"Sleepy?" Pain said to the man. Danny saw him coming. He got to his knees.

Pain's fist struck him like a meteor. It flattened him on his back. Pain stooped and grabbed Danny's limp hand. The contact brought the man back to earth, and he resisted, but Pain yanked the arm towards him, straightening it out.

"Yer gonna hate this part," Pain said, and plied back one of Danny's fingers, breaking the bone clean.

Danny yelped and instinctively tried to free his arm. Pain held on. Worse, Pain kicked him hard in his ribs again, taking the fight out of the big man. Danny went limp, but Pain shook his head. He did not want his playmate to go into shock. Not when it was his turn for fun. He twisted Danny's wrist in its joint, snapping it like a thick icicle. Danny grunted and bared his teeth.

"Hurt?" Pain asked evilly.

He heard the steps coming towards him.

Pain dropped the ruined arm and, with one hand, turned to catch a charging Crew by the throat. The stiff armed tackle stopped the American in his steps. Pain held him at arm's length for a moment, studying the man's frightening expression, and applied pressure.

Crew's eyes went wide. Both of his hands came up to try and free himself from the grip. He tried to apply thumb locks. He tried to kick out Pain's knees. He clawed.

Pain absorbed it all with a grin.

Crew's face became crimson, a whine escaped his lips and his vision began to darken.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Pain asked with a savage grin.

Then, the Stickman stabbed the monster through the crotch.

Chapter 74.

The screams from outside distracted Tony for a moment, but Death did not let him focus on it. He grabbed the front of Tony's coat and pulled him close. "Listen to me. They only have so long. He's playing with them. But you can save them if you kill me with that axe!"

Tony stared into Death's eyes, his mouth was open but no sound came out.

"Ever wonder why they choose you? Them?" Death almost yelled.

Tony could only stare. "Because I don't hurt as much as others."

"That's what she told you," Death paused for a moment. "The real reason you were chosen and why you found me so easy is because you're going to cross over, Tony. You're going to die. Soon. Everyone looking for me eventually finds me. The Cancer, Tony. Your mom isn't the only one who has it."

Tony set his jaw. He was speechless.

"Yes!" Death nodded vigorously. "If you seek Death you shall find him! But not now. Not with me like this. Pain's just gonna make people suffer everywhere. And he's gonna love every f.u.c.king second! But I can save them!"

Tony stared into Death's eyes. They could both hear the war going on outside. Tony heard the candy crack of bone. Roars of anger and agony. At the window, Fear looked on grimly and shook his head at the raw carnage being wrought.

"I can't kill you, man," Tony whispered. "It's not in me."

"Not even for your mother? For yourself?"

Tony stared at the man beneath him, horror and revulsion in his face.

"It ain't easy, is it?" Death asked with a cruel smile. "To take a life? Is it? Living with the guilt is h.e.l.l in itself. And all I get is the negative press. Y'know they made f.u.c.king movies of me being the bad guy? Now you know why I drink! Why I went on strike. It all got to me."

"I can't," Tony whimpered. "Jesus, I can't."

Death stared back and saw defeat in the man's eyes. He had hoped that being reminded of his mother would galvanize Tony into doing what had to be done. But for all of Tony's tough talk, Death could see that he was no killer. The thought was a sad one. He needed a killer now. His features hardened, and he nodded. He had begged and failed. He had tried being nice. In bringing up Tony's mother, he had tried for hate. It was time for extreme measures now.

"Lucy," Death said.

Tony's brow crunched up in sudden, furious puzzlement. "You leave her outta this!"

"Oh, Tony." Lucy's exasperated voice.

The sound of it diffused his anger in a second. He looked up. She was standing on the threshold of the ruined doorway. Dawn was almost breaking, and the nearness of it allowed Tony to see her face.

"Do it," Lucy said to him.

And ran into the growing light.

Chapter 75.

If only Ninja Bill could see him now, the Stickman thought. He came to with a bunch of broken ribs to see the tall, gla.s.s-of-dips.h.i.t Pain holding Crew at arm's length and smiling. Stickman did not like c.o.c.ky smiles. Burr had a c.o.c.ky smile. Amazingly, Stickman realized he had managed to keep a hold of the combat knife. All right. Proper ting!

