The short, traffic-filled drive to Kensington Market had Mary plotting out half a dozen ways she could feasibly blow up Krusher Koven. Where she could get magical napalm, whether she could source a miniature nuke, what acid would permanently stick to brick. Beepy and Zippy beeped in the backseat, flailing their arms and pincers in gnomish training drills that involved a lot of stabbing and electronic banter. Alex just sucked his teeth and tried not to run over suit wearing corpos that jaywalked and couriers on expensive floating scooters.

After dropping them off, Mary with her arms full of loot stuffed to the brim, save for the horn from Lord Loopy and his regular gear, he felt guilty. He should really make time to visit Jemin, see what he had to say about all this. Mary promised she'd fill Jemin in, and also mentioned his tongue about eleven times. That was in between rattling off recipes for cheap explosives. But there wasn't enough time to visit his friend. He was almost late to his shift, and something wasn't sitting right in his gut.

Definitely not the goulash…

He pulled out his phone. Unable to help himself, he needed to message Snu. So he shot her a message before he could overthink it.

Alex: I know we're talking tonight, but please be careful. Get your sister, get whatever buffs of Relics you need. Lord Loopy missing, dungeon boss. Crazy dungeon boss ex turning others into familiars. Be safe

Alex: please be safe.

Speed walking through Kensington wasn't easy. Street hawkers waving trinkets and bobbles crammed in with Adventurers swaggering their oversized weaponry and Familiar gaggles. The sidewalks were crammed, a busker who looked strangely like Pauly D but bloated tried to get everyone to fistbump, and there was a juggler clanging knives in the air for tips. Right outside of Nino's, the crowding got even worse.

It was rammed with people trying to have a looksie at something ahead. The Cookie Monster street sweeper was working double time, and for a moment Alex wondered if he ever got any rest. Alex spotted the monster get slammed hard by a blocky adventurer in spiked armour who snarled. The Cookie Monster sweeper just picked himself up, grabbed his broom, and kept sweeping. He didn't have time to stop, but he sure wanted to. Something in his belly was pulling him forward to see what the crowd was murmuring about.

With just a minute to spare before he was late to his shift, he finally saw why the side street was crowded.

The old red sign still read Nino's Pizza, the blinds were still drawn, and the door was shut. The sign in the window said 'Closed.' The front window was also shattered. It looks like someone had thrown a boulder through it. Adventurers and pedestrians snapped pictures, and a little street kid dashed off with a shard of glass to fashion into something even more dangerous for later. Alex just sped past everyone snickering and not helping and went straight for the door.

It was locked. He tried again, but the deadbolt stopped him flat. The crowds murmuring picked up with people talking louder, a few chuckling, and one with his best influencer voice on was livestreaming the damn scene. Alex's head was pounding now and something sour was bubbling in his chest. He turned to the crowd and shouted, "Why don't you help? Or maybe just–I don't know? Maybe don't just stand there and TAKE PICTURES? Seriously!"

The crowd got quieter, but only by a little bit. Some of them seemed to remember that they had other places to be and shuffled off. Someone forgot to turn off their flash. He turned back and knocked three times by habit.

"Nino? Nina? Hello? It's me." He pressed his ear into the glass and listened.

"Chi e?" It was Nino's voice. The old man was OK, if decidedly annoyed by his tone.

"Nino! It's me, open up." Alex said.

There was the sound of shuffling and something metal clanking, and Nino's swearing in Italian.

"Teste di cazzo…hanno fatto una cazzata…," Dickheads,...they fucked it up.

The deadbolt clicked and the door cracked open just enough for Alex to see Nino's pissed off face. He looked unhurt though. Just craggy, pissed off, and ready to bite through metal. His face did soften just a bit when he saw it was Alex.

"Vieni qua, vieni qua," Come here, Come here Nino said quickly while beckoning him with sharp waves of his hand. Alex slipped through the door, and Nino slammed it shut before twisting the deadbolt to thunk it back into place. From outside, Alex heard the crowds talking perk back up again.

Inside looked normal. There was a broom sitting in the corner, but the green tile was unmarred, and the dozens of crammed in pictures hung in the same place. The glass had clearly been swept up by Nino. The smell of dough was in the air, but there was no pizza in the unlit display case. The flower pot that had just started growing in the window was also gone without a trace.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Guess Nino swept that up to…

"They…" Alex stared at the blinds where the window used to be.

"Bastard hit flower when they break window," Nino said while sucking his teeth bitterly. He popped out a lit cigarette and took a long drag. "A little flower they kill. STRONZOS! Break-a my window? Throw THAT through MY SHOP? Threaten MY WIFE? NOBODY THREAT MY WIFE!" Alex could hear Nina cooking in the back as Nino went on another swearing fest.

"Who? Who did this? Was it the Krushers?" Alex asked as the crowd outside grew louder and roudier. Nino's head snapped toward the blinds towards the sounds of voices on the other side.

