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I stumble back into the guard rail, just holding on. My nose is broken and it immediately starts pissing blood.
Marco laughs.
I shake my head to get the stars out of my eyes just as he punches me in the gut. He goes to tip me back and I headbutt blindly and bash into his face. He groans, and the satisfaction is worth the pain of my own broken nose. We tumble back towards the controls and I punch him in the gut. I go for a second and he blocks it. He swings back, jabbing my kidney and I can’t help but let a gasp out and drop to a knee. My throat is killing me as I try to keep breathing.
Marco picks me up and I punch at his face. We lose control and crash into the control console. We roll along the buttons and many things beep as we have our scrappy fight. The machine below comes to life, timber starts getting fed in and it sounds like many chainsaws are running below us. I manage to get on top of Marco and punch, he dodges and my fist slams home on a button. I scream and clasp my hand. A top hatch has opened and the both of us look down at the enormous grinding gears.
Marco takes my few distracted seconds to boot my knee. I scream and crumble down. He gets me into a headlock and I elbow his gut. He groans and I roll away. But Marco is already coming at me as I get up.
“Why the fuck are you doing this?” I say through gritted teeth.
“Why not?” Marco says back.
We tussle and I swing a punch at him. He ducks it and jabs again at the same kidney. It only pisses me off even more.
“We took you in,” I say, ducking his punch and landing one in his kidney.
He smiles. “Good for you. Would you like a medal?” He swings another punch which I block, I headbutt him again and it dazes him. He stumbles back towards the edge of the platform with the grinding gears below.
I grab him by the shirt, purely by reflex, and save his life by pulling him away from the edge.
“You always warned me of mercy,” Marco says, immediately elbowing my broken nose.
I fall back, my hands bloodied and slippery. He wraps his arm around my neck and begins choking me. If my neck hadn’t already felt as if it had been ripped apart by sandpaper, now it was on fire. I swipe at him, but my arms can’t reach him. He’s got me done and dusted.
I’m at his mercy.
“You know, for a long time, I was happy with you,” he says. “Your father was a better father than mine had ever been.” He tightens the chokehold. “You should have seen the surprise on his face as I came into his room and shot him in the legs.”
I go berserk, kicking out and swinging fists at him again, but I’m already weakened by his choking. He directs me towards the edge. Towards the match stick machine.
“Even better was his face when I told him I’d kill you,” Marco says. “But all the while he just kept asking the same question as you. Why? Well I told him the truth. We’re different families. You’re Colombino, and I’m Manetti.”
“You’re a piece of shit,” I manage to say.
Marco laughs, kicks me to my knees and forces me to the edge, dangling me above the machine. “That may be, but at least I’m alive.”
I headbutt backwards but Marco has me locked in.
“Any last words, Luca?” he whispers. “Anyone else you want to give recognition to?”
I don’t say anything, all I think about is my parents. Is Sophie. I wish I could’ve just seen Sophie one last time before I died.
“Well I’ve got some for you,” Marco says. “You should’ve—”
A gunshot rings out and it’s like Marco grunts. It’s almost more like an exhale of surprise.
I push back with all my might, rising up onto my legs and picking him up. He groans again and I don’t hesitate this time, I roar and flip him up, over me, and down into the machine.
He slams into the gears and starts getting pulled inwards. I turn away as he begins to scream.
I collapse to my knees. Breathing hard and gripping my throat. I fall back and thank whoever shot that stray bullet. But it’s only then that I realize it wasn’t a stray at all, and that I’m not alone. Sophie is standing over me, stripped down to her underwear with a gun in her hands.
“Why the hell would you wear that to a gunfight?” is all I can manage as I roll over and stagger up.
Sophie comes over and hugs me. She laughs into my ear and it’s the greatest thing ever. We embrace and I carry her away from the edge.
“I didn’t have anything else,” she says.
