Nothing else mattered right now except for Lars. Every single neuron in the young chameleon's brain was firing off, blocking out anything not contributing to finding his brother and commanding him off into the night. The outside sky was pitch black, to the point where without the vibrant street signs lighting the way one would hardly be able to see. He pushed through the pedestrians who were still out and about, refusing to let any crowd get in his way as his high-top boots pounded down on the sidewalk over and over, sprinting in the direction of the Brazen Vixen. Who knows at what point Lars had left during the night and if he'd set out to do what Leon thought he might have, then it could already be too late.

"LARS!" The skinny, panicked reptile shouted at the top of his lungs. It wasn't until now that he realized how complicated and poorly lit the city blocks were; the streets twisted and turned into convoluted masses hardly able to be differentiated from one another, there were a nigh infinite amount of places somebody could be hiding and too many side roads to count. He got weird looks from others as he raced by helplessly crying out his brother's name, but their opinion was irrelevant here. None of them knew the kind of fear that he was feeling. Not once did he pause to catch his breath as he sprinted through NuVenom at full stride, adrenaline pumping through his body and keeping it going far past the point where he should have stopped. It wasn't until he'd rounded the final turn into the alleyway their bar was on that he finally slowed down, taking just a moment to slump over against the brick wall and pant before he burst in. Something which proved to be a good idea because in those few seconds that he recovered, he just so happened to notice something standing out of place.

A shadow on the far end of the dark alley; at first glance it could be mistaken alongside any of the rest of the debris but with careful consideration and a second glance, one would be able to make out the barely visible silhouette of somebody trying to stay out of sight, partially obfuscated behind a collection of trash bins. Leon stared up at it as he huffed air in and out of his raspy throat, deciding if this was just a hallucination or not. If his mind was just playing a trick on him then it was doing a good job because whatever this was, it appeared to be holding something in its hand that it was staring at with great intent. Leon collected himself, standing upright again.

"LARS? IS THAT YOU?!" He'd been shouting so much that it pained him to do so again but it seemed that his perseverance was to be rewarded. To his surprise, the figure perked up and cocked their head in his direction.

"What the- Leon? Oh c'mon, get out of here! What the hell are you doing following me?!" That was all that he needed to hear, the annoyed sound of his older brother's voice forced a renewed surge of energy back into Leon's exerted muscles. So it wasn't too late after all.

"Following you? Following you?! What do you think you're trying to do here?!" He pressed as he promptly ran over to meet him, unsure if he was supposed to be feeling elation that he'd shown up on time or disbelief that he was actually being asked a question like that. He was able to see better as his eyes adjusted to the dim light and the intensity in Lars's face was more apparent now than ever. The item he was holding in his hand was, predictably, his knife; steel blade unfolded and the only thing that shone brightly. It wasn't hard to do the math of what he intended to do with it.

"It's none of your business and you need to get the hell out of here. Go back to the apartment!"

"You couldn't have made your intentions any more obvious." Leon made a grab for the blade but Lars quickly pulled it back out of his reach. "If you think I'm letting you kill somebody then you're insane."

"I wasn't looking for your permission." He let out a surprising little hiss, stepping forwards to get directly in his brother's personal space. They were so close now they were almost touching heads. "I'm doing it for you, Leon. For US."

"Have you even begun to think this all of the way through? Whatever it is that you have planned, it's not going to work. There's no way that you're going to end up on top against somebody with training like him, you're just going to get yourself hurt." Lars scoffed, quick to dismiss the idea.

"I checked, he's still inside. All I have to do is jump him when he comes out. He's been in there for hours, Leon. The mutt's probably drunk as a skunk and there's no way he's going to see me coming. This opportunity is mine and I'm not going to let somebody else, much less YOU, take it from me."

This wasn't the first time the pair had come to conflict about something but it was never anything this serious. The ferocity in his brother's eyes proved that he really meant and believed everything that he'd said, to anybody else this might testify to his confidence but family can't hide from family. Leon knew that tucked away underneath this façade was a fragile chameleon's broken ego, doing whatever it could to try and repair itself. This was all nonsense and it was apparent that deep down even Lars was well aware that going through with it wasn't a good idea. He grabbed his older sibling by the breast of his jacket, staring up into him with matching intensity. There had to be a way to get through to him somehow.

"The only way you're going to kill him is if you kill me first. Now give. Me. The knife."

"Back down, Leon. I'm your older brother, I'm the one who takes care of you and I won't let you push me around. I'm the one in charge and you'll do what I tell you to. So go home. Right now."

"I'm not going anywhere unless you're coming with me." Leon's grip on his coat tightened, drilling in the fact that he wasn't playing around either.

"JUST FUCK OFF!" A sudden outcry of emotion as Lars lashed out at his younger sibling for the first time in his life, pushing him off of him with all of his force and causing the poor boy to tumble backwards onto his rear. Leon let out a yelp as he hit the pavement, incapacitated both by pain and astonishment. All of the arguments that they've had in their lives and not once had it ever escalated to this point, his brother's strength actually surprised him. From the other perspective Lars wasn't the least bit proud of what he'd done but he hoped that at the very least it worked to send the message.

