A chilling, whistling breeze traveled throughout the alleyway. The warm and welcoming sunlight slowly began to dwindle as the source sunk farther and farther into the west. The discolored, abhorrent walls absorbed the sunlight for nothing in return, contributing to the dark and dingy atmosphere.

As the ghostly breeze made its way through the unsightly alley, it left behind a song of horror and despair. The unnerving song unified accordingly with the perilous situation that Charlie and his friends were intertwined within.

In between the wet walls of unease was the ignition of a heated battle. On one side of the generic and ominous dining table was the brown-haired assassin, whose blood-crimson eyes were occupied by pure mania. As the man who called himself Max perched himself on the table, he aggressively deployed his knife and brought it to the neck of his opponent.

The blond-haired receiver of the threat suspended himself in time as he began to process the fact that his fragile life was truly in danger. The boy’s soft and gentle blue eyes were suddenly clouded with trepidation and regret.

‘Oh, wow. This is bad. I might die. And they’re with me too. Am I… about to get them hurt? Did I…’

“I’m in charge here. I’m here to make sure that you guys stay put.”

‘Is this anything… I can do… To stop this?… To save them?… To help Tamashi?’

As a wave of despair crept into Charlie’s mind, his face formed a hollowed look of terror, and his eyes began to lose life.

“I came here to make sure that all of you brats stay put, but you guys are really starting to piss you off. I don’t think the boss’ll mind if I just end it here. After all, it’s all just to snake ‘him’ out.”

Anna broke her focus on Charlie and attempted to question Max.

“Hey, what do you mean by ‘him’? Who are you talking about?”

Max turned his attention to Anna, seemingly dropping his focus on Charlie.

“By him, I mean the next wielder. I forgot what his name was. It doesn’t really matter to me. I just wanna mess with you guys now. That’s all I’m concerned about.”

‘Wait, by the ‘next wielder’, could he mean- no. That doesn’t make sense. Alright, I’ll just ask him something else.’

“So, if you don’t really care about following orders right now, then can you tell us who your boss is? It’s not like telling his or her name would be too concerning to you.”

Max narrowed his eyes and formed a sullen face. He dropped his knife away from Charlie.

“I can’t do that. I can’t give her up. She gave me everything.”

“So you don’t care about disobeying orders, but you care about her? You’re probably going to end up in big trouble with her.”

“I don’t care about the punishment. You pricks are worth torturing. I’m only worried about right now.”

Max turned his attention back to Charlie, who had been left wide open for a counter-attack and/or an escape.

“Scratch that, I’m not really worried. This wannabe is already done for.”

Charlie’s eyes remained clouded with lifelessness as Anna screamed out to him.

“WHAT’S GOING ON? SNAP OUT OF IT! WHAT’S GOING ON IN THAT STUPID MIND OF YOURS?”

‘I’m… stuck. I don’t… really know… what to do.’

There was a cloudy, painted sky with a balmy ocean. The bright orange sun was setting, spilling an orange tint into the sky and ocean that it once governed. The only interruption in the ocean was a minuscule, sandy island that was wide enough for one person.

Sitting on the island was a depressed and defeated Charlie, who had buried his head into his legs.

“It’s over… I’m really gonna get everyone killed. Tamashi… will be all alone.”

As tears began to form in his brilliant blue eyes, The once-calm ocean began to swell and encroach the island.

Outside the mind scape of hell, Anna screamed at Charlie until she couldn’t anymore. Tsuru had broken down into a stream of tears, unable to speak or face anyone.

After Anna exhausted herself and quieted down, Max proceeded to vocally jab at Charlie.

“Wow! You won’t even listen to your friend. You’ve completely checked out. Man, I know I look like a scumbag to you, but I wouldn’t even consider ignoring my friends. Just look at how useless you’ve become!”

The ocean began to lap at Charlie’s shoes. All he could do was bury himself into the sandy beach of shame.

“You act like you’re the ladies’ man, but in reality, you’re a piece of shit who’s trying to get a load off. Everything you’ve built is crumbling. No one will trust you after this, if you even live through this.”

“Charlie… Don’t listen to him… You’re one of my best friends, and that will never change.”

“Look who’s still talking! You’re more oblivious than I thought! Here I thought you were the brains of this group.”

“Please… Charlie… Wake up.”

“Hey, missy, I’ll do a favor for you. I’ll wake him up. After all, I wanna see his reaction when I rip off your clothes and shove my knife right through your heart. I wanna see if he screams or gets a hard on. Maybe both?”

“Charlie… I NEED YOU TO WAKE THE HELL UP!”

Max pushed himself up and pushed his legs up over himself, then completed a speedy backflip over Charlie. He grabbed Charlie’s shirt from the back and dragged him out of the seat.

Anna jumped out of her seat and rushed towards Charlie.

“What the hell do you think-“

All of a sudden, there was a crack.

With extreme speed and precision, Max swung out his elbow and slammed into Anna’s face.

Blood spattered in every direction from the point of impact. Anna was thrown back into the wall. She coughed up blood and slumped down into the wall.

“A- ANNA!”

Tsuru ran to her side and looked her over, before turning to Max.

“Why… WHY US?”

“She ran at me, so she got what she deserved. Doesn’t matter, you’re all probably going to die anyways.”

Max turned to Charlie, whom he was still holding from his back.

“Man, I’m excited. I can’t wait to see what happens to you. Let’s get started, shall we?”

——

Savior: Original Story by OneSevenEight

Episode: Framed Perspective - Part 8