Zade stood with a smile on his face when Zarek entered.
"Welcome. We've met once earlier today—I hope you haven't forgotten me so easily."
Zarek blinked as though he didn't recognize the man, looking down at Zade's outstretched hand for a moment. But then he laughed and took it.
"Don't joke around, old man. How could I forget the only suit I've seen in ages?"
"Old man?" Zade looked offended. "You kids get more brash every generation."
"Sounds like exactly what an old man would say. So, what did you call me for today? Who're they? The friends you were talking about?"
Zade looked back over his shoulder. "Well, they are friends. But they aren't the friends I was talking about before."
"Gotcha. And who's that?"
"Him? My older brother. Feel free to ignore him—he never has anything smart to say."
Zarek leaned to the side to look past Zade and gave Marx a peace sign.
Marx smiled and shook his head, but didn't say much in reply.
"You didn't answer my other question, though. Why—?"
Wyatt slowly stood to his feet, his hand still on the hilt of a sword sheathed at his waist. Seeing him clearly now, Zarek could pick out the Japanese in his lineage, but it was clear that only one of his parents was. In fact, it was so faint that it might have just been one of his grandparents.
There was a good reason Zarek had chosen to scan Wyatt, but had never attempted it on Zade or Marx. Wyatt… he could deal with. But Zade and Marx—they were definitely more than met the eye.
Wyatt's actions right now, though, felt quite aggressive. It seemed there was already a rift forming between the two former allies.
"According to reports, you are responsible for the eradication of our toll booth. How do you plead?"
Zarek raised an eyebrow, then looked to his side toward Priya.
"Get a load of this guy. 'Eradication,' 'How do you plead?' He sounds like an NPC."
Priya rolled her lips over themselves to stop herself from laughing, and Zade coughed, looking at the ground.
Wyatt's eyes narrowed, but a calming voice came from the side.
"Zarek, right? I'll have to ask you to try and be a bit more understanding. These people are our guests, and they just have a few questions for you. They lost a lot of good men."
"What constitutes 'a lot'?" Zarek asked curiously.
"About twenty or so," Marx said with a smile.
"That doesn't sound like that many. They couldn't have been very useful either, if they were just grunts manning a toll booth. Of course, I'm only speculating, based on the good sir's words."
Zarek made a movement with his hand as though he were pulling a top hat off his head and placing it to his chest in a form of respect. When he slipped into his "thank you kindly" accent, Priya almost lost it and pinched his waist hard.
"Do you think this is a joke?" Wyatt's voice became frigid.
SHIING.
Click.
His hand had only moved the slightest bit when a gun was already pointed at his head. Zarek still had one hand on his chest, but at some unknown point, it had lifted up his shirt just enough to allow his other hand to pull a gun from the front of his waist.
It was all so fast and so fluid that it was only the clicking of the safety that alerted everyone to the movement—even the shifting sound of his clothing seemed to lag behind.
"I would be careful if I were you, old man. That's quite a dangerous weapon you're playing with."
The blaze in Zarek's eyes raised the temperature in the room, a suppressive might rippling out in waves.
Wyatt's hand froze. Not once had he thought that this bumbling fool of a teen could actually outmaneuver him. He had planned to take advantage of Zarek's nonchalance, only to be checkmated before he could even complete his threat.
"I wouldn't move if I were you," Zarek spoke calmly, without even glancing at the three who came with Wyatt. "If you do, I just might have to fire. Then I'll have to leave the mess to these two well-dressed suits here."
"Hey, I don't want to be cleaning up anything. How about we all just take a step back?" Zade chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.
He and Zarek had just been close enough to shake hands, so for Zarek to be aiming at Wyatt now, the latter's elbow was barely two feet or so from his face. That gun could very well have been aimed toward him.
Zarek smiled and clicked the safety back on, slipping his gun into his crotch holster again. It really was the most convenient place to hold things.
"You too, Mr. Suwa. As you can see, Zarek's already given his concessions. You did unsheathe your sword first," Marx added calmly.
Wyatt looked down at his sword as he slowly released it. Unsheathed? He had hardly gotten it an inch out.
Taking a deep breath, he gave Zarek an equally deep look.
"It seems that our partnership with Global Fitness Incorporated will be ending today."
"Don't say such inauspicious words, Mr. Suwa. Why would our partnership end?" Marx remained stately.
"I will be reporting to my superiors exactly what happened here today. I hope he is worth it."
After saying this, Wyatt signaled toward his crew and they all left.
"You know," Zarek said, "it would be far more convenient to just kill them now if they're going to be so hostile. One less worry."
Zarek spoke these words before the group had even stepped out of the door they had only just opened. Wyatt almost stumbled before looking back with dangerous eyes—only to find Zarek smiling at him from ear to ear.
With a shudder, Wyatt rushed out along with the others.
Long after they were gone, Marx couldn't help but sigh.
"We need to work together to clear the city as quickly as possible. If we start warring now, everyone suffers." Marx shook his head, standing slowly. "How do you plan to compensate me, Mr. Ashborn?"
"Ooo, Mr. Ashborn. I kind of like the ring it has. But what do you mean compensation? I haven't done anything but help you, it seems."
"Is that so?"
"How many days did you plan on the bridge taking? I'm sure you set aside more than one. You're welcome, by the way."
Marx's smile remained the same.
"Indeed, there is more to you than meets the eye."
"Of course there is. Haven't you seen how sexy my girlfriend is? Do you think she'd choose just anyone?"
"Zarek!" Priya pinched harder, but unfortunately for her, Zarek's Endurance was too high by now.
"It seems that there's no point in beating around the bush with you," Marx said. "So how about we be straightforward, then? What do you want from us, exactly?"
Zarek raised an eye. "… Interesting."
"What's interesting?"
"How many ways have you rigged this building by now?" Zarek asked in return.
Marx squinted. "Well, I hope neither of us have to find out, right?"
The atmosphere seemed to shift.