"Fergus, what are you doing here?" the manager asked when he saw the strong man walking in with his group.
The man was Fergus Plummer, the boss of the criminal underground in downtown D. C.
After receiving David's order, Fergus sent his younger brother to find Lindsey. When he received a report that she was at The Playful Hare, he immediately ordered the manager to clear out all the other diners. He wanted to tie Lindsey up there, drug her, and take her to the hotel for David. As for the loser named Alex, he planned to teach him a lesson that he wouldn't forget.
The waiters had heard terrifying stories about Fergus's brutality. Although they knew that he was not looking for them, they were still afraid. They stood still, trying not to breathe.
By that time, there were only three guests left in the restaurant: Alex, Lindsey, and the woman in white. The manager told the waiter to close the door.
When Alex and Lindsey saw this, they both felt very uneasy. The woman in white remained calmly sitting in her seat. She had put on her disguise, and she didn't want to see what was happening.
Fergus sat down in a chair, glanced at Alex and Lindsey, and smiled. He said, "Hello, Miss Marvel. How could you reject Jason in favor of this loser?"
Lindsey was shocked. He knew who she was, but he still had the nerve to question her directly. She looked at Fergus angrily and said, "Did Jason send you here? What do you want? You know I'm from the Marvel family. If you do anything to upset me, my father will destroy you."
Fergus sat down, crossed his legs, and took out his lighter. After casually lighting a cigarette and taking a puff, he said," Miss Marvel, you're so beautiful even when you're angry. No wonder Jason is so besotted with you. He fell in love with you at first sight. Don't you think that you should at least go and visit him in the hospital?"
"I'm not going to see him in the hospital. Please get out of the way, we're leaving," Lindsey replied.
Fergus puffed out another mouthful of smoke and said with a smile, "Miss Marvel, you're so heartless. Since Jason asked me to come here, I'll make sure I do as he asked. If you don't do as we say, I cannot be responsible for what happens to you."
Then, he looked over his shoulder and said, "You two, bring Miss Marvel over here."
"Yes, of course," answered Fergus's two younger brothers. They walked over to Lindsey.
She was so frightened that she grabbed Alex's arm and tried to hide behind him. Alex stepped in front of her to block the thugs from getting near her.
"Get out of my way, loser," said one of the thugs threateningly.
"You want to get beaten? Get out of the way," said the other.
Alex frowned at Fergus and said, "Buddy, how much did Jason give you? Why don't you try asking the Marvel family if they'll double whatever he's promised you?"
Lindsey leaned out from behind Alex, nodded, and said, "Yes, I'll ask my father to give you more money. I'm sure he will if you promise to let us leave unharmed."
She had never been in a room with gangsters before, and she was terrified. She just wanted to get out of there.
"What? Do you think we're in some kind of auction? Whoever makes the highest bid wins?" Fergus said. Then he turned to his two younger brothers and said impatiently, "What are you waiting for? Beat this little shit for me."
"Yes, Fergus," they answered. One of them reached for Alex's hair and the other for his clothes. They wanted to drag him to the middle of the room to beat him up.
Predicting what the two were planning to do, Alex pushed Lindsey back further so that she wouldn't get hurt.
Then, he thumped the outstretched hands of the two gangsters. They hadn't expected him to fight back so he took them by surprise. They were furious and raised their fists again to hit him. Suddenly both screamed, "Oh, my God."
One had been hit on the nose and the other in the eye.
Alex showed them no mercy. As they covered their faces with their hands, he kicked them both in their stomachs. The two gangsters fell to the ground, holding their stomachs, and crying out in pain.
The two younger brothers were lying on the ground, boiling with rage.
One shouted, "How did you do that? I can't believe it. I'm going to kill this punk."
The other cried, "A loser like you shouldn't be able to beat us. Ugh, this is embarrassing!"
Fergus raised his hand slightly, and his younger brothers were quiet. They continued to glare at Alex with hatred.
Fergus said with a smile, "So, this loser has some skills. Do you think you can beat all ten of us by yourself?"
"I'm sure that I can't beat so many of you. But as long as I'm here, I won't let you take Lindsey. Fergus, I think we should talk about this and try to reach an agreement. What do you think?" Alex said.
Lindsey heard Alex say that he was going to protect her and felt grateful to him.
"Hey, you're a little bit brave, but you're also a little bit stupid. You're really trying to make deals with the underworld? Do you think you have that kind of capital? I'll give you one last chance. Step aside now or I'll let my brother do what he wants with you," Fergus said. Then one of his brothers, who was standing behind him, took a dagger from his pocket. He sneered at Alex, licked the tip of the knife with his tongue, spat gently on the ground, and looked at him with a cruel smile.
