franz frowned at him and responded rather nonchalantly. "You're staying here. I don't need you causing me anymore problems. Plus I don't want you to..." He stopped mid-sentence and turned his attention away. His expression twisted into worry, clearly showing his inner dilemma. "I got it, I got it. I'll be your look out and such. I was hopin' for a little action but this works too. You can have your fun baby."

    They both walked around to the rear of the building and stopped at the employee entrance. Franz wrenched open a green dumpster and pulled out a large black duffle bag. He fished around in his pocket for a thick black rectangle with a red light at the top. He handed it to his colleague who hesitantly accepted it. "Uh, what is this? I don't have to shove this up my ass or anything right?" Franz stared back at him deadpan before responding. "As I was going to say, this is an EMP Disrupter. It'll disrupt any signals coming from and going to other technology within your area. Like cameras and phones for example. Even nanomachines become useless around this. As long as that red light is on you're no longer on the grid. Keep this with you at all times alright? It'll help keep us from getting caught on recording devices. Any questions?"

    Karl stuffed the device into his pants pocket and straightened out his jacket before responding back. "Yeah I got one. Where the hell did you get this? 'Cause I'm sure the syndicate would love-" Franz snapped at him and cut him off without hesitation. "You cannot tell anyone about these. Especially not the syndicate. I got them from a special source and I'd like to keep it that way." Karl shrugged defeated and backed off. "Well whateva baby. Have fun wrestling with your demons, though personally I like to snuggle with mine. I'll be waitin' out in the car if ya need me. I'll just sit there and whack off the whole time apparently." Karl turned around and walked down the graffitied alleyway mumbling to himself.

    Franz turned his attention away from his brooding colleague to the falsely extravagant nightclub. He took a deep breath before calmly entering numbers into the door's keypad. He'd made sure to do his homework and study up on the blueprints of this place. He knew this whole place inside and out. It never hurt to be prepared. He snaked his way inside without so much as leaving a trace. No one would have ever known that a blood-crazed revenge-driven psychopath was preparing an evening no one would soon forget.

    Inside of the dark room bright pink and green lights flashed through the open doorways closed curtain. Techno music was blasted loudly throughout the room making it hard to hear anything from the outside. The room itself was circular with a stage and pole in the middle. There was a large leather curved couch curling around the center stage. On the stage there was a topless brunette woman dancing around the pole, shaking her exposed breasts at her private customer. Her customer was a man in a black suit with shades sitting on the respective couch rubbing his groin. He had straight black hair that was combed to the side, giving him a professional look. He himself looked no more than his late twenties.

    "Oh you're looking hot baby. I wouldn't mind tearing up that ass." The woman licked her lips seductively making him shift in his seat. "I guess it's time for your special treat honey. I'll be right back. Prepare yourself." She winked at him before walking behind another curtain, making sure to sway her hips in an exaggerated manner. The man quickly fumbled around trying to tear off his pants. When he finally got them around his ankles he sat there fully exposed. "Come on and get your sweet ass out here baby. Let's get this shit started."

    A moment later a silhouette stood behind the curtain without movement. "Hey is that you? You ready or what? I don't have time to waste here. I’ve got to get back to the boss." The figure slowly inched forward still hidden by shadows. It didn’t take long for the man to realize it was not his girl but someone else much larger. In one swift movement the figure raised its arm and a pain instantly shot into his groin. Before he even realized it a large throwing knife was stabbed all the way through his penis, pinning him to the couch. He screamed bloody murder and reached for his gun in his pants. Another sharp pain jolted through his arm as his hand was pinned to the couch with another knife. Crimson blood oozed out across the leather couch with the man on top of it writhing in pain and fear.

    The figure casually strode into the light revealing itself. It was Franz dressed up in his distinctive killing gear. He wore his long black double-breasted trench coat with his long red shoulder length gloves on top. His leather pants and dirty red boots reflected the colorful fluorescent lighting. Finally he wore a white surgical mask covering his face with a woman's smiling red lips on the front. It almost looked as if it were him smiling.

    The man tried to pull out the knife in his hand but Franz ripped his arm away and held onto his mouth tightly. "Hey there little butterfly. It looks like you've got your wings caught in a web." Franz's voice was provocative and livid but violent and animalistic at the same time. He lifted his hand away from the man's trembling face and caressed it gently as if he were a small animal. The man screamed out a question before Franz covered his mouth again. "What the fuck do you want from me?!" Franz smiled with his eyes fiendishly and grabbed the knife that was embedded in the man's groin. "If you want to keep your filthy dick I suggest you give me some answers. Got it?" The man nodded his head quickly, the sweat dripping from his head profoundly.

    Franz gripped the knife that was in the man's penis and pushed it down slightly. The man screamed into Franz's hand as the blood seeped out of his wound. "Question number one. What's the code to the security system? And don't even think about lying. Because if you do, I'll have to tear out your pretty little innards and shove them down your pretty little mouth and choke you. Got it?" The man nodded again while he continued to sweat profusely. Franz slowly lifted his hand from his mouth, checking to see if he'd scream. "I-It's o-one, f-f-four, ei-ight, and s-six." After his answer Franz gently caressed the man's face and ran his finger across his lips.

