Orso Fiction 051

Orso Fiction Chapter 051-The Shadow and the Queen (Part 1 of 3)
Osvaldo drew a long, ornamental-looking knife from the small scabbard on his belt.

“Prepare yourself.”, he murmured, and dashed, with surprising speed, at Bradley Ratliff. The knife flashed in the light of the projector, but the blond boy was too fast, and jumped across the row of seats into the next aisle. The knife struck the chair Bradley had been in front of, slicing all the way through the cloth, plastic, and metal. “Tch…Fast, are you?”

“Why are you doing this?”, Bradley asked. “Why did you call us out here?”

“Do you want the long version, or the short version?”, Osvaldo asked.

“Short.”

“Because I am a very, very bad man.”

“Okay. Long version now.”

Osvaldo sighed.

---

Sonia sighed, looking at Taylor Houston. She gripped her umbrella tightly with both hands, and yanked in both directions. The umbrella fell apart to reveal a short, thin, ornamental-looking spear that had been hidden in the center.

“Little girl, you can’t expect to compare to my genius.”, she boasted. “Your team may have won fairly against mine, but let’s review the facts. My girls have made sure that your team is thoroughly exhausted. Your healer has probably burnt herself out healing your team after their battles, and won’t be able to help you. I’ve managed to neutralize the two strongest people on the battlefield, my nephews. My brother has delayed your ally with his Mal Mosca, the robot of his own design. All I need to do is impair you long enough to escape. You, on the other hand, must take the Arcoferro from me, which will, I will warn you now, require killing me. Something you are incapable of. You may have the respect of whatever two-bit kid you call a boss, but I am one of the Ferraro. We are elite! Our legend is the legend of the mafia world itself!”

“Shut up.”, Taylor commanded. Sonia raised an eyebrow.

“Excuse me?”

“Bradley’s a four year old at heart, so he loves stories. Me, I’m a little more practical. I don’t know what you’re buying time for, but it stops now.”

“I don’t know what you could be talking about…”, Sonia oozed.

---

“What in the world is going on?!”, Allison thought, watching the man wearing the black coat and top hat, his face covered in bandages, now holding the chains that held Adelina down. Rosangela looked up in terror at the man that towered over her, trying to resist the urge to scream.

“I just want to go home already…”, Mike sighed, just now waking up. “I’m getting bored of being here. ”

“Mike, shut up!”, Sabra hissed. “He’s kidnapping that girl!”

“Who do you think you are!?”, Jess shouted at him. “We won’t just stand by and let you hurt her!”

“Please do not attempt to aid the prisoner in escaping.”, the man replied in his monotone. “This is an offense worse than the prisoner’s.”

“Just who are you!?”, Jess demanded. “And what do you mean, prisoner!?”

“My name is Darklaw.”, the man, apparently named Darklaw, said. “I am a Justice of the Vindice. We are the law of the mafia world. My word here is absolute.”

“So you’re some kind of glorified cop?”, Nicole asked, walking into the track with Paige, placing the other Roses on the ground beside Nerina. “What has she done wrong, huh? She didn’t want to do any of this, this is all because of that Sonia woman manipulating these girls!”

“I am not concerned with the battle that just took place.”, Darklaw answered.

“No, but you’re not concerned by much, are you?”, a voice from behind the Agents asked. They whipped around to see a man in simple black robes, an eyepatch, and a sheathed sword on his belt.

“Berenger…”, Darklaw murmured.

---

Osvaldo lowered his knife slightly.

“The long version it is, then. Well, you must know that my siblings and I are involved in a little bit of a squabble…”

“I heard about that.”, Bradley answered. “What was the disagreement?”

“We argued over which trait was most important for a person to possess. Berenger said courage, Sonia said wisdom, and I said power. Well, the argument was more or less a cover for the real plan…We really just wanted to grind Berenger into the dust.”

“So you and Sonia have been working together since the beginning.”

“Of course. I acknowledge that with intelligence, one naturally has more strength in many situations. I see nothing wrong with her viewpoint. It was Berenger that I was never able to stand.”

“How did that lead to this moment?”

“Well, you see, there are…treasures, that has been passed down the Ferraro line, ever since the first Ferraro was given his name by the first Devino. Only one child can inherit them. I wanted them, naturally.”

“You’re right. Getting the best share of the inheritance is a GREAT reason to brainwash a bunch of kids into fighting your brother.”, Bradley spat, disgusted.

“So I struck a deal with Berenger. The three of us would choose a group of teenagers each, and support them, in battle against each other. The winner would win that treasure. Amusingly…Berenger had, in his past, helped two groups of teenagers. The Skulls, he provided with resources to study and become strong-“

“B. Ferraro…Berenger Ferraro…Oh, god…”, Faustino moaned. “We’ve done something horrible…”

“And the Roses, he helped by making sure their journey was safe, until he finally sponsored them, once they rescued Rosangela, with the same materials he gave the Skulls…But Sonia and I saw an opportunity to further our plans …We burned the home he built for them to the ground. By this point, Berenger had begun to travel, and had no way of finding this out…He’s still down there, somewhere. Who knows when he’ll return…”

Bradley’s eyes widened for a millisecond.

