Logic of a Madman: II

Characters: Ken Kaze & Sylo

Fresh wounds enveloped his face, analogous to a magnum opus canvas, freshly-painted only minutes before. Contusions surrounded the perimeter of the fresh abrasions. Discoloration became a temporary mask of agony as he sat there donning two black eyes. The remorseless linked chains continued to bind his hands together, not allowing him to remove himself from the steel chair. His vision became groggy as he was streaming back into consciousness, reassessing his current situation. For a moment’s time, he realized that everything had been a dream.

Yeah, that’s it, a dream. There were no thick chains forcing Ken Kaze’s hands into a bind. There was no void of obscurity of which engulfed him. There was no damage done to his face. There was no beast holding him hostage. He was free to roam. Free . . . to roam wherever he wanted. Free to roam to the heavens in the sky above. Free to roam to Books-A-Million to catch the new Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game meet. Free to roam . . .

. . . Straight back to hell.

“What’s your problem, dips[BEEP!]t?” queried the voice of which belonged to the last person whom Kaze wanted to hear. “Do you hear me?”

SLAP!

“Huh?! Can you hear me?!” roared the voice of the Superbeast himself, Sylo. “I asked you a God damn question, you moron!”

His face was a shade of an intense, vibrant scarlet as it was obvious he was fuming.

“Did you have any involvement in what happened in Mexico?”

Completely conscious now, Ken stared blankly at the face of Sylo for mere seconds.

“N- No.”

This was obviously not the correct answer as —

SLAP!

“Wrong answer.”

Sylo’s enormous hand had left a scarlet imprint upon Ken’s right cheek. The blood vessels underneath were obviously broken as his skin began to turn into a murky grayish color; apparently, the formation of a bruise.

“Who did you pay off?”

“Shu- Shut the f[BEEP!]k up . . . and leave me alone.”

CRACK!

This time the fist was not opened. A swift right hook sent the head of the Hero of Hardcore reeling. The aforementioned bruise disappeared as the skin was now broken, allowing more blood free to roam through the courses of the pores of his skin on his face.

“Who told you where I was? No one knew where I was! I made it a point to leave incognito. I made it a point to leave until I could recollect myself. No one knew a God damn thing about me moving to Mexico!”

The monstrous animal was exasperated as he took in a deep breath, followed by a long, drawn-out sigh.

“I’ll reiterate the question: Who told you where I was?”

A spray of red mist was the quick retort of the hopeful avenger, as Sylo instantly reached to his eyes, wiping the blood from his face.

“Ah, you son of a bitch. You want to play around, do ya, Kaze? You want to f[BEEP!]k with me?!” he roared, ready to decapitate the idiot by now. “You obviously want to die. You obviously want me to be your killer. And in due time, Kaze, I will be. I guarantee that. After I dismantle you limb from limb, it’s off to the hog farms for your lifeless body. However, you shall not be receiving your wish just yet.”

A grin became apparent over the Superbeast’s face as he waved his index finger.

“Not until you begin answering my f[BEEP!]king questions!”

Sylo reared back and nearly decapitated Kaze with a right haymaker from Hell. Blood soared everywhere as Ken’s head slumped backward, resting there motionless. Sylo wiped his bloody knuckles onto the dingy and bloodied wrestling tights of Kaze – which he had been wearing since the Retort – in ritual fashion as if he were cleansing himself from his evident sins.

“So you still don’t want to talk, eh? I know what’ll make you come around. I know exactly what’ll make you start talking.”

He reached above the head of Ken and began rotating it clockwise. Shadows surrounded his hand, so it was not noticeable just what exactly he was doing.

“Trust me, you’ll love this,” sneered the monster.

He removed his hand from the gloominess. A small drop of water landed dead in between the eyes of Ken Kaze. It was as if the water drop was full of rejuvenation as Ken’s body jolted back to life, holding his head up high enough to scan the room.

“This is none other than the ole fashioned water torture. Courtesy of the Chinese, of course.”

Sylo circled around the sitting Kaze as another drop splashed on top of his head. Standing behind Ken, Sylo kneeled down and immediately applied a sleeper chokehold. With the chokehold applied, Sylo craned his victim’s head over the back support of the chair in order to allow for the water to drop onto his forehead.

“Stay still, Kaze. It won’t hurt at first. And the pain eventually goes away,” Sylo scoffed. “It always does.”

His hand once again reached above Kaze’s head into the shadows. After a short ninety degree rotation, the water drops began their leap of faith at a more steady pace.

“You can end this all if you just answered one simple question.”

Sylo wrenched harder on the chokehold, hoping Ken would oblige.

“What was the name of the would-be assassin?”

“I – DON’T —” Kaze stammered, gasping to breathe, “KNOW!”

Standing to his feet, Sylo released the chokehold and turned the dripping water off.

“I don’t know s[BEEP!]t! How many times do I have to tell you!”

“So you want to play the idiot card? Wait, you’re not playing, are you? You wanna mess around and evade this interrogation? It’ll only be harder on you, Kaze. You’re doing this to yourself. With a few short, simple answers, I would gladly release you. But . . . if this is how you want to play . . .”

Sylo trailed off as he turned his back to Ken, a smirk enveloping his face. The proverbial light bulb clicked in his head as a brilliant idea hit him like a ton of bricks. He vanished into the shadows, ready to devise a new plan as the scene faded to complete darkness itself.