"Look, she doesn't kill people, okay? Gary's got a bit of a...", Ecklebert Evilton tapped his nose, "fondness for the Columbian marching powder. He'll be off in a bar in the town". His minion nodded, but frowned and looked behind him, down the dimly lit stone corridor of the daunting castle. Wind shook through the high beams and arrow slits in the fortifications, as the minion looked back to his overlord.

"Mr Evilton sir, you're much smarter than I am, but I saw his head get cut off sir. Ariel, she went crazy sir". Ecklebert sighed. Gary was terrified of the water, and there was no way that Ariel, a mermaid, would beat an ex-military serial killer like Gary the Gauntlet. Cocaine problem aside, Gary was one of the most deadly men on the east coast. Tallying up his kill count would take months. No, Gary wasn't dead. Just off in some dive bar somewhere, eye deep in the ol' bedknobs and broomsticks.

Evilton looked the minion in the eye, and saw fear there. His oddly shaped shoulders drooped. He did not want to stand in front of Ecklebert Evilton, few did, which set hares racing in the mind of the villain. It was rare that someone would make a mistake in front of him. To double down and insist on the mistake? It was suicide.

"Have you got any proof, that you can present for me?"

Minion, whose name was actually Mark, nodded and waved his clumsy arm behind him. There was the sound of shuffling and grunting as a sack was dragged into the room. It took six of the oddly shaped gremlins to drag it, and when one of them tripped, the contents fell out. Gary's lifeless eyes, inside a half rotten head, rolled along the throneroom floor and fell, staring straight ahead, into the middle distance. The nose still showed flecks of white.

"What the FUCK". Evilton leapt out of his chair and raced down the stairs. It took ten seconds. The stairs seemed like a cool idea at the time but he now regretted prioritizing form over function. As he drew closer, he knew it was Gary. The rest of the body could be seen inside the sack. "Empty it, empty it! Jesus fucking Christ". Evilton felt the sweat run down the front of his face. He ran a gloved hand over his brow and as the body fell out of the bag, his hands dropped. It was a massacre.

The legs cut at the knees, and the tendons in Gary's ankles were sliced wide open. This wasn't an assassination, it was torture. The cuts were clean, expert. Gary leaned down to the body, and pulled a note that was half pushed into the open wound on Gary's immense back.

"Watch and you'll see. Some day I'll be part of your world". Ecklebert dropped the note, and turned to his minions. "Pack everything in the truck. We're getting the fuck out of here".