"I'm up to snuff, and gots me an ace machine!" ~Corki, The Daring Bombardier
Leave a couple comments. I wanna see how you guys find the chapter and the next couple ones. And I teased something fun in the previous chapters and I want to see if anyone caught it.
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Gregori walked to the side of an alley and leaned on it. Annie looked at Daani, Sydell, Briar and Daisy walk forward to beat those following them and then walked to her father and leaned against the same wall.
Rell and Faye did the same.
When Gregori gave them a look, Annie simply shrugged and said, "You said no magic."
"Unless there is an emergency." Faye clarified and then turned around.
Rell sighed, "And this isn't one."
"I didn't say anything." Gregori responded with a smile.
Faye gave him a smile, "You were thinking about it."
Gregori snorted and turned his attention away from them and to the people walking into the alley.
"They are taking a break boys." The man who had hurried them before spoke as he pushed to the front.
Eight men.
Other than that one man the rest wore top hats, with white shirts and suspenders, a couple among them wore full suit jackets on top of the whole ensemble. On their faces were small glasses perched right above the nose and a metal implant where their chin was. They wielded canes with a hammer like attachment on the hilt.
"Hand over the gold buddy." That one man said as he walked toward Gregori.
"Daddy said no killing." Briar said, her full focus on Daisy and her sword.
Daisy looked at Briar and then her sword and then let out a heavy sigh. She then turned to her father in askance.
Gregori shook his head.
"You should have brought the other sword with you." Daani pointed out.
Daisy frowned as she slid her sword back into its scabbard and then lifted the entire thing up. "I'll hit them with this."
"Works." Daani answered as he looked to his father.
Gregori nodded.
Sydell was the only one among them who had his eye on the men and the one walking up to them and he smoothly moved in front of the man.
"Outta the way boy!" The man said as she swung his hand intending to push Sydell.
The other men slowly inched closer following the man leading them.
BANG
They halted their advance as they raised their canes.
Instead of being pushed to the side, Sydell stood over the man looking at the group with a deadpan expression.
"Is he dead?" Faye asked as she squinted at the man.
"No." Gregori answered, "Knocked out."
"His head bounced." Rell pointed out.
Annie shivered at those words. "Ewgh..."
As the man had reached for Sydell, he stepped forward, grabbed the man's arm and used his body to trip the man over. Then he jerked the man's arm back forcing his head to hit the ground instantly knocking him out.
The ordinary person would need to use a significant amount of force to do this but Sydell's magic and his physical state made him naturally strong. And he had gotten better over the years.
"One." Gregori counted.
And the moment he said those words, the others moved.
The men blinked and one of those moving toward them disappeared.
BANG
They tilted their heads toward the sound and watched the girl slam their ally's head into the alley wall and repeating, "Sleep."
She then let go the of the man and he slumped to the ground unconscious and bleeding. One of the men swung their cane, hilt side down at her only for it to be swatted away by a sheathed weapon.
Daisy stepped in and pulled her word back, catching it on the hilt and pulling the man forward. She then swung it right along the cane and into the man's face sending his head right back.
"Two and three.." Gregori said. "Though that man won't be walking ever again."
"Neck?" Faye asked.
Gregori nodded, "She is being heavy handed."
Daisy then stepped forward and lunged at the nearest man, her sword knocking away any attack coming in her direction.
"Four and five." Gregori said as Daisy stabbed her blade into the stomach of one man and then slammed her hilt into the head of the other who lunged to grab her. Another two swings and the men were down for the count.
BANG
Another man found himself embedded into the alley wall as Briar kicked him into it.
"Aaaand six." Gregori counted.
"Daani you have to step up if you don't want to be left behind." Rell called toward him.
He turned around and gave her a glare and then leapt at the closest man, ducking under the swing that came toward him, Daani swung his fist at the man's chin sending his metal appendage flying and knocking him out.
"Seven and eight." Gregori finished counting.
"Eight?" Daani turned around looking for the eight man and spotting Sydell standing over him.
