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Fiction » Action » Expendable Risk font: B s : A A A . width: full 3/4 1/2
Author: Low Key Lyesmith
Fiction Rated: M - English - General - Reviews: 4 - Published: 11-30-06 - Updated: 01-12-07 - id:2283008

A/N: Yeah... I changed the title... you'll see why later on.


Delcari Tower loomed over most of the city. Its elegant architecture made it seem like a beam of heavenly light in the dismal bog that was the rest of the city. Delcari Tower's splendor was only rivaled by that of Scarponi Tower on the other side of the city. Just looking at either building would lift one's spirits. Somehow, the towers seemed to be bright and vibrant, even though both were made of dull gray stone.

As Tony stepped through the front doors, he realized that something didn't seem quite right. It was just a gut feeling, but over the course of his life, Tony had learned that his gut often knew what it was talking about. He kept a hand on the large silver revolver hidden in his jacket as he made his way to the elevator. He pressed the "up" button.

The elevator alerted Tony that it was ready with an electronic "ding" as it opened its doors in a welcoming manner. The elevator was empty and very, very roomy. The interior was all dark red with delicate patterns embroidered in black and gold thread. It was at that moment that he had not seen anyone in the lobby of the tower. He removed the large gun from its holster and pressed the button marked "PH" with the barrel. The golden doors shut and the elevator zoomed upwards.

The elevator stopped moving and made the familiar "ding" before sliding the doors open. Tony stepped out cautiously, his gun leading the way. Everything in was in perfect place, nothing seemed to have been touched. No people.

Suddenly, there came a crash from Carmine's business office. Tony pulled back the hammer of his gun with a click and ran to the office door, only to find it shut and locked. He pulled out his silenced pistol and shot the lock on the doorknob. The door swung open to reveal a man strangling Carmine with a nylon cord. Blood was dripping down the mob boss's neck and shirt where the cord had broken the skin, and the large oak desk that Carmine normally sat behind had tipped over from the struggle.

With a deafening roar fro the revolver and next to no sound at all from the pistol, the assassin fell to the floor with a hole in his head and a crater in his chest. Carmine also fell the floor, his body slightly twitching.

Tony walked over to the assassin. The man looked pretty dead. Still, to make sure, Tony put the barrel of the revolver into the man's mouth and let off one more deafening shot. He then investigated Carmine. He checked his leader's body for a pulse, completely ignoring the man's vacant stare. Of course, Tony could not even find the slightest hint of a pulse.

Tears welled up in Tony's eyes, but he was quick to blink them away. "You're tougher than this..." He mumbled at the corpse. "Wake up!" He slammed a fist down on Carmine's chest. All that the action achieved was to slightly shift the body's position.

"...I think it came from in there..."

Tony became suddenly alert at the sound of the voice. There were others in the house. Other Delcaris? Maybe. Other assassins? Probably. Tony leaned on the wall next to the door, his silenced pistol in hand, and waited.

"Oh Shit!" Came the voice of a hit man. He came bursting into the room at the sight of his dead comrade. He didn't even see Tony hiding next to the door frame, so naturally, it came as a surprise when a bullet was put in the back of his head.

Tony heard a second man speak, probably into a radio of cell phone. "We've got two men down and one hostile to deal with. Please send backup." Tony stepped into the doorway while the man was still speaking. The assassin immediately dropped his phone and drew a gun. Tony's perfect vision picked out the shot before the man even pulled the trigger. By the time the shot was fired, Tony was well out of harms way and busy unloading bullets from his pistol into the man's skull.

He ran to the elevator, only to find that it was already coming up, probably carrying as many Sarponi men as would fit in the cabin. "Shit" Tony muttered under his breath. The elevator was the only way out. There were no fire escapes this high up. The elevator once again sounded its telltale "ding" and the golden doors slid open. No more time to think, only time to act. Tony hoped that his instincts would carry him out alive.

