Please leave me a comment, I worked incredibly hard on this chapter, it's one of the longest with over 1800 words

Thank you :)

°°°

Minho stopped dead in his tracks, his facing turning white as if he had seen a ghost. Which was close to the truth. Because Taehyung looked completely different. His eyes were wild and wicked, so unlike the sweet boy he had been. There was danger in his aura now and that wasn't caused by the gun in his long, dainty fingers.

No, it was the way he held himself. He no longer resembled a prey. Kim Taehyung was a predator and his first victim was the cause of his nightmares.

"Made it quite hard to find you, Hyung", Taehyung said and pouted, while Minho's eyes were fixed on the petit male who skipped over to him. "They hid you and the others so well, my Daddy had his difficulties to find you guys. Oh well", Taehyung smirked in the end.

"The hunting game is over now, Hyungie. Time to face your demons."

Minho's head slumped down before he lifted his head again. A cruel smile was now on his face and Taehyung held back a shudder. This was the same exact smile Minho had always given him before sliding into his bed. Taehyung lifted his chin. No. He was not the poor, vulnerable child anymore.

Jungkook had helped him to realize that. Where was the man of his dreams? Possibly hunting down anyone who had wronged him, offering Taehyung another present: having the chance to hunt down Minho alone, make him pay for what he did to him.

Taehyung hadn't been able to defend himself back then. That was over. He lifted the gun.

"So you remember... did you enjoy the memories of us together? I'm curious anyways how you lost them. Although I was glad... made it so much easier for me to play the protective elder brother you can depend on." Minho finally revealed his cruel, true self.

"You're a disgusting human being. Because of you, I'll never have a normal life."

"Heard you profited from it. Heard you're the Joker's whore now", Minho scoffed angrily. But he underestimated Taehyung.

Taehyung fired, hitting Minho in the shoulder and the man went to his knees with a pained scream. Taehyung should've felt satisfaction for hearing his brother scream in pain, like he did so many times, but he felt empty. There was nothing he felt for his brother other than resentment. This man might be blood related but they weren't a family.

Minho decided against that when he had first slipped into his bed.

"I'm no one's but my own. And don't ever talk about things you would never understand. Jungkook freed me. He gave me the power I needed to escape you", Taehyung seethed through angrily gritted teeth.

Minho's head shot up, tears of pain in his eyes yet he had the audacity to glare at Taehyung. "You will never escape me. You're mine. I inked your fucking brain with my presence, you can never erase me!"

Yet Taehyung only laughed lowly but never lowering the gun. He heard the other inmates screaming, alongside gun shots and then Jungkook was stumbling out onto the courtyard, cackling loudly as he shot an inmate dead who had tried to escape the Joker.

Minho's eyes flickered towards Jungkook before snapping back towards Taehyung who had merely lowered the gun an inch by the sight of his lover who winked at him. Bolting forward in the speed of light, Minho aimed for the gun.

°°°

Jimin came too late.

He arrived to smoke, screams, dirt, blood, in short, utter chaos. A horrified expression was visible on the Batman's face as he stepped into the courtyard. Everywhere was graffiti of the Joker's initials or his usual 'HAHAHA'. Police cars had arrived outside just before Jimin's entrance, now searching the building while Jimin took over the duty of checking out the courtyard.

He was met with a horrifying scene. Taehyung, holding a gun, his brother standing in front of him. The gun was facing Minho. And Taehyung looked like he intended to shoot him. Horror rushed through Jimin's veins, also spotting the Joker closeby.

Before he could stop himself, he interfered, his heart still beating for Taehyung and forbidding him to watch how Taehyung lost himself.

"Taehyung! If you go this path, there's no turning back! You'll be a wanted criminal and... and I can't help you anymore."

The grey-haired beauty glanced at the Joker who smiled approvingly at him, merely lowering the gun by an inch. He looked over his shoulder at Jimin, pain but determination in his eyes.

"That option kinda went down the drain when I shot my parents dead, Jiminie."

Jimin felt like time was moving slower. He saw how Minho charged at Taehyung, his hand outstretched and a surprisingly cruel expression painting his face in ugly colors. Jimin didn't know much about Minho so seeing him changed made him wonder. Then, the words processed in his mind, just when...

A gun shot rung through the air and Minho gasped. There was a hole in his chest and when he lifted his hands in wonder and surprise, they were coated in his own blood. He stopped in his tracks, looking up to Taehyung.

Taehyung who was holding the smoking gun.

Then, Minho went down like a puppet whose strings have been cut.

Jimin had been frozen in his place. He could not process what had just happened. And what Taehyung told him.

