Throughout It All

19 | The Final Battle | July 20, 1914

OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH THIS IS IT

I HOPE THIS IS WILD FOR YOU ALL

Enjoy! :)

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As they see all the unfriendly faces of the gang (for the second time in such a short amount of time) staring at them from the street in the light of the sunset with clouds looming in the distance, they all freeze on the steps of the building complex. They need a new plan. Fast.

"Take James back through the door, and out the back exit," Sardinia whispers to Mush and Chick Tucker behind him. "We'll handle this."

"Follow me," Kid Griffo instructs them, "I know the way."

Spot and Race exchange glances. They have a plan of their own. They ask Dave if there are any other exits, and while he tells them, Jack starts moving forward slowly, hands up in surrender.

"What's it gonna be, fellas?" Jack calls out to them. "It would appear that there's not that many of us, and so many more of you. Come on, that doesn't seem like a fair fight."

"Jack, this is not the crowd to antagonize," Dave warns him quickly, frantically.

Too late.

Everything happens at once.

Mush, Chick Tucker, and Kid Griffo quickly shuffle back in through the door, with Spot and Race behind them but slipping the other way, as the gang lunges forward, Jack slams the door behind him as he, Sardinia, David, and Dave get ready to fight.

The gang surrounds the four of them, with too many members to subitize quickly. Still, there's nothing that they can do except fight back. And so they do.

They should have known that James wouldn't have come alone. He needed a back up plan in case things had gone awry. Or maybe all that time he was stalling was him waiting for the perfect moment to summon the gang.

There is not a gun or any other weapon in sight; but they don't need any--all know hand-to-hand combat.

Suddenly, Kid Griffo comes running at them, joining the fight, knocking two gang members' heads together. Mush and Chick Tucker must not need him anymore. Still, the others are grateful that they have another person on their side in the fight.

"Where's Spot and Race?" Jack yells at him as everyone continues to fight.

"Don't know," Kid Griffo yells back. "They said they had a plan and that they'd be back in ten minutes tops. Somethin' about two sets of back-up. I have no clue what that means."

Jack has no clue either, but he knows Race, and he trusts him and Spot enough.

But can they keep going at this for ten minutes?

While Jack feels himself getting winded, none of the gang members seem to be getting tired at all. 

Suddenly, while Jack is distracted for a moment, someone knocks him down. This is it, he thinks dreadfully as the man towers over him. This is when I-

When suddenly, David takes a swing at the man, punching him so hard he falls down too. Then kicks his head for good measure.

He immediately goes to help Jack up. "Are you alright?" One hand is tightly on Jack's shoulder, the other hand moves to Jack's face, eyes searching for any major signs of injury.

Jack doesn't know if it's fear or adrenaline or the thrill of the moment, but he's feeling something. And while he doesn't have many coherent thoughts in his mind right now, there is one thing he knows for certain: he is still in love with David, and he never wants to let him go.