___
The explosive device detonated, and my eyes closed tightly as I phased to avoid the impacting blow. When my surroundings finally settled, I opened my eyes to see smoke all around me, with the shadows that enveloped me taking the shape of my body. I exhaled in relief, thankful for another narrow escape from harm. Though my abilities were faltering, they at least came through a few times to save my hide. However, I quickly noticed Candyman’s corpse was nowhere to be found, as well as a certain lack of craters in the asphalt that the explosion would have caused.
Damn, I thought. It was a fake, most likely a smoke bomb. Something Candyman had used as a distraction to get away.
My head swirled around to see Candyman had fled, and through the settling smoke, I could see Red Hood looking around for him too, caught in the smoke’s radius as well. I quickly stepped out to the side, where the smoke was thinner. My eyes darted around the docks frantically, trying to find the missing foe. I could see nothing, until I was fixated on a familiar neon figure, running to the docks on the far right.
I had two choices once again. To help Red Hood out of the smoke, or to give chase.
My mind knew the answer.
I couldn’t lose him. Something was happening, bigger than any of us. Candyman knew all about it, and if I lost him, I’d lose my lead to figuring out this mayhem.
The split decision was made, and I began sprinting after Candyman, leaving the man in the red helm inside of the smoke. The dust clouds were still settling, slowly dissipating in the stormy night. I felt bad as I left the red-helmed man in the smoke, but I knew it was only a matter of time before he caught up.
I ran across the lot before sharply turning the direction Candyman had gone, seeing him in the distance run across the rows of docks. I pushed myself to run faster, my legs beginning to burn from the strain, but I couldn’t lose him.
I wouldn’t lose him.
Suddenly, Candyman’s figure sharply turned again onto a dock that contained a large cargo ship. I heard a loud thud as he presumably ran and jumped onto it. I grit my teeth, racing past the docks lined with smaller speed boats and yachts, coming up onto the dock where Candyman ran to.
I knew I had him cornered.
I quickly activated, aimed, and released my grapples, hooking to the boat and zipping up to the deck, rolling onto its rusted metal surface. On my knee, I looked around, scouring the area. The rain had made slight puddles on the weathered, rotting flooring of the deck, making slight ripples protrude from where I had disturbed the water. I stood up straight, doing my best to see in the dark.
From what the lightning helped me make out the boat was your average cargo ship, but from the looks of it, it was left to the elements a long time ago. As if no one had come back to reclaim it from the docks. Rust littered every surface, from the cargo cars that remained on the ship’s deck to the ends of her. Filth from birds and ocean scum plagued her too, making her nearly uninhabitable, and unusable. This withered, crusted-over ship had never seen a human touch in years.
Until now, as every movement I made disturbed the dirt and rust that lay claim to her. I looked around at the dark cargo cars and realized the danger I could be in if I proceeded. If Candyman was on here, he had plenty of corners and places to hide in. Taking me by surprise and ending my life with an easy score. Nightwing once told me the shadows were our friend during training, as they could cloak us from detection if we knew how to use them well.
I reminded myself to tell Nightwing he was a liar when I saw him next. At this moment in time, they weren’t my friend. They were working against me, because now I was the one cautious of what lurked in them.
I carefully walked on slowly, my footsteps creaking below me. No matter how quiet I tried to be, the old ship still echoed my movements, broadcasting them out into the night. I could hear my heart beating loudly, as I moved past the first set of cargo cars, carefully stopping to investigate every corner that one could hide in, paranoid of Candyman. He could be anywhere, armed with another explosive or his dastardly hook and chain, ready to be my cause of death.
I looked down towards the end of the boat, only for my worry to grow. The ship was larger than it looked, stretching on for what seemed like yards. In all this space somewhere, a maniac lay in wait.
Or maybe I was wrong. Maybe I had missed him, and he simply hopped on another boat. I clenched my fists at the thought.
God, what if I just let him get away, I thought.
