"Yes! Yes!"
"Very well," said Maze.
She glanced at the little thing they would hand to the boy. It was only a small cylinder of metal. In fact, it kind of looked like a bullet. However, Janus had assured her it would fit their purposes. Nonetheless...
"It will work?"
"Yes! Yes! N-yes!"
"Very well."
She tossed it up in her hand a few times, then held it out to Janus. "You'll do it."
"What?"
"Are you defying me?"
"I just - you want me to do it? Of course. Why should I?"
"Are you defying me?"
"I just - you want me to do it? Of course. Why should I?"
"Do it."
"Fine! I won't. Yes, I will!"
Janus snatched the cylinder out of her hand, and began trudging up the hill of the ravine. One little riddle and you have to do all the work. It wasn't even a hard riddle. He bet the brat hadn't figured it out by himself.
The bird-masked man lifted his head. Only a few more feet to go until the porch. He could even see the kid inside, typing away, no doubt searching for more ways to fuck himself over with only a pitcher of lemonade and an umbrella machine. Was there such thing as an umbrella machine? Of course. No there wasn't!
Janus shook his head. He had to focus - even after years of practice, it was sometimes difficult to concentrate on all the little things, like putting one foot after the other. His beak scratched glass, and Janus realized that he had gotten there without even noticing. He gave two brisk raps on the door, and the boy immediately looked up in terror. Janus would put him in no peril - not now - but the boy didn't have to know that.
"LET ME IN," he called through the door.
The boy shook his head vigorously.
Janus frowned, then smashed his way through the glass. He fumbled with the lock on the sliding door for a minute, but eventually he got it. He wrenched the door wide open and threw the cylinder at the boy, quickly running off.
"Hey - what does this do?"
Janus appeared to disappear behind the large, moss-ridden tree, but he all he did was hide behind it, barely peeking around.
The boy examined the metal object. He twisted it, pulled on it, stamped it, but nothing would happen. Eventually, he opened his mouth wide, and, from the looks of it, accidentally swallowed it. Janus giggled madly to himself. The plan was going perfectly.
"Is it working?" demanded Maze. She had walked to him at least three minutes earlier.
"Yes! No - yes! It is!" replied Janus.
The boy dropped to his knees, doing his best to shut what was left of the sliding door. No effort he made could make it budge, and the boy fell the rest of the way. Maze smirked.
"Good job...for once."
"Thank you! Fuck off. No!"
"Wait - where did he go?"
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
The boy had disappeared in a nova of light. The piercing glow radiated out of the little wooden house in the middle of the forest, barely missing the two onlookers.
"What's going on, Janus?"
"I don't know! This isn't supposed to happen!"
The light died, and the boy got up as if nothing had happened. He glanced around, and saw one of their sleeves sticking out from behind the tree. He took one step outside, and then another, and soon was standing before them.
"You can't do this to me."
"Yes we can!" jeered Janus.
"Shut up," said Maze. She cuffed her partner.
"I need...I need to help you."
"Why? What have we ever done to you?" asked Janus.
"Shut up!" he said.
The boy lifted his right arm and hooked Janus right across the jaw. Maze saw it coming and ducked, but the boy got her with a long-winded haymaker to the shoulder. They both collapsed, and the boy stood over them.
"Look. I'm going to knock some sense into you, and you're going to like it."
"What?" whispered Maze.
The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out the small metal cylinder. "I don't know what this is," he said, "but I know how to break it." With the object, the boy turned to the tree and dug out an (X) into the bark. As soon as he finished, he dropped the object as if it were a hot potato, and it smashed open like ceramic. Out of the metal cylinder poured a foggy mist, which hovered over Janus and Maze like a personal storm-cloud. Both of them froze where they lay, and their eyes rolled back. Out of their mouths came a silvery substance, which quickly turned into a black, gooey, mud-like consistency. It sank into the cloud, which after gathering all they had left, evaporated into thin air. Janus blinked.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm...a friend."
"What just...happened?" asked Maze.
"I think you may have redeemed yourselves," said the boy.
"So easily? The Master will kill you and your impertinent - "
"No," said Maze slowly, cutting him off, "he's right."
"I am?"
"I...we...What happened?
"You gave me a metal cylinder. I swallowed it. Then it broke and you guys did...this."
Maze nodded. "It was meant...to turn you into one of us."
"Why didn't it work?"
"...You have love in your heart. It rebelled against the foreign presence."
"What kind of bullshit is that, coming from a Proxy? 'Love in my heart'? I've barely even ever kissed a girl, let alone loved."
"No...you've loved."
"I ask again. What kind of bullshit is that?"
"The kind...that can see it."
"But...does this mean you're not going to try and kill me any more?"
Janus groaned. "I'm fucking hungry, man. I haven't eaten in decades."
"I guess that confirms it," said the boy.
"Thank you...for rescuing us," whispered Maze.
"I didn't do anything!"
"But...you did."
"But...you did."
---
I guess that's a bit of an Ass Pull ending. But I like it.
*Joce
