Marvel: Familia System

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As soon as Ezio withdrew the blade, Gambit and his two men made a move for their weapons. Before they could even grip the handles, three shurikens cut through the dim light, grazing their hands. The metallic hiss of the projectiles barely preceded the dull thud of them embedding into the wooden table.

"Stay put, or the next ones will cut your necks," Ezio said coldly, his gaze sweeping over the room. The men froze, their hands hovering mid-air. Gambit's smirk returned, but it was weaker this time, more nervous than confident.

Candra crossed her arms, stepping closer to the table. "I'd listen to him if I were you," she said. "Ezio's not big on second chances."

Gambit let out a shallow chuckle, his eyes darting to the shurikens and back to Ezio. "Fine. You've made your point. I'm not looking to die over someone else's mess."

Ezio stepped to the side, keeping his back to the wall as he scanned the rest of the room. The thieves who had been lounging earlier were now standing at a cautious distance, some with hands hovering near their weapons, but none daring to draw. He kept his voice low, his words directed at Gambit. "Start talking. You said mercenaries. Who hired them?"

Gambit shifted in his seat, his movements calculated to avoid any sudden gestures. "I don't know exactly. They aren't local—different accents, gear too polished for street thugs. Whoever paid them, though, has a lot of money to burn. Enough to arm them like soldiers."

Candra frowned. "And you've got nothing on their employer? No name, no face, no trail?"

"Only whispers," Gambit admitted, his voice steadying as he gauged their reactions. "Someone new in town. Whoever they are, they've been careful not to get directly involved. Every job I've seen their people pull, it's been clean—except for the trail they left leading back to you."

Ezio's gaze didn't waver. "Why would they frame you and us? What's their angle?"

Gambit shrugged, his smirk fading into something more serious. "You think I'd still be sitting here if I knew? Look, you want my guess? They're trying to clear the board. Force us to wipe each other out so they can step in when the dust settles."

Ezio waved his arm, "Whispers, talk about them."

Gambit's smirk lingered, but there was no humor in it this time. "Word is, there's a man up north making waves. New York, to be precise. They call him Kira."

Candra's brow furrowed. "Never heard of him. What's his game?"

"Chaos, from what I gather." Gambit shifted slightly, his hands hovering near the table but not daring to move further. "Rumors say he's a mutant. Fire powers. Leaves places in ashes when they're no longer useful. What's interesting, though, is his choice of enemies."

Ezio didn't interrupt, but his gaze remained locked on Gambit, a silent command to continue.

"He's been going toe-to-toe with Kingpin," Gambit added. "And winning. That alone puts him on a different level than most of the wannabe players."

Candra exchanged a glance with Ezio, her skepticism apparent. "And you think he's behind this mess here? Why would someone like that care about a small city like ours?"

Gambit raised his shoulders in a small shrug. "Territory, maybe. Kingpin's a big fish, but even he doesn't own the whole pond. If Kira wants to expand, New Orleans is ripe for the taking. And what better way to start than by pitting its two strongest factions against each other?"

Ezio leaned slightly closer, his tone as unyielding as the knife he'd just sheathed. "You're certain it's him?"

"I didn't say that," Gambit replied carefully. "But the mercs causing trouble have the same polish as the ones he's been using up north. Gear too clean, tactics too precise. Doesn't feel local, you know?"

Candra crossed her arms, her voice laced with doubt. "Even if this Kira is behind it, why make it so obvious? Leaving a trail to you and us isn't subtle."

Gambit gestured at the maps scattered across the table. "Maybe it's not about subtlety. Maybe it's a message. 'This is what I can do from the shadows. Imagine what I'll do in the light.' If you're smart, you back off. If you're dumb…" His gaze flicked to Ezio briefly before settling on Candra. "Well, you go looking for him."

Ezio stepped back, his eyes scanning the room. "If he's playing both sides, it's to weaken the city before he makes his move. Letting us tear each other apart means no one's left to stop him."

