In the World of Toys and Guns

Monochrome Hope

"Yet another serial killer." Displeased, Mello tossed the file over his scrawny shoulder. It crashed to the ground and the pages spread across the smooth grey floor. He had almost dismissed the waste of time case, but then he saw the photographs.

Crazed, he dropped to the floor to sweep them all up.

"Mell--" Matt ran to his side to assist him, but the other angsty detective swatted him away.

"Hey, we're supposed to work together. We're partners." He winked, pleased with his pun.

"So tell me what's wrong."

Mello knew Matt was trying desperately to keep up morale, but right now he couldn't give a shit. Not with what he had in his shaking hands.

"Five bodies, five victims...all killed within a span of five days." He paused, his breath rattling. "All of the victims were shot expertly between the eyes."

Matt's irises shrank in horror to the point one could see the whites of his eyes.

The old man on the screen began to ramble.

"Now that I see you understand, please tell me what you think this must be. You are M & M, the world's greatest detectives, correct?" How did this guy know there were two of them? Only the taskforce held that knowledge.

M and M nodded, even though the man could not see them.

"Then figure this out. We only have so long before--"

Gunfire blasted through the speakers.

Mello flung to the ground and crawled under a chair, guarding his head with his hands. Matt rushed after him and held on.

"What in the fuck?"
"Shhhhhh!" Mello hissed. They couldn't let whoever was on the other end hear them.

A distorted voice cackled and it got louder as the person got closer to the microphone connecting to the audio feed.

"Crying for help? How adorable." The mic on the other end crushed, which made the most earsplitting static noise. Mello covered Matt's ears and Matt covered the other's.

After what seemed like a lifetime of deafening noise, it stopped.

"Matt." The blond said the redhead's name as if it was a question. He balanced his heaving body by gripping onto the cold floor with his sweaty, thin hands.

"Yeah, Mello-Jello?" He propped the 1st M up on his chest to keep him up.

Mello pushed him away. "I can sit on my own." Ah, the forever defiant one made Matt so mad but could also halfway make him happy. The odds used to be better.

"You...we...ugh..." Mello itched at his forearms and then the bony fronts of his hands, not ready to say what he had to.

"We have to take this case."

"On it, Cap'n." He saluted Mell with his gloved hand, and even threw in a wink. This was how Matt used to be, but with Mello's guilt, his personality had become more and more dark.

Now, there was real hope. Mello had taken a case, and for the first time since they started their M & M gig, he was determined to solve it. Not for happy, healthy reasons, though.

"Let's get this sick fucker."

"Amen." Matt held onto Mello's rosary jokingly, then went straight to the computers.
"Yo, guys and gals, you're needed."

The taskforce, which consisted of about ten people, five for each M, rushed in.

"What's the sitch?" Oh God, Mello hated this one. She reminded him of a certain annoying little girl that had been obsessed with Near. The memories made his skin crawl.

"Here, here's 'the sitch'." He mocked her voice then dangled the photos in front of her face.
"Seem familiar?" He asked sarcastically, shoving the photos into her unexpecting hands.

Her face dropped in horror.

"I'll be right on it, M."

"Just call me Mello, for fuck's sake." After Near's death, he didn't want and did not feel he deserved the alphabetical title.

"Yes, Mello sir."

Matt practically played the keys on the computers like a giant, information piano. If one could see his face behind the screens, it was illuminated by white light and his own glee. Yeah, he knew it was fucked up to be excited, but Mello finally seemed alive.