    "What a good boy. Now for question number two. What is the emergency access code to your boss' elevator? And I know you know this one." The crying man took in a deep quivering breath before continuing. "I-It's n-n-nine, two-o, t-three, e-e-eight. P-Please d-don't kill me." Franz smiled at him with glee and leaned in close to his ear. He could feel Franz's breathe spray from his mask across his neck and down his spine as he spoke in a hushed voice. "Who told you I wasn't? I said you could keep your dick, not your life." In a flash Franz tore out the knife from the man's penis and shoved it through his open mouth. The man's blood curling screams were muffled as the blade sunk through to the back of his head. His eyes rolled back as the life slowly slid away.

    As Franz stood back to admire his work he took a much needed breathe. It had been awhile and he felt ecstatic about his newest kill. He took the knife from the man's hand and yanked it out. He'd decorate this shit hole of a strip joint with the dangly bits of its patrons, and it would be a masterpiece. After a few moments of admiration he heard footsteps from outside the room. From the sounds of it, it was a fairly large person. Hopefully they would give him the challenge he so desired.

    "Hey man! You done getting your rocks off in here or what? Boss says he's ready to go now." The colorful beaded doorway parted to reveal a large and bald dark skinned man in a suit not unlike his colleague. "Hey you in here or what?" He squinted as he searched the dark room with flashing lights. As he aimlessly wandered the room he bumped into something and nearly fell over. When he recovered from stumbling around he noticed red on his hand. Upon further inspection he realized it was blood. He felt the hair raise up on the back of his neck as he turned to what he'd bumped in to. It was the bloody corpse of his friend with the knife still embedded within his head.

    The man made a strange yelp as he fell onto his backside and started to crawl away. "S-Shit man! Someone killed Danny!" After a few seconds he realized he had a gun holstered in his coat. As he reached in he heard a scuffle of feet on the floor. He whipped his head around trying to find the source. His hand trembled as he pulled out the gun in his jacket. He'd never felt so much fear at one time before. He couldn't speak, yet alone defend himself. As he got up he held out his shaking gun in his still trembling hand. "W-Who the fuck's there? C-Come o-out man! Face me!" His words of bravery were all for naught. The man was quaking like a leaf. There was no way he'd be able to face what was coming to him.

    As he slowly walked forward a figure quickly moved towards him from the shadows. In one quick movement a knife met with his wrist and his hand was quickly severed. The severed hand still held the gun as it fell down to the ground. It took the man a second to realize what had happened before he held his arm and screamed in agony as his crimson blood sprayed from his wound. Franz then quickly grabbed him from behind and plunged his blade deeply into his neck. "You're no fun at all are you?" He then immediately sliced the blade through his throat, completely splitting it open. He gurgled up some blood as his blood oozed out of his neck wound. The man fumbled around for a moment making gurgling sounds before eventually falling to the ground dead.

    Franz watched his image in the blood that pooled around the man's body. It was like starring into a bloody mirror. This reminded him of that night. The night his whole world went away. Franz clenched his fist as his memories tormented him. Tonight would end it all. That man would finally be punished for what he has done. He immediately sheathed his blade inside his coat and made his way to the central room. Inside were many guards armed to the teeth in front of the VIP elevator. It was the only way up to the executive suite. The only way through would be to slaughter every last one of them. So he hid within the shadows, moving quietly without a single sound. None of the guards seemed to notice his presence.

    Once he got to the security room door he entered the password with quick precision to avoid detection. Inside was a single man dozing off as he watched the many monitors. Some of which seemed to be monitoring the women's dressing rooms. Franz couldn't help but inwardly scoff. It doesn't get any sleazier than that. As he crept up behind the man and without any hesitation he pulled his head back and slit open his throat. The man flailed for moment in his chair as copious amount of blood sprayed across the computer screens until he eventually bled out.

    Once that was finished he accessed he wiped the blood from the screen and accessed the security mainframe. Thankfully the man he was after was paranoid and put lockdown security measures in every place he owned. The downside to this was that it was only useful if what is trying to kill you is on the outside. He proceeded to activate the security locks on all the doors and windows. The metal shutters sealed the place down completely blocking all exits and entrances. He then shut off the power to main corridor, leaving everyone in the dark. Everyone was sealed inside with him, and no one was getting out.

    A few moments later the back-up power came on and the red emergency lights activated. The guards looked around in confusion as the warning lights flashed across the room. The whole place was now on lock down. Now it was nothing more than the devil's playground. "Hey! Who the fuck turned out the lights?" As the guards spout out question to each other the half-naked brunette woman slowly shuffled out of the private room covered in blood. The blood of course, was not her own. Slowly one by one the guards noticed the shaking bloody woman. In her eyes was nothing more than pure terror.