"Exactly," Gambit said, leaning back cautiously, sensing the tension ease slightly. "And I'd rather not be the last man standing in a city that's already burned."

Candra looked at Ezio, her expression unreadable. "Do we trust this?"

Ezio nodded. "I heard about this man when I was on a job. It seems like something he would do." He leaned slightly. 

"If Gambit's telling the truth—and I think he is—we're being played. Someone's pulling strings, using our conflict to thin the ranks on both sides. If we let this continue, it won't matter who wins the fight. We'll all lose."

Candra kept her arms crossed, her lips pressed tight. Her eyes flicked toward Gambit. "But if this Kira is behind it, why not come after us directly? Why the games?"

Gambit shrugged, his tone measured. "That's how these types work. They don't win by fighting—they win by setting traps and waiting for their prey to step into them."

Candra turned her gaze to Ezio. "You're certain he's not lying?"

Ezio didn't break eye contact with Gambit as he spoke. "He's too worried to be lying. If Kira's moving on New Orleans, Gambit stands to lose just as much as we do."

"I stand to lose more," Gambit interjected, his voice sharper now. "Unlike you, I don't have assassins to call on when things go south. My people are good, but they're not made for this kind of fight. If I wanted a war, it wouldn't be on someone else's terms."

Candra studied him for a long moment, her silence speaking louder than words. Finally, she uncrossed her arms. "Assuming you're telling the truth, what do you propose?"

Gambit exhaled, relief flickering across his face for a moment. "An alliance. Temporary. We pool resources, track down this Kira, and take him out before he makes his move."

Candra's eyebrows rose slightly. "An alliance. With you."

"Spare me the righteous indignation," Gambit said, his tone tinged with sarcasm. "You've worked with worse people for less noble reasons. Besides, you don't have to like me—just trust that I want this problem gone as much as you do."

Ezio stepped closer to the table, his tone even. "He's right. We can't afford to fight on two fronts. If Kira's as dangerous as he sounds, dealing with him should take priority. Once he's out of the picture, we can deal with our differences."

So, the shaky alliance thus began. The Assassins and the Thieves Guild, two factions defined by rivalry and mistrust, found themselves forced to work together. Candra and Gambit, their respective leaders, encouraged collaboration between their groups, but decades of animosity weren't easily erased. Meetings were held in neutral locations, each side reluctant to cede any ground, both figuratively and literally.

In the early days, progress was slow. The Assassins shared strategic insights about the mercenary groups targeting them, while the Thieves provided information on the flow of illicit goods and suspicious movements through the city. Despite their efforts, the tension was palpable. Conversations were clipped, and cooperation felt more like an obligation than a genuine partnership.

One such meeting was held in an abandoned brewery on the edge of the city. Ezio stood near a rusted conveyor belt, observing the uneasy mix of assassins and thieves exchanging information. The chatter was low and guarded, each side measuring every word before speaking. Gambit leaned against a steel pillar, his arms crossed, while Candra reviewed a series of notes with Tomas.

A thief stepped forward, his tone impatient. "We've given you routes and names. When are you going to do something with it?"

Tomas glanced up, unruffled. "When we're sure it's worth the risk. Running headlong into a trap helps no one."

The thief sneered but said nothing further. Gambit raised a hand to stop the brewing argument. "We don't need another fight in the middle of an alliance," he said, his voice casual. "Let's focus on the common enemy."

Ezio watched the exchange without comment. He'd seen enough to know this truce wouldn't hold under pressure.

Over the following weeks, the strain between the groups grew. A thief was found dead in a narrow alley near an Assassin stronghold, his body marked with deep cuts and bruises. The Thieves Guild was quick to accuse the Assassins, and tempers flared at the next meeting.

Gambit slammed a hand on the table, his charm replaced by anger. "You think we don't see what's happening? One of ours turns up dead near your base, and we're supposed to believe it's just coincidence?"

Candra's gaze was cold. "We don't kill unless there's purpose. If one of yours died, it wasn't us."

"Words are cheap," another thief muttered, his hand resting on the hilt of a dagger.

