Emma hummed merrily as she walked along in the afternoon sun her ear phones blocking out the world around her, shifting the heavy bag of books on back. Nic had given her a list of books to get from the library since he couldn't go himself leaving barely any room for the books she wanted. Now all she had to do was buy Worick's cigarette's from Granny Joel's shop, but that wouldn't take long enough, it was a Friday meaning she was barred from the apartment until evening, after being chased out of Theo's just after lunch she had grown bored of the library in a couple of hours. Wandering through the back streets of the city was all that she could think of to do.
She was contemplating finding a good rooftop to sunbathe on while she read when a small bang echoed through the air, pulling out her earphones Emma strained her ears, a flurry of small bangs soon followed the first. Turning on her heel she sprinted down an alleyway to her left towards the gunfire though every rational thought in her brain screamed at her to carry on and ignore it but it wasn't in her to run away from trouble. Nearing the source of the gunfire she skidded to a stop, peering around the corner she saw two groups engaged in a fierce gun battle, a young woman cradled a toddler in her arms as she crouched behind a large dustbin. The men in suits were obviously better equipped as well as being better dressed, the group they were firing at quickly fell one by one barely able to fire off a single shot, Emma jerked back from the wall as a bullet ricocheted off of it.
Suddenly silence descended over the area, leaning out slightly while making sure she was still hidden Emma saw that the men in suits were the ones left standing, a young man among them walked toward where the young woman and child were hiding. As he walked through the corpses a bloodied hand reached out and grabbed his ankle, feebly trying to stop him he raised his head his face a picture of rage and defiance. The young man barely turned his head, looking at the man through his white blond fringe before leaving a bullet in his head, turning back to the woman and her child a sadness crept into his eyes, nevertheless he levelled his handgun at them, the larger submachine gun hanging at his side. The woman whimpered softly as she tried to console the wailing toddler, Emma's heart wrenched apart at the scene in front of her.
The man placed his finger on the trigger, the woman turned away from him in an effort to shield the child, as Emma's legs began to propel her forward of their own accord the scene in front of her played out in slow motion she half drew her sword from the scabbard skidding to a stop in between the woman and the man with the gun, she was oblivious to the shouts of his associates as they realised she was there. The blast of the gunshot was near deafening from point blank range, the bullet bounced off her blade grazing the shooter's shoulder blood seeping through the new hole in his suit. The amber eye not covered by his fringe stared at her in amazement, truth be told Emma was amazed she had made it in time but she didn't let it show on her face, not turning to look at the cowering woman behind her she said firmly "Run now, don't look back." The woman just stared up at her in amazement, sensing no movement behind her Emma repeated herself more firmly, "Go now!" the woman finally began to move hugging her child closer to her as she ran. Emma shifted her position keeping herself between the half a dozen or so men and their weapons and the fleeing woman sparing only a fleeting glance behind her to ensure no one was coming from behind and closing off the woman's escape.
Emma breathed a sigh of relief before turning her attention to the problem at hand, half a dozen firearms were now pointed in her direction, her brain leapt into overdrive the adrenaline seeping into her veins. 'There's no way I can run,' two of the men had already slipped off into alleyways, she bore no doubt that they would be coming around to block her off in a few minutes, the buildings either side looked to have sturdy doors and if they were locked she'd probably be shot before making her next move. 'Nothing for it,' gritting her teeth she rushed the blond man who was still in front of her, letting her sword slide back into the sheath she pushed it up against his gun so the muzzle was pointing to the sky. He quickly regained his composure swinging the submachine gun in his other hand round like a club aiming it for her head blocking it with sword she parried with a right hook, staggering back he caught her fist, Emma followed it by driving her heel into his gut. Leaning her weight into the kick the man staggered back into a wall dazed the gun slipped from his hand, Emma noticed the chain around his neck running beneath his tie, 'Is he a Twilight?' she barely gave the thought a second, knowing that the others surrounding her would soon burst into action seeing their fallen comrade.