    Her lips trembled as she mumbled out incoherent words. "I-I-I-I... s-s-saw..." Not long after her stuttering she collapsed to her knees and began to scream bloody murder. Her cries chilled everyone to the bone. As she wailed she finally yelled out actual words they could understand. "They're all fucking dead!" As she shouted out her last words she crumbled to the ground in a heap. Three guards quickly ran towards her to inspect her. Two of them got down to check her to see if she was still alive. The third guard just slowly backed away from her blood covered body. "N-No way man! Someone's fucking in here! They're coming to fucking get us man!" One of the guards on the ground yelled back at him in frustration. However, the yelling didn't seem to calm his nerves.

    As he backed away a red gloved hand slithered from the shadows and wrapped itself around his mouth. In the blink of an eye the guard was snatched away into the darkness. "Hey Marcus! Get the medical kit!" The guard on the ground turned back around to notice the man was gone. Instead there was only the sounds of muffled screams and bone being broken. As both men turned around a spherical object rolled out from the dark towards them. When it only a few feet away they noticed what it was. It was Marcus' bloody head with its face still twisted in agony. Slowly a dark figure crept from the shadows clutching the arm of a corpse it was dragging behind.

    Franz's blood splattered face shown in the red emergency lights. "You wanna play too? I promise it'll be fun..." His voice was laced heavily with malicious intent as his words slithered from his mouth. Both men panicked and blindly shot in Franz's direction. The light flared from their automatic guns as bullet after bullet was shot. After several moments they finally stopped to see their damage. Nothing but the headless corpse with an unnecessary amount of bullet holes could be seen. “Where the fuck did he go man?” After minute or so one of the guards decided to investigate and hesitantly walked over to the body.

    When he turned around the other guy shrugged his shoulders and urged him to continue looking. As soon as he turned back to the body he heard a loud thud on the ground behind him. His head quickly snapped back to see his colleague with multiple knives embedded into his back. Fear jolted through his entire body in an instant. Out of instinct he bolted forward to get away as fast as possible. Only once was he fully facing forward did he notice Franz standing in front of him. The man impaled himself onto Franz’s knife that he held in his hand from the sheer force of his running.  He didn’t even realize it until the large knife was all the way inside his stomach. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth as he let out strange unintelligible words of pain. Even though Franz was wearing a mask the man could tell he was smiling behind it. "Looks like you did my job for me. I guess I should thank you for that." Franz wrapped his palm around the man’s face and pushed him forward off his knife. When he hit the floor he was already dead. “You boys are no fun. Oh well…”

    In the next room of the night club eight guards held fast with their guns aimed at the door. One of the men in front was a young redheaded man shaking like a leaf. "Shit man. I think they're dead. You don't think that anyone will be able to get in right?" The older man next to him smacked him in the back of the head and yelled right into his ear. "You dipshit! The only way in is through that door. There's no way he'll get in without being torn to shit by us." The redheaded man nervously nodded and looked back at the open doorway. As they all starred forward, behind them a figured slid down from the ceiling behind them like a snake. "Hello boys! It looks like you’re expecting an army. Sorry to disappoint you but it’s just little old me." All eight men immediately whirled around, with their gun flashlights pointed in Franz direction.

    As soon as he was illuminated by their lights he quickly tossed several knives at them before they could react. Two of the guards were both impaled with several knives each. Before they even fell to the ground the remaining six opened fire through them and into his direction. Once their torn up bodies hit the ground they noticed Franz had already vanished. In their momentary confusion he blindsided them by coming at them at from the side. Before anyone could react Franz had already torn through two more men. Limbs and intestines fell to the ground as he swiftly moved through the crowd and back into the darkness.

    The remaining four whirled around in frantic confusing trying to figure out where he’d strike next. Franz’s red gloved hand slithered out of the darkness behind one of the guards with a knife in hand ready to strike. In a flash he stabbed the man in front of him in the chest from behind and pulled him towards his body to use as a human shield. Next he grabbed the man's hand and used his gun to open fire on two others from behind. The bullets tore through their bodies as if they were made of wet tissue paper. Their bullet ridden bodies crumbled to the ground in a bloody heap. The remaining guard was the young redheaded man who frantically looked around after he lost sight of his assailant.

    In one swift movement Franz kicked the man's feet out from under him and stabbed him in the stomach, slamming him to the ground. The man gurgled up blood as Franz wedged the knife deeper into his stomach. "Please... don't..." Franz narrowed his eyes and dragged the knife across the man's stomach, causing his intestines to spill out. He pulled out his knife as he watch his victim fumbling around trying to gather his intestines. Franz continued to glare at the dying man. All he felt was contempt for the piece of trash that lied before him. He was practically asking to be disemboweled. So he decided to end his life swiftly so he didn't have to keep watching him writhe around in pain. He grabbed the man by his hair to pull him forward and plunged his knife through his eye and into his brain. The pained expression on his face quickly relaxed with death.

    He let go of his head and let it smack down into the blood covered floor. He looked around the room at the bodies. It was a beautiful sight indeed. All that was left was their boss. No doubt he had armed guards with him in his suite as well. Those seemed to be the guys Von Blut was worried about. He hoped that they’d pose a good challenge. These others were just small fry. When he looked at the elevator he notice there was a hand print signature need to access it. Since he wasn't in their system he'd have to do the next best thing. He hacked off the head guard's hand and pressed in against the access pad to turn it on. He then proceeded to put in the emergency access code to get the elevator back online. A monotone computer voice rang up as soon as the elevator opened. "Welcome Mr. Greenvale. Please wait as you ascend to the executive suite."

