As he blew up the gates, all Axel could think was the memories he had been suppressing all this time….
"Hold him down for me…" said a man with lots of scars on his face.
"What the fuck is wrong with you? Let me go!" Protested a nine-year-old Axel.
But, instead of freedom, he got a punch to his face that broke his tooth from one of the men holding him down.
"Stop struggling you little fucker! My balls are still aching from the kick you gave me earlier!"
"You had it coming! What did I ever do to you?!" Replied Axel hotly.
"You've been stealing in our area without paying us protection money! Now take your punishment!"
"Bullshit!"
Little Axel wanted to cry from the unfairness. This wasn't even their turf! They've been following him for no reason and now they're here with THIS guy!
The guy who was their leader was none other than Johnny Scars, the scary scarred guy who'd creeped him out.
Scars chuckled as he casually squatted down as he looked at the struggling Axel.
"It is indeed bullshit, little rat. The real reason is that arrogance of yours that has made you reject coming under me multiple times," he said, taking out his knife.
Axel looked at the knife in horror. This guy is a lunatic! That's exactly why he wasn't joining this guy. Like hell he'd work under anyone, let alone a lunatic like him.
"Why do you keep bothering me?! There are so many willing people in the world!"
Johnny shook his head in disappointment,
"You don't get it, kid. You don't get it!" He said, twirling the knife and pointing it at Axel.
"I saw potential in you, kid. No one else saw it, but I did! And I could have taken you to great heights if you had come under my wing. But now that you've rejected me, I have to show you exactly what you are without me," he said, bringing the knife closer to his face.
"No! At least give me a fair fight, you bastard!"
Axel's heart was racing and he was sweating profusely. Yep, this guy is a total lunatic. He struggled with all his might as he saw the knife slowly descend. And not for the first time, he realized how weak he was.
And Johnny seemed to enjoy seeing him squirm as he slowly ran the flat of the blade along his cheek.
"Get this in your little head: The world is unfair, you cheeky fucker. You are nothing but a rat right now and I'm the hunter. I'm the one with the power so I can do whatever I want. You want fairness? Bullshit," he spat, before turning the blade in his hand.
And Axel's screams began.
*Flashback end*
Axel snapped out of his memory as the gates he had blasted with bombarda fell to the ground. And it made him all the more determined in what he was doing.
With his skills, he could have ended this as easily as breathing using his stealth skills. But that wouldn't have given him much satisfaction.
The bastard had tried to 'carved' into him the fact that he'd always be a fucking rat without following him. And now he's here to shove those words in the bastard's face.
But of course he's not going to be completely reckless about it. His height was currently almost 6 feet due to the potion he had drunk. It was only temporary, but it'll do the job. Adding to his outfit, he can be assured that no one will know it's him.
The explosion practically announced his presence to the whole villa and that was exactly what Axel wanted. Sounds of cursing, yelling of men and the screams of a few women started to come from inside the villa and there was even a gunshot, indicating the fact that they were armed. There were at least 20 armed men in there, ready to welcome him. But Axel didn't back down in the slightest.
Guns might scare other wizards, but not him. He's not just an ordinary wizard. Even the Arcane Thief can't simply define who he is.
Aside from being a wizard and the Arcane Thief, he is also the person with an insane amount of mental talent.
In the past, he wasn't able to fully utilize it due to his lack of magical ability, but that was no longer the case now.
The spells that require extreme mental power, and the spells which can display incredible might based on your mental prowess. Those were his domain. And after the attack from Damien Malcolm, he had made sure to utilize his talent to its fullest potential.
"Expulso!"
"Expulso!"
"Expulso!"
As he walked along the driveway, he shot down those who tried to peek through the windows, breaking the glasses in the process.
While doing so, he also took out a bundle of weapons containing shields, swords, and knives which were all wrapped up.
The door opened and he pushed whoever it was back with another Expulso.
"Let's keep it indoors, shall we?" He said to no one in particular as he walked into the Villa and closed the doors behind him.
As soon as he was in, he dropped the bunch of weapons he had been carrying to the floor.
"Man, that was heavy," he muttered as he took out his other wand.
"Hey! Who the fuck do you think you are?!" Shouted someone even as more and more of the gang started to come into the large hall of the villa.
The number of guns pointing at Axel kept increasing. But he didn't flinch as he kept waiting.
Axel wasn't scared of the guns. He was wearing the custom-made enchanted clothes he got from selling his memories. They should be able to take a bullet or two.
After a proper number of guns were pointed at Axel and all the gang members were present, only then did the boss strut in with a cigar in his mouth and a gun in another.
"Gentleman, what a rude way to enter someone's home. I assume you are prepared for compensation?" He asked calmly.
Axel's grip on his wands tightened when he saw the bastard. After almost three years, he still looked the same, horrible scars all over the face and an air of superiority.
His Cherub core wand responded to his anger as it emitted dark red sparks. And Axel chuckled darkly,
"I'm indeed here for compensation, you bastard," saying so, he pointed his wand at the stack of weapons lying on his feet.
