Chapter Ten
"Oh dear," Allen said.
"This isn't going to end well," Lavi finished.
"But it'll be entertaining as hell," Ewan said, putting his feet on the table.
"It's painfully apparent that you're Cross' child," Allen said.
"That's a good thing though, isn't it?"
"Not really," Allen replied.
"Shh! They're fixing to start." The three, along with most of the Black Order, watched the two in the ring intently.
"You're going down, you old hag," Kanda said as he drew Mugen from its sheath.
"We'll see about that, you snot-nosed pup," Hadrian replied.
Kanda charged first, intending to thrust Mugen between her ribs. Hadrian watched him, unfazed until he got about five feet away.
She raised two fingers and yelled, "Gata!"
Mugen flew out of Kanda's hand and stuck to the ceiling.
"It's even now. Wouldn't want me to have an unfair advantage, now would you?"
"I can still take you down hand to hand!" he yelled as he lunged at her.
"My, what a temper you have," Hadrian said as she stepped aside and allowed Kanda to hit the ground.
"It's never good to let your temper get the best of you. It makes you lose focus and opens you to attacks!" Hadrian whipped her long hair around Kanda's leg and threw him across the ring.
"Whoa! How'd she do that?" Miranda asked.
"Magic," Allen replied simply. "She's mastered even more than Dad, I mean Cross, since she didn't have to train with Innocence."
Kanda recovered quickly and charged again.
"Let's lighten things up a bit, shall we? This is starting to bore me. Oh Marian!"
"Yes, O Delightful Sister?" Cross replied from the sidelines.
"Mind helping me liven things up?" Kanda's eyes widened.
"That's not fair! He's a General, much more powerful that me!"
"Hon, I'm a magician, not a saint. Nobody said I had to fight fair, so I won't."
"Why are you dragging your brother into your fights anyway? You're the one who made my soba attempt to eat my face!"
"Because he makes things more interesting, that's why. And we were born on the same day from the same mother, so we pretty much count as one person anyway." Kanda smirked.
"Fine then! I'll take you both on!" The twins looked at each other, and everyone but Kanda could see how the fight would end.
"Auntie Kanda's toast, isn't he Daddy?" Leo asked Lavi.
"Oh yeah. This is gonna be great!"
Kanda decided that he needed to take Cross out first, and then deal with Hadrian, who seemed to be the weaker of the two. His sword fell from the ceiling and into his hand.
"You might need that after all, seeing as how you're dealing with two world-class fighters," Cross said.
"Stop your jabbering and just fight me, old man!" Kanda yelled as he attacked.
"Well, when you put it that way…" Cross blocked Kanda's fist with one hand, then turned and gave him a swift kick to the head.
"If this is the best you can do, kid, then just get out of the ring and sit in the stands. You asked for a fight, and you're going to get one."
"On your feet, kid." Hadrian put her hand out, and the ground pushed Kanda to his feet. He looked at the ground frantically, but regained his composure in time to block a few punches from Hadrian. Cross tripped him from behind and grabbed him by the ankle. Kanda dangled about two feet from the ground before Cross dropped him on his head and walked off.
"Don't start fights you can't finish, kid. Or if you do, then actually make it worth the time of the person you're challenging." Kanda got back up, furious.
"Come back here and fight me!"
"Nah. Hadrian's more than capable of handling herself, especially against a wimp like you." Kanda fumed, leaving him perfectly open to Hadrian's wrath.
"So…since I'm a woman I'm less of a threat, am I?" Kanda gulped.
"Y-you can read minds?"
"Sure can. I just brought Marian out here to see what you were thinking about me, to see how hard I have to go on you. Now that I know…"
Various crunching and snapping noises could be heard, though nobody knew who it was coming from because of all the dust kicked up. Lavi had covered Leo's eyes, shielding him from the violent spectacle.
When the dust cleared, a bruised Kanda dragged himself to the center of the ring before passing out. Hadrian put her foot on his back, victorious. Then she too passed out and fell in a heap on top of Kanda.
"So…what was that all about?" Ewan asked. "Hadrian was beatin' the shyte out of him."
"She was fighting him drunk," Allen replied. "She's done it before."
"You've always got to ruin life's mysteries for us, don't you Allen?" Lavi said, uncovering Leo's eyes.
"Yes, that's my purpose in life, Lavi."
"I knew it! I knew it all along!"
"Whatever. Let's get out of here." The three left the anticlimactic and trekked to their rooms…
--
"So, how did things go with Lenalee?" Cross asked Nicolae.
"Well…okay I guess." He looked nervously at the floor.
"Do you like her?"
"She is nice enough. Not bad looking either. Just…don't like her very much. She is not my type."
"Well, she's definitely mine," Cross said, lighting a cigarette.
"Any voman with big breasts and pretty face is your type."
"Ha! You got me there, son. Your powers of observation are uncanny." Nicolae shrugged.
"But vat do I do? She likes me, but I do not feel same way. And I do not vant to hurt her feelings." Cross blew out a ring of smoke.
"Do what I always do."
"Vich is?"
"Sleep with her and then say, "Sorry, I don't think things are going to work out between us. Can we just be friends?" Nicolae narrowed his eyes at his father.
"That is one thing I vill not do. I may not be best monk, but I vould never sleep with voman I did not love."
"Well, then, you'll just have to do it the hard way and tell it to her straight. Even if it breaks her heart and makes her cry."
"You ought to know lot about that, considering you probably did same thing to my mother and every voman you've slept with," Nicolae replied.
"I don't deny it. I've broken quite a few hearts in my day. I'm not proud of it, I'll tell you that much. But I'm already the worst damn priest to walk the earth, so why change my ways now?"
"You are priest?" Nicolae asked incredulously.
Cross simply turned and gave his son the "well duh" look.
"Of course. How do you think I met your mother? I was staying at the monestary next to the convent she lived in. We did it during "confession" quite a few times," Cross said with a wolfish grin.
Nicolae simply sat there for a long time, the shock clearly etched into his face…
--
A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update. I got a bit of writer's block with the story. Hopefully it's gone now, though. Just wait and see what happens in the next chapter of Big Happy Family!