Unchosen 34

A quick flash of how she would have handled this situation appeared in my mind. Jaunty smile, flirt and threat intermingling effortlessly in her words and expressions. I snorted at the thought of any one of us trying something like that. It'd never work, because we weren't her. But with or without her, we were in this situation, and we'd have to deal with it.

Apparently, the thug misinterpreted my snort, and his smarmy smile vanished, replaced with an ugly expression that honestly seemed more at home on his face. His goons closed in, barrels rising toward us. Amateurs. I felt a tight smile stretch my lips. Clustered up close like that, they'd go down like pins from the old pre-war game of bowling. But the lascannon on the wall was another matter, not to mention whatever rabble remained inside the wall. It was still time for words, not bullets.

"Don't rightly know how we might serve you," came the unexpectedly casual drawl from Doc, who was still a couple steps in front of me. It took me a moment to recognize the inflection; It was hers of course, Doc was mimicking her style of speech. He didn't have the presence to really pull it off, but I had to admire the guts it took to try. Besides, this was his town.

"Don't rightly know," he repeated, "because I don't know who you are."

"We're the stewards of Outertown," the lead thug blustered, trying to regain his composure. "The guardians of Nova Vi."

"Bullshit," replied Doc, his reserve cracking only slightly, more fire to the words than she would have put there. "I was born and raised in this town, and I know every single face. You three," he paused, and I could see his head move to look at each man individually, "don't belong here." The man looked taken aback for a moment, and I thought it was about to be bullets, but then he crossed his arms and laughed. He laughed like a goddamn villain from the old movies, out loud, with his head thrown back. His back-up glanced at each other, and laughed uneasily along with him.

"That's where you're wrong, my young buck," he replied, leaning forward, looming over Doc's slight form. "Outertown is ours now, unless you think you're going to do something about that?"