10 minutes later,
"It's funny, because during the great bird war-"
"Alexander, we're not making it a thing." Ricky suddenly said, turning to him as he tried desperately to force it into a recurring theme.
"Every time we get in this car, all you've done is try to tell me how great the bird war was." Ricky sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose at Alexander's rambling.
"Buddy, you just killed a bunch of birds." Ricky said, breaking it down for Alexander, who immediately shook his head at the lackluster assessment.
"I killed hundreds of birds." Alexander corrected, squinting at Ricky as he started to turn back to the window.
"Wait, hundreds?" Ricky paused, halting mid-turn as he side-eyed Alexander with a frown.
"But there were only dozens when I opened the window-"
"I made the young feed on their parents before sending them out as my cannon fodder." Alexander said, his ruthless gaze lifting to Ricky, the ferocity of war shining through even in something as ridiculous as a war against birds.
"You-" Ricky started, but stopped, his mind caught on the image of hundreds of birds being slaughtered by Alexander in his gerbil form.
"We're still not making it a thing," Ricky scoffed, turning his head away to finally notice how empty the streets were as they cut through Little Italy.
The usual bickering of vendors, the yells of shopkeepers, and the constant shuffle of passersby, were all gone.
Not a single soul lingered on the streets; no voices spilled from the cafés, not even the stray laughter of children lost in their games.
"Man, it's like a ghost town out here." Ricky muttered, almost taken aback at how desolate his community's central hub had become.
"It's 'cause they're all at your block party, boss." Marino chimed from the front, finally taking the chance to add to the conversation with a grin.
"I thought it was just the family?" Ricky asked, raising an eyebrow with a curious look spreading across his face.
Originally, the idea had been to give the grunts a chance to feel included while they celebrated Frank's life.
Ricky knew Frank had meant something to them too, maybe a little more than anyone realized.
"Well, yeah." Marino muttered with a shrug since although that was originally the plan, things had a way of turning out different.
"At first it was like that, but you know how it goes." Mario shrugged, staring off into the distance to see what looked to be New York traffic.
"Everyone in the community loves you, and they all just wanna be a little bit closer to you, that's all," Marino said, fully aware of how much Ricky's image meant to the Italian American community.
"So one guy invites another, he brings his third cousin who drags a broad along, and then boom, suddenly every Italian crammed into Little Italy just invited themselves." Marino chuckled awkwardly, a little guilty himself, knowing he'd personally invited around forty people.
"But if it's a bother, I could call ahead and-"
"Who gives a sh*t, if they really wanna come to my block party that bad then let'em." Ricky muttered, resting his chin on his hand since it wasn't that big of a deal in his mind.
"You gotta give back to the streets every once in a while," Ricky chuckled, smiling wryly since after all, his entire standing came from the community propping him up.
"That's actually good, I'm gonna write that down," he muttered, pulling out a pen and scribbling it onto one of his favor cards.
"This reminds me of-"
"If you bring up the Great Bird War one more time, Alexander, I swear to God I'll shoot myself," Ricky snapped, turning back to him as Alexander crossed his arms and frowned.
"You get yourself mixed up in adventures that always need my help, but the one time I do something alone-" Alexander scoffed, gesturing at Ricky and all the chaos he'd been dragged into.
"F*ck, fine, whatever, tell me about your stupid bird war." Ricky relented, slumping in his chair and gesturing toward the gerbil at his side.
"So, there I was, roaming through the bushes, when an owl tried to grab me-"
Then, for the remainder of the ride back to their gated community, Ricky listened to the full account of the war Alexander had gotten himself mixed up in while he was busy with Raven inside the house.
At first, he was barely paying attention.
But when Alexander reached the part about using a hummingbird as a mount, Ricky's interest finally perked up.
By the time they slowly closed in on the block party, he was completely enthralled.
"Wait, wait, wait."
"So, the birds all just stopped fighting each other to eat you and started working together to kill you?" Ricky asked, barely able to hide his disbelief at just how sentient the birds seemed.
"It was the crows, those blasted crows," Alexander whispered, his eyes blazing with pure hatred as he clenched his tiny fury-filled paws.
"Don't get me wrong, Chester is my honorable friend, and I acknowledge him as my equal," Alexander began, trying to clarify before Ricky could misunderstand where his hatred truly lay.
"But his species is a dastardly one~" Alexander hissed, his eyes narrowing with the exaggerated venom in his tone.
"They used an all‑out blitz to escape my wrath, but I'll find them," Alexander chuckled, shaking his head wryly at their cowardice.
"I'll be satisfied only when I've forged a throne from their skulls," Alexander laughed, madness coursing through his eyes with a bloodthirst that could be sated only by the destruction of his enemies.
"You'd think that Chester would've-" Ricky suddenly asked, jumping into the conversation with his own perspective.
"Joined me? Yes, I sent word, but he was too busy with work," Alexander finished for him, nodding as they both shrugged.
"What ya gonna do." They said in unison, looking at each other and immediately laughing.
"Kill a bunch of birds, that's what!" They said in unison again, suddenly becoming hysterical, laughing harder at their shared humor.
