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Standing to his full height, he locked eyes with the two men who were on the brink of death. He went to town hacking one of the fuckers to pieces, while his partner in crime slid down the wall from multiple gunshots, perishing before his eyes.

He slowly exited the room, finding two men with their backs turned away from him in the hallway. Justin Johnson’s, ‘Son of a Witch’ played clear as crystal…

“Ode to my Mama… this is for you…” he whispered as he cautiously made his way down the steps.

He jumped back as a bullet whizzed past him.

Rounding the corner fast, he slipped his hand out, shot, then ducked.

As he crouched low, he shot again and got the bastard in the leg.

The wolf was hunting to maim this one, not kill…

The thrill of his catch leapt across his chest, causing a deep pounding and his mouth to salivate.

He raced to the man, grabbed him around his ankles, and dragged him to the door of his vault.

“Kage! You’re not getting out of this alive! You might as well give up now!” someone yelled. He could see the infrared laser dancing along the wall. Aerosmith’s, ‘Come Together’ was playing now. He clapped his hand against the wall to the beat of the music.

“Well, hello there, Italian boy! I finally get to hear a voice clearly tonight.” He sniffed the air.

“Your friends’ blood is fresh in the air.

You’re hardly in a position to tell me the conclusion of this fine evenin’.

With all due respect, Mr. Ravioli, this here country boy don’t know what surrender means, but you, sir, ’bout to know what givin’ up the ghost is. ”

“AHHHH!” He blasted him multiple times in the knees, then ran to him and slipped behind him fast. Lifting him up, he placed one hand on the top of his head, the other beneath the fucker’s chin, and jerked! Neck cracked like a crab leg…

“Come together… riiiight now…” Kage sang, with a smile. He let the fucker fall to the ground, then hid behind the kitchen pantry door and waited…

“FUUUUUCK!”

Kage began blasting, both hands gripping HK Mark 23 Caliber .

45s. He had no idea how many men were coming, but he just kept shooting.

“AIN’T NO FUCKIN’ WAY Y’ALL MOTHERFUCKERS ARE GONNA COME UP IN MY FUCKIN’ HOUSE, brEAK MY SHIT, AND LEAVE OUT OF HERE IN ONE PIECE!

YOU’VE ENTERED HELL AND DON’T EVEN KNOW IT, BUT BY GOLLY, YOU’RE ABOUT TO FIND OUT.

FUCK ALL OF Y’ALL!” Once one clip was empty, he loaded another.

Smoke filled the room fast from the back and forth shootout, and when it was over, only the sounds of The Wanton Bishops’, ‘Sleep With The Lights’ came through, playing loud and proud…

He surveyed the room. The sweet, bloody carnage.

Three men down. One definitely dead. The two others in bad shape, but still alive.

Their chest rose and fell in an uneven rhythm.

He grabbed the two that still drew breath and dragged them to the dungeon door, where the other man lay in agony, waiting for the Reaper.

It wasn’t long before all of his injured victims were piled on the cold, uneven concrete floor of his dungeon, the room aglow in red lights.

He locked them down there, then checked the cameras and all over his house, unable to find anyone else.

He checked the cameras a second time: one of the cars that were once parked out front was still there, the other was gone…

He gripped his phone and texted Phoenix.

Cleared my house. Take her out of the box, and home now. Be careful. Stay with her until I arrive in your truck.

Phoenix: 10-4

He slipped his phone back in his pocket, and headed down to the vault, locking the steel door behind him. Taking a deep breath, he ran his hand over his left leg, then turned the music off, deciding to put on a different tune as he spoke to the beat up and broken men. Four in total.

“Good evenin’, fellas. Welcome to my humble abode.” He slid off his black gloves and replaced them with rubber ones. KALEO’s, ‘No Good’ banged through the speakers. Kage bobbed his head to the rock music as he walked over to one of his contraptions. The black iron chair with the ferocious nails…

Picking up one of the bastards from the ground, he slammed him in it with no hesitation.