Ezio stepped forward, his voice cutting through the tension. "We're being played. You saw the mercenaries' tactics. Why would either of us waste resources on this when there's a larger threat?"

Gambit glared but didn't reply. The thieves exchanged uneasy looks, the point sinking in despite their suspicions.

Still, incidents continued. An Assassin was found beaten to death in the market district, his weapons stolen and his body left in the open as a warning. The Assassins were livid, Tomas especially.

"If this alliance is going to work, we need guarantees," Idris said at the next gathering, his tone sharp. "Otherwise, we're better off going back to how things were."

"And what would those guarantees look like?" Gambit asked, his tone laced with mockery. "A blood oath? A handshake?"

"Accountability," Idris replied. "If we're going to be allies, we need a way to ensure neither side acts out."

"That works both ways," a thief interjected. "We're not the only ones playing dirty."

Candra silenced them with a gesture. "Enough. The infighting only helps our enemy. If someone's sabotaging this truce, they're doing a damn good job."

Tomas looked at the group, his expression steady as he addressed both factions. "We need to trust each other. These are the schemes of Kira, and we cannot let this divide us. I am willing to put my life in the Thieves Guild's hands to prove we have nothing to do with this. Can you do the same?"

Gambit arched an eyebrow, visibly caught off guard. He glanced at his second-in-command, a wiry man known as Victor. Victor gave a reluctant nod, clearly unwilling but trusting Gambit's judgment.

"If you're serious," Gambit began, his voice level, "then we might have a chance to stop this. But let's be clear—if one more body turns up, my people won't sit on their hands."

Idris leaned forward, his arms on the table. "And what about when one of ours turns up next? Do we get the same courtesy, or will it just be more accusations?"

Victor's face hardened. "You've got no proof it was us. What I see is assassins trying to play both sides—kill one of ours and make it look like someone else did it."

Tomas raised a hand, cutting off the brewing argument. "Enough. We're talking in circles, and the more we do, the more Kira wins."

Candra, silent until now, tapped the table twice. "He's right. This has to end here." Her gaze swept over both factions, hard and unyielding. "Gambit, Tomas will stay with you. Same goes for Victor—he will stay with me. This way, if any orders come to kill, we'll know exactly where they're coming from. This should make things clearer for everyone."

Gambit's lips curved slightly, though the expression lacked humor. "This is the last time I trust you."

"Likewise," Candra replied without missing a beat.

The tension in the room didn't ease, but no one voiced further objections. Tomas exchanged a brief glance with Candra, nodded, and stepped toward Gambit. Victor, less pleased, stayed rooted to his spot for a moment before reluctantly moving to Candra's side.

Tomas followed Gambit like a hawk, not leaving him even when the latter went to the bathroom. It was comical, but neither Tomas nor Gambit cracked a smile. Similarly, Victor shadowed Candra, though he handled the situation differently due to gender issues. If anyone else was in the room, Victor refused to allow her to enter, checking thoroughly before and after for any hidden messages. The Assassins and Thieves Guild were paranoid enough to comb through every possible angle, but it seemed no orders to kill were coming from either side. Normally, that would have been good news—but the deaths stopped entirely.

The meaning was clear: the deaths had stopped because the leaders were being watched. It confirmed what many suspected—any orders to kill had been issued before this arrangement. With both sides now scrutinized, there was no further bloodshed.

In the Assassin's Guild, Idris was seething. "Those bastards! I knew it was them, using Kira as an excuse to cull our ranks," he spat, pacing the chamber like a caged animal.

Marius sighed, leaning against the edge of the table. "If it were that simple, the deaths would've been more blatant. Kira's influence complicates things."

"That's just it!" Idris snapped, turning on Marius. "You're giving them too much credit. The Thieves are liars, always have been. Gambit's smooth talk doesn't change that."

Ezio, standing near the corner, broke his silence. "If we assume it's the Thieves, we lose sight of Kira's hand in this. He thrives on chaos, and that means keeping both of us suspicious."