Sydell shrugged and then mouthed to him, "Slow."
Daani glared at him and then turned to Daisy, "Why go for three?"
"Too slow." Daisy answered as she walked back to the four leaning against the wall.
"No. Not slow. It was agreed that we take two each." Daani caught up to her.
Daisy turned to him, "Who agreed?"
"It was implied." Daani explained, "Two per person."
"Implied where?" Daisy smiled. "First come first served. That what you said right? Whenever Willa made pie?"
Daani raised his finger and wagged it left and right, "No. No. That's not how it works."
"Early sibling gets the pie. That's the rule." Faye pointed to a sentence in her book. "You were the one who coined the term."
"But this is implicit understanding." Daani tried to talk back.
Gregori sighed, "Its done already Daani, the next time you shouldn't take your time walking up to an enemy. Take them out quick and easy."
"But I wasn't going to take any risks." Daani said.
Annie shook her head, "They wouldn't have hit you either way."
"What?" Daani turned.
She gestured to Gregori, "He wouldn't let them hit you. Why do you think Daisy was so careless?"
Daani turned to Gregori in surprise.
He smiled, "You wouldn't have been hurt either way."
"That is not fun." Daani whined.
Gregori shook his head, "Watching you get hurt wouldn't be fun. I'm not watching someone try and harm you. That is why there was no real danger. Though..." He turned to Daisy, "I want you to take it slow. Finishing a fight quickly is nice but I need you to take your time. Be safe. There is no reason to end you getting hurt because you want to end a fight quickly."
"I knew you wouldn't let me get hurt." Daisy smirked at Daani, "Not when you are here."
Gregori sighed, "But the doesn't mean you can put yourself at risk."
"There was no risk." She shot back.
"She isn't wrong." Rell patted her on her shoulder. "Pretty safe with you around."
"What if I am not there?" Gregori asked. "How would you fight then?"
Daisy looked at her father and then answered confidently, "I would fight with the sword unsheathed. There is complete safety in knowing that they are dead with just a scratch."
Gregori closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Her view on life was skewed.
"Killing doesn't solve all your problems Daisy." He said.
She pointed at the bodies on the ground, "Leaving them alive doesn't either." He turned back to Gregori, "What if they wake up and bring more people next time? What about after that? There is a reason uncle Caalyx killed that many Demacian guards when you were imprisoned. They understood that they couldn't touch him. Not without suffering the consequences."
Gregori sighed.
It wasn't that he cared for letting them live. But rather he didn't want the children to get their hands bloody. They were older now. Stronger. But that still didn't mean he would be willing to let them be open to killing.
"I don't want you to kill." Gregori told Daisy. "Killing is a stopgap solution. But the problem would still remain. These people didn't chase us for no reason. They chased us because they wanted money."
"They seem well dressed enough." Sydell pointed out.
Gregori glared at him for interrupting. But even he knew that his argument was failing. "Fuck." He muttered. "We will discuss this later."
"Thinking up a better reason?" Rell asked.
It was her turn to be glared at as Gregori said, "This violence is not what I want for you." He spun around, "All of you. Do I think that you all will go your entire life without taking one?" He looked at the group, "No. But I don't want you to think that killing everyone and everything is the best solution." He turned to Daisy, "What if one of the men you left alive had something that could help you? What if he could become an ally? Could you afford to kill him? No. You would think then right?"
Daisy nodded.
"Then think every time." Gregori answered, "Just because I can kill everyone doesn't mean I should."
"Fine." Daisy answered.
But Gregori could see her disinterest in continuing..... so he dropped the topic.
BANG
POP
CRACKLE
POP
"Fireworks!" Briar pointed to the sky in excitement. "Come lets go there!" She began running in its direction.
The rest of the group followed her.
Gregori being the last to leave turned his head to the unconscious bodies and then in a burst of anger a wave of magic squished them into the ground, ending their lives.
Then he too began to follow them to the source of the fireworks.