Playing Heroes
dark heroNezu smiled back.
Segu didn’t know exactly what that smile meant.
But he knew Nezu.
It meant he had something.
The man holding Segu didn’t seem to appreciate it.
“What the fuck are you smiling about?”
His arm tightened around Segu’s neck, pulling him firmly against his chest.
The gun remained pressed against the side of Segu’s head.
Nezu’s smile disappeared.
“Nothing.”
“Stay where you are.”
Nezu didn’t move.
The smoke was slowly thinning around them.
Enough to see each other clearly now.
Not enough to see much beyond that.
Perfect.
Almost.
Nezu’s eyes moved to the gun.
The man had learned something from everything that had happened in the school.
He was keeping Segu directly between them.
Most of his body was hidden.
His finger was already on the trigger.
And he was terrified.
That last part was the problem.
His hand was shaking.
Nezu had spent the last few hours making these men afraid.
One by one.
Trap by trap.
Until the ones left had finally understood that chasing a child through a school had been a terrible idea.
But fear made people unpredictable.
And Nezu couldn’t afford unpredictable.
Not with a gun against Segu’s head.
“Back up.”
Nezu took one step backward.
“More.”
Another.
Segu watched him.
Nezu looked calm.
Too calm.
The man noticed too.
“What are you planning?”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit.”
Nezu said nothing.
The sounds outside were changing.
The screaming and running of the escaping hostages were growing distant.
Different sounds were taking their place.
Shouts.
Orders.
Heavy footsteps somewhere farther down the school.
The police wouldn’t remain outside now.
There were no longer a hundred hostages keeping them there.
The man knew that.
Nezu could see it in his face.
Time was running out.
Exactly as Nezu had expected.
Because he’d already thought about this.
Before the smoke.
Before the doors opened.
Before more than a hundred frightened people were given their chance to run.
Two armed men would remain inside the room.
Nezu had considered what they might do when they lost control.
Run.
Fight.
Surrender.
Or take insurance.
He hadn’t known who.
He certainly hadn’t wanted it to be Segu.
But he’d prepared for the possibility.
Because the bandits had made one very useful mistake.
They had talked too much.
The key.
They had come here for it.
They were willing to risk everything for it.
And they had absolutely no idea what it was.
That had given Nezu an idea.
And some time before filling the room with smoke, that idea had gone into his pocket.
“You’re getting me out of here.”
Nezu looked at the man.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
The gun pushed harder against Segu.
“You’re getting me out.”
Nezu looked toward the corridor.
Then back at him.
“How?”
“I don’t fucking care!”
The man was breathing faster.
“You did all this shit. You know this place. You get me out!”
Nezu almost smiled.
He wanted to leave.
Good.
That meant there was something he wanted more than shooting Segu.
Nezu needed something else.
Something he wanted even more.
“Okay.”
The man frowned.
“What?”
“I said okay.”
“Don’t fuck with me.”
“I’m not.”
Nezu paused.
Then asked:
“What about the key?”
The change was immediate.
Small.
But immediate.
The man’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“The key.”
Silence.
Nezu continued.
“You came here for it.”
“Shut up.”
“You don’t want it anymore?”
“I said shut the fuck up.”
Nezu looked toward the corridor.
The voices were getting closer.
Then he shrugged.
“Fine.”
The man stared at him.
Nezu said nothing else.
He didn’t need to.
The idea was already there.
Segu looked between them.
The key?
Then he remembered.
The announcement.
The workshop.
Nezu claiming he had exactly what these people had invaded the school to find.
Segu looked back at him.
Nezu had lied.
Of course he’d lied.
But something about the way Nezu was standing now told Segu that the lie wasn’t finished.
“Do you have it?”
Nezu looked at the man.
“Yes.”
“Bullshit.”
“Okay.”
Nezu shrugged again.
The man’s jaw tightened.
“Don’t fucking play games with me.”
“I’m agreeing with you.”
“You said you had it!”
“I do.”
“Then show me!”
There it was.
Nezu slowly moved one hand toward his pocket.
The reaction was immediate.
“STOP!”
Nezu froze.
The gun pressed harder against Segu’s head.
“Hands up!”
Nezu raised his hand again.
“Okay.”
“Don’t fucking reach for anything.”
“Then I can’t show you.”
The man stared at him.
Nezu waited.
Segu could feel the man’s heartbeat through the arm around his neck.
Fast.
Very fast.
The shouting outside was closer now.
The man glanced toward the door.
Then back to Nezu.
“Slowly.”
Nezu didn’t move.
“I said slowly!”
“Which one?”
“What?”
“Pocket.”
Nezu nodded toward himself.
