Epilogue/Bonus Chapter: Changes
It had been a few weeks since Leo's official discharge from the hospital and Leo had eventually acclimated to his new normal routine. He woke up, took his migraine medication for the day, went to work either at Libra or his part time job, albeit still on light duty, rest when needed, returned home, ate dinner, relaxed a bit more and went to bed. While Leo enjoyed these easy-going days at first, allowing him to recharge his batteries from the usual insanity he was normally thrown headlong into, it didn't take long for him to get a little bored and stir-crazy. After nearly a week of assisting in minor desk work or working the cashier at Dogimo's, he found himself growing surprisingly eager to return to his normal duties. Eventually he got his wish after two weeks of this when Leo returned to the hospital for his scheduled check-up with Dr. Estevez. After the standard examinations that Leo had grown far too used to, he was finally given the all clear to return to full duty (despite some lingering soreness) and was liberated from his no-longer necessary leg brace.
When Leo delightedly relayed the news to his coworkers at both Libra and Dogimo's the next day, both parties were equally happy for him though one person in particular was more interested in finally hearing that Leo was no longer incapacitated. While everyone at both places of his work were kind or at the very least understanding towards Leo in regards to his injuries and requested accommodations, his boss at Dogimo's, a literal man-pig looking Beyondian creature named Ruben who wore a greasy chef's outfit and apron, was less considerate. When Leo first returned to work from the hospital following his full release, the first thing Ruben had said to Leo was not a kindly inquiry towards his health or welfare like everyone else but rather a gruff bark demanding he return back to work to make up for all the time off he had missed due to his "slacking off" (recovery). Were it not for the strict labor-mandated laws supporting his medical accommodations and the city's vast legal network of insurance agencies, Ruben would have likely fired Leo or at the very least withheld a portion of his pay as he was also a notorious cheapskate and all-around dislikable man-creature who tried to exploit any loophole he could to keep money in his own pocket.
While Leo did not like Ruben so much either, he more or less grew used to the usual bullshit he was forced to endure under him and was once more prepared to go back to work and regain his usual sense of normalcy. And for a while things were as normal as they could be. Between his work at Libra and pulling some extra hours to try and appease his awful manager, Leo slowly fell back into the usual drudgery of the working class, his previous near-death experiences fading away into the back of his mind as he once more engaged in the usual chaotic shenanigans of his friends and coworkers. However like most things in life, especially in Hellsalem's Lot, nothing good lasts forever.
After working a particularly long and grueling shift at Dogimo's the night before, Leo briskly trudged down the sidewalk on his way to work at Libra for the day having woken up later than usual to take his scooter to work before the morning's rush hour traffic began. Sonic was also absent this morning as the little monkey often tended to come and go as he pleased so Leo had no one to interact with to distract him from his foul, sleep-deprived mood. As he hustled down the sidewalk, he grumbled some curses under his breath at his swine of a superior, recalling Ruben's reasoning for keeping him late the night before on his extra delivery runs.
"Since you recklessly went and got yourself unable to work by screwin' around and leavin' the rest of us short-handed while you sat around on your ass not doin' shit, you're gonna be staying later from now on to begin to make up for all the time you missed," Leo recalled Ruben's words and infuriatingly smug smirk as he seethed.
"Bastard," Leo cursed under his breath. "It's not like I wanted to get myself into that kind of situation in the first place, or the fact that I was literally fighting for my life instead of screwing around," he grumbled before letting out an aggravated sigh. He glanced down at his phone screen to check the time, which read 8:32 am, less than half an hour until he was supposed to arrive at the office and he still had several more blocks of densely populated streets to go. Again he cursed under his breath and debated whether or not he should flag a taxi and risk the traffic or continue on foot. He reached a hand into his pocket to fish out his wallet and see how much cash he had on him but felt nothing. Leo checked his other pockets and hiding places on his person but when his search yielded no results, Leo cursed aloud in frustration.
"Dammit! I was in such a rush to leave this morning that I must have left my wallet back at my apartment," he huffed and ran a hand through his messy brown locks. Since the option of a taxi was no longer valid, Leo had no choice but to continue traveling on foot and hopefully arrive to the Office in a timely manner. Having realized that, Leo then grimly realized that the best way to do that was to leave the bustling sidewalks and streets and take a shortcut through the less populated back alleys, an option Leo had always tried to avoid even prior to all the recent events that took place. He hesitated as unpleasant memories of the last time he had been ambushed in the back alleys by Pain made their way back to the surface, naturally making him tense. However with his haste to get to work on time, Leo ultimately chose to ignore his gut instincts and decided to chance it by rushing through as quickly as possible with his guard on high alert to avoid any unnecessary trouble. Without another second to try and talk himself out of it, Leo took a deep breath and quickly darted into the alleyway.
Leo's squinted eyes darted around his surroundings as he swiftly but cautiously made his way through the winding back streets but found much to his pleasant surprise that they were largely absent of the usual gangsters and overly aggressive panhandlers that hung around.
"Maybe it's still too early in the morning for them to be out stalking the streets," Leo thought hopefully. As Leo got closer to the Office, the tension he once felt began to leave him and slowly he began to let his guard down. Unfortunately that, coupled with his previous fatigue, proved to be his downfall. Just before he reached the last stretch of alleyways that would lead him out about half a block away from the Office, a large silhouette suddenly rounded the corner at the last moment causing Leo to smack into them and rebound, landing hard on his butt from the collision. The figure didn't so much as budge from the impact but instead let out a low growl of audible irritation as they turned their attention towards the fallen Leo.
"Watch where the hell you're going you little shit!" The figure snapped as Leo glanced up at him. The speaker was a rather flabby-looking human man seemingly in his forties with a considerable amount of muscle despite his prominent beer gut and reeking of booze, stale cigarettes, and sweat. He wore a stained red flannel shirt and dirty blue jeans as Leo could clearly see a scowl on the man's face through his unkempt black hair and scraggly beard as he looked down at Leo with a disgusted grimace like he was looking at a half-dead, scuttling insect.
"I'm so sorry," Leo apologized getting to his feet. "I was in a hurry and didn't expect anyone to be turning the corner just now," Leo said trying to placate the clearly aggravated man, likely due to a bad hangover judging by his bloodshot eyes if Leo had to guess. "It was my fault."
"Damn right it was! You should have been payin' more attention! What if I had been carryin' something important, huh? Do you have any idea who I am?!" The man spat, beginning to work himself up into a tizzy. Not wanting the situation to escalate further, Leo again tried to talk the man down.
"Again I'm really sorry! I was just trying to get to work and was running late. I'll definitely be more careful in the future," Leo said as sincerely as he could muster with his hands raised up in a placating manner, knowing that he likely wouldn't be unable to de-escalate the situation and ever so subtly tried to inch himself around the man's girth to make a beeline for the alleyway's exit. Unfortunately the big man seemed to realize this too and quickly blocked his escape before shoving him back roughly. Leo somehow managed to maintain his balance after being forced back by the shove but when he recovered, he realized the man had him cornered against the brick wall of the alley as he towered over him menacingly and cracked his knuckles with a sinister smirk.
"Nu-uh, too late for that," he said in an intimidating tone. "Now I gotta teach you a lesson." Again Leo instinctively raised his hands, this time in defense, as he knew what was going to happen next. However it didn't do much good as the man landed a solid blow to Leo's unguarded stomach causing him to double over, arms wrapped over his abdomen and trying to catch his breath. With his hands now lowered around his middle, the man then saw that opportunity to land a heavy right hook to Leo's cheek, sending him to the ground as the impact caused him to once more split his lip open. Shakily, Leo managed to right himself onto his hands and knees but was kicked over roughly in his side before being yanked up onto his feet by the scruff of his collar by the man and shoved into the wall.
"So, have you learned some manners now?" The bully sneered. Leo tried to reply but the hard blow against the wall had knocked some of the air out of his still sensitive ribs and he let out a strangled cough which accidentally caused some specks of blood from his split lip to fly into the large man's face. While clearly unintentional, this angered the man further and he threw Leo roughly away into a pile of metal trashcans that clattered to the concrete loudly and spilling its contents out. The man wiped the splatter of blood off his face with his sleeve and approached him angrily as Leo managed to clumsily but hastily get to his feet to try and escape the situation.
"You little shit! Was that an accident too? HUH?!" Leo chose not to reply to further anger the man and instead took a hesitant step back with his arms raised up to protect his face from another hit as he started to debate whether or not he should resort to using his eyes to escape this quickly uncontrollable situation. However this passive display instead seemed to vaguely amuse the boorish brute for a change, causing him to let out a few harsh barks of insincere laughter.
"You're so pathetic," he jeered. "Seriously, what's a little wimpy shrimp like you even doin' in a place like Hellsalem's Lot anyway?" Leo flinched a bit impulsively at that questioning as the familiar, unwelcoming sensation of insecurity squirmed through him. Seeing how his comment touched a nerve, the cruel man's previous fury melted into a sadistically sinister pleasure. "It's kind of sad actually. Do you seriously just go through life getting your ass beat and just wait and plead for it to end as soon as possible? That's so cowardly and stupid it's not even funny." A dastardly smile then made its way over his face. "In fact, I wonder if you can even throw a decent punch with those skinny arms of yours." The man then knelt down a bit and turned his cheek and motioning to it beckoningly, giving Leo the open invitation for a clear shot. "Come on, show me what you got." Leo hesitated, this scenario seeming dreadfully familiar to him, but ultimately he did not take the bait.
"I don't have anything to prove to you," he refused defiantly, which seemed to once more upset the larger man.
"Oh what, you think you can act all high and mighty like you're some kind of big shot?" He questioned heatedly, stalking forward menacingly slowly. "If you really had the guts or power to back up that bluff, you would have used it already." The man lashed out a quick jab that Leo instinctively blocked with his arms but still sent him stumbling back a bit.
"But you're just a loser aint'cha?" He threw another punch, causing Leo's guard to falter.
"A helpless little nobody who can't even hope to stand up against the big dogs of this world." Another hard jab, this time forcing Leo into momentarily dropping his battered arms completely before a follow-up blow socked him in the eye and he staggered back further. However it was the next comment that really sent Leo reeling.
"I bet any family or friends that you have think that you're just a lost cause. They probably can't stand having such a burden in their lives!" Instantly, Leo froze in his tracks and his heart fell into the pit of his stomach. While a small part of him wanted to contest the man's words, especially after vaguely recalling Klaus' most recent uplifting words of self-worth when he was in the hospital, it was drowned out when he instinctively and involuntarily thought back to some of his past actions and choices, or lack thereof. He recalled his inability to win against Pain during his spontaneous challenge, his hesitancy about fighting back against previous aggressors or muggers, and of course, his failure to protect Michella from having her eyesight stolen and the resulting consequences that has constantly followed and plagued him. Leo was so caught up in his reflections that he was not able to even try and defend himself from getting clocked hard in the face by the man's fist, knocking him out almost instantly.
Some time later, Leo eventually regained consciousness when he felt tiny, furry hands trying to gently smack him awake. Cracking one eye open slightly, he saw Sonic as expected looking over him with an expression of worry that Leo had become quite familiar with and letting out soft chatters of sympathy.
"I'm fine Sonic. Compared to other times I've been attacked, this one wasn't too bad," he half-heartedly assured the little monkey. With a groan Leo pushed himself up from the ground and examined his surroundings for any signs of his previous tormentor but he was seemingly long gone by that point. Leo let out a disheartened sigh and got onto his feet, wiping the blood from his nose and lip with the back of his sleeve. "Guess things are definitely back to normal, huh?" Leo mumbled aloud for no one in particular as he brushed himself off and Sonic climbed up him onto his shoulder. Leo then checked his pockets for his phone, which mercifully was unharmed and left untouched by the man, but when he pulled it out to check the current time he couldn't help but let out a curse. He had apparently been out for nearly 20 minutes and was now almost ten minutes late to report to Libra. Without any further delays, Leo once more resumed his way to the Office, now jogging quickly to not show up any later than he already would and also avoid any further obstacles that may drop in unannounced.
Leo finally arrived five minutes later and entered the secret elevator that slowly took him up to the main level of the Office. As he waited, he tried to ignore his lingering feelings of discouragement from the bully's words and beating and instead steeled himself for the interrogation that was sure to befall him once Klaus and the others saw his roughed up state. The elevator dinged and the doors slid open allowing Leo to speed walk towards the grand oak door with polished doorknob. With a deep breath, Leo turned the knob and entered where Klaus, Steven, Zapp, Zed, Chain and K.K. were gathered around a large table looking over some plans that were laid out before them while Gilbert stood off to the side pouring them some refreshments for their meeting. When they collectively turned their heads towards the door to greet Leo and ask why he was late, they were needlessly stopped short. Immediately their expressions hardened into that of evident displeasure, though some were more noticeable than others, as they took in Leo's disheveled and slightly bloodied appearance plus his developing bruises, black eye and fat lip. Before they could comment on it however, Leo spoke first.
"I'm so sorry I'm late. I uh, kind of got held up on my way here," he apologized trying to give his most sincere, unassuming smile to placate them as he rubbed the back of his neck. Sonic meanwhile had hopped off his shoulder to go sample some of the treats Gilbert had placed out for the group's morning meeting. Understanding right away what Leo was insinuating, Klaus' frown deepened momentarily before he forced himself to ease up and reply.
"It's all right Leonardo. Tardiness happens to the best of us on occasion," he excused as he saw Gilbert grab the first aid kit out of the corner of his eye when Leo came closer to the table to join them. "More importantly, are you all right?"
"Yeah. Compared to what I've endured before, this is nothing. On the bright side though I forgot my wallet at home so at least I didn't lose any cash or have to get my frequent visitor's card at the hospital punched this time around," Leo said jokingly with a half-cocked grin and nervous chuckle trying to lighten the mood as he let Gilbert wordlessly disinfect and bandage his minor wounds. The others however did not reciprocate the feeling though as they silently bristled, causing Leo's smile to fall. Leo tried to apologize again for his bad jokes but this time Steven spoke up, cutting him off.
"Don't worry about it," he reassured gently. "We get that these things happen, albeit more frequently than it should to some more than others; it's just a part of life here. That being said, there needs to be some accountability on someone's end but we'll deal with that at another time. Right now we have more pressing work to deal with regarding an urgent request from Lieutenant Law," he said gesturing to the schematics on the table before them. Leo let Gilbert finish tending to the last of the welts and cuts on his face before nodding to show his understanding and they resumed the briefing and plan from where they left off.
The request from Lieutenant Law turned out to be dismantling a delicate human trafficking ring between some of the Alterworld's high profile figures and their many Huma accomplices from a particularly shady and negligent taxi company. However thanks in part to the combined efforts of Chain, Leo and Zapp's tag team detective and interrogation work of one of the drivers they managed to track down, they ended up with a list of all the active members of the traffickers and their contacts by the end of the day leading to the successful arrests and rescue of dozens of people by the HLPD. Satisfied with the positive outcome, the Libra crew returned to the Office around 6:00 in the evening to finish up the reports for the day before calling it a night, save for Zapp who was out getting more smokes and blowing off his portion of the paperwork. Leo tapped his papers against the tabletop of the coffee table he was seated at to straighten them before stapling them and approaching Steven's cubicle beside next to Klaus' desk to hand them off.
"I've finished my part of the report Steven," Leo informed through his mounting fatigue from the day's events and previous late night. Both he and Klaus looked up to him and smiled appreciatively.
"Great, thanks for your work today," Steven replied taking the papers from Leo's hand. "You can go on and head home and get some rest, you look like you could use it." Wincing a bit at that remark despite the light-hearted tone, Leo nodded in agreement and turned to leave as Sonic hopped up onto his shoulder, evidently disinterested from the mundane activities and ready to go home.
Klaus glanced up from his laptop screen and looked like he wanted to say something in regards to Leo's incident from that morning but agreed with Steven's assessment and so decided to remain silent and let the matter rest for the time being. Chain, Zed, K.K. and Gilbert all nodded or waved to him as he passed and bid him a good night, which Leo returned and stated that they would see them all tomorrow before he and Sonic left and shut the door behind them. With Leo gone, any outward pleasantness the group had put on for show quickly left them as they sighed in mild exasperation with the reminder of Leo's latest assault (except Gilbert of course who retained his constant neutral expression as he busied himself with tidying up around the Office space).
"So how exactly are we going to do deal with his mugging incident this time?" K.K. asked quickly pushing away her papers and glancing pointedly at Steven and Klaus. "Are we actually going to do something about it for once given everything that's happened?"
"It's troubling to be sure but there's not much we can do," Steven said with a sigh as Klaus resumed his work on his laptop. "If we do anything crazy or excessive to track down and punish those responsible, even indirectly, it could bring unnecessary attention to Leo and put him at further risk, especially if anyone were to connect the dots regarding his link with us or as the holder of the All-Seeing Eyes. And I'm fairly certain that's the last thing we all want to deal with again." The other members grimaced at that thought. "Furthermore we can't realistically keep a constant watch over him 24/7 either to keep these threats at bay for the exact same reasons, not to mention the stretch in our resources when they may be needed for other things pertinent to our job," Steven added. K.K. let out a disgruntled growl at the truth to his words.
"So we're going to do nothing, again," K.K. concluded heatedly crossing her arms across her chest and slumping back in the armchair she was seated in with a huff.