    The elevator ascended a dozen floors before finally reaching its destination. At the executive suite what awaited him wasn't a fancy wine and cheese party. It was six heavily armed synthetic soldiers with their sights set on the arriving elevator. Their bodies were covered in white government issued body armor and helmets with obscured visors. With no emotion or feeling they could mow down anyone without a moment's hesitation. They could take orders and fulfill them without mercy. In short, they were killing machines. Once the elevator arrived it opened to reveal nothing inside. The synthetics didn't move nor did they change their line of sight. Slowly they eventually began systematically moving towards the empty doorway. They all immediately stopped once a round blue object fell from the elevator's ceiling, rolling out towards them.

    The object immediately exploded into a cloud of foggy gas that obscured their vision. Franz then fell from the elevator ceiling and pulled out his 9mm handgun. Guns weren't quite his style, but he kept one on him in case the situation got to be a little too much to handle. The soldiers proceeded to shoot at him in random directions due to their accuracy being off because of the gas. Franz however, was able to get several shots in since he wasn’t a machine that relied on an automated targeting system. As he hit one of the synthetics its white artificial blood sprayed out from its wounds. The machine failed to even notice and continued its assault. Once he was close enough he kicked the gun from its hands, and shoved the barrel of his gun underneath its jaw. He shot repeatedly through its jaw out through its head. Because the helmet wasn’t bullet-proof on the inside the visor subsequently shattered, revealing its grey skeletal face. When the other machines noticed him, he used the destroyed machine as a shield for the barrage of bullets. He was eventually able to drop the body and hide behind a pillar to catch his breath.

     These machines really were something. He was lucky he was even able to take out one. Eventually the barrage of bullets stopped and a familiar voice sounded in the room. "I bet you thought it was going to be easy, didn't you?" That voice left a rock in the pit of his stomach. It was him. Franz peeked out from behind his bullet-torn pillar to take a good long look. What he saw was a smug looking, tan, pot-bellied man with a saucy looking mustache. He stood leaning against the railing on the floor above him. "For a second there, yeah, I kinda did." Franz almost couldn't help a smile. Almost. This man was Guillermo Estabez. He ran the biggest weapons smuggling business this side of Lowtown. If you could call it a business that is. He'd laundered countless I.D. guns used by private police force and even the military. This guy was a real rags to riches story. Not that he deserves any praise for it though.

    "So my little assassin friend, why are you here? I know you're not just here to brutalize my men. As fun as that may be. So I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you're here to kill me, no?" After a full minute of no response Guillermo quickly grew irate and slammed his fist against the rail. "If you don't say anything I'm going to have to kill you. Well actually, I was going to kill you anyways, but at least you'll get to say something before you die." In a flash one of Franz's knives hit the wall next to Guillermo's head, causing a small cut on his face. After a moment of realization he grabbed his face and reeled back. "If I was here to simply assassinate you, I would have done it already. No, I'm here for vengeance. I'm going to slowly cut you apart inch by bloody inch. That knife just now was just a taste of what's to come. You're going to wish you'd never fucked with the Last Kiss Killer."

    Guillermo's eyes widened significantly at Franz's last words. In this part of town, all the drug lords, money launderers, and weapons dealers feared that name. All the biggest crime lords and assassins all came to a bitter end at the hands of the Last Kiss Killer. And Guillermo always feared that someday he'd come for him too. "What the fucking hell?! You're telling me you're the fucking LKK?! Shit man! Fucking shit man!" Guillermo looked visibly horrified. His very own nightmare had come true. All his old friends were dead and he was next. In desperation he yelled orders at the synthetics to take out Franz as he tried to override the security system at his desk. The machines did as they were told and continued to blast away at the chewed up pillar. After several moments they abruptly stopped their assault. Franz took the time to cough up some dust he'd inhaled from the broken pillar. When he looked behind the shattered pillar he noticed one the synthetics tossing something from its hand. He then heard the sound of metal hitting the floor and rolling next to him. Quickly he realized it had thrown a grenade.

    In one swift movement he kicked the grenade back at them and shot it in mid-flight causing it to detonate and blast the synthetics back in all directions. Several of the machines lied there in pieces while several others were only minimally damaged. It didn’t take long for the remaining three synthetics to recover and to continue their assault. As Franz hid behind one of the pillars one of the machines punched through the pillar and grabbed ahold of his throat. It grip was too strong to pry off so he did the next best thing. He plunged one of his knives deep through its arm. It was enough to make it let go and to pin it down. He flipped it the bird as he pulled the pin from one its grenades around its waist. The synthetic flailed around to try and pry itself loose. Once it got the knife out of the pillar the grenade detonated, destroying both it and the pillar.