"Oppugno Totalis!" He muttered after gathering all of his focus.
At once, all the weapons started to shake. After which they began to rise individually, making all the men present startled.
Johnny Scars had a bad premonition after seeing that unusual sight and hearing that voice.
"Put him down!" He ordered.
At once, gunshots began to be fired at Axel from various directions, making the situation chaotic.
"Too late," said Axel as the rectangle shields he had stolen from Hogwarts assembled in front of him with a wave of his wand.
Oppugno is a common spell that is used by many wizards to make animate or inanimate objects move to perform a specific action. It needs a lot of mental power.
Oppugno Totalis, on the other hand, grants total control over multiple objects. The amount of objects you can control depends on your mental talent and unlike a simple oppugno, different objects can be controlled to perform different actions. But it's like trying to write different things with different hands. Few can really pull that off perfectly.
Though Axel was a different case altogether.
He stood there as the shields assembled themselves in front of him, blocking all the bullets. The veins around his temple became visible due to the strain. But he wasn't done yet.
[Arcane Eyes]
Peering through the gaps of shields, his eyes glowed as he controlled the knife and daggers to shoot out in different directions at once, stabbing into different victims with pinpoint precision. Though, his current limit was two at a time if coupled with the shields that were hovering around him.
This method was great because the projectiles were being controlled by his mind, not by his unsteady hands. So the process was much faster and more precise.
"Bullets aren't working! Stop shooting and rush in!" Ordered Scars after seeing more and more men falling very rapidly.
The hail of bullets stopped and men were now able to close the distance, thinking they could take him out in close range.
But of course, they couldn't have been more wrong. The closer they are, the worse their situation. Anyone who approached close enough was taken down either by a knife or a spell from the other wand in his hand.
Soon, dozens of men were taken down and Axel saw Scars slowly slipping out of the room.
"Nope, not a chance," he declared as he took down the last few stragglers unhurriedly. He stepped on one of the shields and controlled it to fly after the bastard while the rest of the shields were still assembled around him.
Seeing no escape, Scars turned around to face Axel.
"Hey man, why don't we talk this out? You already destroyed my whole fucking gang. I can give you whatever you want, yeah?"
Looking at the man, Axel really felt disgusted. These types of people will pretend to be all high and mighty and do whatever they want when they're in a position of power. But as soon as you take that away from them, they're nothing!
Axel shook his head.
"You don't get it, Scars. You don't get it," he said, throwing the words that he still remembered quite well to this day.
"Expelliarmus," he muttered, making the gun shoot out of his grasp. Does this guy not realize how obvious his intentions are? He was going to shoot just after making Axel think he won and let his guard down.
He pocketed the wand and let the shields drop.
"Now we're talking," he said, taking off his mask.
Scar's eyes widened.
"You?!"
Axel grinned.
"Surprise, surprise, motherfucker."
"How is this possible—" he began, but Axel cut him off.
"—that I'm no longer a rat? Don't tell me you're surprised," he said, shaking his head.
"You always knew this day would come, didn't you? You saw it on the very first day," he said, making the man speechless.
Axel had seen it in his eyes. The reason why this man came after him from day one,
"You were envious, weren't you?" He asked, making the man flinch.
Yep, this guy only wanted to make himself feel better by crushing him when he was still growing.
Scars laughed forcefully,
"But you're still a rat, aren't you? Relying on these parlor tricks? Why won't you face me straight on, man to man?"
Axel shook his head,
"You don't need to try so hard. There's a reason why you're still completely unharmed," he said, putting his wands on the floor.
"Catch it," he said as he lightly threw out a knife to the man.
Hope returned to Scar's face as his eyes followed the knife sailing through the air, ready to catch it. This kid is an idiot. There's no way anyone can beat him, Johnny Scars in a knife fight. He's going to—
*Shin*
Johnny's thoughts were cut off as he felt an excruciating pain below his abdomen. He looked down to see another knife stabbed into his pelvis, right through his little brother, cleanly severing it from his body.
The knife he was going to catch bumped uselessly on his head and he fell to the floor in pure agony.
"Arrrrrrrrrrgghhh!!!"
"You...! Why—"
"Why didn't I give you a chance? Is that what you want to ask? Haha! How naive are you, Johnny? You wanted a fair fight? That's quite rich coming from you," Axel laughed in pure amusement, as if he hadn't just severed a man's penis.
The reason why Axel had left him unharmed up to now... It was because he wanted to give him hope. And then take it away once again.
"You gang up on a nine-year-old and torture him for no reason. And now you want a fair fight?!" Axel was laughing so hard that he was having difficulty breathing.
"You really are one hell of a hypocrite, man. Oh sorry I forgot, you are no longer a man!" He exclaimed, pointing to the bloody mess that could identify him as a man.
Scars couldn't believe this situation and his consciousness was hazy due to the pain.
"No! This isn't happening… you can't do this…please... stop!" he was desperately hoping that it was a dream.