"Why is Leo so adamant about using his eyes to avoid confrontation in the first place, or any kind of protection for that matter? I understand wanting to avoid attracting attention in a normal setting but wouldn't it be easier for him to use them in ways or instances where he was already in trouble?" Zed asked almost rhetorically but looking to his colleagues for an answer nevertheless.
"Because he's too stubborn for his own good," Chain answered with an indifferent tone in spite of her equally visible discontentment at the situation. Klaus paused momentarily from his typing and let out a soft sigh.
"It's more than that," Klaus finally spoke up after remaining quiet for so long, thinking back to his musings by Leo's bedside in the hospital. "Leonardo has come leaps and bounds since arriving to the city, there is no doubt about that. However if I had to speculate, I would say that Leo likely still has some misgivings about using his eyes due to the persistent and lingering guilt in regards to his sister's eyesight. Not only that but coupled with the fact that he is kind and a pacifist by nature, it is reasonable to assume that Leo does not see his own safety as something important as a result as long as he is alive in the end, though I am sure that there may also be other factors that we are unaware of." The other Libra members took in Klaus' words and simmered in silence at the sentiments of the conversation for a moment, reflecting back on their own prior musings when Leo was in the hospital. Even Gilbert seemed a bit lost in thought for a brief moment before he resumed his dusting of the shelves.
"We can't let this keep happening," K.K. eventually declared sternly, looking to the others as if to dare them to challenge her.
"I think we can all agree on that but what can we do?" Steven asked dropping his casual stance and instead leaning against his desk with his arms crossed, an uncommon display of frustration for him. "The kid has refused any kind of offer of protection we've suggested for him in the past and I doubt he would start now because of this one particular incident," Steven reminded while silently wondering how someone so overly considerate or conscientious could be so prideful and headstrong. Klaus interlocked his fingers in front of his face and propped his elbows on his desk in thought when he recalled something and he lowered his hands away from his mouth a bit to be heard.
"Actually," he began capturing the focus of everyone gathered in the room. "I have been contemplating a possible solution for a while although I am hesitant to whether Leonardo will agree to it or not." The others looked to him, curiosity piqued as to what their leader was thinking and collectively unaware of the white-haired eavesdropper who silently listened in from the other side of the cracked office door.
The next morning, Leo was up and in the process of getting dressed as he moved around his apartment and into the bathroom to finish getting ready for the day while Sonic sleepily but patiently watched and waited from Leo's unmade bed. The brunette winced a little from the healing and still tender cuts and bruises from the day before as he slipped his usual hoodie on over his head and pulled it down onto his thin frame before looking back up at his reflection in the mirror.
"I really need to learn to carry some sort of first aid kit on me for these kinds of things," Leo thought distantly as he looked at himself and gingerly ran a hand over his healing injuries. With a sigh he left the bathroom and grabbed his goggles and shoes, putting them on and headed towards his apartment door. Sonic hopped up onto his rightful place on Leo's shoulder before Leo took hold of the knob to his front door. "I sure hope today is better than yesterday," he muttered under his breath as he opened the door to exit. However before he could take more than a few steps outside the door's threshold, the sound of rapidly approaching footfalls and a familiar voice suddenly cried out accompanied by a shadow falling over him.
"GET READY TO MEET YOUR MAKER PUBES!" Zapp shouted as he lunged at Leo with a dangerous gleam in his eyes, startling Leo into letting out a yell of surprise (and causing Sonic to leap off his shoulder just as equally shocked) before he was tackled by Zapp and wrestled into an uncomfortable position and held down similar to how a WWE wrestler pins his opponent.
"Gah, Zapp? What the hell are you doing? Get off of me you asshole!" Leo protested with a mixture of surprise, confusion and anger as he tried to escape his grasp but to no avail as Zapp maintained his hold and roughhousing.
"You got two arms and legs don't ya? So why don't you make me then?" Zapp cheekily challenged as he easily put Leo into a headlock and ground his knuckles into Leo's skull. They wrestled around on the ground for a bit as Leo struggled and flailed to escape whilst cursing the white-haired male out and Sonic squeaked and waved his tiny arms in distress and panic. It didn't take long for Leo's neighbors to peek their heads out of their apartment doors to see what the noise was all about and one annoyed Beyondian in particular with a rough-looking exterior with mandible-like fangs like Predator and beady eyes barked out at the two fighting Huma to get their attention.
"Hey shut the hell up out here!" He snapped causing the two Libra males to halt in their tracks as they listened to the disgruntled tenant. "You two have any idea what time it is? There are people still trying to sleep here so can it or I'm calling the cops!" Seeing his opening with the interruption, Leo managed to elbow and squirm out of Zapp's hold and quickly jump to his feet.
"I'm so sorry; it won't happen again," he apologized sincerely to his upset and annoyed neighbors. With an aggravated huff and satisfied that he made his point, the tenant went back inside after casting them one last nasty glare and shut the door harder than necessary to prove his point. Leo again apologized to his other neighbors as they also retreated back into their homes leaving only Leo, Zapp and Sonic behind in the once more quiet apartment complex hallway. Zapp got to his feet shortly after and Sonic, sensing that Zapp's shenanigans have ended for the time being, hopped back onto Leo's shoulder while both cast the tan-skinned man an irritated glare.
"I hope you're happy with yourself now Zapp," Leo commented quietly with obvious annoyance. The taller male merely rolled his eyes and let out an unremorseful scoff.
"Not my fault you live surrounded by a bunch of pricks. You should complain to your landlord about them," he remarked unabashed.
"The only one who is going to get complaints against them here is me," Leo retorted with clear annoyance, feeling an angry vein begin to form in his temple. "What are you even doing here anyway? And why did you suddenly decide to attack me out of the blue like that?" For a brief moment, Zapp looked almost disapproving at the question, almost like he expected a different reaction from the shorter male. Leo waited for the usual snarky insult or remark to come but instead was surprised as he seemingly decided against it at the last moment.
"No reason," Zapp replied simply averting his gaze. Leo studied him with great interest at his atypical response but it was short lived when Zapp added on. "More importantly you still owe me for saving your sorry ass in the Alterworld so let's go get some breakfast, your treat." The angry vein that had formed began to pulsate a bit more forcefully against Leo's temple in vexation at Zapp's brazen suggestion/demand. He was ready to refuse when a growl of his own stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten breakfast yet either. With a sigh he forced his irritation away and decided to just go along with Zapp's whims for the sake of his own sanity.
"Fine, but I pick the place," Leo relented as they headed for the elevators.
Zapp navigated the constant streams of traffic on his Lambretta with Leo seated behind him and Sonic protected in his sweatshirt's large collar as they turned into the parking lot of a popular fast food burger chain (WcRonalds). Zapp pulled into an empty parking space rather than heading towards the drive thru, catching Leo off guard.
"Why aren't we going through the drive thru? It's faster than going inside and waiting," Leo queried.
"Moron, everyone knows pick-up tastes better than drive thru 'cause it's made fresh," Zapp rebutted taking off his helmet. "Just go in and grab the grub and I'll hold down the fort here," he said shooing Leo away before pulling out a cigar from his vest pocket and putting it in his mouth and lighting it with his Zippo. Leo gave him an unimpressed scowl but relented.
"Yeah whatever," he grumbled, taking off his helmet and goggles for the time being and turned to head inside.
"And don't forget the ketchup packets!" Zapp called out as a last note before the door swung shut. After at least 20 minutes of waiting for his and Zapp's large order in the overly crowded and busy restaurant, Leo came back outside meticulously balancing the two brown food bags and single drink in his arms as Sonic helped to keep the items balanced.
"A little help here would be great Zapp," Leo said as he carefully made his way to the waiting man and his vehicle.
"You look like you got it covered," Zapp said dismissively as he glanced up from his phone before looking back and typing a quick message to somebody then stuffing it in his pants pocket. Leo successfully made it to the Lambretta without spilling anything and balanced everything carefully on the vehicle's backseat as Zapp immediately took his beverage and started guzzling from the straw as Leo looked to him with persistent annoyance.
"You do realize that the wait took longer than it should have if we had gone through the drive thru and now we have less than 20 minutes before we need to get to the Office, right?" Leo said pointedly as he put his helmet and goggles back on. "I don't want to be late again for the second day in a row just because you decided you wanted a fresh and free meal." Zapp just rolled his eyes before he finished off his soda and chucked the empty cup haphazardly towards a nearby trashcan, not caring if it made it in or not.
"Relax, I can easily make it there in ten minutes at most," he said as he swung a leg over his scooter and turned on the engine as Leo carefully got on the back seat while cradling both large bags, Sonic securely in his collar once more as they backed out and drove off to the Libra office building. Sure enough, with Zapp's fast (and noticeably reckless) driving, the pair made it to Libra's secret parking garage in less than ten minutes. While Zapp parked and shut the vehicle off, Leo carefully balanced the takeout bags between his legs as he took off his helmet and pulled down his goggles back around his neck.
"It's a wonder you still have your license with all the red lights you practically ran," Leo remarked as he hopped off Zapp's Lambretta with food in hand and Sonic on his shoulder.
"Cram it. You said you wanted to get here fast so we wouldn't be late, didn't ya?" Zapp retorted indignantly. Leo didn't bother to contest that last statement but just sighed as they headed towards the elevators with Leo in the lead.
"It doesn't mean you can just drive like a maniac. We would have been late for sure if you had gotten pulled over and something tells me you would have made me pay for the ticket too since I was riding with you," Leo muttered though loud enough he was sure Zapp would hear. He expected another quip from Zapp but when nothing came, Leo stopped and looked back over his shoulder to see what the white-haired male was doing only to find that he had seemingly vanished from sight.
"Zapp?" Leo called out to his asshole coworker as he and Sonic glanced around wondering where he could have gone. When no reply came he started to get a bad feeling, especially when the unwelcome sensation of being watched by someone came out of nowhere. Before he could react or try to think of what he should do, he was suddenly ambushed from behind and tackled once more, causing him to let out a surprised cry, and Sonic to once more leap off in startled surprise. A pair of white clad arms reeking of cigar smoke wrapped around Leo's head and shoulders putting him into a firm chokehold while still allowing him to breathe easily enough as a couple blood tendrils quickly caught and held the fast food bags from spilling their contents out on the ground.
"You let your guard down again shithead," Zapp said with a mocking sneer as he lifted Leo up off the ground effortlessly and proceeded to torment him with more noogies to the head as Leo struggled and protested. "It's so easy and fun to mess with you and you can't do a thing about it, can ya? It sure must suck, don't it?" Zapp taunted, notably more mean-spirited than usual even as Sonic leapt up onto the back of his head to try and pull his white hair in an effort to get Zapp to leave Leo alone.
Now thoroughly fed up with Zapp's unnecessary stunts and triggered by his words, Leo growled and felt his temper spike as a large, angry, anime-style vein once more throbbed in his temple. Thinking quickly, Leo threw his head back into Zapp's face, smashing his nose hard enough to draw a bit of blood in the process and succeeding in getting him to relinquish his grip on Leo but inadvertently throwing Sonic off and causing Zapp to lose his concentration on his blood threads, which held their breakfast and the bags dropped to the ground (though thankfully not spilling anything). As Zapp clutched and nursed his injured but thankfully unbroken nose, Leo angrily rounded on him.
"What the hell is your problem Zapp?" Leo snapped. "I'm used to your usual bullshit of messing with me, not that I actually enjoy it in the first place, but attacking me twice in one day for no good reason is where I draw the line! Seriously, what are you trying to do, kill me?" As the pain in his face subsided, Zapp felt anger take its place as he scowled at Leo and straightened up a bit as he finally divulged his motives.
"Why do you always make it so easy for others in the first place?" He snapped back. "Is it 'cause your used to it, that it ain't worth your time to keep your own ass out of trouble?" This caught Leo off guard as some of his anger faded into puzzlement.
"What are you talking about?" Leo asked only causing Zapp's scowl to deepen further.
"I'm talking about the fact that you let the scum of the streets out there walk all over you like a goddamn doormat. You've taken on Blood Breeds and other threats way worse than the likes of them and fought back with no problems, so why are common thugs such a big issue for you? Even if you don't want to use your eyes, don't just sit there and take it. Do something about it! You're a member of Libra ain't ya, so act like it!" Leo's remaining anger left him fully at Zapp's words and left him in a stunned silence as the taller man huffed and turned away heading once more to the elevators. Leo remained in place for a moment as Sonic scurried back up onto Leo's shoulder, glancing between the two worriedly at what just happened, before Leo eventually bent down to pick up the bags of takeout and mechanically and wordlessly followed behind Zapp into the elevators.
It was quiet and awkward on the ride up as the gears and cables worked and turned above and below them to carry them up to the top floor. Despite the awkwardness however, neither of them spoke or made a sound until Leo silently offered out one of the takeout bags to Zapp containing his order as a silent peace offering. Zapp studied the bag for a moment but just as wordlessly accepted it and rustled through the bag pulling out one of his burgers and unwrapping it so he could finally eat just as the elevator dinged, signaling their arrival. The doors slid open allowing the two to make their way out with Zapp in the lead munching on his burger and Leo and Sonic right behind him as they approached the Office's grand oak doors at the end of the hallway.
Zapp entered first with Leo following behind a ways, still thinking back on what Zapp had said, before he too entered through the doors only to find Klaus and Steven seemingly waiting for him. The unexpected sight caused Leo to cease his prior musings and stop dead in his tracks as he glanced up at the two men.
"Morning, glad to see you join us on time today and in better states," Steven greeted with a pleasant smile beside Klaus, who nodded and hummed in unusual stoicism. Leo arched an inquisitive brow at their strange behavior and cast a quick, cursory glance around the room. Zapp had plopped down on one of the sofas, stuffing his face with his food while Gilbert was preparing tea and coffee for the rest of them. Zed was reading a book whist leaning against the wall closest to the group but looking a bit tense and uncomfortable while Chain scrolled through her phone in one of the armchairs, casting quick glances up to them while trying not to make it obvious rather than actively antagonizing Zapp for being a pig. K.K. meanwhile busied herself with cleaning and tweaking her pistols seated in the other armchair, though still with a vaguely recognizable air of distraction about her as she hastily but absentmindedly kept polishing or re-tweaking the same gun parts. Leo also vaguely noted that the furniture had apparently been moved slightly further than normal from the center of the room away from where Klaus and Steven's desk and cubicle were located. Now a bit unsettled by the tense and strange atmosphere, Leo directed his gaze back up to his bosses.
"Uh yeah, good morning. Sorry again about yesterday."
"There's no need to apologize any further for that Leonardo," Klaus said for the first time that day. "However before we begin the day's proceedings, I would like to have a word with you in private to discuss something important if I may." His mixed feelings of confusion and concern then became more pronounced as he wondered what was the matter or if he had possibly done something wrong. Nevertheless he nodded and uttered his agreement and walked over following Klaus to his desk after setting his breakfast down on one of the side tables by the door (being looked over by Sonic who was coerced with some of his fries to keep an eye on it to discourage Zapp from trying to steal anything) and Steven went to get some freshly brewed coffee from Gilbert. Klaus took a seat behind his large desk, clasping his hands together in a professional manner as Leo stood on the other side of it trying to ignore the not-so-subtle glances from his coworkers.
"So what did you want to talk about Klaus?" Leo questioned as politely and casually as possible hoping to lighten the mood and ease his own apprehension. For a moment, Klaus looked as if he was having surprising difficulty in finding the right words to say, lightly tapping one of his fingers against his opposite knuckle seemingly in thought, before he eventually decided to stop beating around the bush and just get on with it. He closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh as if to gather his thoughts before opening them again to focus fully on the young man before him.
"Leonardo, as I'm sure you are more aware of than anyone else, this city is an unpredictable and hazardous place at the best of times and downright dangerous and lethal at the worst. I have believed, perhaps a bit foolishly, that we would always be able to prevent the worst from occurring to you but have been proven wrong many a time despite the positive outcomes in the end and for that I apologize." Leo opened his mouth to instinctively argue Klaus' self-imposed blame and instead apologize for his own faults being the cause but Klaus preemptively held up a hand signaling Leo to hold on. The red-haired man continued. "However due to recent events, the least of which being what occurred to you yesterday, I now believe that it is abundantly clear that perhaps a different approach needs to be taken in order to prevent any further 'incidents' from occurring." Klaus again went silent for a moment as if once more debating something with himself. Now fearing where exactly Klaus was going with this conversation, Leo couldn't help but speak up during the brief pause.
"Klaus," Leo began in a subdued voice feeling his pulse pound and heart sink with anxiety and dread. "Am I…being fired?" Whatever thoughts Klaus had been thinking had quickly left him as Klaus straightened up and blinked at Leo almost owlishly at the outlandish question. Even the other Libra members, who were totally not eavesdropping into the conversation, seemed genuinely caught off guard. Eventually Klaus seemed to come back into himself as he realized what his words must have inadvertently implied to Leo.
"No, no. Of course not," Klaus vehemently assured before recollecting himself. "Forgive me, I suppose in retrospect my words were a bit misleading." Leo let out a relieved breath allowing Klaus to continue when he saw that Leo had been put at ease. "The truth is that I actually wanted to discuss the possibility of having you undergo some self-defense training in order for you to better protect yourself when we are unavailable or not present." This time it was Leo's turn to blink owlishly at Klaus' suggestion, opening his eyes fully in shock for the display.
