The warm glow of the summer sun beamed down on the love entwined killers as the made there way through an abandoned factory building, looking for something that Sam wasn't quite sure of. Because of Lilly's lack of audible vocalization along with her eery leadership style, in which one would do her every biding just out of the curiosity to see what horrid atrocity she was sure to do next, Sam found it difficult to ever really know what they were doing. Normally he would follow in silence behind the terrifying enigma that was his wife, waiting to see what trouble they would find themselves in. He trusted her, no matter what, though. Whether that be because of blind infatuation with her or her consistency of getting the two out of any situation utterly and completely unscathed no matter how impossible the predicament. Sam had found that Lilly always knew the solution. She was always steps ahead of whatever was happening, and even when she wasn't, her lax personality and disregard for any and all obstacles in her path, always managed to disregard all logic and keep her unscathed throughout the endeavor. Sam couldn't understand how someone like that could survive such a problem-filled environment. Especially an environment like theirs. Filled with the cruelest most dangerous people the human mind could comprehend. Sam had spent his existence always prepared for everything to go wrong. And that practice was completely dignified. In a life like his where death and misfortune was an everyday routine, someone would completely understand a position such as that. Sam had lost more in his life than he had ever kept. To this day, the only thing he had on his side was an old sketchbook, a clown mask and his wife. Everything else had fallen through the cracks. Everything else had been lost. How could he NOT be prepared to lose everything else? But Lilly, she lived for loss. She took it in like some sort of drug. Every problem and situation where something horrible would happen seemed to only fuel her lack of giving a shit a little more. And it wasn't like she was depressed and numb to it. No, pain pleasured her. Whether it was someone else's or her own. A sadistic masochist. At least, that was the best Sam could surmise. He found that he knew Lilly less every day he spent with her.

Lilly's head wasn't exactly on that train of thought. In fact, she hadn't really thought about how she looked at the world. For her things just weren't that deep. She was and therefore she lived. She lusted for death and therefore she killed. Simplicity was her tranquility.

The reason she had brought herself and Sam out here was for that exact reason. She needed a hit. It had been 12 days since she had gotten one and she was starting to hear the blood rushing through her head. The sound was starting to make her go insane. After a long period of bloodless hands she would start to shake a little, and if time passed too much she'd bite on her lip until she popped it. And if time still ticked on, she'd be running a blade down her wrists. And after that... well, she had never gotten further than that. But she knew it wouldn't be good.

She walked down one hallway, empty of any life, and then went down another. Then they found him. He was filthy, hairy, old and most importantly, alive. Lilly pulled her hunting knife from her pocket and readied it for action. She walked slowly towards her victim with the knife held, pointed in his direction, at her side.

Sam saw where this was going and quickly grabbed her arm and stopped her, not completely understanding why he did.

She shot around at him, seeming to growl like a feral dog while baring her teeth. Fire burned in her eyes, ready to strike.

Sam retracted his arm, fearfully and without argument.

She turned back to her kill and proceeded to do her duty.

Sam looked away. Sam didn't mind killing, in fact, some days he loved it, but he didn't like seeing Lilly like this. This animalistic nature that she'd tap into when she hadn't gotten what she wanted. It was her darkest side. A side that only he ever got to see and he was glad for that as he wouldn't want anyone else to see her like this when she was like this. She wasn't Lilly anymore in these moments. She was a monster. And it was happening more frequently now. A weak without a kill never ended well. Two? Sam worried for his own safety. He was pretty sure she would never hurt him, but when she was like this, he wasn't sure.

It took less than 5 minutes. For the first few seconds there was screaming, then after that, there was gurgling, and after that, meat slapping meat. After the job was done, Sam felt two wet arms wrap around his. He didn't respond to the touch at first, but after a moment he said, "You done..?" in a slightly frustrated tone.

This was answered with a soft kiss on his bicep.

Sam sighed. He could never stay mad at her. She was his best friend. He questioned how he could even consider that she would try to hurt him. She loved him more than she loved anyone. She made that clear with every look she gave him. She wouldn't lay a finger on him, and vise versa. He looked down and was met with puppy dog eyes and a dopey bloody smile full of compassion. "I'm sorry I got mad, I just don't like it when you don't tell me what we're doing. We're a team, and I only want the best for us, ya know?"

She nodded and rested her cheek on his shoulder.

"Did you get it all out?"

She nodded again.

"Ok good. We've got a lot on our plate tonight. We need to find a car and maybe a place to stay."

She released his arm and signed, "Let's stay here."

