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Lulu never actually expected to be rich. It was just a fun fantasy to hold onto until things blew up in their face and they moved on to the next ultimately doomed scheme. She’d figured that what her life would be until their luck completely ran out. It wasn’t much of a life, but it seemed to her to be a million times better than to try and conform to the insane world they lived in.
Bryce had been quiet on the gratuitously flying train trip back to Avaro as he was quickly spreading the money into multiple accounts before some imagined other would try and steal it. Lulu spent her time trying to get in contact with Charlene or Doug. When that didn’t work, she even tried to get in contact with Lara but was sent directly to her voice mail.
“I wish Lara wasn’t rich too,” she told Bryce as they exited the train.
Bryce didn’t even acknowledge her as he was still busy securing their finances on his handheld computer.
Lulu quickly headed out to the train station lobby and looked around. There she spotted Charlene staring back at her, her eyes red like she’d been crying. Don’t jump to conclusion, Lulu told herself. Maybe she’s sad because she saw Lara gruesomely decapitated. Maybe she even has video of it!
Bryce was the first to speak. “Where’s Doug?”
Charlene looked defeated. “They took him.”
“Who? Why?” Lulu asked.
“Darius. It was insane. Elza’s people somehow ambushed us on the train and just started killing everyone. Lara and I just tried to protect ourselves until the train made its emergency landing, but Doug went charging off to help everyone else. Then the train ripped in two and I thought for sure he was dead. But apparently Darius had been following us — I think Lara had been informing him this whole time — and he found Doug safe on the ground with the cube. They took him along with it. They think he knows something about it — I guess that’s what Lara told them. Darius said he’d pay us extra for the ‘inconvenience.’ He then dropped me off here to wait for you.” She was quiet for a moment. “There was nothing I could do.”
Bryce laughed. “Five hundred thousand extra for Doug? What a bunch of idiots. It shouldn’t take them more than a few minutes to realize he knows nothing, and then they’ll dump him back out on the street. They’ll probably want that money back, but they’re not getting it.”
“They’re taking him to Ronove!” Charlene shouted.
Ronove was a Transcendent allied with Asmod who seemed to have little concern with the warring over territory and people. He instead stayed secluded in his lab from which many stories emerged though Asmod’s government never gave any official acknowledgement of what happened there. “If they’re going to dissect Doug’s brain,” Lulu said, “that’s a huge waste for a number of reasons.”
“Don’t be silly,” Bryce said. “No one knows what goes on at that lab. I guarantee you every rumor we’ve heard about it is completely made up.”
Charlene looked quite worried. “You ever hear of anyone being involved with an experiment there and being seen again?”
Bryce scoffed. “This is just stupid speculation and…” He stopped, apparently not knowing where he was going with that thought. His expression turned serious. “I guess I might as well be the asshole and point out that it’s pretty trivial to figure out how to split three million three ways.”
Charlene punched Bryce in the face.
“Super.” Bryce clutched the bruise on his cheek. “Did you get that out of your system? Now let’s look at reality: There is nothing we can do. Were we somehow able to get anywhere near that lab, you can’t sneak past a Transcendent. You can’t fool someone who can read minds — who doesn’t even exist by our rules. The only thing we can do is hope he decides Doug isn’t worth his precious time. Are you going to argue with that?”
Charlene looked like she was tearing up. “So we go on like nothing happened?”
“That’s all we can do!” Bryce shouted. He quickly regained his composure. “Let’s get out of this city… but let’s not take the train. We’ll get some nice hotel rooms somewhere, sort out the finances, and then soon we won’t have to see each other anymore because we’ll be able to afford friends we can stand.”
Lulu felt she should say something. “I think we should hunt down and kill Lara in honor of Doug.”
Bryce sighed. “We’re too rich for that crap, Tri-Lu.”
She started to walk off with Bryce but noticed Charlene wasn’t following. “You’re both cowards.”
Lulu didn’t mind being called a coward; she knew she was cute and thus didn’t care what people thought about her bravery. Bryce was another matter.
He marched right up to Charlene and stood over her. Bryce wasn’t a very big man, but Charlene was a particularly small woman. “Doug adored you, and you were nothing but a bitch to him. Don’t act like you care more just because of your guilt.”
“I thought ‘Hellbender’ was about us sticking up for each other!”
They looked ready to trade blows, so Lulu took a deep breath and slowly pulled Bryce away as she stepped in between the two. “It was a game, Charlene. Now its over.”
Charlene started crying, and Lulu couldn’t help but cry too as they hugged her. Bryce just stood by silently. They were rich now, but she still felt powerless. Lulu just wished there was something in life that didn’t suck.
Charlene eventually got a hold of herself and Lulu dried her tears as well. “So do you think some powerful entity was really talking to Doug?” Lulu asked. “Because it’s really mean to drag someone like him into an interdimensional conflict. Doug can’t even figure out the map at the mall. I can’t think of any reason someone would involve him in something this big except to be mindlessly cruel.”
Bryce shrugged. “I guess you can’t be so insignificant that one day the universe won’t decide to reach out and crush you.”
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