A STUDY IN BLACK ✓

XXVIII

Pete managed to grab Jenna, who was still unconscious, and haul her onto his back. All three of them ran to the entrance, following Pete.

"Is it really a good idea to bring her with us when she just tried to kill you?" He asked.

Josh ran backwards as he shot down the four Templar goons following them. "Believe me, you'll want her on our side when she's not being controlled by the crazies."

Tyler pulled Josh back just in time to avoid him being impaled by a man with a knife. He grabbed the man's arm and twisted it, head-butting him and stabbing him with his own knife.

Pete kept going, looking back to make sure Tyler and Josh were still behind him. "We're almost to the exit, just another corner and we're in the clear."

Josh swore under his breath at the amount of running they were doing. The inside of the facility was bigger than he thought; he swore he'd run miles just trying to escape.

The small winding halls gave way to a large room, the same room that Josh and Tyler were brought to when they were first taken.

Josh swallowed roughly, seeing Mikey Way standing in a pool of blood. SWAT team members and Templar people alike dead at his feet. His face was sprayed with blood, his glasses coated red. He held a rifle in each hand, and he was staring at them with a psychotic grin.

"Where's your brother, twink?" Josh spat, his anger boiling over.

Tyler grabbed Josh's shoulder to hold him back as he started forward, shaking his head to stop him. "I got this. Let me handle him." He turned to face Mikey, but fell backwards immediately when he was shot in his left shoulder.

That made Josh lose it.

He lurched forward, shooting without looking but knowing he hit his target when Mikey grunted and dropped the guns. As soon as Josh was close enough to grab him, he tackled Mikey to the ground.

Josh brought his fist down of Mikey's face, pummeling him over and over until Mikey grabbed him by the throat and threw him across the room.

Pete was guarding Jenna from a hoard of Templar goons, and Tyler was knocking them to the ground one by one with unnatural force. When he saw Josh brushing the dust of concrete off his shirt, he grinned, his shoulder still bleeding.

"Need help?" He called out.

Josh smiled back. "You can read me like a book, can't you?"

So they tag teamed him. Tyler took a running start at Mikey, leaping into the air and kicking him straight in the chest. Before Mikey could stand up, Josh picked up one of the rifles and pressed the barrel into his chest, his foot inches under his ribs.

"This is for Debby," he hissed, kicking Mikey right in the chest. Mikey groaned and turned to his side, blood trailing down his chin.

"This is for Jenna." Josh grabbed a fistful of Mikey's hair and slammed his face into the ground over and over, cracking his glasses and probably breaking his jaw as well.

"This is for Tyler." He kicked under Mikey's chin, his head snapping back painfully.

"And this is for me, you crazy murderous sicko."

The rest happened all too fast for Josh to see it coming. Josh didn't notice the gleam of metal until he was at his feet and aiming the long ass blade at Josh. Tyler saw it, though.

Tyler always saw everything before anyone else.

Josh screamed as Mikey plunged the knife in Tyler's back, the end sticking out from between his ribs and stabbing Josh deep in the chest. Tyler head-butted Mikey, and he slid across the floor.

He reaches behind them and flinched as he pulled out the knife out, the blade gleaming red. A sharp stinging sensation in Josh's chest knocked the wind out of him, making him gasp.

It was poisoned.

Tyler slowly turning to Josh with a look of shock and fear on his face. His mouth formed an o shape and he swayed on his feet. "Josh..."

The knife clattered to the ground, and Tyler fell into Josh's chest. Josh immediately wrapped his arms around him, sinking to the ground.

The burning sensation spread through Josh's chest, and he could only imagine how much worse it was for Tyler, who was wheezing now.

"Why the hell would you do that, you idiot?" Josh whispered, tears rolling down his face.

Tyler laughed breathlessly into Josh's chest, groaning. "I- I don't know, to be quite honest. It was as natural as an instinct to- to protect you."

Josh's vision was going red around the edges with unadulterated rage, to the point where he was about to punch his through the concrete floor.

"I'll be right back," Josh said, gently resting Tyler down onto the ground. "I have some business to take care of."

Tyler's hand grabbed Josh's wrist when he stood.

"Wait," Tyler coughed. "If you kill him, h- how does that make you a better person than Mikey oh- or Gerard or any of the- the others?"

Josh softened for a moment before pulling out his grip. "For you, I'd be the devil's right hand man."

He walked over to Mikey, who was on his hands and knees, coughing up blood. When he heard Josh approached, he raised his head and smiled. His teeth were stained red, and the whole right side of his face was cut up and bloody.

"Come for more?" Mikey asked mockingly, a hand shooting to the band at his ankle.

This time, Josh caught him and stepped on his wrist, crushing it under his weight. He felt the bones of his arm crunch under his foot like stepping on glass.

Mikey let out an agonizingly loud screech. Josh hovered over him, planting a leg on either side of his torso, and grabbed his neck. He tightened his hold until Mikey was wriggling under him, his eyes wide with abounding terror. His hands clutched Josh's wrists, trying to release the pressure on his throat, but that only made Josh squeeze harder.

"You hurt innocent girls, strip away their lives and throw them into a lions den of dirty men just because they have the money to fund your psychotic country club," Josh snarled, feeling Mikey's pulse thump through his fingers. "You turn heroes into mindless zombies. You take beautiful people and you break their minds. You hunt and steal and kill, for what? For power? Pleasure? Answer me, damn it!"

Mikey just looked into his face, smirking. "The world's on fire, Lieutenant. It always have been, and it always will be. I'm just helping the burning."