A yell pierced the previous silence in the air, interrupting my thoughts.
“It’s almost cosmic… how we’re on this boat you know! It’s a nostalgia like none other!”
After the familiar, haunting voice yelled out, his signature giggle followed. My insides churned hearing it. He was even creepier when I couldn’t see him. Knowing he could see me, and I didn’t have a clue where he was. It just made it all the more terrifying.
I stayed silent, trying to regulate my breath to no avail. I was breathing heavier, my heart now to the point it was pulsating throughout my body in fear. I could feel my hands shake, but still, I tiptoed on. He sounded farther away thankfully, but he was still hiding in the damn shadows. His voice yelled out into the night again, and while I crept past the cargo cars, I listened, trying my best through my fear to pinpoint his location.
“You see, this ship - The S.S Alejandra, named after my sweet, dear mother - was my childhood. My bastard father owned this ship. Used it to trade all sorts of goods between here and Cuba. If you asked him up front, he’d tell you he delivers the chemical products Ace Chemicals uses. But, if you knew him well, you’d know we’d smuggle a lot more than that. Brown and blow for the party animals and underground bosses. All the way to illegal weapons and desperate people, if we were paid the right price… Nothing was too risky for my father. And I was a part of his crew… Child labor was his go-to method, that cheap… son of a bitch.”
Candyman spat out his last words, in clear disdain for the memory of his father. I exhaled, watching as my breath became visible due to the dropping tempatures. I examined every corner of the dark carefully, still listening sharply for Candyman’s voice to get closer as I crept on.
“Ever since I could lift a box, he had me working. It wasn’t so bad if you took out the bruises and lashes he’d give. I liked the sea. But… I had no purpose. No drive. My life was all for my father… Until my cousin joined us for a trip smuggling some men over to Gotham. He’d done some nasty work for a local crime lord in Baracoa. Beautiful work... Bloody interrogations, murder-for-hires, and random crime sprees to keep the town scared. At twenty-three years old, he would have put most of the boys out here in Gotham to shame. And he had a knack for photography. Every kill, he snapped on his Canon… And I got to see it all. Boy, did I idolize him after that. I knew I wanted to be just like him. Number one distributor of blood and guts in the scene. And he told me - ‘Cousin, you can make the world yours. You just have to make it fear you first.’ - And I wanted that. More than ever…”
My blood ran cold hearing Candyman’s life story. The way he spoke about this psychotic killer, his cousin, was like a child admiring his favorite cartoon character. This man was demented. Sick, and vile to the core, and from the sounds of it, he was proud to be that way. He continued, and as I crept forward more, his voice got closer. Yet, he was still too far away.
“After that night, things changed. I began to see the world in a different light. Like if I wanted to, I could be its king- no… Its god. They just didn’t know it yet. But I could feel it. I knew I’d be just like my idol. The only thing in my way was my asshole father. Luckily, one night while we were at sea, I came to the realization. Everything I needed to start claiming my destiny was right in front of me. A ship, alone at the docks, with only my father and I… Isolated. Along with the usual cargo, we had more guns than we could count, smuggling them in for the boys out in the streets. I knew… I could make the world mine. Starting with him… That night was a rainy clusterfuck, much like tonight. I came out of the cabin, to see my father had gone below deck. So, I snuck down there with him. Grabbing a good ol’ sawed-off I found stashed in a container down there… You can guess the rest, can’t you? You’re a smart girl… He’s down there still, to this day, you know. Right below your feet… Decayed well down to the bones by now. Covered in the nets and boxes I buried him under.”
The hairs on my neck stood up as he cackled. My head slowly turned downward to stare at the rusted metal surface I stood on. My heart stopped at the realization Candyman’s first murder victim was just a few feet below me. I jolted my head back up, picking up my pace. More desperate to find the psycho on board with me, before he finds me.
