Chapter 10: The battle

I laughed, with fire blazing in my eyes. I ran to the place where the Lackadaisy crew was, gun in my hand, ready to fire like the madman I was. I stopped short with much surprise when Freckle whirled around and I saw the gun in his hand.

So they knew. I grinned, it didn't matter. It was more fun when the enemy was firing back, even though they didn't have a chance. Bullets erupted from the metal cage that held them back. Chaos was everywhere. I loved it.

At first it was head-to-head, both of us dodging the bullets that was probably going to be the only thing I heard after this fight, until Freckle broke away and started running, vanishing from my sight.

"Oh, so this is hide-and-seek now?" I said aloud, as creepy as my voice could manage. "I'm pretty good at that…not sure about you though." I chucked, and chinked more ammo into my gun. "Ready or not, here I come."***

Wick was terrified. When the Marigolds started running like maniacs to them, he didn't know what to do. So he hid. Like a coward. Again. He knew he wasn't being much of a help right now. To be honest, he wasn't really much of a help at all, unless something involved either money or dynamite, and he was too much of a chicken to throw some at people like Rocky did.

Wick hid in the first thing that came to mind: the abandoned factory. Once he was at the second floor, he calmed down enough to look out the windows at the battle below.

"There's Freckle with…Rocky…and Ivy…and Vector and Zib with Mordecai and Serfine, annnndddd oh no whereistheotherone?!"

Wick heard faint footsteps that echoed throughout the building. The sound sent shivers up Wick's spine. He looked around. What was he gonna do?! There was nowhere to hide! …Right? Nico's footsteps drew nearer.***

Nico stepped into view. He looked around. "That's weird. I thought I saw that rich-guy up here. Hmmm…" His eyes scanned the room once more. "Must be my imagination." Then he turned, and walked away.***

Wick drew out a sigh of relief. At the last minute, he had ducked behind the corner of a wall, and just prayed that he wouldn't be seen. Nico had been right. Behind. Him. His heart was beating so loud and so fast he was afraid Nico might hear it. Wick chuckled. He was fine. He was fine. Everything was fi-

"Hey."

Wick's heart dropped. He slowly turned around. Nico was there. And. He. Was. Looking. Straight. At. Wick.

Nico smirked when he saw rich-guy's face. "For a minute there, you had me fooled. I thought you weren't here. He grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Guess I was wrong."***

Freckle awaited in the shadows. Fake-Rocky could scare him all he wanted, but he would never see the ambush coming. "Come out, come out wherever you are!" Fake-Rocky sang.

Freckle suddenly leapt out from his hiding place. "Oh there you a-oh shoot-!" That was as far as he got. He never even got to shoot the gun. Freckle knocked him to the ground, gun falling away from fake-Rocky's hands. He looked a little scared, and a little angry. His lips drew in a snarl at Freckle.

Freckle felt a surge of anger and loathing for this guy who was impersonating his cousin. Without thinking, he yelled out, and delivered several blows to the imposter.

"I should kill you right now." He told him through gritted teeth. "But I won't. It's not because I like you, or because I'm afraid of you or anything. I hate you. You are not my Rocky. And I don't know what you've done to him, but it can't be good. Rocky is practically my brother. I don't care how annoying and creepy or weird he can get sometimes. I don't. Rocky was the only one who sent me multiple letters when he was gone, and was my only friend when I was living with my mom. He helped me embrace my talent for a job I could actually be good at. He cares about me. And I know he will NEVER betray Lackadaisy for a bunch of jerks. Those were things I didn't see in you. It's what made me know it wasn't you."

Freckle stopped to catch his breath. He'd been through alot lately, and was so quiet about it all. When he confronted the imposter, he just let all of it go. He looked at fake Rocky, silent.***

Rich-guy took out a gun from his tuxedo. Nico smirked as he tried to look menacing with it.

"Back away." He said, shaking. "Or else."

Nico chuckled. "Or else what?"

He took a step closer. What he was doing was reckless-the rich guy had a gun-but there was no way a guy that uncomfortable would use the gun. Nico threw a punch.

Wick started using the gun as a weapon, but not the kind of way people normally would. He swung it around, and hit Nico with it. It didn't hurt too bad. Mabe Rich-guy might be a better opponent than he expected. Nico grinned, and put up his fists.