Riley Ross
Chapter 89: Simple Yet Creative

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Simple Yet Creative

*Fair warning: this is a work of fiction—do not try to replicate, imitate, or otherwise emulate what Riley Ross or any of the other characters does and has done... especially the ones that you are about to read in this Chapter, as it could easily be emulated in real life.*

"What... did you do?"

"Shh."

Mr. Monday wasn’t bound by any telekinetic chains, nor was Riley even grabbing onto him. But for some reason, he couldn’t move at all—he only stared at his arm, looking at his veins that were wriggling from the elements that had just pierced through his skin seconds ago.

There wasn’t any pain at all. Mild discomfort, maybe... but there wasn’t any pain—

And as Mr. Monday began to relax, Riley snapped his fingers.

He was confused at first, but when another snap whispered in his ear... that was when he realized what happens when sodium metal is mixed with water.

It... fizzles. He had experienced something like this before, it was through the back of his nose and eyes, when he accidentally laughed while drinking a can of soda, and it went through his nose.

The pain was instant then, but it wasn’t now. It lingered through his arms, and it burned.

Mr. Monday always scoffed whenever he heard someone explain excruciating pain equivalent to being stabbed by a thousand needles, but to think that was an understatement—no.

It was wrong.

Because while it did feel like he was being stabbed by needles, he wasn’t being stabbed by the pointy end but by the blunt end of it—it wasn’t piercing through him, it was digging through, scraping microscopic parts of his flesh bit by bit.

It grated him from the inside, millions of them devouring him... and the only thing he could do was watch as his arm started to blacken.

It started with his veins, and then his flesh necrotized almost instantly—perhaps the worst part of this all was that it was taking its sweet time.

Riley was taking his sweet time.

"Grah!" Mr. Monday dropped to his knees from the pain; he couldn’t even think of anything else but that. He held his arm, and his fingers dug through his flesh like it was mashed potato, no. Like ground meat. His flesh crumbled into his hand.

He screamed and he screamed, but the rot continued to creep higher and higher, and when it reached next to his armpit, the pain just... scattered.

If it weren’t for his durability, then he would have probably already fainted—and perhaps that would’ve been better.

But then, all of a sudden, the pain was gone—no. It was replaced by a searing pain as he saw his arm torn away from his shoulder. This searing pain was almost nothing compared to what he felt moments ago, however. To the point that it almost felt like he didn’t feel it at all.

In fact, he felt relieved as he watched his necrotizing arm drop to the floor.

"Wh—Argh!"

His relief didn’t last long, however. He didn’t even notice that Riley was already right beside him. He only realized when he plunged a sharp metal shard into his fresh shoulder stump.

"Gkkh!" Mr. Monday gritted his teeth, his head leaning back as he stared right into Riley’s face, the smile plastered on it almost inhuman now. He felt himself choke on his own saliva, not realizing he had even forgotten to swallow.

He coughed, his spit mixing with the snot, unknowingly flowing profusely from his nose. And then, he screamed again when Riley twisted the shard.

He felt it moving his bones, grinding it and the metal through and across his flesh—he even heard a pop when it dislocated from his collar.

Riley dug it even deeper, and then even deeper to the point his entire hand was already inside his shoulder—that was when he was finally satisfied and pulled his hand out, leaving the large metal shard inside.

Mr. Monday dropped to the ground, heaving and gasping through his cries.

"P-please, stop... stop it..." He wailed, "Just... just kill me!"

He couldn’t even beg for his life at all; he was way past that. He truly thought that this would be an easy fight, but to think that he was now lying on the floor without even having touched a single strand of Riley’s hair.

"I will kill you, Mr. Monday..." Riley sighed, crouching down beside him as he grabbed him by the hair and lifted it up, "...Eventually."

Riley stretched his other hand to the side, summoning another metal shard that was lying on the floor. This time, it was smaller, much smaller—thinner than a toothbrush.

