Thirteen years before…

 

- Dude, that was one of our best robberies! Fifty million clean in hundred-dollar bills, is a new record - said Li Xing, the Chinese head of the team.

What was lacking in Li's size, a little more than five feet high, rewarded the brain. He wore a sort of long-sleeved black colt, extremely stuck to his body, a self-made piece of bullet-proof cloth, among other myriad functions. The poor bastard was barely able to carry a backpack full of money on his back. They had just robbed the vault of a famous casino in Las Vegas and were plotting the escape route beneath the city through manholes.

- That's it, China, we are an infallible team! We went in and out with what we wanted without being seen, -said Julius Perez, a man so strong that he would be able to knock down an elephant with a punch.

Julius was the coolest man, wearing light blue jeans with a vertical extension, white T-shirt and Prada sunglasses with the entire gold-plated frame and small diamond stones on the sides of the lenses. He was born in Mexico but had to flee the country as a teenager after stealing the car from a mafia boss in the city. Either he ran away, or he died! The Mexican called his attention wherever he went, for besides being a brute beauty, he was like a tower with two feet and fifteen of pure muscle, but the heart was soft like butter. His passion was children and animals.

- Can you shut up? I do not have the patience for the commonplace affairs of you two, -said Stephen Salvatore, totally exasperated, critical, and ironic, after all, master of it.

Stephen had a Gothic appearance with his long, black hair as night and snowy white skin, penetrating blue eyes as if he could read the soul of one who looked at him for a long time. Well-born and with a noble name, he had the elegance and sophistication impregnated in his blue blood. Even with his style clearly evident in his robes, it was visible that he came from a good lineage. But he could not see for sure what he was wearing now, for his body was completely covered by a black cape over his head, purposely creating a dark shadow across his face, completely hiding it from the world.

- You know what, Stephen? The man looked with an indescribable expression on Julius. -You're going to have sex with somebody, even with the little girl who lives around the corner, but fuck, man!" This whole bad mood is a lack of sex, -said the mountain of muscles making fun of his friend.

-That does not have anything to do with it because the Blade lives to pick up a different woman every day, and his bad mood only worsens," Li said, turning his narrow eyes, thinking that even though he had known Estevão for years, he had never seen him smile at any time. This was his nature, something that came from the bad blood of the Maldonado and that ran in his veins.

-Speaking of Blade, has he already managed to mislead the police? - It was time to call, he plays a lot with the luck running through the streets of Las Vegas on that bike an hour like this will end up being arrested or killed by a police officer as his parents were.

In the world of crime, the death of the Maldonado couple was literally marked by an endless duel between police and bandits.

-Relax, brother, the Blade is clever like a cat, - said the Mexican.

-But one day the seven lives of a cat are end! - No one lives forever! -Stephen always had something ironic to talk about.

As they emerged from the manhole they heard a strange noise as they passed a dark alley that would hit the main road where they had a minivan already with Blade waiting for them to win the world. By instinct, in a thousandth of a second, they were already in a position of attack, mounting a magic triangle, with Julius on the left side of clenched fists, ready to punch anyone in front of him and Stephen on the right side, pulling the waist and unlocking, at the same time, two pistols of the Eighties (it was a bandit of class). The weapons besides traditional did a good damage in the hands of who knew how to use them and Salvatore certainly was this someone. Li, being the youngest of the three, stood in the middle in a fighting position, as well as a genius, he was a master of martial arts.

The three were sure that the casino owner had discovered the robbery and sent his army of thugs behind them, but instead, he appeared behind a huge box next to a pile of garbage, a little boy of about eight years, all dirty, shaggy hair, probably not cut for months. His little feet, inside a shoe, so pierced, had parts more uncovered than covered. He was extremely thin, he could hardly see the beautiful blue eyes so buried in the fact that they were; in his hand he held a blue headdress tightly, showing how important it was to him. His mother had done it before she died, and it was not an option to leave her in the hands of his alcoholic stepfather, who had left him at the first corner on the very day of his wife's death. The man made no point in taking any responsibility on him. The image was to cut off anyone's heart, even from a group of fleeing thieves.

-What ugly thing is that? - Asked Stephen, looking at him with a disgusted face, as if he had never seen a child before. In fact, he avoided them to the utmost he was terrified when he heard the voice of one.

-A child, white man, what country did you come from, man? - Julius snorted nervously at his friend's idiotic question.

-From the world of fairies and unicorns, it was not. - he looked darkly frightening at him. -You can be sure, - he concluded, full of mystery. The Englishman carried many secrets from his past.

-Stop it, you two, the boy saw us! You know what we have to do, do not you? - Exclaimed Li, not daring to look at the boy. Being a criminal had its advantages, but at times it was the worst thing in the world.

-File burn, - said Stephen, naturally, knowing that it meant killing the boy.

He did not care at all for the fact he was devoid of any kind of feeling be it good or bad.

- God! He's just a kid! Can´t we just let it go and that's it? Why not kill innocent and pregnant! Julius whined, looking piously at the little being in front of him.

-Then do the dirty work for you, Stephen, since you have no feelings for anyone else, - said Li, taking his body away.

-I will not be able to shoot this disgusting thing by looking at me that way. Those bright, innocent eyes scare me! The Englishman soon found a way out. -Do the honors from the house, Xing, - he said, tapping the Chinese man's shoulder.

So they stayed for a long time, one playing for the other the "fire burning". They had killed several times before, but a child was too much for them.