"Y'know, I could always help-"
"No, this is something a godfather must do for his godchildren," Alexander said, halting his words with the sudden raise of his paw.
"Alone." Alexander whispered, squinting at a row of crows suddenly lined up on a nearby electricity line.
"Oh sh*t, the crows." Ricky muttered, glancing out the windows to see row after row of them littering their surroundings.
"Stop the car." Alexander said gravely, lifting his gaze to the sky, now packed with even more crows.
"C'mon, there's like a hundred of them-"
"Yes, they should've brought more," Alexander seethed, insulted by their lack of numbers as he slowly dawned his armoring skill.
"Well, good luck," Ricky muttered, rolling down the window as Alexander slowly turned back to him before departing.
"I make my own luck," Alexander quoted back, mimicking Ricky, and watched as he suddenly burst out laughing.
"Aye, be back before night. I wanna discuss some business, and you gotta be there this time," Ricky said, tapping the car door to give Marino the signal to drive away.
"And clean up your mess, dead birds are a mob sign that someone's f*cked up and I don't want calls from around the city asking me if something's the matter." Ricky added, his voice sharp and almost lecturing as the car slowly drove away.
"Do not worry, I've grown to like the quality of their feathers." Alexander chuckled, watching every crow in the vicinity suddenly flinch.
SIGH
As the car slowly drove off, Ricky shook his head, unable to hide his disbelief at the crows beginning to land on the street, surrounding the gerbil from every angle.
"He ain't gonna clean up those birds," Ricky muttered to himself, already knowing it was an impossible task, before turning his gaze forward.
"Aye boss, we gotta problem."
"If it's a couple of pigeons, then Alexander was right, they're here to surrender-" Ricky said, referencing a part of Alexander's story, only to see something entirely different.
"Holy sh*t." Ricky muttered, his eyes widening as he took in the streets completely packed with cars, stretching all the way up to the gated neighborhood where his block party was taking place.
Within his gaze, Italians were shouting at each other from their cars, tempers flaring over who should go first.
Families walked along the sidewalks, pointing and whispering at the sheer number of people swarming the streets.
In the distance, Ricky even saw Italians hopping over gated fences of other houses, desperate to skip the line and get a glimpse of the event that had somehow become the talk of the community.
Then, Ricky's eyes slowly turned towards Marino, who hadn't exaggerated even a single word.
Every single member of the Italian community seemed desperate to be part of what was being described as the biggest cultural event of the decade.
Ricky's chest tightened slightly, a mix of pride and disbelief washing over him as he realized just how far the news of the block party had traveled.
And how much power his name carried in these streets.
"Told ya." Marino said, side-eyeing Ricky with a nonchalant expression.
"I'm just gonna portal in." Ricky said, holding out his hand as he pulled the grimoire from his inventory and opened a green portal.
Marino watched and laughed, always finding it funny that Ricky didn't actually need his services but used them out of respect.
BEEEEEEEEEEEEP
Then, before he could enjoy the moment, a car horn blared as an old Italian lady jammed her middle finger into the air, glaring over the roof of Marino's vehicle.
"OH, GO F*CK YOURSELF, LADY!"
Meanwhile At The Block,
"How many f*cking people did you invite to this thing!" Lucky yelled, unable to find a patch of road that wasn't completely stacked with bodies.
The only clear spaces were the lawns of Ricky's women's houses, left empty out of pure respect, or fear, for him.
Those lawns, however, were where Ricky's inner circle had gathered, equally wide-eyed at the madness around them.
"Aye, you seeing this?" Ricky asked, stepping out of a portal, only to take in the entire lawn, now packed with grills and people, spreading in every direction.
"The only thing I'm seeing is empty tongs! Now grab some!" Lucky yelled, gesturing wildly to the side as Ricky walked up beside him.
"What's your deal?" Ricky laughed, purposely riling Lucky up as he picked up a nearby pair of tongs.
"My deal is that your girls invited the entire f*cking community, and we're gonna look like bad hosts if we don't serve them all." Lucky said, speaking from tradition, while Ricky laughed at the sheer absurdity of it.
"I thought you were just joking when you said that growing up." Ricky asked, a little confused since he had always figured Lucky was purposely overplaying it for him.
When Ricky was little, during the patch of time between his adoption and the Vatican, Lucky had been very serious about raising him within their culture.
It wasn't talked about all that often, because by the time he joined the family, it had already become part of who he was.
But it was Lucky, constantly enriching his life with Italian traditions, who ensured they became second nature.
One of those traditions, at least in the Luciano way, was that the host always cooked and served the food.
No matter what.
Lucky's mother had been the one to engrain this in his mind.
Back in Sicily, she always hosted barbecues, but she made the entire family cook until every guest had been served.
Only then could they eat.
Now, seeing all his girls, his inner circle, and even his kids working together, Ricky simply joined in, moving through the chaos with the ease of someone born into it.
"Here, Daddy." Zatanna smiled, walking up to Ricky's side and holding out a spatula.
"I'll trade you," Ricky laughed, kissing her cheek and grabbing the spatula as the little girl giggled before immediately hugging his leg.
