Scrapbook - 9/2

Finally, another Templarverse story! The Unto the Breach gang is back as Ali does Ali things.


Four people just before a bar fight. Escalate a casual fun conversation into a fight.

“I just thought of something,” Ali said.
Alex looked up from his meal. “What?”
“I haven’t been in a good bar fight in a long time.”
“What?” Alex repeated.
“I’m bored,” Ali knocked back the last of her drink. “I’m gonna go find some fun.”
“You sure? I mean, given what happened last time,” Conrad said. They all remembered that fight, which was, in fact, how Ali met them.
“Oh no, no no no no, please don’t,” Lucy begged. “It’s been a long day already, I just want dinner. I’m still famished!” Even though she had eaten a salad, an entire bowl of mashed taters, and three apples, she was still digging into a pile of various veggies and bread chunks.
“You’re a mage! You’re always hungry!” Ali retorted. “Look, after all we’ve been through, do you really think any of these drunks could hold a candle to me?”
Before anyone else could say a word, she got up and walked towards the bar. Alex reached out a hand to stop her, but she nimbly side-stepped and kept walking.
“Welp,” Conrad said. “Better finish up quick.”
Alex sighed and shoveled the last of his meal into his mouth with one hand and used the other to deposit coins on the table. He left a few extra coins, knowing the wenches would need it.
They looked to the bar, where Ali was cozying up to a burly and rough-looking man that had clearly already had a few. She casually flipped her hair while giving a smile, but seemed to be caught entirely off guard when the man’s hand firmly grabbed her butt.
“Uh oh,” Alex said.
Practically a blur, Ali twisted around the man’s arm and, less then a second later, not only was his hand no longer touching her, but it was pointing in the completely wrong direction from his wrist. The man screamed and shoved back from the bar, narrowly dodging one of Ali’s daggers. Four other men jumped to their feet from nearby, and Alex, Conrad, and Lucy did the same.
         Before the men could take more than a step, Lucy’s eyes blazed with light and she thrust a clawed hand at the men. A bolt of light shot from her hand, hitting the ground at their feet, and thick roots erupted from the floor, wrapping around their legs and immobilizing them. Alex and Conrad leapt over chairs to reach the men. Alex’s shield knocked one off his feet, while Conrad took two down with his spear.
        By then, the tavern had erupted into chaos, as no one was quite sure what had happened or who started it. Bottles began to fly, punches were thrown nearly at random, and the murmur of conversation became a constant roar of shouts and screams. Alex looked to where Ali was, and saw her slide between the wide legs of another man, delivering a crippling punch to his groin as she slid past. As she jumped to her feet, Alex grabbed her arm and began to drag her towards the exit. Conrad used his muscular bulk to shove a path through the crowd, while Lucy aimed a few smaller Earth-elemental spells around the tavern to throw many of the patrons off their feet.
         Ali tried to worm out of Alex’s grip, but he squeezed harder and countered her twists and squirms to get out, having gotten plenty of practice doing this exact same thing.
         They nearly fell into a pile outside. Alex stepped back and blocked Ali from going back inside.
        “Oh come on, it was just getting good!” Ali protested.