He jumped to the side the minute he caught site of a shotgun. Luck thing, too, because if he had waited one more split second, he would have had a hole in his torso. Instead, only a small bit of the scattershot grazed the perfect shine of his black shoes. In the air, he took out his revolver and unloaded the bullet that were left into the elevator. The man with the shotgun went down, as did three more men. Still, five more men poured out of the elevator, stepping over the bodies of their fallen comrades. The elevator doors closed and the cabin started heading down to pick up more men.

The five men surrounded Tony with a various assortment of automatic and semiautomatic weapons. Tony ducked down below casual fire range and shot at two of the men with his pistol, the silencer stayed in his pocket seeing as it was useless in a situation such as this. One of the men he shot in the adam's apple, one he shot in the knee. Tony managed to stay half a step ahead of the bullets, sometimes even less. Still, he managed to get out with only a few nicks. His biggest concern was the fact that the bastards had ruined his suit. However, all five remaining men ended up dead.

Tony reloaded and holstered his weapons and walked up to the elevator. On his way he picked up the discarded shotgun from the man at the front of the crowd of nine. He refilled the gun with fresh ammo from the dead man's jacket pocket. He then gave the gun a strong pump and aimed it at the elevator doors, waiting for it to come up.

The elevator made yet another "ding." Tony pressed the barrel of the shotgun up against where the two golden doors met. As soon as the crack was big enough, he thrust the gun in and fired. Startled shouts could be heard from inside the cabin of the elevator. As the doors finished sliding open, Tony gave the gun another pump and fired at one of the four men still standing to mutilate the guy's face beyond recognition. Three left.

All three men raised their guns at Tony. To their surprise, the Night Owl somehow made it into the cabin and had swatted their guns from their hands by using the shotgun as a bludgeon. To continue the trend, Tony crushed the windpipe of one of the assassins with the wooden butt of the gun. He the gave the gun a pump and let off a shot in between the two remaining men to leave both their faces in tatters.

Tony dropped the shotgun. The five he had hit with the first shot were still twitching on the ground. He quickly dispatched them with the revolver before once again reloading the wicked silver gun and commanding the elevator to return to the lobby. On his way down, Tony shouldered two assault rifles, set on automatic and inserted a fresh mag into his pistol.

He readied himself for anything. One of the assault rifles rested cool in his hand, his finger ready to pull the trigger and let loose a swarm of bullets on anyone who appeared in front of him when the door opened. The numbers counted down, twelve, eleven, ten. Tony took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Five, four, three. The adjusted the shoulder strap of the other gun. Two, one, "ding!" The bottom floor was reached. Tony braced himself as the doors slid open to reveal the same empty lobby that he had encountered when he had entered the building.

He took a careful step out of the elevator, checking all of his surroundings. The place was definitely empty. He took close and precise steps, ready to act on any possible attack, and even some impossible ones. He made it to the door and discarded the two bulky weapons before heading outside.

Tony broke into a run to get away from the tower. For all he knew, he was the last survivor of the Delcari family, or at least the only survivor that mattered. The only one eligible to step in for the recently deceased Don. The only one who's allegiance could not be bought. He would have his revenge. If there weren't any Delcaris left, there sure as hell wouldn't be any Scarponis left either. Not to mention he still hadn't avenged his brother...

-----

Luca Bucci met with Ryan O'Brian. Luca was acting as a representative of the Scarponis, and Ryan represented the Irish gang - the Connoly family. They were in a dark club sitting at the bar. The cigarette smoke cast a fog over the room that was made visible by the dim lights. In the background, a saxophonist was wailing away at a slow jazz ballad.

"What I'm saying is that the Scarponis want to offer your family Delcari Tower." Luca cut right to the chase.

"Aren't you a Delcari?"

Luca shook his head. "The Delcari's don't exist anymore, Ryan. The Scarponis eliminated them last night. I was lucky enough to switch sides before it all went down."

Ryan nodded. "Okay, so say you're telling the truth here. Why's your new family being so generous?"

