Chapter 24: Gang Warfare (2)

"Sir! Sir! Wake up Sir!" yelled Brandon, shaking a sleeping Eddie violently at his shoulders.

"What?" he snapped, shrugging off his subordinate and his weariness.

"We're under attack!" cried Brandon.

Eddie sat upright, alert and ready for action. He immediately dressed in his combat gear, loaded his favourite rifle and strapped his yari to his back.

"Where's Vin?" asked Eddie in a neutral tone.

"He's out there - talking to them. He sent me to come get you. He said we may have to execute plan J2, whatever that is." examined Brandon, also readying himself for battle. Alongside his machete and baseball bat he now also brandished a M1911 handgun.

"That's worrying. Follow me, Brandon. And watch closely." ordered Eddie before Jogging off silently down the main hall.

Vincent was outside the front entrance of the British Museum, around him stood dozens of students still in uniform. Most wielded baseball bats and kitchen knives as weapons. However a few were unarmed and instead had eyes that glowed intensely. [They're definitely Angels] thought Vin, [but I have no way of knowing what their powers are or how strong they'd be. I'll play it by ear].

Four students marched forward, carrying a wooden table with a chair bolted on top. The chair itself was covered in red velvet and trimmed with gold. On the chair lounged a boy in a perfectly clean and pristine uniform wearing a crown made out of twisted golden wire. Behind the 'king' stood a hooded figure wearing a navy blue hoodie with equally dark jeans - their face covered in shadow.

The child king tilted his head and smiled, his bright blue eyes gleaming behind his glasses. His midnight black hair contrasted brilliantly against the snow-covered London.

"So you're one of the two bastards that made one of my best knights abandon his post?" asked the boy.

"Look, king kid, we'll give you one chance. Walk away. You'll regret it if you don't." warned Vin, counting the students and noting which ones appeared to be angelic.

"My title is indeed King, but my name is not kid you peasant. I am Damian, the King Of Highschool. I've been watching you very closely Eddie. We know what your abilities are. Surrender now and I'll let you live as my personal shipping container." mused Damian, crossing one leg over the other and grinning.

"It appears you have made one fatal mistake, Your Majesty." replied Vincent, smirking.

"And what would that be?" asked Damian.

"I'm not Eddie." answered Vin before shifting on one foot and throwing his hammers which then collided with two different students' heads. The students were immediately knocked down, blinking and groaning in pain. Vin then stepped backwards into his typical combat stance with his left foot forward and right foot back - dual swords raised in his hands.

"Why aren't we helping Vin? There's forty of them!" questioned Brandon, furrowing his forehead in thought.

"First, there's only thirty-nine of them. Second, Vin is not your normal fighter. Thought you caught onto the fact we're not some random old guys by now" Corrected Eddie. The pair were both situated on the rooftop of the museum, looking down at Vin and the students below. None of them had yet noticed because in combat one generally does not look directly up.

"Sorry Sir, I must have counted one of them twice. And what do you mean he's not a normal fighter? I get you are both very skilled but even then he doesn't stand a chance on his own." replied Brandon, paying his M1911 in preparation.

"Well, I'm not too worried about Vincent in these sorts of situations," began Eddie, peering down the ledge and watching his friend "mainly for one sole reason."

Below Vincent darted forward and struck a student in the stomach with the flat side of his blade, sending him sprawling on the ground. Several students lay on the ground groaning and writhing about; one student was even perfectly still. Whipping himself around, Vin turned to face his opponent. Unlike most of the other students, this boy's eyes glowed with divine power behind his knight's helmet and was armed. With his sword and shield raised up to the ready. The knight stepped forward and slashed horizontally with his sword. Vincent stepped backwards and barely dodged. All the other students formed a loose circle around the pair - trapping Vincent. The knight slowly advanced - smiling - as he cornered Vin against the wall of students.

"He is incredibly strong." said Eddie to Brandon, sharpening the tip of his yari.

Brandon's eyes widened in both shock and horror as he watched the battle below. Having been cornered and facing an armed opponent, Vincent had decided to do the unthinkable. He had stabbed through the knight's shield. His sword penetrated the metal and collided with the boy behind, knocking him backwards and sending him crashing into the ground followed by a trail of blood.

