Criminal Love

The Final Fail

Alarms screamed and wailed as two green-haired twins carried several bags of stolen goods back through the small store to their beat-up van parked outside the main door. The taller twin set down his pile of bags and went to go start up the truck. The shorter twin started to throw his own bags into the opened up back of the van but stopped as he saw something flying very fast towards their location. Realizing what that was, he called out to his brother.

"Shit! Splendid is coming, Shifty!"

"Not now, Lifty!", yelled Shifty, who then growled in annoyance as he tried to start the van's engine, only to be rewarded with a choked sputtering sound every time he turned the key. "Damn it, this stupid hunk of junk! Get the bags now!"

Lifty went faster, throwing bag after bag in the back, trying not to focus on the sound of the wannabe superhero getting closer every second and wasted no time throwing the last bag in the back and quickly running to the front of the van. Shifty was just about to punch the steering wheel in anger when the van's engine roared to life. He let a happy cheer as Lifty jumped into the passenger seat. Just as Shifty was about to gun it, they were nearly shaken from their seats as something crashed down in front of their van. Splendid had finally arrived, the superhero looking at the thieves, smiling triumphantly.

"You guys better just give up. You can't get away from the law. Or me."

The twins looked him and then back at each other with a bored expression, only for Lifty give a smug grin, his brother mirroring him moments later.

"Hey Shifty."

"Yes, brother?"

"Would you kindly press that little pedal under your foot?"

"Oh! You mean this one, dear brother?"

Shifty's grin grew wider as he motioned his head downwards towards the gas and before Splendid could even react, the thief slammed his foot down and the van shot forward, slamming into the blue-haired hero and running him over. The twins laughed in victory as they drove away from their crime scene. Their victory was cut short though, by a loud crash and the sound of tumbling metal behind them. Both twins froze for a few seconds before Shifty turned to Lifty, whose face was a mask of guilt.

"Lifty. . ."

"Yes, Shifty. . ."

"You forget to close the back doors. . .didn't you?"

Yes, Shifty. . ."

X X X

As soon as the thieving twins got back to their run-down shack of a house, Lifty knew he was going to get it. Lifty followed a strangely quiet Shifty inside their house and watched as Shifty started to gather up everything Lifty owned in a trash bag. Lifty stepped in front of him as he started to make his way to the door.

"Whoa, whoa! Bro, whaddya doing?! That's my stuff!"

"Exactly. Why would I want the stuff of someone who doesn't live here in my house?"

Lifty's heart sunk as he realized what his brother was saying, "Wait, you're kicking me out? You can't do that!"

Shifty dropped the bag and whirled on Lifty, his finger jabbing into his younger brother's chest, his eyes full of anger as Lifty tried to back away in fear of being hit.

"Because you are a fucking moron. Every time we try to pull off a heist. Who fucks it up? You! Every time I come with up a nearly fool-proof plan to get rich. Who fucks it up? You!"

"You can't be serious-"

"I'm dead fucking serious. Get out. Get out and never come back. You aren't my brother no more."

Shifty grabbed his brother by the collar of his long coat and before Lifty could even blink, his face was in the dirt and his belongings were thrown out beside him. Getting up and wiping the dirt from his cheeks, Lifty rushed back to the front door to try and pull it open, only to find that Shifty had locked the door. He sighed and realized his brother was serious. He was actually being kicked out for real.

Then Lifty saw his stuff in the bag and decided to gather it up, slinging the bag over his shoulder. Guess he should find someplace to stay for the night. He turned and looked back at his house one more time before setting off down the road. It took a few minutes of walking to see other buildings, mainly shops. As he approached each one though, the owners realized who he was and locked their doors, barring him from coming in. Ignoring that, Lifty came to the town's park and set his stuff under a tree, sinking down beside it as he sighed.

"This day cannot get any worse."

Then as though God was listening in on the thief's words and wanted to prove him wrong, the sky's clouds darkened and thunder rumbled overhead moments before the rain started to pour down heavily on him, the tree offering little in the way of shelter.

"Fucking fantastic. . ."