The Stickman got to his feet and ran as lightly as he could through the snow. He wanted to cut the man's throat at first, but this was personal now. The f.u.c.ker had some sort of regenerative power which he thought was totally unfair in the fight. No, Stickman thought as he closed the distance. The monster was completely absorbed with strangling the one called Crew. No, Stickman thought again, not the throat. The f.u.c.ker's neck was too high for him to stab anyway.

The Stickman decided to stab him through the b.a.l.l.s.

The sharp intake of breath was rewarding, and Pain dropped Crew in the snow. He grabbed at his jeans and the torrent of blackness exploding there. Blood soaked through denim, turning it dark. Pain stood shaking as if he were caught in some sort of paralyzing fit.

The Stickman was more than pleased with himself, and stabbed him in the b.a.l.l.s, again.

And again.

Pain's elbow smashed him just behind the ear. The Stickman dropped to the snow in a daze, but not out. For a brief moment in time, he felt glad.

The f.u.c.ker wasn't smiling anymore.

Holding his b.l.o.o.d.y crotch, Pain squeaked. He grimaced and bared his teeth, black eyes wide in absolute torture. He turned on Stickman. He drove his boot into the Stickman's face, feeling bone break. The blow flipped the Newfoundlander onto his back. Pain reached down and grabbed the man by the t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es and crushed them in one fist. The shock that went through the Newfoundlander was mind ripping. He dry-heaved, his stomach spewing out gastric juice onto the snow, and then he went foetal. Pain towered over him. He meant to rip his ears off, but sensed movement from behind.

The Ent.i.ty turned and saw both Crew and Danny on their feet. He lunged at Danny, who was closest. Pain swept him up off his feet in a bear hug, his ma.s.sive arms going underneath Danny's arms. Baring teeth, the monster squeezed with a primal roar. Danny felt his ribs and back break. Bone shards pierced lungs and blood spouted from his mouth. The breath went out of him, and his arms fell lifelessly to his sides. Pain continued to squeeze, feeling bone shift inside his prey like marbles inside a cloth sack, and then savagely threw the man to the ground.

He whirled on Crew.

Crew threw a combination of strikes at Pain's face. Pain's head whipped to and fro, and after the first couple of hits, the c.o.c.ky smile reappeared. "Hit me!" Pain screamed at the American, presenting his battered face. "Hit me!"

Screaming, Crew did just that.

During his martial training in both MMA. and Kung Fu, Crew had been introduced to the finger board. The finger board was a piece of wood perhaps a half inch thick. His instructor had told him it was for strengthening his fingers. At the time, Crew had only nodded, just to satisfy his master. But then the man had showed him. He drove two fingers, Crew thought it had been two fingers, through the wood of the finger board, shattering it. The display stunned Crew. His master told him that such a feat could be achieved by Crew if he practiced often, every day, by resting his hand on a piece of similar wood and forcefully tapping the surface with each digit on one hand, repeatedly. Over and over.

Until it broke.

When it did break, after almost a year, Crew presented the broken finger board to his master, thinking to impress the man.

His master only directed him to the plastic pans filled with pebbles. Now it was time to toughen the rest of the hand.

Crew's hands were the only weapons he ever used to kill people, to kill his targets.

And with whatever strength he had left, with whatever chi, he plunged his spike-tough fingers into both black eyes of his foe, knuckles deep.

Pain's head whipped back, and he howled, disengaging himself from Crew and throwing himself back into the snow. There, the big man thrashed about, his legs almost doing a sprint in the air. Horrifying shrieks cut the morning air. Crew watched him cautiously, sparing quick glances at the fallen wrecks of Danny and the Stickman, lying still in the red snow.

But then, Pain's legs stopped kicking.

Crew's breath came out in a disappointed sigh. If the thing got up, that was it. He had nothing left.

Pain got up. Both of his eyes were back. Whatever Crew had clawed out of his head had somehow repaired themselves. Crew shook his head in exhausted disgust. He did not even bother bringing his arms up to guard. The fight was too rigged for it to matter. "Well, f.u.c.k you," Crew stated in quiet, exhausted defiance.

Pain broke Crew's jaw with one punch. He dropped to the ground. Pain fell on top of him. He planted one knee at the base of Crew's lower back and reached under Crew's chin, clasping his thick fingers there. Then, as soon as his grip was secure, Pain hauled backwards, bringing Crew up, bending him backwards and snapping his spine. Pain pulled the man's upper body back far enough to pause at his ear.