And perhaps the comparison was quite a perfect comparison, as what followed next had everything to do with teeth.

"Open your mouth wide, Mr. Monday," Riley smiled as he raised the shard, and soon, a whirring noise started to buzz in the air. Mr. Monday turned his eyes toward the direction of the noise, only to see the tip of the metal shard vibrating violently.

And without even any care, and without even waiting for him to open his mouth, Riley jabbed the vibrating metal shard into his mouth, drilling right into his teeth and teasing his root canal.

"Hrngh?!" Mr. Monday’s eyes turned wide, their whites almost showing themselves from the sudden pain that literally vibrated through his entire body. He felt his body convulse, and even the sound of the metal shard grinding his teeth felt like it was hurting him.

He had already been warned by the Dark Millennium that there was a chance that they would be tortured if captured by the authorities—they explained to him all the things that they might do to him.

And he was ready to take it all for the cause... or so he thought.

Why... was he even doing this in the first place? Why was he even part of the Dark Millennium? The pain was making him forget everything.

And why... why was this kid not even older than his daughter doing this to him?

Daughter. That was right, he has a daughter.

"M-my... my daughter..." Mr. Monday managed to finally form words despite his teeth being ravaged, "...I’m doing this for... for my daughter."

"Oh?" Riley blinked, retracting his hand as soon as he heard Mr. Monday’s slurred words, "You have a child, Mr. Monday? I have to say I am pleasantly surprised."

Riley then stabbed the small metal shard he was holding, once again through Mr. Monday’s shoulder stump, hitting the shard that was already there and causing another surge of pain to electrocute his entire body.

"I-I do..." Mr. Monday fought through the pain.

Finally, he thought. This was the very first time he saw a chance to actually escape this situation.

"She... she’s the same age as you. She—"

"I truly apologize for this, Mr. Monday," Riley sighed, shaking his head as he once again grabbed Mr. Monday by his hair, "But you see, I have been taught a thousand ways to torture someone by Father—and do you know what he always told me?"

"Wh—"

"It is that torture is all mental," Riley sighed, "He told me that sooner or later, people would get used to the torture. It would still hurt physically, but they already have a different response to it—everything physical would fade away and go numb. The way to prevent that it go through the source itself, the brain. And I do not mean the organ, but its purpose. Torture the mind, and that would never fade...

...So, I am truly sorry that you told me about your daughter. Because now, I would like you to know that I will find her and make her experience the same pain that you are experiencing now."

"You... you wouldn’t do that."

"But I would. Maybe not soon, but surely later, Mr. Monday—and do not think that I am only bluffing, I am not capable of that. I have already killed three people close to my age. In the end, your daughter would only be a number... but you do not have to worry, I would make sure to cherish her screams, as I cherish yours now."

"You’re... you’re a monster!" Mr. Monday used whatever strength he had left to swing his remaining arm toward Riley. But once again, it was to no avail—he wanted to at least pierce through his ears and break his eardrums... but even that was blocked by him.

"I am, Mr. Monday," Riley sighed as he pulled out something from his pocket—it was another piece of sodium metal. "And now we have come to the end."

"Wh—Rughk?!"

Mr. Monday opened his mouth to speak, but Riley suddenly inserted his hand into his mouth and made him swallow the sodium metal, pushing it further inside with his mind.

Riley then quickly stepped back, tilting his head as Mr. Monday stared him right in the eyes. Riley, however, was not interested in looking at his face at all. Instead, his eyes were fixed on Mr. Monday’s stomach, which was now rumbling even through his clothes.

Bubbles began to form in Mr. Monday’s mouth, and soon, it was followed by some sort of flesh... and then blood.

"Remember this as you die, Mr. Monday," Riley finally looked at him, "Your daughter will follow the same fate as you."

Mr. Monday tried to speak, but no actual words were able to form. Still, Riley understood what he was trying to say. The look in his eyes, for some reason, Riley understood.

"Why, Mr. Monday?" He tilted his head,

"Well, because I want to."