Erik is shoved to his knees forcefully with a grunt. He looks up, eyes wide in plea at his brother, coincidentally the same person who manhandled him. He looks like he's been crying, dried tear tracks on his face and clothes disheveled, like he was quite literally dragged down here.

  The dank of the warehouse is irritating to Akio's nose, he tries not to pay it much mind, he didn't plan to be here for too long.

  “As promised.” Viktor gestures to his frazzled brother.

  Akio hums in response, hands unsheathing a spectacular bayonet knife from behind him. He could have shot the kid, spared him the slow demise, a part of him that he shoves back down thinks. But he wanted to savor it, wanted the boy to ponder on the errors of his ways as his life slowly bled out.

  Erik stares at him, and whatever he sees makes him sob. “Please.”

  He turns teary eyes to his brother, “Viktor I swear, I'll go straight, I've learned my lesson.” He clasps his hands together, begging.

  Viktor looks like he wants to say something to Akio, perhaps appeal to him for mercy. Instead his eyebrows furrow in thought. The weight of his word— his promise, against his brother's tears.

  Akio grasps the sobbing boy by the hair, exposing his neck. He twirls the knife in show-and wasn't he just a right asshole for that--before angling the knife at his jugular.

  The pitter patter of what sound like small feet, causes him to wrench the knife from his prey's neck and tuck it behind his shirt. Just in time for Jo to round the corner and barrel towards him in delight. What the actual fuck?

  He catches her in a hug, just as Alex emerges the corner herself, Ginger in her arms. Akio's eyes narrow when she sets Ginger down, encouraging her to toddle to him.

  “What are you doing here?” he asks Jo, because if he looked at Alex, he didn't know if he could stop himself from hurling the knife at her.

  “We were headed out to get something important,” she turns to Alex who nods a job well done, before continuing. “when we saw your car.”

  Akio grits his teeth. “Is that so?”

  “Yep, Alex said it would be rude not to stop and say hello.”

  Akio finally turns to Alex.

  “Etiquette and all that nonsense you insist on.” she waves a dismissive hand.

  He bypasses the children by his feet and stalks towards Alex, a glance at the other people show that Erik is no longer on his knees, he seethes. “Alex, I don't have time for this, get them out of here.”

  Alex ignores him for Jo. “This is my friend Viktor and his brother Erik.” she introduces.

  And Jo stretches out a tiny hand. “Hi, I'm Josephine!”

  Viktor to his credit looks confused as he accepts the handshake.

  “Hello Josephine. It is very wonderful to meet you.”

  “The shy one over there is Giselle.” Alex angles a thumb at the little girl behind her clutching on Akio's leg for dear life.

  “We call her Ginger, cause her hair used to be really red when she was littler.” Jo adds helpfully.

  “Now that we've all introduced ourselves,” Akio coerces Ginger to tug instead on Alex's leg, “why don't you and Ginger go wait in the car, and I'll be right out?” he smiles an empty thing at Jo.

  “I was thinking ... Ice cream.” Alex interrupts. Again. “For everyone, Viktor and Erik included.”

  “Can we? Please Akio, I haven't had any all week?” Jo clasps her hands together in plea. Kind of like Erik a couple of minutes ago.

  Akio is snarling now. “We'll definitely get some Ice Cream once I'm done, and they're on their way.” he gestures to the brothers.

  “Viktor and Erik look like they need some sugar as well.” Alex says, and Akio whirls to face her.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “They're lactose intolerant.”

  “Vegan Ice Cream is a thing.”

  “Alex, I'm not playing, get out.”

  They were in a proper stand off now, no muted barbs, or manipulative words. Just pure undiluted anger. From Akio at least.

  “Or what?” Alex says, her effortless calm flaring Akio's fire.

  “Alex.” Josephine's scared voice breaches the tension. “Can we go now?”

  Alex glances at Akio, his eyes are still burning. Matter of fact he doesn't seem to have registered the child's appeal.

  “Viktor, do you mind taking them to the car?” She tosses Viktor her keys. “I'll be out in a minute.”

  He obliges, and quickly shepherds the children out of the warehouse, pacifying them with soft assurances.

  Alex's eyes snap to Erik, who is full on shivering at the moment, looking like he was a hair's breath from bolting.

  “Go.” She instructs. And he does bolt. Akio starting to follow when Alex grabs him by the arm.

  “Let go of me.” he grits.