    Chunks of shrapnel flew in all directions and scattered across the room. In the momentary distraction from the explosion Franz was able to quickly sneak behind the machines. He grabbed a broken metal rob from the destroyed pillar off the floor and plunged it through the machine’s spine and out the torso. White synthetic blood sprayed out as the machine held onto the protruding rod. The other machine next to it quickly noticed and turned to attack. Before it could fire its weapon Franz pushed the impaled synthetic towards it and stabbed it with the same pole. The force was enough to slammed both synthetics to the floor and pin them together. Franz kicked the gun from the remaining one’s hand and pinned its arm down with his boot. He narrowed his eyes and slammed his boot through its visor. He repeatedly smashed his boot against its head until its visor shattered. White blood oozed from its head as it looked back at him with cold lifeless eyes.

    He never liked killing synthetics. They didn’t fear death nor did they feel any pain. There was no satisfaction in what he did. With one final kick of his boot he caved in its face and killed it. "Are you done hiding behind your worthless machines? Because I'm coming for you, you fat sac of shit." Franz could hear a shuffling of feet on the floor above him moving around frantically. "No use hiding. I'm going to get you no matter what. I know two hundred different ways to capture you alive. All of which are incredibly painful. For you that is."

    He ran up the stairway he saw Guillermo run into his panic room. The doorway was made of large reinforced steel and was sealed shut tighter than a bank vault. From the small open window in the door he could see Guillermo’s smug face. Soon there were face to face with only a foot of glass between them. “You think you can get in here? There ain’t a chance in hell you could get in here. Besame el culo!” The rotund man laughed boisterously in his steel plated room. He laughed so hard he had to wipe the tears from his eyes. After a minute or so he notice Franz continued to stand there at stare at him.

    “What are you looking at niño? You ain’t getting in.” Franz continued to say nothing and removed his mask and tucked it into his pocket. His face was blank and emotionless as he looked back up at Guillermo. “Do you recognize me?” Guillermo scoffed at him and chuckled slightly, not knowing if he was being serious. “Why the fuck would I know? All I know is that you killed my friends. Who’s hiring you to kill me, huh?” Franz continued to say nothing and unbuttoned his jacket. He pulled out his rolled up medical bag and sat it on the desk behind him.

    He pulled out a syringe with a long thin needle and poked it into a small bottle filled with green liquid. Once it was filled he gave it a couple of squirts to make sure it didn’t have air bubbles. “What are you going to do with that pendejo?” When Franz turned around he smiled fiendishly and licked his lips like a predator. It unsettled Guillermo in more ways than one and he backed away from the door. Franz looked at the access pad and back at Guillermo and smiled again. Out of nowhere he smashed his fist through the pad and tore out the electronic door lock.

    Everything has a weakness. Including large steel plated doors. Guillermo began to scream once he realized he had actually trapped himself. As soon as the door opened Franz lunged at him like a wild cat and tackled him to the ground. He was strong enough to hold Franz’s hands back so he couldn’t plunge the needle into his neck. Soon Franz started to overpower him and the needle inched closer and closer. Guillermo was sweating profusely and Franz was perfectly calm. The ends of his lips curled up into his characteristic demonic smile as he stared Guillermo down. He reeled his head back and slammed his head against Guillermo’s. He loosened his grip in his daze which allowed Franz to finally insert the needle. Soon his vision became cloudy and his body became numb. Not long after he could feel himself slip into unconsciousness.

    He jolted awake as soon as he felt a hand smacked him square across the face. Several bright fluorescent lamps above him blinded him. He was confused and groggy from whatever had been in that needle. “Wakey wakey eggs and bakey.” He soon felt another hand smack across his face. This time he was fully jolted awake. “Ce pasa ce cono? Where am I?” A dark figure loomed over him and cocked its head like an animal. Only when they leaned in closer did he remember who it was. Franz smiled and gently pet his face. “Ready to talk fatty? Or do I need to slap you gain.” Guillermo glared at him and tried to move. His body didn’t respond and he felt completely paralyzed.

    “There’s no need to struggle. I’ve already drugged you. You won’t be able to move but luckily you get to feel all the pain.” Franz pushed the lights out of the way so he could clearly see what was going on. He was naked and his hands and feet were bound to his own wooden desk he was lying upon. Franz slowly trailed one of his knives down Guillermo’s hairy stomach.

    “Let me tell you a little story. Once there was a beautiful woman who lived in an old abandoned castle. She lived there with her one and only son. She hid there with him to shield him from the monsters that lurked in the world. But one day those monsters found her and stormed her castle. She hid her child away in the hopes that they would only take her and spare his life. When the monsters got to the top of the tower they attacked and killed her. They thought it was funny and left her lifeless body for all to see. Her son was so devastated that he vowed vengeance on the monsters that killed her. So he trained day and night to become strong enough to slay them. When he grew up he slayed them all and avenged her wrongful death. His mother’s soul could finally be laid to rest and he became a hero to all.”