"Well," Luca said, "The truth is, we're preparing for a bigger conflict. The Delcaris are flushed out of their tower, but there may be some who haven't already been bought by the Scarponi family. Also, before the attack, the Latinos were rising against the Delcaris. Now that the Scarponis have absorbed those Delcaris with flexible allegiances, they'll come after us. We don't know what anyone else around here has planned for the near future. We would like to have a set of allies. And we would like to have these allies to be as powerful as we are. So, we are offering this position to you."

The band ended their ballad and began a new song. The strong bass line revealed it to be the old standard, "Chameleon." Soon, a trumpet was squealing out rhythms at the top of its register. A man came and sat down next to Ryan. He wore a black suit, white shirt, and a black tie. His black hair was perfectly slicked back, and his identity was revealed by the sunglasses that he wore on his face. This was Tony Delcari. Lead hit man of the late Delcari family. The only Night Owl on the roster of Italian hit men. "Shit." Luca mumbled. Ryan downed his pint of beer and had it refilled, refusing to make any sort of contact with Tony. Night Owls made him uneasy, especially the ones who didn't go insane.

"Sorry I'm late guys." Tony greeted the two men at the bar. The bartender handed Ryan a full glass of beer. "Bring another one of those over for me." Tony addressed the bartender. The man nodded and walked away. In no time, Tony had a pint of beer of his own in front of him.

Luca just stared at Tony. "Tony? But you... You're supposed to be..."

"Dead?" Tony took a sip of his beer. "No, Luca, I'm a valuable asset. I'm not trying to sound egotistical or anything, but do you think that theres a single family around here that would turn me down? My family's gone, Luca. I'd rather get a new one than be buried with them."

Luca looked at Tony skeptically. "You you're-"

"I switched sides. I work for the Scarponi family now, just like you."

Luca doubted Tony's words, but there wasn't much that he could do about it in the crowded room.

"Anyway, what part of the deal were you guys at? Handing over the tower? Oh where are my manners? I'm Tony Delcari." Tony extended his hand to Ryan, who shook it warily. "Ryan O'Brian."

Tony smiled. "Good. Now we're all friends, so I feel safe in making this offer. Ryan, as the last surviving man to carry the Delcari name, I am offering our family's tower as a gift from my new family to your family."

Ryan paused. "I'll have to go and talk this over... It's a heavy offer... I don't have the authority to accept or decline."

Tony nodded. "Very well, then." He downed the rest of his beer.

Luca was stupefied. "Wait... But..."

"Relax, Luca. I've got it all under control." Tony stood up. Well, it's been a pleasure doing business with you, Ryan. And Luca, it was nice to see you again!" With that, Tony was gone and Ryan was left sitting at the bar with Luca.

Luca shook his head. "Don't listen to him. He's supposed to be dead. He would have been too dangerous to let live."

Ryan finished his beer and slammed the glass down on the bar. The band was still jamming away, but it was tough to tell if they were even playing a specific head anymore. "You're telling me not to consider the words of the owner of the property you're trying to give me?"

"Ryan, the Scarponi family owns that tower now, not Tony Delcari."

"Fuck that!" Ryan slammed his fist on the bar. Luca could smell the ale on the man's breath. "It's called Delcari Tower you stupid bastard! If there's a Delcari alive, it's his tower! I'm gonna go see if I can catch up with that Night Owl!"

Luca shook his head. "I don't think that's such a good idea." The words earned him a fist to the jaw before Ryan stormed away. He spat blood out onto a napkin from where the hit had made him bite his tongue. He hoped that nothing happened to Ryan. His life depended on it. He winced when he heard a loud blast from outside over the high pitched squealing of a trumpet and sax playing a double bar solo.

-----

The windshield of Ryan's car was painted red with his own blood. He himself sat in the driver's seat. What was left of his forehead was rested on the steering wheel. Blood from the man's demolished forehead flowed down the steering wheel to drip on a small business card with Luca Bucci's name on it.


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