36 Interlude: Darnell Jackson

Around a circular table sits six people. Five men and one woman, all with the same black skin as everyone else in their gang.

The room itself is heavy with such tension that it feels as if it could be cut with a knife.

Understandable, considering the reason for this gathering.

"I assume you've all seen the video?" Eraser begins, speaking about what is on all of our minds.

He is answered by a round of nodding heads, nobody saying anything.

I can't speak for the others, but I know that the reason I can't bring myself to speak right now is simply the video itself.

I can remember it with startling clarity.

The scene opened facing a dull grey wall splattered with blood in a dark, but still visible room.

Then the camera swings as someone takes hold of it, only for it to twist around to show a face that covers the whole screen.

Though, rather than a face, it would be more accurate to say a mask. A 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘯 mask. A familiar clown mask.

Then she started talking, her voice light and cheerful even when her eyes gleamed like the reapers' scythe, the ominous red seeming much, much more dangerous than when I met the mad Clown.

𝘏𝘦𝘺𝘩𝘰𝘰!~ 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴!~ 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺!~ 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺~ 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳~ 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰?~

The camera then pulled back, far enough away from her to know she had someone else recording, showing her whole body.

But it's what was behind her that held my, and likely everyone else's attention.

There was Shade who disappeared the other day without warning.

Only, he didn't look as I remember him to, dark and edgy but with kindness underneath. The only reason he even joined us was because of the system itself failing him, otherwise he would have probably ended up on the side of the angels, something he vehemently refuses every time it's brought up.

Instead of the Shade I remember, no, instead of the Freddie I remember, the person that sat behind the mad Clown was nothing but a shadow of a man, with sunken cheeks and scars and open wounds decorating his bare chest, he hardly looked like a man at all.

He looked more like some Frankenstein monster that hasn't been finished yet.

But even with all of that, I could tell who it was the moment I saw him. I could never not recognise anyone who I've gone out drinking with so many times.

Distantly, I recognise the conversation of the room resuming.

"Then, I don't think I should have to say it for everyone to know what happens next. Right?" Eraser says, igniting the fire burning inside everyone's chests.

"You don't have to say anything boss. Because even if you told me not to, I'm gonna see that white bitch dead. For Freddie." Romulus says, his voice strained as he speaks through gritted teeth.

His words get a rousing agreement from everyone present, as they all exclaim their shared desire for the bitches death.

All but one.

All but me.

Because all I can think about, is that this is all my fault.

I could have killed her, back then.

I should have.

Maybe if I did...

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭~ 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮.~ 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘦~ 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺~ 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰~ 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴.~

I remember her saying, with such demented glee that I felt my skin crawl.

Then she moved up to him and slapped him in the face a few times to no response, his head simply remaining limp, so much so that I feared he was simply dead.

But then she leaned down to his ear and whispered something. I don't know what it was, but once she did so, Shade's eyes shot wide open and his head raised as he let out the single most 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 scream I have ever heard in my life.

"Dynamite."

The sound haunts my dreams, and I can't help but think it will continue to do so for a long time to come.

This is all my fault.

If only I'd killed her.

If only.

"Dynamite!!"

But instead, I had to watch as my friend was reduced to a broken man, eyes sifting around frantically and breathes coming so fast to sound almost constant.

Moving around Shade to be standing behind him, she caresses his shoulders gently, stroking his head like he's some kind of pet.

𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴~ 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦.~ 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦.~

Her voice, already audibly psychotic starts to tremble the more she speaks as excitement starts to overwhelm her.

The camera moves closer and at the same time, she leans forward over Shade, uncaring about aggravating his wounds or about the blood she gets on herself simply from being in contact with him.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴.~ 𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙖 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚?~

"DYNAMITE!!"

The loud noise jolts me out of my thoughts, bringing me back to the room where everyone is staring at me, the concern in their eyes apparent and warming.

It only makes me feel even more guilty, like I betrayed their trust by letting this happen.

"Sorry, got lost in thought." I say, trying and failing to not sound as morose as I feel.

"It's fine. We understand, just try to focus okay?" Tom says, always the kind one, even after getting that horrible nickname because of it.

But I just don't feel like poking fun at him about it right now, so I just nod my head and leave it at that.

Eraser picks the conversation back up by bringing our focus back to what matters right now.

"Now, as I was saying. In her little... message." He says, frowning at the mere mention of that video, an expression matched and enhanced by those present.

"She said how she has hidden Shade somewhere, and that the 'game' is that we have to capture her in order to get his his location." He explains.

Everyone nods with his words, having watched the same video.

I have no idea how she managed to get the videos into each of our personal phones, but with a good enough hacker, it's not something impossible to do, so questioning it is pointless.