“Well, after that, I commanded the crew. Just seventeen years old! Figuring I could take over my father’s trade and make a name for myself. But… apparently, someone had snitched us out. Before we could leave, I was caught… They thought I was the sole trader responsible for the weapons trade smuggling across Gotham. They tried me as an adult… So into Blackgate, I went! I got put in a holding cell with three other inmates, who didn’t like the fact that a seventeen-year-old boy had a better rap sheet than them. The supposed smuggler who brought the party and the heat to the streets. No… they didn’t like that…”
Candyman got quieter, sounding less cheerful, and more angry. Just like the night I killed him when his demented joy turned to serious rage.
“... I won’t even… I won’t even detail about what those bastards did to me… But you can guarantee they didn’t get away with it. No, when it was shower time, I made them fear me… Beat them to the point where their damn faces were nothing but mush… Someone liked what I did after hearing about it… So much so he took pity on me and got all buddy-buddy with me. I hated it... his pity… But I went along with it because he said he had a plan. See, he was part of a gang here in the city. A gang that liked the kind of violence I was all about. A gang that was more about sending a message than the regular business end of things… Members of this gang that got the slammer were going on a transfer to Arkham Asylum. Only, that man knew about an inside plan, a plan that would break them all out. So I played my cards right, and got close to this man and his gang buddies. The lazy fuckers who worked Blackgate eventually roped me into the transfer because they couldn’t be bothered a check my file. It was all by association… So off to Arkham, I went, where that plan went into place.”
I stopped in my tracks briefly, thinking I heard a noise behind me, when I confirmed it was only the wind, I pressed on.
“It was pure… chaos! A complete takeover of the looney bin. Blood and violence everywhere. That was, until some jerk-off ruined it all for us. Luckily for me and three others, we dipped on the orders of the gang’s leader before he got caught, to regroup and plan his next great escape. See, at that time, I knew nothing about him… But I heard all about him."
I could hear his pause become stagnant in the air, before he spoke on in awe.
"The Joker! Gotham’s Clown Prince of Crime. When I got to meet him, it was… Like staring at my new and improved idol. Like gazing upon the divine itself. Someone who not only made the world tremble at his very name, but someone who turned violent tendencies into excitement, and art! Oh… He was a mad genius… And he took a liking to me. He encouraged my aspirations and pushed me to make my work better. Told me to go into the deepest, darkest corners of my mind and bring it all out. Make murder inspiring. Make violence into a show. Make the world my stage of carnage! He became my idol, my mentor. I eventually became his go-getter. I was the only one he trusted to take care of people he didn’t want around anymore. People who wanted to make an example of… I made every little show better than the one before. Like rigging that CEO’s body for the New Year’s drop in Gotham - What a great year… I’ve always had a fascination for explosives though!”
He laughed maniacally. His voice was getting closer with every inch I moved.
“I bet you’re wondering how I got my little nickname, aren’t you? You see, I took our mission of controlling the streets to heart. And what better way to send a message than to not just target a person - but to target everyone he lives on for… Now, from what I’ve gathered, Sarah, you haven’t been out too long… And boy! You sure missed a lot! I invented my own explosives. They’re small, yes. But deadly, still! There’s a reason for their size, you see. You gotta make sure they can fit in the candy wrappers just right. And after that, you can hand them to all the kiddies whose mommies and daddies were causing trouble! That’s… how you become the Candyman of Gotham…”
His voice went from his typical ring leader-esc voice to a demonic, low growl when he stated his last sentence.
He meant to say it like that to intimidate me, I thought. He was toying with me.
I exhaled with a shaky breath, horrified at his last sentence. I didn’t know the extent of this man’s deviance, his hellish deeds, but he had just confessed to me he had gotten his name by brutally murdering children. Most likely to get to the people who’ve fallen out of grace with the boss he mentioned.
