Chapter one

A Rivalry is born

Benson POV

It was still dark, and I had somewhere to go. I got in touch with one of the Crime lords of the city, and he arranged a meeting in this ally with his best guards. I walked in, and sat on the rickety stool provided for me, while the others sat on comfortable chairs.

"Hey," said one of the guards, "you're a gumball machine. If I give you a quarter, can I have some of your brain?" The others laughed at his joke, and I pretended to.

"Enough idle chitchat," said the crime lord, "why have you asked for me to grace you with my presence?"

"I was cheated out of a good time, by a robin named Margaret. Margaret needs to be taught a lesson in leaving in the middle of a date." I decided to leave out how many times I touched her inappropriately. In the pale moonlight, I could see the crime lord's face curve into a smile. Or, it was more of a smirk.

"We will do Margaret a favor," he began, before adding, "for $100,000." My eyes went wide enough that my eyeballs almost came out,

"I don't have that kind of money." I said.

"For wasting my time," said the man, "Mickey here will splatter gumballs all over the street." A huge man came and grabbed me.

I could hold my anger no longer, I grabbed Mickey's arm, and slammed my fist into his elbow. There was a deep crunch. Mickey screamed, as his arm was bent in a way no arm was designed to bend. I tossed Mickey back at his gang, him and his destroyed limb sailing through the night air, and breaking his neck on the wall. The other guards lunged at me, and with many crunches, screams, and blood splatters, I had them all dead. The blood was dripping off my knuckles. I grabbed the crime lord by his shirt collar.

"If you aren't going to do the job," I said, "I will do what I did to your guards. That'd do the city a big favor."

"Did I say $100,000 dollars?" asked the man, "I meant absolutely free. I will even do it myself. Since you killed all my guards." That last bit was under his breath, and I pretended not to hear it.

"Good," I said, "bring me evidence of her death, and I won't kill you." The man grabbed a twelve caliber pistol and left the ally.

…

Mordecai POV

Margaret and I had a great time together, and she offered to let me crash at her house for the night. The house wasn't fully furnished, but you don't make enough for that if you only live off of tips. I crawled into bed and we slept. Suddenly, a tingling in my spine woke me up. I had a bad feeling. I could somehow sense that Margaret's life was in danger. I let my instincts take over. I left the bed, and there was a man walking onto her porch. This man had a pistol in his jacket. Before he could shoot the lock, I opened the door, and my fist greeted his face. The man got up quickly.

"So," he said, "TWO dead bodies for the price of one."

"Don't bank on it," I said. Lightning quickly, I was landing blow after blow upon him. I kicked the gun out of his hand when he drew it, and tossed him into a trash can. I kicked that trashcan down the hill.

Had I really done that? The old Mordecai would be hiding in the closet, but this new one beat the snot of out of the guy who was posing a threat upon my friend. I had to learn to do that by will, because I figured the guy wouldn't be the only one trying to hurt her. I walked back into the house, and locked the door behind me. Margaret was standing there in her night gown. Her sleepy eyes were fixed on me,

"Mordecai?" she asked, "what happened?" I decided to lie.

"I was just getting a glass of water," I began, but she cut me off,

"I heard fighting,"

"It was a dream," I said,

"Really?" she asked, "and are you going to tell me you got that black eye by tripping on your way to the fridge?" She had me beat. I fessed up, but she didn't buy it.

"Mordecai," she said, "you're many things, but a fighter isn't one of them."

…

Benson POV

I walked onto Margaret's street. If the crime lord was as deadly as the news made him out to be, Margaret's goose should be cooked. I was going to greet him personally to let him know his crime could continue. Suddenly, a trashcan rolled down the hill, and came to rest about a yard or two from me. I heard moaning from the inside, so I went to check. Lo and behold, I was starting into the bruised face of the crime lord. Several teeth were missing, his nose had some caked blood, some was still pouring out, and his lips were purple and swollen, even in the pale moonlight.

"Margaret has a bodyguard." he said, in deep slurs.

"Give me your pistol." I said, in a demanding tone,

"I can't." he said.

"Why not?" I demanded,

"The guy took it."

Rage consumed me. I ripped the guy from the trash can and slammed his head on the pavement until he was dead. I was going to kill Margaret myself, since this guy didn't have the sense to shoot the bastard who protected her. I went to the door and slammed it down.

Margaret was yelling at Mordecai. Could he be that bodyguard? I dismissed the idea as ridicules. Mordecai couldn't hurt a fly with a nuclear warhead. Mordecai spoke up,

"Sir," he said, "what brings you here?" I said,

"Margaret's blood." I ran towards her, but something with a grip of steel grabbed my arm and tossed me like a baseball out of there and into the family room. Mordecai told Margaret to run. I retaliated his blow by throwing him out of the house.

…

Mordecai POV

I landed hard on the front lawn, and I saw something: the gun I kicked from the attacker. I grabbed it, and ran back inside. Margaret was hiding, and Benson was tearing up the house while searching for her.

I raised the pistol and fired. It hit Benson in the side. It went in, but he didn't have much of a reaction, aside from running right at me. I shot about five more shots, before he fled the house.

Before he did, he yelled two words.

"You're fired."

I patched up my wounds as the morning sun rose. Had last night really happened? Did I really save Margaret twice? Margaret seemed to think so, and she thanked me nonstop. Now it seemed she bought the story of the first attacker. I kept the gun, and I may need it for later.

"I'm sorry about your Job," said Margaret, "I think the Café has a slot open, maybe you can go down there and take it." I decided that was a good idea, plus, the restaurant was right near the airport, so I could try for the job and get Rigby, whose plane was due to land in an hour.