"You think that hurts?" Pain whispered and smiled. He caressed the man's throat, feeling the stubble there, and then clamped down on Crew's windpipe with his fingers. Thick fingers sunk into his flesh until a crackling noise could be heard.

"Hey!" a voice cried out.

Pain looked up. He let Crew go, who collapsed back into the snow on his belly. Things had suddenly gotten very interesting in his world. Smiling, Pain climbed to his feet. He stomped on one of Crew's knees, breaking it just because it was there. Then, he dusted the snow off his frame and ran his hands over his shaven skull.

He knew this one. He could smell her.

With water in her eyes, Lucy ran to the thing known as Pain.

Chapter 76.

"Where are you going?" Tony shouted after her. He tried to pull away from Death on the couch, but he grabbed him by his coat and held on. Tony pried his hands away and started to run after Lucy. Death grabbed him by the back of the coat, costing him seconds in his pursuit.

"You f.u.c.ker!" Tony cursed and struck Death across the face. Death released him. Fear turned at the commotion, a frown on his unique features, but he made no effort to intervene. It was smart on his part. Tony could not bring himself to kill, but he sure as h.e.l.l would waste no time kicking the living s.h.i.t out of anyone who got in his way at that precise moment.

Swearing as he ran, Tony lunged towards the door and flew into the new day.

Back in the cabin, Fear looked at Death.

It was Death who spoke first. "You can see why I hate 'em now," as he rubbed his jaw. "s.h.i.t."

Fear turned back to the window. "Not much time left."

"You know it," Death muttered, staring at the cabin's ceiling. He grimaced. "Spinal s.h.i.t is starting to wear off."

Tony froze in his tracks as if he had just been caught by a blast of liquid nitrogen. His mouth hung open, his arms wide. He still had his hatchet in hand, but for the moment, did not know what he could do with it. Standing not twenty feet away from him was the thing known as Pain. And Pain had Lucy by her hair. The bee's bottom toque was on the ground, and Pain had Lucy hauled up to her full height with one arm. Lucy was holding onto his big hands. Behind both of them, in the light of the dawn, Tony could see the fallen forms of the three men. He did not think they were dead, but considering the amount of blood on the snow, it was perhaps better if they were. Lucy looked to Tony. He could see that she was terrified. Fear wasn't doing his thing with her, not like he did it for Tony and the others. Maybe it was revenge for her getting him kicked out of the beast. He would talk to Fear later. Now, he had a bigger problem.

Pain shook Lucy by her hair, which produced a little grunt from the woman, but she did not scream. Good girl, Tony thought.

"Let her go man," Tony warned.

That brought a dark chuckle from Pain.

With that, he lifted one large leg, the one next to Lucy's own, and drove it into her knee with enough force to shatter it. Lucy screamed a shriek of agony that pierced Tony's core. Her leg was at an angle it was not supposed to be, kept only together by her jeans. Tony looked to charge the monster, but Pain hoisted Lucy back up by her hair, dangling her like a rabbit held up by the ears.

Pain grinned.

"Look," Tony said, struggling to control his voice. "Just let her go. I won't... hurt you."

For a moment Pain blinked, as if he had just heard the stupidest thing ever. Then, he barked a cruel laugh. He shook Lucy like a rattle and produced the sounds he wanted. "And they call me stupid."

He twisted one of Lucy's arms up behind her back. She shrieked. She shrieked louder when it popped out of her shoulder joint with one brutal shove.

The sounds of torture coming from Lucy had Tony almost on the brink of losing it. "Listen! You can have me instead, okay? Just let her go, okay?"

Pain considered the offer. "Nah," and swung Lucy around so that he could punch her full in the face with his other fist. The sound of the connection made Tony take three steps forward, but Pain again hauled her up by the hair, causing Tony to freeze in his tracks. Lucy bled through the nose and mouth. She looked in shock.

Pain warned Tony. "You come any closer, and I guarantee I'll break something really important."

Tony's grip on his hatchet tightened. If he could get closer he would bury the full blade in that shaved skull. Instead he stood right where he was and kept his eyes on the blood stained but healed again form of Pain.

"Now," Pain said, "ask me what I want."

Angry enough to chew lead and spit bullets, Tony narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?" he asked through clenched teeth.

Pain smiled. "What do I want...?" he said, wondering aloud, puzzlement filling his features. "What could it be?" He pulled Lucy towards him, hugging her to his chest. Both of his ma.s.sive arms embraced her lower back.

"Ah... I know," he said sweetly.