"Can I help?" Zatanna asked, flashing a toothy grin while swaying her head from side to side.
"Yeah, darling, get us some burger patties," Lucky said quickly, bending down to pinch her cheek as Zatanna giggled.
Without hesitation, she bolted backward, dashing off to fetch the patties to help them.
"Flip it." Ricky said suddenly, pointing at the burger that had clearly reached its perfect point.
"Wha-.......you telling me how to cook a burger?" Lucky asked, throwing his hands up and becoming playfully offended, as Ricky immediately nodded.
"Yeah, it's overcooking," Ricky said, pointing at the patty before flipping the one beside it instead.
"But I know you so well, I already know you're trying to-"
"See which one tastes better, yeah, I get it." Lucky said, stepping forward slowly, eyes narrowing as he sized up Ricky.
"You tryna take my grill master position?" Lucky asked, a grin spreading across his face at the challenge.
"Your position?" Ricky laughed in his face, looking down at Lucky with a cocky grin.
"Pops, the second my baby girl handed me this spatula, it became my position." Ricky said, lowering his tone to match Lucky's playful disposition.
"Wager the position?" Lucky asked, a wry smile spreading across his lips at his son finally challenging him in his own way.
"What else would we wager, other than your dignity?" Ricky laughed, immediately slipping into a competitive edge as Lucky chuckled and turned back to the grill.
"Says the guy who banged bongo drums half-coked up and completely naked." Lucky scoffed, glancing back at his hamburger patty still sizzling on one side.
"Aye, it's not embarrassing if you're shameless." Ricky chuckled, turning back to the grill and eyeing his flipped patty with a smug grin.
The patties hissed and sizzled on the grill, filling the air with the rich, smoky scent of cooking meat.
Ricky and Lucky moved with quiet confidence, each one completely sure that their technique, timing, and instinct would earn them the crown of grill master.
Flames seemed to lick the edges of these burgers, juices bubbling and caramelizing, and for a moment, the world narrowed to just the two of them and their sizzling creations.
Finally, Lucky leaned forward, tongs in hand, and lifted his patty off the grill, steam curling up like smoke signals, his eyes glinting with the satisfaction of a cook who knew he'd perfected the sear.
"Can't wait to take your dignity. Gonna wipe my ass with it,. Lucky scoffed, slowly placing his patty on the paper plate.
"The only thing you wiped your ass with is that patty," Ricky shot back, locking eyes with Lucky, a cocky smirk tugging at his lips.
"Now, we just need some-"
"Here!" Augustine said, holding up the hamburger patties for his father, his eyes bright and shining, catching the sun like a saint.
"Thanks, buddy." Ricky smiled, and in that moment, the sunlight behind him seemed to glow a little brighter in his son's eyes.
"Aye, where's my buns?" Lucky asked, scrunching his brows at his naked hamburger patty as Augustine looked up at him.
"I don't know." Augustine replied, turning back to Ricky and tugging at his pants.
"Can we go to church together?" Augustine asked, his small voice full of hope, wanting to spend time with his father in the only way he knew how to have fun.
"Uh, yeah, but don't you wanna go to, like, an amusement park or something?" Ricky asked, his tone skeptical as he raised an eyebrow at Augustine.
"What's that?" Augustine gasped, stars practically glowing in his eyes, and Ricky couldn't help but pause, a little surprised at the sheer innocence radiating from his son.
Then, Ricky got a glimpse of what a normally curious child was like.
"It's a place with rides, like a Ferris wheel."
"Woah, what's that?"
"It's a thing that goes round and round, like in a circle."
"WOW! How?"
"Uh, like with a machine or some sh*t like that-"
"Slick-"
"What? I don't know how they make the Ferris wheel go round, only that it uses machinery and sh*t."
"You don't gotta cuss in front of your son, what the f*ck is the matter with you-"
"You just did it-"
"That doesn't f*cking count!"
The conversation volleyed back and forth in rapid-fire bursts, each question and answer fueled by Augustine's explosive curiosity, a relentless desire to understand how every little wonder of the world worked in God's creation.
Or, at least, how Carla had raised him to see the world, through the lens of her own innocence.
"Can I come to the amusement park?" Danielle whispered quietly, tugging at Ricky's pants with her puppy-dog eyes.
"Yeah, but you and your brother have to try this first," Ricky said, pressing the patties together and letting Augustine have the first bite.
"Dear Bod, thank you for this meal-"
"Just take the bite." Ricky interrupted, cutting off the boy's prayer to speed things along.
"But Mommy-"
"Daddy says it's fine, and I'm a cardinal, so it's fine," Augustine chimed, his expression slowly becoming blank at how his mother had so thoroughly ingrained their religion into him.
Then, after hearing his father's blessing, Augustine nodded dutifully and took a meaningful bite.
"Good!" Augustine exclaimed, eyes lighting up in surprise at how delicious it tasted, before quickly handing it to Danielle.
"Thank you." Danielle said warmly, taking the burger but only nibbling at it.
"I like it." Danielle added, smiling at Ricky with the biggest toothy smile she could muster.
