'The back bone's connected to the neck bone,' AntiMatter hummed as he was finishing the last slice in his masterpiece. 'Perfect as always', he thought, 'not a single line missed.' He stepped back to look at his work in all of its glory. A woman lay there, her body glittered under the streetlights with blood. Every inch of her body was ingrained with perfect straight lines. Anti took off his gloves, threw them in the trash, and as always he left a note for the police, insulting them.
He threw himself onto his couch and flipped on the TV, eager to see when they would discover the body. As soon as he flipped on the screen...he saw it.
"You," Anti growled. The News was broadcasting the latest murder, but it wasn't his. From the shaking camera he saw a gruesome picture. A man, well the remnants of a man, was strewn across the crime scene,his intestines oozing from his side. Natemare they called him. Now, Anti prided himself on being very neat with his victims and seeing this waste of talent was irritating. He didn't think of Natemare as a rival, the more the merrier, but he was so...messy. "I have to do something about this." Anti decided aloud. He ignored the rest of the newscast, plucked up his calligraphy pen and started to write a letter.
"Dear Mr. Natemare,
It has come to my attention that you are a serial killer like me. Now I don't have any hard feelings about this, but I've noticed as of late how... lazy you are with the job. Ripping out your victims' intestines is hardly interesting and is a rather, how do I put this, novice thing to do. I pride myself in being very intricate with my work capturing every detail of the human body. Don't take this the wrong way, but perhaps you could try a different approach in your future career.
Your colleague in crime,
AntiMatter"
He put the letter in an envelope and sealed it with black wax that formed the letter "A". All he had to do now is find the perfect subject. He threw on his hood and made his way downtown to pick from the herd. Too easy? Yes, but he was in a rush. He walked up and down the block until he set his eyes on a drunkard. The poor gent was hobbling away from a bar, most likely kicked out, and on his way home. Anti followed the fool at a reasonable distance until the neighborhood was more secluded. He lurched at the stumbling man and pinned him to the ground with ease.
"What the hell?" The man sputtered.
"Shut up and I'll let you have an easy death okay?" he hissed.
"You're...you're that Natemare aren't you?" The drunk slurred.
"And... you just lost that merciful option. I'm AntiMatter," He drug his prey into an alley and gagged him. "I'm not used to doing two murders in one night, but hey even I indulge once and awhile." The man pleaded with his eyes, but not for long. Anti flicked his knife and plucked out the eyes, slicing through the optic nerves easily. The tiny "pop" always excited him. The man howled in defiance through the cloth, but Anti silenced him by carefully removing the vocal chords avoiding the major veins. Admittedly he was sloppy with the job as he continued with the jittering corpse, but he was ecstatic to see how Natemare would respond. Would he act out in anger? Would he agree? These thoughts floated in his mind while he hastily completed the act. Stuffing the note in an open wound he rushed home, theorizing what would happen next.
"Apparently two murders in one day, the heinous serial killer AntiMatter, dubbed Puppetmaster by some, has left a specially sealed letter in one of the victim's chests. Rest assured we will read what he says as soon as the police open it. More on the story at 8:00 PM news." Anti chuckled at the report. 'The Puppetmaster' was only used when he let his victims live. Oh well. He turned it off, knowing that it'd take at least a day for Natemare to respond... A week at most. 'Oh God,' he thought, 'what if he never answers, I'll just be left hanging the rest of my life!'
Sure enough Natemare did answer. The next night it was all over the News with stories beginning as, "Natemare vs. AntiMatter who will win?" "Will the killers team up? Click here and find out."
"Ridiculous, all I want is the Goddamn response!" Anti yelled at his computer scrolling through endless articles. After five minutes of searching (which is a long time) he finally found an official report from the police. Caution, it warned, some images may not be suitable for children. "Yeah no shit Sherlock." he agreed. He opened the page and was instantly greeted by a bloodbath. Multiple bodies were spread across the pavement with words painted with blood on the wall.
"Well, if it isn't AntiMatter. Hah, I thought it'd be sooner when you'd call me out on my art. While you perceive it as a "job" I find it as an enjoyable hobby (no hard feelings of course) And a novice thing to do? Please, the only reason why you say that is you're grossed out. I get it, not all of us have the guts to handle causing this much gore, but calling it beginner's? I'm hurt. Perhaps if we did a "meet-up" we could discuss this further, because I'm running out of blood here. Love the calligraphy by the way, a very formal way of communicating.
Thanks for the shout out,
Natemare ;)"
"Oh it's on," muttered Anti, he leapt out of his chair and stormed out of the building complaining on how immature Nate was.
Anti decided far too late that walking around when a deluge was happening was a mistake. He hugged his cloak around him trying to stay dry, the rain making it almost impossible for him to see. After nearly slipping on the road several times, he was closing in on the one place where he could think. A bus bench. Lame? Yes, but it was always empty and no one in their right minds disturbs someone on a bench. Plus there's no one out here at this time of night.
"Stupid Natemare thinks he control this town. Not if I have anything to say about it," Anti stated to the rain.
"Charming," A voice cooed from behind. Anti tried to turn to see the face but was tackled to the ground the wet asphalt brushing against his face.. "You know, I've never had someone talking about me before I choose them," he continued, "So your award is an excruciating death."
"Natemare?" Anti questioned. He peered up at his assailant. He was a tall man, with hair black as coal and a muscular build. And he had a dagger. Lovely.