“He doesn’t know Berenger is back!”, he realized. “Interesting…”

“Sonia and I found it very amusing to take, before the fool could pick one of them to use, both of the groups of children he had formed a new life for…He was forced to choose a third family, one he hadn’t influenced at all! The advantage was ours!”

“That didn’t work out too well for you.”

“And so I must extend my congratulations to you.”, Osvaldo sneered. “But your family…interests me…”

“Why is that?”, Bradley asked. “Amazed by our devilish good looks?”

“We were approached by one of the Elite Eight, the Infinito Family. They made a request of us, as if they already knew we would be going to war with you…But, then, the idea of the three remaining Ferraro warring would be big news in the mafia community….Regardless. The one I spoke to requested that we specifically battle the Varia Officers and Agents, and collect their rings. I had no objection to this, as they declared they were already going to battle the Orso Guardians. No reason to anger an Elite Eight family by stealing their prey, right? The one I talked to told me the family would pay high prices for your rings, and if I managed to collect the whole set, I would be given a role as head armorer. The position is...slightly below me, but there was no reason to be rude and refuse.”

“Hold on…”, Bradley requested. Osvaldo raised an eyebrow.

“Yes?”

“No, I just need a moment to process all that. Could you maybe repeat it all?”

Osvaldo sighed.

---

Taylor patted Amber on the head.

“Go Cambio Forma, Amb. Modo Ofesa to start with.”

The kinkajou made a noise halfway between a meow and a chirp, and began to glow orange. It quickly morphed into its staff form, falling into Taylor’s hands.

“Scettro di Segreti…Let’s do this.”

---

“Tell me you understand it this time.”, Osvaldo said. “We’ve manipulated three families into fighting each other, so I can get my family’s inheritance, and an outside agent is paying me to do it.”

“I think I get it.”, Bradley answered. “Okay, you can keep going.”

“…Right…Well, Sonia and I agreed to work together to defeat Berenger. The fact that her girls were able to intercept the Arcoferro before they got to you, and arrange for a battle to wager them on was purely lucky.”

“You’ve gotten lucky a lot during this plan.”

“…I…I guess I have…But it’s because of Sonia’s genius planning that we’ve had so many opportunities. Chance favors the prepared mind and all that.”, Osvaldo said, the boy’s unorthodoxy throwing him off. “But…Actually, that’s about the whole story. Everything else, you’ve already seen. The brainwashing, the Mal Mosca outside, the Mal Mosca helping my sister right now…this barrier…that’s all of it.”

“So now I know all the details.”, Bradley murmured, the tone of his voice suddenly changing. “So…now I can judge you properly.”

“Judge me?”, Osvaldo sneered. “Don’t make me laugh.”

“In accordance to the policies of the Orso Family, I will give you until the count of three to surrender and apologize. If you do not, I will have no choice but to fight you.”

“Who do you think you are, boy?”, Osvaldo laughed. “You’re some upstart from the middle of nowhere…You have no right to question me! You have no right to stand before me!”

“Three.”

“You are signing your own death warrant!”

“Two.”

“Come, then! Show me the power of the family Berenger chose!”

“One!”

“Prepare to die!”, Osvaldo screamed, leaping at Bradley with his knife.

“Uranus! Cambio Forma! Modo Ofesa!”

---

“Long time no see, Darklaw.”, Berenger said, walking closer to him.

“Indeed.”, Darklaw replied, not a shred of emotion in his voice. “Was your quest successful?”

“No…not this time.”, Berenger answered, sighing. “There’s always next time. I’ll find it. I know the cure for that boy’s legs is down there somewhere. Anyway, how is the prison work going? Keeping you busy?”

“It is, yes.”, Darklaw answered.

“Hold on here.”, Paige interrupted. “Just…who is that?”

“He’s an old friend of mine.”, Berenger answered her casually.

“Oh, alright.”, Paige said, accepting the answer, smiling and nodding. “HOLD ON. Who are YOU!?”

“This is the man that made me healthy again!”, Rosangela chirped.

“Now who is she?”, Mike asked.

“She’s the Roses’ little sister, dumbass.”, Sabra answered. “Get your head out of your ass, would you?”

“Mister…Please, don’t let this man take her…”, Rosangela asked softly. Berenger offered her a slight smile.

“That’s why I’m here.”, he assured her. “Darklaw…I would like to talk to you about this girl’s release. What are the charges against her?”

“The prisoner is a danger to society.”. Darklaw offered. “If the prisoner is not restrained, the monster inside its soul may regain control of it. The danger this prisoner presents can no longer be ignored.”

“Oh, but I have a solution to that.”, Berenger said, his face lighting up. “See, the only reason the darkness inside her reacted at all was because of the pressure she faced with her sisters being manipulated, and in danger. It’s not something that could happen at the drop of a hat.”

“Irrelevant.”, Darklaw answered, as though he were reading a dictionary aloud. “If the prisoner is allowed to go free, there is no guarantee that this will not happen again.”

“Ah, but that’s the beauty of my solution. It gives Adelina here a place to go, keeps her out of harm’s way. It’s perfect.”

“What is your solution?”

“We let her join the Orso Family.”

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