"W-what?!"

"You never knew... and you never knew me, Jiminie. The true me", Taehyung said with a sigh, lowering the gun while he stared at his dead brother. The grey-haired felt... empty out of the sudden. This was his revenge. This single moment, freeing him from Minho. Looking over to Jungkook, he felt his heart flutter.

Because the Joker still stood in the same spot. Looking proudly at Taehyung with a hint of something new glowing in his eyes. Jimin's exclaim of protest caused Taehyung to sigh once more, this time annoyed. Jimin didn't understand. He never would.

He was the hero, he would rather sacrifice Taehyung for the sake of the city once he found out what Taehyung had done and just did. While Jungkook... had promised to set the world (and Minho) on fire for him.

"This is not the true you! Taehyung, I don't understand-- I thought Minho killed your parents...?"

"I made you believe that, yes. Truth is, after they never cared for me being abused and raped by my own brother, I wanted to make them pay. Not by killing them, I planned to kill Minho but they got into the way. So I framed him. The day I came to your house? And broke down? That was the day I killed them and caused myself trauma. When I regained consciousness, I had no recollection of the past events." Taehyung's voice came out strong and confident, so unlike the shy, soft boy he had once been. He was a fallen angel now, Jimin realized.

"I was never your innocent angel, Jimin. You were in love with an illusion."

Taehyung widened his arms, looking around the destroyed courtyard.

"This is me. And I'm sorry you had to find out that way. I truly loved you, Jiminie", Taehyung said and shot Jimin a sad smile, "but you could never love me the way I am."

"And he can?!", Jimin pointed an accusing finger at Jungkook who was listening to their conversation quietly, knowing this was a fight Taehyung had to have alone.

"Tae, he's a fucking criminal! He tortured me! He tortured and killed hundreds of people and he would do it again! You can't be serious right now!", Jimin protested, not believing that this was Taehyung, his Taehyungie standing in front of him. He realized that he had no idea who that man in front of him was. That Taehyung was a stranger and that terrified Jimin because he never Taehyung to feel like a stranger.

"You can't possible love him, Taehyung. This is madness." Jimin's voice came out a mere whisper because the breaking of his heart was still ringing in his ears. He would've never imagined... Taehyung to be standing on opposite sides to him. The lack of remorse in Taehyung's eyes caused bile to rise in Jimin's throat.

"I'm sorry, Jiminie. I was never meant to be good. Minho took that innocence away from me when I was six. My mind protected me from it. Now, I'm finally free and I can make the ones who cause others suffering pay. I can bring peace, Jiminie, don't you understand?" Taehyung asked pleadingly, hoping for his former boyfriend to understand. After all, Taehyung had loved him.

But the Jimin he had loved was also gone, replaced by the city's protector. And Taehyung was a villain in his eyes.

"That's not peace, Taehyung! You're willingly siding with a criminal." Jimin's eyes turned hard as he glared over to the Joker who pouted after being addressed as a criminal but still continued to be silent as he watched his Darling handle the Batman. This was Taehyung's fight.

Taehyung shrugged his shoulders, glancing at Jungkook who shot him a little wink, muscular arms crossed in front of a bloodied chest.

"It's too late anyways. He's my best choice. Plus, he showed me who I truly am. And honestly, Jimin?", Taehyung said and smiled a little more, "I do like the way I am right now. Jungkook might not make me a better person but he makes me feel good about myself. That's all that counts for me. He's someone I can trust and rely on, someone who can love me at my worst."

Taehyung shot the Joker a loving little smile before turning back to Jimin who looked like he had been punched in the throat and stomach at the same time.

"You could never. I don't blame you for it because you're fighting for a good cause, in your opinion. That was just never my world. I tried and I failed, miserably."

Jimin couldn't believe of what Taehyung had become. That was not the boy he had fallen in love with, his innocent, sweet little angel who had seen the world with stars in his eyes. The male in front of him was a stranger to Jimin.

"So, this is how it ends, then", Jimin said, laughing bitterly. Taehyung bit into his bottom lip, nodding slowly.

"I'm sorry, Jiminie. I never wanted to cause you pain."

"No, I'm sorry, Taehyung. That I couldn't be the right one for you."

"But I cannot let you walk out of here."

Jimin's eyes were clouded with tears when he lifted the gun. He heard his own heart break the moment he fired.

Jungkook unfroze from his position, running towards Taehyung with an outstretched arm and the name of his lover on his tongue. He screamed Taehyung's name.

But it was too late.

~

So sorry for the cliffhanger. Man, I'm so sad this book is coming to an end, I love this story :(

Elaboratae