"Okay, princess, try Grandpa's." Lucky said quickly, sliding the burger toward her but instead of taking a bite, she first handed it to Augustine.
"Thanks!" Augustine said happily, taking the burger and sinking another meaningful bite into it.
"Okay?" Augustine seemingly asked, his brows furrowing slightly as Lucky's face twitched at the lukewarm reaction.
"Can I see?" Danielle asked quickly, worried that her grandpa might be sad and decided to take a bite to cheer him up.
Gulp
However, as she tasted her grandpa's burger, Danielle only frowned slightly, glancing back up with a hurt expression as she spoke.
"I don't like it." Danielle whispered, almost pained that she didn't enjoy it as much, or even more, than her father's.
Ricky's skill at cooking made him a force to be reckoned with, to the point where only professional chefs could comprehend his understanding of when a dish was perfectly done.
"Did someone say grill master?" Ricky suddenly called out, scanning the air as if awaiting confirmation.
"Cause all I hear is Ricky!" Ricky laughed, rubbing it in Lucky's face as much as possible, slowly lifting the metaphorical crown from atop his pops head and setting it atop his own slicked-back hair.
"Here, Bob," Danielle said, turning to her side as Lucky flinched, startled at how Bob had nearly blended into the shadows while silently taking the hamburger.
When he took a bite, he only shook his head in disapproval and returned it to the outstretched plate.
"Have a taste, buddy." Ricky said, gesturing his burger toward his son, who eagerly took it once again.
Immediately after the bite, Bob nodded heavily, pointing at the burger rather than at Lucky, who stood completely frozen.
"I wanna see!"
"No, I wanna see-"
"I WANNNNNNNNNAAAA SEEEEEEEEE!"
Slowly, all of Ricky's children chipped away at Lucky's pride, their resounding applause for Ricky's burger and sheer disappointment in his own leaving him completely deflated.
Not a single one of them had chosen his burger, or even said it was good, cementing Ricky as the undisputed grill master.
"Aye, lieutenant, pass me some of those patties." Ricky said, gesturing to Lucky as his second-in-command while pointing at the nearby burgers, rubbing the moment in.
"Well played." Lucky shrugged, reaching for the patty, only to slam it into Ricky's gut.
"But this ain't over." Lucky warned, a dangerous edge in his tone, knowing deep down he'd do anything to earn that position back.
"You're right, it's only just the beginning of my reign." Ricky laughed, completely unflinching as he pried the patty from Lucky's hand.
One by one, hamburger patties and hot dogs were grilled to Ricky's idea of perfection as he started serving his community.
There was something almost poetic about it, how, for once, he was the one serving them, handing out each patty with deliberate care.
Yet as he continued, with Lucky bearing the brunt of his assistant's duties, Ricky could feel a pair of eyes on his back.
Until the person behind them couldn't stay silent any longer.
"Ricky, about the thing with Junior-" Raven began, stepping in from the side with an apron tied around her waist.
"No way we're doing this right now," Ricky cut in, eyes locked on the hot dogs that were just seconds from perfection.
"It was before-"
"I know and that's why I'm trying so hard not to be mad." Ricky chuckled dryly, shaking his head at the inevitable clusterf*ck of Agatha and Morgana becoming friends.
"Just-......hand me some of that lettuce." Ricky sighed, giving her the subtle signal that he understood what she meant and just wanted some time to calm down.
Raven smiled softly, passing him the ingredients he needed to finish the burger for Bumpy, who waited eagerly in the wings.
"Goddamn, Slick, you really know what your doing!" Bumpy laughed, staring in awe at the burger now resting in his hands.
"Jack of all trades, what can I say." Ricky shrugged, grinning from ear to ear at the compliment as Lucky scoffed and ducked his head at his own station.
"Hey, I wanted to run by you the guys I'm thinking of bringing into the family." Bumpy said quickly, his inner workaholic shining through even in a moment of relaxation.
"This is one of my brothers, Casper Holstein." Bumpy said, introducing the man at his right, who gave Ricky a respectful nod in return.
"He's a big fan of what you're doing and wants to be a part of what you're building."
Casper Holstein rose from humble beginnings in the Virgin Islands to become one of the first great kings of the Harlem's Number game in the 1920s.
He was a shrewd mathematician but a visionary nonetheless, he transformed the illegal lottery into a sophisticated enterprise that thrived in Harlem's bustling streets.
At his height, Holstein commanded immense wealth and influence, earning both the admiration and resentment of rivals.
Yet Holstein was not just a criminal.
Like Madame St. Clair, he used his fortune to uplift his community.
Casper funded scholarships, supported churches, and sponsored writers and artists of the Harlem Renaissance.
His philanthropy made him almost like a paradoxical figure: a ruthless criminal who was also a patron of Black progress.
By the 1930s, however, Harlem's underworld had begun to shift.
Madame Stephanie St. Clair, his heir to the position, had challenged his dominance and stripped him of his title entirely.
Although enjoying retirement, Stephanie having respected him enough to let him live with his wealth, Casper couldn't resist the opportunity to join Ricky, who was poised to take the world by storm.