Idris pointed at Ezio, his voice sharp. "And you're so quick to trust Gambit, are you? Because he says a few pretty words with a knife at his throat?"

"Trust has nothing to do with it," Ezio replied. "Gambit's not lying, but that doesn't make him innocent. The truth is in the patterns, not the words."

Candra, seated at the head of the table, raised a hand. "Enough. Speculating about Gambit gets us nowhere. What matters is what we do next. If Kira's using us as pawns, we need to take ourselves off the board."

Marius nodded. "The alliance holds, for now. That forces Kira's hand."

Idris scoffed, crossing his arms. "And when the next body drops, then what? Another meeting? Another round of 'let's all be friends'?"

Candra's gaze didn't waver. "If another body drops, it won't be ours. We'll be ready."

But it was theirs.

When the time for the check-in arrived, Tomas missed the call. Candra paced the hall, her phone in hand as call after call went unanswered. The guild buzzed with tension, and Idris finally broke the silence.

"They killed him!" he said, glaring at Victor. "That bastard Gambit played us! I told you this would happen."

Victor, standing near the edge of the room, frowned but stayed quiet. He couldn't shake the thought—if Gambit had killed Tomas while under the Assassins' watch, what message was being sent? Was it even possible?

Candra didn't respond immediately. Her eyes flicked between Idris and Victor before she made her decision. "Victor stays here. I want him under watch. If anything happens, we'll know where to start."

Victor's jaw tightened, but he said nothing as Idris sneered. "Smart move. At least someone's thinking straight."

Candra didn't waste time arguing. She signaled to Ezio, Marius, and two other assassins. "Gear up. We leave now."

The streets were unnaturally quiet as the group approached the Thieves Guild's neutral meeting ground.

Candra raised a hand, halting the group. She turned to Ezio. "Get us in."

Ezio stepped forward, disappearing into the shadows as if he'd been swallowed by them. The faint sound of a lock clicking echoed back moments later, and the door eased open. He reappeared, stepping aside to let the others enter.

Inside, the air was heavy, laced with the scent of damp wood and old smoke. Candra's eyes scanned the room, her hand resting lightly on the hilt of her blade. They moved in formation, each assassin covering an angle as they approached the meeting chamber.

Standing in the middle of the room, Gambit stared at Tomas's body, his jaw tight, shoulders rigid. Around him, a handful of thieves looked equally grim. The Assassins froze in the doorway as their eyes fell on the corpse. Tomas's lifeless form lay sprawled on the ground, his throat slashed cleanly, a dark pool of blood spreading beneath him.

"Fucking bastards," Candra hissed, her voice sharp enough to draw every gaze in the room. Her hand went instinctively to her blade as she stepped forward, and the thieves around Gambit tensed, their hands inching toward weapons.

"It's not what it looks like," Gambit said, his tone calm but edged with urgency. He raised both hands slightly, palms open, though his posture didn't suggest surrender. "Stand down, all of you. Now."

The Assassins ignored his words. An assassin stepped toward the thieves with murder in his eyes. "You're going to tell me this is a coincidence?" His hand hovered over his dagger. "You butchered one of ours, and now you want to talk?"

"We didn't kill him," Gambit snapped, his calm slipping for a fraction of a second. He glanced at Candra. "We're being set up, and you know it."

"Save it," The assassin barked. "Your excuses mean shit."

Candra's blade was half-drawn, her gaze locked on Gambit. "You've been lying from the start. I should've known trusting you was a mistake."

Assassins surged forward, their anger erupting like a violent storm. Steel hissed against leather as blades were drawn, and the tension snapped into chaos. The thieves scrambled into defensive stances, matching the energy with weapons at the ready.

One Assassin lunged toward Gambit, but a thief intercepted him, blocking the strike with a short sword. Sparks flew as the metal clashed, the sound reverberating in the confined space. Another Assassin swung wide at a thief standing to Gambit's right, forcing the man back against the wall, his dagger shaking under the weight of the blow.

