Daniel and his colleagues returned to their office in Dynamo Corps comics after their trek. The lunch hour was over, but their stomachs were still empty. The three men felt tired, emotionally and physically, after their failed lunch break, with each one giving a different reaction to cope. Miyamoto dropped on a chair, holding his stomach as it began to growl like a wild beast. Micheal stomped over to a wall, angrily kicking it with a scream. But Daniel simply took his seat by his typewriter, quietly loading a sheet of paper to write on.

  "Come on, fellas. Empty stomachs or not, we're on company time." Daniel began typing.

  "How can you get back to work so easily?" Micheal asked.

  "Simple. I need the money."

  "But look what those people did to you, Danny. Aren't you angry?"

  "I must admit, I'm curious about your reaction as well. Do you really mean to tell us you're not upset at all?" Miyamoto asked.

  "Guys, what's there to be angry about? I didn't get anything I didn't deserve." Daniel stopped typing. "I've just chosen to view it as God punishing me for my many, many sins."

  "I still say those people were cruel," Miyamoto retorted.

  Daniel turned to face his friends with a glare. "Can we please drop it now? Or did you two forget we have a deadline to meet?"

  Micheal and Miyamoto exchanged sideways glances as they looked at Daniel.

  "Well?" Daniel shouted.

  "Fine, Danny, fine. I'll get started on the art," Micheal said.

  "And I'll review the page to letter it properly," Miyamoto added.

  "Thank you." Daniel turned his back to his friends to face the typewriter again.

  As Daniel began to work again, vigourous knocking came upon the door. Micheal dashed over to the door, opening it and allowing Juliet to come running inside the office. Daniel's eyes caught that she was tightly holding a stack of papers in her left hand as she entered the room. But as the three men witnessed the cold expression on her face, they quickly ran over to her.

  "Boys, we have a problem," Juliet said.

  Daniel slapped his forehead with a groan. "What could it possibly be now?"

  "This." Juliet shook the stack of papers before Daniel's face.

  "W—what is that?" Miyamoto asked.

  "Why don't you take a look?" Juliet gave the papers to Daniel.

  As Daniel took the papers from juliet, he began flipping through them. And his heart began pounding harder in his chest more and more as he read through the text printed on it.

  "This is the script I wrote for next month's issue." Daniel gave the papers over to Micheal and Miyamoto. "But why are you so upset? Is there something wrong with it?"

  "Yes. The story is the exact same as another script that was submitted earlier this week before you. The only difference is the names."

  "What?" Daniel, Micheal, and Miyamoto shouted in unison.

  Juliet rubbed her temples in a circular motion. "Kid, please don't tell me you plagiarized another writer's work because you were running late on your deadline."

  "No. I would never," Daniel shouted.

  "Its true. There must be some mistake," Miyamoto added.

  "Well, its gonna be a costly mistake. Now there's an open spot in next month's release, and I don't think there's enough time to cook up something new."

  Daniel wiped sweat off his forehead. "So, what now?"

  "So, I'm sorry, but I have to deduct some of your pay."

  "What?" Micheal screamed. "But how did this even happen?"

  Daniel's mind began pondering Micheal's question as he uttered it. He wondered if someone could have taken his work and passed it off as their own. Daniel recalled the time he first finished the script. He set it down in a locked cabinet until he could return to proofread, and Miyamoto ensured to lock the door as they all left. No one could have entered the office unless they broke in. However, it was then Daniel realized his answer.

  "No," Daniel said under his breath.

  Daniel remembered that it was he himself who unlocked the door for one of their colleagues. "Luthor." The man said he needed to borrow a pencil for a project. Naturally, Daniel opened the door for him, and in his hurry to deal with other matters, he gave him free reign of the room.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  As Daniel made the realization, the rage he had kept contained like a starving, wounded beast had at last been unleashed. His heart pounded many times harder than before as he bellowed a savage roar. And Micheal and the others took several steps back, trading worried looks as they saw his fury.

  "D—Danny, are you okay?" Micheal asked.

