Inspirational quote: Be happy. Be bright. Be you.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Professor Florentine was still intently watching what Lauriel and Astera did to both Dr Kozak's son and grandfather, Dr Kozak just frowning and drumming his fingers on the table.

"I just can't believe they would do something like this," Professor Florentine told Dr Kozak, taking a lot of notes down.

For some reason. Nobody knew why. Would this conversation have benefitted any of them in the future? Most likely not.

Unlike Dr Kozak, Professor Florentine was only right handed and couldn't write with both of his hands.

"I also can't believe you weren't lying about this," he added, making Dr Kozak roll his eyes. "I'm sorry I judged you, Demetrius."

"You're not the only person that has," Dr Kozak muttered to himself, swearing in French under his breath, not saying anything else.

Professor Florentine had heard him, of course, but was completely baffled on what he meant.

"What do you mean, I'm not the only person that has judged you?"

Dr Kozak had had enough. He wanted to rant to his godfather. So he did, of course. After all, was there anything stopping him? No.

"Professor Florentine, you don't understand," Dr Kozak began, seriously frowning right now. Dr Kozak didn't cry much but was slightly considering it.

"People have always judged me. They get mad at me, or accuse me for doing things that I never did, or if they're really like Lauriel, jump to conclusions a lot. Everyone is saying that I'm a 'murderer' and all that because I killed Lauriel and Astera, blaming everything on me and saying that I'm a bad person. Do you know why? Because nobody knows what they did, Professor Florentine. Nobody knows that Lauriel murdered my son and Astera killed my grandfather but when I kill them, everybody finds out and start taking the blame on me when I didn't even do anything. Some stupid person then started saying to everyone else that I'm a serial killer and that I murder people that annoy me, but I don't. So I have to lie and say to everyone that I do, because no one ever believes me about anything, and it drives me absolutely insane! Except Agent Ezekiel, of course. And my sister Elizabeth. They are both amazing people and I love them to bits because they are both always there for me when no one else really is."

Professor Florentine: No one knows what Lauriel and Astera did because you kept that to yourself, Demetrius.

Dr Kozak: Yeah I know I did but even if I told people they still wouldn't believe me anyway even if I showed them proof. Everyone hates me. Honestly.

Dr Kozak was extremely annoyed now, Professor Florentine could tell. Dr Kozak was actually an innocent person that had had his father influence him into killing people and couldn't do anything about it.

"Look, Demetrius. I'm sorry. Also I have to tell you something."

"What?" Dr Kozak snapped back, not looking up at him once.

"It's really not fair on Lauriel."

Dr Kozak just looked at him once, blinking and not saying anything else.

"What's really not fair on Lauriel?"

Professor Florentine sighed and wrote even more notes down. What the hell he was writing, nobody knew.

"It's not fair on Lauriel. You know she didn't mean to kill your animals during the perilous obstacle course test."

Dr Kozak nodded in agreement. He understood what his grandfather was talking about.

"Yes. I know, Anastasia told her to kill the animals. And I found this out after I shot Lauriel. Although in Anastasia's defence, she didn't read the sign that said kill any of the animals and you die. Now that I think about it, I don't think anyone can. You made it really small, sir. It's not fair."

Professor Florentine didn't reply straight away. In fact, he totally ended up avoiding the question.

"Speaking of Anastasia... That reminds me. Demetrius, I need you to pick between two options."

Dr Kozak didn't reply, just stared straight back at his godfather blankly.

Was this a trick?
A set up?
What were the options he had to choose from?

"Okay. What is it?"

Professor Florentine didn't say anything for a while, just smiled impishly and enigmatically towards Dr Kozak.

"It's either you kill Esperanza..."

Dr Kozak gasped.

"...Or I kill you."

Dr Kozak didn't reply. He just froze there, wanting to faint.

Professor Florentine was waiting for his reply, which didn't come out for about ten minutes. He tried everything he could to get Dr Kozak's attention, slap him gently, pour water on him, throw a really small dictionary at him, but the same thing still happened.

Dr Kozak was just sitting there, staring at Professor Florentine with an emotionless and traumatised look on his face, making a large o shape with his mouth.

"Paralysed for life, maybe?" Professor Florentine asked him, waving his right hand right in front of Dr Kozak's face, which brought him back to reality immediately.

"I'm sorry. What?"