"Self-defense training?" Leo repeated almost incredulously before Klaus continued his reasoning.
"That's correct. It is actually an option that I had been contemplating for a while ever since your run-in with that Alterworldly fellow that targeted you and your sister some time ago. However the latest circumstances with not only the King of Pain and his curse, but also the concerning amount of muggings you've endured in the past have made me realize that perhaps it is an option we should consider exploring." Instantly realizing that this suggestion was likely spurred by the events from the previous day, Leo (once more back to his usual squinting) felt his conscience weigh a bit heavier and opened his mouth to try and apologize. Anticipating his predictable reaction, Klaus quickly but gently interjected.
"I am proposing this, not as a punishment or as an act of incrimination regarding your actions or inactions, but rather as another resource you can rely on to better ensure your safety and wellbeing. As I have stated before, we cannot always be present to defend you whether it be from a common criminal or a lethal threat, so we want to give you the tools to better defend yourself should you find yourself in that situation again." Despite Klaus' assurance and reasoning, Leo hesitated regardless on what to say on the matter but tried anyway.
"I don't know Klaus. I mean, I get what you're saying, I really do. And I agree with it for the most part but…" he trailed off, unable to pick the right words from the flood of thoughts and emotions swirling in his head to accurately convey his reasoning. Perhaps sensing this, Steven decided to finally step into the conversation and approached to give his support and thoughts on the matter.
"We get that you have mixed feelings about this, some things I doubt we have any right in knowing or understanding, but you must also realize your current position here. Not only as a member of Libra, but also as the holder of the All-Seeing Eyes, you are essentially a walking target for a lot of higher powers in this city should they ever find out about you and frankly the fact that anyone else hasn't yet is nothing short of a miracle. While we know you can hold your own decently enough in the worst-case scenario if it ever comes down to it, your pacifistic tendencies, as admirable as they are, aren't always going to be enough to help you, even against a common street thug. And it's only a matter of time before you encounter someone or something that won't be satisfied with their actions and they take something more from you than just some petty cash."
Leo opened his mouth to counter but quickly closed it again and averted his gaze downward in recollection when memories of the incident with the King of Pain and the cruel words of the previous day's attacker came back to him. He wanted to refuse their offer, to brush off their concerns, as touched as he was by them, so as not to trouble them further when he vaguely recalled Klaus' previous plea following his discharge.
"I'd like there to be more open communication between us. Do not feel as if you have to be so reserved for our sakes." Some of his reluctance melted away at the reminder of those kind words as he realized Klaus was trying hard to hold up to them. Leo was silent in thought for nearly a minute as Klaus, Steven and the other, totally-not-eavesdropping members tensely waited for his response. Eventually Leo let out a small sigh and looked back up to Klaus.
"Can I…think about it a bit?" he sheepishly asked. Some of the room's tension seemed to leave at those words and the overhearing group visibly relaxed a bit while Klaus and Steven gave him a small smile, satisfied with the response.
"Of course, we did not expect an immediate answer from you right away," Klaus replied gently. "Take your time to think it over." Leo nodded and figured that was the end of the conversation for now. He turned and went back to where Sonic and his lukewarm breakfast were waiting and he grabbed the bag off the table before taking a seat on the couch next to Zapp. The atmosphere in the room quickly went back to normal as he ate, Klaus and Steven discussed the usual business, Zapp and Chain bickered and K.K. and Zed threw in the arbitrary quip as they all waited for the call to duty.
The morning passed relatively quickly and uneventfully compared to the previous day until the clock struck noon, signaling lunchtime. Leo walked down the nearly empty sidewalk alone, aside from Sonic of course who was keeping pace next to him for a change in order to stretch his legs, to get something to eat since Zapp and Zed were unable to accompany him due to being needed for gathering intelligence in the rougher parts of the city's red light district for a last minute operation. He initially wanted to offer his assistance but given the nature of where Zapp's connections were going to take them, (a seedy Alterworldly brothel), Leo thought better of it. Thankfully Zed took his place to help keep Zapp in check despite the Kagutsuchi Style user's insistence that it wasn't needed. As Leo walked aimlessly trying to think of where to grab some lunch, his mind eventually went back to Klaus' proposal from earlier that day.
To say he felt conflicted was an understatement. Leo was more than aware of how his pacifist ways seemed more like a double-edged sword that he always ended up cutting himself with despite whether or not he chose to retaliate. Sure he didn't want to hurt anyone if he could help it, not that he physically could even if he wanted to, but despite the constant aggressors and dangerous situations he always seemed to find himself in seemingly on a normal basis, Leo still didn't like the idea of using his eyes for his own sake barring life-threatening situations. His guilt was still too heavy for him to allow that. But on the other hand he would be lying if he said he wasn't sick of constantly being jumped, mugged, kidnapped, injured, hospitalized or any combination of the aforementioned examples. Sometimes he didn't know what was worse, the fear and frustration of going through another life-or-death scenario or the guilt and shame of having to be saved and putting Klaus and the others through all the trouble just to protect him. No matter how much he tried to shake it off, his guilt and insecurity always stuck to and ate away at him.
He then recalled his encounter with Pain, how weak he felt under the near crushing weight of his curse and how helpless he was to fight back against him without his eyes, even when the curse was momentarily halted for their one-sided duel.
"Is it sinking in yet? How useless you are, how weak you are…You had the power to actually make a difference once but instead you let your own flesh and blood suffer at the hands of a higher being in exchange for those precious eyes of yours. And yet you still have the audacity to try and act like you can make a difference for her or anyone else when you don't even have the strength to save yourself? How delusional can you be?" Then the words from yesterday's bully came back to him.
"It's kind of sad actually. Do you seriously just go through life getting your ass beat and just wait and plead for it to end as soon as possible? That's so cowardly and stupid it's not even funny…I bet any family or friends that you have think that you're just a lost cause. They probably can't stand having such a burden in their lives!" Leo felt the familiar feeling of despair begin to resurface from his musings when suddenly Klaus' words from the hospital and party came to mind, almost as if being summoned by Klaus himself on cue to prevent his downward spiral.
"You are not a burden. You are not useless and you are not a tool…Do not ever question your worth again because you, Leonardo Watch, are and will always be a proud and valued member of Libra…You have become an important person to us. Not because of your eyes, but because of who you are as a person and I am more than willing to remind you of that as many times as I need to," Klaus' words rang in his mind making Leo's spirits rise just enough to help pull him out of his funk. He slowly came to a halt in the middle of the currently unoccupied sidewalk causing Sonic to stop a ways ahead of him when he realized Leo had stopped and he looked back him, curious as to why. Leo sighed and tilted his head up to glance at the fog-shrouded sky.
"Maybe…something does need to change," Leo mumbled aloud to himself as Sonic cocked his head curiously before his gaze fell to something, or rather someone, behind him and he froze. Leo was completely unaware of a pair of hands approaching from behind him ominously until they playfully smacked his shoulders and causing him to jump and let out a yelp as he spun around to face whoever was behind him.
"Whoa! Sorry about that Leo; didn't think I would scare you that much."
"Vivian?" Leo declared surprised as indeed Vivian stood before him although not in her usual counter hop uniform. Instead she wore a baby blue workout tank top and black yoga pants with red high top sneakers and missing her usual red baseball cap as her blonde hair was instead pulled back into a short, messy ponytail. A duffle bag was slung over her shoulder as she smiled at him. "What are you doing here?" he asked as Sonic climbed up onto his shoulder to also greet the blonde haired woman.
"You know I do have a life too outside of working at Dianne's, right?" she responded cheekily putting a hand on her hip and raising her brow in a pointed manner.
"Err, sorry; I didn't mean it like that. I was just a bit lost in thought and didn't expect to see you, that's all," he said scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah I noticed," Vivian replied with a light chuckle and still smiling to show she had no hard feelings. "I had called out to you from across the street a few times but you didn't even hear me." Her smile fell a little as she seemed to finally register the still mildly troubled expression on Leo's face. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. I was just thinking about some stuff is all," Leo tried to assure and play off as Vivian looked him over. She took notice of the faint bruises and cuts still present on his face from the day before and frowned a bit.
"Well I was on my way to grab a drink and a bite to eat at a smoothie place nearby. If you got the time do you want to join me?" The offer reminded Leo of the fact that he had yet to find a suitable place for lunch thanks to his musings and the company sounded like a nice distraction.
"Sure, I'm actually on my lunch hour right now so that sounds great," Leo said with a smile. Vivian returned the smile and they walked together a block down the street, catching up a bit as she inquired about his prior hospital stay (divulging what she vaguely heard from Zapp) until they made their way to the Jumbo Juice shop. Once inside they ordered their meals with Leo getting a ham and cheese melt and orange-banana smoothie while Vivian got a turkey and Swiss Panini with a strawberry-mango smoothie and sat down at a table near the restaurant's farthest corner for some privacy. After they ate and drank a bit, Vivian finally decided to ask what had been nagging at her.
"So, what was on your mind before that had you so spaced out?" She asked gingerly, unsure if she was approaching a sensitive topic. Leo, who had been in the middle of taking a bite of his sandwich while Sonic munched on a bag of potato chips Leo had gotten him, seemed to pause almost mid-chew before he swallowed and set his food down. He debated for a moment whether he should share what had happened the day before or just play it off. However when he recalled his indecisiveness about Klaus' offer, he realized that maybe he needed an outside opinion on the matter and Vivian had always been kind enough to lend him an ear in the past (albeit about the more minor things not relating to Alterworldly artifacts or secret organizations). So he hesitantly relented.
"Well, yesterday I had a bit of an incident heading to work where I uh, got jumped," he admitted fidgeting with the straw of his drink, using it to stir its contents. "The guy didn't take anything from me this time around thankfully but I didn't exactly get out of it unscathed either," he went on, avoiding eye contact with Vivian as she raised her brow at the "this time around" remark. "Anyway, I showed up a bit late to work yesterday as a result and they sort of figured out what happened but didn't really say anything about it until today when my boss sort of suggested that I maybe think about… taking self-defense lessons. But…" he trailed off after that evidently a bit ashamed to continue on now that he had said so much aloud. Vivian looked at him sympathetically.
"I'm sorry that happened to you Leo. Given how this city is, I'm not surprised that it happened, but I'm sorry nevertheless. Though I do have to say that I'm kind of surprised that this apparently has been a reoccurring problem for you, given that your boss suggested something like that. What have you done in the past to avoid getting into those kinds of situations that isn't working anymore?"
"Leave my apartment and go outside," he deadpanned.
"Oh," she uttered immediately reading between the lines and understanding Leo's quiet shame and quickly tried to change the topic. "Well, at least you have a boss that cares about you enough to suggest a solution like that. Not most people in this city would bother to look out for anyone else except themselves." That comment got Leo's attention as he thought back to not just Klaus but Zapp's own words and actions from that morning along with the past actions of everyone else in Libra and he smiled a little as some of his distress was quickly forgotten.
"You do have a point there," Leo admitted as Sonic finished off his bag of chips and licked the salt off his paws before looking to Leo's smoothie.
"Then maybe you should consider it. Everyone who lives in this city needs some sort of edge to get by. Even I'm fairly active in self-defense from my karate classes. Of course carrying some Alterworldly pepper spray helps too," Vivian said before taking a sip of her smoothie.
"You know karate?" Leo said shocked by that revelation.
"Oh yeah," she confirmed with a bit of a chuckle. "When I was a little girl my Dad was super overprotective of me and enrolled me in classes as soon as he could, even before Hellsalem's Lot ever came to be because he wanted to be sure I could take care of myself in any situation. I attended for a couple years until I entered high school and then started going less and less when I started working at the diner. In fact I still know and practice the basics from time to time at the gym as a good way to stay sharp and in shape," she said gesturing to the duffle bag placed down next to her. "Though even now like 12 years later my Dad is just as stubborn and protective from when I was a kid and insists I go more frequently to, as he puts it, 'keep away the drooling idiots who want to take my precious baby girl away from me,'" she joked in a deep voice in obvious imitation of her father.
"Well you know what they say about family, they'll always worry about you no matter what, right?" Leo said with a light chuckle and smirk. It took a minute for Vivian to realize that Leo had parroted the exact same words she had told him about from over a year ago when they first started getting friendly.
"Touché," she replied with an amused snort. "In any case, you shouldn't be ashamed of not knowing basic self-defense, most people don't take it up unless they undergo the same things you do or they want to be prepared just in case it does happen. You should try it." Leo's jovial attitude quickly evaporated at the reminder of his concerns.
"That's easier said than done," he said as he picked up his sandwich again as Sonic took a couple gulps from his smoothie.
"Why's that?" Vivian pressed as Leo took a bite. "It seems like a really good idea and it's for your own benefit so what's the problem?" Leo swallowed his food and was silent for a moment.
"It's complicated," he admitted unsure of what else to say but Vivian's gaze pressured him into continuing as he averted eye contact. "I guess I just have reservations about the whole idea in general due to…certain reasons."
"Such as?" Vivian urged not wanting Leo to talk himself out of any chance in getting some help. Again Leo was silent for a brief moment before he spoke.
"You know as well as I do that there are people, both human and Alterworldly alike, who will do and take what they want from others. I'm no Rambo by any means so I doubt I could do much against them. And even if I could, it would just lead some of them to retaliate twice as hard the next time around in a never-ending cycle. After all, the smallest bit of trouble can spiral into chaos here. I get that it's not ideal but it just seems like the smartest thing to do is to just let things go; otherwise it only makes things worse for anyone else who may get involved."
"Bullshit," Vivian replied a bit harshly almost as soon as he finished speaking, shocking Leo as he looked up to see the sour look on her face. "Leo I may not know you on a super personal level, but I do know you well enough to know that you aren't as feeble as you let others think you are. I still remember how you came to try and help us when that half-demon creature destroyed Dianne's over a year ago and trapped Reggie the cook and me under the rubble. Those kinds of people prey on those that don't stand up to them because they know they can get away with it. But the moment you show them that you aren't going to take it lying down, only then will they back off. That's bullying 101."
"Sure some will be more persistent and heinous than others and a small minority may retaliate against you in some way, but that's what the police are for. You can rely on them when things get too difficult for you to manage on your own. And I also know that you aren't the kind of guy who would go needlessly picking fights with random strangers even if you did have the ability or desire to do so like some other people you associate with," she said obviously referring to his delinquent of a coworker (since she recalled a couple times where Zapp had nearly gotten into fist fights over the most minor of altercations in Dianne's). "You would only use it when you had to because you have that restraint and good character to do so." Leo absorbed Vivian's words and despite the good sense it made (regardless of having known most of it already), he still seemed a bit hesitant as he averted his gaze again.
"I guess you have a point…but what if—"
"Leo," Vivian interrupted a bit gentler than before causing him to glance up at her. "Let me ask you something: are you tired of getting into these kinds of situations?"
"Yes," Leo admitted sheepishly
"Do you trust in your boss's judgment?" Vivian followed up.
"Of course," Leo assured almost instantly.
"And do you have 100% complete and absolute certainty that learning self-defense, is going to cause someone to get hurt unnecessarily just because you want to protect yourself?" Vivian pressed putting enough emphasis on her words to make her point. Sure enough, any doubts Leo may have had started to gradually slip away as he thought about Vivian's words.
"…No, I don't." Vivian smiled seeing that it finally sunk in for him.
"Then what do you have to lose?" She asked. Leo was silent for a moment before he let out a sigh and Sonic pulled away from the straw to his smoothie, patting his stomach with satisfaction.
"Other than my dignity and maybe some teeth, I guess not much," he joked leaning back in his chair causing Vivian to chuckle. "Thanks for the pep talk Viv. You know, if the whole waitress career doesn't work out for you, then you should think about becoming a psychiatrist."
"Oh please, like Dianne's could even run without me there," she retorted light-heartedly with a roll of her eyes before glancing to the restaurant's wall clock. "Ah crap, speaking of which, I gotta run," she said quickly getting up from her chair and grabbing her gym bag and gathered her trash, throwing it away in the garbage can by the exit close by. "I'll see you later Leo. Good luck with everything," she said with a wave, which he returned before she exited through the glass door.
The burden on Leo's mind had been lifted, allowing him some peace of mind for the moment and so decided to quickly finish his lunch before heading back to Libra. He picked up his smoothie cup and proceeded to drink from the straw but when nothing came out of it, he pulled it away to inspect only to find the clear cup completely empty. Leo was confused for a moment before a small belch came from Sonic when Leo finally connected the dots and gave the gluttonous simian a half-hearted frown.
"Gee, thanks for sharing Sonic," he sarcastically remarked as the unapologetic little monkey relaxed, lying back on the table.
After Leo had polished off what little remained of his food, he returned to the Office without wasting a second, hoping to talk to Klaus privately without the scrutinizing gazes of everyone else present. Thankfully everyone else aside from Klaus, Gilbert, and Steven (the latter two he knew would have enough decency to allow for some privacy) were absent, likely still out on their lunches or working on their tasks for the day. Leo fidgeted a bit at the entryway into the room, seemingly starting to have second thoughts about coming to his decision, as Klaus concentrated intently on his laptop, likely playing a Prosfair match if Leo had to guess judging by the sound effects of pieces moving on the board and musical chimes of victory or defeat, and therefore unaware of Leo's mild distress. Gilbert and Steven, who were in the middle of some minor deskwork and cleaning, took notice of this but since Leo's gaze was not fixed on them, nor did it seem like much of an emergency, they chose not to interfere but just silently observe from afar. Leo eventually gained some courage and approached Klaus' desk while Sonic darted over to a side table with a potted plant beside the large bay windows to relax and sun himself.
