Alice in Borderland: New York

Rising Tensions (4): Revenge

Teineji looked at the clock nervously. It had already been 3 hours since Ray had left to steal the cards, and he hadn't returned. June had gone out of the center to take a walk, leaving Teineji alone with his thoughts. The clock ticked onward, and Teineji only grew more nervous. Had something happened to Ray? Teineji's nervous thoughts were interrupted by the roar of a motorcycle.

"A motorcycle? This late at night?" Teineji said to himself, frowning as he went outside to check...

And was immediately pinned to the wall by a  young man with red hair.

"Don't move." The man snarled, holding a knife to Teineji's throat. Then, Teineji heard a voice. A voice he desperately did NOT want to hear. "Stop it, Karma." Charlie was saying calmly. "You're scaring him." Karma sighed and, glaring at Teineji, threw him to the ground. Teineji scrambled up as quickly as he could, breathing heavily as he confronted Charlie.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" He spat. Charlie raised an eyebrow. "I could ask you the same question, but it'd be redundant. So, I'll ask you a better question: how do you keep managing to impress me with how stupid you are?" He said, shaking his head. "You little-" Teineji stepped forward to lunge at Charlie, but before he could do so, Karma grabbed Teineji again and threw him down into a deck chair. After a nod from Charlie, Karma then taped Teineji's arms to the armrests of the chair, leaving him helpless. Charlie then continued to talk.

"You really thought I would just let you take the cards?" He laughed. "If you want them, they're right here." Charlie, to Teineji's shock, brought a full deck of cards out. Teineji felt his blood boiling. "What did you do with Ray?!" He shouted angrily. Charlie sighed. "You mean your lackey that you sent to collect my cards because you were too afraid to face me yourself? He met a much more merciful fate than you will. One gunshot was all it took." He said calmly. Teineji was devastated. One of his best friends in this world...gone. Because of Charlie. His hatred kept boiling over, but before he could speak again, Charlie continued.

"These cards...why did you send Ray to die for them? They're all fake, you know."

Teineji was shocked. "W...what?" Charlie went on as if he hadn't heard. "I got the deck from a shop close by to the Marquis. How else would I be able to amass my fortune of poker chips? I must be in the Forbes list of people with the most poker chips...ah, sorry." He said suddenly. "I rambled for a bit. Moving on, all I had to do was 'accidentally' show you some of these cards, and before I knew it, you two were my biggest fans."

Charlie stretched and took a Coca-Cola can out of his backpack as he kept talking. "In simpler terms, you've wasted the last week or so of your life so far. And to make matters worse, you brought this all on yourself." "Shut up!" Teineji yelled, struggling against his bonds. Charlie continued to ignore him. "Not only did you risk your friend's life for a wild goose chase, but you also brought it upon yourself. I wasn't planning to vacation at this place...but play stupid games, win stupid prizes." And with that, he snapped his fingers.

"Karma, why don't we give Teineji's fantasies a proper send off?" Charlie said, his voice freezing calm, like ice. Karma grinned widely before pulling a large can out of his bag and walking into the Tech Center. "Wait! What are you doing?!" Teineji yelled, struggling to free himself as Karma began pouring some kind of liquid all over the center. Charlie smiled faintly. "No need to worry, the Center has no people in it at the moment, and Karma is a fast runner. On an unrelated note, did you know that a fire can spread to become uncontrollable within 30 seconds?"

"It's truly...amazing."

And with that, Charlie gave a wicked smile and threw his coca-cola can into the Center. As Karma ran out, carrying a box that Teineji recognized as the box he used to store HIS cards, the can...

...exploded.

With a massive roar, fire erupted from the can. Thanks to the gasoline that Karma had spread, the fire spread quickly, and soon, the entire Tech Center was aflame. The dark streets were now brightly lit, the shadows of the fire dancing on Charlie's face as he stepped back and watched the Center burn.

"No! Stop it!" Teineji tried to lunge forwards, but was still strapped to his chair. All he accomplished was falling forwards, his chin now on the ground. Charlie, seemingly unperturbed by Teineji's animalistic howls and the enormous fire only a few hundred feet away from them all, opened the box and examined the cards. Then, one by one, he began tossing them into the fire. Teineji's eyes widened. "No! Please, give them back!" He begged, straining against his restraints. But Charlie was deaf to his pleas.

"I'm glad my cards were nothing but a distraction to lure you into exposing yourself." Charlie mused quietly, absently tearing the cards Teineji had gathered apart in front of him. "If this is what it feels like to lose something important to you, then I'd rather not put myself through that. But...you were planning on taking my hard work for yourself, so I guess it all evens out in some twisted way." He put the last of the cards into the fire and looked Teineji dead in the eyes.

"I would love to simply destroy all the cards and leave it at that, but I'm not a monster like you. I don't want to take away everything you have. So, here's this card to remember me by. To remember your own failures with." And with that, Charlie took a card from his pocket, the only card that hadn't been destroyed in the fire. He flipped it, face-up, in front of Teineji, before he and Karma rode away on their motorcycle.

Teineji didn't even try to move, to free himself. He just sat in his chair, his eyes glued to the enormous fire that Charlie had started. Teineji could only watch in horror as his hopes, his plans, his sanctuary, all burned away, leaving only ashes and smoke. It was all too much for Teineji. He broke down sobbing, tears streaming down his soot-covered face as embers flickered into the night, illuminating the Seven of Hearts card that Charlie had placed in front of him.

A way to remember what once was.
And a way to remember his failures, and his regrets.