"While these are my good friends, the Jones brothers."
Ed 'Eddie' Jones and his brother George 'Big' Williams began running a small policy game from their family tailor shop on Chicago's South Side in the 1920s.
Eddie handled the business and numbers, while George provided muscle and presence.
By the 1930s, they had grown into respected contenders in Chicago's numbers world, building networks of writers and players across their community.
But as the need for the numbers game waned, with African Americans now able to bank under Ricky's institution, they saw an opportunity.
Seizing the chance to join something bigger than themselves, they eagerly leapt toward Bumpy's promises of what Ricky would build for the family.
"And this is George." Bumpy chuckled, patting the back of a deathly silent man who stared at Ricky for a long moment before giving a single, measured nod of respect.
Not much was known about George, only that he possessed the ability to speak in every way imaginable, yet chose never to utter a word.
"Just enjoy the burgers from your grill master." Ricky said, side-eying Lucky, who scoffed even harder at the boast.
"Oh, go f*ck yourself." Lucky muttered, tossing more fresh patties onto the grill, the very same he couldn't even flip without Ricky's permission.
"What was that, second-in-command?" Ricky teased, rubbing it in further as Lucky shook his head with a wry smile, swallowing the insult for now.
"Anyways, just live and breathe as one of us, and you're good." Ricky chuckled, sweeping his gaze over the four of them as they watched him attentively.
"You're mobsters now, but most importantly, you're family." Ricky added, his eyes glowing faintly as he turned back to the sizzling patties on the grill.
"Don't ever betray your family." Ricky warned, not exerting a shred of force, yet letting his eyes glow as a subtle, unmistakable warning.
"Yes, boss." They all replied, nodding, glancing at one another with a mix of shock and awe at witnessing his power firsthand.
"Next!" Ricky called, shooing them to the side as they shuffled over, while Bumpy immediately furrowed his brows at the figure sitting at the only open table.
"Oh, look, a negro spotting." Big Eyes laughed, gesturing toward Bumpy as if mocking him like a monkey with exaggerated hand motions to the two guys at his right and left.
"Oh, look, a racist." Bumpy scoffed, frowning deeply as he and his guys walked towards the bench.
"But seeing as there isn't a single goddamn option, can we sit with you?" Bumpy asked, deadpan, holding back his frown at the one man he had grown to despise within the family.
"Do you see any 'whites only' signs, boy?" Big Eyes laughed even harder, his men joining in, as Bumpy scrunched his face in frustration while sliding into the seat across from him.
"Y'know, for such a religious man, your logic makes no sense," Bumpy said, sitting down with the others as they exchanged visible frowns at the openly racist Italians.
"You truly believe that, as fellow sons of Adam, born of the first man, we would be different-"
"It ain't about the Bible, it's about natural gifts," Big Eyes interrupted, shaking his head with a light sigh since he almost pitied them for not being able to understand.
"God made the white man to be superior and black men to do all the work we think up. It ain't your fault that God made this plan," Big Eyes shrugged, unable to truly hate the man before him since God worked in mysterious and, in his mind, cruel ways.
"What?" Bumpy asked, completely baffled, his eyes narrowing as he tried to process the words since he had honestly never encountered racism quite like this.
"We don't hate you, boy, that's stupid." His right-hand man scoffed, shaking his head with a slight roll of his eyes.
"We simply pity you, constantly looking down on you for being so beneath us." Big Eyes added, voice dripping with condescension.
"What, you're not gonna try and stop me or beat me up?" Bumpy asked, deliberately trying to rile them with his earlier words of comparison.
"Why would we do that?" Big Eyes replied, genuinely confused at the idea of harming Bumpy for no reason.
"Because I just compared us, proved in your own way of thinking that we're the same-"
"I don't know, it's just words." Big Eyes shrugged, completely disregarding Bumpy's logic as he took another bite of his burger.
"Yeah, opinions are opinions, but everyone's allowed to have them, no matter how wrong." His left-hand man added, oddly enough playing the part of a tolerant racist.
"Even the proof doesn't really matter, because in a way, words are meaningless to its beholder." His right-hand man chimed in, leaving Bumpy completely speechless.
"What are you talking about?" Bumpy asked genuinely, staring at all three of them in disbelief at their strange, considered logic.
"Real racism, it's in our hearts, it's in our minds, and most importantly, in our souls." Big Eyes said, thumping his chest to emphasize his point.
"A negro could never understand that." Big Eyes shrugged, smiling wryly at Bumpy, convinced he could never grasp it.
"But you're somehow useful to Slick, so welcome to the family." Bug Eyes added, chuckling and giving Bumpy a nod of reluctant acceptance.
"But don't ever call me a f*cking midget again." Big Eyes warned, his gaze dangerous, fixating on the one thing he couldn't tolerate.
"Capeesh?"
Meanwhile, with Ricky, a crow slowly landed on his shoulder as Chester revealed himself urgently.
"You can't do an expo, we're not ready." Chester said immediately, deadly serious, his words sharpened by the whispers he'd only just heard from other members of the inner circle.
