"I guess you got no reason to trust me," said Randy VIII. He glanced at the floor of the elevator, then back up at Kurt. "But if it means anything to you... I got no intention of hurting you again."

"But you won't leave will you?...and it's far too late for that promise, what you did...it can never be fixed," said Kurt.

"I wouldn't have thought so," Randy VIII murmured. "And... I can't just leave."

"So we are no better off than we were before this elevator incident," said Kurt.

Randy's small smile returned. "I guess not. If you do still aim to kill me, though, I hope you'll make it look like an accident." His smile broadened. "Maybe somethin' work-related."

"You want to go out like that?" Kurt raised an eyebrow, "Doesn't sound like you...why?"

Randy shook his head. "I love my brothers, but they're stubborn bastards. If you killed me, they'd come after you for sure."

Kurt snorted, "Fine, I suppose keeping the body count down to you or me is best in the end,"

Randy grinned, chuckled a bit, then started outright giggling...

"What's so funny?" Kurt asked.

"Never in my wildest dreams," sighed Randy, shaking his head again and wiping the beginnings of a tear from his eye. Despite the nature of the situation and the words that had just been spoken, he seemed perfectly comfortable.

Kurt grimaced, "There is something wrong with you..." he muttered.

Randy raised his eyebrows at him. "Why? What am I supposed to feel?"

Kurt shrugged, "I don't know...but this isn't a game or a joke, I hate you and given the chance, I will kill you,"

"I don't doubt it," Randy answered in earnest, all the while still smiling. "I may not wanna die... but I ain't afraid to. And if this is how it's gotta be, there ain't nobody I'd rather for it. I knew it might end up that way going in. That's what's made it so much more exciting. I'm not goin' down easy, but you're free to try and take me if that's what you need to do to break free."

Kurt gave a nod, "Good...then we understand each other..." the elevator gave a lurch and began to descend again.

Randy continued chuckling quietly to himself until the elevator finally reached its destination. When it did, he stepped out and went to work checking for signs of pests and spraying or setting traps as usual, almost as though the whole incident had never happened and the visit had been nothing but pure business.

Kurt supervised him, then lead him to the stairs, "They might be under renovations, but I'm not taking the elevator again..."

Once they'd reached the door, Randy gave him a nod and turned to leave. "Later, sug'," he called just as he would have to any of his friends.

Kurt responded with a snarl, "Get out!"

Randy VIII went back to watching Kurt from a distance for a time, occasionally nodding to him from across a busy sidewalk if they happened to cross paths, but not actually coming close enough to initiate a fight. Then one day, he seemed to stop showing up in town altogether...

Kurt was surprised but not displeased when Randy disappeared and at first he enjoyed it, but then something began to nag at him...a sense of needing to know where Randy was. It confused and frightened Kurt a little and he wanted to make sense of his feelings but found himself unable too.

After a time, a disappearance was reported. A young man who lived outside of Kenny had come in with some friends for a visit and gone missing shortly after, with not a trace of him to be found. He'd last been seen on his way to a convenience store at night, a few miles away from the border of Schickelgrubertonfieldvilleburginghamshire...

As a police officer it was Kurt's job to investigate, he made his way to the border with a picture of the missing person and began asking questions....

While some of the local humans claimed to have seen him in the area, not a single Schickelgruber seemed to recognize him. A few gave Kurt very brief responses in their native language before shutting their doors.

Kurt found this behavior suspicious, just because they were schikelgrubers did not mean they were above the law and if it turned out that any of them knew more than they were letting on then there would be plenty of arrests made for obstruction of justice....

It wasn't long before he came across a large two-story duplex situated on the corner of two streets. It had a small amount of yard in the front and a larger space in the back. There were two front doors, one on the left which opened up to a path leading to one street, and one on the right which directly faced the adjoining street. In the yard on the left side was a young human girl, humming to herself as she painted with some watercolors. She waved to Kurt as she saw him heading down the sidewalk.

Kurt waved back then approached her, "Did you by any chance, see this individual?" he asked, showing her the picture of the missing man.

She frowned and thought hard, then shook her head. "Want me to ask Mama?" she offered.

"If you please," said Kurt tipping his hat at her.

She ran up to the door and held it open. "Mama!" she called. "There's a policeman outside!" There was a pause as her mother presumably replied from within the house. "No, the white one! ...White! ...Come outside!" A few seconds later, the girl returned to Kurt. "She's comin'," she said brightly before sitting back down to her paints as a buxom black woman who almost looked too young to be the girl's mother emerged from the house.

Kurt tipped his hat, "Good after noon, ma'am, I was wondering if you could tell me, have you seen this individual?" he showed her the picture.

"I don't think so," said the woman after examining the photo for a few seconds, "but I ain't been out in town much the last few days. My landlord go out all the time; maybe he can tell you somethin'."

"Alright, is your landlord in right now?" asked Kurt.

"Yeah, he live next door." The woman pointed a long orange fingernail at the door on the right side of the house.

"Thank you," said Kurt as he went to go knock on the door...

It was opened by none other than Randy VIII, who seemed to lack all of his usual energy. He wore nothing but a pair of pajama pants and an ill-fitting tank top, his hair stuck out in every direction, and there was no knowing smile on his face as he listlessly greeted Kurt with more of a grunt than any actual words.

"By God you look wretched," Kurt grimaced, "Have you seen this person?"

"Yeah, I seen 'im," Randy replied. "He come into town a couple days ago, saw 'im once or twice around here..."

"He's disappeared, do you know what might have happened to him?" asked Kurt, What happened to you?he thought, itching to ask but not wanting to send the wrong message...