“Which one?”
The man stared at him as if trying to decide whether he was being mocked.
“Where is it?”
“Right.”
“Use two fingers.”
Nezu slowly lowered his right hand.
The gun remained against Segu.
His fingers reached his pocket.
Entered.
Then stopped.
The man watched.
So did Segu.
Nezu pulled out a small object.
Segu frowned.
She had never seen it before.
It wasn’t particularly impressive.
Small enough to fit comfortably in Nezu’s hand.
Metallic in places.
Something translucent covering part of it.
A few details that made it look far more complicated than its size suggested.
Most importantly, it looked like it could do something.
And nobody except Nezu knew what the key was supposed to look like.
The man’s eyes locked onto it.
“That’s it?”
Nezu looked at the object.
Then back at him.
“Yes.”
“What the fuck is that?”
“The key.”
“I can fucking see that. What does it do?”
Nezu tilted his head.
“You don’t know?”
The man went silent.
Nezu’s suspicion was confirmed for the second time.
Segu noticed too.
Nezu had been right.
They really didn’t know.
“What does it open?”
Nezu asked.
“Shut up.”
“Who made it?”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Why do you want it?”
“I SAID SHUT UP!”
Nezu did.
But there was the smallest hint of a smile on his face now.
The man saw it.
“You’re lying.”
“About what?”
“That’s not it.”
“Then why are we talking?”
No answer.
Nezu held the object loosely between two fingers.
“If you think it’s fake, we can forget about it.”
He started moving it back toward his pocket.
“WAIT!”
Nezu stopped.
“Give it to me.”
Nezu looked at Segu.
“No.”
The gun pushed against his head again.
“Give me the fucking key!”
“Let Segu go.”
The man laughed.
A short, nervous sound.
“You think I’m fucking stupid?”
The man pulled Segu tighter.
“You throw it to me. Then you get us out.”
“No.”
“What?”
“Segu first.”
“Fuck you!”
Nezu shrugged.
“Then we wait.”
The footsteps outside were much closer now.
The man looked toward the door.
His eyes immediately returned to the object in Nezu’s hand.
Segu could almost see the decision tearing him apart.
Escape.
Hostage.
Key.
Police.
Nezu simply waited.
He had time.
The man didn’t.
“Fine.”
Segu’s eyes widened slightly.
The man tightened his arm.
“You throw it. I let him go when I have it.”
“No.”
“THAT’S THE DEAL!”
“You’ll have the key and Segu.”
“You don’t have another fucking option!”
Nezu looked at him.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then Nezu sighed.
“Fine.”
Segu stared at him.
Nezu adjusted the object between his fingers.
“Catch.”
He threw it.
The man’s eyes followed it.
He couldn’t help it.
The thing he had come here to find, the thing people had been hurt for, the thing this entire disaster had been about was flying directly toward him.
He raised his free hand.
The object reached him.
And the world turned white.
“FUCK!”
Pure instinct.
The man released Segu.
Both hands flew toward his eyes.
The gun hit the floor.
Segu didn’t think.
He ran.
“GO!”
He didn’t need Nezu to tell him twice.
Segu threw himself away from the man.
The bandit staggered backward.
“MY FUCKING EYES!”
Nezu was already moving.
The man blinked desperately.
Shapes were returning.
Nothing more than dark forms floating inside white.
Then one of those shapes came directly toward him.
Nezu.
The man roared.
“You little FUCK!”
He charged.
Nezu charged too.
Segu stopped several meters away and turned.
For one second, it looked insane.
A grown man running straight toward a child.
Nezu didn’t slow.
Neither did the man.
The distance disappeared.
Three meters.
Two.
One.
The man swung.
Nezu dropped.
Not backward.
Down.
His feet shot forward.
His body slid across the floor.
The man’s fist passed through empty air.
His own momentum kept carrying him forward.
His balance disappeared.
He tried to stop.
Couldn’t.
His foot slipped.
The man crashed onto the floor.
Nezu slid past him.
His hand closed around the abandoned gun.
He turned onto one knee.
The man was already trying to rise.
Nezu fired.
The sound filled the room.
Segu flinched.
The bandit dropped back to the floor.
Silence.
Nezu remained on one knee.
Gun raised.
Watching.
Waiting.
The man moved.
A weak groan escaped him.
Alive.
Nezu lowered the weapon.
Segu stared at him.
Then at the man.
Then back at Nezu.
“Nezu…”
“He’s alive.”
Segu swallowed.
“You shot him.”
“Yes.”
There wasn’t much emotion in the answer.
That disturbed Segu more than the gunshot had.
Nezu stood.
Only then did Segu notice his hands.