Water sloshed under me as I carefully walked through the cargo cars on the ship. Terrified even more so, when I realized I had walked right under him, knowing his voice came from above. I quickly shot my head up, only to gaze upon Candyman hidden in the shadows. He only became visible when a flash of lighting slightly illuminated his figure. His neon attire never looked more haunting than in this moment. He then flicked something down below at me, my head turning towards the object my gut already identified. A tiny sphere that flickered a red light hit the ground, sending tiny ripples from its collision in the puddle. Now that I was up close and personal with it for a split second, I could see that the little bombs looked like tiny, pink orbs of sugary deceit. My body turned to ice as I realized he wasn’t lying about his confession. Just in time, I managed to roll away, crying out as an explosion emitted.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
BOOM!
I had evaded the blast, but right as I got to my knee, A heavy object had whipped my back, sending me back onto my stomach. I cried out from the impact, the wind knocked out of my lungs from the blunt weapon. I turned my head quickly to see Candyman had jumped down, his chain now unhooked from his belt, spinning in the air as he wielded it in both hands.
“I didn’t fear dying in all that time… No… Not until you came along that fateful night. Until I got an unsuspected, heartwarming call, telling me to take my men and retrieve you. Dead, or alive… I didn’t know what we were dealing with. You didn’t scare me then. How could I? You were such a timid little thing then… I didn’t fear you until you beat me. You were the first in a long time to make me feel weak. But by the grace of another, I was brought back. And now I know… I have nothing to fear anymore.
Candyman spat out his next hateful words with a burning rage.
"You are nothing compared to her… And the only people you should be scared of now are her loyal soldiers. Us… We’ll make every second you still draw breath - agony…”
He laughed maniacally, swinging the chain downward towards me with extreme might. My eyes widened, as I quickly rolled out of the way. His words taunted my soul, freezing me up inside with dread and fear. There was no time to embrace my fear, however, as he recoiled his chain before flicking it in my direction.
I quickly flipped myself off of the ground after evading his chain, kicking my leg up to try and land my foot into his chest. He was quicker than me, however, wrapping the massive chain around my leg, laughing. I gritted my teeth, yelling out to him with my leg still caught up in his chain, balancing on my other foot.
“Who’s behind all this? Tell me!”
He just laughed more at me, his ringleader-from-hell voice returning. He roughly jerked the chain on both sides, violently untwisting my leg from its grasp, sending me on my knees faster than I could blink.
“I’d tell you, but it really won’t matter in a few seconds. All you need to know is… your very existence is a mistake… A disgrace. You could have been so good for Gotham. You could have owned this city with us. But your heart is weak.”
He then growled out, swinging the chain down again. This time, I thought on my feet. Using the water on the boat’s deck to my advantage, I quickly ran, ducking down as I slid under him, evading the chain. Once I was behind him, I quickly got up off of the filthy, rusted surface. As if I had a sixth sense, I could feel Candyman had swung his chain around to catch me on its hook end. Without missing a beat, I used all my might to jump up and push off of the cargo car to the left of me, forcing myself to spin my body midair to evade the chain and hook. I landed on the ground, rolling forward as I ran back from where I came.
I needed to get cover away from his heavy chain and figure out a plan to take on Candyman. His boots behind me indicated he was giving chase.
Just as I was about to round the last cargo car for cover, a pair of grey gloves reached over the railing at the end of the point. Within an instant, a blur of red jumped up onto the cargo ship, and a familiar figure leaped in front of me. I stopped in my tracks, stopping myself from running into him.
“You couldn’t have waited five seconds, could you?”
Red Hood said angrily.
I squinted, still frozen in place.
“He was going to get away! You would have been here on time if you were faster… Maybe smarter.”
I shot back, using his previous insults against me on him. He stood in silence for a brief second.
“I’m still leagues better than y-”
Before any more words could be shared, I felt the heavy smack of chains hit me square in the back. I let out a painful grunt as I projected forward from the impact, colliding into Red Hood. I rolled onto the ground, with Red Hood beside me on his knee. The shooting pain in my backside felt like my skin was turning black with bruises, my spine aching from the assault. I quickly got to my knees too, looking up at Candyman who had caught up with me.