"So… That's just how it's going to be then?" Leon's voice was dour as he picked himself up off of the ground, using his palms to help scamper back up to his feet. He had a grim look in his eyes as he stared his brother up, assessing what his next course of action would be. He'd never thought he'd be in this kind of fight with Lars before, the idea hadn't even crossed his mind. With no plan laid out, he would have to improvise somehow and without a hint of hesitation Leon lunged back in, going straight to try and disarm him for a second time.

Lars was caught by surprise now; he couldn't retract his arm back before his wrist had been apprehended, immediately thrusting the pair into a frenzy of a struggle - one trying his hardest to get away while the other clung to him, wrenching at his fingers in hopes of getting him to drop his knife. It was an uncontrollable frenzy of limbs as they fought each other and before long an unexpected elbow accidentally caught Leon square on the jaw, he whimpered and fell backwards onto the pavement all over again. Lars's demeanor changed in an instant as the pang of guilt for what he'd done shot through him, he'd never intentionally hit his own baby brother like that. His paternal instincts kicked in as he knelt down to try and get a better look, there was already blood starting to well up from the fresh new cut on Leon's face.

"Oh no, Leon are you-?" He started to voice his concern but before the thought had been finished it was interrupted by a shockingly loud hiss, immediately followed up by a left-handed strike across the exposed side of Lars's cheek. His larger size meant that he wasn't quite so easy to take down but the shock of the action alone still caused him to stumble off-kilter. Leon didn't have the body type to be a striker but his boney little knuckles still hurt something fierce when they were put into action. Before he could even begin to process what'd happened a second punch hammered down on the same side of his face again, this time it was just enough to lay him out flat on his back.

The folding knife flung through the air and skidded a couple feet across the concrete. With the way he'd fallen it didn't take much for Lars to scramble over and lay claim to it again but as soon as he had, Leon was right there on top of him. The younger chameleon mounted him, straddling his hips with his knees to keep himself steady as his hands gripped at whatever loose clothing they could get a hold on. This was a far cry from the calm, calculated demeanor he normally had.

"Just give it up!" Leon shouted as he held him against the hard ground, "Give it up so we can go home!" Lars grimaced as he tried his hardest to control the situation with 110lb of chameleon sitting on his chest. He was in too deep now to give in and besides what he was here for was about much more than just the money. Being the larger of the two, dominating him shouldn't have been much of a problem but the little reptile was incredibly persistent. With a bit of persistence of his own, however, he managed to get a knee positioned up in between Leon's legs, his free hand balled up around the collar of his shirt and tails gripping each other intertwined.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Lars shouted from between straining teeth and in a prepared feat of strength, used his positioning to toss the chameleon off to the side, rolling the pair of them over to switch their positions. Now Lars was the one in control and with his extra weight, there wasn't a chance that Leon was going anywhere. His forearm barred across his brother's chest to hold him against the ground while his free hand grabbed one of his wrists and pinned it above his head, ensuring that no matter his efforts he wouldn't be able to wriggle free. His younger counterpart wasn't much of a striker and was even less of a grappler; but it'd be wrong to say that he didn't have a lot of passion because despite his obvious defeat he still squirmed and kicked, resisting in whatever way he could. It'd only be a matter of time now until he wore himself out.

"Leon, stop this insanity." Lars commanded. Now that he had the upper hand his voice echoed his renewed confidence. "You need to go home and get back in bed, I don't need your help here."

"Please! I just want to save you!" Leon pleaded, "There's no way around it, if you go through with this he's going to kill you! What you're trying to do is suicide!"

"I know that you don't trust me, but you have no other choice now. With or without your support, I'm going to kill him and take that bounty. Believe it or not I want to make a better life for us, this is just the first step." Leon could feel fatigue crawling through him as the adrenaline subsided. His chest was heaving now, heart pounding a mile a minute.

"Please… Please don't do this. Let's talk about it."

"I'm done talking, I've made a decision and I'm going to stick to it." Lars loomed over his squirming sibling and stared deep into his eyes, an uncharacteristically stoic look on his face. He watched as Leon had worn himself out, there was still a lingering of wild conviction in the boy but any energy he had to act on it appeared to be long gone. The green scales on his cheek were accentuated by a smear of blood spread from the accidental elbow strike. "Here's what's going to happen: I'm going to get up now and turn my back. You're going to walk to the apartment, get comfortable and go back to bed. By the time you've woken up tomorrow we'll be rich and I'll have a hot meal ready and waiting for you. Okay?" Leon took his time to respond, staring back into Lars as he panted out hot breaths the lingered in the cold night air. A few moments of consideration passed before he finally gave a subtle nod of his head, Lars seemed to believe it. "Good, I'm glad that we're finally understanding each other." There was a hint of friendly elation behind his words. Following through on the first half of his promise he let go of his brother's wrist and stood up, offering a hand down to help him off the ground. "You know that I love you."

