Chapter 37-Gambino Crime Syndicate

"Well this is…ominous," I sy as the five of us stare down the hallway ahead of us.

"What is it, I can't see!" Mary asks as she hops up and down in an attempt to peer over our shoulders.

Mary continues hopping, and Old-Man F lets out an annoyed grunt.

Eventually, Old-Man F turns around and grabs Mary by the waist, causing the girl to shirek. Old-Man F then turns back around and holds Mary up so that she can see the hallway ahead of her.

"Oh, that is ominous!" Mary exclaims.

"Well…it looks like we can only head forwards," I sigh.

"Then forwards we shall go," Anemoi replies as she begins marching down the hallway, and the five of us follow.

The five of us continue making our way down the hallway until we reach a fork in the roar, one side leading to the right, and the other leading to the left.

"Aw crap, where do we go now?!" I ask.

The five of us then turn to face Anemoi, who continues staring ahead at the two diverging paths.

Anemoi flinches once she notices the four pairs of eyes focused on her.

"What?!" Anemoi cries as she turns to face the four of us, "How should I know?!"

This is YOUR plan!" Khione snaps.

"Yeah, but it's not like I have a map of Gambino's base!" Anemoi snaps back.

The rest of us are silent.

"You really think I did?!" Anemoi cries as she looks back and forth at the rest of us.

The five of us sigh.

Silence.

"We're going to have to split up," Old-Man F then says, interrupting our silence, "But HOW is the question."

"I better not have to fight…" Mary shudders.

"Don't worry, you won't be alone!" Old-Man F laughs.

"Well then, I want to go with-" Khione begins to say, but Anemoi cuts her off.

"I will go right with Noah," Anemoi barks as she grabs my shirt collar.

"How come?" Khione asks.

"It's only fair that the two strongest go together since we'd have to split up two and three," Anemoi explains.

"You really think you and Noah are the strongest?" Khione smirks.

"We're two E-Chargers of the original four elements," Anemoi yawns, "We're not the same, as you three."

"Then bring it on!" Khione roars as she enters her Charge Stance.

"With pleasure," Anemoi smirks as she resumes hers.

"Ladies, PLEASE!" Old-Man F exclaims as he takes a step in between Khione and Anemoi and holds a hand out to each woman, "This isn't why we're splitting up."

"Oh, right," the two women reply as they exit their Charge Stances.

"Now let's go left, you two," Old-Man F orders as he begins heading to the left path, and Mary and Khione follow.

Khione stares Anemoi down as she walks away,

Anemoi stares her back as Khione passes by.

"Come on, Noah," Anemoi orders as she turns and faces the right path once Khione is out of sight, "Let's go."

"R-right…" I reply as I follow Anemoi.

And so, Anemoi and begin walking down the right-seated path, until we reach another fork in the road, and standing in the middle, is a guard wearing a black suit and sunglasses.

"Crap!" I whisper-shout to Anemoi.

"I know, right!" Anemoi whisper-shouts back, "Sunglasses inside…I mean, who DOES that?!"

"No, not that! There's a guard! What do we do?!"

"Just follow my lead."

Anemoi and I continue approaching the guard, and once he notices us, they perk up.

"What the Hell are you two doing?!" The guard snaps.

"Woah!" Anemoi laughs as she throws her hands up in surrender. I flinch, then do the same,"We're from Evil Rabbits."

"Fair enough," the guard replies, "You LOOK like bandits of Evil Rabbits. Did Gambino summon for you?"

"Of course. Why else would we be here?"

"And why are you wandering around…?" The guard growls.

"This is a little embarrassing, but…" Anemoi begins to say as a blush creeps across her face and she looks away in shame. Anemoi presses her legs together and begins squirming back and forth.

"It's…my time of the month…"

The guard's eyes widen.

"R-right this way!" The guard cries as they point to their left.

My jaw is damn near on the floor.

"Thanks!" Anemoi winks, then hustles to the left.

"Uhh…thank you," I say as I begin to follow after Anemoi.

"Hold on now," the guard says as they take a step to their side so that they're blocking me, and holds a hand out to my chest, "And where are YOU going? It's wrong for a man to follow a lady into the bathroom…"

"Um…" I panic as I look away.

Anemoi turns and peers over her shoulder and whispers some obscenities at me.

I begin to sweat as I peer back over to the guard. "She…has dementia…" I answer, "If I let her go alone, she may not find her way back."

The guard stares me down.

I gulp, as the guard narrows their eyes at me.

There's no way he'll believe me…

"Very well," the guard says as they lower their hand and take a step to the side, "Go ahead."

He believed me…

My body slumps over as I let out a sigh of relief.

"THANK YOU," I then say, as I follow after Anemoi.

"It's a good thing that the guard let us go," Anemoi whistles once we're far away enough that the guard can no longer hear us, "I really DO need to use the bathroom. But I can hold it."

"Too much information…" I sigh.

Anemoi and I continue making our way through the underground stronghold without a hitch, until we stop before a door labeled "Safe room" with a huge padlock hanging off the front.

"This is it!" Anemoi exclaims as sparkles light up in her eyes, "This must be where Gambino keeps his money!"

"Did you know that this room was here?" I ask.

"Nope! It's just dumb luck!"

"It's locked, how do we get in?"

"Oh, that's easy," Anemoi answers as she turns around to face the door as she resumes her Charge Stance, "We break in."

Upon entering her Charge Stance, sparks of energy DON'T burst from Anemoi's body. Instead, Anemoi draws her katana and swings it outwards, smacking its blade against the lock, and causing a crack to form in it. As Anemoi sheaths her katana, the two halves of the lock fall to the ground with a huge bang.

I wince.

"Don't worry," Anemoi says without turning to face me, "They won't hear that."

Anemoi takes a deep breath in…then out.

And then…Anemoi places a hand against the door and pushes.

The door swings open with a creak, revealing piles upon piles of gold following the room, so much so that upon opening the door, gold coins begin to spill out of the room, pooling at our feet.

Anemoi's eyes widen as they glow from the gold coins glistening under the white overhead lights.

A grin spreads across Anemoi's face.

"How…beautiful…"

"And easy," I reply, "STRANGELY easy. Now come on, let's grab the money and go find Khione and the others."

Khione furiously shakes her head from side to side, then slaps her cheeks on either side.

"Right, of course," Anemia then replies as she tapes a step into the room, but before Khione's foot could so much as touch the gold, the white overhead light begins to blink red as a loud siren blares overhead.

Oh crap.

"What's going on?!" I cry over the siren as I flinch and cover my ears to block out the noise.

"It's the security system!" Anemia cries.

Anemoi and I then hear some shouts come from behind us, and we turn around to face them, watching as dozens of men in black suits charge Anemoi and I.

"Crap, we gotta run!" I cry as I turn to face the other direction, only to be faced with another swarm of guards, but then, I feel Anemoi press her back to mine, "Huh…?"

"Looks like we gotta fight, lil' bro!" Anemoi exclaims as she enters her Charge Stance.

I take a deep breath in…then out.

When I open my eyes again, I narrow them at the approaching guards.

"Right!" I reply as I resume my Charge Stance as well.