“So nice of you to join the party, little Red! Though, you did miss my testimony... Rude, if you ask me.”
Candyman snickered, wrapping a part of his chain around his arm for better control over his oddly damaging weapon of choice.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Less of my life wasted listening to you and your god-awful nicknames.”
Red Hood quickly stood up, his back hunched slightly. He quickly drew out his pistols from the holsters strapped to his thighs, holding them up.
“It’s a term of endearment for my favorite little show-stopper. You’ve been such a hassle with me and my men. Like I said, tonight… I’ll kill you both. Two little birds, one Candyman!”
The maniac laughed, leaning on his left foot.
“You’re so confident, Candy. Thing is, your words mean nothing until you put some action behind them. And you’ve always been all mouth.”
Red Hood then turned his head towards me, quickly uttering out another sentence.
“His chain is a bitch and a half - never mind the damn explosives he’s got. We take him out by getting close to him or - better idea - behind him. I know bird-shit trained you, so act like it. Pick up the pace, and hit harder. It’ll be difficult to focus on us both. One of us has a good chance of getting close enough to take him down.”
His words of encouragement were truly inspirational, I thought to myself sarcastically, but he had a point. Candyman was well-skilled with his chain, and he made it so one-on-one, that getting close to him was near impossible. If we both came at him with everything, he’d have trouble focusing on one of us, giving us an easier in. Instead of saying anything in response, I just nodded sharply at him to indicate I understood the plan, turning my attention towards Candyman.
“Cut a man some slack, Red! You haven’t even seen the action yet. And I’m a man with nothing to fear now…”
Candyman hissed out, chuckling under his devilish clown’s mask.
“And I’m a man with nothing to lose. You’re not that special. - Now!”
Red Hood yelled out the command, and in sync, we both ran toward Candyman. In response, he swung his chain violently, making a whipping motion as it flung to us. Red Hood quickly slid under its range, while I leaped over it and rolled. Candyman was quicker, using his prowess with the weapon to swing it back with a motion that caught me off guard. The whipping motion made it so the wave shape the chain formed caught me in the side, sending me flying into a cargo car on the left. I cried out, after hitting the metal surface, but recovered quickly. Candyman now spun his chain in a circle, above us, before hurling it down toward Red Hood. I watched as he dodged it, flipping back away from its range. Candyman was quick, using the same motion with the chain to hit him again, which sent him back a few steps.
I ran towards him again, managing to phase forward a few steps to help me get back to where Red Hood was. I leaped at Candyman, my fist ready to punch, but his chain was swung right into my chest, sending me flying back. Red Hood got up, managing to get within two feet of him. He tried kicking him, but Candyman tightened his hand placement on the chains, extending the strained portion of the chain in front of him to block his boots from touching him. He then quickly scooped the chain under his foot and around his ankle, thrusting him back. As Red Hood flipped back with skill, he aimed his right-handed pistol at the opponent and fired, the shot breezing past his shoulder.
“Missed me!”
Candyman taunted, as he giggled. He then swung the chain at Red Hood again, with Red Hood leaping to the side to evade it. I exhaled sharply, making another run towards him again while his eyes were still focused on Red Hood. Candyman saw me, however, and whipped his chain towards me. I quickly stumbled back to avoid its range, the hook on the end coming nearly inches from my face. The wind from the sudden rush of the object breezed my face. I stopped for a brief moment, the rain pouring down onto everything beneath it. Thunder still cracking in the distance like whip in the sky. All of it felt so intense, but I had to think. Getting close to him was harder than I thought, and with my abilities being unreliable it seemed impossible. Somehow getting behind him was the next course of action.
Red Hood hopped from one side to the next, trying to avoid the heavy chain. When the chain came close to hitting his face, he used both of his arms to make an X in front of him, letting the chain hit him there instead of his head. He then aimed his pistols at Candyman, firing off a couple of times.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Candyman rolled out of the way, and as he evaded, Red Hood seized that opportunity and ran to get closer. Candyman was still too fast, using his chain instead to whip across the deck, tripping Red Hood, who collided with the metal surface before rolling back onto his feet.
