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Hate Runs Deep

  Quintin Fortune

  Copyright 2014 Quintin Fortune

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  The Supreme Dragon-Blooded Warrior Valkadaidan stormed into the Office of the Professional Heroes, back from completing a routine case. He threw his katana on the desk and pushed past Deadguy as he walked into the break room.

  "Great. It's going to be one of those episodes," DG commented.

  "Valkadaidan," Jill asked, getting up from her desk. "Is everything okay?" The Heroes walked in to see Valk chugging the entire pot of coffee. He slammed it on the counter, shattering it. "Hey," she yelled. "Those aren't cheap."

  He glared. It was a hateful look. One that spoke of anger and torment. A look that would probably reach out and kill you without thinking if it could.

  "Jill, you might want to stand back," Deadguy suggested, walking into the break room. He had his hands up to show he was unarmed. "Valkster, you're scaring our boss. What's going on?"

  He simply turned and hung his head. He gripped the counter. "I saw her," he growled. It wasn't like his normal growl. It was low. Dark. Something altogether primordial.

  "Her who," DG asked.

  "She was with someone else," he continued. "Another man."

  "Who," he asked again, holding his arms out.

  The Dragon-Blooded looked back at him. This time, his eyes were filled with pain and betrayal, but not his own. "Marion."

  Our Hero fell into one of the break room chairs in disbelief. "Marion," he asked. "My Marion?"

  Valkadaidan nodded. "It was all I could do not to kill him on the spot."

  Deadguy held his hand to his mouth, trying to keep control over his emotions. He breathed in deeply. Jill slowly walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder, hoping to comfort him. "Tell me everything," he said.

  "Deadguy, don't-" Jill started.

  "Valk, I want to know," he requested. "I need to know."

  The Dragon-Blooded shook his head. "I'm not going to do that to you."

  He slammed his fist on the table. "Damn it! I said tell me." Jill quickly pulled her hand away.

  Valkadaidan turned and crossed his arms. "No. You need to talk to her."

  He held his forehead in his hand, trying to come to grips with this information.

  "Maybe it's a friend from out of town," Jill suggested, trying to be helpful. "She's not from here."

  Deadguy hung his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe you're right," he replied. "I hope she would have told me if that was happening."

  "Take some time to cool off, then ask her about it," she suggested.

  He stood up. He closed his hand, making a fist, then unclenched it. "Would you do the same thing," he asked her.

  Jill looked over at Valkadaidan. He merely shrugged. "I couldn't say. The last guy that cheated on me, I ended up spray painting his new Lexus bright pink."

  Deadguy raised an eyebrow. "That was you," he asked.

  "Oh yeah, it did end up in the news, didn't it," she questioned, chuckling a bit.

  "So what are you going to do," Valk asked.

  Our Hero looked at each of them. In his head, it looked like one of those video games where you have to choose from one of two options that may or may not have an effect on the ending. The choices never really have an impact on the ending, but the writers want the players to feel that it does for reasons he really couldn't think of at this particular moment. He let out a huge huff. "I have no idea," he answered finally. "I mean, I've been cheated on before, but this...this feels different. Why does this feel different?"

  "Because you actually liked her," their boss suggested. "I know some of the other girls you were with you were just 'with'. You didn't actually pursue a relationship with them."

  He sighed. "Yeah," he said, nodding. "I should just sit down and have a talk with her. After that, I'll hunt the guy down and kick his ass."

  Valkadaidan chuckled. "Whatever you want to do, dude," he said.

  "Now, about the job you just finished," Jill said to Valk as the two walked out of the break room. Deadguy sat back down, dropping his face into his hands. He pulled them down over his nose and mouth, breathing out deeply. He then got up, grabbed another coffee pot from the cabinet, and made a fresh pot of coffee.

  "...And the hate-fulled riots are continuing across the city," the newscaster added after the main story. Jill was watching from her computer. The guys were standing behind her, watching as well.

  "Okay, so stupidity is running rampant across the city," Deadguy announced. "Again. What's that have to do with us?"

  "Just keep watching," she instructed.

  "Police say the riots are perpetuated by a man known only as Hate Monger."

  Our Hero slammed his hands on Jill's desk, trying to get a closer view of the computer monitor, as if it would help him hear what the newscaster just said. "Play that back," he asked, quickly snapping his fingers.

  "Move first so I can see the screen," she commanded, pushing him away. She clicked the mouse a few times, then played back the last few seconds.

  "We've got another Monger on our hands," DG asked. "How many of them are there?"

  "Dunno," Valk answered. "How many emotions does a human have?"

  "Save the philosophy for later," Deadguy remarked. "This is important."

  "What's the plan," Jill asked them. "Are you going to have me sit out on this one, too?"

  "Nah. He said it was Hate Monger." They both looked over at Valkadaidan.

  "What," he asked.

  "Valkster, buddy, you might be the one having to sit this out."

  "Why?"

  "I could make a list," DG said. "but I don't think we have enough time in this episode."

  "What we need to do is try to pinpoint where this Monger is located and shut him down before things get worse," Jill said. "I've got the previous locations already. I'm going to try and triangulate between them to get a starting search area. We'll head out once I've gotten the information."

  "How long," Deadguy asked.

  Jill shrugged. "Not more than a few moments."

  "Which means we kill time with witty banter," Our Hero suggested. The others stared at him. "I'll take that as a no."