Mikie, Fez, Kief, and Graham's hearts pounded in their chests as their fears wouldn't subside until Vox made his decision and finally, he did.
/"Alright. I guess we'll leave like the bitch wants"\ Vox replied, shocking but also relieving his friends who became happy, thinking that he cared more about them than his ego and pride.
Centshuu, maintaining his poker face, asked "What did he say, Ripply?"
"The fucker said that they'd take their leave" Ripply answered.
Centshuu groaned with concern.
"I'm guessing he said more than that or else you wouldn't still be this angry."
"Yeah. The bastard keeps testing my patience" Ripply replied, clenching his fists and doing his best to control himself.
"Did he insult Bell or me?" Centshuu asked, knowing well that was the only thing that would get Ripply angry enough to act and speak how he was.
"He did, alright. He called her a bitch to my fucking face"
Centshuu who had been keeping his poker face strong for a while now finally had a chip in his armor.
For only a fraction of a second, his anger slipped through and showed on his expression.
It took so long for this to happen because he hadn't heard the previous times Vox insulted Bell because Ripply was too angry and stopped translating for the group after the first derogatory word he called her.
Centshuu chuckled disappointingly.
"Sorry guy but looks like this time I'm the one who's about to drag—" Centshuu whispered to the rest of the squad but was cut off by Mosey.
"Don't worry Cent, we understand," Mosey said.
"Yeah, Centshuu. Normally, Ripply is the one who makes you rethink what you're about to do and if the risk to the squad outweighs the benefits, but right now, even he has been pissed off by these bastards. What I'm saying is, I'm fully with you on anything you decide," Kove said.
"Besides, we can't just stand here and allow these punks to insult Ripply's friend like that. He deserves to let his anger lose at least once in a while" Mosey grinned.
Hearing his friends share their support the way they just did put a smile on Centshuu's face.
He looked at Avery and said "Sorry kid but you think you can repeat what you did last time?"
Avery who wasn't expecting to be brought into what was being talked about jolted.
"If you're talking about how I fought last time then sure, I think so"
"Great because we might need you since we're one man down," Centshuu said.
Avery grimaced.
'One man down, but with my help wouldn't it be six against five—?' He thought but by accident looked at Shieve and saw that the man didn't look like he was going to have the squad's back if and when the fight started.
He then remembered how Shieve ran away the last time the fight broke out too and only Mosey and Kove had his back back then.
Avery groaned, took a deep breath, and then sighed, ready for anything that was to come.
"Alright, Ripply, one more thing to translate. Tell these bastards that we'd like to escort them outside. Let's all go behind the building and have an honest chat about the importance of respecting the owner of whatever establishment you're in. Especially, when they have delinquents as business partners" Centshuu said and immediately, Ripply who knew what he meant, like always, smirked.
/"…"\ Ripply was cut off.
/"Whatever bullshit that fool just said, you keep it to yourself. But, since you're at it, help me translate this to the moron who thinks he calls the shot; "Watch your back moving forward" As a matter of fact, all you fucks better watch your backs from now because none of you will see it coming when I decide that your days are numbered. Trust me when I say that just like that bitch, none of you know who you just messed with."\ Vox said and Ripply frowned.
"What did he say this time?" Centshuu asked his angry translator who had his fist clenched so tight that if he had long fingernails he would have been bleeding by then.
Centshuu noticed the clenched and vibrating fists and he sighed.
"From the looks of things, nothing good. How disappointing" Centshuu said and then smacked his tongue.
"What a shame. I guess we'll just have to jump them when they get outside. And I tried giving them a heads up about what was going to happen but whatever—" Centshuu said, watching Vox turn around like he was about to leave which made him drop his guard but then…
Vox whose hand had been in pocket sprung like a lion to its prey.
He turned around swiftly and pulled out what had been hiding in his pocket all this time.
He brought to light what he had wanted to pull out and use against Avery before the interruption to their battle back then.
Vox pulled out his hidden weapon and Centshuu was right, it was a knife and not just a regular knife. It was a knife made from the bone of a powerful animal and with it, he lunged at Centshuu.
/"I told you to watch your back, didn't I, you fuck?! Now, regret ever stepping up and running your mouth to me!"\ Vox yelled as he attacked.
Mosey, who saw the attack coming did what he could. He reached for Centshuu, trying to push him out of the way and escape Vox's reach.
Unfortunately, just like Centshuu, he too had lowered his guard when Vox turned around and feigned his exit, and, as a result, he had seen the attack a second too late which meant that he was too slow to act and wouldn't get Centshuu to safety in time.
Ripply, who had let his anger cloud his senses, was too slow to catch on to what Vox was doing. He too couldn't move in time to jump in front of the blade and shield Centshuu with his body like he would have.
Kove, who was the farthest from Centshuu in the gathering, with his position being beside Mosey who was beside Centshuu, could only watch as Vox descended his bone knife at Centshuu, aiming for his neck which would result in an immediate death.
Shieve, who was the slowest to react and became scared by Vox's sudden attack, acted in his best interest and tried to jump out of the gathering.
As for Vox, he grinned from ear to ear as the tip of his blade was about to meet its target.
All he needed to do was kill Centshuu which would both soothe his ego by accomplishing his revenge, but also destabilize the group. Then, as the chaos of everyone acting out in shock takes over the Velvet Serpent, he and his friends could run away.
They could vanish and never be caught because of how hard it was to catch criminals in the current society, or at least that was what went through his messed up mind.
In truth, there were so many witnesses, and among them were people like Bell who had enough personal information about him that finding him,m would, of course, take a certain amount of time but it would eventually happen.
/'Die, you backwater monkey!'\ Vox thought, already tasting the victory as Bell screamed Centshuu's name.
Unfortunately, just before his wishes and thoughts could become reality, everything was foiled by a single person.
That person was, Avery.