"In an old building? Are you sure that's safe?" Sam looked around, examining the old decaying place.

Lilly put her hand to his face and focused his gaze on her, then released his face and signed, "Any place is safe when I'm with you."

Sam blushed and kissed her. As romantic as that was, Sam knew it was the other way around. Any place with Lilly was safe.

Maybe that was why she was never scared of anything. Maybe she was the cruelest most dangerous people the human mind could comprehend. Maybe Lilly was some the monster she let out every now and then. Sam didn't like to consider it, but it was worth thinking about. Or maybe it wasn't. Too many maybes...

---

Alonzo sat at a cubical that seemed a size too small, in a room a shade too white, with a mood too depressing. He hadn't felt this dejected in some time and it was starting to wear on him. Alonzo the Accountant didn't have the same ring as Alonzo the Great. And whether his stage name even held any importance to the rest of the world or not, didn't mean it didn't hold some value to him. Even if said value was fleeting. And it was fleeting. Slowly, all self-worth was dying like the last inch of candle wax still left to melt, eventually it would all be evaperated, and then he'd... well, he wasn't sure what he'd do. Suicide was always an option, but it seemed like a waste. Any option did. Even bringing the carnival back just to die again sounded cruel. He remembered that being Allon Fando's plan, to begin with. Drain the Carnival until all that was left was the dried-out corpse of a forgotten magician. Even after successfully killing his enemy, they still won. Without raising a finger.

After those depressing thoughts, Alonzo typed another Y into the system which transferred a large amount of money from one savings account to another, then the computer responded with a, "Transaction complete." And it was those two words that finally put the nail in the coffin for Alonzo. His transaction was not complete. As stupid as it sounded, he felt like the statement was telling him something. He wasn't in the right savings account, his check had bounced! And the more he thought about these accounting metaphors, the more he hated himself even more. A psychopath shouldn't have to handle money. A psychopath should be a psychopath, and Alonzo wasn't that anymore.

Alonzo stood up with sudden conviction, but was met with a room of people that didn't give a shit. He wanted to scream out and make his rage known, but he didn't know what he would say. He hadn't demanded anything in so long. He had lost control of his life. He had lost control of... his own name. He needed to get that name back, but how?

The phone on his desk rang. It was only a basic landline, nothing special, but it was the only excitement left in his life, so when it rang, he was fast to pick it up. He sat back in his chair, cleared his throat, and readied himself for the call. He sighed and put the phone to his ear. "The Zachery Corporation accounting department, my name is Al- Carlos, how can I help you?"

"Hey dick head." A feminine voice replied over the other end.

"No no, I'm Carlos, Dikheed's number is 555-14-"

"No Alonzo, I'm looking for you!" The voice replied angrily.

"Oh... Then why'd you call m-"

"STOP TALKING AND LISTEN!" The voice demanded.

Alonzo shut up. He was used to being yelled at anymore, so the loud voice didn't bother him.

"I'm coming to find you, Carlos. And I'm going to get the money you owe me. And after that, I'm gonna blow your brains all over my front lawn." The voice chuckled menacingly.

Alonzo couldn't pin the voice to a face at first, but on hearing a reference to blowing his brains out he suddenly realized- "FRANKLIN!" A smile crashed onto his face like a missile into the side of a tank. "Holy shit! I thought you were dead!"

Franklin was taken aback by Alonzo's sudden burst of excitement. "Wh-"

"How have things been!? I've been searching for you fir like six years or something! After the Carnival died, I didn't really have the same assets that I usually had, but I mean... I looked all over Facebook. Did you have Facebook?"

Franklin didn't respond at first, unsure of how to react to the cruel man's joyous "normal' behavior. After years of knowing Alonzo the Great as a disturbed lunatic, a sadistic masochist, a killer of killers, hearing him so strangely friendly seemed more offputting than he normally was."Y-you looked for me?"

"Of course! We are friends aren't we?" Alonzo replied. He hoped she might say yes. After losing so much of what he had, getting a little bit of love from somewhere didn't seem so disgusting anymore.

"We were work associates, yes." Franklin responded. She had never cared for friends other than her firearms. People were too messy.

"Oh..." That hit harder than Alonzo expected. "Well, um... I guess I read the room wrong then."

Franklin paused, confused by Alonzo's new behavior, and even more unsure of whether she had the right number or not in the first place. "This is Alonzo the great, yes?"

"Uh, no. Well, yes technically, but no not anymore." His smile faded quicker than it had appeared.

