Self Destructing Messenger

#21 - Bynsing

The satisfaction that the Man in Black felt lasted only until he turned around. Blocking his exit was Azalea, Pyro to her left with a leveled shotgun and Gia to her right, fingers anxiously wrapped around a handgun.

"Dearest? What is this?" the Man in Black asked, nervous laughter mixed into the question.

"Not really sure," she replied. "I have a bit of a memory problem."

"I'll tell you what this is," Pyro said, pumping his shotgun. "Time for shots."

Azalea groaned. "Don't banter."

Gia took a shaky step forward. "Why is everyone joking? This hurt Cayce so badly!" She stopped a foot in front of Azalea, arms outstretch, gun barrel sighting everything as she trembled. "You lied to Azalea! You knew the whole time Cayce was alive and hid it from her!"

The Man in Black frowned at the terrified girl advancing on him but didn't seem particularly concerned. "I hid nothing. I knew what I knew and she knew what she knew. She just happened to be wrong." His head tilted to one side. "Just like you are wrong in how guns work. Triggers have to be pulled and you can't very well do that if you are cradling it, now can you? It isn't a kitten, child."

The ounce of bravery the teen had gleaned from her bluff was gone. Azalea put a hand on her shoulder, easing her back when a loud blast erupted from the handgun. The noise echoed in the hallway. Growing and fading, each reverb unpredictable in volume. Gia's panicked screams joined the cacophony of noise. She dropped the gun, falling to her knees as she covered her ears.

Azalea leaned over to calm the girl down but it was no use. She sighed and straightened. As she did, she realized the Man in Black was right in front of her and what was perhaps even more unsettling was the shotgun barrel practically resting on her left shoulder. The blonde had always liked her audio to be surround sound and didn't really appreciate the idea of a blast rendering her deaf on one side.

"Easy Pyro," she said brushing the cold steel away with one hand. Her eyes never left the crazed idol towering over her. "Let's have a serious talk, hmm?" Then she punched him.

His head barely turned but he took a step back. "What would you like to discuss princess?"

The blonde flexed her hand. "Why not tell me Cayce was alive? Why go through so much trouble to completely erase him?"

When he hesitated to answer she struck him again. There wasn't much reaction aside from a heavy exhale. She was about to throw another punch when he raised his hand.

"I wanted us to be bffs, okay?" he mumbled, sounding out the acronym rather than spelling it.

"Bffs?" Azalea repeated then understood. In the last several months she had become somewhat fluent in his unusual speaking patterns. "You mean best friends."

"Yeah," he snorted. "You can only have one." Ever the random trait, sanity rose up to the surface. His eyes softened, vulnerability in a gaze that usually only held madness. "You're the only person that has ever- you actually..." he trailed off. Unable to voice his thoughts, the crazy returned. "Remember that time when I spanked that horse? You were quite perturbed and..."

Azalea's brow furrowed, a corner of her mouth turned downwards in confusion. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

The Man in Black's expression fell. "You know," he said. "W-when I threatened you and y-you- apologized." As she stared at him, trying to decipher what he was saying, it occurred to him; she didn't know. Her version of that memory was probably heavily tied to the anarchist. That moment where she empathized with his pain, something no one else had done. It was gone. He had erased it.