Rivalry is in Blood {HongIce Mafia}

Chapter III

Matthias hissed in pain as Emil and Hans dragged him back to the Bondevik head quarters, followed by the surviving members. They had slunk through the city, carefully scouting to check for Buttons. There was a heavy atmosphere that surrounded them. They weren't seeking a fight, they only came by to intimidate Mei further whilst she was still vulnerable. They weren't expecting it to turn into a full blown fight.

"How is it that you always manage to get yourself shot?" Emil grumbled as the three neared the entrance to the headquarters. It was an older mansion on the edge of the city that let off a somewhat abandoned vibe with its empty and soulless windows and raw beards of ivy scaling their way up several of the walls.

"I keep asking myself that same question over and over, and I can never come to a plausible conclusion," Matthias managed to joke, but still had a pained expression plastered onto his face. Hans sighed and shook his head, giving the door three solid knocks. A small man with light blonde hair and bright violet eyes opened the door with a smile.

"Ah, Tino, good to see you," Matthias managed, gritting his teeth.

"Matt, what have you done to yourself?" Tino questioned with a worried tone, ushering them inside. Emil gave a defeated groan and Hans was silent as they helped Matthias to the large spare room that doubled as a treatment room. The other men helped their injured inside and followed Tino to the room. They placed the injured onto the benches and Tino disappeared back to the entrance.

"Berwald!" He called out. There was a gruff mumble in reply. "Get the kits, Matthias' managed to stir up trouble again." There was a groan and soon a large bulky man made his way to the room. He towered above the rest of them and had the sternest look on his face. When Emil had first seen Berwald he had almost screamed he seemed so frightening, but once he had got know him, he found that he was actually a very amiable person.

"Matthias, what've you done now?" He mumbled in his deep baritone voice.

"Oh this?" He asked, pointing to the oozing gunshot wound in his leg. "It's just a scratch," he dismissed with a wry smile. Berwald shook his head as he began to treat Matthias' wounds. Tino took Berwald's other kit and disappeared.

"Emil, are you alright?" Berwald queried with general concern.

"I'm fine, it's Matt you need to worry about," Emil replied, taking a seat next to Matthias. Tino had scampered off to the other injured members to treat them.

"Oh, shit!" Matthias exclaimed, sitting up in a rush. Emil jumped to his side with a deadly worried expression, expecting him to explain further. "I just remembered that I was supposed to be snooping at the Wang's party tomorrow night." Emil gave a relieved sigh, he thought that something was very wrong with Matthias.

"You can't go there in that shape, they'll be picking at you like vultures over a carcass," Emil sighed.

"Well then you should go for me. You would be perfect for the job," Matthias winced as Berwald tightened the bandages around his leg.

"I don't think that's a good ide-"

"I'll talk to your father about it, he's always trying to get you to 'man up' and go do these sorts of things," Matthias cut him off. "Once I'm done here I'll go talk to him. You should come too." Emil went to protest but Berwald gave him an urging look.

"He's right. You'd be good for the job," Berwald mumbled. Emil sighed and nodded reluctantly, turning away from his workmates. He never liked being involved in these sorts of things, he would rather live as a normal teenager instead of being the only son of the notorious mafia boss Lukas Bondevik.

"We're done here, let's go," Matthias said eagerly, trying to take his mind off the pain. He went to get up and Berwald lifted his arm around his shoulder, supporting him, almost lifting him from the ground due to the height difference. The three made their way further into the house, Matthias awkwardly limping along and struggling to balance himself. They came to a large walnut wood door and Berwald gave it two solid knocks. An uninterested voice from behind the door spoke up.

"Yes?"

"Emil and Matthias wish to see you, sir," Berwald's low voice travelled through the door.

"They may enter," the voice replied lazily. Berwald opened the door and led the two inside and sat Matthias on the couch, propping his leg up. Emil nervously shuffled in and took a seat in front of his father's desk, waving away the cloud of smoke that clouded the area. Berwald left respectfully and Lukas turned around in his large desk chair with a cigar in his mouth. Emil felt his blood run cold as he saw his father's piercing glare upon him.

"Matthias, what happened?" Lukas asked, his words dripping with venom.

"Got shot by Mei Wang," he replied as if it was an achievement. Lukas gave an irritated sigh and opened his mouth to yell but was silenced by Matthias. "You can yell at me later for it, but I need to talk to you about Emil right now." Lukas opened his mouth to scold him but was interrupted again. "And I know that this is no way to talk to my superior, I'll cop that later. But this is important," he explained.

Lukas appeared to be about to bite off Matthias' head when he suddenly calmed down and his rage began to evaporate into the air. "Alright," he sneered, "tell me."

"You remember how I was scheduled to go to the Wang party tomorrow night to snoop?" Matthias explained. Lukas nodded curtly. "I can't go now because of this," he gestured to his bandaged leg. "I was thinking that Emil should take over for me."

Lukas was completely silenced, seeming quite taken aback by the recommendation. He put his cigar in the ash tray and stared directly at Emil, seemingly observing him. Emil felt his feet go numb and nervously looked around, hoping for the painful silence to conclude.

"I think it would be good for the boy to get out there for once in his life and do something for the good of the gang," he sighed, his uninterested tone taking over. "They wouldn't suspect him so he should be able to get away with it." Emil just sat there in shock, unsure of what to say.

"B-but..." He stammered.

"No buts, you're old enough to do it yourself. You need to prove to me that you aren't completely worthless," Lukas hissed darkly. All Lukas did was talk about how useless Emi was, he could hardly stand it. He knew what he had to do to prove that he wasn't so expendable.

"Fine. I'll do it," he stated. "I'll show you how useful I can be, and once I do, will you finally appreciate me like a real father would?" He jeered, but immediately regretting saying it. Lukas stood up sharply and leaned over the desk with a fury burning in his dark cobalt eyes. He swung a hand around and struck Emil hard on the cheek.

"You do not speak to me like that! You will go to gather information at that party and you will report back to me just as the other men do," Lukas scolded. Emil held his cheek and stared at his father with a look of disgust in his eyes.

Matthias was about to say something, but was stopped as Emil shot up from his seat and left the room, slamming the door with an awful crash. Lukas fell back into his seat giving a deflated sigh.

"That child needs to learn that I am his boss, not his father," Lukas sighed.

"Brother, you are his father, you can't change your blood," Matthias mumbled, earning a disapproving glare from Lukas.

"And that is why he is bound to the service of this mafia."