"You aren't Alonzo the Great? The Magician who Deals in Bloody Cards?"

"No, not anymore. That man is dead. I am just Carlos Hernandez now. The Accountant who Types 200 Words in Two Minutes. It's true too, I timed myself. I'm pushing for 300, but the most I've hit is 247. And that much hurt my fingers."

"Alonzo..." Franklin was disappointed more than she had ever thought possible. She had spent months looking through every Zachery Corp. database she could to fine the phone number of the craziest man who ever lived, but instead she got the number of some stay at home dad in the middle of a midlife crisis. "I thought you loved pain."

"I used to, but now I find that it kinda just gets in the way. It's no fun to hurt when there's nobody to disturb." Alonzo sighed. "But uh... that's enough about me. What's been going on with you?"

Franklin didn't call for a friendly discussion. She had called for a threat and some fear. This was just sad. "I'm coming to pick you up. Meet me in front of the building in two hours."

"Ok." Alonzo responded quickly.

"No argument? What if I decide to shoot you when I get there?" Franklin warned.

"Eh. Better than what I've got going on." Alonzo halfheartedly smiled.

Franklin shook her head. "What have they done to you..?"

"They made me an accountant. There's nothing more soul-sucking than being an accountant."

---

Katy stepped up to the side of her boat, struggling to pull her gloves onto her hands. They seemed to be a bit too small which worried her because, "Shit... Am I getting fat?" This wasn't the case, as Darline had taken it upon herself to run her gloves through the laundry, shrinking them in the process. But that conclusion was never reached as Katy was quick to judge herself over any other solution. "Damn it..." She pulled her gloves off of her hands and threw them aside, nearly reaching the lake but instead slapping into a wooden pole and flopping onto the floor of the pear. Katy sighed and slumped to the ground. She looked out over the water letting her mind wander into some strange existentialism. This was a common thought that she would return to. Whenever she felt stressed, she found that the realisation of a common end for all living things would laul her back to a calm state of mind. She wasn't the type to think of dark topics in an angsty sort of way, but for some reason, the inescapability of death put things into focus for her. Eventually whatever thing that felt impossible in the moment would be gone and become irrelevant as all things do. She would swim within the philosophy until the stressor was no more and she was free from its grasp. The reality of mortality meant that nothing lasted forever. Therefore no problem could not be defeated or overcome. Eventually time would eat it up. Like a pair of gloves that were too small, eventually she would buy another pair and everything would be fine.

Yet it wasn't until recently that she actually believed in this state of mind. After meeting Velvet, she could truely conceive such an idea. It had always been in the back of her mind and maybe it did help a bit before, but now it felt more real than ever. If good things died, who could say that bad things didn't die too.

"Betty?" A voice spoke up bringing Katy back into reality. It was a pretty voice and one that she was more than familiar with. One that reminded her of a darker time, but maybe now that time wouldn't hurt her like it did.

"Hello Hally." Katy responded, looking up at her nurse. Had it really been a week already? She thought. Honestly she hadn't noticed much about time since she met Velvet.

Hally had pretty blonde hair and wore a long white sweater that nearly reached her knees. Under the sweater was a pretty black v-neck with some band logo on the front that Katy didn't recognise. Hally walked over to where the gloves sat lifelessy on the ground and scooted them over so that she could sit across from Katy. She cleared her throat and began talking. "Miss Darleen said you were down here, so I came down. I hope that's ok."

"It's fine, Hally." Katy wasn't really in the mood for small talk and decided to push to the point. "Is this just a check up or..."

"Um, n-no no. Nothing needing checked up on actually. All is well in that area." Hally seemed nervouse, but not more enough for Katy to feel concerned.

"So... Why are you here then?" Katy asked, slightly more passive aggressively than she ment to.

"Well, um... So..." Hally looked away. "I know it's not exactly professional but, I was wondering if um... If maybe you wanted to go on a date with me? Like, get a drink or something, maybe."

Unproffesional wasn't the half of it. Hally was from one of the darkest times of Katy's life. She was nice, sure but asking to have more time to remind Katy of everything she had lost was NOT ok. "What the hell?!"

"Um... Are you- Uh... I'm sorry, I-"

"No, shut up, hold on. Are you SERIOUSLY asking me out?! No shit that's unprofessional? That's more than unprofessional! That's sick!" Katy interrupted angrily.

"S-sick? How is-"

"Do you know the shit I went through to even find myself anywhere near you?! I lost everything! EVERYTHING! And I'm getting better! Or maybe not anymore! Cause you just resurfaced so much... DAMN IT!" Tears trailed down her face. "DAMN IT! I WAS GETTING BETTER! I..." She paused a moment and let out a deep sigh. "I am getting better. I am..." She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing.

