Good Riddance

Terra and Mikey were looking at each other eye-to-eye, standing unbothered in the little area they had secluded themselves in.

It wasn't as if someone couldn't walk towards them to interrupt them or get in between the fight, but it was more so the fact that nobody wanted to bother Mikey when he was in a fight against someone, for they knew they would only get in his way.

"Before we begin, let's talk," Mikey said as he reached out a hand towards Terra who already had his fist in the air, ready to fight. He even wore the brass knuckles he had gotten from Minty earlier.

"What do you want to talk about?" Terra said as he placed his fists a little lower but didn't place them down fully.

"I know why you are here and I have a better solution for you," Mikey said.

Terra was curious now about what he was talking about and had lowered his hands completely to hear him out.

"If this is really what I think this is then I propose that instead of fighting against us, you fight with us," Mikey said. "You and your crew, can all join us. Though you wouldn't work under us, we could be more so partners who support each other."

Terra was completely oblivious to whatever the heck Mikey was talking about. He imagined a small question mark popping out of his head as the light bulb in his mind faded away.

He turned his head sideways and folded his arms as he gave Mikey a strange look.

Mikey didn't understand what the look was supposed to mean but he took it as a sign of distrust seeing as how his men and them had been fighting each other for quite a while now.

"We can put all the damages aside and work out a few things later," Mikey said as he kicked a chair that was lying on the floor back up so he could lean on it with one hand.

"Once our two groups join forces then I am sure that we can take control of this region of California without an issue, and you too would be able to benefit from doing this. We'd stomp out all the remaining competitors and gain value from taking over their turf as well as resources."

"The bigger we grow, the stronger we become, and the more space we can manage and control. This group of yours, I believe this is your entire squad, otherwise you would have come with more people, so don't you think that having more hands that you can work with can help you achieve your ultimate goal?" Mikey asked.

"And what would that be?" Terra responded.

"Becoming equal to if not joining one of the 5 mafia families. I'm sure you've heard of the trash members of the Magaddino family, or at least what's left," Mikey said with a face that displayed a smile of some kind. Whatever it was, it was NOT genuine.

Hearing that family name struck a nerve inside Terra as his mind wandered away and was not listening anymore.

"The bastards who started the war almost a year ago are now barely clinging to power. If we can overtake them or even completely demolish them then the next new family that would take their place would be us. And in order to do that you will need people. Tons and tons of people to support you and help you rise up. So let us support each other-"

"Is that what this is about?" Terra interrupted and this came as a small shock to Mikey. 'He was so quiet till now, but why does he seem... different?' Mikey wondered.

"If not this, then why else would you attack us?" Mikey replied. "Wasn't it to get ahead?"

"Let me clear this up for you real quick," Terra answered as he clenched his brass knuckles in his hands. "I want no part of any organization that has any dealing with the Mafia. No gang, no Mob, nothing. And I would prefer it this way."

"What!!? But that doesn't make sense! Then why did you attack us!?" Mikey asked in confusion.

Terra gritted his teeth as he beat his chest once, "Because I don't like the Mafia! That is all!!"

Mikey could not believe what he was hearing. All this just because some guy is mad at the Mafia? This felt unreasonable. This felt childish. And yet for some reason, that felt familiar.

"I can't believe this," Mikey chuckled. "Well, that was a waste of time trying to convince you.

"Agreed," Terra responded.

"Well, let's get to it shall we?" Mikey said as he took a stance whereby one foot was in front of the rest of his body while the other foot hung back.

Terra noticed that immediately and thought to himself, 'He is going to kick me once I move in. Depending on how high, I might be able to duck under it and get close enough to punch him.'

Terra moved in and Mikey quickly spun around in order to kick him in his midsection. He used the front foot as the anchor and then put all of the force he had on the foot behind him in order to make this blow stronger.

Terra used both of his hands to block the attack and though successful he was dissatisfied. This was not the kick he wanted. He was hoping for a sideways kick he could work around with, not a back-kick.

Terra pushed the foot down and the moment he did he saw another kick coming towards his face. It was a sideways kick that Mikey had prep as a countermeasure in case the first kick didn't do the job.

Using the turning momentum from the first foot being pushed downwards, Mikey would redirect some of that energy into his next kick to try and take down Terra.

He was swift and quick with it, but Terra seeing the sideways kick being aimed at his face, specifically his chin, ducked under it and followed up with a punch of his own at Mikey's jaw.

Mikey pulled his head back so much that he started to fall backward, and as he did so, he placed both his hands on the floor and lifted his feet into the air, after which he spun around a little bit to try and get a few hits on his opponent.

Terra blocked the blows by guarding his face with his arms, as he pulled away from the fight a little bit to gain a moment to think.

After which, Terra then glared at Mikey as he took off his brass knuckles.

