Chapter 16
Avecii's ribs ached as he slowly got up and saw the huge man standing next to Amo breathing with his whole body. He was nearly eight feet tall and had on a tank top too small to contain his giant muscles with tight dark cargo pants on underneath. His skin was covered with scars, stitches and burn marks, making him look like a moving, rugged mountain. A bold, black number one was tattooed onto his biceps and had his face hidden by a brown bag made of a course material, showing only his black eyes and a little bit of the red, almost torn, skin around them.
"Avecii, say hello to Primo, one of my most trusted family members." Amo smiled.
Avecii repositioned his blade holding it flat across his forearm and zipped past Primo. Primo slowly turned around when he had realized what had happened, but it was too late. Avecii had already closed in on Amo.
"Lama da fulmine!" He shouted as he swung his arm in a large arc.
"Secondo!" Amo shouted.
Avecii felt a sting in his back that quickly erupted with searing pain causing him to miss Amo by a few centimeters. When he turned around another sting jolted his body this time the pain erupted from his left shoulder followed by a large fist sending him crashing into another wall.
Avecii slowly guided his hand down his back and grabbed something slim and metallic, the same thing that was stuck in his left shoulder, a bread knife whose edges had been sharpened to a perfect point. He threw some of the rubble of him and stood up, struggling to keep himself upright and breathing heavily as he stared at the new fighter. Standing next to the eight foot giant now was a man whose head reached the giant's shoulders. He had a lanky frame, with what seemed like extra long limbs. His long blonde hair fell to the middle of his back and past his chest, and highlighted his cold, emotionless, blue eyes. His nose and mouth were wrapped in bandages that fell down to and loosened around his shoulders. On his lower half he was wearing brown cargo pants with bread knives sticking out of the many pockets. Similar to Primo he had a large, black number two tattooed on his chest surrounded by deep cuts, gashes and scarred skin.
"This is Secondo!" Amo pointed with a flat hand.
"Tch, did they join with scars…. Or were those their welcome gifts..." Avecii said back coldly.
He stared at the two towering warriors, and the man controlling them, knowing it would be difficult to slip past the two to get to him. Avecii thought hard, trying to figure out a way to get past the two when he remembered something Pops had told him. There's a lot of information to process in a fight, how to attack, how to dodge, what your opponents next attack will be, how your body is positioned, what's around you, Pops said while standing next to a panting, small Avecii, If you try to think about it all you'll just self destruct, so when you catch yourself overthinking, let your instincts run wild. Avecii smiled as he thought how Pops was still saving him even after passing away.
"Scintillante pugnalata!" Avecii whispered, emptying his mind of any thoughts.
There was a strong crackling sound that echoed through the basement. Amo spun his head around, trying to pinpoint the origin of the sound after looking up and seeing a clear sky. When he turned his attention back to his men Avecii was standing in between them, as they slowly crumbled to the ground, forming a pool of blood around their feet.
"Next." Avecii said while pointing his blade at Amo.
The crackle echoed throughout the room once again once again as Avecii lunged in the face of Amo, his blade behind him, coming forwards with all the power he could muster. Amo froze, a chill ran through his spine when he saw the wild look in Avecii's eyes. It was the same look Dante had when he had staged the coup to overtake him two years ago.
"TerZo! QuaRto!" His voice broke as he took a step backwards.
Avecii lined the blade up to Amo's Adam's apple, with the blade coming forwards at full force it would only take a moment for this to be over. BANG! The loud gunshot echoed like cannon fire in the room sending an eruption of pain going through Avecii's body. Before he could react he felt something solid on his chin and darkening his vision. The rapid attacks were not over yet, another shot rang quickly followed by another quick hit, this one leaving a sharp pain, on his leg and rib cage. Avecii's vision blurred as he felt some cracking in his chest, sending him stumbling backwards and crumbling onto one knee.
He looked up trying to focus his disoriented eyes and caught a glimpse of two new people. One was the same height as Amo and wore a crow's mask with a long beak, had a tattered, brown vest on and brown pants with red stripes. His arms were covered in stitches, deep scars, and blood stained bandages wrapped tight. Like the others he had the number three tattooed onto each of his knuckles on both hands. On his back was a large rifle with a large barrel that glowed red and emitted white smoke and in his hands two revolvers which were also accompanied by the smoke.
The other had a long, black hat with brown highlights with small, white tags coming down from the tips, hiding his face. He was wearing a long sleeve shirt and dark khakis. His legs, like the others, were scarred and tattooed onto each calf was the number four. He was wearing two different shoes. On his right foot the rubber sole had been replaced with metal spikes that stretched all the way to the front of the foot and the back. On his left the rubber sole was replaced with a dense and flat piece of shiny metal that covered his toes and heel.
Avecii's strength faded as the world suddenly went into slow motion and deafened. He could see Mia shouting something as his body started moving to the right, her face was red as veins bulged on her neck. As his body hit the floor he could see Amo shouting causing Primo and Secondo to quickly get up. Suddenly the four of them were on top of Avecii delivering strong blows, cuts and gunfire onto him, but Avecii couldn't feel anything, just that his body was being moved. He could see Amo smiling then laughing behind them. Avecii closed his eyes, any moment now, he thought as his consciousness faded. He was kinda looking forward to it, forward to meeting Dante, looking forward to meeting Pops. He fell deeper and deeper into a trance, waiting to hear Pops' words.