Hally sat quietly, completely embarrassed and absolutely crushed. She didn't say anything for a moment, just sat quietly thinking of what she could possibly say to make the situation better, but nothing came to mind.

The silence let guilt fill Katy's chest as what she had said finally set in. Maybe Hally hadn't made the best choice in asking her out, but she had done so much for her when Katy needed her most. She had been there for her for nearly seven years. She had helped her through a lot. They had spent so much time together. It made since that she would have felt comfortable enough to come to Katy with this information. She deserved to tell Katy how she felt. Katy owed her that much at least. "I'm... sorry Hally."

Hally didn't say anything.

Katy took a deep breath. "That wasn't fair of me. I-" Hally was suddenly kissing her. She hadn't expected it and she didn't see it coming, so she didn't push her off. She just sat still, unsure of how to react.

Hally pulled away and stood up. Then she said, "Goodbye, Betty." and walked back toward the house.

In that moment, Katy realised two things. One, she was not as straight as she thought she was, and two, the last piece of her past was walking away. And the further she got, the more relief that Katy felt. It was over. All of it. She was free. And then she realised how scared that made her feel. She didn't know what was next. In the past, she always knew something else was going to go wrong, but now... Now anything could happen. And that was worse. She panicked and shot up to her feet. "WAIT!"

Hally stopped in her tracks, but didn't turn around.

"Let's go on a date." Katy felt her hands tremble with the fear that Hally wouldn't look at her again. That she would keep walking. "P-please."

Hally looked over her shoulder. "Actually?"

"Yes." Katy needed her to turn around.

And she did.

---

When Franklin pulled up to the entrance of The Zachery Corporation skyscraper, she felt an energy resonate from it that filled her with immediate exhaustion, as if the building itself were draining the life from her being. She felt the urge to get away from the building as fast as she possibly could, but stayed anyway. She needed Alonzo to be Alonzo again, or killing him and getting her revenge would be pointless. She needed to bring him back so she could tear him down again. By her hands, not by Zachery's. She watched as a fatter, more depressed version of Alonzo the Great walked out of the building. He had on a blue button-up shirt with a green tie, on the front that didn't match the rest of his outfit, along with a pair of khaki shorts that Franklin knew should have never graced his legs.

When Alonzo was close enough to be in earshot, Franklin rolled down her window and asked, "Wheres the purple?"

Alonzo looked up from the ground to meet her eyes. "What?"

"I said where's the purple? You always wear purple. That's like... your thing." She said, annoyed at his ignorance of himself. She shouldn't have to remind him of who he is. Unless..

"That's not who I am anymore. I wear blue and green now. That's what Zachery told me to wear. He said it'd be my self-expression so I still had something that represented me."

Franklin scoughed at his stupidity. "It's not self-expression if someone else tells you to do it, dumb ass. That's actually the opposite."

Alonzo shrugged and walked around to the other side of the car. He got in and buckled his seat belt. This action seemed to offend Franklin greatly. Alonzo noticed her offended facial expression and quickly unbuckled back his seat. 'So sorry, didn't know we were too cool for safety in this car. Watch out ladies and gentlemen, the Rad Police are coming to town. Nobody put your seatbelts on."

"You've gone insane, Alonzo..." She shook her head and pulled the car into gear.

"I know..." He nodded his head.

---

Denny's is nobodies favorite choice of resturaunt, but sometimes when the world feels like it's coming to an end, it's the only place left to go. Denny's is like that pathway walking up to the gates of Hell. They are a great apitizer of what's to come, but they aren't quite there yet, though they are getting closer. Denny's is a Hellscape for demon people, is what I'm trying to say. And today, that Hell scape is in Boston New York between a thriftstore and that one building that used to be a Kroger's, but it's not on the best side of town and people didn't really want to risk going there so it closed down and it now just used for drug deals and teenagers practicing kickflips. And the demon people are an accountant who used to be a psychotic magician and a hunter looking for the greatest game.

"This is shit..." Alonzo sighed. "It's perfect."

"That's why you come to Denny's. Sometimes when you're feeling bad, you just need something bad. Now," Franklin started. "Tell me what's going on? You're not yourself."

"I KNOOOOOOOW! I wish there was something I could do about it, but the truth is, there's not. I'm locked in a job that I hate and I'm pretty sure that if I quit, I'll die."