    Guillermo rolled his and scoffed at his story. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Do I look seven to you estupido?” Without hesitation Franz punched him in the face and scrambled his vision. He was seeing double as he tried to stay conscious. “How about I be fucking clear to you then you fat fucking cunt sucker! You fucking raped and murdered my goddamn mother! You and your fucking friends ganged up on her! And I had to watch the whole fucking thing! Does that clear your goddamn fucking memory?” Guillermo chuckled slightly as he spit up some blood. “You’ve gotta be more specific pendejo.” This time Franz couldn’t control himself and punched him repeatedly. He broke his nose, split his eyebrow, and knocked out a few teeth along the way.

    “She was blonde! She wore a red dress the day you killed her! Eighteen years ago!” Guillermo chuckled again and this time spit out a few teeth. “I have no clue who you’re talking about. Eighteen years ago was a long time pendejo. Maybe you should get over it.” Franz balled up his fists in rage and immediately grabbed his knife off the table. He didn’t hesitate to slice off a few of Guillermo’s fingers. He howled in pain and as he continued to cough up more blood. “Fuck! What the fuck did you do?!” Franz punched him square across the jaw which shut him up fairly quickly.

    “You destroyed my life you worthless sac of shit. And don’t even fucking remember what you did. Now you’re going to wish you were fucking dead. I’m going to make you suffer as my mother and I have suffered.” Franz grabbed and put on his white medical apron which already had several blood stains already on it. He popped his neck before riffling through his tool kit. He pulled out his favorite toy, his bone saw. Guillermo’s eyes widened as Franz examined his large serrated blade. “We’re going to play the Which Body Part Don’t I Need game. I’ll go first.” Guillermo began to scream as Franz began sawing at his ankle. Blood oozed out profusely as the blade tore easily through the flesh and ligaments. Eventually he sawed his way through the bone and completely severed the foot.

    Tears and blood stained Guillermo’s face as he lied there in overwhelming pain. Franz playfully wiggled Guillermo’s foot in front of his face then tossed it to the side. “Now it’s your turn. Which part don’t you need?” Guillermo made unintelligible words as his eyes flutter open and shut. It didn’t take long for Franz to grow impatient. He sliced off another one of Guillermo’s fingers which made him howl in pain yet again.

    “I asked you a fucking question! What part don’t you need?” Guillermo’s chest heaved up and down quickly as he mumbled something unintelligible again. This time Franz leaned in closer to hear. Guillermo spit blood at his face and hit him squared in the cheek. He chuckled slightly as Franz wiped the blood off in disgust. “Okay then. I’ll go again since you’re so generous to give up your turn.” This time he grabbed Guillermo’s hand with the missing fingers and began sawing it off at the wrist.

    Franz whistled a tune happily as he joyfully sawed off the hand. Guillermo continued to scream, much to Franz’s annoyance. He stopped to slap him in the face to shut him up. “Can’t you see I’m working here? The nerve of some people.” He continued to saw off the hand and Guillermo started to scream again. Franz rolled his eyes and yanked the hand off, tearing the muscle and ligament still attached. Guillermo gave one final cry of pain before breaking down in tears. Franz tossed the hand away as if it was garbage.

    “Quit being such a cry baby. It’s just one hand. It’s not like you don’t have another one.” This time Guillermo final said something back to him. “P-Please… I-I’m sorry f-f-for w-what I did.” Guillermo continued to cry until Franz punched him in the face yet again. “I thought you were a big macho man you didn’t take shit from anyone. You lose a couple of fingers and toes and suddenly you’re no better than anyone else. Your friends cried the same way. They all tried to apologize as if that would fix everything. Apologies won’t bring back my mother. Apologies won’t fix my fucked up life. And apologies definitely won’t help you.”

    Franz raised his knife high and plunged it into Guillermo’s stomach. He yelled out in pain again as the knife tore through his organs. He left the knife imbedded in Guillermo’s bloated stomach and rummaged through his tool kit. This time, however, he pulled out something unexpected. It was a black lipstick tube with a gold trip. It looked fairly old. “This was my mother’s. She was wearing this the night she died.” He popped off the lid and to reveal the velvet red lipstick. He slowly put it on his lips until it covered his lips perfectly. “What the fuck? You some kind of fag? Sorry maricon but I don’t roll that way.”

    Franz blew him a kiss and Guillermo visibly winced. “You know what my mother did before she died? She put me into a closet and gave me a big kiss on the forehead. Do you know what she said?” Guillermo hesitantly shook his head not know if there was a right answer. “She told me “Don’t worry Franz. Mama will protect you.”.” Franz leaned over Guillermo and lowered his lips to his forehead. He gave him an unexpectedly gentle kiss, leaving behind a perfect red lip stain. He smiled softly before tearing the knife out of Guillermo’s stomach and slashing it across his neck. Crimson blood sprayed out of his neck wound instantly. His eyes were wide and wild like a frightened animal. They stared into each other’s eyes as Guillermo’s life slowly and painfully slipped away.

    Franz sighed in relief and wiped of his smeared lipstick. He finally killed the last one. He thought he’d feel better but he only felt worse. He knew deep down that killing him wouldn’t fix everything. All it did was make him feel better. As he started packing up he heard movement outside. His body froze and he immediately became hyper aware. When he peeked over the railing he saw nothing. No one else was in the room. As soon as he turned around heavily armed men suddenly burst through the windows. Once they surrounded him on all sides he raised his hands in surrender. The men who surrounded him wore black and blue police armor. They all had automatic weapons aimed directly at him. “Don’t move! Keep your hands were we can see them!”