Alex's heart pounded, but he stayed where he was in front of Lindsey.
When she saw the knife and realized that Alex was in danger, her mind became very clear. She would never let Alex get hurt for her, so she stood up and said, "Don't hurt him. I'll go with you."
Fergus said with a smile, "Miss Marvel, that's a sensible decision. You will go with us, but we have some things to do here first."
"Lindsey, you can't," Alex cried out. He looked at Lindsey, who smiled back at him tenderly and said, "It's okay. You don't have to worry about me. I'm just going to see Jason in the hospital. It's nothing to worry about."
Before Alex could answer, Lindsey turned back to Fergus and said solemnly, "I'll agree to go with you, but only if you don't hurt him anymore. I warn you that if he gets hurt even a little, you'll have the whole of the Marvel family to deal with."
Fergus flicked his cigarette butt on the ground and said, "Okay, I promise I won't hurt him."
Fergus thought," Once I've got Lindsey out of the way, I'll get some people to follow him and beat the boy hard. She won't know it was anything to do with me."
He looked at Lindsey with a sneer. He was happy to have her cooperation, but he was also disgusted with her gullibility. As soon as he got her in the car, he and his men were going to drug her and take her to a hotel room, where David Drake was ready and waiting to have his fun with her. He knew that when she woke the next morning, she would barely remember what had happened.
Lindsey looked at Alex and said softly, "I've really enjoyed spending time with you today. I know you need to get back to school. Don't worry about me. I'll call you when I get back."
Then, she smiled and went over to Fergus.
Alex felt very uneasy. What Lindsey said was reasonable. It seemed like they were just taking her to visit Jason in the hospital. It shouldn't have been a big deal, but he had a bad feeling about Fergus. As he was thinking everything through, he suddenly heard a woman's voice saying, "You can't let her go. Something bad is going to happen to her."
He couldn't figure out where the voice was coming from. His first feeling was that it was a ghost warning him not to let them take Lindsey. He stepped forward, grabbed Lindsey's hand, and pulled her back to his side.
"What are you doing?" Lindsey asked with a puzzled expression.
"You can't go with him. I know something bad is going to happen," he replied solemnly.
"What the hell are you doing?" Fergus asked. He was furious when he saw that the plot was about to succeed, but that Alex had changed his mind at the last minute. The ten young thugs with him had already pulled out their daggers.
Alex was unarmed. He was now facing ten gangsters with daggers in their hands, and he knew that he had to be very careful. He wasn't sure what to do next.
"Do you know martial arts?" the mysterious voice asked him.
"No," he replied, suspecting that he was talking to himself.
Lindsey looked at Alex and asked, "No what?"
He looked back at her and was about to answer, "She asked me if I knew martial arts." But before he could speak, the mysterious voice said, "Haven't you learned even the basics? Didn't you do some kickboxing training?"
Alex was shocked. He saw that when the voice spoke, Lindsey didn't respond in the slightest. He looked at Fergus and others. They were just staring at each other and arguing. Obviously, they didn't hear the voice either.
Alex was surprised and felt strange. He thought, "Why am I the only one who can hear this voice? Who's voice is it? Is it a fairy? Or a ghost? "
"Young man, why don't you answer me when I ask you something?" the voice said.
Alex was respectful of the voice, but he was also afraid of it. He said, "I learned some kickboxing and some other basic martial arts when I was a child."
When the others heard him talking to himself, they were confused.
"Who's this boy talking to?" asked one thug.
"Maybe we've scared him out of his wits," said another.
"I think he's trying to scare us with his talk of knowing kickboxing," said a third.
Alex continued, "But I learned it when I was very young. Now I only remember a few of the moves. I've forgotten most of it."
The voice answered him calmly, "It's good that you learned it. I'll help you remember, and it will be enough to beat these ten thugs."
"But they have knives. How can I beat them?" Alex asked in surprise.
Watching Alex talking to himself, Fergus thought that he was having a joke at his expense. He said coldly, "This loser is playing me for a fool here. Since he says he wants to fight with us, why would we disappoint him? I'll leave you to deal with it, but don't hurt Lindsey, or I'll chop you up and feed you to the dog. Miss Marvel, get out of the way so that we can deal with this peasant."
He turned to look at the thugs and said, "Whoever takes this boy out will get to use my club membership card for three months and will get another five thousand in cash."
As soon as Fergus gave the order, the thugs rushed at Alex.
"Ah." He was startled and pushed Lindsey out of the way so she wouldn't get hurt. When he saw the thugs rushing at him, his heart started pounding. Then he heard the mysterious voice saying, "Use a whirlwind kick to take out the legs of the first few people. Be accurate, ruthless, and fast. Your feet shouldn't touch the ground."