"Well, I'm pretty sure if you if you don't leave, you'll die." Franklin picked up a soggy fri and placed it into her mouth. "You'd probably end up slitting your wrists."

"Ha! Yeah. I've already tried that." Alonzo laughed but it was hollow. There was no joy in it.

"Why aren't you dead?"

"I GOT SCARED!" He burst into more energetic laughter. "I can't do it! I used to torture myself for fun but now... I feel nothing but... not pain... but kinda pain. I do not know how to describe it."

"You're depressed." Franklin explained. "I don't think you've ever been depressed before, but that's what you are experiencing. I went through it in my early 20's. Many psychopaths suffer from it because they have trouble feeling anything so when they do feel something, it's normally sadness."

"Why were you depressed?" Alonzo asked, suddenly much more interested in the conversation.

"My dad died." Franklin answered, nearly emotionlesly.

"Huh... When my dad died, I felt great!"

"Well, my dad was important to me. Atleast back then. Nothing besides my guns are important to me now." Franklin looked down to her meal, but Alonzo noticed that it wasn't her food she was looking at. She seemed to be stairing through it.

Alonzo stayed quiet for a moment and then contiued the conversation. "Did you kill your father?"

Franklin shot her head up suddenly, shooting bullets from her eyes to Alonzo's "WHAT?! NO!"

Alonzo put his hands up. "Alright alright!" He chuckled nervously. "I was just saying. I mean, I killed my father. I just-"

"I know you did. I watched that episode." Franklin interupted back in her normal tone.

Alonzo looked Franklin up and down suspiciously. She was an extremely emotional creature. She had always been quick to anger, but... this was different. "How do you know that thing about psychopaths and depression?"

"I got a bacholer's degree in psycology back in college." Franklin brought another bite of food to her mouth.

"Ha! Kinda like Hanable Lector!"

"Out of the two of us, you're the Hanable Lector." Franklin laughed.

"What makes you say that?" Alonzo knew the answer, but it had been so long since someone had talked about his killings that he needed to hear her say it.

"Actually, you're kinda like Hanable Lector meets The Joker. A canable that plays with playing cards."

"For the last time! I'm not The Joker!" Alonzo had been compared to Joker so many times. He'd kill the creator of the character if he ever got the chance. Little did he know, Bill Finger had died years before Alonzo was born. That news was sure to be disapointing.

"Oh come on, Alonzo. You even got that shit eating grinn." Franklin smiled. "You're a copycat."

"Ok, first off. The 'shit eating grinn' you're talking about is based off the cheshire cat, not The Joker. A grinn from ear to ear? That's the literal line from the book." He shook his haed and said in a mocking voice, "It's not my fault smiles are so common with creepy things."

"I guess the purple's original." She put a hand on his shoulder jokingly. "You're not a total fraud."

"Damn right the purple's original..." Alonzo muttered.

Franklin smirked and pulled her arm back to herself. "I think you just need a new identity. Here, look at me."

Alonzo reluctantly met her eyes. "I'm looking."

"Ok." She stood up from the table and presented herself to Alonzo, giving him a three sixty view of her appearance. She wore a short, lacy, black dress with two holsters on both either side of her waist. She had her hair cut to just below her ears. It was curly and black and pretty. Along with her hair was a pretty face. Big brown eyes and pale white skin. She was a beautiful creature and Alonzo assumed she was just as delicious as she looked. "You see? I have my own original style. I mean, I guess I look a little like Wednesday Adams from the Adam's family, but my hair's curly and her hair's straight so... Damn it... I stole my look too."

Alonzo was no longer paying attention. "Hey, do you wanna have sex?"

Franklin was completely takn off guard. "What the hell?! Where did that come from?"

"Well, as a psycologist, you know that sex causes dopamine through the brain which helps with depression, right? So, we should have sex for my health."

"Wow... you're just as disgusting as I remember. Now that you don't gotcher little minions to suck your dick, you're straight up just gonna-"

"If you say no, then I'll rape you." Alonzo said seriously. "It's been so long. I'd do anything for it."

"And there he is. The real Alonzo seeping through the cracks." Franklin shook her head. "And I actually started to like you. I thought you might have changed a little. It was nice."

"Oh come on, Franklin. Don't lie to yourself like that. You're just as much of a monster as I am." Alonzo argued.

"Yeah. You're right." She thought for a moment. "Fine, meet me in the car in exactly five minutes. Lucky for you, I'm horny too." She smirked. "And uh, bring the steak knife."

Alonzo did as he was told with a smile.