I looked for any way to get behind Candyman. Or make it so at least one of us was on Candyman’s back. That's when a flash of lightning gave me my answer. A few feet behind Candyman, was the tall structure built into the ship. The lower part was the door to the deck, and the above was the glass enclosure that housed the steering wheel.
Without any more hesitation, I quickly activated my grappling unit once again, but I needed to get closer for it to hook to my destination. So, I began running towards Candyman. I knew to get close enough, I had to be quick. I had to be faster than his chain.
Candyman saw me running towards him, and swung the chain in my direction, it having a lower range. I quickly jumped over it, but I knew Candyman was fast. Sure enough, without delay, he whipped it back towards him to try and get me with it.
Come one, Sarah, I thought. I need to be faster.
The chain came upward, and I was able to duck under it, weaving my head to the side while my back hunched down to avoid it.
Faster, I thought. I’ve got to push myself to be quicker than him.
He roughly spun the chain around, before bringing it crashing down atop me. I quickly leaped to the side, sliding across the deck, water splashing everywhere as I did so. I slid past Candyman on the ground, and once I was behind him I pushed myself up to stand, quickly activating my grapple gauntlets. My grapples shot out, hooking onto the railing that was built to the ledge beside the tiny glass enclosure. Suddenly I was pulled up to the ledge, using all my might to leap over the railing which nearly broke under my grasp. Once on the other side, I landed on my knee just in time for Candyman’s chain to whip up over me, trying to catch me on the end. Instead, the chain found itself crashing into the weak, glass enclosure, shattering it into a million pieces. I ducked my head, covering my face to avoid the sharp shards. A slight stinging sensation took over the top of my hand, as a small piece of glass made a very light cut on my skin. Once the shards had fallen, I looked up abruptly to face Candyman.
Red Hood took advantage of his distraction, swinging his leg up and over to kick him in the face. Candyman staggered back from the blow, before blocking an attempted pistol whip with his chain. He giggled at Red Hood’s attempt and swung his chain again. Red Hood, however, outsmarted him, weaving out of the way. When Candyman wasn’t looking, he placed the pistol in his left hand back in its holster. Red Hood grabbed onto a part of the chain that was close enough to Candyman’s grip, before kicking him back into the rusted, metal door of the cabin. When he fell back, the chain Red Hood had held onto was ripped out of his grasp. It seemed the fight was over, with Candyman’s main weapon disposed of.
Candyman, however, leaped back up just as Red Hood aimed his pistol at him. As he fired, Candyman rolled out of the way. While crouched down, his maniacal laughter rang out into the storm, as he reached into his pocket to retrieve another small sphere. As soon as he did, it started blinking red. I was now well acquainted with his gadgets to know blue meant smoke, and red meant…
“Hey, get down!”
I yelled out to him, but he seemed to already know what to do, dive-rolling out of the way behind a few cargo cars. Candyman bolted for cover too, leaving only-
BOOM!
This explosive seemed to be bigger, packing more of a punch than before. The one he threw at me before didn’t even dent the metal deck below us. This one, however, caused the deck to burst open, shrapnel flying everywhere. Not only that, part of the ledge was caught in the blast radius, making the already unstable, withered structure tilt forward, half of its support blown away. I cried out in shock as the ledge tilted forward, grabbing onto the last bit of railing that remained after the blast to support myself.
The red fire from the explosion cleared, along with the grey, foul-smelling smoke that came with it. A voice right beside me caught my attention.
“Care for a one-on-one?”
The voice said chillingly, in an enthusiastic way.
