“Sixty… fifty-nine… fifty-eight… fifty-seven… fifty-six…”

“Come on! Come onnnnn!” Swiss Cheese screeched, stretching out as far as his chains and legs would permit. As he saw Yoni reach behind him to pull out the glocks once again, he and Kaboom knew there could be no bigger matter of life and death than this.

The keys had fallen quite a distance away from them, and it would take some level of stretching to get to it. They lay more in the direction of Swiss Cheese, so the onus was on him to get it.

“Come on, Swiss! Come onnn!” Kaboom screamed. “Get the keys! Get the keys!”

“I’m trying to get them, idiot!” Swiss Cheese shot back at him, unamused by his compatriot’s screams.

“Try harder, man, try harder! Else we’re gonna die! We’re gonna fucking die-“

“I’m doing my fucking best, man, stop fucking harassing me!”

“I’m not harassing you, I’m just reminding you-“

“Do I look like I need a fucking reminder? Huh? Bruh, I know our lives are on the line. Shut up and let me do the needful! Geez! Griping and whining like a little bitch…”

***

Eyes covered by the blindfold, Yoni could only smile at the fiery exchange between the two captives. Guns cocked and firmly pointed in their direction, he had no problems with them ripping at each other. As long as the timer continued to voice out the seconds ticking away, he knew they knew too damn well what had to be done.

“… Forty-seven… forty-six… forty-five…”

“Fifteen seconds gone, boys! I’d be putting my all into reaching that bunch of keys wherever they are if I were you! The clock is ticking and ticking fast!”

***

“…Forty… thirty-nine… thirty eight… thirty-seven…”

“Okay-okay-okay! I’m almost there!” Swiss Cheese breathed, ignoring the dull aching strain in his foot. His overstretching was really doing a number on him, but that was nothing compared to the prospect of freedom staring them in the face once they were freed.

“You can do it, man! You can do it!” Kaboom cheered him on, seeming to prefer egging on his comrade to yelling at him.

Swiss Cheese pushed himself, feeling every sinew of his body screaming under the pressure. He stretched out, his foot almost in a comfortable position to pull the keys toward him.

He took a deep breath, as did Kaboom. “Come on, come on, come on, let this work, let this work,” he prayed aloud.

Then brought his foot down.

The impact pushed the bunch a few millimetres away from him.

He let out a cry of frustration. “OH, FOR FUCK’S SAKE!”

“NNNOOOOOOOOO!” Kaboom screamed.

***

“…Thirty-three… thirty-two… thirty-one… thirty…”

Stifling a laugh at the angry cry of Swiss Cheese and the defeated scream of Kaboom, Yoni shook his head, an amused grin on his face.

He must have tossed it far enough for them to have to really struggle to get it. Such perfect precision.

“The annoying nature of inanimate objects to slip away from you, huh, boys?” he called out in a sinister, mocking voice. “I know how that feels. Still gotta get your shit together, though! You’ve got less than half the time left, and these two bullets might just find their way out! Be fast about it!”

***

“…Twenty-five… twenty-four… twenty-three… twenty-two…”

“Come on, man, don’t give up!” Kaboom pleaded passionately. “Don’t let this psycho kill us! Please don’t let this mad man kill us! I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna die!”

Frustrated. Worn out. Devastated.

That was how Swiss Cheese felt at that moment. Frustrated at how the keys had slipped from his grasp and cost them precious seconds. Worn out from all that extra exertion which had amounted to nothing. And devastated at how terrified Kaboom sounded.

His body didn’t want to do it anymore. He had just stretched himself so far, he didn’t want to do it again. There was only so much a man’s body could take, and it had already taken enough torture in the past few hours to last it ten extra lifetimes.

This was enough. He couldn’t do it anymore. He just couldn’t.

Yet… the fright in his comrade’s voice. The fear of dying… it just could not be ignored. Yes, they had just been taken on a roller-coaster through hell, but there was a way out.

So he sighed. And squeezed his eyes shut.

“Here we go!”

With that, he pushed himself once more, stretching out as far as he could, doing his best to ignore the mind-boggling pain those chains inflicted on his wrists.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” he screamed, stretching himself to the uttermost.

“You’re almost there, man! You’re almost there!” Kaboom screamed excitedly.

Indeed, this extra effort looked set to pay off. Swiss Cheese had his foot over the bunch of keys, and only a cruel twist of fate would keep him from getting the keys.