  "No, but I'm going to fix that. I'll be back in a few minutes."

  Daniel walked over to the door, slamming it behind him as he left.

  Daniel stomped through the halls of the building with a fiery glare attached to his face. As he went, he slowly drew the many looks of his other colleagues as he neared his target. Daniel arrived at Luthor's office, kicking the door open. Inside, he found several individuals scrambling across the space, working on their comicbook and Luthor, a caucasian young man of similar age to Daniel, was among them by the typewriter.

  The room stopped as they witnessed Daniel enter furiously, their eyes were unable to look away as he locked onto his quarry.

  Daniel jogged over to Luthor, grabbing him by the collar and nearly choking him. "Come with me."

  "Whats this about, you animal?" Luthor coughed.

  Daniel stopped his motion, glaring at Luthor. "You stole my work. Thats what."

  "You're crazy," Luthor retorted.

  "Do you think I'm an idiot?" Daniel angrily shook Luthor. "You must have read through it when I opened our office so you could grab that stupid pencil."

  "How could I have possibly gotten into a locked cabinet?"

  Daniel narrowed his eyes. "I never said I put my script in a cabinet, Luthor."

  "I—"

  Daniel shook Luthor again, a touch more violently than before.

  Luthor drew closer to Daniel and away from his co-worker's ears."Fine."

  "So you admit it?" Daniel shook Luthor again.

  "I may have taken a peek seeing that you had just left it lying around."

  "In a locked cabinet," Daniel boomed.

  "My deadline was coming up and I was dealing with a creative block." Luthor smiled. "Besides, what are you going to do about it?"

  "I'm going to report you, you son of a bitch."

  "Oh, please. They'll never buy it."

  "You just admitted to it."

  "Thats not hard evidence. So who do you think they'll believe, me or a convicted crook? Especially after this display." Luthor pointed to the hallway outside the room.

  Daniel followed where Luthor was pointing and saw the people gathering by the door. As he scanned their faces, Daniel could identify several emotions that he knew too well. Daniel could see fear, disgust and anger on his colleagues faces all directed at him. And as he made the realization, he finally released Luthor.

  Daniel left the room quietly with his head hanging downwards as the people around him continued to pepper the young man with their cold looks.

  Laughter filled Karen and Daniel's apartment as the afternoon went on. Inside, Karen sat with her family and Hope in the living room, eating chocolate-chip cookies and drinking tea. However, as she finished laughing, Karen turned from her family and fixated on Hope sitting on her left on the couch with her arm draped around the young girl's shoulder as she ate another cookie, smiling. "Beautiful." And Karen playfully pinched her cheek.

  "I fully agree, " Miranda said.

  Miranda, Karen's mother, brown-skinned like her children, reached over from Karen's right on the couch to harmlessly pinch Hope's cheek.

  Karen giggled. "Mother, have I thanked you and father yet for letting her stay in your house that one time?"

  "It was our pleasure. She's such a blessed gift from above."

  Hope burpped. "Excuse me, Karen, Mrs. Karter."

  "And so well-mannered, too." Miranda tittered.

  "But that puts quite a few questions in my mind," William said.

  William, Karen's father, brown-skinned like his children, rubbed his beard-covered chin as he sat in the chair directly before her, looking at Karen and Hope inquisitively.

  "What type of animals would dare try to harm such a child? And are the girl's parents really being interrogated by the FBI for this long?"

  "I see you're as military-minded as always, father." Karen poured another cup of tea, presenting it to William. "In any case, I'll of course divulge the details as best as I can. But I think its best we wait until love comes back from work."

  William took the tea cup from Karen. "Very well."

  "Now hold on. I have a few questions as well. Whats the meaning behind all the mystery? Who is this new boyfriend of yours?" Jacob pointed at Karen.

  Jacob, Karen's elder brother, twenty-eight, narrowed his eyes on his sister as he scanned her mannerisms, sitting in the chair farthest away on her right.

