by thedoctor and The Eurostar
The clouds from the sea had moved closer to the island. Dirk Bell decided that it was best that he headed back toward the apartment before it began to rain. As he headed up a back alley, an attempt to avoid the parade that seemed to do nothing but circle the whole damn island, the gunslinger stumbled upon what looked like a brawl.
Two men were swinging punches at one another; one of them was actually connecting his. Dirk thought that he might have recognized one of them. Don? Donny? Danny? Danny! That was it. He was the punk in the team that decided he was going to be a big boy and play tough by demanding to know who Dirk was. Well, he's getting his ass kicked pretty good, he thought to himself. Guess I better do something to help him.
In a flash, a small Derringer pistol materialized out of his pocket and into his hand. Danny Hearn thought that he heard a firecracker go off as Turner's left leg went out from under him. Danny saw the tiny gun in Dirk's hand only for a second before it was returned to its rightful place.
"You don't have to thank me," Dirk yelled at them. Edulcore Cicciotto just stood dumbfounded, not knowing how to react. "Better get back to the complex before the rain comes," the gunslinger yelled as he hobbled down another alley and out of sight of the rest. Maybe that will make him happy and off my ass, he thought.
Danny slowly shook his head. "I just don't know about that guy."
"Who's that freak?" asked Edulcore.
"Dirk. One of the new guys. Maybe he thought he was protecting me," explained Danny, shrugging. Turner was kneeling on the ground, looking at his wound. His eyes lit up.
"Wait a moment, Turner," said Ed. "Don't make this messier."
The man in gray was strolling fast toward the apartment complex. Cicciotto wondered how people could be so casual with guns, and just when Turner had not fought back for most of the time, because, he guessed, Turner thought he deserved what was coming to him. Only, just when he pushed away Danny to avoid more damage, that loon shot him.
Cicciotto took the top from one of the garbage bins that filled the narrow alley. Without even aiming, like he was now used to doing, threw it toward Dirk, hitting him on the back of the head. The man fell. On the ground, he brought his hand to his head, then turned back, looking at Cicciotto. Guess he's tougher than I thought. Without even noticing, there was a big gun in his hand, and he aimed at Cicciotto.
He shot the gun, and a little flag with BANG written in capital letters appeared.
Edulcore sighed with relief. Good old M'xy. He was smiling next to Ed, while Danny was helping Turner stand. It was funny how a dire situation settled any differences.
Cicciotto walked slowly toward the man in the gray coat, his feathers all sprouting out to give a somewhat more imposing look. He was wondering at the little flag, still sitting on the ground. He lent him a hand, but the gunslinger refused to take it.
"Dirk Bell, I suppose. I am Edulcore Cicciotto. That is a friend of mine, Turner," he said, pointing his thumb back over his shoulder.
"He was harming a friend of mine, Danny."
"THEY were settling their arguments like gentlemen. YOU shot him from behind. That is not what a gentleman does."
"Who the fuck do you think you are?"
"Just a friend, a friend that doesn't like guns, a friend that thinks gun are only symbolic replacements for something I bet you are lacking."
Dirk becomes very angry, and his right hands quickly moved toward Ed's jaw. He was fast, maybe the fastest man Ed had ever met. But I am no man, I am metahuman, thought Ed. I was the fastest meta around before Tobias Christopher showed up. And although I have lost supervelocity, I am still faster than any human. Ed's fist reached Dirk's face just a moment before his own reached Ed's.
And the gunslinger fell to the ground.
Don't know what got into me, Dirk thought as he raised his cast swiftly into the crotch of the weird bird-guy who made the mistake of turning his back on the gunslinger. Edulcore felt a sharp pain as he fell to his knees.
Dirk made his way to his feet quickly, especially considering his broken leg. "I don't need a gun to kick your ass," he said as his cast smashed into Ed's face, causing blood to flow from the man's beak like water from a faucet. "And, as far as shooting someone from behind," the gunslinger continued as he picked his opponent up from the ground, "his back was to me." He tossed M'xy and Danny's pal into a dumpster. "Plus, you didn't seem to mind when you threw that lid at me." With a swift movement, the dumpster cover came crashing down.
Turner came to his senses and began a charge for Dirk. "M'xy!" he called out to the two teammates who were now captivated by the event. "You and Danny might want some shades."
M'xy, not quite understanding, materialized lamp shades onto his and Danny's heads instead of the sunshades that Dirk had meant with his warning.
Almost as though they were one in the same movement, Dirk produced two grenades that he tossed in the air as his body spun around so that his back was facing his attacker. Turner had no time to respond before two bright orbs flashed in front of his face, temporarily taking his sight.
"So," Dirk said to Turner after a moment, "you two are friends, eh? Why don't you share a room together?" As Edulcore had just lifted the lid on the dumpster, Turner's body hit him, knocking both men in and slamming the lid closed again. "And I'm not even going to make some cliche taking out the trash comment, either." Dirk left, returning to his room at the complex.
"Is it over now?" Danny asked with his voice muffled under the shade. M'xy just shrugged. "Well," Danny asked again, "is it?"