Without a second thought, he laid his foot on the bunch…

… and successfully dragged them closer.

“YES! YES! WE’RE ALMOST THERE! WE’RE ALMOST THERE!”

***

“…Eighteen… seventeen… sixteen… fifteen…”

“The clock is ticking, boys! You better be fast! Time is not on your side! Quite literally! You better be quick about it!”

***

“Fourteen… thirteen… twelve… eleven… ten…”

“We did it, we did it!” Swiss Cheese squealed excitedly, his big toe triumphantly holding up the big key chain.

“Yeah, yeah, now be fast! Time’s almost up!”

“Sure, sure, of cours-“

Lifting the bunch closer to his face, he frowned. Wait a minute…

He looked at the chains holding him.

Then he looked at the keys again. All thirteen keys dangling on the keychain.

In nanoseconds, he looked through them again. And again.

“Swiss! Swiss! What are you waiting fo-“

Relief quickly metamorphosed into extreme terror.

“No-no-no-no-no-NO-NO-NOOOOOO!”

***

“…Nine… eight… seven… six…”

Yoni smirked.

Those screams were exactly what he expected to hear.

Those bunch of keys had a host of different kinds of keys: Eagle, Falcon, Kwikset, Titan, Dexter, Corbin, Baldwin…

All except Ace II Keys. Which were the only set of keys that could open their chains, as the manufacturer name indicated on them. Clearly, these guys knew what key could open it, as it was a peculiar and distinct key, and had hoped they’d quickly identify it and get themselves unlocked.

Of course, they had been in so desperate a position that they never stopped to check if the keys were actually a part of the bunch to begin with. And unfortunately for them, they had used the past minute to struggle to get the bunch, only to discover that what they were looking for was not there in the first place.

“THE KEYS AREN’T HERE! WE’VE BEEN TRICKED! WE’VE BEEN TRICKED!”

What a cruel plot twist he had just pulled on them! A sick, sick game indeed.

“No, no, no, NO, NO, NO! NOOOO!”

“… Five… four…”

Blood-curdling screams filled the dungeon.

“… Three… two… one… DING! DING! DING!”

“GAME OVER!”

The next sounds that followed…

… were the sounds of gunshots.

Multiple bullets went flying out of the guns, as Yoni fired with reckless abandon at the guys, laughing maniacally as he did so.

The screams were quenched in a flash, the blaze of bullets silencing them.

Every single bullet was fired out of those guns.

It was only when they failed to fire off that Yoni stopped.

He stood still.

Suddenly, the dungeon that had just witnessed a bloody outburst of gunfire seconds ago had gone silent.

Breathing in and out, Yoni tossed the guns in the direction of the guys before taking off his blindfold.

As expected, it was a nasty murder scene. Swiss Cheese and Kaboom lay lifeless against the wall, their bodies riddled with all those bullets.

They never stood a chance.

Yoni dusted his hands, smirked at the nasty sight before him, then turned to exit the dungeon.

“My work here is done. I’ll get rid of all that shit later on.”

***

Back in the main house, he walked past the living room, up the main staircase and made his way into the bedroom.

On the bed before him sat an absolutely cute Korean young lady, clad in nothing but a red T-shirt and wrapped up in the blanket. She looked up at him, her eyes filled with concern.

“Is it over?” she asked.

He nodded and smiled at her. “It’s over.”

She sighed. “Oh, thank goodness. At least that’s over and done with. I can’t lie, though, that was really terrifying…”

Yoni crouched and cupped her face gently, his expression softening. “I know, my sweet Myo, I know. That’s why I did what had to be done. You know I would never let anyone hurt you. You’re safe with me.”

She smiled at him and kissed him. “Yes, yes, I should have known that. Those armed robbers picked the wrong house.”

He snickered. “They never learn, do they? Do whatever you want with your life, but don’t ever try to rob Yoni, and absolutely DO NOT try to hurt his baby girl. Unless you have a death wish.”

“Uh-huh. Worst decision ever. Well, now that it’s over, come over and hold me while we watch Emily Blunt videos, okay?”

Yoni raised an eyebrow. “Uhh, Emily Blunt? Why Emily… oh wait, she just became one of your favourites while I was out, right?”

“Uh-huh. She’s so funny and so beautiful!”

Yoni smirked and shook his head. “That English accent of hers definitely played a part in this, I know. Alright, my love. Anything for you.”

Wait a minute. What just happened? So the boys were… and he… okay, we need some context to end this…