Candra turned into a blur as she dodged a bullet shot by a thief. The crack of the shot echoed in the chamber, followed by the metallic ring of blades being drawn. Gambit ducked instinctively, his expression sharp as chaos erupted around him.

"You bastards can't be trusted!" an Assassin roared, swinging a short blade at a nearby thief.

The thief blocked with a dagger, their weapons grinding against each other. "Neither can you, Assassin scum!"

Candra lunged, her movements fluid as she disarmed a thief who had drawn a pistol, slamming the butt of her blade against his wrist. The gun clattered to the ground. "Stand down!" she barked, though her words did little to calm the escalating violence.

Gambit stepped back, his hands raised but his expression tense. "If you lot don't stop swinging, none of us are walking out of here!" he shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos like a whip.

Marius moved to the center of the fray, his staff striking the ground with a sharp crack. "Enough!" His voice carried over the noise, commanding attention. Both sides hesitated, their weapons still raised but their movements stilled.

"Can't you see this is exactly what they want?" Marius's voice was calm but carried weight. He turned to Candra. "You think this rabble could've killed Tomas? Look at them. Gambit's telling the truth."

Candra glared at Gambit, her blade still drawn. "You expect us to just take his word?"

"I don't expect anything," Marius replied, stepping between the two factions. "But if this was their doing, they wouldn't be standing here, waiting full of armed assassins to charge at their base. Tomas's death wasn't their work. Gambit doesn't gain from this. Killing Tomas only fuels the fire against his guild. This is Kira's doing."

The room remained tense, but Marius pressed on. "If you can't see the truth, I'll make it clear. This rivalry ends here." He paused, his eyes meeting Gambit's. "Gambit, you'll marry my daughter."

The room fell silent, the absurdity of the statement sucking the air from the chamber. Candra jaw dropped. "What?!"

Candra froze, staring at Marius as if he'd lost his mind. "You can't be serious."

Marius didn't flinch. "A marriage binds us. Gambit, if your guild isn't responsible, you'll accept."

Gambit blinked, his smirk replaced by genuine confusion. "Your daughter? Mate, I didn't even know you had one."

"You do now," Marius said curtly. "And unless you're hiding a reason to refuse, you'll agree."

After some debate, Gambit accepted. Both factions agreed to convene again, this time to begin merging efforts. Yet as Candra's group returned to their base later that night, a grim sight awaited them—Idris's body sprawled in the hall, blood pooling beneath him, his throat slashed cleanly. Victor, their supposed guarantee of peace, was nowhere to be seen.

Candra crouched by the body, her gaze sharp. "Check the perimeter. Now."

The assassins moved swiftly without hesitation. Ezio lingered near the doorway, his eyes narrowing as he examined the scene.

One of the assassins returned quickly. "No sign of forced entry."

"No sign of Victor either," another added.

Candra bore her gaze to Marius, her frustration simmering beneath a tight-lipped scowl. "What now?"

Marius leaned against his staff, his face grim. "This wasn't Gambit. Let's ask Victor's head. If we let this unravel, everything we've worked for collapses."

Candra gritted her teeth, the weight of another concession bearing down on her shoulders. How many chances had she already given this alliance? Yet she nodded and stepped aside, pulling her phone to call Gambit. The line connected after a few rings.

Gambit groaned, his voice muffled from exhaustion. "What now? I was about to rest."

Candra didn't hide her irritation. "Victor's gone, Idris is dead. If you want this peace to happen, bring Victor's head."

Gambit scoffed, the sound sharp over the phone. "Victor's gone? That's rich, coming from you. Maybe you killed him in a fit of rage after Tomas. How convenient for you to lay it at my feet."

Candra clenched the phone tightly. "We were there with you, Gambit. Idris was watching over Victor, and now Idris is dead. How could it be us?"

Gambit's snort came through the line, sharp and derisive. "Perhaps you killed him before coming here. How the fuck should I know?"