  “You're not well, Akio. If you would calm down for one second--”

  “You tell me to calm down again, and I will put this knife through your eye.” Akio wrenches his arm from her grasp. “Let's see how long it takes you to regenerate that.”

  The last thing Alex wanted was to fight Akio. She could heal instantly, he healed faster than others did, but not fast enough for it to not be a problem. However the dark look in his eyes was promising that a beat down was going to be inevitable. Well, she was nothing if not adaptable.

  He shoulders past her towards the exit, not getting far before Alex wrenches him back by his shirt collar, which apparently is the last straw for him.

  “Are they going to be out soon?” Josephine asks, worry evident in her eyes.

  Viktor hadn't conversed with a child in 29 years, how did one put this delicately?

  “Your siblings are having an adult talk. They'll be out in a little while.” he finally settles on. Though the state either would be in after said 'talk' he couldn't say.

  “Akio looked really mad.” the child says, fiddling with the buckle on the baby's car seat. She had been the one to strap her sister in, with Viktor not understanding the mechanics of the contraption.

  “Yes, that's what they're talking about.” he replies and hope she doesn't pepper him with more difficult questions. She doesn't.

  Alex wrenches out the knife buried in her chest with a grunt. She fingers the hole in her jacket with an annoyed frown at Akio, who is wiping blood from his nose in his corner.

  “Let me guess,” he says, looking absolutely maniacal with a bloody shirt and crazed look in his eyes. “It was your favorite jacket.” he mocks.

  “No, you gave me this for my birthday, you monumental twat!” she responds.

  His fists light up, “Wonder what I was thinking.”

  “Don't you dare--”

  The blast smacks her into the wall head first, and she barely has a moment to regain her footing, before she's being hit with what feels like 500 million volts of lightning.

  She screams in pain, pressure causing her eardrums to push inwards and temporarily lose her hearing. She slides to the ground in a tired heap, heaving in slowly abating pain as her body repairs itself. Her ears pop open in time to hear the tail end of Akio's … monologuing?

  “-- you do it, but when I do it, all of a sudden it's wrong!” he seems to be whining. And this exact situation should go on the list of things that Alex does not care for.

  “Akio, don't make me hit you.” Alex tries again, picking herself from the ground.

  Akio merely snorts in response, and suddenly he's chanting, eyes rolling to the back of his head. Okay, since when did he do that!

  The building is vibrating now, pillars groaning at the disturbance to their stagnant sentry, and Alex can barely stand steady.

  “Oh Lord. Akio!” she growls. And he is levitating now, exactly like the witch that broke into their home that one time. The air in the building picks up a tornado like quality, the beginnings of an air funnel starting to form.

  Alex marches towards the dilapidated tractor in the corner and casts it at her brother. Barely summoning the strength to halt it to a still hover, when the air funnel rebounds it back towards her.

  Akio has levitated so high, Alex has to crane her head to look up at him now. He looks just about ready to tear through the ceiling and unleash his fury on the world outside. Where Jo and Ginger sat waiting.

  She clenches her fist and crumbles the still hovering tractor into a massive ball, noting the rapid speed at which Akio is chanting now. And with a clap of her hands sends the thing hurling--this time too fast to stop--at Akio.

  It whacks him square in the face, and sends him flying. But not before an uncontrolled blast of energy escapes him, smashing every window in the place before leveling the building.

  Viktor feels the energy before he sees it coming.

  Josephine had been restless since the building started to shake. Some very outrageous explanations he had pulled from thin air, the only thing that had kept the child from bolting after her siblings.

  The pulsating force coming their way felt different, angry, tainted. That was never the prelude to a good story.

  “Look!” Josephine screeches, finger trailed on the blue-black ripple that was pulsating rapidly towards them.

  “Sit still.” He instructs, ensuring she is seated back down before he exits the car.

  He barely conjures the shield in time, before the ripple sends him barrelling into the vehicle. The force of the expulsion shattering the windows of the car. The building in front of them crumbling violently.

  When he finally gets his hearing back he can hear wailing. Struggling to his feet, he peers into the vehicle to ensure the children's safety, and breathes a sigh of relief.

  Giselle is wailing, eyes scrunched painfully shut, mucus leaking down her nose. Josephine looks to be trying her very best to pacify her, however the look on her face shows that she's not fat off from joining her sister. They're both alright. Shaken, but physically fine.

  He quickly pries open the car door, and cradles a still crying Giselle to his chest. Josephine clings to him like he's her last hope.

  She looks up at him with wide eyes, tears threatening to spill and asks, “Are Alex and Akio alright?”