"I said that it's either you kill Esperanza, or I kill you," Professor Florentine reminded him.

"Did you just say it's either you kill me or I kill Esperanza?" Dr Kozak enquired him again, and as he said the word 'you', he pointed to Professor Florentine and when he said me he pointed to himself.

Professor Florentine nodded, grinning impishly at him.

"So. What's it going to be? Tough decision this one. Considering it's Esperanza's birthday today, so you don't want to do anything bad against her, but you kind of have to."

How Professor Florentine knew that, Dr Kozak did not know.

"How do you know it's her birthday? And how do you even know who Esperanza is?"

Professor Florentine just chuckled at him, grinning mischievously in return.

"Who doesn't? Plus a lot of people are talking about it. I know more people than you think."

Dr Kozak just shrugged then rolled his eyes because he really didn't want to be a part of this conversation right now.

"Why do I have to kill Esperanza?"

Professor Florentine just stared at him blankly, almost with an eyebrow raised.

"Because she found out the secret passageway to the Perilous Obstacle Course Test, the one that Anastasia and Lauriel took that had eventually led them to their death."

"Oh."

That thought had not crossed Dr Kozak's mind. He had totally forgotten about that.

Don't you know that I was the first one that found the secret passageway, the one Laurel and Anastasia took before you killed both of them?

That was what Esperanza had told Dr Kozak when she was upset over her brother's passing earlier on today.

Dr Kozak had kind of forgotten that, but he had completely remembered that now.

Professor Florentine just sat there, thinking something, Dr Kozak becoming slightly annoyed as he read his godfather's mind.

"I'm not crazy! I'm just not always normal."

The same thing happened again.

"Stop thinking stuff! I don't like it when people think malevolent stuff about me!"

"Then stop reading people's minds, Demetrius!" Professor Florentine retorted back at Dr Kozak, slightly annoyed that Professor Florentine had referred to Dr Kozak by his first name.

But then again Professor Florentine was Dr Kozak's godfather so therefore Dr Kozak couldn't really yell at the professor for calling him by his first name, Demetrius even if he really wanted to.

"I can't make that possible. Once I've got my seven superpowers then I'm stuck with them for the rest of my life... whether I like it or not."

What proceeded next was staring, and mainly scowling at each other. Professor Florentine avoided what Dr Kozak had just said completely by sort of almost asking him another question.

Professor Florentine: So what's it going to be, Demetrius?

Dr Kozak: Demetrius cannot decide.

Professor Florentine didn't say anything.

Professor Florentine: Why are you suddenly referring to yourself in third person?

Dr Kozak: Demetrius doesn't know.

Professor Florentine: Well, Professor Florentine doesn't like it!

Dr Kozak didn't reply.

Professor Florentine: Look. Now you've got me doing it. But honestly. Which one? Kill Esperanza or I kill you?

Dr Kozak: *is quite upset* Look. Can I at least talk to Esperanza about this? It's her birthday today. This isn't right.

Professor Florentine: *slams desk which petrifies the life out of Dr Kozak* No you can't talk to Esperanza about this because I need you to decide right now, Demetrius.

Dr Kozak didn't reply again, instead he just kind of turned red, just thinking about it.

He wouldn't have killed someone on their birthday, would he?

Well, maybe another day. But not their birthday.

Definitely not their birthday.

Dr Kozak: *sighs* I can't kill Esperanza. It's her seventeenth birthday today. I'm not hostile or egotistical enough to kill someone on their birthday, Professor Florentine. Even if it wasn't her birthday, she's way too nice, and she doesn't deserve this anyway.

Professor Florentine: OK. But say it wasn't her birthday? Would you kill her then.

Silence.

Until Dr Kozak shook his head.

Dr Kozak: No. No matter what day it is, I can't kill Esperanza. Did you literally not just hear what I said? Jesus Christ.

Professor Florentine: So... Let me get this straight. You want me to kill you? Because you can't and won't kill Esperanza? Because it's her birthday?

Dr Kozak then lifted his hands, surrendering.

Dr Kozak: You know what? Go with the second option... You might as well kill me anyway. I'm very frivolous and I am worth very little value in life. So... yes. As in, yes, I want you to kill me.

Professor Florentine: Perfect... Let me get out my gun...

Dr Kozak watched him madly, as he sluggishly brought out his gun from his pocket.

