THE RUN AND GO : JOSHLER

28 : ROULETTE

Kobra Kid roughly pulled Tyler up on his knees, so that he was again kneeling like he was before.

But he didn't stay kneeling for long. The blood running from his two wounds and the drugs in his system made him just fall right over again.

Kobra Kid growled in annoyance and yanked Tyler up again, this time holding him upright by his hair.

"This man-" Kobra Kid announced, holding Tyler up like a prize. "-killed my brother!"

The Clique broke out into a sea of murmurs and whispers.

"You remember that?" asked Kobra Kid with a wicked smile. "Huh? My brother Gerard ran this little shithole as his side hustle, remember? Of course, he had us Killjoys, but you didn't know that..."

With his free hand, he undid the gag in Tyler's mouth and threw it across the stage.

As soon as the gag was out of his mouth, Tyler took a desperate gasp for air. But his breaths soon turned into sobs, and those sobs turned chokes and coughs.

Kobra Kid scowled and kicked Tyler in his back, the tip of his boot hitting right on his spine.

Tyler groaned as he hit the floor yet again. But this time, he fell in the pool of his own blood. The dark red liquid drenched the entire right half of his face, and splattered all the way over to his left ear.

"No! Stop it! Stop, please!" Josh screamed. He was hysterical at this point, thrashing and kicking the Clique members that were holding him back.

Youngblood managed to reach up and cover Josh's mouth with his hand to muffle his screams and save Tyler from anymore shots.

"Alright, that's it," Kobra Kid groaned in annoyance and addressed his Killjoys behind him. "Fun Ghoul, Jet Star, get that one and bring him up on stage. The one with the green hair. I've had enough of him."

Before he knew it, Josh was being seized by the two Killjoys, each grabbing hold of one of his arms. His gun had long been confiscated.

Jet Star and Fun Ghoul dragged Josh on stage, with him kicking and screaming all the way. They threw him on the floor, right at the feet of Kobra Kid.

As soon as Josh hit the floor, he scrambled over to Tyler kneeling in the center of the stage. Kobra Kid, however, grabbed the back of Josh's shirt collar and yanked him backwards.

"Touch him," Kobra Kid began, shoving Josh back on the ground, "and he dies."

Josh gulped back his fear and looked back at Tyler sad, apologetic eyes.

"You seem to really like this psychopath over here," Kobra Kid snarled. "I don't know why. He's just about the most fucked up guy I've ever met."

"All the best people are crazy, Kobra Kid," the girl with the pink and black curls chimed in.

Josh said nothing. He focused on Tyler. Only Tyler.

"Crazy or not, since you're so in love with him," Kobra Kid continued, "I guess you'll want to join him in the little game we have planned. Melanie?"

The girl with the two toned hair and blood-stained pastel pink dress smiled mischievously and skipped right over to Kobra Kid's side.