Leo stood in silence for a moment, waiting for Klaus to notice him or when Klaus reached a good stopping point so Leo wouldn't distract or interrupt him (damn his good manners). Eventually, the red-haired man noticed that he was not alone and glanced up to see who had approached him, half-expecting Gilbert but instead finding Leo.
"My apologies Leonardo, I did not notice you were there. Had you been waiting long to get my attention?" Klaus apologized straightening up a bit from his chair after pausing his game against the bot he was competing against.
"It's okay, I hadn't been waiting long. I just didn't want to interrupt, you looked like you were really focused there."
"Yes I suppose I do get a little too absorbed in a good Prosfair match," he admitted, mildly sheepish before promptly shaking it off. "In any case, did you need something?" Leo hesitated but only for a moment before he took a breath and exhaled and spoke.
"I uh, did some thinking about your offer from this morning," Leo began and paused to gauge Klaus' reaction. He was not disappointed. Almost instantaneously Klaus seemed to perk up in interest, as did Steven and Gilbert who still remained a respectful distance away. Klaus nodded to show that he was listening and prompted Leo to continue. "Well, I thought it over and, well…while I still have some second thoughts and uneasiness about the whole thing, I decided that maybe it couldn't hurt to learn a thing or two about self-defense." Immediately, the Libra leader smiled faintly at Leo's words, his body language relaxing and conveying the invisible relief he felt. Steven and Gilbert mirrored the German man and before Gilbert went back to his dusting and Steven finished up with the files on his desk.
"I am very pleased to hear that Leonardo," Klaus said sincerely though Leo still seemed a tad on edge as he fidgeted and rubbed the back of his neck before he continued.
"That being said, I don't know how well I can adapt my lessons to fight well enough in the field, or how effective or useful I'll be," he said pensively.
"You misunderstand," Klaus interjected. "As I stated this morning, we are proposing this to you only as a way to provide you with the tools and skills you need to be able to better protect yourself when we cannot be present or able to do so. We do not expect you to fight on the frontlines alongside us, especially if you are not comfortable or confident enough in your skills when it will put you in harm's way." Leo visibly relaxed at the clarification and reassurance.
"Okay, good to know. So, when do I start? Come to think of it, where will I go and who's gonna train me? Is there some kind of Libra-exclusive gym you guys are members of or do I have to find a place myself?"
"None of that will be necessary," Klaus informed as he quit out of his paused Prosfair game and stood up from his desk to face Leo.
"Why not?"
"Because myself and the other members of the team have all agreed to be the ones to train you here, and we start immediately." The room was silent for the longest time as Leo processed the words before they finally sunk in. His All-Seeing Eyes opened wide in shock as Leo could only utter out one dumbstruck word lacking any eloquence.
"Huh?"
"Owowowowowow!" Leo exclaimed in obvious discomfort as Klaus pinned him to the mat in a very basic submission hold as gently but firmly as he could, which unfortunately still put Leo into a very uncomfortable position. Klaus quickly released his hold giving Leo some much-needed relief as he stood up.
"Forgive me Leonardo but I had informed you that the demonstration was going to be rather hands on," Klaus said as-matter-of-factly as Leo slowly pushed himself up and sat back on the ground to look up at him. Klaus had changed out of his usual, formal clothing and into more gym appropriate attire consisting of a white muscle shirt showcasing his muscles and black sweat pants minus shoes or socks.
"Yeah but I didn't think that you would still be quite that strong," Leo retorted as he remained on the foam wrestling mat that had been laid out for them. While Leo's usual clothing was less restrictive than Klaus' own, he had still chosen to remove his blue and white sweatshirt and goggles to instead wear only his thin, black undershirt along with his usual dark blue sweatpants while also bare foot, following Klaus' example.
"I had intended for the experience to be as genuine as possible though I suppose I may have been a bit more forceful than I had meant it to be. I apologize," Klaus said offering the lad a hand up onto his feet, which Leo wordlessly accepted.
"It's fine. I guess I'm just not flexible enough yet for the more hands-on stuff."
"You will learn and improve over time, trust me. That is why we are here," Klaus said indicating to the area around them. The area Klaus had indicated was a large, underground gym located in the depths of the Libra Office building. It was easily the biggest room Leo had seen previously at Libra with a high, open-air ceiling (seeming almost impossible considering they were technically in the basement, though Klaus had mentioned something about these grounds technically being located within a man-made dimensional pocket for convenience and privacy sake), a multitude of various gym and sports equipment, a large sparring ring where they were currently located, a gun range and shooting gallery for target practice on one end and even a connecting room with a massive and deep lap pool (likely for Zed's needs). To say Leo had been shocked when he first entered had been an understatement.
"I guess. You know, I'm still surprised I never even knew there was a place like this here in Libra," he said taking another look around the massive space. Gilbert and Sonic were also present but sitting on a bench on the sidelines observing next to a cooler of ice-cold water bottles and some towels and a first aid kit at the ready. "But I guess it makes sense; you guys can't exactly practice your blood techniques in the local gym after all."
"Precisely. Though I suppose it is only natural you were not aware of this space since you had no reason prior to come here. However now that you do, I hope you can make full use of the facilities here. Now, shall we get back to it?" Leo nodded slightly in response. "Once again, my main focus is to teach you some basic but effective holds and throws as well as some of the basic hand-to-hand grappling techniques that might be beneficial to you in the possible likelihood an unavoidable, close-quarters scuffle."
"Right," Leo said a bit warily. "But uh, about that Klaus, don't you think my lack of strength or well, 'killer instincts' could be a problem?"
"Not exclusively," Klaus said reassuringly. "Contrary to popular belief, most holds and throws actually use the strength of your opponent against them, not just relying on your own physical strength. Though it is certainly a useful advantage, it does not always guarantee victory as long as you know how to utilize the proper techniques quickly and efficiently."
"That's easy to say for the guy who can probably wrestle a bear or bench-press a small car," Leo couldn't help but sassily quip. Much to his surprise, Klaus actually chuckled a bit at that, a sound that he rarely, if ever, heard from the man.
"I appreciate your flattering faith in my abilities Leo. However, just like you, I am also human and therefore have my own limits. That being said, physical strength can always be honed and improved and you are no exception to this. Even I had to start somewhere and work diligently to get to the level of skill that I have today, and even then there are still many things I need to improve on." Leo was not only moved by Klaus' humbling and motivating words, but also mildly intrigued at the thought of Klaus being anything but the unstoppable force of righteous fury he had come to know. Unable to reign in his curiosity, he felt himself voicing his thoughts.
"I kind of find that hard to believe. I can't imagine you ever being even close to my level of inexperience even once in your life." Klaus seemed a bit caught off guard, perhaps even a bit bashful, at Leo's earnestness and high-regard of him as he let out a quiet sound of thought rumble in the back of his throat. He recovered quickly enough though to reply after casting a quick glance over to Gilbert, who seemingly understood the silent request and calmly approached with two bottles of water, Sonic accompanying him by riding on his shoulder.
"I suppose that is partially due to my upbringing," he said Klaus as he and Leo wordlessly but graciously accepted the bottles and Klaus unscrewed his to take a sip.
"Your upbringing?" Leo repeated now more curious than before and unable to help himself. Klaus hummed and nodded.
"My family are descended from nobility and thus we were constantly held to a high standard, even at a young age. We were taught many different skills and lessons that most would likely deem outdated and unnecessary in this modern day and age simply because it was what our social class expected of us. However when it was discovered that I had developed the ability to manipulate my blood as a child, I was able to more or less break away from the usual obligations expected of my family."
"My parents contacted the Vatican immediately for guidance and they in turn sent Mr. Abrams to evaluate and later train me in developing my Brain Grid Blood Battle Technique for the sake of humanity. It was difficult at first to be sure, in fact I cannot recall how many times I had lost consciousness due to losing too much blood from the strenuous toll it took on me in the beginning. But my desire to help and protect my fellow man far outweighed my initial misgivings and I devoted myself wholly to conquer my own shortcomings. After several years of harsh training and honing my skills, I eventually set out on my own to protect mankind from whatever dark forces threatened them and, as you know, eventually founded Libra after the Great Collapse and emergence of Hellsalem's Lot."
"Wow, I had no idea," Leo said in obvious awe, having even more respect for the man than before as he raised the opened water bottle to his lips to prepare to take a drink. "So did you learn how to fight hand-to-hand from Mr. Abrams too, like what you used in the Eden underground fighting ring?"
"Actually, while I developed my own style over time, I learned most of the basics of combat from Gilbert," Klaus informed gesturing to the elderly butler.
"Wait, really?" Leo exclaimed in surprise (somehow managing not to do a spit take after taking a drink) as he looked to the combat butler for verification.
"Indeed," Gilbert confirmed. "In my youth I was capable of many types of hand-to-hand combat and it was my solemn duty to protect the Reinherz family. When Master Klaus expressed interest in learning combat, and at the behest of his father, I obliged and taught him all that I knew," he explained with an almost faintly nostalgic smile. "Of course while I am no spring chicken anymore and thus am not quite as spry or limber as I used to be, as well as admittedly having come to rely more so on the technological advancements made here in Hellsalem's Lot, I still have a fairly decent grasp on the rough basics should it ever be needed in a desperate pinch."
"Right, you are also a combat butler after all, just like Phillip," Leo said in understanding thinking back to the raven-haired man who had temporarily filled in for Gilbert some months ago and vaguely wondered if he could ever picture himself doing the same kinds of things. Klaus took the opportunity to place a hand reassuringly on Leo's shoulder, perhaps sensing Leo's internal musings.
"Do not think that you have to hold yourself to the same standards as us Leonardo. We were trained to fight in extreme life-or-death scenarios for the sake of humanity and the path that we follow is a long, arduous, and often, violent one. The most important thing for you to do at this moment is to develop the skills you need to protect yourself at your own pace and in time I am sure that you will find your own path alongside us that works best for you." Leo let Klaus' words sink in as he briefly pondered what exactly his "path" could be before he looked back up to meet Klaus' gaze and nodded to show he acknowledged what he had said.
"Now then," Klaus began as he removed his hand from Leo's shoulder and handed the water bottle back to Gilbert to take, which he dutifully did before retreating calmly back to the sidelines. "Since I have shown you an effective pinning hold, among some other useful submission holds, I would next like to demonstrate some basic but effective throwing techniques." Leo winced as he could already feel the bruises forming at the very thought.
"Keep your hips up a bit more when you extend that leg for a higher target. Remember to keep your foot straight so the impact is on the top of it and you don't hurt yourself," Steven instructed to Leo as he practiced on the mannequin dummy. Leo did his best to comply as sweat poured down his face and back from the grueling workout. Leo grunted from the effort and switched legs as he continued to deliver a few more low kicks with his left before once more trying for a high kick to the dummy's head but missed and lost his balance causing him to fall back. Leo laid spread eagle on his back on the training mat, taking his fall as an opportunity to rest as he panted from the exertion. Steven let out a small, faintly amused sigh as Sonic bounded over to Leo's side to make sure that he was all right; he was, just tired.
"Why don't we take a small break," Steven said considerately. Leo wasted no time and nodded, getting to his feet and quickly making his way over to the bench where his water bottle was waiting for him. He guzzled nearly the entire thing before stopping to catch his breath and relax on the seat as Steven came close and offered him a towel to wipe his sweat.
"Thanks," Leo finally said after regaining his breath and taking the offered towel to wipe his face and brow as Sonic hopped up on the seat next to him. "You know, I don't want to question your methods Steven, but I'm having my doubts as to how effective learning kicks are for me."
"Oh, and why is that?" Steven asked with a quirked brow.
"Because kicking anything above waist-high is not exactly easy when you have short legs." Steven let out an abrupt but genuine chuckle of amusement but quickly recomposed himself to address his trainee.
"While I can see why that might be an issue, especially in terms of self-defense when you are trying to hit a taller target or need to be closer to hit them effectively, it's not a bad idea to try and learn more flexibility. After all, these exercises are meant to help in strengthening your legs to one: help you with escaping a possible situation where your assailant is close-quarters and maintain a safe distance, and two: learn some offensive techniques and proper stance in cases where you can't escape or distance yourself. Besides, having a short stature isn't necessarily a deal-breaker. If anything, it can provide you with some opportunities to strike low where people are less guarded." Leo mulled over what Steven had said and hummed.
"I guess that makes sense. Though between Klaus teaching me things that require upper body strength that I don't have and you teaching me how to kick with short legs, I guess I just feel like I'm not living up to your expectations," he said feeling mildly dejected.
"You'll learn Leo," Steven assured as genuinely as he could. "Give it time and it'll eventually become second-nature. Rome wasn't built in a day after all." Leo glanced up to him, grateful at his attempts to ease his worries, but he also felt a familiar sense of curiosity and boldness.
"Was it hard for you?" Leo inquired causing Steven to look at him questioningly, unsure exactly as to what he meant. "Learning how to fight and use a blood technique I mean, was it hard for you?" Steven stiffened a bit, instinctively on guard, which Leo noticed and immediately balked and tried to apologize for. "I'm sorry. If you're not comfortable with answering then you don't have to; I know it's probably not my place to ask anyway." Steven forced himself to relax as he waved off Leo's attempts.
"It's fine, I was just a little surprised you wanted to know, that's all," he said trying to play it off. "You think you want to learn a blood technique too while we're at it?" he questioned teasingly with a smirk causing Leo to gawk and shake his head vehemently.
"No way, there's no way in hell I could handle something like that! I was just curious is all; I asked Zapp a long time ago about how blood techniques worked and he said different styles have different effects but didn't go into specifics." Steven was silent as he thought about it while Leo again tried to apologize and drop the subject. Eventually he came to a decision and approached the spot next to where Leo sat and leaned his back against the wall casually with his hands in his pockets.
"To be perfectly honest, there isn't a whole lot really known about blood techniques in general," Steven began, causing Leo to quiet and listen. "As far as anyone has been able to figure out, it is largely a mysterious, genetic mutation that causes our blood to essentially take on unusual characteristics, though even now scientists are unable to determine exactly what causes it or why and how. Not to mention the circumstances as to how some people gain these abilities while others don't are never the quite same. Some people can either acquire this sudden mutation randomly or it lies dormant in them and awakens under extreme stress or life-threatening situations while it never develops in others, even under the same circumstances. And then there are those that are born under unusual circumstances and it awakens gradually over time. My situation is the latter example." Steven paused for a moment to look over at Leo who was listening quietly and intently. "You've heard of spontaneous combustion right?"
"Yeah," Leo nodded.
"Well, I suppose you could say I was born with the opposite of that. There were times in my early youth where my body temperature would randomly plummet to unnaturally dangerous levels beyond what a normal person can endure, even to the point of ice suddenly forming either on or around me while typically I showed little to no signs of adverse reaction." Steven paused again, this time diverting his gaze and appearing mildly downcast and bitter as he continued. "Unfortunately the place and people that I grew up with were quite religious and, let's just say, unsure of how to deal with someone with my circumstances so I had to learn and figure out a lot of it on my own." As quickly as it came, Steven's funk disappeared as he nonchalantly shook it off and continued on as though nothing had happened when he looked to Leo.
"Do you know why I only use my legs to fight with my Esmerelda Blood Technique?" Leo thought about it but shook his head in the negative. "Because if I allow the ice affinity in my blood to travel too freely through my circulatory system, I could enter a potentially dangerous state in which my body temperature would fall so low without me even being fully aware of it that I could essentially freeze my own heart and stop it from pumping blood through my body entirely." Leo's eyes widened at that admission.
"Jesus," Leo muttered grimly, not realizing how dangerous Steven's abilities really were. Seeing Leo's expression, Steven did his best to calm him.
"Not to worry though. It's never gotten to that point, even in my younger years. The worst I ever got was a bad case of pneumonia because of the constant hypothermia I was always under due to my own carelessness and experimenting. Now, by keeping my ice abilities circulating mainly through my legs, I can greatly minimize that risk to essentially zero." Leo relaxed at that, prompting Steven to continue on.
"Anyway, it wasn't until my teenage years when I met a small group of traveling Fang Hunters from the Vatican by completely random chance that I finally learned the truth of my abilities and learned to harness it properly with a bit of their help. Several years after that I left home and became a traveling Fang Hunter myself, hired by the Vatican and Fang Hunter HQ. It was during my solo travels that I met Klaus when we were both assigned to deal with the same Blood Breed that was terrorizing a small village in Mexico and, well, the rest was history." Leo absorbed Steven's tale and felt both admiration and sympathy for the scar-faced man as he picked up on the faint traces of gloom he had briefly displayed from his recounting.
"Well that certainly explains a lot," Leo declared with a faint smile in an attempt to lighten the mood. Steven looked back to Leo, clearly unsure as to what Leo had meant by his random statement or whether or not he should take offense. "The reason you always seem so well-put together and calm; it's probably because you're making sure to keep your ice abilities in check, right? With all the stress you must deal with helping keep Libra running, managing all the different, daily tasks and dealing with everyone else's, mainly Zapp's, shenanigans or problems, it's pretty amazing that you have such a high level of restraint and control. I don't think I could do what you do if I had those same powers," Leo clarified sincerely. Steven blinked, shocked at Leo's sharp observational skills and earnest praise. A gentle, genuine smile, not his usual artificial one, crossed his face as he tousled Leo's unruly hair in a rare showcase of fondness. Leo was surprised by the action but did not draw back from it.
