ONE LAST JOB

Braun slammed his palms against the iron walls, the sound reverberating around them as Jesper laid propped in the corner opposite, clutching his side to stop the profuse bleeding, to no real avail. Watching the hero dance in his anger gave Jesper a weak smile, and a huff of laughter escaped his lips. Braun turned on his heels, fury burning into the man like he would catch fire at any moment, until the silence between them was broken by another slam to the wall.

“Why?... You jumped in the way, got ripped into by that - that thing you made – what the hell made you do it?!” He shouted, anger boiling in his chest and spilling into his throat. Jesper sat trying to catch his dwindling breath, chest rising and falling shakily, yet he kept composure.

“Why?... Well, that’s the question of the year, ain’t it?”

“Enough with the games!”

Braun stormed over to the broken man, grabbing stained shirt and lifting him to his feet, which forced Jesper to wince and faulter, but he wasn’t allowed to fall back down. They locked eyes with each other, and Jesper swore he saw the burning sun within Braun’s brown eyes. Silence returned to the room, disturbed only by Braun’s heavy breathing. Jesper could tell that they both wouldn’t last long in this cage he made, maybe it was time to shed some light. After all… who else would believe him? Braun shook him, slamming him against the wall and pinning him impatient. A howl could be heard far away outside the room. It had their scent again.

“Tell me!” He demanded.

“Alright!”, Jesper yelled, coughing the soreness out of his throat. The smell of iron was getting stronger, and he could taste his time was coming.

“I don’t know, Braun… Honest. My body moved on its own when I saw you weren’t going to make it, so I did what I had to do.”

“’What you had to do’? Did it even occur to you that maybe I didn’t want your help? I had the beast where I wanted him, I was going to end ALL OF THIS – “

Another slam against the wall, this time he let him fall back to the floor as he stepped away. Claws scrapping across the ground, steam hissing from broken pipes as the beast barreled toward them.

“But you had to play Hero. That’s my job, I don’t need you getting in the way of that. It’s all you’ve ever done… Gods, I can’t stand you, you know that?! Always monologuing, going on about your plans and how you finally will be the better of us, but you never succeed!”

Jesper couldn’t find his witty retorts as Braun went on, desperately drawing for breath to steady it. If he could, he’d last a little longer, maybe come up with some kind of plan. He coughed hard, dark red blotches dripping to the floor to join the pool his side was forming beneath him as Braun went on.

“Every time you come around with some brilliant new scheme, I have to stop you. You’ve killed my family, hundreds of people, and you think because you take a hit for me, I’m supposed to just accept that and forgive you? Is that what you were after?!” Braun demanded, the rage in his chest deflating as he fully took in how Jesper looked. He was pale, losing color as what color he had gave the room hues it never needed. This was how his villain looked, now at the end of his days, and the hero was shouting at him to release all the anger he stored up inside for years.

“Truly… I don’t know why I saved you… I made your life a living hell, took so much, destroyed everything you held close… maybe because I never understood why.”

“Why, what? Spit it out!”

“Why… you were everything I couldn’t be. Brave, strong – “ Jesper coughed heavily, doubling over as pain surged into his body. He sat up again and forced himself to sit up and face his brother again.

“Loved… appreciated… for his devotion to the city… and to its people.”

Braun tried to hold onto the feeling, clenching his fists so tight that his knuckles became white, but as he let them go, the anger flowed from his fingertips and dripped out to the floor, accompanying the tears that crashed beside it. Jesper sat stunned, watching the hero he fought so long finally break down into tears before him, yet why didn’t he feel victorious? The beast’s snarl echoed through the chamber, howling as it tried to find its prey.

The hero stepped forward, stumbling over himself to collapse to his knees in front of the villain, grabbing his shirt again and looking at him with sorrowful eyes. There was no sun in them any longer, now Jesper saw the moon and the blue hues swimming to life. He moved to speak but was stopped by Braun placing his head against Jesper’s.

“Why now, brother… why now of all times do you do this? Things could’ve been different if you just stayed with Mother…”

“You know… I never was… Mother’s favorite…”

“Shut up…” Braun forced a chuckle through his sobs, the lump forming in his throat making it harder to speak.

“Jesper, I – “

He brought Braun into a hug with his free arm, holding him snug before pushing him away by the shoulder. There was no smirk this time, his words weren’t laced with attitude or a smug comment.

“You… you were… the best of… us.”, Jesper said weakly, as the light faded from his eyes, the deep blues draining to soft greys.

No sound came from the room except for the cries of the hero.

Tristan Fether has loved reading since a young age, and desired to use his overactive imagination to write worlds of stories for everyone to enjoy. He loves stories of fiction like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, as they helped shape his storytelling days. He grew up in small town Valdosta, Georgia, and dreams of writing stories for the big screen one day.