Tales From Babalangion

The Strings on the Puppet Master PT 2

"Why am I here?" I ask, we both know why I'm here, but I can always deny.

"Don't play dumb Ophelia." Macbeth responds, smiling like everything is going as planned. "You and I both know you and that little gang of yours have been sabotaging my operations. Unfortunately for you, when I lose money, my benefactor loses money. And Mr. Mystery is not one to cross. Man that name's stupid, but, it has power to it." Macbeth shrugs, cocky windbag.

"So, why sell your soul for a chair in the office?" I ask, both stalling and being truly curious.

"No need for the dramatic telling." Macbeth responds, "I didn't sell my soul..."

"You did. Getting favors from Mr. Mystery means your already in his debt. You've just blinded yourself to save your pride from the truth."

"Stop speaking-"

"Your afraid. Afraid of the fact that your not the one in charge. Your as much a puppet as the hundreds of small time drug dealers you use as free pumps into Mr. Mystery's cartel pockets." I do not get to speak further as suddenly a meaty thwap echoes through the building, though it is too dark to see the source of the noise. Macbeth smiles as he looks over his shoulder.

"Ah, my esteemed business partner." Macbeth says as a faint outline of a man becomes slightly visible in the deep darkness. Then the man speaks, it's Mr. Mystery.

"Mister Macbeth. As you can see I've brought the girl as you asked. You know how I want to be repaid." His raspy voice says, even the shadows seem to shrink back a slight amount in the presence of such a ancient sounding rasp.

"Yes yes," Macbeth waves uninterested. "Your extra pay will be in our agreed location." I may have been seeing things, but I could swear I could see something flash across the face I couldn't even see. I could more sense it, anger. Macbeth was playing a dangerous game for being so dismissive with the most feared man in the world.

"Tell me, Mister Macbeth..." Mr. Mystery rasps again, his voice sounding almost joyful, like a cat toying with a mouse's tail. "How long do you expect to be able to run this little operation? There is a limit on the time one can be in office. Impeachment is also an option. If word to get out about your little scheme..." Mr. Mystery trails off, leaving the obvious unsaid.

"Is that threat?"

"No, a warning. Something you seem to badly need Mr. Macbeth."

"I could easily have you detained you piece of-" Macbeth starts before he is cut off when two burly men appear from the darkness, grabbing Macbeth by the arms as Mr. Mystery steps out of the shadows. I gasp at his features, his face is pristine, handsome even. But his eyes...his eyes hold a glint of an all-consuming malevolence. As if this man was capable of love but can only show it through death and destruction. His hair was white, like my grandad's was. He was a chimera of gentleman and a savage beast. A man meant to disarm you at a glance just long enough for him to kill you.

"A fool of a man. Caught in his own hubris." His voice rasped again as in a blink Macbeth gasped as a small trickle of red rolled down his neck before the metallic smell of blood assaulted my nose and Macbeth's small red smile became a flowing torrent.

"Why?" I asked, slightly afraid but trying to be brave.

"He was losing the people, he would never get out of his debt so I decided to cut my losses." He responded, smiling at me, and for a moment he looked like a kind man who had nothing but love in his heart, a masterful mask.

"Is everything just numbers too you?" I spit

"No no, of course not. It's also entertainment. I love watching you all go about your lives consumed by your desires. Your lust, your greed, your pride and your envy. Your all never satisfied in the slightest. You covet, and hoard and scheme. Like this waste of a man was." Mr. Mystery says, pointing over his shoulder at the dying Macbeth. "But he decided to talk back and thought he was the one pulling the strings. Hohoho! How moronic, moronic but completely anticipated. But now I can hardly let someone like you who's seen my face live, now can I?" He says leaning down to be eye to eye with me, "Jason?" He calls and a tall, burly man steps out

"Yes Boss?"

"Take care of her will you?" Mr. Mystery asks and Jason steps closer to me and without a word or sign of remorse he flicked his wrist and I felt something hot run down my neck. Then Mr. Mystery looked me in the eyes and said one last thing.

"You were quite entertaining, but you've run your course, good bye forever madam." Then darkness.

"My my, what do we have here?" A voice asked from the inky dark.

To be continued?

Well well, quite a story huh? A puppet forgetting it's place is always both amusing...and infuriating, thinking they can dare to pull at the strings that guide them. But we see here that such insolence leads to problems. But what of the end? Who could possibly be speaking? Well to find out....

stay tuned....