Originally, as part of his plan within the Veil method, Ricky intended to infuse his likeness into the Olympics, leveraging his innovations in everyday household appliances to achieve it.
"I'm already gonna announce it later-"
"You can't. We haven't made a single working product yet." Chester whispered, glancing around as if the secrecy of their situation could unravel at any moment.
"Are you f*cking kidding me-"
"Most of the time has been spent building the factory and learning how to operate it, not actually making the products." Chester interrupted, sighing heavily at what was supposed to be the Lucky Corporation's best‑kept secret.
"We won't be able to function at full capacity for at least six months, and that's being generous," Chester continued, having only realized too late that Chores had poured all his effort into perfecting the factory itself rather than its intended output.
"I'll just use the models I have-"
"Ricky, this is serious," Chester said, extending his wing in front of Ricky's gaze, forcing him to focus solely on him.
"The company has barely secured a market share, just enough to keep future customers anticipating how we'll make their lives easier." Chester said, trying his hardest to convince the man in front of him to see the gravity of the situation.
"And this is exactly how we're going to dominate the market, by showing them our superiority at the expo." Ricky replied, eyes glinting with ambition as if this was already happening.
"Ricky-"
"See how I said 'our' just now?" Ricky interrupted, flipping a few patties on the grill as he glanced at Chester.
"Listen, it's our company, sure, but I'm in charge." Ricky chuckled, side-eyeing Chester with a look he'd never before given him.
"You wanted to be an employee at Lucky Corporation, and I gave you more because I thought you deserved it." Ricky said, recounting how the crow had even gained his highly coveted position within the company.
"But now we're boss and subordinate." Ricky continued, laying out their new dynamic.
Unfortunately, he was no longer just his familiar; their relationship had shifted, now defined by the rigid structure of employer and employee.
"Me, the boss, tells you he wants something, and you, the subordinate, do it, and trust that I can deliver." Ricky explained, waving the spatula as juices dribbled down its edge.
"Which I f*cking can, since I've got every single functional unit." Ricky added, shooing Chester's worries away to keep his entire focus on the grill.
"Ricky, I know it's your company," Chester sighed, meeting his gaze with a mix of frustration and concern.
"But it's my work."
"So I trust you'll appreciate it enough not to ruin it." Chester added sharply, his worry for everything he had painstakingly managed, keeping the public anticipating without disaster, bleeding through his tone.
"I wouldn't do you like that, I'm serious, they're gonna work." Ricky said, trying to ease Chester's tension, and the familiar sighed heavily but put his trust in him.
"And what is this about a great bird war? Why did I receive a message from a baby hummingbird?" Chester asked, holding out a tiny scroll, his eyes narrowing as Ricky just shook his head with a wry smile.
"It's this thing Alexander's doing, not much to worry about." Ricky laughed, almost desensitized to the absurdity of the story at this point.
"Right, but I keep getting surrounded by crows-"
"Just don't play along and you'll be fine-"
"They've abducted Garfield and left chicken scratch, which I assumed was their form of writing for a hostage negotiation." Chester interrupted sharply, holding out another scroll covered in smudged crow footprints.
"He'll be fine, he knows what happens next." Ricky shrugged, glancing at Garfield with a mix of confidence and amusement.
"Your attitude is very concerning-"
"Relax, they're just a couple of crows," Ricky scoffed, cutting Chester off with a subtle wave of his hand.
"What can they really do against Alexander?"
Meanwhile In A Random Cave,
CAW
CAW
The crow cawed sharply, its words gibberish to any ordinary ear, but through Alexander's translation ring, the meaning was unmistakable.
"You dare threaten the life of my sworn comrade?" Alexander spat, his eyes narrowing at the insolent bird that had dared speak in his presence.
CAW
"Alexander, thank god you're here! Hand me that piece of pizza right there on the side," Garfield called out, his body awkwardly bound in poorly tied ropes, relief washing over his face at the sight of his rescuer.
"I know it's not life or death to you, but to me, it's all I can think about-"
"Not now, cow, you're interrupting my intimidation." Alexander scoffed, waving Garfield's words away without even glancing at him.
CAW
"Oh please, the only reason you have kept Garfield alive is because you know I'd make you suffer a far worse death." Alexander said, undeterred by their bluff, certain they'd fold with the chips they had.
"So, speak of your proposal of peace and I shall ponder whether or not to accept it."
SQWAY
"I dare?" Alexander asked, eyes sweeping the crows who couldn't meet his gaze in the cave that surrounded them.
"You sent your fellow brethren to their deaths to save your worthless skin, and now you grow a spine?" Alexander laughed, spreading his arms wide as if daring them to start the fight right then.
"You're cowards, all of you, and I shall never speak on equal terms, for you are beneath me." Alexander spat, waving his hand at their foolish attempts to consider themselves his equal.
"Now ask for my mercy, and I'll deliberate whether to kill you right here while you plead for it."
The crows glanced at one another, anxious, shifting their weight before returning their stares to Alexander.
CAW
"I would need undying obedience. You'd be my servants, yet worth more than the bird slaves of my future." Alexander declared, his tone ironclad as he laid the foundation for the hierarchy he envisioned.