- Damn it! Where's Maldonado when we need him? - Growled Esteban, annoyed by this endless dilemma.

- Everywhere! - Echoed the thick voice from the darkest part of the alley.

Blade was like a cat, just as vanishing appeared, just out of nowhere. It was extremely sexy inside  faded jeans so tight that it emphasized his muscles he wore a white cotton shirt with a black biker-style jacket of pure leather, the exact size of it Completely ordinary clothes in an extraordinary man. Anything would look good on him, naked then, it was just perfect.

- We got a problem, Blade! The Chinese pointed at the child.

-Deal with it, - Blade ordered, his voice thicker than usual. He was irritated. - Now! He completed dangerously.

He lived in a bad mood the strong genius was his trademark. The allies did not answer, just looked down at the floor. It was obvious that they would not have the courage to do what Maldonado had stipulated, which was very difficult to do.

- OK! I solve!!! - he answered naturally.

And he would do it without a trace of remorse. He had done much worse before, but eliminating "that kind of file" was new even for the last of the Maldonado. He soon got hold of the Mauser M-96, better known as "Broomhandle," the famous German broom or pistol grip. One of the most distinguished firearms produced in the world, a few luxury items, being an item coveted by snipers and collectors. The nickname, of course, arose from the narrow wooden handle. To recharge them, they are inserted through a spring mechanism in front of the trigger and behaved the ten bullets, powerful ammunition 7.63mm, the same used in a Russian rifle. The weapon that was hidden in the waistband of Blade's jeans was pointed right in the middle of the child's helpless face.

The little one had sapphire eyes under the still hot metal barrel because of the exchange of Blade shots on the police escape, almost touching the tip of his nose. The child looked genuinely tired, with dark circles and very pale. The excess of thinness was of pity, trembling like a frightened bunny.

- Goodbye, little devil! - He arched his left eyebrow wickedly, squeezing the trigger without a second thought. -Hell, - he cursed when he saw the gun lock for the first time in several years of use.

- That's enough, Maldonado! Let him go, he's just a little boy, he will not tell anyone who saw us. -Julius pleaded with sensibility in his eyes, taking two steps toward him, but was prevented by the icy glare Maldonado threw at him.

Julius stopped at once with his back to not see the scene, knew that it would be useless to try to make him give up on continuing that terrible idea of killing the child. He knew his friend well enough to know how cruel and vicious he was, to enjoy evil to live up to the noble surname he had inherited from the most famous and respected evil family of thieves in the world of crime. When he turned his eyes to the boy, he noticed that he did not cover his face or tried to escape the shot, he did not move, as if waiting for him to shoot soon.

-Are not you afraid of death, boy? - He asked in a low voice, much just hearing that tone would have run.

-People in my condition do not see death as bad, but as deliverance, at least I go to my mother's side, she always took care of me! - The little boy whined.

It was enough for Blade to hear the word Mother to feel some discomfort. He lost his in a tragic way even when he was very small. Even so, at night, in the midst of dreams, she had flashes of the memory of her face smiling at him, so he knew exactly the pain that boy was referring to. Seeing that he was trembling compulsively and could barely stand, he wondered what might be happening to him.

-What do you get, the little devil? - He asked genuinely suspicious. It was normal for a bandit to be suspicious of everything and everyone even of a defenseless street-dwelling child.

-Hunger, sir, I have not eaten in two weeks. - He raised a hand over his snoring belly, a symphony of Beethoven's.

- Close your eyes, little one! -And so the child did. Blade unlocked the gun and again pointed it to his head he thought that it would not only be a burning file, but a release. -I will put an end to your pain, - he concluded. At that moment, Li and Stephen turned on their back as well, the Chinese quietly wiped away a tear that fell on the face of Eastern features; Julius by now had sobbed from crying; Salvatore just did not cry because he did not know how to do it.

-If you really want to do it, do it soon, Blade, - said Stephen darkly.

- What the hell! This can only be a joke, -Maldonado cursed after the gun crashed for the second time.

-No, Blade! This is divine intervention!

Julius, even living a wrong life faithfully believed in God and whenever he could attend the evening mass, confessing himself monthly and asking God's forgiveness for his inadequate acts.

-We'll know if you have the finger of" God "on it, - Blade muttered.

He was completely atheistic, did not believe in any divine entity or anything. Mysteriously, he reached into his pocket and pulled a silver coin out of her pants, and over a small clasp of light she shone so brightly that she reflected inside the sapphire beads of the boy, in fact, he had beautiful, striking eyes.

-Your life will depend on it, boy! - He handed the coin to him. -You'll throw it up, if you give it a crown, you die! - But ... if you face, besides living, you will win a family! We are not ideal for a child, but I promise we will protect you with our lives if need be! We will take you with us wherever we are! And if you want to follow in our footsteps, great, but if you do not want to, we will support you in what you choose. After all, that's what siblings do: take care of each other, -he concluded.

Innocently the child stared at the coin for a moment, not even imagining how much it was at stake, no matter which side it fell. Then he threw it up. The coin began to fall in slow motion making circular motions in the air and landing in the palm of Blade's hand telling what would be his destiny. At this moment there was no sound of the five of them breathing in the alley, but the silence was soon interrupted by the thunderous noise of Blade's gun echoing everywhere.

-Welcome to the family, Mascot, - Blade said in a low voice after firing a bullet in celebration of the arrival of new member Salvatore Perez Xing Maldonado.