by GoozX and the Eurostar
Edulcore Cicciotto sat and laughed with his friends. Once again, the feeling of home overcame his body and soul. Boy, did he miss this.
"Don't forget about the pudgy guy who gets us jobs!" Mick Harrison blurted out with a mouthful of pizza.
"Yeah," Danny Hearn replied. "That would be Kit Piper."
"I still can't believe that we get paid to help people," Ed responded, unsure of his true feelings on demanding money to help others.
"Yes, well... we had no other choice at the time," said Danny. "We were all tired of the constant running for our lives. When we were presented with a choice to actually make a home for ourselves here, we took it. And Pete, thanks to his unerring luck, was the one who set us up with Kit."
Edulcore simply nodded, not wanting to dispute his logic at the moment. There would be a better time for that later. He changed the subject. "Ehy, you'll never guess who I became friends with," Ed began, when Danny interrupted.
"It will have to wait for a little later." Danny stood and moved away from the table. "We've got trouble."
Mick attempted to hastily get to his feet, but instead got his shirt caught and fell to the ground. "M'xy!"
Ed turned around to see Danny walking directly toward Turner. Before he could tell him to stop, he heard the words, "Bear claws."
And then Danny fell flat on the ground, hit by a pizza dish Edulcore threw at him, without even taking aim.
"What the fuck!" he began, but Cicciotto's eyes were on Turner, whose eyes, already lit, now became normal, and Ed smiled, glad to have avoided a fight that would have proven deadly for his young friend.
But just when Danny stood up, a giant hand at least one yard wide, waved toward Turner. "Hi, Turner, gimme five!" shouted M'xy, and Turner was catapulted out of the restaurant, out onto the wet street.
Ed threw a roll of dollars to the waiter and ran outside behind M'xy, followed by Danny.
"Why did you stop me, Ed? He's that wacko who attacked us on the way to Thunder City!"
"He's my friend, now!" Edulcore tried to explain to Danny, while on the road M'xy, disguised as a children's cartoon turtle, kept capturing every lighting bolt from Turner with a giant kite.
"I don't care if he's your friend. He surely isn't ours!"
"He saved my life, Danny. More than once!"
"And he threatened mine, Euro. And M'xy's, Naecken's, and all the others. You want me to take his hand and shake it? No way."
"He would have killed you in a moment, Danny. I know what he's able to do."
"You know M'xy would have backed me up, Ed. Maybe you were afraid for Turner!"
Ed suddenly stopped and thought, Should I impose my friendship for Turner over my other friends? Can the trust that was born among the two of us, by means of many adventures throughout America, be translated to the other members of the MBL?
"Okay, fair, Danny. I can't tell you to trust that man. But I can't let that cause you to tear the city apart to settle a thing that I am sure is behind him."
Cicciotto went into the middle of the street. "M'xy, Turner! Stop for a moment!" he shouted.
"Hey, Eurovision, wassup?" said M'xy, returning to his traditional top hat and coat look. Turner, on his own, was sweating.
"M'xy, you are stealing all the fun from Danny!" Edulcore said.
"Oops, Danny boy, I'm sorry," said M'xy with a sad look. Turner gave Ed a puzzled expression.
Edulcore took Turner by one hand, and Danny by the other, and quickly headed for a narrow alley away from the wide street. "Okay, guys. This is the place to settle your arguments..." he began.
"What arguments? I was going to order a pizza!" said Turner.
"You fucking bastard! You tore our van apart and hurt us outside Thunder City!" shouted Danny.
"That was..." replied Turner, but Ed silenced him with a gesture of his hand.
"I believe there are arguments, Turner. Things not settled. Settled for me, but not for my friends, at least for some of them. That's why I have brought you here. Now you will settle all like gentlemen."
"You mean?" said Danny, but Turner had figured the situation and was rolling up his sleeves.
"I mean, that if you want to fight, it must be a fair fight, WITHOUT superpowers. Plain fists with bare hands. I hope that some words to explain what happened there would be sufficient, but if you want to fight, I want that everybody will survive the fight. Okay?"