Nobody

Seeing what was happening, and hearing Ryan's cry, Leo is quick to put a protective arm around her, his gaze becoming a glare. His own face still clearly bore the marks from his last run-in with Roth, and he can feel his anger burning once again. "Roth, you swine," he hisses.

Leo wanted to interfere and help Eli, but any man without the aid of a weapon would be helpless in this crowd. Instead, all he can do is tighten his grip on Ryan to keep her from going to her brother.

Eli blinks back a drop of blood, his blurred vision just making out the figure of Ryan as she screams his name. Maybe he'd bit off more than he could chew this time. Maybe he'd been too cocky. Maybe he wasn't as strong as he'd once been. He can feel himself starting to give up as he lies on the ground, taking another kick to the ribs.

Then Roth's words hit his ears. Above the jeering crowd, he could hear Roth's taunting. Eli's blood begins to boil once more. No one talked about his sister like that - no one. His expression of defeat slowly morphs into one of cold steel. Lifting his head a little from the dirt, sweat and blood run down the side of his face. His hand slides forward to feel what had gone overlooked in the dim light until now, and his fingers wrap around the cool links.

Getting another kick in the side, Eli suddenly rolls onto his back, hooking Roth's angles with his feet, and giving them a swift tug to bring the man down to the ground. He knew it hadn't been a hard enough hit to keep Roth down, so he has to take advantage of the quick moment to roll a few feet away and get back to his own feet.

Standing tall once more, his back is to his sister as the ire rages in his eyes, watching Roth get back to his feet. But this time a two-foot chain hangs from his hand. Eli's wrist twists several times, wrapping the cold, hard chain around his fist as he waits for Roth to come at him again. Ducking a blow, he delivers a hard punch right to Roth's ribs, the chain multiplying the impact enough for Eli to hear a crack. But he was far from done. Taking advantage of a slight pause, his fist flies back to Roth's jaw, the steel links slamming into his flesh, then coming back up for another hit to the side of the face.

Adrenaline and pain fuel Eli's rage as he relentlessly attacks Roth's ribcage with his chained fist. He can hear the boos and yelling all around him, but he doesn't care. Bringing Roth low enough, he lets the chain unravel from his hand and snakes it around Roth's neck. Slipping behind his opponent, he kicks Roth hard behind his knee to get him down on the ground, while his hands put a tight hold on the chain noose, cutting off much of Roth's air supply.

"Nobody touches a McKade," Eli threatens, giving a yank to the chain. Blood trickles down from a cut in his head, disappearing into the black of his leather jacket. His right hand was already black and blue from using the chain, but he'd done more damage than that to Roth. "You see Ryan over there?" Eli grips the chain with one hand while yanking at Roth's hair to pull his head up, straight on with Ryan and Leo. "You ever... ever even think about harming her or any of her friends again and this chain will be so tight around your neck that they'll have to bury you with it. Got it?"


Gunner's eyes widen slightly and he can't help a laugh, even though Bree was trying to move on from her unfortunate comment. He was tempted to tease her about it, but this time he lets it slide.

"Yeah... yeah, I'll think about it."

Leaning down to slip his shoes back on, he stands and stretches tall, his hands reaching for the ceiling as he yawns. He was tired... but it was a good tired. "Thanks, Bree." He looks her in the eye, showing he meant it. "For being my friend."


"I'm good." Kip waves off the offer for a drink and he wanders the room for a moment before sinking onto the edge of the couch. "I haven't played mario brothers in ages."

A grin slides across his face as he looks up to Karla. "But there's no way I'm playing by myself."