“AHHHHHHHH!!!” His screams filled the air, making Kage double over in laughter. Kage sang with the music and giggled at the fucker’s pain. “FUCK!!!! FUUUUUCK!!!

“THAT HURT, MOTHERFUCKER?! HURT SO GOOD, HUH?! DON’T IT?

WE LIKE THAT KIND OF HURT, DON’T WE, BABY?

! LIKE FUCKIN’ A VIRGIN, YEAH? Let’s sing that old Madonna song…

Like uh viiiirgin! Yeah! Nailed for the very first time!

WELCOME TO THE GOLDEN KAGE OF RAGE, GENTLEMEN!

” He cackled as he belted him in. The leather straps forced his arms to press into the nails.

The sharp tips drove through the fucker’s flesh.

The man clenched his teeth and his eyes rolled in sweet agony.

He did the same to his legs, and watched. Pleased as pudding.

“Ya know, I haven’t had much of a chance to use these toys. I mean, I’ve used them on a few folks, but not four at one time. Y’all really outdid yourselves!” He giggled.

Kage grabbed another one of the misfits.

That man begged and pleaded, offered money and the usual gifts and trinkets.

Kage had heard it all before. One man had even offered his daughter—he made sure that guy was tortured for an especially lengthy time.

He ignored this fellow’s cries and tied him to a metal table, then placed the other two on his widening panels, which were secured to the wall.

“You may wonder what this is, right? Well, this is a medieval stretchin’ board.

It stretches your arms and legs like rubber bands.

It does it so damn slow, it could take a day, or maybe even two.

I love buildin’ shit. It’s my job, actually.

I’m real handy, enough to be inspired by passé torture devices, and created my own for trespassers.

Y’all motherfuckers should have left well enough alone when I set your friends on fire out in the middle of that field.

But ohhhh no, y’all just had to come back and even the score.

Seems rather silly, if you ask me. I was simply defendin’ myself.

I didn’t start this little war, but I damn sure am going to end it. ”

“Why are you doin’ this?! Why?!” one of them cried.

“See, that’s the problem with fuckers like y’all.

You don’t have any vision! No imagination!

You also don’t take the time to do any exploration of the facts.

Find out about your opponent. Never come to a man’s house that you intend to kill, without knowing who he truly is.

This ain’t Halloween.” He guffawed. “I ain’t got no candy for ya, but I got plenty of King Kane.

That was my daddy… See, I’m a bastard. What they used to call an illegitimate child.

The first mistake y’all made was comin’ over here.

I think that’s crystal clear now. The second mistake, and the worst of the two, was comin’ over while my woman was with me.

My precious possum, my woodland fairy, my sweet little Nina is to be protected at all times.

She’s dealt with enough in her life, and y’all made it a bit worse.

It’s one thing to have beef with me.” He pointed to himself. “It’s another to drag my lady into it.

“Y’all got to pay for that, and pay for it you will.

So, the reason why I’m doing this, per your question, little pesto, is because I’m the insubordinate, once favorite, now ostracized grandchild of a Dixie Mafia Ace, named Cyrus ‘The Ragin’ Wilde Bull’.

Now, that part you knew. But what you didn’t know is that I’m also the son of a hippie lady, what they call a white or good witch, who can hold crystals and your future in one hand, and blow your ass away with her Glock 19 in the other.

And lastly, I’m the son of a ruthless MC gang leader who, accordin’ to legend, killed over thirty motherfuckers one fine Indian summer.

In other words, fuckin’ up my enemies is in my blood. You can’t touch me.”

“Man, come on! Don’t do this… don’t do this! It wasn’t personal. We’re not your enemies; you’ve got it all wrong. We were just followin’ orders!” the one on the table pleaded.

Kage picked up a surgical tool, turning it to and fro as he studied the little, sharp pliers.

‘Turning to Stone,’ by Godsmack blared, the music feeling so good running through his body like. He slipped on a plastic apron, and cinched it just so in the back.

“You know, the settlers told the Indians that they were just followin’ orders. The Nazis told the Jews that they were just followin’ orders, too…” He played with various tools on the tray, ensuring that the pliers were the right choice.