"I appreciate the sentiment, but flattery won't get you through these exercises any quicker," Steven said reminding him of the task at hand. "So let's get back to it, shall we?"
"Can't blame a guy for trying," Leo said in jest as he set his water bottle back down next to Sonic and stretched out his still tired and aching limbs before standing. "Though I doubt how much more my short legs can keep up with all this kicking."
"If you can run nearly halfway across the city as it is exploding and crumbling down around you, then I think you can manage just fine," Steven said with a smirk as he gestured towards the dummy. "From the top, start on your right leg and deliver three kicks to the legs, torso and head before switching back to the left. After five more sets we'll move onto proper stance and gaining distance when you're all warmed up." Leo's concentration faltered as soon as he had started his workout and he almost lost his footing but quickly regained it before he looked back to Steven incredulously.
"This is just a warm-up?!"
Another round of bullets, one right after another, burrowed into the paper target hanging on the far wall of the shooting range as several obstacles popped up like a carnival shooting gallery. K.K. blew the smoke from the barrel of her gun before setting her pistol back in her holster and then removed her protective glasses and noise-canceling headphones plus foam earplugs before she approached Chain and Leo (who had also taken out their own foam earplugs). Leo offered her the cappuccino he had just picked up for them as Chain sipped her own coffee and messed around on her phone.
"I don't see the point of constantly practicing putting bullet holes into moving targets. Wouldn't the repetition get old after a while? I get bored just thinking about it." Chain remarked as she tucked her legs up to her chest on the armrest next to Leo.
"And that's why you can barely hit the broad side of a barn hon," K.K. playfully quipped with a cheeky smirk after taking a drink causing Chain to sulk childishly and go back to her phone, her pride having taken a small blow. Leo smiled faintly at the harmless teasing as he sipped from his cup while Sonic practically devoured the slice of banana bread they had gotten for him. K.K. set her beverage down on the neighboring stall's ledge before looking to the short male.
"You've used a gun before, right Leo? Zapp told me about your first assignment in Libra with stopping the two demon halves and their opening gates."
"Technically no," Leo corrected as he thought back to the event when he stood in the midst of that chaos pointing a gun towards Sonic, who they thought at the time was the host of the second gate. "The farthest I ever got was just holding it; I never even fired a single shot. And honestly, I'm not really sure if I even want to. I mean I appreciate you guys going through all this trouble, but isn't learning how to shoot things kind of um, overkill for self-defense?" K.K. sighed but sympathized and understood Leo's reluctance.
"It's better to be safe then sorry. You'll never know when you may need the knowledge or experience," K.K. said as she approached the wall where several types of handguns and rifles were displayed and she surveyed their options. "But we'll take it slow and start with something simple," she assured as she finally selected what looked like a highly customized Glock 17 and its magazine clip before holding them out for Leo to take. With some initial hesitation, he set down his coffee cup and got up from his seat to take the offered pistol and cartridge, inspecting it warily.
"Before we get started there are four major rules of gun safety you should always follow," K.K. declared. "One: always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. Have it pointed down if not needed at that moment and never point it at someone, even when the safety is on, unless you have every intention of shooting them. Two: always make sure a gun is unloaded if you aren't using it. While I don't think you'll have any issues with that rule, don't forget that even with the magazine out there could always be a potential round in the chamber so play it safe and keep that in mind if you're ever on the receiving end of having a gun pointed at you, even one without the magazine. Three: Don't rely on your gun's safety being on to think that it will be okay to handle recklessly. Like everyone learns as a preschooler, guns are not toys and like any machine, they could malfunction so don't always assume that just because the safety is on that it won't injure or kill someone. Treat every gun like it's loaded and ready to fire. And four: Be sure of not only what your target is, but what lies beyond it. Once you fire that bullet, there are no take-backs. Don't get tunnel vision when you are aiming a gun at somebody or something. A gun with enough firepower can not only injure or kill someone, but can keep going a good distance through your target and come to rest in a person or place you may not want it to end up. You got all that?" K.K. asked as she listed off the rules with each of her fingers, to which Leo nodded dutifully.
"Good. Now load the magazine into the slot on the bottom and pull the slide back to enter the first round into the chamber before flicking the safety off there," she instructed pointing the designated parts on the weapon. "Use your dominant hand to wrap around the grip but keep your finger off the trigger and on the guard while placing your other hand underneath the base and wrap it around your other hand to help keep it level and stable so the bullet goes straight. You don't want a bullet to ricochet off the ground when you fire." Leo did as instructed, being mindful to keep the muzzle pointed down towards the ground for safety. "Nice. Now aim at the target on the wall using your sight as a reference point on where you want to shoot," she said indicating to the paper target posted against the far wall of the shooting range.
"My sight?" Leo repeated clearly confused, thinking she was referring to his All-Seeing Eyes.
"The little plastic nubs the on the barrel of the gun," K.K. clarified "Be sure to keep both eyes open when you shoot; that whole thing of keeping one eye closed for a better shot is BS."
"Says the sniper with an eye patch," Chain quipped indifferently, not even bothering to glance up from her phone to watch them. K.K. shot her a withering scowl before focusing her attention back on her pupil (no pun intended).
"Finally when you fire, make sure to keep a firm grip on the gun but keep your elbows and shoulders kind of relaxed so the small kickback of the gun doesn't mess with your aim. We'll focus on accuracy later but for right now I want you to get used to how to properly shoot, reload and handle various firearms. Don't pull the trigger until I give the okay. And don't forget your eye and ear protection," she said as she gestured to the hanging set of headphones. Leo carefully set the gun down and pulled up his goggles as well as inserted his foam earplugs into his ears before pulling on the headphones and picking the customized Glock back up, making sure he was holding it as instructed. He glanced up to K.K. for the go-ahead and she responded with a reassuring smile and double thumbs up. Leo gulped as the gun started to feel really heavy and solid in his hands but he took a deep breath to calm himself and took aim at the target. Chain finally glanced up from her phone screen to watch Leo's lesson when her dark purple eyes landed on the gun Leo held and they widened in mild alarm.
"Wait, isn't that—" Before she could say anything more, Leo fired the gun with a loud bang however the force was deceptively greater than what he or K.K. expected. As a result, the recoil was much greater causing the end of the gun to propel itself into Leo's face, knocking off his protective headphones and clocking him square in the nose. The gun clattered to the ground as Leo groaned and covered his face as blood began to flow from his nose from the impact. Immediately K.K., Chain and Sonic hurried over to Leo's side.
"Are you okay Leo?" K.K. asked motioning for him to tilt his head back and Chain handed him some paper napkins from their coffee run to shove up his nostrils to help staunch the bleeding.
"Yeah, I think so," he said nasally. "That was more than just a small kickback, or maybe I'm just that terrible," he remarked with just a hint of dejection mixed in with his sarcasm.
"Actually, it wasn't you," Chain informed, feeling a little guilty. "That Glock was modified by Patrick to give it more firepower and range. I saw him working on it this morning but didn't think to say anything when K.K. grabbed it," the Invisible Werewolf explained apologetically. K.K.'s motherly instincts took over in response to the two younger members' embarrassment.
"Don't worry about it, I should have realized it was modified too but didn't," she said directing her attention at Chain before switching to Leo. "And you're not the first one, or the last for that matter, to take a hit from the recoil; just be glad all you got out of it was a bloody nose. Hell, even I lost a tooth or two when I was a little girl learning to shoot my first semi-automatic rifle." Both Leo and Chain looked shocked by that admission.
"Really?" Leo asked, quickly forgetting about his own discomfort even as he clenched his nose shut to stop the blood flow.
"Oh yeah," K.K. chuckled. "My Mom was super pissed at my Dad for the longest time for that one. In fact, he was actually the one who taught me everything I know about guns since he was in the military for 20 years. I remember he would try to take every summer he could off so we could go hunting together and he would teach me all different kinds of things and tell me stories about his past tours and missions," she reminisced with a nostalgic smile before it turned into a sad one. "Sadly he passed away from an IED on his last deployment before retirement when I was in high school but I never forgot all the things he taught me," she said glancing at her customized dual skull pistols and rubbed them with her thumb fondly as Leo and Chain listened in quiet sympathy.
"I guess I was following in his footsteps when I also joined the military after high school and later the special armed forces. It was actually during one of my first missions with them that I discovered my 954 Blood Bullet Arts Blood Technique when we were ambushed by a Blood Breed in the Middle East. Though I ended up losing my eye in the process, it gave me the sense of purpose I needed to use my blood techniques and what my Dad taught me to help save lives." K.K. seemed to come out of her own thoughts and blushed at how much she easily let slip when she saw the looks of awe and compassion on Leo and Chain's faces (Sonic however was now largely disinterested once he saw that Leo was okay and went back to munching on what remained of his banana bread).
"Wow, compared to you my childhood was pretty boring," Chain said without much thought.
"Oh yeah, how so?" Leo questioned, pulling out the blood-soaked tissues from his nostrils and wiping his nose of lingering blood one last time, as now both he and K.K. gave her curious looks. It was Chain's turn to blush a little and tried to play off her personal faux pas before she ultimately caved and decided to divulge.
"It's nothing really special. Both my parents were Invisible Werewolves who worked for the Werewolf Bureau and I was taught most of what I know from them when I eventually began to show signs of being able to dilute myself. They both died in a freak accident on the job so I was kind of taken in by the agency and worked for them until I was later assigned to Libra after meeting Klaus and Steven at a summit conference involving several other Fang Hunters after the foundation of Hellsalem's Lot."
"Chain…" Leo began as he and K.K. both wanted to express their sympathies but Chain immediately cut them off.
"It's fine, doesn't really bother me anymore," she said indifferently with a shrug. "More importantly, shouldn't we check the target?"
"Oh, right," K.K. uttered remembering the task at hand and walked over to the operator panel. "Let's see how you did." With a press of a button, the wire the target was clipped to retracted and sped toward them so they could inspect Leo's handiwork. It came to halt just above the stall ledge for them all to see the bullet hole just short of the outer ring of the target by several inches.
"Aw man," Leo said, obviously disappointed.
"Actually the fact that you even hit the paper at all is pretty good for your first try, especially with an overpowered pistol," Chain admitted.
"She's right you know. Give it time and you'll eventually get better," K.K. said supportively before playfully smacking his arm. "And who knows, with those eyes of yours and a little more practice, you might even be a better shot than me some day." While Leo appreciated the encouragement, he was fairly certain that sniper was one career path he didn't think he wanted to pursue if the lingering ache in his face was any indication to go by.
Leo grunted as he was thrown to the floor and Zapp's foot planted itself on Leo's chest to firmly hold him down.
"Come on, are you even trying to hit me?" Zapp taunted in a bored and annoyed tone. Leo growled and tried to push himself up and move Zapp's foot off him.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't we supposed to be teaching him self-defense rather than combat in an unfairly one-sided match," Zed spoke up glaring pointedly at Zapp from the sidelines with his arms crossed as Sonic watched worriedly, concerned at how rough Zapp was being on Leo.
"What do you think I'm doing?" Zapp asked brusquely, ignoring the struggling Leo underfoot to instead focus his attention on the fish man. "A little sparring is just what he needs to learn how to stay on his toes and cover his ass in a real fight. After all, the best defense is a good offense."
"I fail to see how antagonizing him without any proper instruction is productive towards that goal," Zed objected. "Also, I believe that saying is supposed to be the other way around."
"Not in his case it ain't," Zapp retorted gesturing to Leo just as he was finally able to free himself by jerking and twisting his body into a roll and throwing Zapp slightly off balance enough to get out from underfoot. Leo panted a little while on his knees before shooting his would-be mentor a half-hearted scowl.
"I get that you may be trying to help in your own messed up way Zapp, but if I really wanted to be treated like a punching bag then I'd go roam the seedy back alleys," Leo snarkily quipped.
"Oh please, if I really wanted to beat your scrawny ass I would have been a lot rougher on you. You just need to get better at fighting back," Zapp played off with a roll of his eyes as Zed came over and helped Leo to his feet. The merman then shot Zapp another glare.
"Again, I highly doubt this is what Klaus had in mind when we agreed to help teach Leo how to defend himself."
"Well that's how I was taught," Zapp snapped irritated at Zed's continued criticism.
"How and what our Master taught us is a completely different method and set of skills than what Leo needs to learn," Zed responded equally annoyed.
"Well how do you think we should be teaching him then, Master Fish Flakes?"
"I was thinking it would be much more beneficial to teach him how to block physical attacks and other defensive skills in a step by step demonstration followed by plenty of practice."
"Are you shitting me?! And how is the twerp supposed to learn that if he doesn't get any exposure to what a real brawl is like?"
"There's a difference between learning with hands-on skills and senselessly tormenting him under the guise of teaching!"
As the two Big Dipper Style users' bickering became more heated, the closer the two had inched to each other until they were practically a foot from each other's faces as figurative sparks of animosity flew from collision of their heated glares. Seeing how heated they were getting on his behalf, Leo decided to both literally and figuratively step in between them to try and de-escalate the tension.
"Chill out you guys. I know that you both are just trying to help me in the best way you think is most effective but you're getting a little too into it. I think we just need to relax and take a breather from training for a bit," Leo said as placatingly as he could. Zapp and Zed held their glares for another moment before they both huffed and finally turned away from each other still with some visible hostility. Leo let out a sigh to express his relief and exasperation and found himself unable to keep his thoughts to himself as he took a seat on the bench next to Sonic.
"You know, it's times like this that I wonder how you two were trained by the same person when you have such different personalities and ways of doing things," he said as he reached down to grab and take a drink from his water bottle. Zapp and Zed's aggravation both instantly dissipated and became somewhat pensive as they instinctually stiffened at the thought of their master and mentor. Leo caught the drastic shift in their moods but before he could comment on it, Zed spoke up first.
"You could say that the likely reason, or at least part of the reason, that would be the case is because of the differences in our branch styles of the Big Dipper Blood Technique," he began as he looked down at his open palm as if to survey the blood running through his veins just under his blue skin. "While both styles are equally devastating in their own rights, my Shinatobe style requires more finesse and control to draw out and utilize effectively as unlike the fire aspect of the Kagutsuchi, it is an element that is typically a very fast and direct manner of combat. To create and direct the airflow in any environment and be able to manipulate it to one's will is no simple task. Even with my natural discipline and dedication, it took me many years under our master's tutelage to obtain and perfect those skills." Zapp snorted indignantly at Zed's explanation.
"Yeah well my Kagutsuchi style is way more powerful and harder to control since fire is a lot more unstable and destructive element than the wind elements of the Shinatobe style but I was able to master it way quicker than you and leave that sadistic old buzzard's claws as soon as possible," he said acrimoniously with an obnoxious sneer.
"It's not a competition and how can you speak so rudely of our Master after all he's done for us?" Zed said curtly, annoyed once more by his senior and fellow disciple. Out of curiosity and also wanting to avoid another fight, Leo again intervened with another question.
"So what was training like for you guys then?" This question caught both Zapp and Zed off guard as their gazes instantly went from glaring once more at each other to Leo with a mixture of mild surprise and silent inquiry. "I mean, your master is well-known as a powerful guy and he created the Big Dipper Blood Battle Style himself, right? Given how amazing you both are with your own branch styles now, what kind training did you have to do to get so good at it?" Zapp and Zed did not answer as instead they both lost interest in each other and seemed to enter some sort of daze. Their faces were overshadowed as they tilted their heads downward, hiding their expressions from clear view and seemingly lost in their own thoughts though their body language told him that they were likely thinking back on some clearly unpleasant memories (Zapp noticeably more so than Zed as he sweated profusely and began muttering something unintelligible under his breath).
"It was that bad?" Leo asked with a large sweatdrop.
"Master's manner of instruction was admittedly…unorthodox to say the least," Zed began tensely. "Though I suppose it would be a lie if I said that it had been easy…or pleasant for that matter."
"It was hell, pure and simple," Zapp added, his tan skin looking a few shades paler than normal. "Ten years of absolute hell; there were so many frickin' times I seriously thought that old fart was genuinely trying to kill me!"
"Yeesh," Leo uttered as he thought back to Zapp and Master Shizuyoshi's tense and practically abusive interactions when he once came to Hellsalem's Lot with Zed over half a year ago to help put a stop to the Blood Breed that escaped to the city after it attacked the Fang Hunter HQ in India.
"However," Zed quickly interjected. "As harsh as his teachings may have been, they helped to make us the capable Fang Hunters that we are today. In fact I owe a lot to our Master, not just in the ways of our Big Dipper Style Techniques."
"Oh yeah?" Leo asked, intrigued as to what Zed meant by that and tilted his head a little as a sign to prompt Zed to continue. The merman immediately seemed overly conscientious as he thought back to his lonely past with the Count that created him as his only company while stuck in that small tank until his Master came along. Eventually though, he relented and divulged what little information he was most comfortable with.
"To be quite frank, he gave me the opportunity at a life I thought I could never have." Leo seemed stunned by that admission, wondering vaguely exactly where Zed came from but also vaguely realizing that it likely wasn't a pleasant subject given the heteromorph's hybrid status and appearance, even here in Hellsalem's Lot.
