Page 91 of Black and White, Twice the Might

“How can we have so much stuff?” I gripe, lifting another box.

Sly laughs. “Because when we packed our places up, we didn’t throw anything out, plus we bought things along the way.”

“Yeah, we should have probably thrown some stuff out,” I say, putting the box in the boot of the car.

Another car drives towards us and parks further down.

I ignore it and walk back into our lockup. I playfully knock Sly’s arm as he passes me, carrying another box.

“Sylvester,” I hear a male voice say.

“Swayne,” Sly replies, sounding surprised.

I turn away from the box I was about to pick up and quickly walk out and over to Sly.

The man, Swayne, looks me over with a sneer on his face. He’s a few inches shorter than Sly, the rest of him is so ordinary that if you looked away, you’d probably forget you’d even seen him.

“What do you want, Swayne?” Sly asks, making no move to get any closer to whoever Swayne is, and putting the box he is carrying on the ground.

“Is this your ...,” he pauses as if he can’t bring himself to finish that sentence.

“My, what Swayne? My husband of nearly six years, my best friend, the love of my life, my partner in crime? Yes, to all of them. Now tell me why you’re here and how you found me,” he demands.

I take Sly's hand. “A friend of yours, babe?”

Sly gives a rude snort. “Gah, no, my brother. Now, Swine, answer my questions.”

It’s weird now I think about it, but I don’t know the names of any of Sly’s family.

Swayne’s cheeks turn red, and anger covers his face. “Do not call me Swine.”

“Then answer my questions, Swine,” he taunts.

Swayne moves his hand slightly.

“Don’t even think about throwing magic at Sly,” I tell him.

Sly bursts out laughing. “If he did nothing would happen. Swine here’s magic is pathetic. Think newborn magic. It’s quite tragic, really.”

“Newborn magic? I’ll show you how newborn my magic is, brother,” Swayne says, and suddenly there is an explosion from inside our lockup, destroying pretty much everything that was left in there.

I drop Sly’s hand and rush over to try to put the fire out and see what can be saved. I’ll leave Sly to deal with his brother.

I’m putting the fire out when Sal comes running over and helps.

“Looks like we got here at the right time,” he says, as the fire dies down.

“We?” I ask.

“Me and Justice came together. Who’s the idiot?”

“Sly’s brother,” I say with a sigh.

The fire is out; we clear the smoke out, and I look at the destruction. No amount of magic is bringing some of these things back.

“Let’s check on Sly and Justice,” I say, wondering what Sly has done to his brother.

As Sal and I walk out, I see the other family members are turning up. I ignore them and look towards Sly and Justice. They are both standing by Swayne, who is currently encased in a magical bubble, looking battered and bruised.