"So, tell me, Agent Oxygen. Who is the cause behind it?" Max asked, still yelping in pain.

"Lya is," said Oxygen. "But... Why did you kill Angela? What did she do to you? She was not an agent, right?"

"Wrong! She was an agent."

A mad and astonished Oxygen asked, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN!?"

"Relax, boy! I told you she was an agent. Did I tell you she was an agent in your agency?"

"Then...?"

Chuckling lightly, he said, "Lya told me this while we broke up. 'The saddest part about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies.' It's the same that happened in your case too."

"What? Are you talking about Angela first—?"

"First of all, her name is not Angela," said Max.

Oxygen found this unbelievable. He didn't expect that at all. He thought that she loved him. He thought that he was in a real relationship, without any real faking, while Max continued the tale.

***

FIVE YEARS AGO...

Max Richards came to India to stalk Oxygen, who was a trainee in Inspygency. He had noticed his activities. Oxygen used to step out of his house at six in the morning, go to Trance Plus and do Yoga there. Then, he goes back home and steps out again at five in the evening, and spends an hour at the nearby park. Later, he used to meet a girl at various places and that goes for an hour or so, as a date. And at last, he comes back home at eight at night. Sometimes, he used to buy groceries during the evening time, and as an exception, on Sundays, Oxygen goes out to the park for jogging at half past five in the morning.

Max, who noted all these, one day, took a picture of the girl and sent it to his colleague Arif.

"Arif, I need to know A to Z about the girl. Within two days," said Max.

"Okay, Max," replied Arif.

***

A DAY LATER...

Max was waiting for that girl at Diggin Café. He got all the information regarding her through Arif and managed to book an appointment with her.

He saw the girl in her gym clothes coming towards him. As she sat opposite Max, she asked, "Hello, mister! How are you doing?"

"I'm good, Miss. Schmitz! What about you?" Max asked.

"I'm fine, Mr... Ummm..."

"Max," he said, helping her recollect his name.

"Ah, yes! Max," she repeated his name.

"Well, I have a small question, Angela. Is Angela your real name?" He asked, expecting her to tell the truth by herself.

She stammered and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I think you're not deaf, Miss... Paula?" Max asked, revealing that he knew everything about her.

Angela, who was utterly shocked by that, stood up from the place. "What do you mean? My name is not Paula," she stammered out of control. Her body language indicated that she is in extreme fear and that she was telling a lie.

"Miss. Paula Fischer. I know all about you. You can't lie," Max said calmly, seated comfortably in his seat.

"Mr Richards. You're talking to the wrong person. Tell me what you know about me."

"I can tell. But I don't want to expose you publicly. I've many things to be done with your help."

"You're simply wasting my time! I've got a lot of work left behind. Let me go," she said and left the place.

Max knew that she was in the fear of exposure, which was exactly what he wanted. As always, he had his Plan B ready and left the café.

***

Angela was at her home that night, her mind imaging impossibly possible thoughts. After reaching India, she told nobody about her real identity as a black-hat hacker. How a mere stranger knew her real name was her question of the moment.

As she was busy with her running thoughts, she heard her mobile ring. She took it and felt her hands trembling as she saw the Caller ID. It was Max. She picked up the call and answered without an answer.

"Hello?" She asked in a trembling tone, on the verge of crying.

"Paula. Just relax, dear! Don't quiver without even knowing why I call you," said Max, as usual, in his calm tone.

"WHY DID YOU CALL ME!? TO RUIN MY LIFE!?" Angela yelled and tears rolled down her cheeks. She was always afraid of being exposed.

"Relax, Paula," said Max.

"I'M NOT PAULA, GODDAMMIT! MY NAME IS ANGELA SCHMITZ! AND YOU KNOW IT VERY WELL!"

Sighing heavily, Max said, "Wait. Let me talk."

"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO—!?"

"I ASKED YOU TO WAIT, GODDAMMIT!" Max interrupted by yelling at her. He already had enough. Realizing that he must control his anger, he let out a deep breath and continued, "Listen. Let me tell you the reason why I contacted you."

Then, Max took his time and told all his plans to bring Inspygency to the downfall.

"Please, Paula! Only you can help me," Max begged.

"What will you do in return?" Angela asked.

"Is a million dollars fine for you?"

Million dollar offer is always lucrative for a petty hacker like Angela. So without thinking, she replied, "I'm ready."

***

"But... Why do you have to kill her? Ange— I mean, Paula had been loyal to you, right? Then why did you kill her?"

With a heavy sigh, Max said, "Will you save that little tissue paper with which you wiped off the dirt in your hand?"

"A tissue paper is never similar to a loyal person!" Oxygen said. He couldn't stop himself from arguing for Paula's death, even though she had betrayed him. And that's what true love is.

"For me, it is."

"You're a man without a conscience," said Oxygen.

"Ummm, can't you try telling me something new?"

"New?" asked Oxygen. Unlike his mood in the previous minutes, it seemed quite triumphant.

"Yeah," replied Max in a suave manner.

"You're exposed. The Greatly Exaggerated Serial Killer, M alias Max Richards, is finally EXPOSED!" Oxygen said in a victorious tone and took out the mobile, which was recording their conversation. "Just one forward and you're further exposed."

As the reason behind his triumphant mood was exposed, Oxygen exposed his mood on his face and Max's face became blank like a white sheet. It was visible that the situation was out of Max's plan. Everything seemed to go out of bounds. That was a starting symptom of Max being deep in water.

Now, Max had to think faster. Even if refuses to, he has to. Fate pushed him into this unimaginable dilemma. It was a do-or-die moment for him. He must either tackle Oxygen and escape or accept fate and surrender.

But meanwhile, it was the same do-or-die moment for Oxygen too. Either he should expose Max or die in the hands of a humanoid devil. It's not just a D-Day for the cat-and-mouse duo, but also for the agency which strives hard to work for global peace.

After minutes of noisy silence, Max said, "Oxygen. I'm your senior. I've been in this field for nearly ten years. It's no new to me. If I knew to confess, wouldn't you think that I know how to get it back to mine?" taking out the gun from his pocket.

"Poor Max, you can't stand up!" Oxygen said.

"That's fine, dear. I can still kill you," replied Max, pointing the gun at him. Now Oxygen knew that he had to die. Max would kill him, no matter wherever he tried to escape.

Max was all set to do his thirty-eighth murder, Agent Oxygen. He was slowly squeezing the trigger with steady pressure, all set to leave it.

On the other hand, Oxygen closed his eyes, ready to sacrifice. Yes, he can still escape, but still, Max had already tied his limbs while telling about Angela. So, even if he wanted to escape, he couldn't.

Soon, Oxygen heard a cracking sound twice and quickly closed his eyes. But, I was supposed to die, wasn't I? Oxygen thought and slowly opened his eyes, to see the biggest shock of his life.

He saw blood oozing out from Max's chest. Someone shot him. He looked around behind and saw an even more shocking one waiting.

He saw Aurelia standing with a sniper, pointed towards Max. It was she who shot him. As she came towards the corpse, Oxygen's mind was thinking crazily. How did she know it? He thought of it, while she was staring intently at the corpse lying down.

And for the last time, Aurelia shot her ex. Boyfriend five times in his chest. Looking at Oxygen, she said, "Do you know what the saddest part about betrayal is?"

Oxygen had the answer but couldn't reply. He was still dumbstruck at her sudden entry.

Seeing him silent, she replied to the answer by herself.

"It never comes from your enemies."

So here we are, at the eleventh chapter of Retaliation. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Please drop some constructive criticisms. I'm waiting.

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Word Count: 1500 words