"So I guess you could say your Master was like a role model to you then?" Leo said with a gentle and sympathetic smile that caused the fish man to become visibly flustered.
"I…suppose you could say that," he said tentatively, his antennae twitching slightly in embarrassment though Zapp let out a disagreeing scoff.
"Speak for yourself. That decrepit old dishrag has always been the world's most ruthless bastard who only cares about training and perfecting his own blood techniques." Zed frowned and glared at Zapp but Leo managed to cut in before the two Zs could begin arguing again.
"Then why did you agree to train under him?" Leo asked genuinely interested.
"I'm curious as well," Zed added crossing his arms. "Despite your deplorable attitude and lack of discipline or respect, our Master often spoke quite highly of your achievements in the Kagutsuchi style, as much as I hate to admit it." Instead of expecting a defensive rebuff telling them to mind their own business or even a smugly satisfied retort at the boost in his ego, Leo and Zed were shocked when Zapp instead flinched and gained a faraway look in his eye. A foreign expression of what could only be indentified as sorrow vaguely crossed his features as he diverted his gaze from the two.
"Zapp?" Leo asked genuinely concerned.
"It's nothing," Zapp finally said a bit somberly after a long pause while still avoiding eye contact. "Let's just say that going with the old geezer was a better option than living the way I was at the time," Zapp trailed off, lost in thought. Leo and Zed both exchanged quick, curious glances with each other before they took the hint that he didn't want to elaborate any more than that and they focused on Zapp with genuinely sympathetic gazes. Eventually Zapp came back into himself as he shook his head and seemed to return to his normal self as he refocused his attention back on his juniors.
"Well that's enough of the boring shit. Time to get back to more important things." With a soft sigh, Leo and Zed decided to respect the white-haired male's unspoken desire not to dwell on the topic any further and instead just nodded in agreement. Leo stood up from his seat on the bench while Zed remained on the sidelines alongside Sonic that had started to doze off sometime into their talks as Zapp retook his place in the sparring ring. He tilted his head left to right to crack the muscles in his neck before tauntingly beckoning towards Leo.
"All right numb-nuts, this time come at me like you mean it; otherwise smacking you around won't be as fun!" Despite the obnoxiously irritating and taunting tone of the taller man, Leo nevertheless felt both motivated and emboldened by Zapp's unusual methods and words of encouragement. Unfortunately this feeling did not carry him too far as before Leo could get close enough to get more than just a single punch in (which was effortlessly dodged), he quickly found himself being ensnared by blood threads and easily tossed to the ground once again.
Days passed and quickly turned into a few weeks since the start of Leo's training sessions with the other Libra members. Every day was just as challenging as the last as Leo's schedule rotated between whichever Libra operative was available during their down time between missions or on the odd days off that he had some time off from his other part-time job. Regardless of the difficulty however, Leo was indeed slowly but surely showing signs of physical improvement thanks in part to his uncanny ability to adapt. Under Klaus and the other's guidance, Leo was able to get a decent handle on proficiently repeating the proper motions and movements of several of the grappling and distancing techniques taught to him by Klaus and Steven while Zapp and Zed's lessons further aided him in staying sharp and always on the defensive. K.K. and Chain's lessons in handgun training were also beginning to pay off as his aim was improving little by little once he started getting used to the feel of each various firearm that he handled. Most surprising of all to Leo though was the fact that aside from his stamina increasing from the grueling workouts his friends and colleagues put him through, he was even starting to gain some slight muscle mass. Nothing too excessive or even outwardly noticeable mind you, but Leo definitely noticed some slight toning of his otherwise skinny arms and legs and some minor definition to his normally flat stomach when he was changing out of his clothes one morning (something that both surprised and pleased him to the point that he had a little pep in his step for the rest of that day).
However in spite of his promising progress, he still found himself questioning his own "path" in learning these new skills. While his resolve in wanting things to change remained unaffected, Leo couldn't help but still hold some general apprehension on the choice he had made and whether or not it was the right decision. While he may have agreed to learn these self-defense skills, even now in spite of everything that had happened, he still didn't want to use what he had learned if he didn't have to and not just because he thought he would (or could) hurt someone.
Leo was no fool, perhaps a bit overly optimistic at times, but he still held a decent level of common sense. He knew he still lacked many of the skills (and the confidence for that matter) to believe he could win a real, life-or-death fight, regardless of his steady and minor successes. Of course he understood that it would naturally take more time for him to get to the level of skill where he can effectively protect himself against those kinds of threats. However it didn't change the fact that if he ever again found himself in a similar situation against an Alterworldly being way out of his league like Pain or Riga, then with or without his newly acquired skills or even his All-Seeing Eyes, he would likely still stand no chance against them. But above all else, there was still the present, nagging doubt and accompanying guilt in the back of his mind. Though the events with Pain helped to partially quell the churning ocean of his general discontent, there were times when he still remained adrift and helpless in those dark waters as the occasional waves of insecurity unexpectedly swelled and crashed over him. Whenever he thought about using what he had learned, even to defend himself against a common thug, his pacifistic and guilt-driven tendencies would instantly try and take over, causing him to freeze up in indecisiveness (something that happened a few times during some particularly intensive sparring sessions with Zapp or Klaus and leaving him open to receive some nasty lumps).
It was a vicious cycle; every time Leo felt hopeful about his own small victories and developments, his damned guilt and insecurities would flare up and try to beat him back down, thus throwing him off his game and lead Klaus or another Libra teammate to try and encourage him once more, thus convincing or motivating him to the point of resuming his efforts again. Leo was convinced that he was now forever cursed with this new stalemate of learning new skills to further help him grow stronger but still unable to fully break the chains of his inescapable regret… that was until one day when something happened to help him finally start to break the mold.
It was nearly three weeks after Leo's first training session with Klaus and the others. Leo had been taking advantage of the small break between operations and training to play a co-op game on his phone with Zapp and Zed when Steven had approached him with a task. He had handed Leo a piece of paper with an address given to him by Klaus and requested Leo's help in stopping by to drop off an important parcel for one of their contacts. Naturally wanting to be helpful, Leo agreed and complied as he took the note and textbook-sized parcel wrapped in brown paper and a string. Leo had looked to Zapp or Zed to see if either of them wanted to join him but the two were too invested in their prior game to agree (or rather, Zapp was too much of a sore loser to allow Zed to walk away until he had soundly beaten him). Even Sonic seemed uninterested in accompanying Leo on this particular outing that time as he lethargically lounged around on one of the couch's cushions, half-asleep. Leo shrugged it off though and chose to go alone and enjoy some fresh air.
The journey to his destination via public transit was harrowing, typical of the city's normally hazardous environment, but largely uneventful as Leo exited the Alterworldly bus, parcel protectively placed out of sight in his backpack from the prying eyes of any potential thieves or pickpockets. Eventually after some more walking Leo arrived at his destination, one of the many junkyards located all across the city. The owner, an intimidating-looking Beyondian with a massive frame and tentacles for arms though with a deceptively kind demeanor in contrast to his otherwise unapproachable appearance, had greeted him and took the package from Leo though not before providing him a small but generous monetary tip for his trouble, which Leo felt pressured into accepting out of politeness. It was on his way back to the Office however that things took their usual, unpleasant turn for the worse.
Deciding he didn't want to risk another stressful trip on the unsafe public transportation system, Leo decided to take his time and walk back since he wasn't expected back right away. On his way down the moderately occupied sidewalk alongside the busy road, Leo felt safe enough surrounded by other people to let his guard down and allow his mind to wander as he walked.
"How long has it been since I've been able to just take in the sights like this?" He thought inwardly as he surveyed the people both human and Alterworldly alike going about their lives and checking out the various storefronts and public art pieces decorated on the sidewalks and brick walls as he turned the corner and walked past a dingy, narrow side road. "I should find the time to make another trip back down here with my camera for some pictures," he mused.
However before he could dwell on the idea any further, he was suddenly and unexpectedly grabbed by the back of his shirt and backpack and yanked from behind into the narrow alley. Leo yelped and stumbled backwards, trying to regain his footing and attempt to pull away or fight back but to no success as whoever held him by the back of his shirt was strong and roughly clamped a hand over his mouth to keep him from making any noise to draw unwanted attention. He was dragged to an open, partially constructed and abandoned lot at an intersection between alleys, hidden largely out of view from the public eye and amongst the tall buildings. He was finally released and shoved roughly to the ground, his backpack being ripped off his shoulders in the process. Leo quickly pushed himself up and looked over his shoulder behind him to see who was responsible, half-expecting Zapp but instead finding the burly man who had needlessly beaten Leo nearly a month prior as he quickly rifled through the empty backpack.
"You?!" Leo exclaimed in unpleasant surprise.
"Yeah. Bet you didn't think you'd be seein' me again, did ya?" the boorish brute sneered menacingly as he tossed the useless bag away.
"What do you want from me?" Leo asked getting to his feet and taking a cautious step back but the man simply took a step forward to close the distance.
"I saw you back at the junkyard talkin' to that freak with the tentacles. He gave you a nice little lump of money, didn't he? Since I didn't get any compensation from you the last time, I figure you owe me double with that cash and whatever else you have on ya," he said cracking his knuckles in a silent threat of what might happen should he refuse. Despite Leo's desire to not cause trouble, he still felt his anger rise a little at the insult thrown at the kindly Beyondian he had just met. Nevertheless, Leo did his best to stay calm and try and dissuade the man.
"Why are you like this? I haven't done anything to you so why do you feel like its necessary to stoop to these levels?" The man looked almost genuinely confused by the question for a split second but it quickly faded and changed to irritated annoyance.
"Why?" the man repeated with a biting inflection. "What are you, stupid? 'Cause it's a dog eat dog world out there. And the only way to get by in this hellhole of a city is to take it from the runts and twerps like you who provide the necessities for the big dogs like me." Leo felt his temper rising once more at the man's audacity and spoke out against his better judgment.
"Are you kidding me? That's so wrong and screwed up I don't even know where to start!" This of course succeeded in provoking the man further as he menacingly stalked closer to Leo.
"Oh yeah? Well what are you gonna do about it tough guy, beat me up, huh?" the man said mockingly as he gave Leo a hard shove back causing him to stumble but he still remained on his feet. For a moment Leo bristled and seriously considered if this was the moment he had to put his new self-defense skills to the test but before he could really think about it, his mind flashed back to several months prior when he was in a similar scenario with the tourist thug who stole his wallet.
Leo thought he had been ready to fight back and retrieve his wallet back from the jerk back then too, as much as he didn't want to despite his desperation, but in the end he failed to retrieve his wallet on his own when the thug got in his head and used his compassion and reluctance against him before being soundly beaten once more (and tasered with the very same stun baton he brought with him for good measure to add insult to injury). Once more that reminder was all it took for Leo's indecisiveness and insecurity to take over and his confidence wavered as he visibly deflated. The brawny man before him seemed to take notice of Leo's hesitance too and smirked smugly.
"That's what I thought. You know it's pointless 'cause in the end you ain't nothin' but a wimpy little loser, aren'cha?" He ridiculed before he took on a demanding tone. "Say it!" Leo kept silent, his anger and rebellion and his reluctance and self-doubt colliding hard with each other in a brutal standoff that robbed Leo of his voice as he stewed, which only provoked the man further. "Come on, admit it ya damn pussy!" he snapped loudly, shoving Leo hard again this time causing him to stumble back hard into a grimy, metal dumpster with a loud clang. Leo grit his teeth as the man advanced closer ready to pummel him again until an unexpected and familiar voice cut through the tension.
"Hey, leave him alone!" Both Leo and the man's head turned in the direction of the voice and Leo felt a small spike of panic when he saw who it was. Vivian, once more in her workout attire and duffle bag dropped to the ground at her side, stood at the mouth of the lot they were standing in apparently having been drawn to them by the commotion they had been making. She had her cellphone in hand and glowered at the hulking brute. "You better back off right now or I'm going to call the police!" Rather than being deterred by that prospect however, the man instead smirked in amusement.
"Oh are you, little girl?" He asked condescendingly. "With what signal? I know for a fact this lot is a dead zone." Vivian made a barely audible sound of surprised frustration at having her bluff called out before the man's smirk then turned more unsavory. He turned to face her fully, choosing to ignore Leo for the moment as his smirk changed to a sickening grin as his lustful eyes traced over her body. "You know a cutie like you shouldn't be wanderin' these back alleys all alone dressed like that. Otherwise, I may just have to show you as to why." Vivian shuddered in disgust at the creep but stood her ground.
"Try anything and I'll have you on the ground clutching your balls!" She rebuffed in as intimidating a manner as she could while she slowly reached a hand towards her pocket likely where her mace was located. Seeing this as well and sensing that the man was going to react to the threat as well, Leo tried to call out to warn her to run. Unfortunately before he could get more than a few words out, the man as expected lunged forward, catching her off guard just as she clutched the tiny can of pepper spray. She tried to retaliate with a punch to the gut but the man dodged and grabbed her wrist that held the pepper spray and squeezed tightly, causing her to cry out in pain and unwillingly drop the can before she was swung and pinned roughly against the wall. The impact caused her to drop her phone as the man pressed her further into the wall holding her by both wrists in a tight grip as he loomed over her with a sinister smile.
"Pretty and feisty, I like that in a chick," he said huskily as she growled and squirmed trying to escape his grasp.
"Let go of her!" Leo shouted protectively as he finally found his voice and rushed forward, grabbing one of the man's arms to try and pry his grip off of her. The man however just cast Leo an annoyed and dismissive glare before he easily threw him off with a swing of his thick arm as the other kept both of Vivian's wrists pinned firmly to the wall. Leo was flung roughly to the ground so hard that he tumbled from his back over onto his stomach, hitting the back of his head in the process and dazing him to the point that he was nearly knocked unconscious.
"Get lost kid," the bully said uncaringly. "Consider yourself lucky I'm not interested in your sorry ass anymore. I found a much better prize," he said casting Vivian a disgusting and lecherous look as her tough exterior was slowly starting to chip away and turn into concern. She tried once more to deliver some more kicks to wherever she could (including the family jewels) but the man's bulk made her kicks essentially ineffective as he lifted her up a bit higher (and out of range from his manhood). "Let's get to know each other a little better, huh sweetheart?" he cackled deviously as he licked his lips in a predatory manner as Vivian's panic rose.
Through semi-blurry vision, Leo pushed himself up and craned his head to look up at the scene before him. As he blinked, trying to clear his vision while studying the unpleasant scene before him, for a split second he saw himself in Vivian's position being pinned against the wall and cursed by the King of Pain as his tormenting, disembodied words resonated in his head.
"Is it sinking in yet…you're useless, weak…a burden! What can someone like you possibly do?" Leo felt the sea of despair within him begin to churn and swell once more from the oncoming storm but oddly enough, something else seemed to arrive with it: voices, all talking at once but Leo was still able to make out what a few were saying.
"You aren't as feeble as you let others think you are…You've taken on Blood Breeds and other threats way worse than the likes of them, so do something about it…you will find your own path alongside us that works best for you…you're a member of Libra ain't ya?" While these words swirled about in his head like an encouraging gust of wind that filled the sails of his self-confidence, his vision eventually started coming back into focus as he tried to shake off his daze when he realized something that made his blood boil. Tears of frustration and fear were beginning to prick the corners of Vivian's eyes as the strong, confident woman that he had come to know was rendered helpless. She turned her head away in disgust as the creep continued his unwanted advances and invasion of personal space. That was when the voices died down save for one that spoke out, sounding oddly enough like his own.
"So what can you do?" Like a bolt of lightning, the answer came to him as a single ray of sunlight helped to part the stormy clouds in his mind.
"I can change!"
Leo's fists slowly clenched in defiance and conviction as he slowly pushed himself up. The man however was largely unaware of this as he finally decided to direct his attention from Vivian's face to down to indulge in her body.
"You don't need to be so worked up doll," he said in a sickeningly sweet, husky tone as his free hand slowly drifted closer to her chest. "I won't hurt ya…much." Thankfully before he could make good on his word, a good-sized rock flew and struck the back of his head, causing him to wince and angrily turn his head to look over his shoulder to see who had thrown it. As he expected, Leo stood on his feet and glared at the man through squinted eyes, his demeanor seeming to have completely changed from before. With a look of righteous fury and only some minor traces of hesitancy, Leo shakily shifted into a basic fighting stance with balled fists raised up and ready.
"If you want to get to know someone better, then why don't you finish what you started with me!" Leo challenged. The man and Vivian both studied him in obvious surprise before the man's anger was quickly replaced with skeptical amusement as he let out a mirthless chortle.
"Oh please, you can't be serious. I decide to be merciful and let you off the hook for once and you're seriously goin' to try and pick a fight with me? Are you really that much of a glutton for punishment?" Leo's determination and expression did not waver but he remained silent as the thug of a man just snorted and pointedly chose to ignore him and instead turn back to his new prey.
"I won't say it again punk, get lost. Otherwise you're either gonna end up in the hospital or dead."
"If I'm such an inconvenience to you, then it should be easy for you to take care of me," Leo countered before going for the low blow. "Unless the 'big dog' is all bark and no bite." That got the man's attention as his indifference immediately changed to ire.
"What'd you say?" he said, voice low and dangerous.
