The Lonely Killjoy

Chapter 6

"Some places really can work miracles."

The oily voice was quiet and close.

Fun blinked, his wrists acing. Looking down through blurry eyes he saw they were cuffed to the wall with steel rings. That explained it.

"If you'd gone through the normal procedure of waiting for the doctor's attention, you'd be dead right now."

Fun tried to piece together the man's words and his own fragmented splinters of memory. He remembered the glint of the blade as is flew towards his eyes. He remembered instinct screaming at him to duck. But he also remembered remembering that Party was behind him so he couldn't duck and instead he'd jumped and the force of the blow had knocked him off his feet.

Then he'd fallen and had continued falling, even when his body lay physically on flat ground. He hadn't known that that was Death, not until afterwards.

And he had no idea how he'd got here. The man continued to speak.

"Luckily they recognised you and I had told them to watch out for you so you got special treatment. A revolutionary piece of machinery completly fixed you up. And as you can see, you survived."

The monotony in his voice turned to glee.

"I can't say the same for your friends."

When he heard this, Fun tugged furiously against his bindings, desperate to do as much damage as he could before emotion overcame him. It was to no avail.
Grief suffocated him as the words lashed at his mind, again and again.

"They must have known that taking you to the hospital, that hospital in particular, the one owned by me, was suicide. They sacrificed themselves for the chance of saving you. So beautiful." He wiped a fake tear from his dry eyes. "I'm just sorry I didn't see it myself."

Party was dead. Party was dead. Fun felt numb. Party was d-

"One survived." The sharp words cut through his repetitive thoughts. Korse's voice had changed again. It was now bitter and angry, as if the thought of life upset him. Fun gasped, hardly daring to breathe.

"The boy. What's his ridiculous name? Kobra Kid? Yeah thats it. He isn't a threat to us, not alone. Still, I'd prefer to have him safely dead and buried. But... I'm willing to make you an offer. His life, in return for the location of their headquarters."

The diner, where Fun had spent the happiest hours of his life, though he hadn't shown it.

"Why?" Fun's voice was soft. No, not soft. Broken. "Its useless without Party. And you said yourself, Kobra is unimportant."

Korse tutted. "There are still secrets there. Information which anyone could find, about our organisation. If you don't comply, we'll find it anyway, and we'll ensure that the kid dies. Slowly. Think it over."

Fun didn't need to think. In fact, he couldn't. His mind was overflowing with thoughts and memories and regrets, all about Party. Directing his attention to anything else would have been impossible. Dimly, Kobra's face broke through his grief. He had liked Kobra, but didn't care all that much for him. Still, if he hadn't saved Party's life, the least he could do is save his brother's.

Fun hurt. His mind hurt and his limbs hurt and his wound, which had ultimately done no one any good, hurt. He started to wish the knife had killed him instantly. Then there would have been no need to drive to the damned hospital and Party would still be alive right now.

He just wanted the pain to end. And he knew that if he offered up this last piece of information, there would be no more use for him and the pain would then end.