Axel grinned.
"What? You want me to stop? Why would I stop? I am now the hunter and you are the rat. I'm the one with power so... I can do whatever I want," he said, using the same words that were used on himself as he took out his knife from the man's pelvis.
And the screams of Johnny Scars began.
***
After he was done, sitting covered in blood, Axel put his mask back and went down and freed all the men from paralysis and poured some healing potion into their wounds. He was precise enough that none were able to run away and yet none were dead.
Though one of the men had all of his teeth broken for some reason but no one was complaining. (the guy who'd broken Axel's tooth three years ago.)
"Listen y'all. Your boss is gone for good. I'm your new boss. Anyone got any problems with that?" He asked as he stood in front of the assembled men.
"No boss!" They all yelled in fear.
None of the men even thought of rebelling. Everyone had heard the screams of their old boss. They didn't know much about this new guy. But they knew one thing: he's even more of a madman than their boss. And if anyone tried resisting, they were dead.
Axel nodded,
"Good. Now get me every valuable thing and all the money Scars had. I'll let you divide 5% among yourselves if no one tries to hide anything. You know what would happen if you tried to be smart. Go!" He barked and the men ran with utmost loyalty.
A while later, Axel stood speechless as he looked at all the things that Scars 'owned'.
"Let them hoes go away," he said directly indicating the two tied-up half-naked women. The men complied as they cut off their ropes.
He threw the women a bundle of cash each.
"Go and try to make an honest living or whatever," he said, shooing them away.
The women thanked him profusely before scurrying away.
Axel looked around at the rest of the men,
"The rest of you. You're not allowed to keep unwilling women. Stop all illegal activities for now and lay low. Try other means of earning which do not include breaking the law. You're allowed to stay here and wait for my orders. Got it?"
"Yes, boss!"
"Good. Hey, you! Yeah, you in the back. You are the temporary leader in my absence," he said, pointing at a guy in the back. This dude had tried reasoning with Scars when he was torturing Axel.
"Arrange a phone with your number saved on it."
"Ah…. Y-Yes boss!" The guy saluted and got to work while the others looked at him enviously like Christmas had come a day early for the guy. ,(tomorrow was Christmas.)
With everything done, Axel finally looked at the mountain of cash, drugs, and other valuables gathered up in front of him.
This is going to be a long day.
***
"What is it?" Asked Axel as he picked the call on his magi mirror.
Daphne's face came into view,
"When are you coming? And what's your address? We'll come and pick you up," she said excitedly.
Axel sighed. He is homeless, what address is he supposed to tell her?
"I'm coming. You don't need to pick me up. I'll use the floo network."
Daphne nodded,
"Ok, just remember the custom code of our house. Greengrass Manor."
"Yeah I know. I'm hanging up," he muttered, about to cut the call.
"Wait!"
"What is it?"
"Um... Do you have nothing to say to me?" She asked a bit nervously.
Axel didn't understand what she was saying and he was already half an hour late. So he said,
"Hey, I'm already coming there. Why are you wasting time talking through this?" He asked.
"Yeah right. See you soon!" She said as she hung up.
Axel shook his head as he pocketed the Magi-mirror. What a waste of time, as if she hadn't already told him ten times. He was really regretting giving her his contact info.
"Sigh… the things I have to do to escape homework," he muttered. But what could he do? He was a busy man.
He looked at the custom-made set of clothes from Madam Malkin's. They were self-cleaning but he had still washed them since a lot of blood had splashed onto him when dealing with Scars so he had washed them for his own satisfaction.
He had given up rejecting these clothes now since they were bloody convenient and had decided to just send out the money to Andromeda when he has an abundance of it. The same was the case for the Magi-mirror.
He fiddled with the small dial on the inside and set it to another setting. Instantly, the clothes changed into jeans, t-shirt, and a denim jacket.
Looking at his outfit, he just shrugged. 'This should do, right?' He thought as he snuck out of the room in Scars's Villa using Stealth. He had been staying here since yesterday. He'd rather not stay homeless in this cold weather like the previous times in favour of staying in this warm room.
Though he had kept the windows which were covered in thick snow sealed shut and completely missed the bunch of presents lying on the window stool. And one of them had a name "Daphne Greengrass" written on it.
After getting out, he took a cab to the Diagon Alley and went to the public floo. It's like the men's public toilet. Except there's a fireplace instead of the urinals and it's unisex.
There was a stream of people coming and going from the place. He paid the entry fee and got in. It was Axel's first time using the flow network so he observed carefully as a person called out an address code and stepped into the green fire. Soon after his departure, a small amount of gray powder automatically dropped into the fire from the enchanted container above and the green fire started blazing again as another person stepped into the fire.
"Is it that simple?" He muttered as he did the same and stepped out of the Greengrass manor gracefully.
"Hi! Are you my sister's boyfriend?" Asked someone as soon as he found his bearings.
***
A.N. How was the new magic?
Next Chapter: Christmas with Greengrass, She knows!
POWERSTONES!!!!!
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