CAW
"Good. Now, free the cow," Alexander ordered, his eyes narrowing like a king settling tribute.
The crows, wings trembling, dipped their heads in a bow before fluttering toward Garfield to untie him, their movements slow and hesitant under the weight of his command.
Simply put, the only reason Alexander had spared their lives after hearing of the kidnapping was that the crows had lured Garfield into the cave with a trail of pizza slices, and the fat cat had blindly rolled after them like a moth to a flame.
"Oh, sweet baby Jesus, you're back~" Garfield breathed with relief, pressing the slice of pizza to his face and rubbing it tenderly as though it were a long-lost lover.
"Daddy missed you so, so much," Garfield whispered, almost shedding a tear as he tilted his head back and opened his mouth in reverence.
Then, to Alexander's bewilderment, Garfield gulped down the pizza in one bite before rubbing his enormous stomach.
"You've gotten fatter, how is that possible?" Alexander asked genuinely, eyes wide as he took in the cat's sheer size compared to the last time he'd seen him.
Garfield had grown so dangerously rotund that his legs and arms could no longer support his weight; he had no choice but to roll around wherever he wanted to go.
"I'm training, for my rematch with Asterion-"
"Then no longer will you train with gluttony, but with wrath." Alexander declared, his voice laced with disgust at how far Garfield had let his body deteriorate.
"I shall put you on what they now call a 'diet'." Alexander's tone sharpened on the last word, watching the cat's face go pale at the very sound he couldn't bear.
"No, you can't-"
"You owe me a life, Garfield," Alexander cut him off, eyes narrowing at his attempts to talk back to him.
"And I will use it to save yours."
"For we are comrades, and that is enough." Alexander said, gesturing to a crow at his side as a small red wagon was dragged forward by a dozen crows.
"But this is faster, so get in." Alexander chuckled, motioning toward the wagon as Garfield, wheezing and grunting, spent the next twenty minutes awkwardly trying to climb onto it.
Then, while Ricky was busy cooking for his community, Garfield was being pulled along toward the block, arriving just in time to witness Ricky and Chester engaged in what looked like a brewing bickering match.
"You say you want to be the face of the company, but every time I try to schedule a photo shoot to plaster your stupid smile on every advertisement, you suddenly don't have the time?" Chester complained, finally unleashing all his pent-up frustrations.
"First of all, I'm busy with my other business," Ricky said, frowning at Chester's tone but suppressing his annoyance for now.
"Namely, the one that gives me so much f*cking power I can make a crow one of my goddamn employees." Ricky said, gesturing toward the crow, who could only swallow the weight of his next words.
"I don't get a lot of time to spare, so we gotta do it before I leave for Germany," Ricky added, shrugging as Chester let out a silent, exasperated sigh.
"I'll get someone to handle everything for you at your convenience," Chester scoffed, mockingly emphasizing just how often Ricky vanished into his own responsibilities.
"Alexander, good to see you." Chester added with a nod, flapping his wings before promptly returning to his work.
"Good to see you too, Chester!" Alexander called, watching him do a small loop in acknowledgment.
"And my generals said I worked too much in my youth-"
"Alexander, why the f*ck is my cat that fat!" Ricky flinched, spinning toward him, his eyes wide as this was starting to border on animal cruelty.
"Asterion challenge broke him, but worry not, I will fix him." Alexander pledged, thumping his chest as Garfield dejectedly ducked his head.
"Whatever, just take him inside so people can't see him." Ricky said, exasperated and disappointed, making the cat lower his head even further.
"Garfield!" Augustine cheered, running to the fattened cat's side as he was being pulled along by the fleet of crows.
"Servant?" Garfield asked, turning toward the familiar voice, a sudden smile breaking across his face.
"I missed you so much!" Augustine laughed, hugging the cat tightly and burying his face into Garfield's orange fur.
Garfield flinched at the unrelenting affection, but slowly lowered his paws, returning the hug just as Augustine stepped back.
"I've prayed for you every day since we last saw each other!" Augustine exclaimed, eyes sparkling with excitement.
"And I've missed your attentive service," Garfield reminisced, a soft chuckle escaping him as he appreciated the gentle care this one showed, so different from the others.
All of a sudden, Garfield felt every hair on his body stand on end, a shiver running through him.
He knew he shouldn't turn around, but his curiosity won, and there they were: Zatanna and Johnny, watching him from a distance.
"Squishy~" Zatanna's eyes sparkled as she reached out, shaping the air with her hands as if she could mold it into the cat itself.
All the while, Johnny tapped the wooden sword against his palm, a wide grin spreading across his face as he watched Garfield.
"Hurry up, those demons have spotted me!" Garfield urged, his anxiety flaring as the crows began tugging him forward, their wings beating in a chaotic rhythm that mirrored his rising panic.
But before he could be dragged away, Johnny suddenly lunged toward the fat orange cat, sword raised high.
Only someone was quicker.
With a swift sweep of his leg, Augustine intercepted him, grabbing Johnny's wrist and twisting it just enough to make the wooden sword clatter to the ground.