"You heard me," Leo boldly shot back. "For all that crap you spewed about 'big dogs' and 'taking what you're owed' you seem really reluctant to follow through on it. Or maybe instead of a big dog, you're just a pathetic and cowardly fatass!" That comment was apparently the final straw as the man instantly released his hold on Vivian, allowing her to slide down the wall shaken up but otherwise fine, and he turned his body fully towards Leo. His face had turned nearly as red as his stained flannel shirt and he bore an expression of seething anger as his eyes locked on him.
"You little shit!" He growled. "If you really want to die that fuckin' badly then don't say I didn't warn ya!" The man then charged headlong at Leo as the smaller male tensed but kept his guard up and prepared to stand his ground just as the man threw a strong right hook at him. Leo saw it coming however and successfully dodged it as he thought back to a joint lesson with Klaus and Gilbert as he did some light sparring against the combat butler (much to his initial apprehension, more out of Gilbert's sake than his own and also partially due to the small blow to his pride in thinking they were needing to take it easy on him).
"When you are in a fight, always be on your guard," he recalled Klaus' words as the memory played through his mind. "Whether they are a normal human with no abilities or an Alterworldly being with supernatural powers, you need to keep a calm mind. Try to size up your opponent and get a proper gauge on their abilities so you can make the proper choices to counter or strike back." Leo had done his best to comply as he threw one blow after another that the combat butler expertly dodged before he retaliated with a few precision strikes that, while not harming him too badly, ended up driving Leo backwards into a corner before he was teasingly flicked on his forehead causing him to fall backwards out of the sparring ring and on his butt.
"And always be aware of your surroundings," Klaus added. "If you keep your focus narrowed down to just your opponent and forget about your surroundings then your enemy can easily back you into a corner that you may not be able to get out of."
"But the same thing applies the other way around," Leo thought as he watched his opponent closely in order to dodge and clumsily deflect one punch after another. When he eventually saw his chance at an opening due to the man's frustration, he deflected the punch away and quickly countered with an offensive blow to the man's fat stomach that, while not causing too much harm to him, still ended up in knocking some of the wind out him and causing the man to double over slightly. "If I can get him to lose his composure, then he'll leave himself open for a more effective hit."
Unfortunately though this did not last long as the crude man was able to quickly recollect himself and tighten up his form a bit, not looking to get suckered twice. Instead of swinging wildly like before, the portly man delivered more straightforward jabs that hit just as heavily that Leo had no choice but to block rather than dodge. The heavy blows stung his arms and were slowly starting to break through his defenses as he protected his face and tried to deflect any low blows. As he was steadily being pushed back, Leo's mind raced as he tried to look for an opening and think of his next move to avoid getting cornered. That was when he recalled something Steven had mentioned before, thus bringing up another memory.
Leo was observing closely as he watched Steven demonstrate some more advanced moves against a stationary combat dummy whipped up by Patrick. The mechanical drone was nearly twice the size of Steven and looked almost similar to an octopus, simulating an Alterworldly opponent, whirring and clanking as it attacked and Steven dodged before retaliating with several strikes to the drone's sensor plates in order to deactivate it. He delivered a decisive spin heel kick to the second to last sensor and quickly jumped back to gain some ground and avoid a swinging mechanical tentacle before going for the last sensor on its torso. However the training dummy reacted faster than Steven expected and it batted him away before he could reach it causing Leo to instinctively flinch out of worry but Steven easily recovered and used both hands to brace himself from his fall and he performed a handstand while rotating and simultaneously struck the tentacle back. Quickly taking advantage of the opening he had created, Steven dashed forward before the dummy could make another move and delivered the last necessary kick to the final sensor thus powering down the machine with a successful tune of fanfare that had been put in for effect.
"Wow, I thought for sure it had you for a sec there," Leo had said while approaching the scar-faced man as he wiped the sweat off his brow with a handkerchief that had been in his pocket.
"If I hadn't reacted when I did then it very well could have," Steven said.
"Guess it was a lucky break that it couldn't react from the counter move you did when it landed that last hit," Leo mused aloud causing Steven to shrug.
"It just goes to show that it always pays to be prepared for anything. And sometimes you have to be more creative with how you use your skills in ways your opponent may not expect."
Leo came back to the present and his gaze drifted down as he withstood and defended against the many blows he was receiving and he also recalled something else Steven had once mentioned. Instead of countering one particularly strong blow thrown by the hulking brute, Leo instead ducked low under it to avoid it. This of course surprised the man as his fist hit nothing but air and left him open once more as Leo instead switched up his style and aimed his attention at the man's legs. He lashed out a foot at the man's legs, striking his knee that nearly caused him to buckle and falter though due to the man's girth and weight and Leo's size and lack of strength, did not cause him to fall over completely.
The man, after realizing that Leo's attempts at knocking him off his feet were ineffective, smirked but it was short lived as Leo instead placed both hands on the man's shoulders (since he was now closer down on his level due to Leo's pre-meditated attack) and Leo performed an effective knee strike into the man's chin, causing his head to get thrown back and drawing a bit of blood in the process from the impact. Using that as an opportunity to gain a bit of distance, Leo stepped back and delivered a solid, roundhouse kick (as taught to him by Steven) into the man's chest causing him to fall back and hit the ground hard.
"Like Steven said, people are less guarded down lower, especially if they're a bigger and slower opponent," Leo reasoned inwardly as he again took a few more steps back to gain some safe ground. "Guess being smaller has its advantages after all," he thought as the man gasped from having the wind knocked out of him from landing hard on his back as he tried to roll over onto his hands and knees. When the man did catch his breath, he let out an aggravated growl as he glared up at Leo and took hold of something he had spotted not too far from him. Leo's heart sunk a little when he saw that his aggressor was now clutching a discarded metal pipe with the clear intention of using it as a blunt weapon against him.
With both hands the man clutched his makeshift weapon and roared before charging at Leo and taking a swing. In a moment of instinctual panic, Leo froze for a split second, knowing he couldn't block or counter against this. Eventually he got moving again as the man came close and he immediately dropped his guard to instead focus on evading the weapon entirely, narrowly dodging each blow the man dished out at him.
"Crap! If I get hit by that even once I'm as good as dead!" Leo panicked internally as he carefully observed the man's movements and reacted to avoid each punishing swing. He tried to remain calm but his mind raced to figure out how he could combat against a weapon barehanded when another, not-too distant memory of his training surfaced.
This time it was of him, K.K., and Chain in the training compound as he finished unloading a clip from an AR-15 rifle into a human-silhouette standee provided by Chain (that bore a surprising similarity to a certain white-haired coworker) a good several yards away. The three of them removed their protective headphones and earplugs and approached the standee to better see Leo's results. As they neared and saw the outcome of Leo's progress (two shots out of five actually hitting his target with one bullet in the shoulder and the other in the opposite thigh and even a third bullet just a hair away from striking the head), K.K. enthusiastically gushed over how well Leo was doing despite his still present aversion to guns in general. While feeling a bit bashful at the praise, Leo however tried to it off as he carefully slung the rifle strap off his shoulder and silently contemplated an inquiry that was on his mind. Chain, of course, instantly picked up on this and asked him about it.
"You seem pretty distracted for a guy who just got some decent shots in," she subtly inquired in her usual, indifferent tone. Leo flushed a little but in the end saw no reason to try hiding it any further and spoke what was on his mind.
"I was just thinking that while learning all this stuff is useful and all, I still don't ever see myself ever using a gun, much less having one to carry around on me."
"Never say never kiddo," K.K. had retorted with a smile that she hoped looked playful yet reassuring. Leo didn't seem to acknowledge her words one way or the other but instead continued speaking.
"That being said, I know there are people out there that have no problems with using not just a gun but any kind of weapon on others. So what can you even do in those cases?" Leo questioned looking up to the two women for an answer. K.K. and Chain both exchanged a sideways glance with each other before focusing back on their younger teammate.
"I guess it would have to depend on the situation," K.K. said contemplatively. "If it were a long range scenario, like if you were the target of a sniper or other ranged weapon, then the best thing you can really do is to obviously find cover and find a way to strike back if possible. If it were close range then it would also be best to not get hit," she joked again earning an unamused look from both Leo and Chain. "But in all seriousness if you don't have a weapon, whether because it was lost or you were unprepared, then the next best option would be to run if its something you can't handle or improvise to fend them off if you can't get away. Anything can be used as a weapon if you're clever or desperate enough depending on what you're up against."
The memory ended there as Leo again narrowly avoided getting struck in the head as the bent and rusted metal pipe just barely grazed his hair as he ducked and retreated back, trying to maintain a safe distance and not get cornered as the man bared down on him. As he backed up near one of the many overturned and abandoned garbage cans and their overflowing contents, the sound of something metallic lightly scraping against concrete brought Leo's attention briefly down near his foot where he saw a discarded metal trash can lid. Feeling inspiration strike him, he quickly grabbed it by the handle and brandished it out like a shield just in time to defend against the impact of the pipe with a loud clatter of metal against metal. Now having adequate protection against the thug's vicious onslaught brought some of Leo's confidence back as he dodged and parried each swing of the pipe before quickly striking back with whatever quick jabs or kicks he could land, some landing solidly while others missed completely or were broken off to instead protect from getting struck back.
Growing even more annoyed at Leo's evasiveness and quick-thinking, the man at one point forgot about using the pipe entirely and instead lashed out recklessly with his fist again only for his fist to impact the trash can lid causing him to cry out in pain and recoil from the self-sustained injury before it was quickly silenced when Leo then brought the lid down hard on top of the man's head. He dropped the pipe as a result, which Leo quickly kicked away out of reach before he could grab it again, and the man staggered back and doubled over, clutching the top of his head with both hands as he dropped to his knees. Against his better judgment Leo lowered his guard slightly as he felt his compassion start to flare up, concerned that he had legitimately harmed the man when he refused to move from that position for the longest time.
"Hey, are you okay?" Leo asked still holding the trash can lid as he moved a little closer but still remaining out of arms reach just in case the man tried to lash out at him. Unfortunately, and as expected, this proved to be a costly mistake.
The man saw Leo's kindness as an opportunity to play dirty and thus he released his grip on his head, grabbing a fistful of dirt and gravel and flung at into Leo's face. While his eyes were closed enough to prevent the majority of the debris to end up in his eyes (not that it may have even been physically possible in the first place considering the almost mechanical properties of his All-Seeing Eyes) but he still recoiled at the unexpected attack, dropping his guard completely as he instinctively used his free arm to try and rub and wipe away the dirt and debris that stuck to him. The underhanded hoodlum took advantage of Leo's disorientation to kick him away then lunge and tackle Leo to the ground, causing him to drop the trash can lid to the semi-concrete ground with a loud clang. Using his girth, the man pinned Leo down, straddling both sides of him as Leo in turn raised his arms up defensively to protect himself just in time as the man began unleashing a hailstorm of punches that rained down on him.
Leo tried his best to keep his defenses up and strong but a few solid punches were able to easily break through, impacting Leo's chest and face hard enough to instantly draw blood from a split lip and bloody nose that added to his growing collection of bumps and bruises. As Leo endured the torrent of punches, his mind raced as he tried to think of a way out of his predicament when, predictably, another memory came to him.
He was sparring with Zapp, as per the new routine, with Zed off to the side to observe and make mental notes of where Leo needed more guidance only this time Leo had developed enough confidence (or perhaps had finally gotten fed up of being tossed around) to be able to fight back. Zapp managed to trap Leo's hands from behind, looking to attempt putting Leo into another headlock but Leo, instantly recalling Zed's instructions, reacted quickly and grabbed Zapp's arms to prevent them going any higher into the headlock. He then shifted his hips to the side and threw an elbow back into the man's side, causing Zapp to grunt and double over before Leo then brought his other hand up and raised his opposite elbow while turning into the wrap and successfully twisting out of Zapp's hold. Leo expected Zapp to quickly recover from the hit and was prepared for a follow up attack but was surprised when the tanned male instead remained doubled over, appearing genuinely hurt as he groaned pitifully.
"Zapp, are you all right?" Leo asked, dropping his guard instantly and completely as he hurriedly approached thinking that their sparring session had come to an unexpected and premature end. However, as Leo should have known in retrospect, it had proved to be a trap as Zapp then unleashed a flurry of blood threads that ensnared and incapacitated Leo instantly, causing him to fall over with a grunt before Zapp lifted his head to show an infuriating and cocky grin before standing up.
"Hook, line and sinker," Zapp boasted smugly as he placed a foot triumphantly on the bound and struggling Leo as he looked down on him still with his irritating smirk.
"Dammit Zapp! I thought I actually hurt you!" Leo cursed, stopping in his struggles to instead look over his shoulder at the man as best he could and fix him with a harsh glare.
"Like you even could," he scoffed skeptically as Zed sighed and approached his two colleagues.
"I suppose this could be viewed as a good lesson to never let your guard down in a fight, real or not," Zed spoke up as the blood tendrils that trussed Leo up eventually loosened and freed him of its confines allowing him to get back onto his feet while he still glowered at Zapp.
"You still could have played fair, I'm still learning after all," Leo retorted a bit petulantly as he brushed himself off. Zapp's smirk faded a bit at this and his expression became more stern.
"Look Pubes, unless you're the Chief and have the power or skills to back you up, you can't expect anyone in a real fight to play fair. I told ya that once before didn't I; the lowlifes in this city don't give a shit about anyone except themselves and will do whatever they can to get what they want. Sometimes you just gotta fight fire with fire to come out on top."
Another hard punch to his jaw brought Leo back from his recollections and his expression hardened. As the man reeled his fist back for one final blow looking to finally end their brawl, Leo took advantage of the opening given to him and struck back…
…driving his knee right into the man's groin.
Predictably, the unexpected blow took a lot of the fight out of the man as he let out a long and pained groan while leaning forward with both hands cradling his abused junk but still remaining on top of Leo, pinning him down so he couldn't escape. Leo did not relent after this however and with both hands was able to reach up and grab the man's head before delivering a punishing head butt into the man's face causing an audible crunch as his skull impacted the brute's nose. He recoiled back as blood flowed from his clearly broken and disfigured nose and Leo was able to finally squirm out from under the man. He retreated back a safe distance and re-established his fighting stance as he watched the man writhe around on the ground in pain for a moment before he slowly lifted his head up to cast Leo the most menacing and hate-filled glare he could muster.
"You!" he snarled, driven to the point of fury where he was practically animalistic. "I'm going to fucking kill you!"
Leo panted and watched the man as he slowly rose to his feet before charging at Leo like a stampeding bull. The man was so caught up in his own anger that he resorted back to throwing wild punches and punishing haymakers, which Leo either avoided or blocked. Both of them were clearly injured and unwilling to back down but Leo was starting to grow more and more weary from their drawn out fight.
"I can't keep this up for much longer. If I don't think of a way to end this soon I'm going to end up in the hospital for sure, if not, the morgue," Leo thought as he struggled to clumsily dodge and counter blow after blow while the man's blind fury only seemed to give him more strength. "I can't beat this guy in terms of brute force, and even if I wanted to, I can't use my eyes with potential witnesses nearby. How do I get out of this?" That was when Leo spotted something on the ground several feet away from him and an idea suddenly came to him as he recalled something else that Klaus had recently taught him.
"If you ever find yourself in a desperate struggle with someone you cannot match in terms of physical strength nor escape from, then this technique can be highly effective in providing a swift end to a prolonged fight," Klaus' disembodied words traveled through Leo's mind. Leo barely managed to block another haymaker as he quickly went over the technique's steps in his head and made up his mind as an expression of determination once more crossed his features.
The man gave an aggravated roar and threw another punch at Leo's head, which he ducked under before jumping away to evade the man who followed it up with lashing out his leg for a kick. The burly man had vaguely sensed a strange change in the shorter male's demeanor but rather than trusting his own intuition, the Neanderthal chose to ignore them and again lunged at Leo with reckless abandon, intent on landing several more hits on him to beat him into a pulp. Leo held his ground until the last minute before again quickly leaping out of the man's path as he nearly clobbered him with a powerful swing of his meaty fist. Leo tucked and rolled before scrambling over and grabbing the object he had spotted on the ground: Vivian's small canister of Alterworldly pepper spray. With one finger on the trigger, Leo turned around quickly only to see the man had rapidly closed the distance and was nearly within arm's reach of him. He had pulled his fist back and was ready to throw another punch but instantly froze when he saw what Leo had pointed at him. Before he could turn away or cover himself, Leo pressed the button and the man received a face full of mace. He staggered back, attempting to rub the irritating chemicals off his face as his eyes and nose burned and he coughed, spluttered, and gagged from the stinging spray.
Taking that as his best chance, Leo tossed the canister away and moved quickly to round on the hulking man from behind before leaping onto his back. He looped one arm around the man's neck so the crook of the elbow was under his chin and then placed the hand of that arm on the man's opposite biceps, gripping it. He then placed the other hand on the back of the man's head and pushed his head and neck forward into the crook of his flexed arm, essentially performing a rear naked chokehold as he locked his legs around the man's thick waist as best as he could to avoid getting thrown off and arched his back to apply more pressure. The man predictably began to thrash and buck to try and throw Leo off, even reaching back behind him to try and grab at him as his grip tightened. But Leo stubbornly clung to him, refusing to relinquish his hold even as the man went so far as to resort to slamming his back repeatedly into the nearest brick wall in an effort to get Leo off him. However Leo withstood the battering and held on still until the man's movements eventually slowed. After about ten seconds he dropped to his knees and then collapsed forward, eventually passing out from the lack of oxygen. Leo held on for a few brief seconds more just to be sure he was indeed unconscious before he finally let go. After checking to see that the man was still breathing (he still was), Leo slowly but shakily rose to his feet and stumbled back from the fallen man, battered, bruised, and bloody but ultimately the victor.