"Now, you might not all be aware of this, but yesterday the bitch held up a bank and apparently surrendered immediately and is currently sitting in a PRT cell. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what her 'game' is." He says, somehow making the frowns of the room even deeper.

"The whore wants us to fight the Protectorate." Spits out Blacked, ironically the only woman here, with disgust evident in her tone.

That makes the tension in the room even worse, enough that entering the room would feel like walking into a lion's den as everyone considers the implications.

Because the simple fact is that we cannot win against the Protectorate.

In fact, we'd hardly stand a chance against them. Just Tiamat alone would be enough to handle everyone here at once, so long as Eraser is excluded, since he counters her pretty hard.

Hard to beat someone who erases inorganic matter when your power is to control said inorganic matter.

"So what! We just leave him to die, even after whatever shit she's put him through!" Dovah shouts, quick to anger ever since Matchstick kicked the bucket.

Even if no one likes his words, no one disputes them either, because what would reasonably happen if we assaulted the PRT building?

We might as well just be handing ourselves over to them.

Fortunately, before we can wallow in defeat without even being given a chance to fight, Eraser speaks up again.

"Luckily however, we are not the only ones she is targeting. I got an extra message from her and it seems she really wants this to be a grand 'game', as she has invited Red Branch as well. Same as us, she has kidnapped one of their members, Eraser, and sent them a similar video to the one she sent us."

For all that he sounds calm and collected as he speaks, to anyone who knows him well enough, that number being incredibly limited outside of this room, it is clear that he is filled with barely contained wrath and contempt.

His words send mixed feelings through everyone present, as on one hand, it suggests that we will actually be working together with Red Branch, despite being bitter enemies for years, while on the other hand, it means that we could actually have a chance at getting Shade back.

"So we have to work with the potato munching motherfuckers for a day, big fucking deal. It's not like we'll be the first people to explore the concept of 'the enemy of my enemy'. So what are we waiting for? Let's give the pale cunts a call and fucking smoke this bitch!" Dovah's anger filled voice fills the room as he stands and slams his hands on the table for emphasis.

"Well said Dovah. However I have already talked with Cu Chulainn to discus this-"

Unfortunately, Eraser doesn't get to keep talking as Romulus speaks up with a dissatisfied tone.

"You spoke to those leprechauns without even consulting with us first?" He says with a frown on his face.

Eraser simply favours him with a blank stare that we all can see is hiding an inferno of wrath.

When he speaks again, his voice is deathly calm, blank in a way that is clearly forced and incredibly unnerving.

"Similar to you, I don't particularly care what you do or say right now. Either way, I will be getting Shade back, your opinions on how I do so are unnecessary."

Nobody interrupts him after that, especially not Romulus, who sits back, sufficiently cowed.

"Now, as I was saying. I spoke with Cu Chulainn about this and we reached an agreement. The day after tomorrow, Tear will be getting a prison transport out of the city. When that time comes, we will intercept it, push back any heroes that try to stop us, or even kill them if you have to and we will retrieve her. However, only once both our capes are safe does she die. Understood?"

Everyone is understandably eager at the prospect of killing her, but we all understand what our priorities here are.

"Sure, but I want to be the one to kill her." Says Dovah, his voice filled with pain.

But before anyone else can speak, I do so myself.

"No."

"No?" He parrots in both disbelief and anger.

As he goes to speak again, I cut him off, staring him down and letting all of my anger, my resentment and my guilt come to the surface as I do so.

"No. This is all my fault. I didn't end her when I had the chance, and now Shade has suffered for it. I will be the one to kill her, to wash away my shame."

The resolve in my voice must have been apparent, as after holding eye contact for a moment longer, Dovah simply huffs and collapses back into his chair with a deep frown and furrowed brows.

With that out of the way, the discussion moves back on to what exactly is going to be happening tomorrow and the day after and how we are going to be dealing with Red Brach exactly.

All until Tom asks a question of his own.

"So who's actually going to be taking part in this, from both us and Red Branch?" He asks Eraser, who looks back at him with a savage grin and answers with a single word.

"Everyone."

-----------------------------

A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!

Bro you have no idea how much I struggled naming this dude, after googling for common black names in america, I tried thinking for a good second name, but the first thing that came to mind was James and while I would find the hilarious, it's probably getting over done for you guys lol.

Even worse though, was that I then thought about naming him Darnell Obamna, which would also be hilarious, but probably racist in some manner, so I decided to just google for common black surnames as well.

Advanced chapters with the links below!

pat/reon.com/user?u=41732867 (get rid of the first slash)

or

https://ko-fi.com/bored_works

Also, join the discord!

https://discord.gg/Pj3Dttwses