If I'd gotten this from anyone else, I'd suspect it was a joke.

But it's not.  Found this in my inbox three hours ago.  Take a look.

To June-

My compliments!  You showed great sense in escaping that wretched facade of a safehouse before its eventual collapse.  Lies are so ugly, are they not?  Anything built upon lies will collapse, every time, without fail.  That's a simple fact of this world.  Take your little heroic crusade, for example.  You hide your shame and guilt behind jokes and bravery, but the truth is that if anything, you're even more frightened than everyone else.  Dress yourself up with your weapons and toys, but at the end of the day, even Elaine, that worthless lying piece of offal, has saved more lives than you.  You attempt to emulate Nick Dwyer, but it's a sad and pathetic effort, fueled not by actual bravery or heroism, but compensation for your own fear.  Your lies shine through, bright and clear, to me.  But...I suppose it's not surprising.  After all, I know you very well.  I was practically your therapist in the old days!  You were a far more polite child, I must say.

But enough about that.  Let me show you something.

*He posted an image here.  I didn't repost it, because...Nobody needs to see that.  It was eight people, tied around their waists with rope and hung from the ceiling, with three more on the ground.  Their guts were spilled all over the floor.  Rhodes was there too, and Obstruction, who was holding a corpse up and making it high five Rhodes.*

See the people still breathing?  Well, tomorrow they'll still be breathing...But not for much longer after that.  They'll be breathing in poison gas.  I've rigged five canisters of Chlorine gas to a timer set for exactly 24 hours from when you'll receive this email.  We are currently within an abandoned warehouse in *omitting the location.*

It's a great party, but our guests are...sadly lacking.  I do hope you'll come lighten the mood a bit.  You are quite the charmer despite your rude playacting.  Tell some jokes, relax, breath in the fresh air...Oh, well, heheh, maybe you don't want to do that.

For the record, June?  I am playing for keeps this time.  Whatever happens...Only one out of the two of us will be leaving that warehouse alive.  Shift, Obstruction, Jade, and Valkyrie are all here as well.  If we see police, or anyone- ...hm, no, that's no fun.  If anyone other than you or your masked guardian comes to this warehouse, we'll redirect the gas to spill out into the town.

Oh yes...I'm quite serious this time.

Shall we end this, June Reynolds?  I owe you...and your late father Stefan, quite the debt.  Eight years' debt...inflation's a bitch, ain't it?

~Rhodes

No, I don't know anyone he's got.  ...But I don't care.  I know this is the most obvious set up in the history of the world...But I don't care.  And I know that my chances of coming out of there alive are zero to none.  Guess what I care?

...A little.  Not nearly enough to stop me, though.

Rise.  Stay away.  I don't care what my Dad did for you...This is my fight- no, OUR fight.  The two of us.  You tried to kill Fiona, and you stopped me from getting Nessa out in time.  You're my enemy, no matter what you've done for me.

So stay away.  ...Stay alive.  Live for yourself.


As for you all...


What Rhodes meant was simple.  Elaine was selling secrets about the Runners she didn't know, to the proxies, in order to keep the Runners in Hope safe from attack.


It came out, and...I left.  I can't abide that sort of deal.  That sort of compromise.  I told Elaine exactly what I thought of it and stormed out.  I...regret it now.  See, once it got out, they revoked the protection on Hope. Elaine prepared to defend it.  The results...were catastrophic.  I should've remembered...She did that for our sake.  I should've fought to protect Cam's legacy with her.  Should've died if neccessary.


Elaine, I forgive you.  Okay?  If we see each other again, it's all cool.  You did what you thought was right...And you did it for the people you love.  So...put that fucking bottle down and pick that knife back up.  You're a fighter.  And you have strength in you that even you've got no clue about.  You can still go on.  With or without me.  Not like I made much of a difference at all, right?


Let's face it, everyone.  Rhodes is right about one thing.  I'm a sham.  I tried...to be a hero.  To sacrifice myself over and over to save the lives of the less able.  But...as time went on, it became clear that I was the less able.  Time and time again, I failed...or had to be bailed out by Rise, or Nick, or Lia...I tried to be a hero, and what did that result in?  Nessa's ashes on Rhodes' bedside table.  Those guys in the parking lot, skewered by Slender Man.  ...My folks.


...It's my last chance.  I'm the only shot those guys have.


Cynical readers will probably interpret this as a last ditch attempt to die with a good name.  One last chance to be a hero.  And you're at least partially right.


But Rhodes was wrong, too.  Cause that was NEVER all there was to it.  ...I don't want this.  I never wanted this.  All I want...is for no one else to see that horrible Man when they look outside.  I never want another clueless teenage boy to come home to his house and parents burning.  I never want another innocent young girl to be corrupted into murder and madness.  I never want another adorable artist to be driven on the run and forced to fight her own father.  I never want another Seer to suffer like that one did, going from hope to despair over and over.


I never want another man to fall victim to his own good intentions, and become a puppet of the Tree.  Or for another young girl to have her whole world corrupted by that monstrous Man.  Or for another boy to be raised to serve him from birth, always carrying the scars within him.


I never want another Konaa to come from another June Reynolds.


So no matter where evil rears its head, no matter what plots the snake makes, the traps he sets, no matter what loops Writer makes, no matter how strong David is, no matter how absolute the Slender Man's grasp...I will confront that evil every single time.


IN THE NAME OF THE KING OF HEARTS!

Eeeeheheh.  Sorry.  I couldn't resist.  Man, I haven't even mentioned how much of a dork I am for old Japanese fighting anime.  So much left unsaid, no matter how much we tried.


...Well!  If this is where my blog ends, I can't think of a better note to end it on than the dulcet tones of Tomokazu Seki.  Like a dream come true, really.


...See ya.