He was about to shoot Dr Kozak, until Dr Kozak said something.

Dr Kozak: Wait. Why do you have to kill me? I'm innocent. I just told you that and you believe me.

Professor Florentine: I know. But you invented it.

Dr Kozak stared at him confusingly, and annoyingly.

Dr Kozak: No I didn't! You told me to! You were the one that told me to make all of the tests hard and life threatening. I wanted to make them easy but you told me not to, and you also told me that people need to die in these tests!

Professor Florentine: *scoffs, is lying helplessly* I don't know what you're talking about.

Dr Kozak didn't say anything, just stood up.

"I kinda need to use the toilet, sir. Where the hell is it?"

"There isn't one?" He replied, staring at his godson in perplexity.

"Then I'll make one," Dr Kozak told him walking away.

For some reason, it took Dr Kozak about ten minutes to go to the toilet and come back, Professor Florentine becoming bored of waiting for him.

He came back, huffing and puffing, before saying anything else again.

"Are you ready to die?"

Dr Kozak nodded, not saying anything else. Just drinking some soda. He kinda went to the vending machine opposite where the toilets were, before coming back here again.

"Yes. I'm ready to die."

Professor Florentine then brought out his gun, about to shoot it at his godson until something made him change his mind completely.

"Wait. Any last words you have to say to me before I kill you forever?"

"Yes. You were a terrible godfather and I hated you to bits."

Professor Florentine gasped, shooting his gun at his godson immediately.

The next bit happened in slow motion, really. Professor Florentine had shot Dr Kozak, and his godson came falling down on the floor, blood pouring out of him immediately.

"Hehehe. I just killed Dr Kozak."

He smiled mischievously to himself, turning around on his spinning chair, but then someone stopped him abruptly.

"So you really thought you killed me, didn't ya?"

Professor Florentine opened his eyes, and when he saw Dr Kozak there, he screamed.

"What! You're alive?"

Dr Kozak smiled impishly at him.

"How though? Did you resurrect?!"

Dr Kozak laughed at him, just finding everything downright hilarious.

"No. You know when I said that I needed to go toilet?"

Professor Florentine nodded really slowly, Dr Kozak still carrying on.

"I didn't. I went to go and clone myself. I have a cloning machine. That was why I took so long."

"Wait. What? So I killed your clone?!"

Dr Kozak nodded, sitting back down immediately.

"You are a very smart doctor. I wouldn't have thought of that."

"I know. You see, I'm a fortune teller. I knew this conversation was going to happen before it happened. I can predict the future , you see. I knew everything you were going to talk to me about. That's why I knew I had to have CCTV camera footage because I knew you were going to ask me if I was lying about what Lauriel and Astera did."

Professor Florentine shot Dr Kozak a weird look, frowning and shaking his head at him all the way.

"You are very intelligent, Demetrius. But you know, I still need to kill you. The real you, not a clone version of you."

"Yes. I know. Go ahead. Oh and you know when I said that you're not getting away with telling Agent Sylvester to kill my son? Just you wait."

Professor Florentine shot him a what do you mean? look or something along those lines, but Dr Kozak understood it immediately.

Professor Florentine once again, slowly reached out for his gun, Dr Kozak just shooting him an evil, malevolent look, smiling all the way.

Florentine was about to shoot Kozak, the real one this time, not the clone, but then dropped his gun.

"Whoopsies. It fell on the floor."

Perfect...

He reached to pick it up, noticing that his godson was giving him a hard look, smiling dementedly at him.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Why am I staring at you like what?"

Professor Florentine didn't reply, he dropped his gun again, reaching to pick it up.

And it was while he was at it that was when Dr Kozak gave up and decided to do something pernicious.

He watched Professor Florentine aim his gun at him, Dr Kozak just secretly doing something else that no one had known.

Then when no one was expecting it, someone got killed.

Gunshot!

He killed him.

He really killed him.

As in Dr Kozak had killed Professor Florentine, not the other way around.

Dr Kozak stood up, wiping his gun, and putting it away.

"Now I don't have to kill Esperanza." Dr Kozak told his dead godfather, spinning his gun around continuously and then catching it.

"And now no one gets to kill me."

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Moral of chapter: Sometimes it is best to keep things to yourself than to broadcast it to everyone you know like what Dr Kozak did. Fake people are everywhere. So be very careful who you trust.