I turned sharply to my left, just as Candyman swung a punch that collided with my jaw. I winced out, but quickly managed to block the second one. Candyman stood in front of me, swinging punches left and right, some hitting me in the face or chest, others being blocked or pushed away by me. When I saw an opening, I quickly swung my head forward in desperation, headbutting him back slightly. He recovered quickly, swinging his leg over to kick me into the compartment where the ship’s steering wheel was located. I crashed through the frames after the glass had been broken off them. Candyman kicked me against the old, rotting control board and wheel. I cried out from the impact but quickly snapped out of it when Candyman lunged with his hands aiming for my throat. I grabbed them instinctively, struggling with Candyman. It was now a battle of strength, and I was losing, my muscles wavering against his. I tried with all of my might to push him back, but he just cackled at me, applying pressure.
“Tell me, Sarah. Are you afraid of death?”
My eyes widened at his menacing question. At this point, I could feel his breath escape from under his mask. Warm compared to the rainfall that hailed down, making my blood freeze with fright. To answer his question, I was. I feared the death that was planned for me at the hands of these dead men walking.
Especially after learning about what Candyman’s done. Scarecrow, Candyman, who else? Who else could top the sheer evil these two men were capable of? It didn’t seem like it could get worse. The times when I thought fighting crime was a fun game were so much simpler. Now, it was just a game to everyone against me, and I didn’t want to play anymore.
I had no choice but to, however. They wouldn’t stop coming for me.
Candyman applied even more pressure, and my arms began to buckle, but still, I tried to hold on. I suddenly had an idea, and without delay I brought my knee up, colliding it with Candyman’s stomach. He let out a grunt from the hit, and I quickly kicked him back into the framing, which broke more. I couldn’t let him recover. I used everything I had in me to focus, and with luck I disappeared, reappearing to the side of him. Quickly, I grabbed him by the throat while still transformed in shadows. Smoke emitting rapidly everywhere, like dark tendrils flickering around my being.
In my form, I lifted him slightly off the ground, staring into his red soulless eyes through his mask. He wasn’t fearful like the last time we fought. I could see the crow's feet wrinkling his eyes.
He was smiling.
“Well… Look at… That! Still… Got it… after… all!”
He choked under my grip, cackling to the best of his ability.
“Enough! Tell me what’s going on! Who’s after me?”
I yelled out, enraged with him. I needed to know. I had to know. I resisted the voices in my head telling me to maim him, keeping my monstrous claws in check this time.
“All in… Good… Time… Was hoping… This wouldn’t… Work… For… Plan...”
He wheezed out, now using his right hand to roughly grab my wrist. I wasn’t relenting, however.
I spun him around, smashing him into the console center and wheel, hearing him grunt in pain as I did so.
“Start talking! NOW!”
I screamed out, my adrenaline kicking into overdrive. I felt like my pupils constricted, my blood rushing through my veins, my heartbeat beating out of my chest. My blackened, shadowed hand still around his throat, I gripped tighter.
Candyman still gripped onto my wrist, laughing with exasperated breaths.
“All… I’ll say… Is that there’s… Nothing… You can do… To stop… Her… Caedes… Will make sure… It ends… Soon.”
My eyes widened at his words. What did he mean?
“What are you saying?”
I yelled at him. But a loud beeping sound caught my attention. A slight thud on the ground caused me to look down. Right beside my feet, a larger cerulean sphere rolled against my foot. This time, it blinked rapidly.
The color red.
He dropped another explosive. This time, larger than his normal arsenal.
I gasped, not even looking at the laughing Candyman. I released my grip on him so I could shield my face. Everything happened within a second. Candyman just cackled maniacally as he jumped overboard.
I screamed out, bringing my arms up once again.
I had to phase. I HAD to phase!
I screamed out, crying for the monster in me to come to my aid. My heart skipped a beat right as the explosive detonated.
BOOM!
The enclosure we were in, as well as the entire end of the boat, came down. Wood, metal, and glass flew everywhere, crashing into the dark abyssal sea whose waves were thrashing wildly in the storm. Candyman was nowhere to be seen in the water below. All I knew was that I fell into the watery depths along with him, smoke still encasing me.