Almost simultaneously a trampoline fell from the sky, landing nearby the circle of students. Eddie and Brandon jumped from the Museum roof and bounced off the trampoline high into the air… onto another trampoline summoned by Eddie. The pair then landed relatively safely on the ground, melee weapons drawn.

"I heard you were looking for me?" mused Eddie, smirking at Damian.

Damian clenched his jaw. The battle was not going as planned. He himself would have to fight soon - something he disliked doing but did if necessary.

"Excellent, Eddie, I'm glad you could finally join us!" exclaimed Damian through his clenched jaw, "you can come out now, oh dear Scout."

Scout, the hooded figure in jeans from earlier, stepped forward into view. They opened their hands, muttering an inaudible command word. Shadows dripped down from their hoodie sleeves and coiled into their hand, forming a blade of solidified darkness. Along the sword's jaggedly sharp edge dripped liquid shadow.

"Scout here is like you - an Angel of the Uncommoner. Except she got a much, much better deal than you did." mused Damian, his jaw unclenching and smirk returning.

Scout rushed forward - sneakers pounding hard against the snow covered pavement. With a flick of her wrist she slashed at Eddie who in turn blocked with his Yari.

"Not bad, kid." praised Eddie, lips slowly curling upwards into a smile.

Scout said nothing in response. Instead she melded away into the shadows of her hoodie, vanishing completely. Suddenly she reappeared behind Eddie, blade piercing through the old man's side. Brandon's eyes widened in disbelief at his master's injury; Vin however did not notice, he was too busy brawling with the student-knight. Eddie's own eyes narrowed with anger and his smile turned hardened into a frown. He grasped the shadowy blade with one hand and ripped it out of his flesh. Stepping forward, Eddie then spun and hurled the blade along with Scout at the stone outer wall of the Museum.

"Master…" called out Brandon feebly.

"SHUT UP AND FUCKING FIGHT BRANDON!" roared Eddie over his shoulder at Brandon, while pressing one hand against his bleeding wound.

Brandon nodded, blinking rapidly to regain his focus. Unsheathing his baseball bat, he approached the nearest student. All of the students were in their late teens and were of approximately average height and build - except for the one in front of Brandon. Standing at 198 centimetres (6"6), this student was a giant. His eyes glowed with flickering blue sparks as he opened his mouth to reveal perfectly white teeth that shone against his flawlessly dark skin. [While he monologues or introduces himself I'll attack], thought Brandon. However he never got the chance to. Instead of words a column of condensed water shot out of the colossal student's mouth. The aquatic beam collided with Brandon, knocking him against the Museum steps.

While Brandon was being blasted, Vin was cutting through the non-powered students like a scythe through a field. All around him lay bruised and battered students were either groaning in agony or completely unconscious. Only one had managed to get up - the knight. Swaying slightly on his feet, the knight removed his helmet. His blue eyes flickered with yellow-gold light, accenting his deep black hair. A small stream of blood starkly ran down his forehead against his fair skin. "Imperia: 50 percent!" yelled the knight. Almost immediately his bones began to creak and his tendons stretched as his muscles grew. Suddenly the skinny knight had jumped several build sizes - straight to heavyweight. Vincent smiled. Stepping back into fighting stances, the two prepared to face off.

Scout flickered out of existence and reappeared behind Eddie again - attempting to catch him off guard. However Eddie had learnt from his previous mistake. He spun on one foot and drove the blunt end of his yari into Scout's stomach before scything down at her shadowy sword. Scout's blade shattered into shards of liquid darkness as she crumpled to the ground. Wasting no time at all, Eddie stepped forward and drove a knee into Scout's face. As her head snapped backwards from the force of the blow, Scout lost consciousness and collapsed backwards.

Slowly Eddie turned to look at Damian, eyes burning with rage. Damian adjusted his collar nervously, smirk completely vanished. Eddie began to advance towards the self-proclaimed King, smashing students into the ground as he approached.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck" cursed Damian as he scampered off his makeshift throne and fumbled for his Glock 17 handgun. He barely managed to raise the firearm as Eddie began to swing his yari. Aiming for Eddie's head, Damian screwed his eyes shut and pulled the trigger.