"Huh, what's this supposed to mean?" Mikey asked. "Is this your way of surrendering?"

"Hah, don't get ahead of yourself now," Terra chuckled away. "This is my way of taking this fight seriously. You see the funny thing is, I fight better without them."

Terra then rushed at Mikey with quick speed. Mikey responded by kicking the chair he had kicked up earlier, at Terra right now. Terra punched the chair and kept going forward, but the moment the chair got out of his view, Mikey's knees could be seen coming to collide with his face.

Terra quickly placed both of his hands in front of his face and grabbed at Mikey's knees, he let himself fall backward and threw Mikey off of him without taking any damage from that attack.

Mikey landed on all fours, and wanting to get a hit in before Terra got up, he rushed toward him at a full sprint.

Getting close enough, he did a flip, pushed his hands off of the floor again in order to get even higher in the air, and then came falling down with full force as he swung another kick aiming at Terra's head.

Terra blocked the blow with one arm as he placed his other hand on the floor in order to balance himself while tanking the blow. But even while doing so, part of the attack had managed to graze his head.

After blocking off most of the attack, Terra quickly wrapped his arm around Mikey's leg and threw him at a wall.

Mikey hit the wall with his back and was about to get off it but was then met with a punch hitting him straight in the face. Mikey placed his arms up as he wanted to block the next onslaught of attacks coming his way but even then some of them were still reaching him.

'He reached me already?? How did he get so close, so quickly?' Mikey wondered.

A punch hit him, and another, and another, and another! They just kept going, leaving Mikey with no room to breathe. At least Mikey thought that he would find an opening somewhere but there was none. It was like this guy wouldn't get tired.

Terra kept on hitting Mikey relentlessly each time, and he wouldn't diverge his attacks either. He would hit him in the same place as last time without trying to mind game or go for a less defended area, meaning that Terra was hitting Mikey in an already injured spot to add more damage to the wound.

Terra right now was being merciless.

After what felt like an eternity of punches coming at Mikey's face, he was surprised to feel that they had stopped. When he lowered his swollen arms a little to see what was going on, he saw that Terra had stopped one of his punches that was going to hit him in mid-air.

"W-wh-what?" Mikey muttered confused. He could see that Terra wasn't even facing him but instead, looking downwards at the floor.

"You know, the thing you said earlier about joining you to become a mafia family of your own," Terra said as he brought his gaze upon Mikey by lifting his head up to see his eyes, "It didn't sound genuine."

"Not that I don't believe that you were willing to join forces to take down the mafia, but more so that they didn't feel like your words. More like words that someone else has told you to say so many times that you mistook them to be your own."

"Maybe you hate the mafia just like me because they were the reason for your pain. I wouldn't know for sure because I don't know you. But what I do know is that you did this to protect something if not someone. I can see that in your eyes. And you and I are the same in that regard."

Mikey lowered his arms that were by his face down to his stomach as his eyes widened with a glimmer of hope. For the first time in a long while, he was remembering the reason why he started doing all of this in the first place.

Mikey looked like he was about to cry, and as he was about to say something, Terra punched him in the face with the fist that he had stopped in mid-air and knocked him out cold as he whispered to him, "Whatever your reason was for doing this. I still don't like the mafia."

Terra turned around and said to himself, "Okay, now time for me to finish up around here-"

Terra was interrupted, as he was surprised to see both Vito and Edith standing right there before him. Vito was stained in a bit of blood and Edith looked exhausted, which was strange because her powers should have prevented that from happening.

"What are you guys doing here!?" Terra asked as he almost jumped up and down. He didn't expect them to just be standing there, stalking!

"We are here to collect you, it's time to go," Vito said.

"COLLECT ME!?" Terra repeated in a very informal tone. "Am I some type of prize?" he cheekily added.

"Stop it!" Vito said. "You know what I mean. It's time to go now."

"No it's not," Terra replied. "We still have so many more people to put downnnn and all my gosh! Did we get everyone!?" Terra replied as he realized that no one was left standing in the room. Except for them of course.

"Yeah, while you were busy talking away with this guy, me and Edith took care of everybody," Vito replied.

"That... We did," Edith responded in a monotone voice.

"Uhm, Edith? Are you okay?" Terra asked worried for her mental health.

"Yeah, just tired. I am so done with this already. Can we just go?" Edith replied.

Terra looked around again. And again. There really was no one left to fight.

"Damn, I wanted to beat them up some more," he whined as he crossed his arms and kicked the air while pouting.

"Beating up Mafia is not that exciting Terra," Vito said just to put it out there.

"It's!" Terra started off but then stopped himself. *Argh!* "You wouldn't understand. Fine, let's go!"

As Terra walked past Vito, Vito stared at his back for a moment before following him. And before he did he whispered, "No Terra, you wouldn't understand."

And the only one who heard him say that was Edith as she paid close attention to his words.