  "As I said, Jacob, all will be revealed when love returns. It shouldn't be too long now."

  "Theres something wrong here." Jacob fired a death stare at his sister similar to the kind she would shoot at Daniel. "And I can tell, Karen."

  Karen pouted. "Elder brother, no matter what I do, you always have some criticism ready."

  "Well, that's only b—"

  "Enough. No arguements. Your sister has been quite clear." Miranda interrupted.

  "But mother I—"

  "Your mother has spoken, son," William added. "Its best to leave it there."

  "Yes, Father." Jacob took another drink of his tea with a tired breath.

  A knock came on the door, drawing the room's attention.

  "That must be love now," Karen said.

  "Doesn't he have a key?" Jacob asked.

  "He must have forgotten it in his hurry to work this morning." Karen turned to Hope, affectionately rubbing the top of her head. "Little one, would you please open the door for your uncle?"

  "Yes, Karen." Hope gleefully ran to the door.

  "I'm so excited." Miranda tightly gripped her daughter's hand. "Karen, my darling, is he handsome?"

  "Very, mother," Karen answered with a smile.

  As Hope opened the door, Daniel entered the apartment dragging his feet across the floor, half-awake from his taxing day at work. The Karter family took a few seconds to recognize Daniel's face after not seeing him for so many years, but as they did they reacted. The men rose from their seats with their fists ready to attack Daniel, forming a defensive barrier around the women. However, Miranda screamed at the top of her lungs, wrapping herself around her daughter as a human shield.

  Daniel fully awakened from hearing Miranda's scream and noticed the men glaring at him. "Mr. Karter, Jacob."

  "What the hell are you doing here, boy?" William boomed.

  "W—well, I guess its time to tell the truth." Daniel laughed nervously. "You see I'm close personal friends with Karen's new boyfriend. I swing by every now and again to say h—"

  "Love, stop it. They can see through your lies even better than I can," Karen interrupted.

  Jacob hurriedly looked over at his sister. "Did you just call him love?"

  "Yes."

  Karen jogged over to Daniel, wrapping herself around his arm. And as she did, the faces of the Karter family lost colour.

  "The real truth is that I forgave Daniel for everything he did wrong, and we fell back in love. We've been together since he was released from prison a good few months ago."

  "But why, my darling," Miranda asked with tears in her eyes.

  "Mother, he's a good man. He paid his debt to society, so I was willing to give him another chance." Karen tightened her grasp on Daniel's arm. "And he's already proven many times I made the right choice."

  Jacob sprinted to Karen, pulling her away from Daniel and shaking her. "Are you mad?"

  Karen pushed her brother away with a groan. "Of course not, Jacob. I'm quite sane."

  "You could have fooled me." Jacob pointed at Daniel. "How could you be with this animal again? Have you forgotten all the times he's hurt you, all the crimes he's committed?"

  "No I haven't, Jacob, but as I said earlier, he's more than earned forgiveness."

  Jacob pointed at Daniel again, but more furious than before. "Karen, his kind is beyond forgiveness."

  "Very well, elder brother." Karen fired the death stare she would usually reserve for Daniel. "Lets paint the picture you are describing. No one can ever say sorry, no one can ever earn forgiveness. Is that the world you would like to live in?"

  "Don't you dare twist my words," Jacob boomed.

  "I have done no such thing. I—"

  "Stop it." Miranda screamed and broke into a cry.

  Miranda's waling hastily filled the room, drawing the concerned eyes of everyone else present. As her husband went to console her, holding her tightly, Hope began to cry loudly too as the moment became too much. and Daniel quickly fixated on the two bawling their eyes out.

  The young man couldn't help, but feel guilty. It was a guilt so intense that his bullet-proof bones began to hurt. Sweat swiftly started to flood his face as he looked between Hope and Miranda at increasing speed. His breathing grew faster as well as he unloaded heavier and heavier breaths from his mouth. Daniel's symptoms continued to intensify until he reached his limit. He bolted from Hope and the Karter family in a delirious panic, hurrying through the door.