Exhausted and panting from the adrenaline rush that was starting to wear off, Leo wiped the blood from his face off with the back of his sleeve as he couldn't still quite believe what he had done or the fact that he had come out of his experience successfully. Eventually as it began to sink in, the weight of it caused Leo to stagger back and collapse back onto his butt and let out a heavy exhale.
"Leo!" Vivian called out, causing Leo to snap his head up at her as she quickly jogged over and kneeled by his side with amazement clearly etched on her face.
"Vivian, are you okay?" Leo asked in concern, remembering that she was still there. She gave him an unimpressed look at the irony of his question.
"I should be asking you that, don't you think?" Vivian said wryly.
"Heh, yeah I guess you have a point there," Leo replied sheepishly.
"Can you stand?" Vivian asked to which Leo responded in the affirmative and tried to get to his feet as she grabbed one of his arms to drape over her shoulder to help support him as he shakily stood up. "What you did was incredible," she declared. "I know I said you weren't feeble, but damn; who knew you were such a savage. I don't know where you learned those skills but I think I may just have to take a few lessons from you," she followed up with a lighthearted chuckle, which Leo lightly reciprocated.
"But seriously though Leo, thank you," she said sincerely. Leo wanted to remind Vivian of the fact that she initially was the one who stood up to that bully to try and help him, but for once couldn't find the voice to. Instead he just smiled back and nodded. Vivian then glanced from Leo to the unconscious and beaten man and gave him a scornful look. She fished into her pockets and pulled out her cellphone (that she must have retrieved from the ground at some point during Leo's fight) and snapped a picture of the man's face.
"And this is for the police report I'm going to be filing on you for sexual assault, you pig!" she said with contempt to the unconscious man's form before she pocketed it and they turned and began to slowly walk/limp towards the exit.
"Come on hero, my place isn't too far from here. I'll get you patched up there," she said as she stopped momentarily to grab Leo's discarded backpack and her nearly forgotten gym bag.
"Thanks. And I'm no hero," Leo protested meekly, but still smiled nevertheless.
"Whatever you say," Vivian replied with a roll of her eyes.
Despite the typical injuries he had suffered from this latest scuffle, Leo did not feel the usual feelings of unrest that came with it. Rather, for the first time in the longest time he could remember, he felt true peace within himself. While the previous swells of negativity had died down for the moment, he knew they would return as grueling as before when the next storm disturbed those waters again. However he felt like there was something else that was present now too, like a strong current guiding him towards the distant shores. With confidence in his sails and hope as his guide, Leo felt like he could better see a beacon of light in the distance, like a lighthouse that cut through the miles of endless fog of despair. No, the sea of regrets in Leo may not have been completely conquered yet, but for now at least, it had been calmed and he had a new, positive heading on his journey.
As the duo exited the abandoned lot, they were entirely unaware of a familiar raven-haired woman in a business suit that had been watching them while balancing effortlessly on the fire escape railing high up of one of the buildings adjacent from the lot they had been occupying. She had her phone held up in one hand and a certain Sonic Speed Monkey sat on her shoulder as she looked down at the live footage she had been streaming (thanks to the better service from a higher vantage point).
"Did you guys get all that?" Chain asked into her phone.
"Clear as day," Steven answered through the stream's voice chat as he, Klaus, K.K., Zapp and Zed all crowded around Klaus' laptop to watch in the spectacle (even Gilbert couldn't quite help but discreetly observe over the shoulders of everyone else). Each of them had various degrees of a proud smile on their faces at what they had just seen as Chain then replied back.
"In that case I'll head back now since it looks like I'm not needed here any further."
"Understood. Good work Chain," Steven responded before the live feed ended. The group leaned back from their respective positions and Gilbert went back to his usual tidying, still with elated expressions as K.K. spoke up to address her thoughts.
"I'm not gonna lie, I didn't think Leo was actually going to fight back at first, but boy did he prove me wrong," she said as a wide, goofy grin stretched across her lips and she went into proud mama mode. "He completely dominated that fat tub of lard! In fact he kind of reminded me of a younger you, Klausie. The way he performed that chokehold was nothing short of textbook perfection! Ugh, I should have asked Chain to take some pictures!" K.K. lamented as she continued voicing her various thoughts and grievances aloud. The others just chose to let K.K. ramble on as they knew once she got like this it was hard to get her to stop.
"I have to say I'm in agreement as well," Zed spoke up deciding to put in his two cents and distract them all from the blonde sniper's gushing. "Despite his obvious inexperience in a proper fight, it's clear that Leo was nevertheless quite adept in applying what he had learned from us and using it to his advantage." Zapp however just loudly scoffed.
"After all this time getting his ass handed to him, all I can say is that its about time the Pube Head stepped up and grew some balls. 'Course he wouldn't even have been half as good as he is if it weren't for me and my amazing guidance!" Zapp smugly boasted. This comment seemed to finally snap K.K. out of her animated enthusiasm as she and Zed glowered at him.
"Your guidance?" K.K. said, her tone clearly a bit incredulous and testy. "And what exactly do you think the rest of us did during our practice sessions with him, knit sweaters?"
"Technically speaking, your 'guidance' only majorly consisted of antagonizing Leo while calling it training," Zed added on. "The only benefit I can see that may have resulted in that is a sharpened sense of danger and less tolerance of your harassment."
"You got somethin' to say to me, Fish Face?" Zapp snapped back, quickly losing his good mood.
"All right that's enough," Steven quickly intervened wanting to put an abrupt end to the budding squabble. Getting the message, Zapp held his tongue and bit back a growl as he huffed and crossed his arms in displeasure. "I understand that the recent events have put us all in high spirits but let's not forget that we still have a job to do here." The others understood the message and obediently obliged in the subtle command. They left the area around Klaus' desk and went back to their respective tasks leaving the two founders of Libra alone to talk as Steven took the break in tension to directly address Klaus.
"Well, concerns and issues aside, I'd say that things turned out better than we could have expected. It's a good thing you decided to send Chain out to keep a watchful eye over him just in case. Lord knows what could have happened if something went sideways and she weren't there to jump in if it was needed." Steven stopped unexpectedly as if something had just occurred to him and he continued on a bit questioningly. "That is, unless you possibly…" However Klaus swiftly but calmly interjected.
"I merely sent Chain out as a precaution given Leonardo's track record in finding trouble. I had no intention nor knowledge that these events would take place, as fortuitous and beneficial as it may have been for his personal growth." Steven raised a brow skeptically as he studied the larger man but remained silent. Eventually he shrugged his skepticism off before he too decided that the conversation was over and that it would be best to go back to work himself. Steven left the side of Klaus' desk leaving the red-haired man alone as he looked back down to his laptop where Chain's video footage had been uploaded. He stared at the "replay" option on screen and after some internal debating, eventually moved his mouse up to the top menu and clicked a few icons before typing something and clicking again. The notification that momentarily popped up read "video saved," and Klaus, now content, closed the other programs that were open and gently shut his laptop to put it in sleep mode.
Some time later, Leo returned to the Office sporting several bandages on his face and his disheveled clothes cleaned as much as possible but still slightly stained from his own blood. Sonic had met up with him prior on his way back (after breaking away from Chain) as they rode the elevator up to the top floor. Leo sighed and clutched the shoulder strap of his bag.
"I wonder how I'm going to explain things this time," he muttered aloud to Sonic before the elevator dinged and the doors opened up for him to exit. Leo exhaled and stepped out, making his way down the hall and to the Office door. He stared hard at the doorknob before him, his senses on high alert for some unknown reason as Sonic studied him curiously before Leo shook his head. "Just relax, they understood before and they'll definitely understand now," he told himself as he grasped the handle. "It's not like they're going to jump down my throat." With that last thought Leo turned the knob and entered, acknowledging but still choosing to push away his screaming instincts. Before he could put more than a foot into the room where Steven, Chain, K.K. and Zed were gathered, sudden and fast movement accompanied by a shout came from his right as a shadow fell over him.
"GET READY FOR A WORLD OF PAIN PUBE HEAD!" Zapp yelled with a dangerous gleam in his eye, startling Sonic into jumping and darting off Leo's shoulder for cover. However, in a stunning display unlike what the Big Dipper Style User had become normally accustomed to, Leo instead reacted swiftly and purely on instinct (and perhaps also in part to some remaining vestiges of adrenaline that may have been lingering in his system) to catch Zapp in the jaw with a palm heel strike. The inertia from Zapp's leap and Leo's unexpectedly solid hit effectively clotheslined Zapp and left him sprawled out and dazed on the Office floor. Leo held his defensive stance for a moment before he blinked and eventually realized what he had just done.
"Wah! I'm so sorry Zapp; I just reacted without thinking! Are you okay?" Leo asked as he kneeled down and tried to rouse his coworker who had figurative swirls in his eyes. A muffled snicker caused Leo to snap his head up to where the four Libra members had seen the whole thing. K.K. was trying hard not to laugh openly at the scene while Steven and Zed tried to hide the smirks on their faces while Chain made no effort to hide her satisfaction as she took several pictures with her cell phone.
"Hello new wallpaper," Chain commented in a monotonous but smug tone as K.K. let a few audible chuckles slip out against her will.
"Don't just laugh, help him!" Leo pleaded, looking a bit flustered between his own actions and his coworkers' lackadaisical responses.
"I highly doubt you injured him too badly," Zed responded but still obliged and approached his fallen pupil. "Though that's not to say that he well-deserved that." K.K. eventually managed to get her giggles under control as Steven passively observed while sipping his coffee before he finally commented.
"Well this scene certainly seems familiar," he said aloud to no one in particular. Meanwhile in the other room where many potted plants were kept, Klaus and Gilbert were busy watering the different plants when Klaus let out an unexpected sneeze, mildly surprising the combat butler.
"Are you catching a cold Young Sir?" Gilbert asked mindfully as Klaus pulled out a handkerchief from his breast pocket and blew his nose.
"I do not believe so," Klaus responded as he wiped his nose and pondered contemplatively. "Though I get the distinct impression someone was speaking about me just now."
Meanwhile, at that same point in time somewhere several hundreds of thousands of miles away in an undisclosed location, a large circular mahogany table and decorated chairs sat in the center of a large and dark room. Torches were placed in the far corners of the room and a single light that shone down onto the table from above served as the only light source. A group of people emerged from out of the shadows wearing dark cloaks with red, intricate patterns on the cuffs, backs, and hoods and gathered behind each chair that was positioned around the table with one large chair acting as essentially a throne for the congregation's head who was already seated.
"Have we all arrived?" One hooded figure with a gruff voice asked.
"Yes I believe so," another cloaked figure replied.
"Then let us proceed," the first cloaked figure declared looking to their comrades and the gathered congregation nodded in approval before they each took their respective seats. "It's taken a long time but after decades of waiting, it looks like our patience is finally about to pay off."
"Yes, sightings of the Ancient One have been reported more frequently around the world in the past several years and after some investigation, the most recent sightings have naturally come from that godforsaken city," a taller cloaked figure stated. "But that's not all," he quickly added before pulling out a worn piece of paper from his robes and held it up to read from it. "According to our source within the Vatican, it seems the vampire that they had been pursuing had finally been dealt with thanks to the efforts of a third party within that same city."
"Hmph, whether that monster failed or succeeded in its twisted endeavors is of no consequence to us in the grand scheme of things," a larger figure said dismissively. "The only concern I have is if its involvement succeeded in confirming what we wanted to know." The others looked to the taller figure almost expectantly.
"Yes, it would appear so," a feminine cloaked figure stepped in to reply for the taller figure seated across from her. However she differed from the other members as she was fixed with a green veil and decorated in emerald in addition to her normal designed cloak and seated on the left of the supposed leader's throne. "The Artifact has indeed been confirmed to be within the city as well." Her response served to please and even excite some of the other mysterious guests.
"In retrospect I'm not surprised that it would be in such a place given its significance," one older, male voice rasped aloud above the excited murmuring. He also differed slightly in appearance as he was decorated in silver and draped with a black shawl also with similar intricate patterns over his cloaked shoulders, obviously signifying he was with some sort of clergy, and sat on the right of the large chair and its silent occupant. "Though I won't lie, I had my doubts whether or not it was wise getting that cursed Fang Hunter involved in matters as it could have easily ended with the Artifact falling into the wrong hands but it seems as though it was unfounded."
"Yes, however even with testimonial evidence of not just the Ancient One's presence, but positive confirmation on the Artifact's existence, we unfortunately still have little to no clue on where in the city exactly it's located, or more importantly. who is in possession of it," another female voice spoke though dressed in normal cloaked garb.
"True," the tall figure spoke again. "It's more than likely that the Artifact has already entered into the hands of the third party responsible for that blood-sucking monster's demise and are purposely concealing their presence and identity to keep the Artifact's power for themselves." The gathering of people began to mutter amongst themselves once more. The apparent leader, whose robe was decorated with brilliant, blue patterns instead of red and adorned with some modest gold jewelry that jingled and clinked whenever they moved, merely held up his hand, which quickly silenced his followers, and stood before speaking for the first time in a smooth, yet authoritative voice despite his gaze pointed downward and allowing his hood to conceal his face.
"My Brothers and Sisters, I hear your concerns and speculations but the next step we must take is abundantly clear." The figure tilted his head up enough for the gathered congregation to view the man's face only to find it was still shrouded in mystery behind a black facemask and blindfold with a large, single, sapphire eye expertly woven into the fabric that almost seemed to glow. "We must go to that city abandoned by the Gods and do whatever we must to ensure the Oracle's rebirth!" The gathered party before him also finally lifted the hooded heads enough for anyone else in the room to see that their faces were too concealed behind the same type of blind fold and masks as they all, the leader included, collectively turned their gazes upward to the wall behind the leader's throne.
Situated on the stone wall behind them and flanked by two torches that hung from the wall was a massive and ancient stone tablet that depicted an impressively etched and painted mural. On it showed the grisly images of various acts of natural and man-made disasters resulting in the corpses of many people as the skies above were streaked with red from the fires and smoke and torn asunder like a gaping, multicolored wound as vague shadowy figures spilled out of the rift like raindrops from a storm cloud. In the middle of all of the death and destruction stood a large Alterworldly being with arms splayed out as if to welcome the unspeakable atrocities that were occurring. The being had hundreds of different eyes that were embedded into its crown while itself was essentially eyeless save for a single multicolored eye located in the creature's gaping maw that seemed to stare through the soul of any being before it. Standing in front of it however, was the blackened silhouette of a nondescript human with familiar, piercing blue eyes that were etched with runes and seemed to glow with a light of their own as they seemed to gaze indifferently upon and callously observe the destruction laid out before them.
At that same moment, back in Hellsalem's Lot in the ruins beneath the city that the majority of the city's barrier resided in, a few men with laptops were seated at a folding table that was set up in a small camp among the destroyed remnants of what was once New York City seemingly in the middle of monitoring something important. All the men had perplexed and concerned expressions on their faces as they glanced to each other almost tentatively.
"Are you getting the same data that I am?" One man asked, to which the other man only muttered a weak affirmative.
"We need to inform the Elder right away," the apparent boss said before glancing up anxiously to the luminescent and woven strands of light acting as the city's only anchor of stability against dimensional collapse. "Something is causing the barrier to behave strangely." The remaining men also looked up towards the pulsing lights of the city's barriers, completely unaware of a ghostly white butterfly that flitted by and landed on one of the many woven strands of the structure of light that seemed to dim momentarily before resuming its normal, soft glow.
Author's Notes: I know I have sounded like a broken record for the past year and a half or so but I'm sorry this last chapter came out way later than I intended! I won't bother you with my excuses but after nearly two and a half years of work, that's all she wrote…for now anyways. Yes you heard right, as hinted in the last few scenes, I'm actually planning on writing a sequel to this story! However with my current work load, schedule and various other things going on in my personal life, I have neither the time nor energy to focus too much on it right now and I don't really have much fleshed out concerning the plot other than some vague ideas that I need to piece together. I also know I promised artwork with this story and it IS hopefully coming soon but it is going to take some more time. That being said, I will post an update of this chapter with the link to view the artwork in an extra Author's Note following this one when it's ready (or a link to my profile page). I will also eventually post an announcement chapter for the sequel whenever I get the details hammered out and get a decent amount of writing started so I don't start posting when I haven't already gotten the majority of it written like I foolishly did with this one.
But enough of the rambling, I want to sincerely thank each and every one of you who have read and stuck with my story to the very end and want to give a final, huge shout out of thanks to those of you that favorited or followed this story such as Gone Freecss, Caithlinn13, 9tailedspartan, JackalopeSoda, ZoruaNai, Natsuyo-Shokumotsu, Shulki, BlueSoul9699, witchlobo136, HYPERZONE2 and an extra special shout out to ShadeFireDragon and VioletNeko5 for going the extra mile to leave a final review. I'm glad so many people enjoyed my labor of love for this awesome anime series and hope to do just as good, if not better next time. I hope to see or hear from most of you again in the next story. Until then, farewell for now and thanks again for your continued support!