"Delico!" shouted the other young looking member of the gangsters, he ran towards her letting off a couple of shots, Emma dove to the right into a doorway, bullets hitting the ground where she had been standing. Silence descended over the alley, both Emma and the men waiting for the other to make the first move, dropping her bag and steeling her nerve she burst from her meagre cover jumping on to the dumpster she launched herself into the air, bouncing off the opposite wall she landed behind the men, managing to dodge bullets mid-air in a feat of almost inhuman agility. In truth she had been watching Nic a lot over the past few weeks after seeing him balance speed and strength almost perfectly in his fighting style and had snuck out more than a few times at night to polish her skills as well as get used to the city. Emma moved fluidly knocking out the first two before they even had time to turn around, the third attempted to raise his gun but she smashed the hilt of her sword into his face before he could put a finger on the trigger. Blood gushed from his nose as he swore in pain, quickly reversing her grip she swung the scabbard at the side of his head, his eyes rolled back into his head and he crumpled to the ground.
The man she assumed was a Twilight was now back on his feet barely winded, there were four men left standing now, him, the one who had called him Delico and the two who had previously tried to run around and cut her off. 'I could probably run for it now, this Delico guy isn't as fast as Nic,' as she tensed her muscles to run when Delico suddenly charged at her, his fellows spreading out behind him ready to provide cover, taken aback Emma slipped slightly as she stepped into a puddle of blood, he swung the larger gun down at her. Cursing under her breath Emma parried it with her sword, dropping the handgun he used both hands to push her round into the path of the others waiting for an opening. Leaning towards the side of his wounded arm she spun behind him blocking the shots of the others, ending up near the dumpster she released the brakes, grunting with the effort she shoved it down the alley blocking off the blond man from his allies.
"Delico! Hang in there backups on the way!"
Delico wiped the sweat from his brow, left arm hanging loosely by his side "I'll have this finished by the time the boss gets here Yang! She's too strong for you so back off for now." Using the momentary distraction Emma leaned against the wall catching her breath, Delico studied her carefully the girl in front of him was barely a head shorter her slight frame not betraying the strength she exhibited, 'She must be one of us,' they stared each other down both taking advantage of the break. "Why did you interfere? This is Family business."
Emma spat to the side clearing her mouth, "I wasn't going to stand around and watch an innocent child be murdered!" Her eyes blazed with conviction.
Delico's lips pressed into a thin line, "Better off dead than an orphan!"
"That's not for you to decide!" she retorted, hands trembling with rage.
"I was just doing my job, that child's father was running a drug empire, I was not going to let that boy grow up to become a threat to the boss," his voice returned to its cold emotionless tone. "I didn't think he was rich enough to hire someone as powerful as you seem to be though, I'm sure you could work for us if you wanted, otherwise..."
Emma snorted at his suggestion, "I'd never work with anyone who'd kill a child, besides no one hired me I was just passing through." Breathing evenly, she pushed herself off of the wall fully drawing her sword for the first time dropping the sheath at her side cautiously stepping over one of the bodies that littered the alley, "would it have been different if the kid was a girl, would your boss not see a girl as a threat?" She barely finished the sentence as she rushed him, swinging the sword overhead she aimed the slash directly at him, Delico met the strike with the submachine gun the blade bit into the metal of the gun but stopped short of cleaving it in two.
The pure strength of the strike reminded Delico of Nicolas, the only other twilight he had known to carry a sword although the girl far from matched Nicolas in destructive power she fought with similar ferociousness. While Nicolas fought with reckless abandon exuding a demonic aura this girl's eyes were angry but held no hint of blood lust, she had only knocked out the other men but they were all still breathing. Throwing the gun to the side he tried to wrench the sword from her grasp, it flew harmlessly to the side still embedded in the gun, Emma had let it go purposefully letting loose an uppercut directed at Delico's chin throwing his head back he only caught a glancing blow. Stumbling away he wiped the blood away from his lip, his discarded handgun lay too far away, raising his fists he took a fighting stance, leading off his uninjured arm he threw a few punches toward her Emma dodged easily anticipating his movements.
She sighed tired at how long this had dragged itself out, this was not the afternoon she had imagined. Side stepping the next punch Emma grabbed the front of his shirt, pushing back against his knee with her own she slammed him into the ground. Seeing stars Delico's head fell to the side, he reached out to a handgun nearby a foot pinned down his wrist Emma then kicked the gun out of reach, slowly backing away she reached down pulling her sword free from the ruined submachine gun. Approaching Delico cautiously she stood over him the point of the blade levelled at his chest, "If I hear that you've gone after that kid and his mother again I won't be happy."
