XTRAVAGANZA

Chapter 11: Loose Ends

A plump man In his fifties was sitting in the chair inside his office. It was quiet, the only thing that could be heard was the ambience of the city and the ticking of the clock on his wall.

Suddenly, he began hearing loud bangs and crashes coming from the hallway outside his office.

In a split moment, his door was kicked down, several people entering his office.

"Fractal, guard the door." X said, turning his head towards him before looking over at the twins. "And you two, get rid of the rest of the security." He then turned his head back towards the man.

"Hello there sir!" He said, reaching out for a hand shake. The man refused the hand shake. "Who the hell are you people?" He asked.

X sighed. "Well you see, Mr.Mayor of Neo city. I wanna make a deal with you."

The mayor squinted his eyes as X spoke. "What kind of deal?" He asked.

"It's quite simple in all honesty." X replied, walking behind the man and leaning over next to him. "You provide me a certain amount of funding per month, and I'll insure you or your family don't end up losing their lives." He said, picking up a picture of the mayors family that was sitting on his desk. "After all, where you live isn't exactly private information." He slowly sat the picture back down.

"And how do I know you aren't bluffing?" the mayor asked again, lifting his head up towards X.

"Gosh, so many questions." X said, walking back over to the front of the desk. He then slowly raised up one his hands, showing a blood stained glove. "Got all this from killing nearly all the security in this damn building. You think I'm bluffing now?"

The mayor lowered his head, closing his eyes for a brief moment as a sigh escaped his lips. "No..."
He muttered.

"Good." X said in a gleeful tone. "And just to make the officer more enticing, if the risk of your family's lives isn't enough." He said, placing his hands on the mayors desk. "I can ensure you that if you fund my operations, I can generate quite a profit for this city. After all, crime pays." He said, slowly rising back up before stuffing his hands in his pockets. "And not just paying in terms of going to jail, but paying in terms of you being able to make quite a large revenue."

The mayor seemed lost in thought for a moment before giving an answer. "I'll agree to these terms."
He said, reluctantly.

"Wonderful!" X said, turning to leave his office. "And one more thing. Don't tell anyone about this. I wouldn't want anything bad happening to you or your family if you did.

As X walked out of the mayor's office, he tapped Fractal on the shoulder, signally that it's time to leave.

The mayor sat at his desk, guilt being washed over him. Did he really make the right choice?

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Several days had passed since everything had happened. X was packing up his car to leave Neo city for a couple of days.

"Do you really have to leave?" Lila asked, a twinge of pain in her voice at the thought of it.

"It's just some personal buisness of mine, nothing serious." X said, closing his car trunk. "I'll be back in a week or so. It's nothing to worry about, I promise."

"Well good luck with everything." Damian said, holding out his hand to X. Damian's entire body was now covered in those crystals, not a single ounce of skin was left.

"Thanks." X said, returning the handshake. "Right then. I have everything I need." He went around his car, entering the driver seat. "I'll see y'all in a couple of days time." He said, before driving off, leaving everyone else in the parking lot outside his apartment.

As X drove, he turned on the radio, resting one of his arms on the nearby window and keeping the other one on the steering wheel.

The radio talked about stuff such as the weather and notable recent events. "In other news!" Said one of the radio hosts. "Today marks the 17th year since the school shooting that happened in Birchwood, Maine. 24 people lost their lives during the shooting, with the shooter being identified as Xa-" X quickly turned off the radio, visible anger on his face.

He then sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I never liked the radio much anyways." He muttered to himself.

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X had been driving for several days but eventually, he arrived at his destination. Birchwood, Maine.

He entered a suburban area, stopping outside a specific house. He slowly exited his car, walking up to the front steps of the house. "One of you better be home..." he muttered, before knocking on the door.

A few seconds later, the sound of footsteps slowly approached the door. Following that, the door slowly opened, revealing a white haired woman with dazed and tired looking eyes.

"Hi mom..." X said, watching as his mother's eyes exited their dazed state and slowly widened.

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X sat in the living room with his mother, sitting across from her. "So...where's dad?" He asked, glancing over towards his mother.

His mom sighed, pointing a finger to the hall that lead outside of the living room. X slowly turned his head, watching as his father entered in a wheelchair.

X sighed, briefly closing his eyes before slowly opening them. "I wanted to say sorry, to both of you." He slowly got up from the couch.

His mom stared up at him. "Are you talking about-" X cut off his mother before she could finish.

""No not that." He said, waving his hands in front of him. "I'm saying sorry for this..." he said, slowly pulling a gun out of his pocket.

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X slowly walked out of the house, stretching his arms in the air.

He entered his car, putting on his seat belt and starting it. "One more place to visit before I forget." He pulled his car out of the driveway, heading towards a specific area.

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X pulled into a parking lot. Stepping out, he looked at a bunch of remnants of what were once a building. The remains of it looked burned and ashy.

As he approached the charred remains of the building, he sat down at a nearby bench, staring at it.

Glancing over, he stared at a small sign that read "in memorial of the people who lost their lives here during the Birchwood highschool shooting."

X slowly turned his head away, looking back at the buildings remains.

"What am I...?" He asked.

"I am you..." a robotic sounding voice replied.