The Flower-covered Gun

Prologue

     A cigarette was lit; a small trail of smoke mixing with the air before being brought to a pair of dry lips. An exhausted expel of gray smoke was made right after. "Fuck this city."

     The man kicked himself off the wall that he had been leaning against and sauntered down the street.

     The sky was dark, for the sun took its time to rise. Buildings surrounded at all angles and the light noises of the city in the early morning flowed through the streets.

     The middle-aged man didn't pay attention to any of that, though, and just kept walking down the sidewalk. The aesthetic of the city didn't faze him—he didn't care. He also didn't care for the people around him and wouldn't apologize if he bumped into someone (such little things weren't worth his time.)

     The man then suddenly got pulled to the side by the collar of his jacket. As he was being pulled back, he caught sight of it getting darker and more narrow, so he was able to assume he was in an alleyway.

     Without a second thought, he wheeled around and grabbed the unknown person by his shirt; the cloth tight within his fist. He rammed him against the wall and forced the thug up.

     "Whoa, bro! Hold it! I'm sorry—I'll give ya back your wallet—so let me g—" The younger male was then choked by a strong forearm pressed against his throat.

     "Listen, kid, I don't care who you are, where you're from, what gang you're part of, or what you want. Just know that if you look, touch, or even think about—" The older male was cut off by a high-pitched shriek coming from further down the alley.

     The man turned his head towards where the sound came from and mumbled, "What now?"

     "It's pretty early, maybe The Tigers are out?" The boy asked nervously.
     The well-built male directed his attention back to the boy in front of him. He narrowed his eyes; dropping the helpless thug onto the ground. The man reared his leg back and gave the boy who was laying on the ground a good kick in the stomach. "Fuck off."

     The man took a drag from his cigarette when he heard another scream come from further down the alley. He put his hands in his pockets and began to walk towards it; taking his time.

     There's always some sort of shit going on around here, he thought. I really hope that kid back there wasn't right—The Tigers are not people I want to fucking deal with.

     He knew he shouldn't mess with them; that'd be a waste of his energy. Although he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. Which was weird for him considering his apathy levels are so high.

     The man stopped walking as a small group of people came into his view. The black leather jackets showed a Bengal tiger clutching a heart to its chest; the claws sinking in viciously. They didn't have their weapons drawn, so it must've been easy prey. He silently walked closer to the group until he was a couple of feet away.

     The man was a little shocked at what he saw and he doesn't get shocked often.

     There between the gang sat a little girl around 4 years old. Tears were running down her face and scratches were visible on her arms and legs. Though despite all that, she fought back.

     "Come on little girl, show us where you live," One guy commanded.

     "No! Go away!" She yelled, backing away fearfully.

     "I mean, she's pretty chubby, so her family must have money. Some people around here aren't even lucky enough to have lunch."

     "Ow! Stop poking me—it hurts!"

     Don't start, The man told himself. This isn't your business just go home.

     Despite his attempt to warn himself, he withdrew his hands from his pockets and took another drag from his cigarette.

     "You guys are exactly the reason why I have a nicotine addiction."

     The Tigers whipped around at the sound of the new arrival. "Who the fuck are you?!"

     The man remained quiet and took one last puff of tobacco. Afterward, he aimlessly threw the cigarette on the ground and put it out with the bottom of his boot.

     "Hey, answer him! Or someone's going to be crawling away with broken bones!"

     The threatened man disregarded them and instead walked up to the man in front of the little girl. He was barely a foot away and eye-level from the gang member. "Leave her alone."

     The Bengal Tigers laughed at the command. "How about you leave us alone!"

     The man's expression did not change, though one couldn't say the same for the gang member's. He felt a sudden cold metal get pressed against his head.

     "Leave her," the man paused and cocked his gun. "Alone."

     One of the Tigers from a few feet away spit on the ground and cracked his knuckles. "Listen, I don't care how old you are or how tough you think you are, but if you think you're just going to beat us with some gun you're crazy."

     A bunch of the guys laughed and not even a minute later they were cut off by a loud gunshot. The male who had called the man 'crazy' fell to the ground with a bullet wound through the head. The whole gang was quiet; then one man, with a bandanna across his forehead, ran straight towards the cause of the gunfire.

     Instead of shooting, the man crouched down and stepped to the side. Right before the bandanna guy could strike him, he extended his right arm out in front of the other male's legs and tripped him. his head hit the cement, and he was knocked out.

     The man straightened himself back up as another member ran up to punch him. The gun-owner grabbed the guy's fist before it made contact with his face and slammed his own fist into his stomach.

     Two down, few more to go, the man thought.

     The next foe came up behind and tried to choke him, but the man grabbed the guys arm and flipped him over the shoulder. There was one Tiger left, but the moment the man looked at him he started to shake. The gang member backed away and the man walked towards him. The Tiger was backed against a corner where he slid down onto the ground; his eyes wide with fear. He swallowed hard and then asked, "Wh-who are you?"

     The man bent down and grabbed the Tiger's head with his calloused hand. He leaned in close to his ear and whispered, in a low voice, "The name's Alphonse."

     And with that, he slammed the other man's skull into the brick wall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~Hello, Luxurious Libra here!~Thank you for reading this story. Do you like it so far? If so give a vote or comment your thoughts! X3

This is an original story and cover photo created by me.

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