Leon accepted the gesture and let himself be hoisted back up to his feet. He was physically exhausted though and didn't stay upright for long, doubling over with his hands on his knees so that he could catch his breath. The determined reptile still had a flame of a rebellion burning somewhere deep inside of him but their wrestling had worn him down to his last legs. Acting in good faith, Lars rubbed his brother on the shoulder before turning his tail and walking back to where he'd been waiting before their whole conflict before. But Leon had no intention of giving in so easily.

"RAAGHH!" He shouted to rally up the last of his energy and harnessed it into the heaviest tackle that he could muster, knocking both of them right back down into the pavement. Taken by surprise, Lars wasn't quite so ready for it this time and while the grip on his knife held strong, the hand it was in was quickly apprehended. The elder brother found himself in a much more compromised position now; during the tackle his arm had incidentally been twisted around so that the blade was being held downwards, the glimmering tip angled straight at his neckline. Directly on his chest sat Leon, pressing his advantage to wrap his hands around Lars's fingers, trying to wrench his weapon free so that he could take it.

All four of their hands came together to form a busy mass as each tussled against the other and the more that they wrestled for control the more apparent it became to Lars that he wouldn't be able to keep this up for long. With his brother's height and leverage over him he was able to put significantly more muscle into it, Lars was decently strong but his grip wouldn't be able to hold forever.

"ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS GIVE IT HERE!" The younger Powalski shouted in between strained grunts. Whatever shreds of pride Lars harbored were unyielding but with the dangerously sharp knife being jerked around just a few inches above him, he started to entertain the notion of giving in rather than risking an accident more serious than the last one.

"L-Leon be careful-" He voiced his concern but his younger sibling was too swept away in the heat of the moment to be thinking very clearly. In fact, the two had tunneled in so hard on each other that their attention to their surroundings had long since fallen by the wayside. Neither had noticed the door to the Brazen Vixen as it opened and closed just a few meters away, nor did they notice the pair of heavy boots as they slowly, one after the other, headed towards where they were having their squabble.

It was impossible to tell how long they'd been watched for but apparently it was long enough. Without a word one of the boots wedged up in between the two boys and its rubberized, textured sole placed itself firmly atop their writhing mass of fingers. Then, in one decisive move, it stepped all of the way down as hard as it could. Together the sibling's hands were forced lower and lower but before either of them realized what was going on, it was already too late. The blade of the knife had parted the scales and was lodged firmly in the center of Lars's neck.

Squeals of pain that could only be described as horrific echoed between the brick walls as inescapable agony dominated every sense that Lars could feel. He winced as his panic reflexes took over his actions and he desperately grabbed at his assailant's foot to try and free himself from under it, but any and all efforts proved to be completely fruitless. The man was simply too strong. The noises he was making devolved into sickening coughs and gurgles as Lars's esophagus became flooded with his own blood, sending flecks of red spattering all over his and his brother's faces. He couldn't breathe, suffocating as he simultaneously bled all over his clothing while drowning in his own mess.

Left completely shell-shocked Leon jolted upright and took a frightened step away, any flame of conviction that was in his eyes was long extinguished, replaced instead by a look of sheer horror. His heart felt like it had stopped in place as he watched his hapless brother bleeding and writhing on the ground. Above him stood none other than the exact individual he expected it to be, the eyepatch-clad wolf from the bar. Insultingly, the canine looked almost bored by the display unfolding before him. His hands were stuffed into his pockets as he watched the reptile dying under his foot with disinterest.

Leon shouted something, or… He intended to at least. Words, actions, none of them would come out as his muscles refused to cooperate with him, he was frozen completely solid – fated to the role of observer as he watched the final moments of his only family's life trickle away. Lars kicked, thrashed and did whatever he could but his energy was fleeting as the puddle around him grew. The finality of his situation was finally beginning to seep in. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move and he didn't have the breath to say anything that he wanted to say, it was completely hopeless. Gradually his struggling reduced to the point where he couldn't keep his grip on the boot pinning him to the floor and his arms fell off to the side, tensing and spasming in an unpredictable nature. His usually-curled tail was laid out completely straight as he twitched in his final throes of pain. Even he knew he was running out of time, curtains closing down over his vision. As his final action, he turned his head over to Leon. There was so much to say, so much to tell him… But he couldn't.

And just like that, that was the end of it. Their lifetime spent together, their history and everything they'd gone through as family reduced to naught more than memories in an instant. All of the nights spent in each other's arms, serving as the only source for what little happiness and motivation they were able to find in life, nothing now. Lars was gone and with him, any semblances of Leon's humanity was gone as well.

"Consider it thanks for the heads up earlier." The last thing he wanted to hear right now were words but the dog still had the audacity to speak. As soon as he was confident that the chameleon had died he took his foot off of the hilt of the knife and scuffed his bloodied up sole against the ground, trying to wipe off what he could. "What's wrong? You look like you seen a ghost just now. You were trying to kill him, weren't you? That's what it looked like at least." Leon fell to his knees with his hands out in front of him in astonishment, breathing short, panicked huffs. All of the luscious color had left his scales leaving him pale, shivering and frightened.

"Well now that we've got a body on our hands we might as well exchange names. My name's Wolf. Wolf O'Donnell. I don't trust many with that knowledge so don't let me down."