They were shaking.
Just slightly.
Nezu noticed too.
He looked down at the gun.
Then at his own fingers around it.
Slowly, he lowered it further.
Segu approached him.
“You okay?”
Nezu looked at him.
“Are you?”
Segu touched the side of his head where the gun had been pressed moments earlier.
“Yeah.”
Nezu nodded.
“Then yes.”
That wasn’t an answer.
Segu decided not to say it.
Not now.
His eyes moved toward the small object lying on the floor.
Or what remained of it.
Segu stared at it.
Then at Nezu.
“Was that your fake key?”
“Yes.”
“And you made it explode?”
“It didn’t explode.”
Segu stared at him.
“It exploded.”
“It produced a flash.”
“In his face.”
“That was the idea.”
Segu looked back at the object.
“A light bomb.”
Nezu frowned.
“That’s a terrible name.”
“It describes exactly what it did.”
“It’s not a bomb.”
“It went bang.”
“The gun went bang.”
“It flashed.”
“Yes.”
“In his face.”
“Yes.”
“Light bomb.”
Nezu sighed.
“Fine.”
Segu smiled.
And that was when something old finally clicked into place.
A gun.
A hostage.
A villain.
A hero standing opposite him.
Segu’s smile slowly grew.
“Oh.”
Nezu looked at him.
“What?”
Segu started laughing.
Nezu frowned.
“What?”
Segu shook his head.
“No way.”
“What?”
“The rabbit.”
Nezu stared at him.
“What rabbit?”
“The rabbit, Nezu.”
A few seconds passed.
Then Nezu’s expression changed.
An old wooden box.
Second-hand costumes.
Old action figures.
Plushes left behind by children who had once lived at the orphanage.
A rabbit in Steve’s arms.
A finger pressed against its head.
One versus one.
The hero didn’t have a weapon.
The villain did.
The hostage was already restrained.
They had spent far too long trying to solve it.
Every version ended the same way.
The hero needed help from the beginning or an absolute difference in power.
Nezu looked at Segu.
Segu looked at him.
Then both looked at the bandit lying on the floor.
“We finally solved it,” Segu said.
Nezu thought about that.
Then shook his head.
“No.”
Segu laughed.
“Of course you’re going to argue.”
“We didn’t solve it.”
“We absolutely did.”
“No.”
Nezu pointed toward the remains of the fake key.
“I created an advantage.”
Segu blinked.
Nezu continued.
“Same conclusion.”
The hero still couldn’t simply walk up to an armed villain holding a hostage.
He needed help.
Or he needed an overwhelming advantage.
Years ago, Segu had become the sidekick.
Today Nezu had made his own advantage.
Segu looked at the remains of the device.
Then at the wounded bandit.
Then at Nezu.
“You cheated.”
Nezu looked offended.
“I did not.”
“You made a fake magical key that was actually a light bomb.”
“It’s not magical.”
“That’s the part you’re objecting to?”
“It matters.”
Segu laughed.
“You cheated.”
“He had a real gun.”
“Steve had a gun.”
“Steve had a finger.”
“Still counted.”
“No, it didn’t.”
“Young Miss would’ve agreed with me.”
Nezu opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
Segu saw it.
That name had done it.
For just a moment, the ruined room disappeared from both their faces.
They were seven again.
A hidden room beneath a glass roof.
Old superhero posters covering the walls.
A wooden box filled with costumes and forgotten toys.
A rabbit hostage.
A ridiculous ransom of one million candies.
A hero.
A sidekick.
A villain who had never wanted the job in the first place.
Playing heroes.
Heavy footsteps suddenly thundered through the corridor.
Both boys turned.
“POLICE!”
Several armed officers appeared through the smoke.
Their weapons immediately found Nezu.
“DROP THE WEAPON!”
Nezu looked down at the gun still in his hand.
“Oh.”
Segu immediately moved away from him.
Nezu looked at him.
“Seriously?”
“You just shot someone.”
“He was holding you hostage.”
“They don’t know that!”
“DROP IT! NOW!”
Nezu carefully placed the gun on the floor.
Then raised both hands.
Segu raised his too.
One of the officers rushed toward the wounded man while the others kept their weapons trained on the boys.
Segu glanced sideways at Nezu.
“What now?”
Segu shook his head.
“Nothing.”
“You’re clearly laughing at something.”
Segu looked at the wounded bandit.
At the fake key.
At the gun on the floor.
Then at his oldest friend.
“Playing heroes was easier when the hostage was a rabbit.”
Nezu considered that.
Then nodded.
“The rabbit complained less.”
Segu’s mouth fell open.
“Idiot Zu.”
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