A pause followed on the other end of the line, filled only with the faint shuffle of movement. "You want peace? Fine. I'll do my best," Gambit said at last, though his tone carried a thread of exhaustion. "But if Victor's gone, it complicates things on my end too."

Candra lowered the phone, not bothering with a response. She turned to Ezio and Marius, her tone clipped. "We need to find Victor. Whether he ran, was taken, or left willingly, we're not sitting around waiting for another corpse to show up."

In the following month, the two sides met daily, hammering out the details of their tentative alliance. The progress was slow, filled with mutual suspicion and barely concealed disdain, but both the Assassins and the Thieves Guild recognized they had no choice. The tensions were too high, and Kira's looming presence was too dangerous to ignore. Despite the frequent verbal skirmishes during these meetings, an unspoken understanding began to emerge—if they didn't put aside their differences, they wouldn't survive.

The engagement between Gambit and Belladonna, Marius's daughter, became the centerpiece of their shaky reconciliation. It was a symbolic gesture meant to bury the hatchet, though neither party seemed particularly thrilled about the arrangement. Belladonna, a quiet but sharp-eyed young woman with a reputation for pragmatism, accepted the proposal without complaint, her gaze hard as steel during the feast held to announce the union. Gambit, in turn, played the part of the charming fiancé, though the strained smile on his face betrayed his unease.

The feast itself was held in a grand hall—a neutral territory chosen for its central location. Assassins and thieves seated together, an arrangement Gambit and Candra had insisted upon. Both factions intermingled as best they could. 

"You know," Gambit began, his tone light, "if we'd met under different circumstances, I might've been tempted to hire some of you lot for a few jobs. Professionalism, discipline... though I'd probably have to remind you lot not to stab the clients."

The jab earned a few scattered chuckles, though the Assassins largely remained stoic. Candra's lips twitched.

After the feast, the two guilds merged in practice, creating an alliance that became far more effective than either had anticipated. Surprisingly, as time went on, the enmity that had defined their relationship for decades began to erode. The assassins and thieves discovered that their combined strengths and shared resources made them a force to be reckoned with. Together, they accomplished feats neither could have managed alone, including disrupting smaller factions and forcing Kira's mercenaries to retreat from the city.

One afternoon, Gambit, Belladonna, and Candra stood on the roof of their headquarters. The city stretched out before them.

"This could work," Gambit said, leaning against a crumbling parapet. His voice carried a rare note of optimism. "I never thought I'd see the day, but I'll admit, this alliance is doing wonders."

Candra leaned on the parapet, her gaze fixed on the city's skyline. "We've made progress. If Kira resurfaces, we'll be ready. For now, it feels like things are finally... balanced."

"Balanced," Gambit echoed, his grin widening. "Now there's a word I never expected to hear from you. What's next? You start cracking jokes?"

Candra didn't dignify the remark with a response, though the faintest hint of a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

But suddenly, all three felt sharpening at their chests. Looking down, they saw shadowy blades piercing through their bodies from behind. The shock painted their faces, disbelief etched in every twitch. Turning slowly, they saw the last person they expected—Ezio, standing behind them with no trace of emotion in his eyes.

"Why?" Candra managed, her voice weaker with every word as blood stained her lips.

Gambit clenched his jaw, the pain making it hard to focus, but he forced his thoughts together. His voice rasped as he pieced it aloud, "dris, Tomas, Victor… you killed them. Since when?"

Ezio pulled the shadowy blades free without hesitation, letting all three collapse to the ground. His face betrayed no remorse, "Always. Requiescat in pace."

He turned toward the edge of the rooftop as a figure descended from the sky, suspended by flames pouring from its hands and feet. Ezio barely looked at the new arrival. 

Kira smirked, fire flickering brighter for a moment as he hovered to Ezio's side. "So, let me guess the next scene. I burn down the 'bad guys,' you stand tall as the hero, and they all crown you leader of their little warband. Then I throw in some theatrics, pretend to cower, and escape like a good villain. That about right?"

"Something like that," Ezio replied simply, stepping aside to let Kira's flames illuminate the three bodies behind him.

--

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