“Hey, if you kill us, man, they’re gonna come after you even worse!” one of the guys on the wall being slowly stretched exclaimed. “HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!”

“Nobody can hear you, you fucking idiot,” Kage skulked about, then rolled his eyes. “Can you believe this guy?” He turned to the fellow on the table and smirked. “We’re underground.”

“YOU SICK, PSYCHO FREAK! YOU TWISTED FUCK!”

“AHHHHHH!!!!” The man on the table shrilled when Kage sank the pliers into his arm, jabbing and poking around.

He glanced over his shoulder at the man in the nail chair, and winked at the guy as the nails continued to drill deeper and deeper into his flesh.

The man seemed to be going in and out of consciousness—the pain far too great.

“Now, here’s the deal. I have a little proposition for y’all. I’m considering letting one of y’all live, but at a price, of course. Who wants to tell me where your boss is, so you might have a chance of gettin’ out of here?”

The man on the table blabbed first, his words tumbling over the men in the stretchers as they all tried to speak first.

“Everyone, shut the fuck up!” Kage yelled. “One at a damn time… Table boy,” he glared down at him, “you go first.”

“Yes, yes! My name is Leonardo, man! I work for Francesco Sivero! You killed his nephew, Salvador. He sent us!” he tattled, spilling all the beans with tears in his eyes. “I can give you his address!”

“Francesco Sivero, yeah, I know that he sent ya. I figured that out a while ago. I don’t need his address; got that, too. I want to know where he is RIGHT NOW. He and my grandfather workin’ together on this? In cahoots?”

“No, no! They’re on the outs! ’Cause of Sal’s death, see?”

“Hmmm… interesting. Now, one last chance. Where the fuck is Francesco?”

The man hesitated… “He’s at home. I swear.” The man’s eyes were practically pleading with him.

“Awww, that’s too bad. I would have loved to have him party with us tonight.

I guess that’s one less burger to put on the grill, huh?

Damn… what a shame. Cazzo! ” Kage cocked his head and smiled down at him.

“See? I know a lil’ Italian, too. You were lookin’ for Grandma, but found the wolf instead… Tsk, tsk … in bocca al lupo …”

“AHHHHHH!” The eyes of the man on the table bucked as a large knife was impaled in his gut.

Kage drove it down with both fists. His pent up rage released itself at their intrusion, their audacity, all of his unresolved issues and anger coursing through his veins!

Grabbing the chainsaw from the surgical tray, he began cutting off the fucker’s extremities as the other men watched, screaming and crying out in horror.

“OH, GOD! Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!” one of them blubbered, crying his eyes out.

Kage hummed to the music as he went along, taking care of his busy work. Blood splashed all over his plastic apron. He tossed the legs and arms into a bucket, then looked over at the three remaining men.

“Now, accordin’ to my calculations, and the cameras of course, there’s ’bout five dead men in the woods on my property, and three more dead in a car.

My cousin took care of that… what a sweet young man.

That’s not including your buddies scattered all over my gotdamn house like a stack of cards.

That’s a lot of y’all for just one man. Lil’ ol’ me.

” He shrugged. “Seems your boss thought since I was heavily outnumbered, things would go his way.

“One thing they say about a wolf is: never go to his den to confront him.

He turned up the music. The Black Keys crooned ‘Psychotic Girl.’ Kage began to dance, line stepping with the chainsaw in his hand.

It dripped blood, leaving a trail of glistening red gore all over the vault floor.

He sang the words, falling into the groove.

“…Please,” one of the guys on the wall begged, a stream of drool dripping from his mouth. “We’ll give you anything.”

“I’ve got all I need, boys. Nothin’ you have, I want. Now, I’d love to stay here and chitchat, but I got a pretty lil’ lady to meet at the school dance. I can’t wait all night to pull y’all tight, so ol’ Chester the Chain Saw will have to babysit y’all in a jiffy.”

“NO! NOOOO, MAN!!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!”

Marching up to the boys hanging on the wall, he raised the roaring chainsaw high in the air…