Chapter 26: One Big Happy Family? (1/2)
”Give him some space, give him some space.”
”Out of the way, Zinnia!” Emil began blinking serval times before waking up looking around finding himself in a bowling alley. He held his head in pain, looking confused. ”Try not to move too much, Gale here punched you a bit too hard.”
”Whoa now cowboy, let's not get ahead of ourselves. When in the heat of the battle, I shall never handicap myself to worry about my enemies. The moment I hesitate or go easy on an opponent, my life will be forfeit. Forfeit I tell you!”
”Anyway, you said your name was Emil, right? Emil Montague.” Alton asked.
”It's just Emil now… I failed them again. I couldn't pass their test to matter how many times I tried. That was my last chance, and I blew it.”
”What do you mean?” Zinnia asked.
”I'm not a proper Montague. Monty and I share the same father, but I have no idea who my mother is. Quite the scandal, it was the head of the Montague family cheating, and I'm the bastard reminder. Although that didn't make a difference. All members of the Montagues still have to go through the trials.”
”Trials?”
”Yeah, trials which make you an official member of the Montague house. Passing gets your name in the family, and you are given powers.”
”Wait they give you powers? Is that how Monty and the others got theirs?”
”More or less. I was already born with mine, but Monty was given his powers, he's had them when he passed the trials when he turned thirteen.”
”To think you can't be a part of a family you are born into unless you pass some stupid trial.” Percy debates. ”Sounds horrible.”
”What happens to the people who don't pass?” Gale questioned.
”What will happen to me, they get outcasted from home and their name stripped alongside their powers if they had any. They only accept the best in their family.”
”Is that what Monty was so worked up about then?”
Emil nodded, cupping his hands together. ”Yeah, after that fight with you four months back Monty was walking on thin ice. He had to prove to himself that he deserves to keep the family name otherwise…”
”He'll end up like you.” Alton sighed. ”Even for Monty, that's fucked up. Being thrown out of your family just because you aren't good enough.”
”It's hard being a Montague, you always have to be the best, fall behind, and you're left behind. But if you manage to stay on their level, you will become rich and famous, unlike anything you could imagine.”
”Can anyone take part in these trials?” Zinnia said, intrigued by the matter.
”If you're thinking of taking part, don't. They come to you if they believe you have what it takes. But yes, there are people in the family who aren't Montagues at all.”
”What about you, then?”
Emil smirked standing up playing off the whole matter. ”What about me? I'll be just fine. I'm more than competent in looking after myself. I'll make it into the big leagues without them.” Emil turned around, hiding his face as he laughed, placing his hands on his hips. ”If you noobs expect an apology for what happened you can blow me. I don't regret a damn thing! Haha…”
Each of the members of Rhapsody looked at each other deflated as Alton scratched his neck. ”If you want, you can join us?”
”You what?” He blabbered, looking over his shoulders. ”You'll thick or something? After I tried tearing your little band of merry men apart and I was willing to let… one of you die, you expect me to believe you want me apart of your little squad? You lot are noobs, aren't you.”
”Hey, it's not the first time we've had someone on our team who tried to kill us. Gale here was a stream sniper, when we first met, he was more than happy to kill us for his little clique revenge subplot.”
”Nothing clique about wanting justice for my gran's death thank you very much, moreover I quite like cliques, they wouldn't be cliques if they weren't good.”
Emil turned around still confused by the ordeal rubbing his skinhead. ”Just who the hell are you people?”
Zinnia looked at everyone before looking back, smiling. ”Just a bunch of misfits and friends who want to make a difference.”
”Ha, so you are thick…” He mumbled, placing both hands in his pockets. ”Yeah, I'd rather not. Rather not throw away all of my pride in one day… I'm going to get a drink.”
Emil walked off sulking to himself as Zinnia frowned slightly looking confused. ”I thought he was going to say yes…”
Alton sat down, taking a long sip of his drink shrugging his shoulders. ”Can't have everyone agree with us. We should focus on our streams and be grateful we didn't get banned for the shit you pulled.”
”Luckily I pulled the stream the moment we saw your little crusade. Claimed we were hacked and now we are mostly in the clear for now. Don't go all thanking me at once.” Percy boasted.
Gale folded his arms, watching Emil as he smirked. ”Don't get too ahead of yourself Zinnia, he's going to join us.”
”Huh? What makes you say that?”