Delico grabbed the blade with his bare hand pulling it back towards his throat, "Why not just end me now?" He added with a smirk, "too scared to finish someone off."
She eyed him with a sad look, the dog tags around his neck had fallen into the open, D/0, "It would just mean another corpse in this alley today, there's no point in meaningless bloodshed." Pulling her blade from his hand the cuts on his hand lengthened, blood dripping onto his suit.
Delico laughed his gaze flitting behind her, "It might not be my corpse littering the street today." A smirk spread across his face, his hair falling back revealing his mismatched eyes, while the right was amber the left shone a dull blue the same colour as the sky.
A sense of uneasiness crept up her spine, whipping around she raised her sword in front of her reinforcing the flat of the blade with her right hand. The clang of metal on metal rang throughout the alleyway, the force of the blow brought her to her knees but she held the other sword at bay, arms quivering under the strain, daring to look up she breathed a sigh of relief but kept her arms rigid. "Nic!" she shouted half in joy, half sternly to snap him out of the zone he entered while fighting, his looming figure blocked out the light from the sun but the glare on his face was plain to see.
'The HELL is she doing here,' if he hadn't recognised her when he did he could have killed her outright, even so he'd still put enough force in the strike to overpower her.
Feeling the weight of his sword lift from hers Emma sat back on her haunches, the strength leaving her arms she almost dropped her sword, "That was close..."
"Nicolas, what are you doing?" Delico demanded hauling himself into a sitting position, Nic grunted as Yang ran up from behind him glancing cautiously at the girl kneeling on the ground he proceeded to help the blond twilight stand.
"Oww," a dull ache was growing on the side of her knee bringing her hand away from it she saw her palm was slick with fresh blood, "but when?" Looking back at Delico behind her she could see he was unarmed, "Hey!" she squealed as Nic hauled her upright holding her by the collar of her jacket, she hopped slightly on her good leg, picking up her sword for her Nic forced her forward. From a distance she could see three men that appeared older than the others she had seen that day, the unconscious members of their group already being taken care of, while more men appeared to clear the bodies of the men who had been in the initial confrontation. Two of them hung back, one had a cigar hanging from his mouth lazily surveying the scene, twirling a revolver around in his hands, 'Him? But I should've heard...when I clashed swords with Nic it would have been loud enough to cover a gunshot.' Emma tried not to limp as she was half carried half dragged towards the older men, but she was unsuccessfully in freeing herself from Nic's strong grasp.
"Well, well Nicolas this isn't like you," the older of the two men tapped his cigar to shake off the excess ash, avoiding getting any on his white suit, the revolver still held lightly in his palm. His face was lined with age but his eyes still held a playful youthfulness despite the greying brown hair on his head. Between the style of suit and the ring on the finger of his right hand Emma could tell he was rather well off and must have been important to have been able to have Nic come running on a moment's notice.
Nic bowed deeply towards the man, his hand at the back of her neck forcing Emma's head down as well, he squeezed tighter as she began to protest loudly her hands struggling to pry his off own. "My apologies sir, I didn't realise it was this one giving you so much trouble, she lives with us. I'd appreciate if you let her off easily."
Finally wriggling free of Nic's grasp Emma straightened up giving him a shove to get his attention, "Oi! This isn't my fault I don't need you to get me out of this." His hand shot out and clamped around her upper arm, the sudden pain shut her up but her lips remained set with determination.
"Haha what an interesting girl you have their Nicolas, I must say when Worick described the girl you had taken in this wasn't what I was expecting," the older man studied her carefully, Nic cleared his throat then shook his head and held up two fingers, motioning towards her. "Well aren't you boys popular, I doubt it's that dirty man whore that is drawing them in," Emma blushed slightly avoiding his eyes, "since no one was seriously injured I guess we can let this slide, it's nice to see my boys finding a good woman or two." Her face now blazed with embarrassment, Emma squirmed under his direct gaze. A mischievous grin spread across the man's face, he held his hand out towards her, "Nice to meet you young lady, I'm Daniel Monroe."