Bam
It happened so fast that the only one who truly caught it was Alexander, frozen in awe at the flawless maneuver as Johnny's bottom slammed into the ground.
"Garfield doesn't like that." Augustine frowned, prying the wooden sword from Johnny, who only scowled in return.
"Give." Johnny demanded, holding out his hand and glaring at the older boy.
"No, not until you promise to leave him alone-"
"Give." Johnny repeated, demanding it this time, as Zatanna slowly came to his side.
"Give it back to him-"
"No. You're going to hurt Garfield. I won't let you," Augustine said, shaking his head and holding the wooden sword away from Johnny's outstretched hand.
"I'll agree with one of you for money?" Moxie suddenly said, peeking into the argument as Johnny rummaged through his pockets.
"Johnny's right, give it to him." Moxie laughed, watching the quarter fall into his hands with a gleeful grin.
"Please don't hurt Garfield. He doesn't like it," Danielle suddenly said, turning to the fat cat, who was already crying, unable to fit through the screen door to get inside the house.
Surely enough, the Luciano children slowly began to take sides, eventually splitting completely into opposing factions.
"It's his sword, just give it to him." Carmine frowned, crossing his arms as Gus and Henry stubbornly shook their heads in defiance.
"It's wrong to hand an aggressor back their weapon." Henry clarified, raising a finger in a matter-of-fact manner.
"Henry's right, they'll only continue with said aggression." Gus added, his gaze sharp as he watched Carmine's face twitch at the really big words.
"Just give the sword back, it's just a piece of wood." Logan scoffed, finally taking a side instead of staying neutral.
"Give it back." Zatanna demanded, her eyes beginning to glow a dangerous purple, while Augustine's own eyes flared red in response.
"NO!" Augustine roared, his anger boiling over as the ebony artifacts circling the radio began to rattle and clatter violently.
"What is happening?" The Ebony Shield muttered, sensing its body being tugged but hearing no trace of Ricky's familiar command.
'The children' the Ebony Blade and Crown whispered in unison, their forms straining as they were pulled inexorably closer to Augustine and Zatanna.
'RICKY!'
Ricky's green eyes snapped, his gaze sharp as he jerked his head back and bolted, hand outstretched.
WHOOSH
A surge of energy erupted as Zatanna and Augustine's eyes flared, red and purple colliding violently.
The two ebony artifacts hurtled toward them, spinning through the air with an almost sentient force.
BAM
To his left, Zatanna's crown had shifted, folding and contorting into a gleaming tiara that hummed with arcane power.
The air around her crackled as her magic surged, amplified to a dangerous degree by the artifact atop her head.
Ricky reacted instinctively, raising the ebony shield just in time to intercept the oncoming force.
Sparks and a low, resonant thrum erupted from the impact, echoing through the space like a warning bell.
On his right, Augustine gripped the ebony blade, its length adjusting almost as if it were alive, shortening around his small hands until it met the resistance of Ricky's own grasp.
The hilt pressed against Ricky's palm, his fingers locking in a vice-like hold so that Augustine couldn't move the sword.
For a heartbeat, the three of them were caught in a tense standoff, until time continued forward from its slowed state.
"ZATANNA!" Agatha screamed, barreling toward her daughter with wide, terrified eyes, her hands outstretched as if she could catch every ounce of magic that might spill over.
Another woman, equally panicked, raced beside her, trying to keep pace as she reached toward the child on the opposite side of the conflict.
"AUGUSTINE!" Carla's voice tore through the air, her breath coming in sharp bursts as she lunged toward her son.
"I-I didn't mean-" Augustine stammered, flinching as the ebony blade pulsed violently in his small hands.
Zatanna stumbled backward, the tiara glowing dangerously atop her head, her magic flaring uncontrollably as tears welled in her eyes.
Sniff
"W-Why did I do that-" Zatanna stammered, her trembling fingers brushing the crown, never having meant to attack her half-brother as it sort of just happened.
"Shhhhh, it's okay, it's not your fault~" Agatha whispered, pulling Zatanna into a comforting embrace.
The second her daughter was in her arms, Agatha yanked the crown from her head, and hurled it into the nearby bushes.
'Rude.' The Ebony Crown muttered, scolding the action but before it could lodge into the dirt, Ricky swiftly caught it in his hands, simultaneously retrieving the Ebony Blade.
"Mommy, I didn't mean-"
"I know, I know~" Carla cooed, gently lifting Augustine onto her pregnant belly and patting the back of his head.
Suddenly, the Chalice and Shield began to clatter, responding to some invisible gravitational pull.
The Chalice hovered toward Thrawn, while even the Shield in Ricky's hand started nudging itself toward Johnny.
Without hesitation, Raven and Agatha scooped the two children up, pulling them farther away from the artifacts.
Ricky's eyes narrowed as he finally realized this would totally become a problem.
"Well, sh*t."
Author's Note: Ik some of yall wanted more interactions and maybe a tinge of slice of life so before I ended the volume, i thought it would be fun to have a nonchalnet type of chapter with the Luciano family. Anyways tell me if ya liked it or if you want more stuff like this.