    The room was tense as they stayed locked on him. They all were waiting to see who would make the first move which made a small smile creep up on Franz’s face. He’d finally been caught. It took them long enough. So he decided if he was going down, then he’d go out in bang. As he reached for his knives in his jacket the police opened fire. Several dozen bullets tore through his body and his blood shot out in all directs. In this moment of pain and death he felt only happiness. He’d finally avenged his mother, he’d fulfilled his obligation to Karl, and he’d finally be free from the prison that was his life.

    It felt as if hours, even years had passed by since that first bullet passed through his body. Time slowed to a screeching halt just for him. Soon he felt the chilling grasp of death take ahold of him. As he lied in a pool of his own blood he felt relief fill him. There would be no more killing, no more pain or suffering. All would become nothing in the void of death.

    The police loomed over him and gawked at his bullet ridden body. In his calm and slowed down world he only caught a piece of a conversation between two of the policemen. “…activate the Lazarus. Boss wants this one alive…” Before he knew it he had already closed his eyes. Nothing but empty blackness. Soon he’d be back with Mother and all would be whole again.

    However, in the darkness he saw a light. A faint light at the edge of the horizon. Soon it began to grow until it started filling his line of sight. He could see nothing but bright light. As if on cue his eyes began to open again. The further he open the more light he could see. His eyes burned but he couldn’t bring himself to look away. Soon the light began to fade and his vision began to clear. He started to make out what seemed to be white tiles. When his eyes shifted he started to see large lamps surrounding him.

    When he looked down he saw a wall with a faded blue sign and big yellow letters. It read: ‘New Way City Police Department’. As his cognitive abilities began to start back up he began putting the pieces together. He was in the infirmary of the police department. But how did he get there? When he tried to move his body he noticed the situation he was in pretty quickly. His hands and feet were strapped down to the bed.

    “What…the fuck…is going on?” The moment those words escaped his lips the door to his left popped open. “I was thinking the same exact thing Mr. Franz Kaiser.” He turned his head and saw a brunette woman with her hair pulled back into a ponytail standing with her hands on her hips glaring at him. She wore a dark blue bullet-proof vest, and a light blue long-sleeved shirt underneath with the sleeve rolled up to the elbow. Her dark brown jeans looked worn and well used. She also had a police issued handgun strapped to each of her legs. Her glare only continued to bear down on him the longer they were together. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

6: Epilogue

Epilogue

            The sound of a fist banging against metal rang throughout the police interrogation cell. The brunette police officer slammed her fist against the table again as she continued to interrogate Franz. Pieces of her hair fell from her ponytail as she stopped to take a breath. Meanwhile Franz, garbed in an orange prison jumpsuit, sat across from her emotionless. His hands were firmly cuffed to the table with an energy tether connecting the cuffs together.

            “You done freaking out now? My ears are starting to ring.” The police officer gritted her teeth and slammed both her fists against the table. “We know you were at the crime scene! You can’t get away with this!” This time he gave her a smug look and leaned back in his chair. “If you hadn’t yet noticed, I already have.” The woman turned around and screamed at the door. Franz inwardly laughed at her. That woman was so self-righteous it was almost painful.

            She shot him a glared when she turned back around, almost causing him to jump. “Then if you won’t talk then tell me this. How in the hell do you not have nanomachines?” Franz smiled and ignored her looking towards the metal wall. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” This time she pushed the chair away causing it to loudly slam against the metal floor. “We found a total of ninety-eight knives on you and at the crime scene. We know you killed those people! And don’t forget Guillermo Estevez. You killed him just like your five other victims.”

            He slowly turned to meet her gaze and gave her his usual blank stare. “Do you really think they were victims?” The woman narrowed her eyes and slowly nodded. “In the eyes of the law, yes they were.” Franz uncharacteristically burst out in laughter. It startled her and she reeled back instinctively. “In the eyes of the law my ass! You’re only investigating because the police are in Guillermo’s pocket. Just like everyone else.”

            She slammed her hand against the table again in anger and yelled at him like an irate mother. “Just remember who’s in charge here Mr. Kaiser!” Franz grinned fiendishly and licked his lips like a predator on the hunter. “Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten.” In an instant he broke free from his restraints and pulled a hidden knife from his sleeve. Before she could react he impaled her hand with his knife and pinned it to the table. She howled in pain as she tried to free the blade from her hand.

            He was about to strike when an armed officer ran into the room. “Get your hands were I can see them!” Franz continued to smile and held his hands up in surrender. As the officer got closer he quickly made his strike. At an almost inhuman speed he pulled a second knife from his other sleeve and impaled it into the man’s throat. The woman looked up in horror as she watched her fellow officer have his neck torn open. He gurgled as he held his hands to his throat. Moments later he fell to the ground dead.