Without answering, Nino stomped across the green time while sucking down his cigarette. Smoke curled around his face as he stopped in front of the blinds and stared at them like they'd insulted his mother. He pulled the rest of the cigarette down in one long draw and spat out the butt. It sailed through the air and vanished before it hit the floor. Nino rolled up his flannel sleeves and his forearms bulged with hair and muscle. He raised both hands to his neck and cracked it loudly. Then Nino reached for the pull string on the blinds.

The blinds shot up to the top of the window as Nino pulled down. Morning light flooded into the shop. The window was gone, and the gaping hole gave them a view of the crowd. Their phones were raised and their mouths were open as they looked back at Nino. The talking and laughter stopped, and Alex even picked up on the fact that Nina's clanging had stopped from the back of the shop.

In the shop, the temperature suddenly dropped and goosebumps formed all over Alex's skin. The air turned thick and a gust of wind ripped through the side street. It seemed to come from inside the shop as it whipped out towards the crowd.

Hair flew back, jackets flapped wide open, and the crowd took a step back. A woman's wig flew off her head, and then the wind picked up even more as the air grew even heavier. Phones cracked and their glass spiderwebbed as their circuits shorted. Nino's eyes glowed red as the crowd gaped at him and tried to fight the wind that was pressing them back and away.

"YOU!" Nino yelled. "You make fun when people get hurt? You laugh, eh? You film? You take your little picture like this is joke?" He pointed at the broken glass, and something sparked in his palm. It was just a little flame at first, but it began to glow.

His thick hand ignited into an orb of red hot flame so bright Alex had to squint. Even through the wind tearing around them, he could feel the flames. Tendrils of something, green-black smoke, maybe memories, slithered out from the shop walls, photoes, the tiles, the case, from everywhere, and funneled toward Nino. They climbed his muscular arms, sunk into his flannel, and the old man tilted his head a little crazily.

The window frame next to his burning hand crisped and began to burn. The shards of glass near his hand began to melt and drip down. The crowd had gone silent. Nino clenched his hand and then hurled his hand like he was throwing a punch.

A blazing orb of fire shot up above the crowd, hanging right above them. The crowd stared as the orb of fire radiated raw, ancient power. It was bright enough to bathe the street in red heat. They stumbled back and away with their eyes locked upward. Nino's voice boomed with a weight that terrified Alex to his core.

"AND MIND YA BUSINESS!"

The orb whooshed out and flattened. Like the top of a pizza oven igniting at full blast, a blanket of fire ripped out above their heads. It pressed them down as a shockwave tore down the street that rattled windows, flipped busker hats, and knocked the now melted juggler knives back down.

Alex stared at Nino. His eyes grew brighter and there was something else there behind them. It was something ancient, something that had given up everything for a chance at a future, and then spit on the ashes just because he'd won. Nino opened his mouth and what came out wasn't his voice.

It was older, like grating magma being poured through metal pipes. Like an ancient cave being opened after a thousand years of being sealed shut. It made Alex's knees wobble.

"NO…FUCKAH OFF!" The blanket of fire roared and its heat grew like a wave, singeing the air above the crowd's heads. That was all it took for them to break. They ran off, scampering like dogs with tails tucked all the way up. People screamed and took off in every direction.

Nino sniffed and closed his meaty fist. The flames in the open air vanished and silence fell. Only the Cookie Monster street sweeper remained. He gave Nino and Alex a thumbs up and returned to sweeping, nodding like it was just another Wednesday. Nino pulled the blinds shut again and the early afternoon light cut off. The air returned to a normal temperature, and the wind was gone.

He turned to Alex. "I no like when my anger comes-ah out…"

Alex just stared at his boss. The old man looked normal again, just a jovial italian man with a flannel with a slight paunch, muscular frame, and crows feet at his eyes. From the back of the shop, the clanging of pots and pans started up again. Nino looked down at his feet and kicked at the ground like a kid in trouble.

"I'm sorry you see that, Alex. But…you no see what they throw into window." He rubbed his face. "It scare Nina. I had to bury it…"

"Bury it?" Alex asked with a suddenly dry mouth.

Nino nodded seriously. "It wasn't just broken window. It was…the malocchio. A curse," he paused. "They throw it like garbage. To scare us."

"Bury it though?" Alex asked. "What did you bury? Where did you bury it? Aren't you…"

"EH!" Nina's voice rang from the back sharply. "Nino!" She smacked a counter top. "Ma fangule-we show him! We trust Alex!"

"Show me? Show me what?" Alex asked yet another unanswered question.

Nino didn't answer his wife or Alex. He just looked at him with the calculating eyes of someone who plays the patsy but is far smarter. The red glow was gone, but the weight felt somehow heavier. He was measuring Alex and deciding if he really did trust him. Then the old man gave a single, sharp nod.

"Come," he said with a low voice. "It is time for you to see why pizza so good."

He turned and tramped off to the back of the shop. Alex followed with a final look at the blinds and where the flower pot used to hang.

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