            “Remember how you only found ninety-eight?” His fiendish grin only grew as he grabbed ahold of the knife embedded in her hand. He quickly yanked it out causing her blood to splatter the table. He held up the knife ready to strike her down when more armed officers stormed through the door. This time they didn’t give a warning, and one of them shot him in the chest with a round metal plate that gave him a healthy dose of electricity.

            He fell to his knees but continued to resist the electric shock. So they repeatedly shot him with the electric plates until he was down on the ground convulsing. It didn’t take long for unconsciousness to set in. The woman held her bleeding hand as she spit in Franz’s direction. One of the officers put his hand on her shoulder but she quickly shirked it off. “Officer Barbra, are you alright? I think you need to go to the infirmary.” Barbra angrily waved him off and ordered him to deal with Franz.

            The police officers took him to a cold metal holding cell and laid him down on a dirty once white bed inside. The cell itself was small and only had a toilet and sink beside the bed. The bars of the holding cell were all electrified and glowing a fluorescent blue. It wasn’t long after being dropped off did Franz start coming back to consciousness. It would take a lot more than that to put him down any longer.

            His eyes fluttered open and shut as he shifted around. It took him several minutes to begin fully functioning again. His muscles ached as he lifted himself up off the bed. He ran his fingers through his hair and groaned to himself. “Dammit. God dammit.” He put his head in his hands and took a long needed deep breath. What had he gotten himself into this time? He never really expected to be caught. This looks like this is the end of the road.

            As he mused to himself about his predicament the lights in the cell block went off all at once. The only thing that provided light was the electrified cell bars. It didn’t take long for the backup generator to come on and the red emergency lights to come on. Soon the sound of boots rang up from down the hall that got closer and closer. At least a dozen or so police officers went from cell to cell to see if the prisoners were all still there.

            One of the officers banged on Franz’s cell with his electrified police baton. “Hey! You still alive prisoner. Franz just sat there on his bed and continued to ignore him. “Hey! I’m talking to-!” The guard stopped midsentence when he heard blood curdling screams coming from down the hallway. The guard held out his baton ready to strike whatever was attacking the others. The screams got closer and closer. The closer they got the less nerve the officer had.

            When the horrific screams seemed only feet away they abruptly stopped. The officer looked as if he’d turn to jelly any second. Franz looked out of his cell curiously waiting to see what would happen. “Y-You just stay here. I’m going to go check it out.” Franz rolled his eyes and turned away. Who was he even talking to? It wasn’t like he was going anywhere anyways.

            As the officer began walking away a metal clawed hand tore through the vent above him. The hand immediately dug into his head and yanked him up towards the vent. The man flailed as his head was pulled through the hole inside the vent. There were sounds of bone breaking and flesh tearing inside. Soon the officer stopped moving and went completely limp. Eventually his body fell from the ceiling except without a head. Blood spurted out profusely from his neck hole as his body twitched on the ground.

            His assailant tore through the vent and dropped down to the ground. When Franz got a good look at him he recognized who it was. The man wore a long worn out leather jacket, combat boots and pants. He obviously wore no shirt underneath. There were red tribal looking tattoos adorning his entire chest that went up his neck to his bottom lip. He had shoulder length hair that covered a lot of his face, but his hair wasn’t enough to obscure his intensely white irises. His hands of course were biomechanical like the people involved with the church of machines.

            It had been years since they saw each other last. His name was Jack the Wandering Spider. The last he heard of him he was working for the Titan Corporation as the CEO’s bodyguard. Why was he here? Jack took the head he was holding and held it against the scanner. A blue light scanned the dismembered head’s eye and made a ping sound. The electricity on the bars turned off as they lowered down into the ground.

            Jack smiled at Franz arrogantly and tossed the head aside. “Long time no see buttercup. Never thought I’d see the day you were caught.” Franz glared at him and didn’t respond. “Look, the reason I’m here is because I need your help. Remember that favor you owe me?” Franz huffed and turned away from Jack. “Not happening creep. I’m pretty cozy in here.” Jack crossed his arms and tapped his foot. “Okay, I strike you up a deal. I’ll get the police off your back for good and I’ll even wipe your record of this ever happening. That way you can disappear like you always do.”

            Franz sat there and mulled over the options in his mind. It seemed like a good deal but he needed to know the catch. “So what’s the catch? I don’t suppose it’s something like picking up your groceries.” Jack laughed and leaned up against the cell wall. “Nice choice, and a smart one at that. See I want you to kill someone for me. And I’d like for you to be discreet about it. You’re the only one who I know could pull it off.”

            Franz chuckled softly to himself and ran his fingers through his hair. As always someone wanted him to kill some nameless person he’d never know. Not matter how much he’d want to get away from it he knew somehow he’d be draw back in. “Alright, you’ve got yourself a deal. Now get me the hell out of here.” Jack smiled at Franz as he helped him up off the bed. This was only just the beginning for Franz Kaiser the Last Kiss Killer.

To Be Continued...

AN: So I hope you enjoyed reading Franz the Killer. The sequel to the story is Mad Season if you enjoyed it enough to continue reading. Thanks for reading!